Wolver's Rescue (23 page)

“
They’re not stupid,” Tommie
defended her new found friends. She clenched her fist and looked
like she was ready to fight him on their behalf.

He folded her fist in his. “I didn’t say they
were, but there isn’t an alpha among them. They’re omegas, bottom
of the pack. They’ve spent most of their lives being shown what to
do and then told when to do it. They haven’t learned to think for
themselves or think things through. I don’t know whether they
thought they could run forever or they hoped he’d give up because
they would have. Either way, they were wrong. It was only a matter
of time before he caught up with them. You don’t steal from an
Alpha and expect him to take it gracefully.”

“
You’re siding with the
Alpha?”

“
About the way he runs his
pack? No. About stealing from his pack? Yes. He has every right to
go after the thieves. I would.”

“
I don’t understand you,”
she said. “If you think he’s right, why are you helping
them?”

“
Because he’s the one that
made them thieves.”

Her brow furrowed and she pursed her lips
like she was trying to understand his logic.

Bull thought he wouldn’t mind sitting with
Tommie in this sunny spot for a little bit longer. Every time she
readjusted her seat, his body sat up and took notice. Her body was
warm, she smelled like chocolate, and with her mouth all puckered
up, she looked like she needed to be kissed.

Through the trees, he heard a shout of
laughter that pulled him back to the business at hand. The troops
were high on their victory. He needed to tell them it was only a
battle and they still had to win the war. He wasn’t sure they
could. He couldn’t hang around forever and he sure as hell didn’t
think they would be the best teachers for Tommie.

“
Come on, spitfire. I need
to talk to the wolvers. They’ve had their time to celebrate and now
it’s time for cold, hard facts.” He sighed. “And I need to have it
out with Macey.”

They were halfway back when she ran ahead and
turned to face him, walking backward while she spoke.

“
You talk to the pack, and
I’ll take care of Macey.” She placed her hand on his chest. “I can
do that Bull, and not to put too fine a point on it, I’ll be better
at it than you.” She laughed at the look her gave her. “I know, I
know, no one is better than you, but in this case I think you’re
wrong. I’m betting I have more experience with surly teenaged girls
than you do and I won’t get all huffy-puffy when I talk to
her.”

“
Huffy-puffy?” he asked with
a great deal of twitching at the corners of his mouth. He’d been
called a lot of things, but never that.

“
Yes, huffy-puffy. You know,
that thing where you make yourself big and scary. You did it with
Eli and you do it every time someone in the pack asks you a
question. I mean, not...” She hunched her shoulders and spoke in a
deep, growly voice. “... big and scary,” and followed in her normal
voice, “like that nasty Alpha, but it’s there and it makes everyone
drop their eyes like they’re afraid to look at you.”

“
They’re not afraid to look
at me. That’s a sign of respect, Tommie.”

“
Maybe it is,” she conceded,
though she didn’t sound like she believed it. “But it’s not a
tactic to use when talking to a teenaged girl. Besides, I’m the one
she wronged. I’m the one who should discuss it with
her.”

“
Fine,” he laughed. “You go
have your discussion, but you make damn sure she understands that
if it happens again, she’ll be talking to me.”

“
Yes, sir.” Tommie used the
hand she saluted him with to stop him when she placed it on his
chest. “Now that I‘ve saved you the trouble of talking to Macey,
you have time to kiss me again. And make it a good one, one that’ll
make me think of you all night long so I’m extra ready when you
come home.”

Bull pulled her to him, and did as she
ordered. Slanting his head to the side, he captured her mouth and
demanded entry. His tongue force its way between her lips and she
immediately yielded. Her body pressed into his. Her arms lifted and
circled his neck as she kissed him back.

Damn, but he was going to miss the bossy
little bitch when it was time for him to go.

The celebration had fallen apart. In the few
minutes it took them to walk back to the camp, the cries of victory
had turned to shouts of anger. Tommie couldn’t believe how quickly
the party deteriorated into a near brawl.

