Savage Beloved

But there was one person who did not go directly to her lodge. Hawk Woman was walking toward Candy, a look of open and utter contempt in her eyes. Before Candy could get inside the tepee, Hawk Woman came up to her and gave her a hard shove while no one was looking.

Candy fell awkwardly to the ground, shaken by the fall but not hurt, except for her pride. She looked up at Hawk Woman who stood over her, her eyes snapping angrily.

“Why did you do that?” Candy asked as she slowly pushed herself up.

She received no response from Hawk Woman. Candy had never had an enemy before now, but knew for certain that this woman was the worst kind of enemy anyone could have.

It was evident that Hawk Woman wasn’t about to respond to Candy’s questions. She had come to do what she had wanted to do ever since she realized that she had lost Two Eagles to Candy.

Hawk Woman gave Candy a strange sort of sneer, then stomped away to her own tepee.

Candy looked over at Two Eagles. He had not seen what had happened to her. He was too involved in trying to make a group of children understand why someone like Short Robe had to die, that everyone had their time for dying.

Even now Two Eagles was embracing one child after the other. Their parents had already gone into their lodges, the sound of soft chants and prayers wafted from the smoke holes of each, proving that the mourning might continue throughout the night.

Candy badly wanted to tell Two Eagles about this incident with Hawk Woman, yet she knew that he already had much on his mind; he didn’t need to be bothered with the acts of a spiteful woman.

But Candy, herself, would be more watchful. She would not allow Hawk Woman ever to get the better of her again.

She wondered what else the woman’s scheming mind might conjure up in order to harm her.

She gave Hawk Woman’s tepee one last look, seeing the entrance flap tied closed, then sighed heavily as she turned and hurried inside her own. She found Shadow snoozing restfully beside the lodge fire, which had burned down to low embers.

Candy was always relieved to see Shadow after being away from her, even if for only a short while. She knew that, more than likely, Shadow would leave one day and never return. Candy had to keep reminding herself it was the natural thing, for her wolf was born in the wild and had instincts that told her that was where she truly belonged.

But even knowing those things did not make the thought of eventually losing her pet any less painful.

Sighing heavily, Candy placed several logs in the fire pit, where the glowing coals soon took hold and created a softly burning fire which cast dancing shadows over the inside walls of the tepee.

This relaxed Candy so much that she soon forgot Hawk Woman. She stretched out on the pelts beside Shadow, snuggled close to her wolf, and soon drifted off into a restful, sweet sleep. She didn’t even hear Two Eagles when he came in and joined her, soon falling asleep himself.

Hawk Woman crept up to Two Eagles’s tepee, parted the entrance flap that he had forgotten to secure, and gazed inside at Two Eagles and Candy as they slept.

A keen jealousy knifed through her at the sight of Two Eagles lying so close to Candy, his arm resting over her.

A low hiss came from Hawk Woman as she dropped the flap, then went to the river and waded in, hoping that the shock of the cool night air against her wet flesh would help her forget the desire for vengeance that would not leave her.

Somehow, somewhere, she would get rid of Candy, and then it would be just Two Eagles and Hawk Woman again, both free to love, and eventually marry.

“I will have him,” she whispered harshly to herself, her body shivering as she ran from the water. The coldness had not banished any of her thoughts.

She now knew that nothing but finally achieving her goal would ease her mind. Nothing but revenge would let her live as she had before Candy arrived with her sweet, syrupy voice and petite body.

In the moonlight, Hawk Woman gazed down at her own body, hating her thick waist and bowed legs, but proud of her large breasts.

Growling, she yanked on her dress and ran to her tepee. Inside, she changed into a dry robe, then threw herself onto her bed of blankets and sobbed until she finally found some solace in sleep.

But even then she couldn’t find the peace she hungered for. In her dream she saw Two Eagles making love with Candy. She could even smell them.

She awakened with a start, her body wet with perspiration.

“I must achieve my goal soon or lose my mind,” she whispered to herself.

Hawk Woman had already lost too much that was precious to her. Rarely did she allow herself to think about her losses, or her life when she’d been called Sara Thaxton. It was just too painful to recall the daughter that she had left behind.

Penelope. Precious Penelope!

“No,” she cried in a soft whimper. She could not think about her. The moment she had given birth to the baby, Albert Cohen had taken her from Sara’s arms. He had hated Sara so much, he had denied her her very own child and had given her to another woman to feed from her milk-filled breasts, even though Sara had had more than enough to fulfill her child’s needs.