Wolver's Reward

by Jacqueline Rhoades

  "Help! Alpha! Attack!"

  Reb called and called while River fought. Her frustration grew beyond anger. It erupted without thought. This time, she did not allow her guard to dance away from her attempts to free herself. She lunged, attacked, and when he moved away, she kept going. Muscles wound tight, she sprang forward. He rose on hind legs to meet her leap and they fell. She clawed and scrambled away, tumbling painfully when her forelegs crumpled. Her tail was trapped by the jaws of the one she fought. Reb rolled and kicked out at the face containing the jaws. The grip on her tail loosened.

  More wolves came through the trees beyond.

  "Run!" She heard the first order as raspy and indistinct, a wolf's voice she'd never heard before, but it demanded her obedience.

  "We come. Run," came the steadier command of her Alpha, her father.

  The two commands forced her to run. She had no choice. The Alpha must be obeyed.

  Her guards weren't prepared for her reversal of direction and their distraction gave her a head start. Reb ran like she'd never run before. Her feet flew over the ground, leapt before the thought entered her mind, slid around obstacles, and clawed their way over mounds of dirt and rock. Behind her she could hear the sounds of continued battle and a sharp cry, cut in half by her gasping lungs, escaped. River was alone. Forced to follow her Alpha's demand, she'd left him behind.

  She'd left him! Her body stopped mid leap, turned in the air, and landed facing the direction from which she'd come. Through the trees she saw the large male tearing in her direction. It wasn't one of her guards that she half expected to see and was prepared to fight. This wolf was heavy set and tawny colored. Even from this distance, she could see he was older and showed signs of scarring. It was Donavan.

  There was no returning to the battle now. Her only hope was to run. He would not mount her as a wolf. Such a thing was an anathema to every wolver and would serve no purpose if he wanted her as his Mate. The moon was sinking fast. With its passing from the night sky she would come home to human. She had to outrun him and find a place to hide. She was running out of time.

  Reb ran as if a hound of hell were after her, which in fact, was exactly what Donavan was.

  ~*~

  River's cry to flee must have gotten through to Reb. He saw her change course and run. He had no choice but to fight on as other wolves descended on the scene of battle. His battle was lost. Fate had finally won, but he wouldn't leave this world quietly. He would not give her that. He would fight as he always had from the moment he'd stabbed the old Alpha with a kitchen knife. He would inflict as much pain and damage as he could before Fate had her way.

  He fought his way through the last two of his attackers and took on two more. Turning to deal another death blow, his victim was taken to the ground by another. Lawrence, body newly muscled by hard work and training, dove into the wolf's throat while behind him, the shorter and pudgier body of Arnold went for the underbelly.

  All around him, Sweet Valley wolvers worked in pairs and units. Their human training transformed to wolf. It wasn't smooth or graceful. They were awkward and ungainly in their movements and maneuvers. But it worked. Half of them had tasted blood lust before. Others never knew they had it in them. They knew it now. They outnumbered the intruders and they were taking no prisoners.

  Ben was a bulldozer covered in fur. He crushed anything in his path. Toby and Quentin worked behind him, attacking anything he missed. They looked like they were enjoying themselves. Skinny and quick, Scar darted in and out, fangs flashing, claws tearing. Darla worked with him, her style ham-fisted like her human self.

  Roland was limping through the trees toward the battle. His hind leg was deformed. River could see the exhaustion in the old wolf's progress. He ran to the Alpha, nodded his silent message, and took off at a full run in the direction Reb had fled. He was no longer needed here and Reb would be the Alpha's first concern.

  Urgency gripped him now as it hadn't before. Donavan was nowhere to be seen which meant he'd avoided the battle to seek his prey. Reb's scent was strong and clear in his nostrils, bitter with terror, but still clear and clean. Donavan smelled rank with evil.

  When he saw the wolver with the tawny colored coat ahead of him, he knew immediately that he'd found his quarry. River didn't stop or slow. There was no need for Challenge. There was no honor here. He remembered hearing somewhere that anything was fair in love and war. This was both.