“
You’re not listening to me,
Shorty,” Samuel shouted at a slightly built man who Tommie had seen
limping around camp.

“
And who the hell are you to
tell me anything,” Shorty bellowed in a voice that belonged to a
man twice his size. “Just because you sleep in that damned bus
doesn’t make you the boss. Me and Sarah and the cub will be better
off on our own.”

“
You’ll starve on your own,”
Samuel argued.

“
We’re gonna starve anyway.
Bogie lost every last dollar while you and Eli were stuck in that
place.”

“
That’s your own damn fault.
Why didn’t you stop him. Why weren’t you earnin’ instead of
spendin’. I can tell you why...”

A third man joined in and Tommie wasn’t sure
whose side he was on. Maybe he wasn’t on any side at all. Everyone
seemed to have a side of their own.

Samuel and Shorty weren’t the only ones.
Boris was squared off with the tall thin man everyone called
Stretch. Two of the cubs were rolling on the ground, pounding on
each other or grappling for a headlock, Tommie wasn’t sure
which.

“
Take it back!” one shouted
as his fist connected with the others’ nose.

The women were no better, though they were
quieter, except for the heavy set woman. Tommie had been
introduced, but didn’t remember her name.

“
This is Eli’s fault,” she
screeched at a sobbing Molly. “If he’d done like everyone else,
this wouldn’t have happened. If he’d kept an eye on that little
bitch of yours instead of running off all the time, there wouldn’t
have been a reason to go, but while he was running, so was she.
‘Cept she was running with that horny hound.

“
Macey wasn’t the reason you
chose to go,” Cora shouted.

“
And I don’t recall anyone
inviting you,” another woman chimed in.

There was more than anger. Worry and fear
filled the air around them. Tommie felt like she could almost touch
it, like it was filling her, too. She raised her hands and called
to them for quiet. No one listened to her.

But all heads turned when the air was
suddenly filled with something else. It rolled over the arguing
crowd in waves. The shouting and screeching was already subsiding
by the time Bull roared.

“
Listen!”

Everyone listened to Bull. It was impossible
not to. Tommie was pretty sure even the birds and squirrels shut up
and listened. She, herself, was listening intently. A loose log
rolled from the pile. In the silence it sounded like thunder.
Beside her, Bull was doing his huffy-puffy thing.

She’d thought Bull used the power of
whatever-it-was to frighten people, just as the Alpha had used it
that afternoon, but she’d been wrong. The air around them was clear
of all worry, anger, and fear. They all felt secure with Bull in
charge.

It wasn’t until she looked up at him to smile
that she realized her head was bowed, too, and her eyes were
lowered like the others. When he looked down at her, she
grinned.

“
Huffy-puffy,” she whispered
and gave him a thumbs up.

Bull shook his head and sighed. The power
that held them dissipated as quickly as it came.

“
Look at me. Right up here,”
he said, and tapped his nose.

He waited patiently while the woman, Sarah,
lifted her toddler into her arms and directed the child’s attention
to the only wolver who was speaking. Bull gave her what looked like
a congratulatory nod, and it must have been, because Sarah beamed
in response like she’d been given a gift. He then made eye contact
with every wolver in the group, moving from a face to face, and for
every one that lowered their eyes, he repeated, “Look at me.”

When his eyes reached her, Tommie felt the
she-wolf standing a little taller and she straightened her spine
along with it. She felt the burst of pride for her wolver. She
didn’t, however, like what the big guy had to say.

“
You will all die in one way
or another,” he began. “He will destroy you as a group, or he will
pick you off one by one, but you will die. The best hope you have
is for those pups. If you’re lucky, he’ll raise them up as examples
of what happens to the families of those who betray
him.”

There was a short, sharp cry from the mother
who’d earned Bull’s silent praise.

“
Bull,” Tommie complained,
“Don’t be so mean.” He’d calmed them down only to scare the hell
out of them.

