“Any water in this mess?” He started to pat his pockets.
Someone passed him a bottle. The cub who’d remained in the tree ripped his shirt off and passed it to Bull.
“The inside’s clean,” he said, and shrugged.
“Thanks, Dean. You’re a good man,” Bull told him as he took the shirt, wet it with the water and started to wipe Tommie’s face, concentrating on the area around her mouth.
“What are you doing?” She tried to push his hand away, her mind finally registering the fact that they weren’t alone, others were watching, and there were things that needed to be done.
“You don’t want to scare the pups,” he said and showed her the red stained cloth. He started to laugh and shake his head back and forth, back and forth. “His nose?” He laughed harder and the others began to laugh with him. “Spitfire, you really are crazy.”
Tommie felt the blood rush downward from her face and she swayed, light headed at the loss.
“I know,” she whispered. Tonight had proven it.
“It was so cool,” Cory chimed in excitedly.
“You should have seen the look on his face,” Dean hollered. “On all their faces. They were like, what?” He demonstrated with a ridiculous look. “I thought she was going to bite it clean off.”
“She sure tried!”
“Attacked an Alpha,” Bogie said in wonder. It was the first time Tommie’d heard the wolver speak or smile. “A female ripping into an Alpha.” He didn’t sound disgusted. His tone was admiring. “Can’t believe it.”
“I’ll bet it’s a first,” Stretch added, “And if I was you, Bull, I’d mind my Ps and Qs. This one don’t mess around. Let’s get this stuff cleaned up, so we can get back and tell the others. What do you want us to do with the bodies?”
“In the shed for now. We’ll take care of it in the morning,” Bull said, but he was looking at her. “Tommie, are you all right?” He started wiping her face again when she nodded. “First blood can be tough. Most females never taste it.”
“First blood? Is this normal?” she asked confused by the reactions around her. “I’m not going crazy?”
The look he gave her was one she couldn’t decipher. “God, I hope not, spitfire. I hope not.” He stopped his wiping and pulled her to him, and kissed her nose before he pulled her head against his chest. “Because if you go crazy, I’ll have to go with you.”
“It’s nice to know I’ll have company,” she sighed and then because her head was turned, she saw Macey sitting alone in the dirt.
The men were taking care of the cleanup. The boys were taking care of the pups. Bull was taking care of her. No one was taking care of Macey. Tommie pulled away from Bull’s embrace, but he refused to release her.
“Let me go, Bull. Macey’s all alone.”
“It’s what she deserves.” His voice was cold, but he released her.
“No, Bull. She warned us they were coming. She gave Daniel a chance to bring help. She gave us time to prepare. She didn’t want to go back, but she ran to him anyway. She tried to stop them. She tried to save us.”
“She could have gotten you killed,” he said tightly.
“She could have, but she didn’t. She did the right thing, Bull. She was almost too late, but she did the right thing and someone has to tell her that.” She patted his chest. “You get everyone back to camp. Macey and I will be along in a minute.”
It wasn’t until the others left, none except Sammy saying goodbye to the girl, that Macey finally spoke.
“My dad saved my life,” she said quietly. “Bull is looking for him and he did it anyway.”
“He did,” Tommie agreed. “It was pretty amazing. He swooped in like a ghost and then he was gone. It just goes to prove that your mother was right. No matter what else he’s done, he still loves you. He’s still looking out for you.”
“He should have let me die.”
“Oh no, honey. Dying’s the one setback you can’t overcome.”
“Setback?” Macey’s look said she’d cast her vote under the Crazy column. “You call this a setback?”
Tommie lifted her shoulders. “I don’t believe in failure, only setbacks. You learn from them and move on.”
The girl shook her head. “They’re going to kill me anyway,” she whispered.
Tommie had a horrible feeling this wasn’t the usual teenaged lament. Macey meant it literally.
“No, they won’t.” She had no way of knowing that, but she had to believe it wasn’t so. “They love you.” She thought she’d scored a point when Macey nodded.
