Wolver's Reward

by Jacqueline Rhoades

  "Liar."

  River, who'd been staring a hole in the ceiling while he spoke, let his eyes bore into Reb. "It isn't a lie."

  "You loved them. You love them still."

  "I don't do love, Babe. I never learned how," he compounded the lie. If he told her the truth, he'd have to admit how much it hurt when love was taken away. How much it would hurt when an Alpha took her away.

  Chapter 24

  Reb and Darla worked side by side, Reb stacking the wood Darla split with the powerful strokes of her ax. The task seemed endless. All of the cabins required wood for winter heat. Using the formula found in one of the many books they'd brought with them, the amount they would need seemed impossible to achieve. Fortunately, Darla liked chopping wood, and had no qualms about bullying others into trimming and dragging in deadfall. Reb did her share and it was currently her turn to stack.

  Two women dragged another long length of bare tree trunk to the diminishing pile.

  "I'm glad someone has time to relax and play," one sniffed. She pointed her nose in the direction of the small patch of ground in front of the main lodge where River wrestled with three young cubs.

  "Time?" Reb asked with a little snarl in her voice. "How much time have you spent hauling rock from the river? How much time felling trees? How much game have you brought in? How much fish have you hauled? Not as much as River, I can tell you that. He has as much right as anyone to take a break. More, if you want the truth." She plunked another quarter of log on the pile and picked up another before she added with a curl of her nose, "And he's not playing. He's teaching."

  "Then they need to be in school with someone who knows how to do it," the woman muttered as she walked away.

  Reb hefted the piece of wood and looked from it to the woman walking away.

  "Don't do it," Darla warned with a laugh.

  "Why can't they see it?" Reb complained.

  "They will. Eventually. They're just not used to physical labor and your boyfriend's a slave driver."

  "You're one to talk," Reb grumbled and mocked her friend's demand, "More wood. More wood. We must have more wood." She followed Darla to the pile waiting to be cut and split, to help her lift and drag the next piece. "Look at him."

  The boys had no idea their idol was teaching them as they played. He directed, and corrected, and shouted with dismay when their combined maneuvers took him to the ground. They loved it and strutted with pride at the backhanded compliment to their prowess as a team. A satisfied nod from him was worth more than a thousand words of praise.

  River stood, tossing the youngsters off like the autumn leaves that were beginning to cover the trees surrounding the camp. It was only September, but fall came early in these mountains and winter took no note of the calendar at all.

  "Enough," River told them when they would have continued to play. "Arnold's got his smokehouse ready for another batch of fish. It's your job to go get them."

  They'd found salmon in the nearby river, hundreds of them dying after the spawn. They weren't the best tasting, but they were free and as the old adage said, a penny saved was a penny earned, and the pack was going through their pennies fast. Arnold, using a design from another of the books, had built a smokehouse to preserve the haul.

  "I hate fish," one of the cubs complained.

  "You'll like it well enough this winter when your belly's empty," River told him. "And you're not doing this for yourself. You're doing it for your pack. Pack comes first." He gave the boy a little shove in the right direction. "Go on. I want one tub each and I mean a full tub. I'll be watching."

  "Those tubs are too heavy."

  River accepted no excuses. "Not if you work together. And watch out for the bears. They like fish, but they might like cub better," he called after them.

  He turned, gave the watching females a nod, and moved on to the latest cabin renovation.

  "Look at him, Darla. Tell me he doesn't love it here."

  River was now carrying a bundle of shingles up the ladder to the roof.

  "I can't, because he does."

  "Then why won't he stay?"

  "Who says he won't."

  "He does. He reminds me of it every day, two or three times a day." Ever since she'd told him he loved those young wolvers he'd saved. Reb was sorry she ever heard about his past. Once he told her about it, he wouldn't let it go. "He keeps pointing out his flaws like he wants me to see what a bad guy he is and he's not. I know he has a bit of a temper, but..."