“
Shut up, Tommie,” he
snapped at her and then he said to the rest, “You stole from him
and you humiliated him and he’s not going to let that go. You want
to run? I won’t stop you, but you take what you can carry and head
out through the woods, because you won’t make it on the road.
They’re watching. I know, because it’s what I would do.”

Stretch started to speak, but then snapped
his mouth shut.

Bull’s eyes went directly to him. “If you
have a question, ask it. If you have a complaint, voice it. If
you’re going to lay blame at anyone’s feet but your own, swallow
it.”

It wasn’t Stretch who spoke. It was Shorty.
“If we’re all gonna die anyway, why’d you make the plan?”

“
Because I thought the
practice drills would help you come together as a group,” Bull
said, his voice rising with each sentence. “Because you said you
hadn’t seen hide nor hair of the Alpha or his men. And because,
goddamnit, you didn’t mention you stole ten thousand fucking
dollars from him!”

Tommie leaned into him. “Bull, there are
children listening.”

He glared at her for a moment and then shut
his eyes and Tommie got the feeling his eyes were rolling
heavenward behind the lids. When he opened them again, he was
calmer.

“
You did a good job today.
You did exactly what you were supposed to do, but you only won
because he chose to let you. He had five trained men with him and
he held his fire. I have to ask myself why. The only thing I can
come up with is that he knows you. He knows none of you have
experience in any kind of Challenge or turf war.

“
He figured if he gave the
order he’d win, but he’d lose one or two of his men before you were
all dead or surrendered. He figured he could come back when the
odds were more in his favor and win with no losses at
all.”

Samuel took a seat on the wooden picnic
table. His shoulders slumped. “So we didn’t win.”

“
No, Samuel, you didn’t, but
that’s not on you. That’s on me. I shouldn’t have left you. Had I
been there, you would have won. I would have seen what he was doing
and I would have killed him while I had the chance.”

Tommie had been listening closely to Bull.
She played it over in her mind, comparing what she saw to what he
said, and it made sense, right up until his last statement.

“
No,” she said, and only
realized she’d spoken aloud when Bull questioned her.

“
Excuse me?” he asked in
disbelief.

“
Why?” She asked and then,
“Oh,” when she finally caught up. “It wouldn’t have worked that
way. As soon as that Alpha saw you, his plans would have changed.
He did what he did only because he saw weakness. No offense,” she
said to the others.

“
None taken,” Cora answered
and flicked her hand. “Keep going. You’re making more sense than
the rest of these yahoos were.”

Encouraged, Tommie went on. “He expected
weakness and that’s what he saw. That’s what he based his
calculations on. If he’d seen you, Bull, it would have changed the
equation.” A shiver ran through her. “He would have shot you
first.”

“
And then we’d still be up
Shit’s Creek,” Shorty nodded. “So it’s good you weren’t there, cuz
we’re heading into shittier waters here and you’re the only one who
knows how to paddle.”

“
That’s comforting,” Bull
muttered.

~*~

The woman was driving him crazy. One minute
he had visions of his hands wrapped around those narrow hips of
hers, holding them high and pounding into her until she cried Sweet
Jesus before she cried his name. And the next minute, those hands
were wrapped around her neck choking the life out her.

“
Do you still have one of
those guns from this morning?” Bull asked Samuel. “A handgun
preferably. Shotguns are too messy.”

“
Sure. What you want it for
if you don’t mind my asking?”

“
I want you to shoot me with
it.”

They were sitting at the picnic table, one to
a side. Samuel slapped his hands against the wood as he laughed,
lips peeled back and mouth open wide. Four teeth, including an
incisor, were missing, which meant that as a soldier, Samuel would
not only be short a leg but short a fang as well. The others in the
group weren’t much better. Bull had twelve fighters and not an
alpha among them. They were doomed.

“
Two guns,” Bull corrected.
“You need to shoot me twice.”