Wolf’s Glory (18 page)

Sandra looked angry and disgusted. Shadow braced himself for Glory"s repudiation. The scent of her blood was sickening in his nostrils.

Other clan men were standing nearby. Justice in the clan was seldom private. Even if they had been in a lodge the sharp ears of the wolves would hear everything. Their faces were neutral, but Shadow could feel their disapproval too.

Glory stopped in front of him. She nodded at his father. “Hi. Can I talk to Shadow alone for a sec?”

His father regarded her impassively for a moment, but Shadow knew him well enough to know his father was examining her swelling lip and blackening eyes with mounting rage. He was more Clan Alpha than father when he took two steps back, enough to give the illusion of privacy while still being close enough to protect Glory if needed.

Glory lowered her voice, as if that would keep the others from hearing her words. “This is all your fault,” she hissed indistinctly. “You will never use sex like a punishment against me ever again!”

Shame sent him to his knees. “Glory.” He risked one agonized look up at her, then dropped his eyes back to the fists he had clenched on his thighs. “I"m sorry. I didn"t mean to rape you. I swear I never wanted to hurt you.”

“Humph,” she grunted, exchanging a look with the Grandmother. “Shadow, you didn"t rape me. But if you ever touch me—even just once—because you wanna hurt me, I"ll kill you. I"ll cut your balls off and hang „em on my door. Got it?”

His heart swelled with pride for her fierceness, then broke again with shame. “Yes.”

“But this time I liked it. You were sexy. Really.” She lowered her voice further.

“Really,” she repeated. “I liked it.”

His heart was an anvil struck by a blacksmith"s hammer. “But … Your face…”

“
That’s
the part that"s your fault. You left me alone in the dark. Moron. My jeans were all twisted up, and I fell when I tried to get out of bed. It was pitch-black in there after you dropped that damned door flap closed, and I hit my nose on the ground. If you would have lit a lamp, asshole, I would have seen the ground in time to use my hands instead of my face to break my fall. In fact, if you would have stuck around it wouldn"t have happened at all.” She waved her hands. “But it wasn"t because of the sex, though, so relax.”

His breath shook with relief, but he could see her palms when she waved her hands.

They were raw. He had left because he couldn"t bear to have her see his tears. Guilt seared him for his pride. “Sunsh—Glory, I hurt you. I"m sorry.”

“Oh, for God"s sake, get up. You look ridiculous down there.”

“Glory.” He rose and stretched a trembling hand to touch her cheek. “I"m sorry.”

She flinched ever so slightly from his hand. He let it drop, not touching her. “You say I didn"t rape you, but you won"t let me touch you?”

“Well, duh. My whole face hurts. If you want to touch me, pick a place that isn"t bruised.

My arm. My shoulder.”

He carefully laid his hand on her shoulder. A few minutes ago he had been resigned to never touching her again. In the Clan histories there were stories of a wolf"s mate repudiating him after they had had sex, but it had never happened since the Clan had regained their wolves. Had Glory demanded his death, his father would have granted it, he was sure.

Instead, she allowed him to touch her. He swallowed tears.

“Glory, my life is yours.” He spoke loudly enough that everyone would know he was speaking publicly. “Do you forgive me for what I did to you tonight?”

She looked around uneasily at the people watching. “Yeah, yeah.” She rolled her eyes, then froze with a hiss. “Can we just go? I need to lie down.”

“Should I help you to the Grandmother"s tent?” He wanted her with him, but after what he had done he couldn"t tell her what to do or where to sleep.

She rolled her eyes again. Or tried to. He wanted to order her to stop hurting herself, but he stifled the urge. “You built a brand new bed for us, right? Let"s use it.” Her cheeks turned red, an odd combination with her pink hair and blackening eyes. “For sleeping.”

A surge of triumph was beaten down by intense gratitude. But his mother wiped both feelings away.

“You are going to forgive him that easily?” she demanded. “Even if he didn"t mean to hurt you, it is his fault your knees are bleeding. He didn"t use sex to give you pleasure. He used it to force you to submit. He must be punished.”

Shadow cringed inside again. Everything his mother said was true. Clan law was strict.

