Wolver's Reward

by Jacqueline Rhoades

  He smiled, and the way he smiled made her melt inside, or maybe that was her wolf. It had been acting strangely since River pinned her to the ground.

  "Mate," it whispered as if Reb could forget who and what she was.

  "I won't deny it, Babe. Why bother? You know you're hot and I'm not the only guy who wouldn't mind a piece of that heat, but you also have to know that you're a princess, and I'm no knight in shining armor. So you're going to have to tell me where this is going, because..."

  "Nowhere," she said. "That's where it's going."

  "And?" he asked cautiously.

  "That's what makes it so perfect." There. It was over. He didn't have to know anything else. "Can we get something to eat? I'm starved."

  "Sure," he said and waved his hand to flag the waitress. "Did you know starvation does a number on the brain?" he asked, but before she answered, he shook his head. "I must be hungrier than I thought."

  They ordered steaks and bowls of chili instead of salad and Reb asked for extra butter, sour cream, and cheese on her baked potato. River produced his driver's license and ordered a beer.

  "And that's another thing," she said, pointing to the plastic card as he returned it to his wallet, "I want a driver's license."

  "They're not that hard to get, Babe. You got a birth certificate?"

  "Oh, yes, that's one thing my father is very particular about. All our papers are in order."

  "Then all you have to do is get someone to teach you how to drive."

  "Darla already has."

  "Then there's no problem."

  "Yes, there is. Darla's pretty good about bending the rules, but she won't break them."

  Circles inside circles inside circles. River wouldn't have been surprised if his head began to spin on his shoulders. "What do bending and breaking rules have to do with getting a fucking driver's license?"

  "You needn't swear," she said primly.

  Fortunately, the waitress arrived with the beer and the chili. Reb watched him down half the glass. Her tongue darted out and wet the center of her lips.

  "You want a sip?"

  She bobbed her head. "Yes please, if you don't mind."

  She took the glass, raised it almost reverently to her lips, and took a sip. She wrinkled her nose and handed it back. "It always looks so pretty in the glass. Too bad it doesn't taste as good as it looks."

  The beer was a disappointment, but the chili was not. She followed his lead, crushed some saltines over the top, and tasted it again.

  "This," she sighed, and pointed at the bowl with her spoon, "This tastes even better than it looks."

  "Let me guess," he laughed, "You've never tasted chili, either."

  "There are a lot of things I haven't tasted," she said. He stared at her oddly when she licked a stray bit of cheese from her lips. "What?"

  "Nothing." He swallowed hard and shook his head as if to clear it. "Now that my stomach isn't growling, can you explain all this again?"

  Watching him watching her right back, Reb found it difficult to speak. No wolver in the world could have eyes like that. It wasn't the color or the shape. Brown eyes were common enough. She had them, too, and while she envied the thick, dark lashes, she envied anyone with thick, dark lashes. Hers were as pale and fine as her hair.

  No, it wasn't the shape or color, though they were attractive enough, particularly with the heated look he was giving her now. It was something more. Depth. That was it. River's eyes held a depth and mystery and she wanted to know what secrets they held within them.

  Her wolf wanted that, too, though at the moment, the creature was more concerned with his body than his mind. She purred. She yipped. She lifted her tail high in the air in blatant invitation.

  "My parents treat me like a pup," Reb repeated, and closed her eyes for a moment to still the pounding in her chest.

  When she opened them again, River had his elbow on the table, hand in the air with his palm facing her. Could strong arms be beautiful? Tinted a reddish brown that reminded her of autumn, they were rounded with well-defined muscle. A few veins stood out against the rugged terrain, forming a highway to his heart. His arms were perfectly sculpted works of art. So, yes, she decided, strong arms could be beautiful.

  If the fantasy of his eyes was good, the fantasy she was building around those arms was better.

  "I get that part. What I don't get is why now. Why didn't you stage this little rebellion before?"

  Fantasy suddenly snapped back to reality.

