Bride of the Wolf (29 page)

She turned away. “I will return with Joey to the ranch and collect my things. Perhaps he’ll be willing to escort me to Javelina.”

Holden stepped very close, Gordie’s little body nestled between them. “They know who you are now. They’ll—”

Without another word, Rachel walked toward Joey. He looked from her to Holden in confusion. She had almost reached him when Holden came up behind her.

“If it’s a choice between stayin’ with you and goin’ with Gavin,” he said, “I ain’t goin’.”

“Please, Holden—”

“You want me to think you can’t accept what we are. But I know you accept Gordie. You’d never let him suffer for not bein’ human.”

“He needs his own kind.”

He put his hands on her shoulders and spun her around. He had given Gordie to Gavin, and his arms were free to hold her prisoner.

“Tell me you don’t love him,” he said.

She turned her face aside. “Of course I love him!”

“He still needs you.” His voice caught. “
I
need you.”

“You say that now, but—”

He dragged her against him and kissed her. She melted into him, opening her lips, opening all of herself for one glorious moment.

“You’re my family, Rachel,” he murmured into her hair. “You and Gordie. Oh, hellfire…I love you.”

Her heart burst in an explosion of joy and fear. It couldn’t be true. No one had ever loved her before.

But he does. He
does.

“It won’t be easy,” he said, holding her away. “I’ll still be a wanted man. But I’ll do everything I can to keep you and Gordie safe, no matter what.”

“I’ll come with you,” she said. “To your family. If they’ll have me.”

Holden bared his teeth. “They’d better.” His eyes, so full of love, searched hers. “You sure, Rachel?”

She cupped his rough face in her hands. “I love you. I think I always have.”

He shuffled his boots in the dirt. “You reckon…you think you’d still be willin’ to marry me?”

“I can’t go on being a fallen woman, now, can I?”

They held each other for a long time after that, Holden’s face against her hair.

“What should I call you now?” she murmured. “Holden or Heath?”

“You said it yourself, Rachel,” he said, kissing her forehead. “I’m Holden Renshaw now. Reckon I always will be.”

She sighed in deepest contentment. “Holden, my love.”

Someone cleared his throat. Rachel opened her eyes to find Constantine standing behind Holden.

“I think you’d better go,” he said.

With a short nod, Holden released Rachel. He walked over to Joey and spoke with him in a low voice. When he was finished, he pulled Joey into a hug. Joey clung to him fiercely. They parted, and Joey mounted his horse.

“Goodbye, Mrs. McCarrick!” Joey called with a wave of his hand. “I’ll be seein’ you!”

With a yell, he kicked his horse up the hill and flew up it at a gallop. Holden returned to Rachel and pulled her into the crook of his arm.

“What will happen to him?” she asked anxiously.

“He’ll be all right. He’s goin’ back to tell everyone about what Sean confessed to him when Sean kidnapped him.” He shook his head. “I reckon they won’t let Joey keep the saddlebags. But he’ll have Maurice, and I’ll see they get some money once I’m in a position to send it.”

“We’ll help in any way we can,” Gavin said, coming to join them.

“I’ll earn my own keep,” Holden said, and grinned. “Honestly.”

Rachel didn’t smile. “What will happen to Dog Creek now?”

“I don’t know. If they can’t find some distant kinfolk,
reckon it’ll be put up for sale.” He frowned. “You still don’t think you’d want to go back to Ohio? I can try—”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’d fit in there about as well as a wolf in a schoolhouse, and Gordie needs this wild land to thrive. As for my inheritance, it will be there if we need it.”

Heath pulled Rachel close again and kissed the top of her head. “You’ll still be leavin’ here with nothin’, Rachel,” he murmured. “Just like you came.”

“Nothing?” She reached out for Gordie, took him from Gavin, and smiled up at Holden as the pieces of her heart came together again. “I have everything. Everything in the world.”