His father, the Clan Alpha, stepped forward again. He raised his hand above his head to signify that the Council was summoned. This would be an informal gathering, one which would determine if the Council needed to meet for formal judgment. Shadow stiffened his back and waited for the Council to gather. It didn"t take long. Some of the women from the plane gathered around too, smelling curious and looking horrified. His cousin Laura and his dog appeared with Sky beside them. Laura was grave, The Beagle slightly subdued, and Sky looked vaguely worried.

The Clan Alpha spoke. “We are here to decide if the Beta Wolf"s Shadow is at fault in causing his mate harm. Wolf"s Shadow, tell us what happened.”

Shadow kept his face emotionless. “When I learned that my mate planned to leave me, I was angry. I tried to compel her to agree to stay with me. When she refused I forced her onto her hands and knees and raped her. After I was finished I put her in the bed and left her to come to the Alpha and confess what I had done.”

None of the Clan spoke, but Shadow could hear almost soundless gasps from his kin, the shocked babble of the women from the plane, and Glory"s protest halted by the

Grandmother"s stern voice telling her to hush. The Alpha turned to Glory.

“Glory Peterson, tell us what happened.”

“It wasn"t like he said!” she burst out. “We were arguing, yeah, but he didn"t rape me.”

“Glory, it is important that we know the whole truth. Consider your words carefully. Did Shadow force you?”

“No.”

Shadow allowed himself a quick look at his mate. Her face was red. He thought her scent was embarrassed, but it could have been anger. Or the anger scent could have come from his mother and the other women. Glory was embarrassed. But she spoke defiantly.

“I liked what he did. It wasn"t rape.”

The Clan Alpha looked to the Clan Lupa. The Grandmother pulled Glory back a step and took her place. “Glory is sure that she wasn"t raped. Wolf"s Shadow will not be executed or banished. But the women demand that he must face a penalty. He could have raped his mate.

He believed he had raped his mate. His penalty is to build his mate a house near our winter camp. She will come with me to Taye"s Pack for the winter so she can consider her future.

Whether she will accept him as her mate is her choice, and whether she will ever live in the house is her choice.”

Joy roiled with horror in his heart. He would not be formally punished by the Council.

And though he hated living within four walls and a ceiling that cut him off from the sky, he would build his mate a house, if that was what she required to stay with him. But he had just found her. How could he bear to be apart from her for months?

His father spoke formally. “That is the Council"s will. Glory Peterson will go with the Grandmother to Taye"s Pack for the winter. Wolf"s Shadow will build his mate a house in the winter camping ground. She will live there if she chooses.”

The Council broke up, each drifting to their own lodges. Laura gave him a quick glance of commiseration before following his stupid dog off toward the river. Sky stopped at his side and gripped his shoulder.

“Living inside isn"t so bad,” he said encouragingly. “When I stayed with the Pack I was able to go outside and run if I wanted to. And Taye doesn"t make us wear clothes all the time like the Grandmother does.”

“What?” said Glory. “They don"t wear clothes at Taye"s place?”

Shadow perked up at the hint of dismay in her voice. Maybe she wouldn"t want to stay in a place where wolves went naked. Then Sky had to spoil it.

“Well, the Lupa doesn"t like it. And when the Grandmother goes to live there…”

Glory made a little pained snorting sound. “Look, my head is really starting to hurt. I need to lie down. Shadow? You coming?”

Just try to keep him away, he thought fiercely. Then he curbed himself. His dominant urges had to be controlled. He could never let himself lose control again. He tentatively put his arm around her waist. A lead blanket fell from his shoulders when she accepted his support. A rush of determination swept over him as he walked back to his lodge with his mate leaning against him.

He would give her whatever she wanted if only she would stay with him.

*

Glory had watched lots of movies where the characters had broken noses and black eyes, but she had never known how much it could hurt. Not that her nose was broken, and Jill had assured her that her eyes weren"t too bad, but her face hurt like a bitch. She needed her aspirin. The medicines that the survivors had pooled together to help the injured were nearly gone, but she had held back a few aspirin in her purse. Where was her purse? She tried to remember where she"d had it last. Oh, yeah. She turned around.

“Glory?” Shadow asked, quickly following her and putting his arm around her again.

It felt nice. Warm. With the sun down the air was definitely nippy. “I need to go back to Jill"s tent.”

