The Alpha's Choice (30 page)

Kat was learning that her lover was not a
patient man. He wanted everything done yesterday. There were dozens
of workmen about the place, most hired from his brother's pack
across the mountain, and Kat was amazed at how quickly the
abandoned houses were being whipped into shape. The roads were
still mostly mud, but new loads of gravel were delivered every day.
The school had been transformed into temporary offices awaiting the
construction of the new headquarters for Wolf's Head
Enterprises.

He'd already sent out emissaries to other
pack Alphas, seeking out members of their ranks who might be
looking for a change. He wanted only those who could leave with
their current Alpha's blessing and first approached those whose
packs had become too large and unwieldy for their territories.

They were at the end of the lane when he spun
her around and kissed her, laughing at her mimicry. "I have never
said 'You, boy!' in my life. I am not Ebenezer Scrooge."

"Of course not! You're spending way too much
money to be Scrooge. And where's it all coming from, might I ask?
You went to great pains to tell me you were broke."

Charles slid his hands into the back pockets
of her jeans and pressed her up against him. "There's broke and
then there's broke with excellent credit. I've made and piddled
away fortunes before. This time I won't piddle it away. Don't
worry, I won't let you down."

"You couldn't let me down. I'd live in a tent
with you," Kat giggled, "As long as there was another one for the
children."

"Ah, back to the cubs. We need to find
something to take your mind off them," he said with a laugh and
moved his pelvis against hers. He kissed her again and then looked
up to the sky. "Damnit. Can we get a week without rain?" Fat drops
were beginning to fall. "I was hoping we'd have a chance to play. A
good chase would do us both good."

Kat pushed him away and took off at a run.
"Then chase me back to the house," she called over her shoulder. It
was a race she couldn't win, but Charles always made losing so much
fun.

He caught her twice before they reached the
house, allowing her escape after a brief and playful struggle each
time. Her shirt was unbuttoned and her bra undone by the time they
reached the front door.

The television was on, but the doors were
closed and Kat was laughing when he caught her on the stairs,
flipped her over and worked her zipper down while holding her hands
to the step above her head.

"Charles! They'll hear us," she sputtered,
trying to wiggle her way free. She lost one of her shoes on the
step below.

"Good. Then they'll know not to open the
doors." He latched onto her breast and sucked hard while working
her jeans down over her hips.

"Oh!" Her sneakered foot managed to get a
grip on the step and she pushed upward and away which only served
Charles purposes as her jeans slid down as she pushed up. He peeled
them from her legs.

"No!" she squealed as he freed her naked foot
and she pushed up again, kicking out her sneakered foot to free it
of the jeans that were now hampering her escape.

Charles was rising, preparing to lunge over
the top of her, and her sneaker caught him between the legs.

"Oomph!"

She pushed herself up another few steps, not
knowing whether to laugh or be concerned. She didn't think she hit
him that hard, but Charles' face said otherwise.

"Now you'll pay," he growled. He grabbed the
trailing denim and pulled.

Sneaker and pant leg came off with a jerk,
throwing him off balance. Kat scrambled up the steps squealing,
"No, no, no. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"You're gonna be."

She half ran, half crawled to the bedroom
door, burst through and stumbled to the other side of the bed,
trying not to laugh as Charles barged in, slamming the door in his
wake.

"You're in for it now," he growled as he
circled the bed, stripping his shirt off over his head.

Kat scooted across the top, taking half the
covers with her. Charles was right behind her. Tossing the covers
at him, she dodged his grasping hand. She managed to reach the foot
of the bed before he untangled himself. A lamp spilled to the
floor.

Kat tried to wiggle beneath the high bed, but
Charles grabbed her ankle and pulled her out. His laugh was
maniacal, an evil genius laugh from the worst of horror movies and
Kat started to giggle. The giggle turned into an 'oomph' of her own
when Charles tossed her onto the bed where he made short work of
removing her sagging bra and shirt. He climbed up her body and
straddled her waist.