  "You sound like them," she snapped along with it. "This little rebellion is only a phase is what my mother always tells my father when I 'act out'." She framed the words with finger quotes. "That's what she calls it, acting out. My father calls it a tantrum. It's insulting." Well, didn't that sound mature, and a little like a tantrum. She closed her eyes and took a breath. "I'm sorry. I can see how someone like you wouldn't understand what it's like to be me."

  "Yeah, someone like me." He blew out his breath and folded his arms across his chest. "Why don't you give it a try? Maybe I'm not as dumb as you think." River lost the heated look.

  Oh dear. "That isn't what I said or meant. You're not dumb. You're free. You wouldn't know what it's like to be trapped in a life you can't get out of. You couldn't. You're not an Alpha's daughter."

  "Thank God for that," he muttered like an insult, but when he saw her frown, he added, "Sorry, but I like being a guy."

  "I wish I was a guy, too." It had always seemed to her that males had a lot more freedom than females, though she'd never put words to her secret. It just slipped out.

  "Nah, that would be a waste, Babe," River said so matter-of-factly that she expected his next comment to refer to her weakness and slight build. It didn't. "You're way too pretty to be a guy."

  She grinned. Talking to him about personal things wasn't so hard after all.

  "You see? That's why I like you. You just said to me what any guy would say to any girl."

  "I said it because it's true."

  She tried to stifle her widening grin and keep it strictly business. "Thank you, but it doesn't matter if it's true or not. It's what guys say. It's normal." She took another bite of steak and chewed it thoughtfully. By the time she swallowed it, she'd decided to take another step on the path to truth. "I've never had that, and yesterday it finally hit me that I never would, and then everything went wrong and you were there. It was like an epiphany. On the back of your motorcycle, before I thought I was going to freeze to death," she laughed, "I thought, 'This is it. My one chance at normal.'"

  There was a lot more thinking than that, but Reb didn't want to scare him off.

  She cut a piece of her steak and then another. "I'm an Alpha's daughter. I've known that since I could repeat the words. My mother has taught me everything I need to know about the role I'm to play. It's an important one. I understand that, and I accept it, but just once, I'd like to be like everybody else. I'd like to go over the moon and run with a guy because he wants to run with me and not because he needs me for the perpetuation of his pack. I want to be kissed like you kissed me, just because you wanted to. I want to see what I saw in your face when I told you mating me wouldn't make you an Alpha." She giggled and shook her head. "That didn't come out right. I mean the way you looked before you looked horrified and so offended. You looked like you weren't thinking about anything but getting in my pants."

  River groaned and dropped his head to his chest.

  "You see?" she laughed. "You just did it again. You make me feel normal."

  "What the hell is wrong with the males in your pack?" he asked. "I know you're short on numbers, but they all can't be blind. What about your crew? Can't they find someone to fix you up with?"

  "My crew?"

  With a silly grin on his face, he stuck his thumb in the air.

  "Oh," she laughed, "You mean my friends." She loved them, but they had their drawbacks. "Rosemary is a sweetheart, but very shy. I think she'd faint if a guy said hello. If she didn't faint, I'
m sure she'd feel sick. Celia is very smart, very tiny, very cute, and very friendly. She's in the market for a mate and not likely to share. Arnold and Lawrence are gay. They're a couple, and they'd spend so much time bickering over what kind of man they thought best for me, I'd be old and gray before they decided who to look for." She waved her hands. "Never mind. You'd have to know them to understand. And then there's Darla. I know you've met her. Darla gets around, if you know what I mean, but her taste is a little, um, rough for me. You're, um, uh... more what I'm looking for," she finished hurriedly.

  "Black leather, motorcycle. Slumming."

  "Oh no," she said hastily and maybe a bit too honestly. "I'm not into leather at all, though it was nice of you to let me wear your jacket last night, and if I'd known you had a motorcycle, that would have been an immediate turnoff. Definitely not my type, though now that I've ridden on it, I think I've changed my mind." Thinking she'd probably said too much, Reb suddenly sat back and folded her hands in her lap.