Shadow"s face closed. “I"ll walk you over.”

Glory looked up at his face to see what he was feeling. Strange. He usually had almost a naïveté about him that showed his thoughts. Now he was shutting her out. She frowned and hissed a breath at the pain. “Moron,” she muttered.

Jill looked surprised to see them. She was sitting with Marissa and Jane, a lamp between them illuminating a deck of cards laid out for solitaire. “I need my purse,” Glory told her.

With her swollen lip throbbing it was hard to speak clearly. “Aspirin. In my purse.”

Marissa quickly got up and handed her purse to her. She looked nervously at Shadow. “I have some acetaminophen for my arm, but it"s better. I don"t need them anymore. Doesn"t aspirin thin the blood and prevents clots? You don"t want that if you"re bleeding.”

That chick was all right. Glory couldn"t really smile at her, but she tried. “Thanks. That might be better.” She accepted two pills that Marissa shook into her hand and the cup of water that Jill handed her. She gulped them down fast. “Thanks a lot. Goodnight.”

She shuffled backwards out of the tent and jumped when something cold and wet

brushed over her ankle. Her purse began to slide down her arm, and Shadow caught it.

“Dammit, that dog scared me to death!”

Shadow looked down at The Beagle with disfavor. A loud gurgling noise came from the dog and a strong blast of canine gas perfumed the air. Glory gagged and retreated so quickly she almost stumbled over Shadow"s big foot. She could swear that damn dog was laughing at her.

“Let"s get out of here,” she told Shadow. “I don"t know what Laura"s been feeding that dog, but it"s something not good for her.”

As they left Glory could hear Marissa say, “God, what is that smell?” and Jane"s

reproving, “Language, young lady.”

Glory thought Shadow"s tent was this way. She began walking, and Shadow hurried after her to put his arm around her again. “Where do you want to go?”

“Back to your place.”

Something in his face loosened. “Are you going to … sleep in my lodge?”

“Well, yeah. You built that bed for us, right? We should try it out, don"t "cha think?”

His face warmed, once again showing her his emotions. Right now he was … happy.

Relieved. His hands coasted down her back to her butt, squeezing lightly.

“Uh, Shadow. Tonight, let"s only sleep, okay? I"m not feeling up to any extracurricular activities, you know?”

“Okay.”

That was a relief. She loved what he did to her in bed, and what he had done to her on her hands and knees had been even more spectacular, but her face hurt right now too much for anything but sleeping. When they got to his teepee he lit the lamp Jill had left by the cloth and buckets, and turned up the wick to give the most light. He helped her take her shoes and socks and jeans off and folded them at the foot of the bed. He put her under the blankets with all the gentleness of a mother with her baby. He wet the rag the women left when they had cleaned her up and put the cold rag over her eyes. The bed was pretty comfortable, and with him in it beside her it was warm.

“Glory.” His voice was a deep rumble in her ear. “I love you. I don"t want you to stay with the Pack. Please, stay with me.”

Love. The word made her want to squirm. “Shadow, it"s only for the winter.”

“We"ll be apart for months.”

“Then, you come too. Stay with me. Your cousin Taye has room, doesn"t he?”

There was a moment"s silence, so maybe he was considering it. “I can"t leave the Clan.

Besides, I have to build you a house, remember?”

Oh, yeah. His punishment for giving her the best sex she"d ever had.

“Glory, come with me. I"ll work twice as hard to finish it if you"re there. And you can tell me how you want your house to be. Even in a lodge you won"t be cold. The weather is more moderate in the sacred lands, and I will be there to warm you at night. Please. I don"t know how I can live without you for a winter.”

She almost pretended she didn"t care how he felt. Flippant indifference—lies—were ready to roll off her tongue. But this was too important. She forced honesty instead.

“Shadow.” She paused. This was really hard. “Shadow, I care about you. You"re a great guy.

But Jill … She"s old. She could die before spring. She"s my best friend.” Tears were stinging her battered eyes and nose, and it hurt. She hated crying. She had cried more in the last two weeks than she had in her entire life put together. “I want to spend as much time with her as I can.”

She flipped the rag over, trying to find a cooler spot and hide the tears. But Shadow knew. His big hand smoothed her hair gently. “I understand. But the Grandmother is tough.