Rabbit Creek Santa (8 page)

"Mama says you got to be bad off to eat crow. It tastes nasty."
She made a face to go with her Mama's opinion.

"So I've heard, honey," Travis laughed, "I'm going downstairs now to find out."

"Will you tell me what it tastes like?" the little girl asked.

"I'm thinking that's something everybody has to find out for themselves," Travis told her, "The important things is that if you have to eat it, it's best done quick."

Now that she understood what was expected, Lindy found that opening doors was easy.
Word must have passed among the women, because she was welcomed with smiles. People she didn't know said hello and she listened when they spoke and started thinking about what she had to give instead of what she didn't. She made arrangements for Joey to go on his first snow sledding after being assured that some of the older girls would only take him on the 'puppy' hills. Since the mill was closed for the week, this was a family holiday for many, so Lindy offered to help watch some of the Joey sized pups so parents could spend some time with their older cubs.

She was feeling pretty good about finding her place in the pack, b
ut in between opening doors, her mind went constantly to Travis and she wasn't feeling good about that at all. She had to tell him she was sorry for her assumptions about why he was being so nice to her, but she also had to tell him that whatever was happening between them couldn't go on.

She'd been lonely. As Travis himself said, she'd been lost for a while. She wasn't any more and in spite of her wolf's insistence to the contrary, she didn't need a wolver in her bed
. She'd found her place and she would be content with it, but there was no need to continue the drama of the day. She would tell him quietly and politely when he took her home.

Taking his own advice, Travis immediately sought out his Alpha to mediate and keep the possible retaliation to a minimum. While wolvers weren't necessarily a violent race, their standing within the pack hierarchy was based on their power and contribution to the pack and anyone who insulted or challenged that standing could expect to be challenged right back.

Travis' blow had been a C
hallenge. He expected to be answered in the same way as man or wolf and originally, he would have accepted the counter challenge gladly and would have fought to uphold his original insult. He couldn't do that now. He'd been flat out wrong. He would have to bow his head or offer his throat in apology.

It would be embarrassing and humiliating, but it would have to be done. In th
e Rabbit Creek pack, strength of character was more important than strength of body, just like it was back in New Hampshire. It was the way Travis was raised and he wouldn't shame his parents or Marshall, his Alpha, by trying to hide from what he justly deserved. Like the little girl said, crow tasted nasty, but he would have to make a meal of it if he wanted a place in this pack.

He didn't have to look too far. Both Marshall and GW were out in the barn which now held three or four times as many wolvers as it had before. Travis sniffed the air as he entered. The Applejack had been replaced with something much stronger and
he could feel the anticipation in the air. His apology and humiliation would be public.

He had
his speech all prepared, but it never got said.

"You issued a C
hallenge to one of your packmates," Marshall said as Travis entered.

Travis nodded in acknowledgement and kept his eyes lowered. Marsha
ll wasn't generally that formal, but Travis figured the situation warranted it.

"Yes, Alpha, and it was a mistake," he admitted. There, it was said. Let the crow eating begin.

"Maybe it was and maybe it wasn't. Doesn't really matter," Marshall said. He looked around at the grinning wolvers in the circle that was forming. "GW? That punch Travis threw was a challenge if I ever saw one. You up for a response?"

"Yes, Alpha, I am."
The barefooted GW rolled his shoulders and stretched his neck. "It's time we showed this new wolver here what we're made of."

"Travis issued the challenge
," Marshall announced to the watchers, "It's GW's choice. Man or beast?" he asked.

"Sun's down, moon's rising
and my wolf has a yen to be free," GW answered, grinning.

The men around him murmured their agreement and Travis could tell by their comments and the looks on their faces that GW was favored to win the mock battle without Travis' cooperation.
Eating crow was one thing. Getting whupped was another.

"Bring it on," Travis said, yanking the boots from his feet. His wolf snarled his agreement. Both man and wolf had been trained by the best; their father, who always said,

"Never go looking for a fight, but never run from one either."

