She held out her hands imploringly. "Before, when he was an honored warrior and had his family, he had no need of me. He wanted me as he wanted another feather to hang in his hair. But now he needs me. Without me he would be as good as dead. And he is the last brave in our band."
"I need you."
She put her hands over her belly. It was still flat, but she knew what was there.
"I am carrying Wolf Paw's child."
He pushed against the bed till he was sitting bolt upright, and he pounded his fist on his knee. He was still badly wounded. He could hurt himself. What if he tried to get out of bed, and tore the wound open?
But when he looked up at her his eyes were large and dark with sadness.
"I still love you, whatever you did with Wolf Paw. And I will love any baby you bear."
She felt his hands seize her heart, tearing it out of her chest, crushing it. She cried out with the pain and staggered backward.
She cried, "You offer me everything but the one thing I want—for you to come back to our people."
"What I do, I do for our people." His voice was so low that she could barely hear him. "One Sauk, at least, will take back land the pale eyes stole from us."