Wolver's Reward (18 page)

"Thank God for that," he muttered like an
insult, but when he saw her frown, he added, "Sorry, but I like
being a guy."

"I wish I was a guy, too." It had always
seemed to her that males had a lot more freedom than females,
though she'd never put words to her secret. It just slipped
out.

"Nah, that would be a waste, Babe," River
said so matter-of-factly that she expected his next comment to
refer to her weakness and slight build. It didn't. "You're way too
pretty to be a guy."

She grinned. Talking to him about personal
things wasn't so hard after all.

"You see? That's why I like you. You just
said to me what any guy would say to any girl."

"I said it because it's true."

She tried to stifle her widening grin and
keep it strictly business. "Thank you, but it doesn't matter if
it's true or not. It's what guys say. It's normal." She took
another bite of steak and chewed it thoughtfully. By the time she
swallowed it, she'd decided to take another step on the path to
truth. "I've never had that, and yesterday it finally hit me that I
never would, and then everything went wrong and you were there. It
was like an epiphany. On the back of your motorcycle, before I
thought I was going to freeze to death," she laughed, "I thought,
'This is it. My one chance at normal.'"

There was a lot more thinking than that, but
Reb didn't want to scare him off.

She cut a piece of her steak and then
another. "I'm an Alpha's daughter. I've known that since I could
repeat the words. My mother has taught me everything I need to know
about the role I'm to play. It's an important one. I understand
that, and I accept it, but just once, I'd like to be like everybody
else. I'd like to go over the moon and run with a guy because he
wants to run with me and not because he needs me for the
perpetuation of his pack. I want to be kissed like you kissed me,
just because you wanted to. I want to see what I saw in your face
when I told you mating me wouldn't make you an Alpha." She giggled
and shook her head. "That didn't come out right. I mean the way you
looked before you looked horrified and so offended. You looked like
you weren't thinking about anything but getting in my pants."

River groaned and dropped his head to his
chest.

"You see?" she laughed. "You just did it
again. You make me feel normal."

"What the hell is wrong with the males in
your pack?" he asked. "I know you're short on numbers, but they all
can't be blind. What about your crew? Can't they find someone to
fix you up with?"

"My crew?"

With a silly grin on his face, he stuck his
thumb in the air.

"Oh," she laughed, "You mean my friends." She
loved them, but they had their drawbacks. "Rosemary is a
sweetheart, but very shy. I think she'd faint if a guy said hello.
If she didn't faint, I'm sure she'd feel sick. Celia is very smart,
very tiny, very cute, and very friendly. She's in the market for a
mate and not likely to share. Arnold and Lawrence are gay. They're
a couple, and they'd spend so much time bickering over what kind of
man they thought best for me, I'd be old and gray before they
decided who to look for." She waved her hands. "Never mind. You'd
have to know them to understand. And then there's Darla. I know
you've met her. Darla gets around, if you know what I mean, but her
taste is a little, um, rough for me. You're, um, uh... more what
I'm looking for," she finished hurriedly.

"Black leather, motorcycle. Slumming."

"Oh no," she said hastily and maybe a bit too
honestly. "I'm not into leather at all, though it was nice of you
to let me wear your jacket last night, and if I'd known you had a
motorcycle, that would have been an immediate turnoff. Definitely
not my type, though now that I've ridden on it, I think I've
changed my mind." Thinking she'd probably said too much, Reb
suddenly sat back and folded her hands in her lap.

River sat back and folded his arms across his
chest. "So why me? What is your type?"

This was awkward. Her blush spread up to the
roots of her hair. It was a definite drawback to being so fair.
"You're not supposed to ask."

"Hey," he chuckled, "You're the one who
started this, Babe."

She did and as the meal progressed, it had
been easier and easier to tell the truth, but now it was time to
fall back to mostly truth. "I already told you. You're brave and
kind." She took a deep breath and said in a rush, "And kind of
handsome in a young Mr. Rochesterish kind of way."

"Mr. Who?"

"You know, Jane Eyre."

