Chapter 43

“That has always been your worst fear. Hurt someone,” he muttered, with a softness that, frankly, did not suit him. “I am sure that Nature did not make us this way so that we would be afraid, Nikolai. He gave us tooth and nail to defend ourselves and those we love.”

“Don’t think I was ever afraid to defend my people,” I growled, in a fierce whisper, with my ears flat against my head. “I was not afraid to use what Nature gave me while I fled across Canada, or while I was entrenched in Wyoming.”

“I know. I read your colleagues’ reports, and yours.”

“Then I insist: what is your point?”

Sasha snored and shifted restlessly; I stretched out my muzzle to gently lick her forehead, which served to calm her down. She distracted us enough to let the topic go.

I started walking back to the house; there was a path marked in the snow by my father’s recent footsteps. He followed me, advancing beside me in total silence. Surely he could perceive my hostility as an elec