Wolver's Reward

by Jacqueline Rhoades

  "This is what we offer to those who would join us. This is what Dennis wanted for all. This is what I offer you in his stead and in his memory. For those who wish to stand with us, step forward and be recognized."

  "Is it your wish to join Sweet Valley Pack?" Roland asked, his voice carrying with it the power of his mantle.

  "It is," came the chorused reply.

  "Will you swear to uphold Pack Law no matter the cost?"

  "I will," Each individual voice rang out.

  "Will you swear to place the needs of the pack above your own and follow your Alpha in whatever he may ask of you even unto death?"

  "I will."

  Reb watched as River lips moved with the others, though he made no sound. His body shivered with emotion. He wanted this. Why couldn't he just speak the words of the pledge aloud?

  "Who stands for these wolvers?" Roland called to the crowd.

  Against the shouted support from the pack, River's words were so softly whispered, only Reb could hear. "I do. I stand for these wolvers, every man, woman, and pup."

  "Henceforth you will go over the moon in her fullness and at your Alpha's behest as members of the Sweet Valley pack. Welcome."

  The new females wept with the Mate's projection of love and reassurance and even a few of the males dabbed their eyes. Where half the wolvers had smiled before with it, now all did. All except River. Reb wanted to wrap her arms around him, but she was afraid he'd pull away from such a public display.

  The couples to be mated stepped forward, and spoke their vows to each other. The full moon was about to rise, but the Alpha had a few more words to say.

  "In honor of this auspicious occasion, and in spite of the Mate's protests concerning my health which I assure you are unfounded, I hereby declare that all shall run with the rising moon tonight. Why should we men celebrate our new beginnings alone?"

  This was the best news yet, particularly since no one expected it. The moon offered females a chance to run only once a year at the Hunter's Moon. No one knew why and theories abounded. At all other full moons, females needed the power of their Alpha to go over to wolf. The shift took a great deal of the Alpha's power to concentrate the moon's gift and perform the change.

  "He's too weak," River muttered and began to step forward.

  "He's the Alpha," Reb reminded.

  "He's a damn fool." River pulled away and took off.

  Reb would have followed, but Roland's eyes pulled her eyes to him. He held her by the power of his will, not as her father, but as her Alpha, even as he addressed the few women who chose not to run. One was the mother of the pup who'd almost drowned.

  Always one for theatrics, the Alpha threw back his head and raised his arms. Released from her father's thrall, Reb caught sight of the dark form behind him. River was camouflaged by the dappling of the changing leaves, but Reb would know the shape of that body anywhere. Wind blew, shifting the foliage, and she caught a glimpse of his face, frozen in angry concentration and staring and her father's back.

  And then the power of the moon caught her and she was changed to wolf.

  ~*~

  River knew the Alpha's power wasn't enough. He was stronger than when they first met, but not strong enough to do what he had planned. There were too many females eager to go over the moon. Roland would collapse under the weight of it. The pack would panic. The night would be ruined. River couldn't let that happen.

  It was possible for an Alpha to draw on the power of his pack. Roland himself, had spoken of it.

  "I have heard of situations where an Alpha has used the ability to save himself. I suppose there are circumstances where this would be fitting, but I cannot think of one. An Alpha should be willing to sacrifice himself for his pack, never the reverse."

  "But what if the pack wanted to do it?" River asked. It had become a game between them. The Alpha would lecture and River would ask questions he thought were impossible to answer. "Pack comes first. Every alpha in the pack has power, nothing that compares with yours, sir, I know, but what if a few wanted to give what little they had to their Alpha, for the benefit of the pack. Could they do it?"

  Roland sat back in his lawn chair throne. He closed his eyes and thought for so long, River thought he might have fallen asleep. Finally, he opened his eyes.

  "I can find no reason why the reverse should not be true, but I also believe that the result would be the same. In a large pack, the Alpha could draw upon the many. He would sap their strength without killing them all." He smiled benignly. "He might lose a few, but certainly not all. Power from only a few whether it be taken or given would surely kill the donors. I am not sure of this, and I would not want to be the one to find out."

  River was the one who decided to find out. He'd been filling with the moon's power for days. He half expected to burst with it, to go out in a shower of brightly colored sparks like fireworks exploding in the box they came in. When it came to power, he had plenty to share and the Alpha was welcome to it. River had learned a lot from the old man. He owed him, and passing off some of the power churning inside him would benefit River, too. If he could release enough energy, it might keep him from going crazy. He needed to keep his wits about him for this first run with the pack and last night with Reb.

  The shift hit River hard and fast. All his concentration had been focused on Roland. He felt the flow, but whether it was taken or given, he couldn't tell. The Alpha felt it, too. River saw the old Alpha's back straighten, saw his chin come up, and saw his body swell with the power of the mantle. Some said it was an optical illusion, but River knew it wasn't. Filled with the power of the moon and the mantle, the Alpha became larger than life. This was River's first glimpse of what the Alpha Roland must have once been and would hopefully be again.

