Page 40 of Love in the Wild

When she got to the portion of pictures showing Thorne and his family, she paused again. There was sweet Keza, watching with a mother’s love as her adopted son interacted with them. And Akika, the playful brother who saw no difference between Thorne and himself.

We could learn a lot from them.

It was true that the jungle could be merciless, that everything was divided between predators and prey, but there were no wars between these creatures over differences that were skin-deep, differences that were so minor they didn’t matter.

Eden saw Thorne’s face on the camera screen. She fought the pain she felt thinking these photos would be all she would ever have of him, along with the memories of making love with him in the deep wondrous jungle. Everything that had stopped her from maintaining a relationship with a man hadn’t been there with Thorne. Being with him, caring about him—it had all been sosimple.

The worries and concerns of modern life didn’t exist with him. She had no deadlines to meet, no appointments to keep, and no bosses to satisfy. She had felt free for the first time in her life. But as much as she’d longed to stay with him, she couldn’t. She owed the other tourists justice for their deaths, and her parents couldn’t be left to worry about her. She couldn’t just run off into the jungle with a wild man, no matter how much she was tempted.

Eden finally put her camera away, but as she did, she saw something glint in the corner of her front mesh pocket, where she kept the lens cleaner packets. She pulled the object out from the front pocket and gasped. It was Thorne’s father’s ring. He must have slipped it in there. She stroked her thumb over the carved setting sun on the signet ring’s surface, and then she brought it to her lips and kissed it. The tears came swiftly, blurring her vision as she wrapped her arms around her body and wept. A long while later she lay exhausted, body aching with grief, the ring still in her hand, she gazed up at the ceiling of the smallshambaand wondered where Thorne was and if he was all right.

* * *

Thorne watchedthe moonlight pour over the pool at the base of the waterfall. Bright ripples rolled along the dark surface of the water until they came to a stop by the shore. This beautiful sight normally would have captivated him for hours, but not tonight.

Thorne was numb. It was as though everything inside him had been ripped out and left open. In just a few days, Eden had become his life, and now he was lost without her.

I did the right thing. I let her go. She can be happy.

Then why did it feel so wrong? Why did it feel like a huge mistake?

Thorne touched his right hand where his father’s ring had been. He’d only worn it a couple of days, yet he felt its absence acutely. He did not regret giving it to Eden, though. The ring and the necklace belonged together. It felt right that they should not be separated, and Eden would care for them both.

He removed his loincloth and waded into the dark water until it was too deep to walk. Then he swam toward the falls and climbed the ledge to reach the cave.

Once enveloped in the blackness, he sought out his bed of furs and lay down upon them. Eden’s scent still clung to the soft furs, and he breathed it in. It would be a long while before he could fall asleep, but he knew he would dream of her.

His Eden.Hismate.

Thorne roared with rage and sorrow, until the cave walls echoed with his heartbreak.

10

Eden gazed at the vast city of Kampala, Uganda’s capital city. For a few minutes when she’d been on her knees with a gun to her head, she’d thought she’d never see a city again. It felt good to be back in civilization, but there was an emptiness inside her too, a longing for the deep sable jungle—and for Thorne. She pushed thoughts of him away tried to focus on where she was now and moving forward.

When she’d first come to Uganda, she had flown into the city of Entebbe before catching a bus to Mbarara, where she’d stayed at a hotel before traveling to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.

Kampala, however, was an urban sprawl, with a mix of ancient and modern art and architecture. This city, as Bwanbale had told her, was the heart of the Bugandan kingdom and was rich with a colorful history.

Bwanbale parked his car in front of the US Embassy and helped Eden collect her gear. Before she headed toward the gate, she turned to the man she now saw as a friend.

“You have my number,” he reminded her. She nodded. Bwanbale and his wife shared a cell phone, and he’d given her the number that morning before they left his village.

“Text me where you will stay so Afiya and I don’t worry.”

“Thank you, Bwanbale, for everything.” She hugged him, and he returned her embrace with a soft, warm laugh. Saying goodbye to him was like saying goodbye to Thorne all over again. Bwanbale knew what lay in her heart, how she had said goodbye to the mysterious Lord of the Jungle and would be forever haunted by losing him. They both shared that unbreakable connection to Thorne. She trembled in Bwanbale’s arms.

“Do not cry, Eden,” he murmured. “Someday you will come back. You will see him again.”

Despite his confident words, Eden heard the note of sorrow in his voice. They both knew she would likely never return. Saying goodbye once was agony. A second time of parting ways would be the end of her heart.

“Why do I miss him so much?” she asked. “I only knew him a few days. That’s crazy, isn’t it?”

Bwanbale smiled. “In many ways, Thorne is the last vessel of the old gods and the people who worshipped them. He is alone, without a family or a place to belong. His heart belongs to the wild, yet it hungers for more. You gave him a glimpse into the life that should have been his, and he will mourn losing you as no other man will.

“But I think, perhaps, there is more to your bond with him than you have told me. Such a bond doesn’t need more than a few days to become real to the both of you. It is right you should grieve being parted from him.”

Bwanbale was right. Some part of her had been left behind, lost forever deep in the heart of the Impenetrable Forest. It belonged tohimnow,always.

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