Page 29 of The Wild Man

He waits until he drops another piece of meat into my mouth.

“Noeny and Peepa.”

“Did you know them?”

He just repeats the names again.

We sit in silence for several moments as he continues to feed me, alternating from the meat to fruit. I eat a few of each before he indulges himself. I’ve noticed that he always gives me the bigger pieces, leaving the smaller ones for himself. When he holds the water jug to my lips, I greedily take several swallows. Again, he takes his own sip from the same spot my lips touch.

I think of the names he said. I’ve never heard of such strange names before and they sound made up. I say them over and over in my head.

Noeny and Peepa.

Then something clicks.

Could it be?

“Mommy and Papa,” I say out loud, looking up at Wild Man.

A line forms between his eyes. “Mommy and Papa,” he says the two names slowly.

I look to the opening where the skulls are then back to him. “Are they your parents? Your Mommy and Papa?”

It takes a minute for him to answer. “Yes.”

Having already suspected, it doesn’t make his confirmation any less heartbreaking. Now I understand why he has them. It’s the only way for him to keep his parents with him so he wasn’t alone. How utterly fucking devastating.

A part of me wants to wrap my arms around him. To comfort the little boy who lost his parents at such a young age and was forced to care for himself in the wild. I can’t imagine how scared he must have been back then. How much he cried for them. It’s a miracle he survived. I knew he had lost his parents—or rather, that’s what the rumors say—but to lose them in such a horrific way was probably terrorizing. Was he there when the bear attacked his parents? Did he witness it? He was a child when they died—again, according to rumors—so how did he get away? How did he not become a victim himself?

Despite the direness of my situation, I still want to know the mysteries of his life.

“Did you… see it happen? Were you there when your parents died?”

“Yes.”

The corners of my mouth tip down. “How did you manage to get away?”

“Run,” he grunts. “Peepa said run. Hide.”

My heart breaks for the little boy he was and for the man he is now, because he must still feel the grief over the death of his parents.

“I’m sorry that happened to you,” I say quietly.

He doesn’t acknowledge my sympathy, not that I really expected him to. He may still grieve his parents, but he’s understandably built a protective wall around himself. It’s what helped him survive so long out here.

ten

Wild Man

I focused on the two pieces of wood I’m rubbing together to start a fire, but most of my attention is on the female sitting on the ground not far from me.

My female.

The one I’ve claimed as my mate and will never let go.

Even if she says her people will come for her.

I’ll rip apart and shred anything and everything that dares come between us.