The Buffalofolk woman froze mid-step. Her frame seized up, trembling violently for a heartbeat, before she forced herself to calm down. She resumed her walk to the heavy iron chest to fetch the item Earthshaker had demanded.
Earthshaker, a Alpha at the peak of his power, saw every twitch of fear and hope in her posture. He said nothing.
She was his First Wife, bound to him long before the Buffalofolk had bent the knee to the Stoneheart Horde. But her blood was thin, her potential limited. Despite the mountain of resources he had poured into her cultivation, she remained stuck, unable to even breach the Hero level.
Her value lay elsewhere. She was of his own kind, fertile and robust. She had given him many strong sons.