  The Alpha turned, snarling, and River plowed into him with that thought in mind.

  They tumbled over and over. River felt Donavan's jaws snap, as he pulled his head away in time. They sprang to their feet and met head on, tearing fur, but doing no real damage. They grappled, sprang apart, and went at it again. The next time they separated, Donavan rolled back his shoulders. The power of his magic began to fill the space between them.

  A white streak of silky fur sailed out of the trees and hit the Alpha. He staggered, but didn't go down. Immense with the power of his station, Donavan latched onto Reb's thick ruff and tossed her aside. She smacked, back first against a nearby tree. Her head snapped forward from the impact. It didn't come back up.

  Something broke loose inside River. The tether that anchored the anger that had lived inside him for most of his life broke free. Every hurt, every indignity, every beating, and every death came boiling up with it. He blazed with it, felt his body expand with it. Fiery red haze clouded his vision, obscuring everything except the Alpha who'd hurt the Mate.

  River roared out his rage and was on him before the startled Alpha had time to blink. He tore at him, ripping flesh and fur in a mindless frenzy of ferocity. He twisted, dove, evaded, snapped, and clawed, heedless of any wounds he might suffer. Donavan was older, larger, and wiser in the ways of war, but he didn't have River's agility and speed, or his knowledge. River had seen the tawny fight, knew his weakness, and knew age had robbed Donavan of stamina.

  And Donavan had no idea that it wasn't one Alpha his opponent was fighting. It was every monster the younger wolver had ever known. Donavan and all the others like him had created River. While the Alpha didn't understand the reason for the young wolver's savagery, he recognized a monster greater than himself. His eyes glazed with fear.

  Fear. River saw it and rejoiced in it. He circled the beast who was no longer Donavan, but every brutal Alpha he'd ever known as a cub, every monster he'd feared, but lacked the power to fight. Paybacks were hell and Donavan would pay for them all.

  River beat Donavan as if he were human. He cut him, bruised him, cracked ribs and long bones, but not so badly that the Alpha couldn't fight. Donavan knew he was beaten. He waited for his moment. He turned and ran.

  Tired from his own battles, River followed him, but not too fast. There was no need. Donavan was finished.

  When he found him, Donavan was belly down and crawling. Roland stood in his path.

  The old gray Alpha, friend and mentor, looked up at River and back down at the beast lying at his feet. When he looked at River again, the wolf's message was clear. Donavan was River's kill to make if he chose to do so.

  River raised his snout to the setting moon and howled his victory. It was enough to have avenged his past. He turned and trotted back to Reb. Donavan's death scream echoed across the forest.

  Others were already running up the path to their Alpha, howling their victory, too.

  Reb met him halfway. Unsteady and staggering a bit on four feet, she almost fell when reduced to two when the moon reached the horizon and called her wolvers home. River was there to catch her up into his arms. Her feet were bare and she was wearing a yellow sundress, cotton, he assumed since it was still in one piece. After all she'd been through, she still smelled like sunshine and clear water from a mountain spring.

  "I can walk. I'm okay," she protested even as she snuggled closer and wrapped her arm around his neck.

  "He could have killed you, you know," River scolded.

  "I could say the same to you," she answered. She sighed. "You did
n't kill him, did you." It wasn't a question.

  "No, your father did."

  "Father?" She sounded surprised and River laughed.

  "He is the Alpha, you know. Another invaded his territory. It was his right."

  "I know, but...Father? Really?"

  River didn't laugh. "Roland is the Alpha. Fair and just. He is what an Alpha should be, what all wolvers should be?"

  "So are you," she whispered, head resting on his shoulder.

  River didn't think so and Reb wouldn't think so either if she'd seen what he became when he fought Donavan.

  Reb looked up when he didn't answer. "Are you okay?"

  "I'm fine. A few scratches is all."

  "That's good because I have another question."

  "What?"

  "Are you in the mood for fudge?"