  "A bit?" Darla stopped chopping to raise her eyebrows and laugh. "He scared the wits out of them the way he went after Gordon. I'm not saying that's a bad thing," she added to pacify Reb's belligerent look. "The Alpha probably won't agree, but that little bit of temper, as you call it, certainly got everyone's attention. And when he tossed that lazy wolver's plate into the fire, I had all I could do to keep from dancing like those girls on the motel wall."

  Ax in hand, she brought her arms up over her head and swiveled her hips in a circle. The move brought a laugh from Reb and stares from several others.

  "It was pretty impressive," Reb agreed.

  For the first few days after their arrival, everyone relaxed and took stock of their surroundings. Their new home didn't quite match the pictures. The idyllic setting was an overgrown mess. The pond was clogged with cattails and other waterside plants. Small trees and undergrowth had taken over formerly cleared areas and vines grew up and over everything in their path. The buildings showed the ten years' worth of abandonment and neglect.

  There would be no sitting around enjoying the beauty of nature in the near future, but no one seemed disappointed. Unfortunately, the lack of disappointment was expressed in different ways. Talk abounded about what and how things needed to be done, but for some, talking was all they did. Others took on projects that were doomed to fail, as in replacing a roof only to have it collapse because the structure beneath it was weak. Disheartened, they gave up. Some preferred not to do anything at all, content to put a pot beneath the leak in the roof and sit back to watch it drip. Projects were started and abandoned as interests drifted from one idea to another.

  The Alpha, still weak and mostly bed ridden, made his wishes known and left Darla and River to implement them. Darla concentrated on the women, while River was left with the men.

  River set the example. He immediately went out to explore the surrounding area, sometimes with Reb, but most often with the younger wolvers in tow. He walked the grounds, cleared paths, sorted through the furniture he found, and separated out what could be salvaged. He took stock of what they had and what they needed. He encouraged them to begin work.

  A few worked hard. A few puttered around, accomplishing little. A few more pretended to putter when River was looking and immediately quit when he looked away. It bothered him that others didn't feel his urgency to set the place to rights.

  "Winter is coming. They need to be prepared," he warned, but it was hard to think of winter when the weather was so balmy.

  He tried to explain what it was like to spend the winter with inadequate shelter, heat, and food, but these were wolvers who were used to turning up the thermostat and running to the store.

  "I've lived rough in the mountains," he told them, but never told them just how rough it was. "It's going to be worse up here."

  "They're going to freeze to death or starve," he fumed to Reb. "I had it easy compared to what they'll see up here. I had places where I could steal what we needed."

  He'd finally thrown up his hands when someone pointed out there were generators in one of the sheds that were meant to take care of heat and electric.

  "Does anyone know if they work? What if they need parts? How much fuel will they need and where will you get it? What happens if you run out before the roads open up next spring?" Disgusted, he turned to Reb. "I can't take it, Babe. I'm going for a run."

  He was gone for five minutes and then he was back. He came to a stop at the edge of the pack that was gathered for the evening m
eal. Anger poured off of him in waves of power.

  Feeling the force of that anger, most of the wolvers stopped their eating and talking to stare at him and most of them lowered their eyes in recognition of a power greater than their own. A few shrank back and lowered their heads to their shoulders to expose their necks in a clear gesture of submission. An unwise few ignored the warning signs of the coming storm completely.

  Those few became the focus of his wrath. They were shirkers, the kind who nodded their heads willingly when asked to perform a task and then failed to follow through on the request. River chose the worst of them, though the others weren't much better. He strode over to the group the male was sitting with, grabbed the plate from the wolver's hand, and threw the contents into the fire. The man rose, fists clenched, and snarling. The others rose with him and a staring contest ensued.

  Several minutes went by before the wolver realized his attempt at intimidation wouldn't work. River didn't blink. The errant wolver did.

  "New rule," River snarled. "You don't work, you don't eat. And that goes for every member of this pack."

  "You have no standing here," a female voice called out. "No right."

