The Alpha's Choice (32 page)

River stared at Charles, his eyes wide and
frightened.

"Do you?" he shouted when the boy didn't
answer.

With his neck pinned to the door, the
teenager couldn't speak, couldn't nod. Kat held out her hand to
Charles, ready to point this out.

Charles must have sensed her movement. His
head snapped around and he glared at her. "Don't," he said sharply.
Just that one word. Don't.

Kat was a poker player. She knew when to hold
'em and when to fold 'em. She folded her hands together and sat
back. It wasn't obedience so much as a show of trust that he knew
how best to handle the boy. Her way wasn't working.

Charles turned back to River. "Katarina is
mine. Mine. She will be The Mate. More importantly, she will be
my
Mate. You will treat her with the respect she deserves or
you will answer to me, just as any other full adult would answer to
me. Are we clear?"

This time, he didn't have to ask twice. River
blinked and his chin moved a fraction of an inch in an attempted
nod.

"Thirdly, you feel the need to swear at me,
you go right ahead, but you do it in private. Out at the barn, in
my office, I don't care. You need to express yourself? I'm the Big
Bad. I can take it. But…" Charles' hand closed a little tighter
over the boy's throat. "No one talks that way to my woman or any
other woman in my pack. Not if they want to keep their tongue.
Blink if you'd like to keep yours."

River blinked and Charles eased him to the
floor.

Kat had expected a snarl or a surly look
after the dressing down but instead, River straightened his
shoulders and looked Charles in the eye.

"I am your Alpha," Charles repeated. "As a
member of my pack, you will obey me in all things, but this one
first and foremost. You will not raise a hand to any woman in
anger. Harm any woman inside my pack or out and I will deliver the
penalty myself and that penalty is death. If punishment is to be
meted out to a woman of my pack, then it will be done by my hand or
under my orders and it will be rare, if ever. Are you with me,
son?

River nodded and Charles nodded back in some
masculine wolver exchange and then Charles stood aside and the boy
came and stood in front of Kat.

"I'm sorry, Miz Kat. It won't happen
again."

"I know it won't, River. You're a man of your
word," Kat said solemnly and was grateful the words came so
smoothly. Inside, she was shaking.

He was a man. Before her misty eyes, River
changed from the boy she thought he was into the young man Charles
expected him to be.

And then he smiled. This man, created by the
magic of the Alpha just moments before, smiled where the boy never
could. Kat went up on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. Charles cleared his
throat behind her.

"Oh stop it." She waved her hand at Charles.
"Our boy's become a man. I'm proud of him and I can kiss him if I
want. Look at him, Charles. When he smiles, he's almost as handsome
as you," she teased and winked to share the joke with River and his
grin broadened.

"Next time shake his hand. Save your kisses
for little boys. And me."

Charles couldn't have said anything better to
raise River to the ranks of men.

"You'd better get going while the going's
good," she told River in a conspiratorial whisper and motioned to
the door that was now free to open. "Go tell the others your news.
They'll believe it if it comes from you. We'll see you at
supper."

"Dining room," Charles added which earned
them both another grin.

Charles held the door open and when it closed
behind the young man, Kat was on her feet and throwing herself into
Charles' arms. She slid her fingers over shoulders that had never
seemed so broad, up that glorious neck and into that noble head and
crown of golden hair. Drawing his lips down to hers, she kissed
him. Hard. And he kissed her back.

"If this is what it gets me," Charles laughed
when the need to breathe finally broke them apart, "Poor River will
be apologizing every day for the next twenty years."

"It wasn't the apology, though that was
really sweet. It was you. When you go all Alpha like that, work
your magic like that, you are so hot. What was that all about,
anyway? What did you do to make him change like that?" She poked
his chest with her finger. "And don't tell me nothing."

Charles' hands cupped the cheeks of her ass
and pulled her so close she had to lay her head all the way back to
look up. He brought his nose down to hers.

"I told him he was an adult and that I would
treat him like an adult. I issued an invitation to join the pack.
He accepted."