"Don't know her, either."

She giggled. "I'm not surprised." She
shrugged. "It's kind of a romance."

"Oh yeah?" he said as if he liked the idea.
"My Mate and her crew read those books. They always have good
looking guys on the covers holding half naked women."

She giggled again. "Not that kind of romance.
Mr. Rochester is dark and broody."

River looked down at his freckled arms. "I'm
not exactly dark."

His hair was dark for a red head, dark
auburn, and it didn't matter what color it was. It was thick and
beautiful and she wanted to run her fingers through it. She was so
caught up in the fantasy of it, she almost missed what he said
next.

"Why don't we get back to why not someone in
your pack. They all aren't mated, are they?"

Why did he have to keep bringing that up? She
didn't want any of the males in her pack. She wanted the one who
was sitting in front of her.

Reb didn't try to hide her huff of
exasperation. "No, but there isn't a male in my pack who would dare
to touch the Alpha's daughter and the same message will be sent to
any new members. When you're an Alpha's daughter, you always stand
apart from everyone in your pack. You're different, and they know
it and besides, would you want your future Alpha knowing you messed
with his Mate. Aaawkward," she sang. "That's why you're so perfect.
My parents won't like it, but they'll accept it, knowing that
you're leaving, and when the time comes, I'll do my duty. I'll mate
with the Alpha of their choosing. Would you mind if I had another
potato for dessert?"

~*~

What the fuck? She'd jumped from the trials
and tribulations of an Alpha's daughter to a loaded baked potato.
How in hell was he supposed to follow along if she kept bouncing
from place to place like that? Between that and the constant
wetting of her lips with that tiny tip of her tongue, he was having
trouble concentrating. He was beginning to think there was nothing
normal about this girl. The proof was in the potato. Normal wolvers
weren't big on vegetables. He'd run like hell if she wasn't so
fucking cute.

"Sure, I guess so."

He'd bake a potato for her every day of the
week if she'd smile at him like that.

"It's another first for me. My mother won't
serve them this way. She says it's crass to put all that goop on
top, and my father always orders when we go out to dinner. I like
sour cream and cheese, and those little oniony green things they
sprinkle on the top look tasty. I always wanted to try it. Now I
have and I like it. Since I might never have a chance to experience
it again, I'd like another."

She was 'experiencing' a baked potato. She
was serious about it, too. River couldn't help it. He laughed. "You
can get crumbled bacon on it, too, you know."

"Can I?" She looked like he'd offered her
chocolate sauce on her ice cream.

He ordered another beer along with her
potato, this time with bacon, and shared her pleasure as she ate
it. The Babe-in-the-woods definitely had a screw loose, but in a
very cute kind of way. He liked her.

"So?" she asked when it was time to go and he
was helping her onto the back of the bike, "What do you think? Will
you be my temporary boyfriend for the next few days? You don't
actually have to do anything," she added, blushing. "Just make it
look good."

What did he think? He thought it was crazy.
He thought he'd be asking for trouble if he accepted. He thought it
might be a mistake, but he was going to do it. It was what she said
about standing apart from everyone in your pack, about being
different. Reb wanted a chance to feel normal and River thought he
could give her that and enjoy it, too.

Instead of helping her onto the seat behind
him, he slid his arm around her and drew her into his side.

"Babe," he said, keeping his voice low and
his tone deep, "Not doing anything wouldn't be normal, now, would
it? A hot piece like you, a full moon overhead, a room to ourselves
with two beds to choose from? Yeah, I think we can find something
to do that'll make you feel normal."

"Really?"

He leaned in and took her lips in a kiss,
soft and gentle, and hinting of pleasures to come. She tasted of
the potato and sour cream she'd had for dessert, but to River, she
tasted like honey, pure and fresh from the comb. Pure, and fresh,
and clean weren't normally words he'd use to describe a female who
could tighten the crotch of his jeans with a simple kiss, but none
of this was normal.

He drew her bottom lip between his teeth and
gently pulled away to break the kiss.