"Now you're going to pay, little kitten, but
first let's get rid of your claws." he picked up her shirt and tore
it in half.

"No!" she shouted. Her wardrobe was meager.
She couldn't afford to lose a shirt.

"I'll buy you another," he whispered in her
ear. He used her torn shirt to tie her hands to the headboard.

"Oh, no!"

"Oh, yes!"

Breathless and panting, she squirmed against
her bonds. The air was filled with his magic and as he slid down
her body she thrust her hips upwards in invitation.

"Oh ho, now you want it." He began with her
breasts, kissing and sucking and tugging with his teeth until she
was arching up to meet his mouth. "You're enjoying this too much,"
he growled and moved farther down to attack her belly with teeth
and tongue, moving to the sensitive spot on her side where she was
most ticklish.

"Please, please," she begged, "Not there."
She was screeching with laughter before he finished his assault and
then he moved downward between her legs.

He slipped his arms beneath her thighs and
spread her wide. Holding her hips motionless, his tongue began to
work her already excited clit.

"Oh god," she moaned. The man had a magic
tongue. She tried to thrust her hips upward to seek an explosive
end to the torture, but he wouldn't let her move. She grabbed the
shirt tied to her wrists and begged him for release. "Please.
Please!"

She thought it was the banging of the
headboard until Charles paused and swore. "Damn it to hell," he
shouted. "I'm busy."

The banging on the bedroom door came again.
Charles threw the sheet over Kat's nakedness, but left her tied and
went to the door and threw it open. And slammed it just as
quickly.

He came back to the bed and yanked on his
jeans.

"Who is it?" Kat whispered, still aching but
cooling fast.

"Visitors." He was back at the door.
"What?"

"You were making a lot of noise."

It was Jo and she was laughing. Charles body
blocked her view, but not that of the tall man behind her. Ryker
gave Kat a wink.

"And?" Charles didn't sound happy.

"Well," Jo sputtered, "Since you're awake, we
thought you'd want to know that our little girl can talk. She woke
me up, but it was Ryker she wanted. She said, "Miz Kat's hurt.
Help."

"Shit."

"That's what I said," Ryker deadpanned.

"We told her you were okay, but I think
Meadow needs to see for herself." Jo was enjoying every minute of
this.

"Hang on." Charles closed the door and came
to the bed. "You're going to say this is sweet. I beg to differ."
He tossed her the robe that hung on the bathroom door.

Kat was tying the robe as he opened the door.
"See?" he said, "She's fine."

A puddle formed at Meadow's feet.

Kat pushed him aside and knelt in the
doorway. "Oh, honey, it's all right. We were playing a game," she
explained, ignoring Jo's snort. "I'm sorry we woke you."

Kat fetched a clean nightgown without waking
Forest and clean and dry, brought Meadow back to their room.

"Meadow's going to sleep with us, tonight,"
she said sweetly.

"Sure, sure," Charles said with a smile that
was patently false. "It's a big bed. There's plenty of room to
sleep." He threw back the covers and Kat was relieved to see he was
wearing boxers. "God knows we're not going to use it for anything
else," he muttered.

Kat giggled as she climbed over Meadow to the
center of the bed. There was no way the child would sleep next to
Charles. She leaned over Charles and kissed him on the lips.

"Be a good boy," she whispered, "And I
promise I'll make it up to you."

He kissed her back "You bet your sweet a… I'm
sure you will, dear."

"I love you," Kat said as she turned her back
on him and settled her arm over the sleepy child beside her.

It wasn't until morning that she thought to
wonder why Meadow had woken Ryker and Jo and not her protector,
River.

Chapter 2
9

The day began the way every day for the last
three weeks had begun; with a feeding frenzy in the kitchen. Eggs
and toast and bacon and ham were shoveled into mouths with hands
and fingers and in Dakota's case, a face in the plate.

Charles had banned them from the dining room
until they learned some manners and Kat whole heartedly agreed. The
kitchen floor could be mopped. The dining room carpet could not.
Until they developed some manners, the children were relegated to
the kitchen.

