Arctic Spring: Karma - Book 2 (Arctic Wilderness) by Nathan J. Hawkins

Chapter 1
    “I’ve wanted to ask you this question since… I saw…,” Jason said but Aiyana gently put her hand on his lips.
    “I know what you want to ask,” she said.
    In the days that followed Umqy’s funeral Jason and Aiyana spent a lot of time together. It was early morning and they were walking along the river bank. His heart was burning to know about Gyrongav but he couldn’t get himself to ask until now.
    “I… I don’t mean to make you feel…,” he said but she cut him off.
    “It all started many moons ago when my people made sacrifices to the spirits to protect us from harm. It was at a time when the wolves were attacking villages and killing lots of Chukchi. Things were getting out of hand and my people feared for their lives. According to the legend, which was passed on from generation to generation, one of the shaman invoked the spirit of the warrior for protection. The next morning when his wife was looking for him she could not find him,” she said.
    “What happened to him?” he asked.
    “His wife went from one yaranga to another asking if anyone saw her husband. What she didn’t notice was that a husky followed her where ever she went. Finally she went back home and the husky stuck to her side. She was grief stricken because she thought the wolves might have gotten to him. The husky laid his head on her lap as if to console her and when she gently rubbed his head he turned into her husband,” she said.
    “WOW! Now that’s just unbelievable,” he said.
    “That’s what the legend says,” she said.
    “So why is it that you are able to transform?” he asked.
    “I am a descendent from the shaman like everyone else in this village. Every second generation child born has this… gift if you want to call it that,” she said.
    “So that means your kids won’t be affected by it,” he said.
    “Yes,” she smiled.
    Jason felt some sense of relief though he wasn’t sure why exactly. It was not as if they were getting married and he had to worry about taking his kids to the vet for their shots. He thought.
    “What about… about…,” he said not sure how to form the question.
    “What about what?” she asked.
    “You know…,” he said
    “You mean sex… it’s normal. Did you think I would change in the heat of the moment?” she said grinning.
    “No! No… I didn’t mean to… forget I even asked,” he said.
    Aiyana laughed heartily and Jason found it a bit strange for her to speak openly about sex.
    “I thought since you live here far away from city life things would be a bit conservative,” he said.
    “On the contrary there is nothing wrong with having relations before marriage and neither is it an issue for a woman to have a child out of wedlock. Many of these kids you see running around were born out of wedlock but they are not seen as being illegitimate,” she said as a matter of fact.
    “You don’t say. And here I thought a big marriage ritual with all sorts of blessings and thinga magigs would have to take place before you can get a roll in the hay,” he said.
    “Nope. Here everyone rolls in the hay, its human nature,” she said.
    Jason was really taken by the fact that she spoke so openly and didn’t make a fuss about sexuality. It was if it was an everyday thing.
    “That’s good to know,” he grinned.
    “Come on it’s time to go back. Your friends are probably wondering where you are,” she said.
    They made their way back to the village. As they moved further away from the river Omryn came out from behind a cluster of bushes. He was watching their every move. He knew that Aiyana was hiding something and he was determined to find out what it was.
    “I know you lied and I will find out the truth… and when I do… you daughter of Akun will pay dearly,” Omryn said.
    Omryn had an intense dislike for Jason because Umqy kept complaining to his father about Aiyana’s attraction to Jason. That is why Omryn put the fever spell on Jason hoping that they