“Maybe, but after what I did, I doubt it. If I’m lucky, then I’ll be Outcast. Death or outcast. That’s what happens when you betray the pack.”
“Your mother won’t allow it.”
“My mother will have no choice,” the girl said resignedly. “She can’t go with me. She needs them. They aren’t a pack right now, but everyone is hoping that will change. She has Sammy to think about. She wants a future for him, the same as she wanted one for me. There’s no future for an outcast.”
Tommie threw her arm around the girl’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “You can’t look at it that way, honey. You can’t give up hope. You’ve made mistakes, big ones, but it’s not the end of the world. You’re still a girl. You’re supposed to make mistakes.”
“In your world, not mine. And this was more than a mistake. I betrayed them, Tommie.” The tears slipped from her eyes, not for what would happen, but for what she’d done.
“In any world. Come on. Let’s go back.”
“I can’t.” Macey started to cry again. “I know what they’ll say and I know I deserve it, but I can’t face it.” She turned into Tommie’s shoulder and sobbed. “Why? Why was I so weak? Why did I listen to him? Why did I turn my back on the people who loved me?”
“I don’t know,” Tommie answered honestly. “Only you can answer that, but the fact that you’re asking the questions shows me you’re not hopeless. You’re not trying to blame anyone else. That’s not weakness. That’s strength. Now come on. We’ll go back together and face the music. I’ll stand with you and hold your hand.”
“But what if they...?”
“We’ll deal with it when it comes.”
They dealt with it immediately upon entering the camp. It was as if they’d been waiting for her. Every one of them who were on their feet turned their backs on the girl, though the cubs hesitated. Even Louise, lying on a pallet of blankets near the fire, turned her face away. Only Bull and Samuel faced them, and it was clear Bull wasn’t part of the group. He was off to the side by the bus, an obvious observer. It was Samuel who spoke.
“We took a vote. We know you’re young, but what you did caused no end of trouble here, Macey. You’ve got to go.”
Macey hung her head. “I know,” she whispered and then, “I’m sorry.”
“No. Please,” Tommie begged. “Didn’t you tell them?” she asked the boys’ backs. “Didn’t you?” she asked Bull who dropped his chin in a solemn nod. “Didn’t you hear her? She’s sorry, truly sorry. She knows what she’s done and she wants to make amends.” When no one spoke, she squeezed Macey’s hand. “I guess that’s it, then. Go get your things. I’ll go get mine.”
“Tommie,” Bulls voice was deep with warning. “Don’t threaten.”
“You can’t,” Macey cried beside her.
“Of course I can. I’m a free agent, remember?” she said to Macey and gave her hand a squeeze. Tommie’s heart was breaking, but she’d survived heartbreak before. She raised her chin to Bull. “It’s not a threat. This group will do fine without me. Macey won’t. I made a promise up in that shack, the same promise I made to all of you, and I intend to keep it. I promised to stand by them, protect them, and love them. Macey’s not going out there alone.”
“She’s not going out there alone. She won’t be Outcast. Bull said he’d find her another pack.”
“Then I hope they’ll take two.”
“Make tha
t three.”
“Four.”
“Five. They take us all or we don’t go.”
The boys came and stood beside her and as hard as she tried to stop them, Tommie felt the tears welling in her eyes.
“You three got no say in this,” Samuel told them. “I know it’s hard, but it’s the way it’s always been and it needs to be done.”
Cora, who was standing beside her mate, smacked his arm so hard he flinched. “Who voted?” she asked, but didn’t wait for an answer. “Tommie didn’t vote. Boris didn’t vote. That new fella didn’t either. Those three votes could change things.”
“That new fella’s not a member of the pack.”