  "Fudge?" Between the moon and the battle, it was a helluva lot more than a mood and it sure as hell was a lot more than fudge.

  "Yes, fudge," she said and then she giggled. "You can call it whatever you like, but only after we're in bed."

  Chapter 29

  Their time alone was delayed. River couldn't walk three feet without a group of wolvers stopping them to ask what happened with Donavan. Most of them already knew, but they wanted to hear it from the hero's mouth. They were disappointed in River's lack of specifics.

  "I did my duty as the Alpha's Champion. Roland killed him as is his right."

  Ignoring the Champion's example, they went on to proudly tell him in minute detail of their own role in what Rosemary, Sweet Valley's self-proclaimed historian and known romanticist, was already calling the Battle of the Chase.

  She ran up to them, hands flapping in her signature fan. "I didn't slap. I bit. Twice, and they were good ones. I felt so bold and daring," she declared proudly and then leaned in, voice lowered to a whisper. "Nathan finished him. Please, River, tell him how proud you are. He was very brave."

  "We will. Absolutely," Reb told her because River wasn't talking much. He was tense and unsmiling and she didn't know why. Frightening as it had been, the run had been a success. Donavan and his men were gone and the pack was elated by the victory.

  They'd already received a status report from Scar, he being the only one who thought the Alpha and River might want to know. There were several injuries. Most would heal in a day or two. To everyone's relief, there were no casualties.

  "We made up in numbers what we lacked in skill," Scar told them with a shrug.

  "They need more practice." River looked around the compound. "I wish I knew how they found us."

  "Gordon. You should have killed him when you had the chance."

  River shook his head. "No. The Alpha was right and it's better this happened now than later. One less thing for you to worry about."

  "Want to hear the kicker?"

  Reb didn't. She wanted River. Alone. But River nodded at the question.

  "Hit me."

  "His former buddies are the ones who took him out. Whatever the hell you're doing here, son, you're doing it right."

  "It's not me. It's the pack. Anything else?"

  The Alpha was tired, but no worse off. The Mate was tending to the injured. There was no reason for her or River to be out and about. Everything was being handled.

  Reb took one last look around, searching, but not really worried. "Where's Celia?"

  "Oh, um," Rosemary waved her hand vaguely, "She's um, she and Ben took a stroll, um..."

  Reb laughed, glad her idea of using Ben to make River jealous had fallen through. "That's okay, honey. We get the picture." She looked up at River. "Sharing fudge."

  "Oh, no, Arnold made that for...Oh dear." She looked around, a bit desperately. "You need to talk to Arnold and I need to go...um...find Nathan." Rosemary beamed as if she'd found a solution to a problem. She scurried off, head snapping from side to side like a worried hen.

  Lawrence and Arnold had already given them a wave and salute, but now walked toward them grinning like two Cheshire cats.

  "I take it back, River. Fighting is not a barbaric enterprise, not when used to defend one's hearth. It was quite exhilarating, actually. Satisfying. Both during and after," he said with a wink.

  "Fudge," Reb giggled.

  "Who told?" Arnold demanded. He glared at his partner.

  "Not me!" Lawrence frowned at Arnold and complained to the others. "A minute ago I was his hero. Now he suspects me of being a stool pigeon."

  "Oh go put your shirt on," Arnold snapped.

  "You said you liked me without my shirt," the other huffed. He waved his hand. "Just tell them what we came to say."

  "Yes, yes, fine." The wolver cleared his throat. "In gratitude for all you have done for us, Lawrence and I have abandoned our premises for the rest of the night. We offer it to you both for your enjoyment." He paused to wink before he added. "And not to worry, I've taken care of everything."

  "You?" Lawrence drew the indignant word into two syllables.

  "Fine. Lawrence changed the sheets."

  Reb hugged and kissed them both to stop the bickering before it continued. "You're wonderful. Both of you."

  She pulled River behind her toward the cabin Arnold and Lawrence shared with another couple. She wanted to get there before they were interrupted again. They were at the steps before River pulled back.

