Wolver's Reward (16 page)

His hands were still at her shoulders and he
snatched them away as if the fire of his anger might have burned
her, too. How hard had he gripped that tender flesh? He groaned
with the horror of what he might have done. "Oh, God, please tell
me I didn't hurt you?"

It was his greatest fear; that he would lose
control of it, become so blind with it he'd hurt someone who didn't
deserve it, who couldn't fight back.

Instead of backing away like any female with
an ounce of sense would, Reb took a step toward him. She reached
out to touch him and he was the one who leaned away, snapping his
head to the side and out of reach. He closed his eyes. "Fuck."

"Fudge." Her hand lay flat against his cheek,
soft, tender, and not the least bit afraid. "You wouldn't hurt me,
River. You couldn't. You wear funny underwear, remember?"

He looked down at her looking up at him and
all the anger leaked out of him. "How could I forget when you keep
bringing it up?"

That earned him a weak smile and another step
forward until her forehead touched his chest.

"That's better," she said as she relaxed
against him. "I don't want you to be angry with me."

"I wasn't angry with you," he told her. He
ran his hand over her back, telling himself it was a gesture of
comfort and apology, but knowing there was more to it than
that.

"Yes, you were," she argued, and River didn't
argue back because it occurred to him that maybe she was right.

He'd known her for less than a day and he
already knew she was something special. His wolf felt it, too. Why
would she let them do that to her? Why would she do it to
herself?

"You must think I'm a fool," she continued,
speaking to his chest, "and you'd be right. Until all this began,
I'd never met an Alpha outside of my father and grandfather. I
thought all Alphas were like them, hopefully younger, but basically
the same. Father believes that all wolvers are the same, and that
was what I was taught, so why wouldn't all Alphas be the same, too?
I saw what I expected to see, honorable wolvers. I didn't expect to
see a coward. I didn't expect Donavan to be evil. I didn't expect
to be the victim of a..." her voice trailed off.

"Con," he said, so she wouldn't have to think
of rape. "It's called a con, a confidence game, and you and your
parents were the marks. He studied you. He knew what to say and how
to act. He knew exactly what buttons to push. They never intended
to join with your pack. They wanted the money, all of it, and they
wanted you, too. A Mate would make them look legit. I'll bet
they've run scams like this before. You don't get that smooth
without practice."

"And Dennis? What was he? Was I wrong about
him, too?"

"I don't know, but I hope not," he told her,
but only because she needed something to hang onto.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"For what?"

"For being kind, for not calling me stupid
even though I was, for not reminding me of all the damage that was
done because I was. For not saying it wasn't my fault, because it
was, you know, but there's not a wolver in my pack who'd let me
admit it."

It wasn't her fault, not entirely. She shared
it with her parents, her father mostly. He was her Alpha and he
should have known better, but River liked her head leaning against
his chest so he didn't say it aloud.

"There's plenty of blame to go around," he
said instead. "Nobody forced those packs to take the risk."

"But there wasn't supposed to be a risk and
the Chase was my idea. Sweet Valley needed the money and I thought
that if I had to mate, they could see some benefit, too. If Dennis
had won, everybody would have gotten something. He and my father
would have realized their dreams. My mother would have a son to
fuss over and a daughter who stayed close. My pack would have money
to help them start over and I would have had my pack. Now, it's all
ruined."

River couldn't stand hearing her misery any
longer. He had to do something to make it stop, so he lifted her
chin with his finger until she was forced to look up.

"Did you ever hear the saying poo happens?"
he asked with a straight face. He saw the flicker of a smile in her
eyes and he felt as if he'd won a challenge.

"No, because it's shit happens." She made a
sour face as she said the distasteful word.

"It does, Babe, and they say it that way
because when it happens, you can't do shit about it."

"You like to use those words, don't you?"

He shrugged. "Limited vocabulary. I think my
first word might have been fuck."

"Fudge," she corrected.