Travis had already failed the first half of his father's admonition, he wasn't about to screw up the second.
Stuffing his socks, belt, and wallet inside one boot, he nodded in readiness.

Marshall nodded
back. With the moon just shy of full, it wouldn't take much of his Alpha power to transform these two tonight. At the full moon, the men wouldn't need his help and some of the women would choose not to run in the snow and the cold.

Before Travis could say a
nother word, the Alpha spread his arms. There was a flash of light and Travis was suddenly a wolf confronted by another wolf that was already circling and assessing his opponent.

GW's wolf was much like his human, long-legged and lean. When he leapt, Travis had to roll his shorter, broader body beneath him. The men forming the
ring around them cheered, but Travis wasn't sure if it was for GW's leap or his own avoidance of the attack. He was immediately on his feet and circling, looking for weakness before GW turned and did the same.

Both wolves snarled and made tentative lunges to see what reaction the other
would have. By the way GW cocked his head to the side, Travis realized that this was a contest and not a true challenge where blood would be drawn before the winner was decided.

That didn't mean there'd be no blood. Sharp teeth and claws sometimes made that impossible. Travis' wolf was excited by the challenge. He pranced and danced and finally struck, taking GW to the ground, but GW was no easy opponent.
He twisted. They rolled, each fighting for the upper position of dominance. The watchers cheered as the two opponents became a spiraling ball of white and grey.

Twice they came apart, sides heaving, and twice more they came together, each trying to use their size to dominate the other. Pound for pound, they were a match with Travis's bulk making up for his lack of GW's length.
Anyone listening to their snarls and growls would have thought they were tearing each other apart.

When t
hey broke apart a third time, GW changed his tactics. Quick as lightning, the grey wolf dove under Travis and, heaving upward with his long legs, tossed him up and over his back. Travis fell heavily onto his back, four legs scrambling in the air. Before he could right himself, GW struck again. On his back, belly and neck exposed, this would have been the time to give up and allow GW the win, but Travis' wolf refused to capitulate from such a humiliating position. As GW lunged for his throat, Travis' hind legs kicked out and caught his opponent's underside.

His wolf still saw GW
as a rival and he wanted blood. Real blood.

"
Beat him. Rip his belly. Teeth at throat. Show female, bigger, better wolf.
"

"No!" the human side of Travis shouted at his wolf. It was a Primal Law; never let your wolf rule your human. "He doesn't want her. We do." Emphasis on 'we'.

GW sailed over Travis, lifted by muscular hind legs, but with no real damage done. The long grey wolf twisted in the air in an impressive spine bending maneuver that allowed him to spring back at Travis as soon as his hind feet hot the ground. Travis turned, clipping the grey wolf's shoulder and throwing him off balance. Rather than turning back to the staggering wolf, he continued the turn.  This brought his snout into position to hamstring his opponent' hind leg and had this been a real fight to the death, he would have done just that.

It was Travis' intent to leave it there. He'd proven he could hold his own
and everyone watching would be aware of what he could have done. Wolf fights, particularly those to establish a wolver's place in the pack, were generally short contests quickly decided. He was satisfied with his performance. Once again, his wolf had other ideas.

Seeing the full grey tail curled under GW's narrow backend, his wolf couldn't resist the
temptation. He bit down and ended up with a mouthful of tail. He pranced away, a wad of fur hanging from his mouth, and yipped gleefully as he trotted around the edge of the circle showing off his trophy. His damn wolf was enjoying it!

Some of the watchers laughed when GW yelped
in pain and their cheering increased when GW sought revenge for his missing patch of fur. He lunged, struck, and the two combatants were once again joined in a rolling ball of snarls and fur. Tasting a little victory, Travis' wolf wanted more and the next time he found himself back to the ground, he had to use all the force of his human will to make his animal give ground and accept defeat.