“What pack, you old fool? We aren’t a pack, and at the rate we’re going, we’re never going to be one, either. If the way it’s always been is what you want, why in hell did you talk me into leaving?” Others turned to watch and she addressed them with her pointed finger. “And why in hell don’t you go back. You can take your chance with the new Alpha, since this one turned down the job.” The finger moved to Bull and then moved on to Tommie. “You still got them sweet dreams?”
“Um.” Tommie looked at the teenagers who stood with her and her face broke into a smile. “They’re a little smaller now, but yeah, I’ve still got them.”
“Then don’t leave until I get back. I’m going with you.”
“Cora, you can’t go without me,” Samuel protested.
“Then you better pack your bag, old man.” She braced her hand at the small of her back and stretched. “My back aches and my feet are so swollen I can hardly stand. I’m tired of living in the back of a forty year old school bus and I don’t want those cubs to ever have to live in one. I want a place where I can put my feet up at the end of the day, maybe watch a little TV. I want to earn my money honest-like, and have a say in how it’s spent. I want these cubs to go to a real school and not the hard-knock kind we were raised in.” She started for the bus.
Others were stepping forward, saying they wanted those things, too, and asking about the dreams. Tommie thought of the house she left behind.
“I can do that,” she called to Cora. “I can do all those things. I have two TVs and two bathrooms with toilets that flush and showers that have hot water all year long,” she added, remembering the notice that was posted in the shower room. It’s not much, but it’s a start.”
“It’s a helluva lot more than we got now,” someone said behind her.
“What are the rest of us going to do?”
Tommie turned back to the others. “You can come with us if you want.”
She grabbed Macey’s hand and held it tight, making it clear the girl was coming, too.
“Why don’t you talk about this tomorrow after we’ve all had some sleep? We’ve got things we need to take care first,” Bull said to earnest nods all around. “Showers wouldn’t be a bad idea, either. Some of us could use one.” He looked pointedly at Tommie. “Biting the nose of an Alpha is messy business. Might as well take advantage of that hot water while we can.”
Chapter 26
They’d gone to the showers in shifts and he’d made sure he and Tommie were last. He wanted to talk to her, out of earshot of the others, but she wasn’t going to make it easy. Since her little showdown over Macey, she’d studiously avoided contact with him and she was still at it.
Bull watched her backside as she marched five feet in front of him. She’d added a little weight there, too, and it was looking as good as what she carried up front. That fine little ass of hers, swinging back and forth like that told him all he needed to know. She was still angry with him.
Subtlety wasn’t Tommie’s way, any more than cunning was, though he was beginning to wonder about the latter. She certainly had a way of manipulating people. Where the hell she came up with that dream shit, he didn’t know, but those wolvers ate it up and were licking the bottom of the honeypot looking for more.
When those cubs stood for her, he thought old Samuel was going to lose his last few teeth. Bull had to admit, though never to her, he’d been pretty surprised, too. Those cubs were ready to fall on their swords for her and they might have, too, if he and the others hadn’t gotten there in time. And when had the sassy little bitch found time to charm Cora who, he’d thought, couldn’t be charmed?
Tommie could hold a grudge with the best of them, too. Whatever he’d done was evidently worse than treason, since she was all smiles for Macey and none for him. The girl had even brought out fresh clothes for her and Macey didn’t strike him as the type who shared with anybody else. Then again, nobody else would have stepped up to the plate for Macey.
The woman was definitely crazy, but it was a good kind. He didn’t know how she did it, but she’d wormed her way into his heart, too.
“Mate.” His wolf wore a goofy grin like the cubs.
Yeah. Sure. Like that was going to work. He belonged to a pack of loners. Hell, even his Alpha didn’t answer the phone half the time. He was away for weeks, sometimes months at a time. She’d be alone, and something told him Tommie wouldn’t do well alone. She’d be out gathering her own mini pack in no time and he didn’t want to think where that could lead. He’d probably come home to find she’d turned the place into an old age home for prostitutes or a rehab center for ax murderers.
“Mate.”
“Shut up,” he said aloud.
