Six.
Ayana whispered,
"Too many."
"Yes."
"What do we do?"
Ethan smiled.
"You wanted a husband."
She frowned.
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"You got one who is very good at bad ideas."
They waited until night.
Ayana slipped through the rocks.
She cut the horses loose.
The rustlers woke to chaos.
Ethan fired into the air.
The cattle stampeded.
The rustlers scattered.
By sunrise, Ethan and Ayana had recovered the herd.
But they also discovered something else.
A brand.
The cattle belonged to Caleb Mason.
He had stolen his own cattle and blamed the Apache.
It was a trap.
He wanted an excuse to attack the village.
Ethan looked at Ayana.
"We have to get back."
She nodded.
They rode hard.
The Attack
Mason attacked at dawn.
Twenty armed men approached the village.
But Whitehawk had been warned.
The women and children moved into the canyon.
Warriors took positions along the ridge.
Ethan stood beside Whitehawk.
Ayana joined them.
"You should be with the others," Ethan said.
She shook her head.
"I choose where I stand."
Ethan smiled.
"I should have known."
The fighting began.
Arrows crossed the valley.
Gunfire echoed between the cliffs.
Ethan moved from position to position.
He never fought recklessly.
He watched.
Waited.
Moved only when necessary.
Then he saw Mason approaching Ayana.
Ethan ran.
Mason raised his rifle.
Ayana fired first.
Her arrow struck Mason's shoulder.
He fell.
The battle ended soon afterward.
Several of Mason's men surrendered.
The rest fled.
Whitehawk approached Ethan.
"You protected my daughter."
Ethan shook his head.
"She protected me."
Ayana smiled.
Whitehawk laughed.
"Perhaps that is why she chose you."
The Question of Belonging
After the attack, Ethan felt different.
The village had begun to accept him.
Children followed him.
Older men asked his advice.
Warriors invited him to hunt.
But Ethan still felt like an outsider.
One evening, he told Ayana,
"I don't belong here."
She looked at him.
"Why?"
"I'm not Apache."
"Neither are you required to become."
"Then what am I?"
Ayana smiled.
"My husband."
He laughed.
"That's not enough."
"It is for me."
She took his hand.
"You don't have to become someone else to belong beside me."
Ethan looked toward the village.
For years he had believed belonging meant becoming part of something.
Ayana taught him that sometimes belonging simply meant being accepted without pretending.
Whitehawk's Test
Chief Whitehawk eventually asked Ethan to hunt with him.
They rode alone into the mountains.
For two days they followed deer tracks.
They spoke little.
On the second evening, Whitehawk finally said,
"Why did you stay?"
Ethan answered honestly.
"Because I love her."
The chief nodded.
"That is a dangerous word."
"I know."
"Love does not make you strong."
"No."
"It makes you vulnerable."
Ethan smiled.
"That too."
Whitehawk looked at him.
"Then perhaps you understand."
They returned the next morning.
Whitehawk never said whether Ethan had passed his test.
But when they reached the village, the chief placed a hand on his shoulder.