  River sat back and folded his arms across his chest. "So why me? What is your type?"

  This was awkward. Her blush spread up to the roots of her hair. It was a definite drawback to being so fair. "You're not supposed to ask."

  "Hey," he chuckled, "You're the one who started this, Babe."

  She did and as the meal progressed, it had been easier and easier to tell the truth, but now it was time to fall back to mostly truth. "I already told you. You're brave and kind." She took a deep breath and said in a rush, "And kind of handsome in a young Mr. Rochesterish kind of way."

  "Mr. Who?"

  "You know, Jane Eyre."

  "Don't know her, either."

  She giggled. "I'm not surprised." She shrugged. "It's kind of a romance."

  "Oh yeah?" he said as if he liked the idea. "My Mate and her crew read those books. They always have good looking guys on the covers holding half naked women."

  She giggled again. "Not that kind of romance. Mr. Rochester is dark and broody."

  River looked down at his freckled arms. "I'm not exactly dark."

  His hair was dark for a red head, dark auburn, and it didn't matter what color it was. It was thick and beautiful and she wanted to run her fingers through it. She was so caught up in the fantasy of it, she almost missed what he said next.

  "Why don't we get back to why not someone in your pack. They all aren't mated, are they?"

  Why did he have to keep bringing that up? She didn't want any of the males in her pack. She wanted the one who was sitting in front of her.

  Reb didn't try to hide her huff of exasperation. "No, but there isn't a male in my pack who would dare to touch the Alpha's daughter and the same message will be sent to any new members. When you're an Alpha's daughter, you always stand apart from everyone in your pack. You're different, and they know it and besides, would you want your future Alpha knowing you messed with his Mate. Aaawkward," she sang. "That's why you're so perfect. My parents won't like it, but they'll accept it, knowing that you're leaving, and when the time comes, I'll do my duty. I'll mate with the Alpha of their choosing. Would you mind if I had another potato for dessert?"

  ~*~

  What the fuck? She'd jumped from the trials and tribulations of an Alpha's daughter to a loaded baked potato. How in hell was he supposed to follow along if she kept bouncing from place to place like that? Between that and the constant wetting of her lips with that tiny tip of her tongue, he was having trouble concentrating. He was beginning to think there was nothing normal about this girl. The proof was in the potato. Normal wolvers weren't big on vegetables. He'd run like hell if she wasn't so fucking cute.

  "Sure, I guess so."

  He'd bake a potato for her every day of the week if she'd smile at him like that.

  "It's another first for me. My mother won't serve them this way. She says it's crass to put all that goop on top, and my father always orders when we go out to dinner. I like sour cream and cheese, and those little oniony green things they sprinkle on the top look tasty. I always wanted to try it. Now I have and I like it. Since I might never have a chance to experience it again, I'd like another."

  She was 'experiencing' a baked potato. She was serious about it, too. River couldn't help it. He laughed. "You can get crumbled bacon on it, too, you know."

  "Can I?" She looked like he'd offered her chocolate sauce on her ice cream.

  He ordered another beer along with her potato, this time with bacon, and shared her pleasure as she ate it. The Babe-in-the-woods definitely had a screw loose, but in a very cute kind of way. He liked her.

  "So?" she asked when it was time to go and he was helping her onto the back of the bike, "What do you think? Will you be my temporary boyfriend for the next few days? You don't actually have to do anything," she added, blushing. "Just make it look good."

  What did he think? He thought it was crazy. He thought he'd be asking for trouble if he accepted. He thought it might be a mistake, but he was going to do it. It was what she said about standing apart from everyone in your pack, about being different. Reb wanted a chance to feel normal and River thought he could give her that and enjoy it, too.

  Instead of helping her onto the seat behind him, he slid his arm around her and drew her into his side.

