Wolver's Reward (35 page)

Between those truly meant for each other, the
mating bond was permanent, so permanent that the truly mated often
died within months of each other. He and Reb were mate-crossed. He
was hers, but she could never be his. Any bond between them would
be broken with the arrival of the Alpha she was meant for. River
had lost too much to lose again.

His time with Reb had shown him the truth.
He'd cared for those long ago Mates and he'd lost them. He'd cared
for Skeeter and Crow and lost them, too. In a way, he'd lost the
others as well to the pack who'd taken them in. With each loss,
he'd lost a piece of his heart. He couldn't care that way and lose
again. With what he felt for his Babe-in-the-woods, the loss of her
would kill him.

"I love you," Reb whispered.

Her words nailed the coffin shut because he
knew she meant them and knew in the end, that wouldn't mean a
thing. An Alpha's magic would erase them, leaving River as the only
one who heard them.

He made up his mind and this time there would
be no excuses for staying one more day. He would wait until the
full moon when he would run with the pack he'd grown to care for,
too. He'd spend one last night with the female of his dreams and
the memory of that full moon night would last forever.

"I love you," Reb whispered again.

River pretended to sleep.

Chapter 27

"We have much to be grateful for and to
celebrate this night." Roland stood before the assembled
wolvers.

Margaret stood with him, a little behind. Her
left shoulder was hidden behind his right one and those standing
near enough could see that they touched. Her right hand rested on
his upper arm in a gesture of tender support. It was clear they
stood together, though the Alpha took precedence.

When the Mate smiled, the shoulders of every
member of the Sweet Valley pack eased a little and they smiled
back.

"God, I love it when my mother does that,"
Reb whispered to River, standing beside her. "To be able to bring
such love and comfort to your pack is an amazing gift."

Reb closed her eyes and soaked in the shared
love that flooded through her and out again to those she could
touch. There was strength in that shared love, the strength that
came from knowing you were never alone. Your joy would be shared,
but so would your heartache. Your burdens would be carried by many.
More than ever, she wanted River to see and feel the love that was
to be found in this pack.

She wanted him to feel what she felt. She
wanted him to really hear the words she finally had the courage to
speak and not pretend to be asleep. She wanted him to have the
courage to say them back, not because she needed to hear them, but
because they were true. He had to know that losing those you love
didn't hurt half as much as never knowing love at all.

Reb reached for River's hand and, palm to
palm, tightened her fingers around it. It was the only way she had
to convey what she and her pack felt. He smiled at her, but there
was no joy in it. The sadness and longing in those deep, dark eyes
worried her, but now wasn't the time to ask. Her father was
speaking.

"Today we celebrate the return of one who was
lost." Roland gave the grateful parents a nod along with his smile.
The smile turned to River along with another nod. "Providence has
smiled on us by sending us a wolver with the strength and speed to
execute such a rescue and another," he said with yet another nod to
Ben, "With the wisdom to follow where honorable strength and power
led."

The crowd cheered River and Ben, calling out
to them by name. Ben puffed with pride. River, however, seemed to
shrink back from the attention. Reb was convinced that had she not
been holding his hand, the wolver would have fled.

"We also have the pleasure of a Chase, as it
was meant to be run," the Alpha went on. "Not one, but two happy
couples will be mated this night. I wish their lives together be
long and fruitful ones. May they be blessed with the same happiness
I have found with our Mate."

Roland raised Margaret's hand to his lips for
a kiss. He laughed and then added, "And may you each enjoy the same
patience with your mate as Margaret has shown to me. She is, in her
own sweet way, urging me to move on. I am nothing if not obedient
to her demands." He bowed to Margaret to chuckles from his pack,
and then became solemn.

"We have all been touched by the
circumstances of our ill-fated meeting, some more than others, I
know, but from a beginning fraught with betrayal, disappointment,
and heartache, we have emerged victorious. Dennis was a fine
wolver, and a shining example of what an Alpha should be. Unlike
others, unlike me..." Roland bowed his head, an admission that he
was one of the others of which he spoke. "...Dennis didn't theorize
about the nature of our beasts. He fully believed that because of
that nature, all wolvers sought the shelter of the Alpha's mantle
and that many, reduced to the life of rogue, would flourish once
offered that shelter, when it was held by an honorable Alpha who
lived not for himself, but for the Primal Law. He actively sought
out those who believed in the Law, but had been denied its
benefits.

"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.