"No, I'm pretty sure it was fuck. I didn't
know what fudge was until I was about twelve." Or maybe it was
thirteen. He'd stolen it as a treat for the pups and kept a tiny
corner for himself. He didn't know his exact age. Charles had made
an estimate and Kat had picked a date. Ryker thought he was older
and going hungry had slowed his development.

Reb thought he was kidding. "You're
impossible," she said and there it was, her smile.

"Hell no, I'm easy. Kiss me and I'll show you
just how easy I am."

For a moment, he thought she might. She'd
looked up into his eyes and held them with her own. She licked her
lips as if she was undecided, but then she raised up on her toes
and closed her eyes.

That was when six cars followed an old RV and
a blue Ford F150 pulled into the parking lot. Her pack had arrived
and they'd brought his truck with them.

Chapter 12

A fist pounded on the door. R
iver didn't have to guess who it was. Reb was on her feet,
looking around the room like she wanted a place to hide.

"Rebecca? Rebecca, we know you're in
there."

"Rebecca? Rebel? Becky?" he hissed. "How many
names do you have?"

"Becky, honey, it's Father and Mother." As if
she couldn't figure that out. "Are you all right?"

"Four," she whispered back. "You call me
Babe." She stripped off the belt. "I'm fine, Mother. Just a
minute," she called to the door. The giant trousers slid to her
ankles and she kicked them under the bed. She undid the top three
buttons of the oversized shirt.

"Rebecca, open this door or I shall be forced
to take strong action."

"Coming, Father!" Instead of going straight
to the door, she bent at the waist and shook her head. When she
straightened, all her finger combing was gone. She looked like
she'd just rolled out of bed.

What the hell was going on? Whatever it was,
it wasn't good, though neither she nor his wolf seemed to care. She
had no right to look so damn sexy. With any other female, he would
have yelled, "Come back in an hour," but that was her father, an
Alpha no less, banging on the door. Talk about bad timing. River's
dick was starting to dance in his pants. His wolf was howling for
joy as if that was a good thing.

He stood and readjusted his jeans just as Reb
threw open the door. Fortunately, the parents' eyes were on their
daughter and not on the hand at his crotch.

Her father entered behind her mother, leaning
heavily on a cane. He looked tired and his face seemed to sag.
Deeply drawn lines ran from the sides of his nose to the corners of
his mouth. He looked ill and the sickly scent River detected at the
park was stronger than before. There was nothing wrong with his
eyes, however. They looked bright and alert, and angry.

"We've been worried to distraction and here
we find you gadding about with this...this." He peered more closely
at River. "Have we met?"

"Yes, sir. Last night. I fought beside your
Mate." He wanted to say that he saved her ass twice and then saved
their daughter's, but he didn't think the Alpha would want to hear
it. It would sound too much like he was claiming a reward.

The Alpha looked down his hawk-like nose to
the fly of River's jeans. His bushy eyebrows rose in recognition.
"Good heavens, I remember you now. Those obscenely ridiculous
wolves. Margaret, I thought you said we could trust him."

"I said I thought we needed him, dear. That's
not quite the same thing as trust." She frowned at her daughter's
attire. "Good heavens, darling, you can't be seen like that."

"Would you prefer I take it off?"

He mother ignored the threat. "Darla," she
called back through the door without waiting for an answer. "Please
bring Becky something decent to wear."

"Father, Mother, this is River. He rescued
me."

The Alpha's harrumph expressed his thoughts
on that. His eyes took in the room, shuddered at the mural on the
wall, and zeroed in on the unmade bed. His glare returned.

Nothing like being blamed for something you
didn't do, and what was the big deal anyway? So what if they'd
spent the night together. They were adults and it was a full
moon.

Whether it was the full moon, or going over
it and shifting into wolf, the monthly rising increased the sexual
appetites of wolvers. It was a fact of life. Mated pairs would
disappear soon after the run was over. Unmated adults would search
out partners for the night. It didn't mean anything.