  "Babe," he said quietly. "I've got some things I need to do."

  "You'll be back, right? You promise?" She knew he had to be exhausted, but his quiet solemnity worried her. Something was wrong.

  "I promise."

  It was in his eyes. The sadness was back. She reached out to touch his cheek.

  "We don't have to do anything, you know. I just want to hold you in my arms, feel you beside me."

  "Don't worry, Babe, I plan to do a whole lot more than hold you in my arms." He pulled the hand at his cheek to his lips and kissed the palm. "Fifteen minutes, no more. Make sure the shower's hot, okay?"

  "Okay," she said, but knew it wasn't.

  ~*~

  Being the Alpha's daughter, Reb had managed to claim a room for herself. It was a former closet and was stuffed with boxes and bags piled high to allow for a pallet on the floor. It was tiny and cramped, but offered them some privacy at night if you didn't count the dozen females sleeping outside the door.

  River kept his few possessions in the room he officially shared with five other wolvers, and that was where he was headed. It didn't take him long to pack. His clothes were already folded neatly in the duffle. A small cardboard box held personal items. These he packed in the side pockets of his bag.

  The small metal box was at the bottom of the cardboard one. It was a former cookie tin with a hinged lid. He'd stolen it from the trash bin in the kitchen when he first came to live at Wolf's Head. That box held everything that was important to him.

  On top were the creased and crinkled papers Eugene Begley had handed him the day River left. He'd never read them, wasn't sure why he kept them, and almost tossed them aside to be thrown away. He changed his mind and left them where they were. It was time he read them and heard what they had to say.

  He'd grown up a lot in this past month. He'd learned a lot about himself. He'd lost a lot of his anger and even if it sometimes felt like losing an old friend, he was confident he could fill the hole the anger left behind. The monster, he wasn't sure about, but after his fight with Donavan, he felt like there was a hole there, too.

  His papers were there beneath Begley's; birth certificate, Social Security card, vehicle registration, everything he needed to get along in the human world. His money was still there. Not nearly what he started with, but still a good sum. He left most of it under the pillow where eventually it would be found. That and the thousand the Mate still owed him was for Sweet Valley pack. They needed it more than he did and he had nothing else to give.

  Of the seven items left in the box, River chose three. The glass cat's eye marble was Crow's. The pup called it his lucky charm and he carried it with hi
m wherever he went except on the day he drowned. Next was a plastic wind-up toy, barely two inches high. It was a little duck and when you turned the tiny knob, it would waddle across the table. When Skeeter died, River had offered it to Meadow, but she refused to touch it and he couldn't bear to throw it away.

  The third was another theft, a gold-toned bracelet that belonged to Kat. It came with the package of pictures she made them sit for at the mall. You'd need a magnifying glass to see the five of them squished together in the little heart that dangled from the links. He never understood why he took it, but he did now. They were the people he cared for most and it belonged to the Mate who loved them all.

  These things he put in his pocket. The trinkets from the other four went back in the box. He closed the lid, made sure it was sealed tight, and ran his hand over the picture on top.

  Children dressed in old fashioned clothes danced around a Christmas tree brightly lit with candles. Two were girls, one the oldest, the other youngest by their size. The two little boys fell somewhere in the middle. Four children, laughing and happy in the loving home that had taken them in, a home where he was loved, but had never felt like his.

  River packed the box away, and loaded the duffle in the back of the truck. He spent five minutes locating Toby and Quentin. It was another five before he got them to shut up long enough to tell them what he wanted.

  "Ten bucks apiece to load my bike."

  "Where you going?"

  "You're not leaving, are you?"

  "I'm taking it down the mountain. Trading it in." It wasn't a lie, though it wasn't an answer.

  More time was wasted while they offered their unasked for advice.

  "Forget it," he finally told them. "I'm buying a snowmobile. Come winter, it'll be a lot more useful than a motorcycle."

  While the two compared what little they knew about the winter vehicles, River walked away.