"Really?" she said again, but this time in a
way that said she couldn't believe he was leaving her mouth so
soon. Her hands slid behind his head and she drew it back for more.
What could he do but oblige? For someone who claimed inexperience,
her kisses were damn near perfect.

Nope, there was nothing normal about Reb.
There was nothing normal about the situation, and there was sure as
hell nothing normal about his wolf dancing around like a pup. He
wasn't sure his wolf had ever been a pup. I always seemed older
than River's years.

"Don't get excited," he silently warned his
wolf. "This is only for a couple of days."

"
Mate
," the wolf chuffed in
exasperation.

"Thanks for the reminder I didn't need."
River reluctantly broke the kiss again and said aloud, "Save some
for later, Babe. You don't want to embarrass the customers."

"Really?" she said a third time. "You're
really going to do this?"

"Yeah, really. I'll be your temp, but if your
father decides to kill me, it's going to be on your head."

She grinned happily. "Father's bark is much
worse than his bite. He believes in civilized, nonviolent
discourse."

Whatever the hell that was, River hoped she
was right.

Reb's arms slid around him and she pressed
her body against his back. The heat of her breasts burned through
his shirt and sent fiery shivers of anticipation straight to his
crotch. She made him smile which, when he thought about it, was the
best thing that had happened to him since leaving Wolf's Head
pack.

She thought he was brave, and handsome, and
kind. It wasn't true, but it didn't have to be. It was the kind of
thing a girl said to her guy. It was normal and it made him feel
good. Over the next few days, he'd give her normal and a whole lot
more. He'd give her something to remember.

His wolf did somersaults all the way back to
the Paradise Motel.

Chapter 13

"Hurry," Reb shouted in his ear when they
were about a mile away from the motel. "Hurry! Something's
wrong."

He didn't doubt her. She was connected to her
pack in a way that he was not.

Darla came tearing across the parking lot to
meet them.

"Thank God," she said, "The Alpha's down
again, Reb. Your mother needs you."

Rebecca was off the bike and running before
River could ask why.

Darla stayed, but only long enough to say, "I
have a feeling she's going to need you, too. Don't go too far."

As if he would. River parked the Roadliner at
the back of his truck which someone had moved to the space in front
of his room. All the other units and parking spaces were filled. It
looked like Sweet Valley pack was spending the night. Darla's
little clown car was parked in front of Number Two. The RV was
parked in the far corner, along the edge of the trees. Sweetie Pie
probably charged them the full price of a room to park it.

His room was empty except for the clothing
Darla had carried in and the dead Alpha's stuff which was hanging
neatly on the clothing bar. The duffle bag that was taken along
with his truck was now on the foldout luggage rack, unopened. A
quick check told him everything was there including the metal box.
Everything that should be was in the box, too. Sweet Valley wolvers
weren't thieves.

He changed his tee shirt for a clean one and
left to see what he could find out. Scar and the others were back
and sitting outside their room in the palm tree chairs. Scar was
dressed as he'd been before in worn out jeans and a faded navy tee.
A cigarette hung from his lips, unlit. The cubs were dressed just
like him, though their tees weren't as faded and their jeans looked
new.

Ben had upgraded his attire to khakis and a
light blue polo. His tan cotton jacket had the miniature logo of a
high end brand on the left side of his chest. He looked like an
upper class frat boy, though even River had to admit he carried it
off pretty well.

"What's up?" he asked when he reached
them.

"Shouldn't we be asking you?" Toby curled his
arm at his side. His fist pumped suggestively.

River's wolf snarled and his human lips
twitched with it. Before he could think about what he was doing,
his hand shot out and he gripped the cub's neck with enough force
to bring the cub up on his toes. Toby's eyes bulged.

"She's your Alpha's daughter. Show some
respect."

The cub's head bobbed that he understood.
River let him go and left him gasping for air.

"He's not our Alpha yet and by the looks of
it, he's not going to be anyone's Alpha, but you already knew that,
didn't you?" Ben's pretty face became a pouting mask of
resentment.