It wasn't the sex they objected to, River
concluded. It was him. They'd have had no problem if he was an
Alpha she'd only met once. Any one of them could have fucked and
bit her and Mommy and Daddy would have jumped for joy, but dirt
didn't touch their darling and River was dirt.

"I'm sure he did rescue you, darling, and
we're very grateful for it, aren't we, dearest?" Her mother smiled
at River, but since he wasn't of her pack, he couldn't tell if it
was real. "You won't mind excusing us for a minute, will you,
River? We'd really like to speak with our daughter in private. I'm
sure you understand."

He understood she wanted him to hell and
gone, but beyond that, he had no idea what was going on. He wasn't
going to be around long enough to care which bothered him a little
since nobody else seemed to care about Reb and somebody should.

"Yes, ma'am. Sir," he said to the Alpha with
a nod of his head.

At least they'd know he had some kind of
manners, but if they expected him to sidle guiltily out the door,
they'd better think again. He'd show them the respect that was due
an Alpha and his Mate, but he wouldn't offer his neck in
submission. He was done with that shit.

The Babe-in-the-woods grabbed his hand as he
passed. "You won't leave, will you?"

That was the plan. If he acted quickly he
could have his bike loaded and be off before someone got the idea
to steal it again. But there was something desperate in her eyes
and he couldn't do it. Whatever this was, she needed an ally, and
his alliance would have the added bonus of pissing her folks
off.

"Not if you want me to stay, Rebel." He hoped
the name reminded her of who she wanted to be.

"Rebecca," her father said. River couldn't
tell if it was a correction of the name or a warning to his
daughter.

"I'm not sure that's a wise idea, Becky," her
mother said gently.

Rebel's eyes never left River's. "Please wait
for me."

"Rebecca." It was definitely a warning. River
waited for the trickle of the Alpha's power that would follow it,
but none came.

"Father," Rebel warned right back and in the
exact same tone.

"I'll be right outside." River gave her hand
an encouraging squeeze.

He couldn't openly defy an Alpha, of course,
and the old man could make him go if he chose to. Go, or face the
consequences, but River didn't think he would. The man's eyes were
on his Mate as if waiting for her direction, but the Mate was
already turning back to her daughter. "This is not how an Alpha's
daughter behaves."

"Really, Mother? Then maybe it's time for
things to change or did you miss the bloodshed last night."

Darla, who turned out to be the big female
who attacked him at the van and the driver of the clown car, was
approaching the door as River moved out of it. She carried a load
of clothes across her outstretched arms. A pair of boots was laid
across the top. Two pairs of shoes dangled from her fingers. River
was surprised when she gave him a lift of the chin.

"She okay?"

River nodded and Darla nodded back. She
disappeared inside, came out, and stood in front of the closed
door. Arms folded over her chest, legs spread to hip width, the
woman was apparently the designated guard of the Alpha's family
privacy.

River folded his arms, too, and leaned
against one of the posts that held up the roof of the walkway. He
crossed one ankle over the other and closed his eyes, making it
clear that privacy or not, he wasn't going anywhere. He looked a
lot more relaxed than he felt.

They stayed that way for several minutes.
Darla spoke first.

"It's hitting the fan in there." It's, not
shit's.

He opened his eyes and raised his brows.

"Is it?" he asked as if he couldn't hear the
angry rumble of the Alpha, the higher pitched anger of his
daughter, and the quiet, calming voice of the Mate.

Darla rolled her eyes up and tilted her head
back toward the door. "You do that?"

"Hell no, whatever's going on in there is all
on them. Reb can handle it, though." He said it more to convince
himself than Darla. He didn't like it that Reb was in there alone
with no one to take her back.

"Reb?"

"With all those names, I had to pick
one."

"So you picked the one she likes." Darla
didn't hide her skepticism.

Actually, he'd pick Babe because she seemed
to like that more, but why complicate things. "Seemed to fit or at
least she wants it to."

It must have been an acceptable answer
because he got another nod. Darla went back to silently guarding
the door and River let his chin fall to his chest. He closed his
eyes in imitation of a man who had no worries.