Snippet #2344233

Golden eyes flashed as the fiery redhead caught sight of the collapsed tents and scattered ashes, all that remained of her camp and home. "Sabre! Janu!" The tall, slim woman dropped her burden of meat and rushed through, looking for the silver and blond heads of her family. Sabre, her lifemate was wounded in a recent raid and her little blond kit, Janu was still too young to hunt. Sabre's wounds were the reason she went out with the hunting party. Is he even still alive?

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Rowan shuddered and shook herself out of her two year old nightmare. Two years ago on this very day, the young werecat lost everything she cared about. Before that day, she was already an exile from her hometown, since her father couldn't accept her choice of lifemate. Since the destruction of the feral camp, she had nowhere left to go and just kept wandering. The advantage to her constant travel was she could look for her mate and son, if they were still alive. She shuddered a second time. They HAD to live! Without them, there was no point to anything.

A small human kit's voice pulled her out of her reverie. "Leave me alone!" the skinny boy screamed as another kit was harassing him. Rowan left her booth at the market and flashed just the tip of one of her knives. She hoped she wouldn't have to use it, especially on a kit.

"I believe he said leave him alone," she gave a low growl, proving she wasn't human. The bigger kit, another boy, pulled back and started shouting himself. Putting away the knife, she groaned and rolled her eyes. Just what she needed, someone else shouting that she's a monster and pushing her out of another somewhat safe haven. She hoped it wouldn't happen that way, but there were other things to deal with at the moment. The tall werecat bent down to help the little skinny boy up.

"You aren't really a monster, are you?" he whispered in a shaky voice.

"No, I'm not a monster, just a traveler. Are you hurt?" Rowan spoke as gently as possible, almost purring as she would if her own son was frightened. She swallowed the feeling that pulled up. The human boy didn't seem to notice her lapse of concentration. He simply shook his head and accepted her hand, and she gave him a half-smile, hiding her sharp fangs.

After the human boy got up and went on his way, she sighed and slipped through the group of gawkers to return to her wooden merchant cart in the cobblestone plaza where she did most of her business. The plaza was in the shadow of the castle walls but certainly not inside the wall. Some people would be happy inside the wall, but she wasn't one of them.