Thirty-two-year-old mixed blood John Strobaw, known to the Sioux as Medicine Hair, returns to his Turtle Crick Farm after a six-year exile on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Grief-stricken at the loss of his mate and lover Matthew Brand, known as Shambling Bear, at the Battle of Wounded Knee, he struggles to become a farmer again while fighting an internal battle to let go of the past and face his future. Will that future be with his best friend Winter Bird or with Pretty Face, an outrageous flirt who hasn’t yet decided who he is?<br><br>But before he can come to grips with this, John faces several battles. Will his former friends and neighbors accept him now the Indian War has come to an end? Can John forgive those same friends and neighbors after the murderous ambush of the Sioux by the 7th Cavalry at Wounded Knee? Or survive the hostility of an Indian-hating sheriff named Charles Landreth and protect himself against the mindless fear and loathing for Two Spirits, men who love men?

Wastelakapi…Beloved

“I will repeat the words I spoke to you over five summers ago,” Bird said. “I am here for you whenever you want or need me.”


I swallowed and made a motion with my hand. “I can help you find relief.”


He did not hesitate. “You’ll not touch me until you want me. I don’t know if that will ever be, but that’s the only way it will come about.”


“I understand. But I can watch while you take care of yourself. Perhaps that will add pepper to the thing.”


Chapter 7