  "Babe," he said, keeping his voice low and his tone deep, "Not doing anything wouldn't be normal, now, would it? A hot piece like you, a full moon overhead, a room to ourselves with two beds to choose from? Yeah, I think we can find something to do that'll make you feel normal."

  "Really?"

  He leaned in and took her lips in a kiss, soft and gentle, and hinting of pleasures to come. She tasted of the potato and sour cream she'd had for dessert, but to River, she tasted like honey, pure and fresh from the comb. Pure, and fresh, and clean weren't normally words he'd use to describe a female who could tighten the crotch of his jeans with a simple kiss, but none of this was normal.

  He drew her bottom lip between his teeth and gently pulled away to break the kiss.

  "Really?" she said again, but this time in a way that said she couldn't believe he was leaving her mouth so soon. Her hands slid behind his head and she drew it back for more. What could he do but oblige? For someone who claimed inexperience, her kisses were damn near perfect.

  Nope, there was nothing normal about Reb. There was nothing normal about the situation, and there was sure as hell nothing normal about his wolf dancing around like a pup. He wasn't sure his wolf had ever been a pup. I always seemed older than River's years.

  "Don't get excited," he silently warned his wolf. "This is only for a couple of days."

  "Mate," the wolf chuffed in exasperation.

  "Thanks for the reminder I didn't need." River reluctantly broke the kiss again and said aloud, "Save some for later, Babe. You don't want to embarrass the customers."

  "Really?" she said a third time. "You're really going to do this?"

  "Yeah, really. I'll be your temp, but if your father decides to kill me, it's going to be on your head."

  She grinned happily. "Father's bark is much worse than his bite. He believes in civilized, nonviolent discourse."

  Whatever the hell that was, River hoped she was right.

  Reb's arms slid around him and she pressed her body against his back. The heat of her breasts burned through his shirt and sent fiery shivers of anticipation straight to his crotch. She made him smile which, when he thought about it, was the best thing that had happened to him since leaving Wolf's Head pack.

  She thought he was brave, and handsome, and kind. It wasn't true, but it didn't have to be. It was the kind of thing a girl said to her guy. It was normal and it made him feel good. Over the next few days, he'd give her normal and a whole lot more. He'd give her something to remember.

  His wolf did somersaults all the way back to the Paradise Motel.

  Chapter 13

  "Hurry," Reb shouted in his ear when they were about a mile away from the motel. "Hurry! Something's wrong."

  He didn'
t doubt her. She was connected to her pack in a way that he was not.

  Darla came tearing across the parking lot to meet them.

  "Thank God," she said, "The Alpha's down again, Reb. Your mother needs you."

  Rebecca was off the bike and running before River could ask why.

  Darla stayed, but only long enough to say, "I have a feeling she's going to need you, too. Don't go too far."

  As if he would. River parked the Roadliner at the back of his truck which someone had moved to the space in front of his room. All the other units and parking spaces were filled. It looked like Sweet Valley pack was spending the night. Darla's little clown car was parked in front of Number Two. The RV was parked in the far corner, along the edge of the trees. Sweetie Pie probably charged them the full price of a room to park it.

  His room was empty except for the clothing Darla had carried in and the dead Alpha's stuff which was hanging neatly on the clothing bar. The duffle bag that was taken along with his truck was now on the foldout luggage rack, unopened. A quick check told him everything was there including the metal box. Everything that should be was in the box, too. Sweet Valley wolvers weren't thieves.

  He changed his tee shirt for a clean one and left to see what he could find out. Scar and the others were back and sitting outside their room in the palm tree chairs. Scar was dressed as he'd been before in worn out jeans and a faded navy tee. A cigarette hung from his lips, unlit. The cubs were dressed just like him, though their tees weren't as faded and their jeans looked new.

  Ben had upgraded his attire to khakis and a light blue polo. His tan cotton jacket had the miniature logo of a high end brand on the left side of his chest. He looked like an upper class frat boy, though even River had to admit he carried it off pretty well.