  He zeroed in on the speaker, took two steps toward her, and pointed his finger at her nose. "Your Alpha has that right," he told her, his voice loud enough to be heard by everyone else as well. "He made the request a few days ago. You all heard him. He asked for the repairs to be done as quickly as possible. A request from your Alpha is the same as an order. I'm here to enforce that order.

  "You took an oath. You pledged your loyalty to your Alpha and your pack. If you don't want to honor that oath, then you pack up and leave, because I'm not going to watch good wolvers go hungry or die while you sit on your asses and do nothing to stop it."

  He spun around to face the others. "That goes for all of you. You say pack comes first, now prove it." He started to walk away, but turned back again with one last threat. "No work, no food. Anyone who wants to challenge me on it can do it tonight after sunset. While there's daylight, there's work to be done."

  No one challenged and everybody began to work. River, Reb, and Darla worked out schedules, organized groups of workers, and prioritized what needed to be done. Once the transformation began and people saw the results of their efforts, things moved faster and more smoothly. Ideas began to take form, like Arnold's smokehouse.

  But in what was to become a habit, he later told Reb. "I won't be here to see them through the winter. I'll be gone before the first snow."

  He'd said it every day since.

  Reb dropped the log she was holding. "He can't go," she said bleakly. "We need him."

  "We need him? Or you do?"

  "We do." Reb closed her eyes tight, but a tear escaped from the corner anyway. "You and the rest of the pack do."

  "What about you?"

  "Me? I'm enjoying my freedom before I join the real world and become what I was born to be. I'm an Alpha's daughter and future Alpha's Mate."

  "Who says?" Darla demanded.

  "Everyone. You know it as well as I do. It's what I'm destined to be."

  "Bullshit."

  Reb's eyes popped open. "Darla!"

  "Fine, maybe I've been hanging around with your boyfriend too much, but if the shoe fits, say so. Call it cow poo if you want to, but it stinks just the same." Darla drove the ax into the stump and put her fists to her hips. "I've been loyal to your mother for as far back as I can remember, and saying this turns my stomach inside out, but she's wrong. Flat out wrong.

  "Just because someone comes from a family of mechanics, doesn't mean they have to be one, too. Just because my family served their Alpha's household, doesn't mean I have to."

  "But you did, Darla," Reb reminded her.

  "Because I chose to," the husky nursemaid said impatiently. "I like what I do. I've loved taking care of Margaret and loved taking care of you. Now I love being Roland's Second. I'm proud of that. My sister wanted her own home and mate. Nobody said she couldn't."

  "Your sister isn't an Alpha's Mate."

  "Neither are you." Darla wagged her finger as if Reb was still six and in pigtails. "And don't give me that potential garbage. Potential means could be, not must be."

  "It doesn't matter," Reb sighed.

  "It does matter, Reb. You matter. Your happiness matters. You love that wolver. It's written all over you. That matters."

  "No, it doesn't," Reb insisted and blurted out the truth. "River doesn't love me."

  The big female shook her head with a disgusted frown. She withdrew her ax from the stump and set another piece of wood in place. The violent thud of her ax blade striking home emphasized her anger and her point. "I'm going to attribute that remark to the stupidity of youth."

  "It's not stupid. He's had ample opportunity to say it. He hasn't."

  "Have you?"

  Reb shook her head.

  "Then maybe you'd better stop playing the meek little babe-in-the-woods and waiting for him to make it happen."

  Celia and Rosemary dropped the log they were dragging.

  "What happen? What's not stupid? Who hasn't said it and what's the it he hasn't said?" Celia asked, not the least apologetic for butting in on the conversation.

  "Never mind. It's not important," Reb answered.

  "River," Rosemary answered at the same time. "What other he does Reb talk about?"

  "He says he's leaving," Darla tried to cover for her.

  "Oh." Reb didn't need her gift to feel Celia's disappointment. Her face said it all. "By the way things are going around here, I thought he'd changed his mind." Her voice reflected the disappointment in her face. "Hasn't he said he loves you?"

  "Does he have to?" Rosemary asked with sudden interest, when Reb shook her head.

