Page 65 of Moon Chosen

“Cyril was an Elder, not a Warrior. It wasn’t his place to carry out a death sentence. Also, he knew the jolt it would cause to the very heart of the Tribe if Galen was publicly accused and executed. And he found it as unbelievable as you.”

“So Cyril told you,” Nik said.

Sol nodded. “He did. We wanted to give Galen a chance to redeem himself—to explain why he was stealing from the Tribe. We followed Galen, Cyril with his Argos, and me with Sampson.” Sol’s gaze found the distant horizon again. “Galen’s trail was ridiculously easy to track. I’ve often thought he must have wanted to be caught, though that may just be a reflection of my guilt. We caught him at a pool with a run-off-fed waterfall. He didn’t have the fronds with him, but he admitted to taking them. He said he’d do it again. He said he wasn’t sorry—would never be sorry.

“Cyril questioned him—tried to get him to lead us to the child he’d stolen the fronds for. Galen refused. He accepted his death sentence. Just before I carried out the sentence he whispered to me,Sol, I love her. I love them both.

“Then he looked me in the eye and told me he forgave me. He asked me to end Orion after him so that the canine wouldn’t pine and die slowly. He told Orion to lie down—to be still—to be comforted—that all was well and they would be together again soon. I cut my friend’s throat and then his canine’s.” Sol stopped speaking and bowed his head. Nik saw that his father was weeping.

“It must have been terrible,” Nik said softly, wiping away his own tears.

“It’s the worst thing I have ever done. Not one day has passed since that I haven’t regretted it.”

“But you felt as if you didn’t have any choice,” Nik said, trying to understand.

“That’s no excuse for such a heinous act. I should have taken Galen back to the Tribe and made him stand trial before the Elders. Maybe the outcome would have been different,” Sol said.

“Did the rest of the Elders know the truth?”

“Cyril told them Galen admitted stealing from the Tribe. That he’d shown no remorse and given no explanation as to why he had begun stealing Mother Plant fronds. Cyril reported passing sentence and then witnessing that sentence being carried out. The Elders were completely shocked. They debated about what could happen to the morale of the Tribe should they discover that a Companion as respected and loved as Galen had gone mad, and then been executed by their new Sun Priest. In Council they voted to cover up what happened. Cyril concocted the story about Galen and Orion going north. There was a semblance of truth to the lie. A northern Tribe had sent out a call for Shepherd sires to relocate with them.”

“And the journey is dangerous, especially if a Companion and his Shepherd insist on traveling alone,” Nik concluded for him.

Sol faced his son again. “That is the lie we told. I am sorry for it. I will eternally be sorry for it.”

Nik studied his father, trying to imagine him killing a good man and his bonded canine, and it seemed the world had suddenly shifted and was tilted sideways. He felt nauseated and his head throbbed.

“Nikolas, can you forgive me?”

This time Nik hesitated before answering. “I forgive you,” he said slowly. “Father, I have no right to judge you. You did what you believed you had to do, and the Elders did what they believed was best for the greater good of our Tribe. It’s just so horrible. I can’t imagine what it’s been like for you carrying around this secret for all of these years.”

“It has been a burden, one you now share with me, son. I am sorry for that.”

Nik straightened his back, feeling the weight of the burden, wishing he could turn back time so that he didn’t know now what he hadn’t known moments before. But he couldn’t tell his father that. The guilt and remorse in his father’s gaze plainly said how close to unbearable keeping the secret had been for Sol.

Then he closed the few feet between them and took his father in his arms, hugging him tightly, surprised to realize he was several inches taller than Sol. When had that happened?

“Thank you, son. Thank you,” Sol said, stepping out of Nik’s embrace and wiping his eyes. “You do know why I had to tell you, don’t you?”

Nik nodded slowly. “The girl on fire is Galen’s daughter.”

“She must be.”

Then the thought hit Nik with such force he almost staggered. “Father, the pup. My pup. Could he be trying to find this girl and bond with her?”

Sol’s shocked expression told Nik far more than his words. “Sun’s fire, Nik! If that is the truth there is a young canine out there looking for an orphan girl who has been raised as a Scratcher.”

“Will she even accept him if he finds her? Will the other Scratchers kill him, or maybe even kill her?”

“I don’t know the answers to those questions. I don’t know the rules to their society—none of us do,” Sol said. “You have to find her, Nik. You have to find her soon.”

“And if I do, I’ll find my pup,” Nik said.

Sol rested his hand on Nik’s shoulder. “Son, if you find him with her you need to understand that he’ll beherpup, not yours.”

“Well, at least he’ll be found,” Nik said, feeling hollow and sick. “It’s ironic that I’m in much the same position as Galen.” His father gave him a questioning look. Nik explained, “I have to search by myself, just as he did.”

“Absolutely not, Nikolas. The tragedy with Galen happened because I bent the rules and allowed him to forage by himself. I won’t let that happen again, especially not to my son.”