She understood it now, River's elation, but,
"You said he'd be your omega. That's the last in line, the bottom
of the barrel."

"It is, because that's where he belongs.
That's where every young wolver begins. It's up to him to rise
above it and he will. I know he will. He's had a hard life and he's
stood up to it well. He's strong and he's looked out for those
kids. Ryker will find a way to channel that anger. River's ready to
be taken over the moon."

"That's why you argued with me, told me to
stop treating him like a child. He's not a child. Probably never
was."

"Never had the chance to be and we can't give
him those years back." Charles kissed her nose and gave her ass
cheeks a quick squeeze. "What we can give him is the support of the
pack to complete his journey into manhood. That's what I was
offering him."

"You also said I'll be your mate. Were you
asking me to marry you?" She tried to ask it lightly, as if his
answer didn't matter, but it did. Oh, how it did.

"No," he said and locked his arms around her
to hold her close when she would have pulled away. "It was a
statement, not a question. I said you'll be my mate. The way we are
now, you sharing my bed, is setting a bad example for the children.
We need to make this right."

"So you're only marrying me for the sake of
the children," she huffed.

"That and so you don't run off with some
fifteen-year-old omega. I have a reputation to maintain you
know."

"Well that's the suckiest proposal I've ever
had," she complained and she meant it, too.

"You had the flowers, ring, and bended knee
last time and look what it got you."

She pushed away from his chest and turned to
walk away. "Yeah, a lame-ass pack of wolvers and a Big Bad who
doesn't know his dick from his elbow when it comes to romancing a
girl."

"I think the little kitten needs a reminder
of what this Big Bad can do with his dick," he growled.

Kat felt the ripple of his sexual power,
squealed and ran for the door, found it locked, and laughing,
circled around the chair and ran behind the desk with Charles hot
on her heels. She dodged one way and then the other until Charles
lost patience with the game and vaulted over the top of the desk,
scattering papers and pens everywhere. He captured her lips with
his mouth as he captured her body with one arm. The other arm swept
the remainder of the desktop contents onto the floor.

"Big Bad and his dick are about to fuck your
brains out," he whispered in her ear.

Kat struggled against him, but not too hard.
"Hey! What about using bad language to your woman?"

"That wasn't bad language. It was a statement
of intent."

Kat squealed again as he bent her over the
desk and proceeded to show her exactly what he meant.

****

Later, when she'd pulled herself back
together and straightened her clothes, Kat went back to the
classroom and found them working quietly at their books. Dakota
looked as if he was finally making an effort and Ranger was trying
to hide his grin.

For the first time, Forest was scribbling
away in her journal, something Kat had encouraged her to do, but
never required. She glanced up a little worriedly at Kat, blushed
and quickly lowered her eyes and Kat understood. She was covered
with the Alpha's scent and not even River's word could convince her
that Kat wasn't hurt. Time and example would be the only cure for
that.

She put her hand on Forest's shoulder and
bent to whisper in her ear. "He asked me to be his mate. I'm the
happiest woman on earth." She smiled at the girl's wide eyed shock.
"He's never hurt me. He never will. Ask River what he said about
women in his pack."

Meadow was sharing the sofa with both River
and Buddy, happily sitting between the two, listening to Buddy
read. River followed Buddy's finger with an intensity she'd never
seen from him before. He, too, was making an effort to learn.

This classroom which only minutes before had
evidenced her failure, now proved her success. As a teacher, this
little band of children - and two young adults, she reminded
herself- fulfilled her in more ways than any full classroom ever
had. These children needed her and needed the pack and they were
growing to love her even though they didn't know what love was. She
was teaching them more than reading and writing.

She was teaching them to live without fear
and she wasn't teaching them alone. She had the Alpha and his pack.
She knew there was still a lot of work to be done. Dakota was still
a blood thirsty little devil and Rangers laughter covered a
mountain of fear. Forest was still wary of men and Meadow had yet
to talk normally. This idyllic scene wouldn't last forever, but
right at this moment, she felt there was hope. Whatever River had
told them seemed to work.