  "Not if she's you, apparently." Celia snapped impatiently.

  "What's that supposed to mean?"

  "Oh please, Rosemary. You know perfectly well what I mean. You and what's his name."

  "Nathan," Rosemary bristled. "His name is Nathan and he's very nice. He's a gentleman."

  "He is, Rosemary. Lawrence and I were just discussing him this morning. Taste this, Rebecca." Arnold, who'd arrived with Lawrence while the women were talking, held out a pot and a wooden spoon. "River said we need to conserve our food budget. Susan has been experimenting with ways to make the meat go a little further. You'd never know it was mostly vegetables." He held out a spoonful to Reb. "She wants your approval."

  "She doesn't need my approval, Arnold. If she cooks it, we eat it."

  "The Mate says she does," Lawrence countered. "The Mate also says you need the practice."

  "Oh, for heaven's sake, give it to me." She tasted and nodded. "It's good."

  Her mother had taken Reb at her word and turned over most of her responsibilities with regards to the women of the pack. Her current assignment was to concentrate on individual connections, rather than the whole.

  She closed her eyes, sorted through the various emotions in her mind, and found the pensive Susan. Reb smiled and sent the female a happy sense of appreciation. When she was done, she turned her eyes to her shy friend who'd wandered away toward the equally quiet Nathan. While Reb was searching for Susan, she'd found Rosemary, too. Their timid wolver was in love.

  Arnold followed her gaze to the woman walking away. "I wonder what they talk about?"

  Lawrence laughed. "I wonder if they talk. Period."

  His mate agreed. "You know, I think you're right. I always see them walking side by side, arms barely touching. They stop, she looks up, he looks down, and they smile at each other. And then, they keep on walking. Have you ever seen them talk?"

  "Not me," Reb laughed. "They do the same thing at supper. They sit at the table across from each other. They eat, they chew, they look at each other, swallow and smile, and take another bite." She turned to Celia. "How about you?"

  "No, I've never heard them talk."

  The tiny female sounded sullen, unusual for her, and they kne
w she was holding something back. The three friends continued to stare until Celia gave up what she knew.

  "All right," she said in a huff. "I've never heard them talk, but I heard them going at it in the woods out beyond that big boulder. Tall, dark, and gawky was grunting away while Rosemary moaned. Loudly, I might add. It's a wonder she didn't faint," she added snidely, which wasn't like her, either. "He wasn't going lightly, I can tell you that."

  "Why didn't you say something sooner?" Lawrence asked.

  Celia shrugged. "I wanted to keep her secret."

  They all knew that was a lie. Of the five of them, Celia was always the first with the news and the first to repeat it. They stared at her again.

  "Fine. It's embarrassing. Happy now?"

  "Why would it be embarrassing? You weren't the one grunting and moaning in the woods."

  "That's just it, Lawrence. It isn't me." She waved her hand around the encampment. "Everyone is finding someone, hooking up, as they say. Everyone but me." Celia hung her head, sniffed back a tear, and grumbled resentfully. "Even Rosemary."

  It wasn't everyone, but Reb understood why Celia would feel that way. The pairing up was already beginning with two matings scheduled for the next full moon which was only three nights away. A party was planned for welcoming in the new members and celebrating the newly mated pairs.

  "Oh, Celia, don't. You'll find someone."

  "I already have. He's my mate. Just ask my wolf. She's been howling for him since day one."

  "Then what's the problem?"

  "You! He only has eyes for you."

  Arnold brought his hand, still holding the spoon, to his chest in shocked surprise. "Good heavens, Celia, you don't mean River."

  Celia shared his shock. "No way!" She took a step back from the fiery look Reb was sending her. "I mean, heroic and handsome as you think he is, he's just not my type. Really." She put her hand to her chest. "No pitter-patter of the heart, no snarling wolf attempting to climb the walls, and screaming mate, mate, mate every time he walks by. No, definitely not River. You can have him and when you're done, someone else can have him, but it won't be me."