  One glimpse was all he got and then, bang! It happened so fast, it almost knocked him off his feet. It reminded him of the first time he'd gone over the moon. He'd felt like a fool almost falling on his nose, but the men of Wolf's Head had stepped forward and showed him what he needed to know.

  River felt a twinge of guilt over the memory, the same as he'd felt while the new members repeated their oath to Sweet Valley. He'd wanted to say the words with them, to pledge his loyalty to Sweet Valley, too, and it felt like a betrayal of all Wolf's Head had given him.

  They'd cared for him. He'd refused to see it, but it was there all along. He shouldn't have left the way he did. He should have talked it out and really listened to what they had to say. He only hoped the feelings were still there when he returned someday and asked their forgiveness.

  These thoughts flashed through his mind quicker than it took him to regain his balance. The pack was transformed and their Alpha stood before them, a wise old wolf, still strong in the ways he needed to be. Growing up hating the Alpha's mantle, River was now torn between the two men, both carrying its power and magic, he admired most in the world.

  That thought was pushed aside by the feel of Reb's hind end swinging into his. She grinned, letting her tongue loll out the side of her wide mouth, lumpy with the sharp teeth holding it up. She wiggled and danced. Come play with me.

  She was as beautiful as he knew she would be, pure white from head to tail. Her dark eyes stood out like a beacon of warming fire in a world blanketed with snow. His own dark red fur looked coarse and rusty next to her silkiness. Long, delicate looking legs, a slender body, and graceful neck ending in regal head mimicked her human form. And like her human form, her wolf made him laugh.

  River gave himself over to his wolf. He leapt, twisted in the air, and landed facing her. He moved forward and lowered his head until their faces were side by side and eye to eye. Stone still, he stayed that way for a full minute, daring her to move.

  It was a game played by wolves, a contest of sorts, to see who had the stronger will. It was also a way for a male to show interest in a female. Females rarely accepted a male of a less dominant will. He thought the slinky white wolf was going to give him a hard time of it, but then her
ear twitched, the first sign of breaking concentration. He waited another few seconds for her submissive whine, not female to male, but wolf to wolf. He didn't get it. Instead of a whine, he got a nip on the nose and then she was off and running.

  Excited, his wolf tore after her, passed her with a playful woof and a leap, and took the lead. When she veered from the path he wanted her to follow, he forced her to turn. There were things he wanted her to see. He showed her where the elk fed and the deer hid. He showed her where the rabbits lived in their underground city.

  He listened to her wolf laugh as he chased a mouse beneath the damp covering of the forest floor. He pounced repeatedly, more like a cat than wolf. She yipped her delight in the silly display and joined in the fun. It was River's turn to laugh when he caught the mouse and tossed it to her. It was the traditional display of wolvers to feed the one they loved. No one else would ever know, but maybe, when she looked back on her life, Reb would remember the silly wolf who showed her his love with a mouse.

  Instinct made her wolf catch the tiny rodent. Her human squealed and made her drop it. River realized she didn't know what to do with it. Up until now, her pack had run in a park with manicured lawns and undergrowth trimmed away from beneath the trees. She'd never run wild, but she needed to learn.

  River caught another and swallowed it down whole, sipping the tail in like a strip of spaghetti. Mice were good to eat and according to Kat, Wolf's Head's teacher and Mate, many full blooded wolves lived on the little creatures when larger prey was scarce.

  He caught a third and howled his pleasure when, with only a slight hesitation, the white wolf swallowed it down. Reb stretched out her forelegs and keeping her rear end high in the air, she bowed her thanks for the praise and then took off running before he could find her another mouse.

  They stopped and drank from a cold, clear stream. The taste of it reminded the human River of Reb's pure and soul cleansing kisses.

  If River were given a choice free of Fate and Destiny, he would have spent the rest of his life here in these mountains with Reb by his side. He understood Nature with her balance of cruelty and bounty. He had no understanding of the concept of God, but if he did, he would have seen a life with Reb as heaven.

  It was all over too soon. The moon reached her zenith and too quickly started to descend. It was time to come home.

  Reb refused to go. She danced around his insistence that they leave. She ran from him when he tried to turn her in the direction of home. She had no wish to return to that life. She wanted to stay here with him. As good as that made him feel, River knew that this night must end. He nipped at her flank, not hard, but impatient. She yelped, louder than the nip warranted. All night creatures stopped their chatter and movement at the sound.

  It was then River heard it, the soft brush of canine paws in the growth beneath the trees. He snarled as he caught the faintest scent on the breeze. It was a scent he'd imbedded in his memory.

  Once again, Fate had kicked River in the teeth. Donavan had found them.

  Chapter 28

  Reb was only teasing when she yelped. She'd never run alone with anyone, male or female. She was always with the pack, always did what they did, which pretty much consisted of trotting over the grounds of a local park for a few hours and sniffing at squirrel paths. That was for dogs.

  What River showed her was for wolves, and she was enjoying it. This was what her father had spoken of. This was his dream and for the first time, Reb understood it. As difficult as the adjustment might be to living without the amenities found in collegiate suburbia, this was where she was meant to be. Who needed supermarkets, museums, and movie theaters when you could have this? She wanted to prolong the experience until the moon called her home.