Kat worked with them every day, three times a
day, and either they couldn't or wouldn't learn. She had to remind
herself a hundred times a day that they were raised like animals
and they couldn't be expected to change overnight.

"Ranger," she said patiently. "Remember what
I showed you. Hold your fork this way."

Ranger laughed and nodded. He laughed and
nodded at everything. He picked up his fork and allowed her to mold
his fingers around it. Holding the fork in his hand, he proceeded
to stuff the food into his mouth with the other hand.

Dakota seemed to think his spoon was a
catapult to be used to bombard the girls with bits of his food
which afforded him the opportunity to steal larger amounts of food
from their plates.

Forest, at least, ate daintily with her
fingers, but she ate hardly anything at all. The others all ate as
if half-starved but were only slightly underweight, however Forest
was now thin to the point of emaciation and Kat suspected an eating
disorder. Could wolvers suffer from anorexia? No one knew for sure,
having never run across it before. Charles promised to call his
brother, Mike, a doctor who served a large pack out west and
hopefully they would learn how best to handle the problem.

River sat back in his chair, angry and
defiant. Kat knew he could handle a fork and spoon. She'd watched
him in fascination as he twirled a butter knife in his hand,
weaving it in and out of his fingers so rapidly, the blade was
almost a blur. He refused out of pure belligerence. The younger
boys looked up to him and took their behavioral cues from him.

Meadow was the most cooperative. Though she
hadn't spoken again, her eyes took in everything that was happening
around her. She tried to mimic what Kat showed her and struggled
through each meal with a concentration Kat found endearing. Kat
praised her lavishly for her efforts and was rewarded with the
occasional smile. Sadly, the child froze every time another was
reprimanded, no matter how mildly, and Kat had to wonder if the
little girl's cooperation was a result of her wish to please or her
fear of punishment.

Punishment was another thing Kat and Charles
argued over. He thought she was too lenient. She thought he was too
harsh.

"They're just children, Charles. They don't
understand. No one's ever taught them the first thing about
civilized behavior."

"They're wolver children. They're as much
beast as human and the beast has been allowed to run wild. They
need to be tamed, Katarina, and mollycoddling them with kisses and
hugs isn't going to do the job. You'll notice they settle down when
I come in the room."

"That's because they're afraid of you! You
walk in acting like the Big Bad, and scare the bejesus out of
them."

"Well someone sure as hell has to or this
house is going to come tumbling to the ground. They've broken four
windows, shattered a patio table with the rock they dug out of the
yard which, by the way, they found while digging a pit to line with
sharp sticks. And who the hell gave them the matches so they could
light the woodpile on fire? Dammit! We could have lost the whole
barn. They need to be punished, Katarina, and if you can't do it
then the Big Bad is going to do it for you."

It was the main reason why she'd said nothing
to Charles or anyone else about River's nighttime excursions. The
question had nagged at her after the night Meadow woke Jo and
Ryker. Why hadn't she gone to River? The answer was because River
wasn't there. He left sometime after the children were asleep and
she had no idea how he got out or where he went, but he always
returned before they awakened.

Kat chose to believe that he needed to run.
He needed to feel free to escape if he wanted to and coming back
each night meant he wanted to stay. Charles would only confront the
boy and make matters worse. River was already over tired and
edgy.

Kat took a deep breath and went on with the
disaster that was breakfast.

The classroom wasn't much better. With only
five children, it should be easy to give each one individual
attention, but every time she sat down to work with one or two, the
others would be into something they shouldn't. River refused to do
anything even though it was evident he couldn't read. Forest
stopped working and stared into her lap, if you weren't right
beside her, encouraging her. She was the only one who could read
and write, but her skills were minimal. The others had no education
to speak of. A lesson in counting had turned into a disaster when
Ranger and Dakota decided to pelt each other with the blocks Buddy
had cut for her as a teaching aid. Meadow, who was building a tower
with her own set of blocks, joined in the vicious fun.