She looked over to where he sat and found him
watching her. She smiled and mouthed the words "Thank you" and her
heart skipped a beat when his lips moved, too.

"You're welcome."

The moment of peaceful and studious diligence
passed, not because of the students, but because Charles, their
Alpha, strode through the door.

"Little Red Riding Hood," he said. He pointed
at Meadow and crooked his finger. "Come here."

Her eyes went wide and Charles laughed and
that made her eyes grow wider.

"And don't worry about piddling on the floor.
We all know you're empty. Come here. Your Alpha awaits."

He held out his hand and it was River who
slid her to the floor.

"Go on. Meadow, and remember that you're
brave."

Taking very tiny steps, she made her way
across the room and placed her hand in the giant's paw. In one
swift motion, he tossed her up and over his shoulder and onto his
back. Her arms circled his neck in a choking hold. Seating her more
firmly, he grasped her legs and jogged a little in place.

"Someday soon I'll let you ride my wolf, but
for now we'll do it this way."

He began with a gentle trot around the room,
but soon was at a full gallop. Down the hall they flew, Meadow's
laughter trailing behind them. It was the first happy sound she had
made. Kat wanted to cry for the joy of it, but they didn't give her
a chance. The boys were clamoring for a turn on the wolf and while
they were both too big for that type of play, Charles galloped away
with them without complaint.

They whooped and hollered and when it was
Meadow's turn again, they were chased from the kitchen by a
laughing Mrs. Martin. Jo, who'd been hiding in the office with
Ryker and Hyatt, held the front door open for wolf and rider to
escape. The men followed along with the boys and soon the yard
became a battlefield of riders and horses with a squealing little
girl cheering them on.

Kat and Jo closed the door on their fun and
headed to the kitchen to join Mrs. Martin who was filling a plate
with cookies and had glasses already set out for the milk. Kat put
the kettle on for tea.

"This is the way it's supposed to be," Mrs.
Martin said approvingly.

But Kat wasn't listening. The battle had
moved to the back of the house and as she watched the Alpha
laughing the loudest, she couldn't have loved him more.

Chapter
31

Like all the decisions he'd made since
becoming the true Alpha, once Charles decided they would be mated,
plans were immediately underway.

"I wonder what he would have done if I'd said
no," Kat mused.

The ever practical Tilda looked up and
mumbled through a mouthful of pins, "Ya didn't. That's that."

"He probably would have run you down and
taken you the old way. That's what I would have done." Jo, who'd
organized everything, but had no domestic skills at all, held out
an old metal lozenge box filled with straight pins for a
refill.

Kat stood in the center of the breakfast
table while Tilda deftly turned up the hem of her mating gown. It
wasn't the gown she would have chosen to be married in, but it was
lovely in its own simplistic way.

The gown was white silk, gathered under the
bust in an empire style with long sleeves gathered at the elbow and
wrist and a long fall of lace that fell over her hands. The
neckline was a deep scoop that showed off the tops of her breasts
just enough to be enticing without flaunting her well endowed
chest. The gatherings at waist and arm were dotted with tiny pink
rosebuds and according to Tilda, it was exactly like the gown Emily
had worn when she was mated to Charles' father. And she should know
since she'd made that one, too.

"What do you mean the old way? I thought this
was the old way," Kat said, referring to the gown. While very
pretty, it was designed for freedom of movement as were her shoes
which were nothing more than satiny ballet slippers.

Part of the mating ritual involved something
called the Chase. She would run through the woods while Charles
chased her as a Wolf. According to Jo, the longer she could evade
him, the more fun everyone would have and then, in the privacy of a
spot he had chosen for the occasion, they would mate.

"It's only symbolic of the old ways. In the
good old days the Mate wasn't always willing." Jo laughed. "Hell, I
bet they were never willing. They were captured and running was
their one hope of escape. Of course, running also triggers the
instinct to chase, so… Haven't you noticed that this dress
resembles nightgown?"