  River's reaction to her teasing was disappointing. He'd been having fun, too. His carefree enjoyment of the world around them was part of her pleasure. He was free and relaxed. This was where he needed to be, as well. She almost yipped at him again to demonstrate her discontent, but caught herself in time.

  He wasn't watching her, but the trees. Eyes intent, his nose lifted, searching for scent. His lip curled just enough to expose an upper canine. His eyes shifted, just a glance her way, and then moved back to the trees.

  Reb moved stealthily forward until she was by his side. He silently snarled at her and nudged her with his snout, not playfully as before, but impatiently. His wolf was no longer wild and beautiful. It was frightening. He nudged her again, this time angrily. Her wolf interpreted the confusing signal.

  "Run."

  Run? And leave him alone to whatever danger he perceived? No!

  Reb stood her ground and lifted her head as he did. Mouth open to taste the scent as well as smell it, she drew in air that carried with it the thousands of odors that pervaded the woodland. Dead leaves, squirrel, raccoon, deer droppings, River. Her wolf's brain sifted through the innumerable smells that assailed it, searching for the one that didn't fit. And there it was. Not it, but they. There were eight of them and they all smelled of Donavan.

  Fear bordering on panic seized her. Donavan was here!

  "Father! Help!" she cried out in her mind in the hope that her father was close enough to hear through the connection he shared with his pack. Her wolf echoed the call.

  "Alpha! Help!" Not father, but Alpha, the leader of her pack. Images of the route they'd taken flashed before her mind's eye.

  River's body suddenly relaxed from its frozen stance, but not because the danger was past. Like a fighter in the ring, he loosened his muscles in preparation for their use. They were coming. He was ready. He could not fight them all.

  Reb opened her mind further to the females and broadcast to them as well. It was emotion, not images or words, but if one of them was close enough to feel it, they would pass the message along.

  River nudged her again, no longer urging her to run, but demanding she change her position. Reb wanted to stand by his side, shoulder to shoulder. He snarled and nipped at her and this time it hurt. Reb leapt away from the sharp display of teeth. Her wolf understood where she did not.

  "Let go," it insisted. "Wolf."

  All her life, she heard the Law; the wolf must never rule the human, but now Reb's mind screamed the opposite. Listen to your wolf!

  "Wolf fight."

  Reb let her human reasoning fade back. Wolf instinct took over. She moved as River wanted her to, behind him, bodies aligned, her nose to his tail. He was the stronger, but her position was not one of protection. He knew he couldn't fight them alone, but he would have been willing to do so for her safety. She didn't run. Now she must fight.

  "Alpha! Help!"

  They came at River and not at her. She was the protected prize and not the defender that stood in the way. A large gray came at River's hind quarters. Reb darted forward, slashing at the animal's snout. He pulled back in surprise, but her attack wasn't enough. He lunged again.

  Behind her, she felt the shove of a snout, a body pressing between River and herself. They were trying to separate the two. She wanted to turn and defend her flank. She couldn't. Another had joined the gray at River's rear end. She attacked, more viciously than her first stroke. She aimed for the closest eye. The wolf moved and she captured its snout. This time she did not withdraw. With more force than she knew she possessed, her jaws clamped down. She tasted blood.

  And the blood tasted like victory. Fear receded. Cold rage replaced it. Keeping River at her flank, she moved with him, one fighting unit moving with the other. She slashed, she tore, she felt the crunch of bone between her powerful jaws. Pain slashed her outer flank, surprising her with its sharp heat. In that split second of distraction, she was torn from River's side. She was rolled to her back by a powerful blow. She leapt to her feet, ready to charge back into the fray, but her way back to River's side was blocked.

  Two of the attackers were down, one badly injured, one unmoving. Two blocked her way. River was fighting three alone. She tried to maneuver around her captors, but they cu
t her off at every turn. She slashed and attacked, but they had room now to evade her snapping jaws. They kept her pinned in place and thwarted her every attempt to return to River's side.

  River fought on with cold, hard determination. Blood spattered his thick coat and strong muzzle, both darker and more gleaming than the fur beneath it. There was no way to tell if the injuries were his or from those he'd inflicted. He was a whirling ball of fur and fury.

  At her howl of rage, his power increased. It spread like a blood red fog surrounding those he fought and spreading beyond to the two guarding her. One of his attackers hesitated at the release and that hesitation cost him his life. River's jaw slashed and tore at its throat.

  There was hesitation in her own guards and Reb took the opportunity to do some slashing of her own. It wasn't enough to drive them away, but there was satisfaction in the wounding.

  River continued his onslaught, moving with savage precision. Reb began to feel like victory might be possible if only she could find a way to join the fight. Three attackers were down, two guarded her, two fought River and one of those was failing badly.

  Seven attackers. There should be eight. Knowing her guards wouldn't harm her, Reb looked around for the eighth. She couldn't find him and she began to worry about what that meant. Fear returned when one of her guards lifted his snout and cocked his head to the side. He was listening, and then she heard it, too. More wolves were coming. Her guard's lack of fear at the sound increased her own.