Melokuhle was still away from the hut when I awoke. Only the snoring and drooling Aphiwe y with me. She was nestled on my best as she mumbled in her sleep. I smiled to myself at the silliness of the little girl. I loosened my arms around her and rubbed the back of her head and ears gently. Slowly she woke up from the affection and looked at me with a smile.

  “I dreamt I was a hero too,” Aphiwe gushed and then rubbed her cheek against my sternum. Her little arms wrapping around my ribs and squeezing gently. “One day I’ll save the cn.”

  “Today I step from breeder to leader, young one. The cn will need someone to guide them.” I picked her up and plopped her beside me before sitting up and stretching. The happy buzz of a good night fought against the warning words of my mate. Is this the right idea? Leading the cn in Ade’s absence.

  I stood and grabbed the hand of the little girl I had cimed to be my own. “I’ll show you what leaders do. Be my shadow today Aphiwe, a silent shadow.” I pced a hand between her ears and rubbed where she enjoyed most.

  Knowing her pce she just nodded and said nothing before following me into the sunshine that had risen over the vilge. I headed towards the central area of the vilge and sought out the horn that would signal everyone to gather. The scent of blood though filled my nostrils as I stepped into the clearing. The dirt was still caked with it but I was met with something else. A male, covered in stab wounds and carved in his chest were the words, ‘Food Thief’.

  I frowned, it was not often a male broke from the rules and tried something so bold. Though seeing him punished properly filled me with pride for the women. I was confused though, the dozen or so wounds seemed haphazardly spread around. An unskilled hand punished and killed him. I sniffed at the corpse, something familiar about it wafted over the corpse but the smell of yesterday’s blood overpowered it.

  I led Aphiwe to the horn that would signal the vilge and brought her before it. I sat her down and knelt in front of her. “This is an important lesson child. This horn tells the vilge great information. Long bsts signal threat. The longer the bst the quicker you have to get to the call. One short burst means more hands are needed to bring in the meat the huntresses have. Two short bsts is the gathering call. Three short calls are to signal the return of warriors. Now, pce your lips like this, take a deep breath in your nose and blow as hard as you can quickly. Breath quickly, do it again. Like this.”

  I held the horn to my mouth and let out two short calls. The sound echoed around the vilge and many groans filled the air from those that had too much to drink and now paid the price. I handed the horn to Aphiwe and motioned for her to do it.

  Honk, Toot!

  It was far wetter of a sound as Aphiwe struggled to make a proper sound. It sounded silly and she began to giggle afterwards. I joined her infectious ugh and scooped her up. That growing feeling of warmth in my chest radiated out through me. Of all my group I felt the warmth for her the most. Something about seeing the little girl brought me more joy than even victory.

  Holding her in one arm I let the final two notes out as the st signal I would send for the women to gather. Many of them held pups and guided children into the gathering pits. No one paid attention to the warning left for the men. All of them looked to me for a little guidance on why they were brought here.

  “As I said st night, we must change and grow now that we have suffered loss. I ask that every woman that does not currently care for pups of their own now step forward and present yourselves to me.” I waited as eight of the twenty women that stood before me advanced. A sad state of affairs. We had thirty women just yesterday. “Six of you will go with Lethabo, you will learn the way of the huntress. The other two will come with me and learn the basics of a warrior. We cannot afford to be without those dedicated to fighting.”

  The eight left looked at each other and all of them moved towards Lethabo instead of me. I growled and stepped forward. “I choose! Now stand still.” I set down Aphiwe and walked before each women and started to inspect them. All of them cked thick yers of muscle, at least they were rger than any male. I sought out the rgest two of them and pulled them aside. “You two will come with me. The rest, go with our st huntress.”

  They separated and I looked at the breeders before me. “The rest of you, we will not be breeding for now. Instead you will dedicate yourselves to the making of more weapons. We need spears, and arrows. We must be more careful now more than ever of the lives of us women.” I walked around them. Next would be the hardest command.

  “We must gather all the hides we can and forge protective wraps for every one of these women.” There were gasps and calls of dismay. “Listen to me!” I yelled quieting them all, “We must sacrifice our comfort for the betterment of the tribe! Each wound, each day that these women cannot fight or hunt is one where we are in further danger. Food will not be plentiful, you will eat only what you must to quell your hunger.” I lifted my arms, “The warriors will guard the food so that any that take more than they need will be punished. I do this for the survival of the cn!”

  I started to pace back and forth before them as many of them looked dismayed and shocked at the decration. One stepped forward, “How will you know? You are not trained to do such a thing! What of those that lie to you? What of the growing pups! Without plenty they will be weak!”

  I stopped and looked at her with a growl deep in my throat. “I do not do this because I want to! It is what is needed! These new hunters are not only less than before, but even more they are not trained hunters.” I stood before her, “If you question me, challenge me for the right to lead the cn in this time of need.” I looked down on her, she shrank away from my gre. “Are there any here that know of the fruits of the nd. We need more than treasured meat, we need all the food we can gather.”

  Many of them looked away from me. Many of the children lowered their ears at the thought that now was going to be a time of hunger. Especially for those that were no longer cimed to be in a family. Too old for babying, too young to truly help.

  Much to my surprise Bongani crawled from the groups and groveled on the ground. “M-my mist-tress.” He pstered himself on the ground cowering before the women of the tribe. Many of them growled at the audaciousness of someone.

  I held up a hand to stop the two that advanced to punish the male. “Wait,” I stepped forward and pced a foot on his hand and pressed down. “Speak male.” I could not show him favor in front of all these women.

  “I-I know how t-t-to find fruit-ts of the l-l-nd.” He did not flinch as I pressed hard on the bones of his hand. “P-Please, let m-me help.”

  Many of the women paused at the news as they looked down on the man with confusion. “A male? How does he know? His dumb mind will only bring us poison.” As someone stepped up quickly to kick him I gave her a quick shove.

  “You will go, take a sack and fill it with what you find.” I looked around at the women. “I will try the food, if it does not affect me the cn will share in it.” All of them looked doubtful.

  “Do you believe because he is your male? Do you trust him over women?” Challenged one of the many dies.

  Flexing my muscles with aggravation I fought the growl in my chest. “If I grow sick, I will kill him in front of the cn. You will see if I truly favor a male. Will that satisfy you?”

  All of them looked between them as they thought of relying on a male and the shame of it all. Though the impending threat of starvation was more pressing than pride. None of them met my eyes after a moment of challenge.

  “Anyone else want to challenge my decisions? Step forward if you think you know better.” I raised my arms in open challenge towards those around me. “I am ready. Does anyone else question my leadership?” I paced showing off my impressive physique to all. After moments of silence I nodded, “Good. I’d hate to spill more blood because one of you won’t listen.”

  “Lethabo, take your women and go. May you come back with food. Any pups that can work will be put to lessons of making. Everyone that is not suckling upon a breast must contribute to the cn. I will accept nothing less.” I stepped back and rolled Bongani onto his back before pcing a foot on his chest and pinning him. “Do not fail me Bongani. I’d hate to kill you.”

  He simply nodded.