The minute GW's jaws captured Travis' throat, there was another flash of light and the Alpha brought them home. Instead of fighting wolves, the two combatants now looked more like entwined lovers and laughter roared from the men in the crowd.

"Kiss him and get it over with, GW! You know you want to."

"Someone go tell Max
she's got some competition and it's not the little widow!"

The laughter increased when the combatants both rolled in the same direction to break apart and each thought to fix it by rolling the other way. Quick as a man as he was as a wolf, GW grabbed Travis' ears and gave him a smacking kiss on the mouth and then spit in the dirt of the barn floor.

"Damn, wolver, you taste like wolf tail," he laughed as he pushed Travis away. His reference to tail brought several raucous comments from the men.

"Better than crow," Travis laughed, rolling to his feet and extending his hand to help GW rise. "I knew I had to eat it, but nobody said it had to be from your lips."

There were claps on the back for both wolvers from the surrounding men, along with more jokes and compliments for their skill. It wasn't all compliments, however, and everyone had an opinion on what the two combatants should have done to evade the other. Marshall stood back and watched the reactions of the newcomer, until the laughing wolver looked up.

Travis' face fell. "I'm sorry, Alpha. I shouldn't have let it go on so long. I should have controlled my wolf."

"If GW can't take a little nip on the tail, he's got bigger problems than you," Marshall told him with a bit of a chuckle. "Your wolf enjoyed it. His wolf enjoyed it, and so did everyone else. There are no hard feelings anywhere in this room. Still thinking of taking your little widow back home to New Hampshire?"

"Hey! Any of that jack left?
" someone called out to Roy.

"Nah. You greedy bastards drank it all," Roy's voice echoed from the wooden bin he was leaning into. "Gotta switch to the hard stuff." He held two quart mason jars up
, both filled with clear liquid. "And don't ask fer no more, 'cause this stash has got to last me the winter and with all Maggie's ideas of paintin' and wallpaperin', it's gonna be a long one."

The jar was passed and everyone laughed when Travis choked on his first mouthful of pure grain alcohol. Wiping his watery eyes,
he looked around at the laughing men and realized this was what he'd been missing. This was why he spent so much time down below in town. It wasn't the women, though he wouldn't apologize for that. It was the camaraderie found in bars. It was temporary and largely induced by alcohol, but for a short time when the night grew late, you felt like you were a part of the group, part of a pack.

He'd been homesick.
Everyone in Rabbit Creek had welcomed him with open arms, but big, tough wolver that he thought he was, he couldn't let go of his New Hampshire home. Lindy wasn't the only one who'd been lost. Travis hid his laugh behind another sip of the fiery liquid and glanced over at his new Alpha.

"You didn't answer my q
uestion," Marshall said quietly. "Are you going home?"

"This is my home
. I stand for my Alpha and the Rabbit Creek pack," Travis said and meant it.

"I'm hungry," George stated as if he was arguing the point. The burly mechanic looked around at the others. "Watching these two go at it has given me an appetite. Think there's any food left?"

"What kind of Tom Fool question is that? Of course there's food. You ever been to a party where it ran out?"

They trooped to the
house en masse, laughing and joking and slapping their two young contestants on the back.

"Did you ever see such a sorry lookin' bunch of wolvers?" Maggie asked as they stomped through the kitchen. "And not one of 'em stopped to wipe their damn feet."

Lindy was clearing away two shiny platters that once held turkey. Behind her, Gwenna carried a replacement turkey. She was followed by Sally Ann from the diner with a huge bowl of meaty stew. One glance at Travis and Lindy's platters clattered back on the table.

"You're hurt!"
she cried, rushing to him. She grabbed a paper napkin from the stack on the corner of the table and started dabbing at his face.

Travis started filling his plate with thin slices of rare roast beef. Plate full, h
e held her wrist to stop her fussing. "You should see the other guy."