Cherokee Storm Read Online Free

bears?”
    â€œI was born to the Wolf Clan of the Tsalagi. A cub is a young one, no?”
    â€œYes, but—”
    â€œA cub and a child the same.”
    â€œYour English is very good, but a cub is an animal and a child is a human.”
    â€œSo you believe.”
    Unwilling to argue the point with him, Shannon looked down at the vessel cradled in her hand. The weaving was simple yet beautiful. She wished she could make something so useful out of twigs and leaves. Strange to think a bloodthirsty Cherokee warrior might create such a thing…for her.
    Otter had brought her small gifts whenever he’d visited the trading post. Once he’d given her a doll fashioned of wood and leather with real hair from a horse’s mane. She remembered how she’d loved the doll, even though it had no features. Where the eyes and mouth and nose should have been was only smooth buckskin. Otter had explained that only the Creator could make a human. The Cherokee sewed no faces on their children’s dolls. Odd, but charming.
    But this wasn’t Otter, she reminded herself. Now that she wasn’t quite so frightened, she could see that this man wasn’t ugly. This morning, the war paint had vanished, leaving only those high cheekbones, the proud nose, and that honey red-brown skin. The fire had died to embers and she could no longer see his dark, fierce eyes, but she felt the intense power of his gaze.
    â€œCan I go now?” she asked him.
    He stepped back and allowed her to pass. She snatched up her dress and yanked it over her head. It was wrinkled but almost dry, and she felt confidence returning as soon as she was decently covered.
    â€œI have to take the cow.”
    He shrugged. “Did I not tell you I don’t drink milk?”
    â€œShe belongs to the Clark family. I’m responsible for the cow,” she babbled. Hope surged in her chest. Was he really going to allow her to walk out of here unharmed? She took hold of Betty’s dangling rope and pulled the troublesome animal after her. This seemed too easy. After all her fears, was he really just going to allow her to walk away?
    When she reached the mouth of the cave, the sun was so bright that she had to shield her eyes from the glare. The storm that had made the woods so forbidding had transformed the forest into an Eden tinted with every shade of green. Birdsong echoed from branch to treetop, and a rainbow of wildflowers adorned the thick carpet of grass and moss.
    Her one shoe lay where she’d discarded it, but the other was hopelessly lost. She’d have to find her way back to the camp in her stockinged feet. How she would replace the shoes, she had no clue. Worn though they were, the footwear had been her only pair.
    â€œCome on, Betty,” she urged, pulling at the cow’s lead. She wanted to get away as quickly as possible—before he could change his mind. At least she wouldn’t have to return without the Clarks’ cow. She knew she’d be blamed for getting lost and—
    A rifle shot rang out nearby. A flock of crows flew up in alarm, and a blue jay rasped an urgent warning. Shannon shouted, “Here! I’m here!” Then started as the Cherokee appeared beside her.
    â€œGo.” He waved toward the forest.
    She started down the slope, tugging Betty after her. “Over here!”
    Suddenly Drake and his twin brother stepped from the trees. Damon shouted, but his words were drowned by the sound of horses’ hooves on the stone ledge behind her. Drake aimed his rifle toward the cave.
    â€œNo!” Shannon shouted. “Wait, he’s not—”
    The gun roared.
    The Cherokee shoved her to the ground. “Stay down!” He turned and vaulted onto the back of the black horse, leaning over so far that nothing showed but one leg and moccasined foot and a single fist tightly gripping the animal’s mane. With a cry he drove his mount down the stone-strewn incline