Tommie turned and put her hand on her hip. She did that little head bobble. “I didn’t say anything. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not talking to you.”
Well, she wasn’t, but apparently she was now. He felt his grin stretching his face. He kept walking until he caught up with her and kept smiling when she continued to walk at his side.
“It isn’t funny. You hung me out to dry up there,” she huffed.
“I tried to warn you.”
“Tommie,” she mimicked his deep voice, “is not a warning. Did you tell them what she did? How she tried to save us?”
“You know I did.” He’d given her the nod when she’d asked. “I also said I’d find her a home.” Begley must have connections somewhere.
Tommie sniffed at that. “She already has a perfectly good one.” And then all the fight went out of her. “How bad was the vote?”
“It was five to four and no, I didn’t vote. It wasn’t my fight. My only suggestion was that they wait a few days until tempers cooled. They didn’t listen.”
Her shoulders slumped. “You should have used your huffy-puffy thing.”
He put his arm around her. “That huffy-puffy thing, as you call it, has been used to control them for most of their lives. That’s not what it’s meant for or the way it should be used.”
“But Macey was important.”
“They’re all important.”
“Exactly,” she said as if she’d made her point.
They arrived at the showers and he held the door for her. “Still mad at me?”
“Yes,” she said as she scooted past. She turned to face him once she was inside. “I’ll tell you about it later after I’ve had my shower.”
He slowly stalked in after her. “You’d better tell me now, because after your shower, you’re not going remember your name.”
“Really?” she purred and then she snapped her fingers and her come-hither smile turned into a grin. “That’s why I’m still mad at you. I don’t even know your name.” She shook her finger at him. “And don’t give me that story about your mother and how you’re hung. It doesn’t hold up. I’ve seen the real deal, remember, and you’re nothing like a bull.”
“Lucky you,” he laughed. “If I was hung like that, you wouldn’t be smiling that silly smile of yours when I was done.”
“Pfft. Don’t flatter yourself. I’ve never worn a silly smile in my life.”
Bull backed her into the shower stall. It was a wide, tiled unit divided into a dressing area and shower, the two areas separated by a worn yellow curtain. There was plenty of room for two. He reached behind him and s
lipped the hook through the eye on the door. “You still want to know my name?”
Her knees hit the bench and she sat. “I think it’s only fair since you know mine.” Her eyes travelled the length of his body. “And I know the rest of you so well.”
“My name is William Bulworth.” He peeled his shirt up over his back. “I started out as Billy Bulworth,” he said when his head was free. He removed his boots. “I got bigger and became Bill, got bigger and became Bull Bulworth.” He slid his jeans down and stepped out of them. “Because some smartass wolver said I rammed him like a bull and it fits with my last name, the name stuck. Now shut up and kiss me.”
“Or maybe it was your attitude.” Her laugh was husky, but she wasn’t about to give in. “Bullheaded, bull-in-a china-shop...”
He pulled her up, caught the clean clothes as they fell from her hands and tossed them on the bench. “Kiss me, spitfire.”
“Bullshitter, bull...”
“Okay, don’t. I’ll kiss you.”
And he kept kissing her while he reached to the side and turned on the tap. He pulled her bottom lip between his teeth. He smothered her soft lips in tiny kisses. He ran his hands up her sides, taking her shirt with him and only left her mouth long enough to draw it over her head.
“Bu...”
He captured her mouth before she could say it. His tongue traced the seam and she opened just enough for the tip of her tongue to play hide and seek with his. He loved her mouth. Sassy, bitchy, or softly sweet, it didn’t matter. The sound of her voice and the taste of her lips always reminded him of chocolate, creamy and delicious.
His hands found her breasts and he cupped them at the sides, pressing them inward and running his thumbs over her nipples. She liked that. He could tell by the murmuring sound she made. She pressed into his hands, wanting more. He tweaked those delicate nipples between thumbs and forefingers and her mouth opened with her gasp of pleasure.
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