Wolf's Holiday (8 page)

A cheer sounded and Drew smiled, letting them go for a moment. A good orator knew his audience. When had Drew picked up this skill?

She grinned.

He held up his hand, and they stopped applauding.

“Starting tonight and over the next few days, we’ll be celebrating here in Los Lobos. Finally, at the end of it, we’re going to have a pack run. Like the old days. Only, this time, our humans come, too. We’ll flank them; we’ll keep them safe. The dominants have already made that happen, and I thank you for your efforts on that, too, gentleman.”

Everyone once again applauded moved slightly until she stood next to Gee. The bear was near the stage but to the left. “They’re eating this up,” he said.

“As they should. That’s my mate up there.”

Drew went on, “On a more serious note, we’ve had some close calls to our borders. I trust you to continue to be as vigilant as you have been and to alert me if you see anything out of the ordinary. Whatever your holiday is this season, or if this is your first one, I wish you a merry, happy, good time. You’re all my family, my pack.”

He was all those things, but, before all of that, he was hers.

She needed to show him how much that meant to her.

***

“Here you are.” Drew walked into his house to find Betty sitting on the orange chair. He couldn’t help his grin. She hated the thing, and yet there she sat, seemingly accepting it as part of her reality.

Or maybe the crazy sex they’d had against it had altered her view a bit.

“Hi.” She stretched out her legs. “I thought you’d be able to find me here. Follow that nose of yours. Great speech, my love. You’re a natural.”

Drew dropped to his knees in front of her. “My least favorite part is the group speeches.”

“No one would ever know.”

He took a deep breath, bringing Betty into his lungs. She was steady tonight; her centered happiness filled him up and some of the tension in his shoulders eased.

Drew rested his head on her knee, and she petted the back of his neck. “You didn’t come home last night after you left. I was asleep but…I knew.”

“I’m sorry. I needed to run. I’d love to run with you after the pack run. Make it a regular thing.”

“I was actually thinking there could be some other things we could do after the run.”

She caught his attention, and he raised his head. “Like what?”

“When you asked me the other day where I would go on a trip, I didn’t respond correctly and if I’m being totally truthful, I lied when I said I didn’t have anywhere I wanted to go.”

“You did? I didn’t smell it.”

She stroked his head again. “A girl has to have some tricks. I got good at it when your father was in charge. Listen, there are places I would like to see. Only we have a very limited amount of time to go. Or not, I guess, if you don’t want to.”

“Explain.” He got off the floor and pulled her to him until they shifted places. He sat on the chair and she on his lap. Sometimes Drew needed to hold his girl. Just. Because. He. Did.

“Have you been to the Pacific Northwest? Seattle? Portland? Bend? I hear it’s really beautiful. You know I don’t really like hot weather. I prefer the cool. Maybe even Alaska.”

Drew could picture her with the mist in her hair and the way the light hit the beach in the early morning. She’d not like the cities. But he’d show them to her.

“Now, tell me why there’s a rush.”

“Because I want to have a pup, a baby. And I want to do it the next time I can. Three months from now, I’ll ovulate. Lately, I’ve been dreaming of babies.”She buried her head in his chest. “Unless you don’t want to or you don’t think I’m ready or you’re ready but don’t think I’d be a very good mother.”

“Stop right there.”

Drew had a lot to process but he couldn’t let B do what she did and misunderstand. The world shifted beneath him. She wanted a baby? The thought had never dawned on him, not once.

“I….”

She raised her eyes to his. “You’re not enthused.”

“I’m shocked.” He stood, setting her back down on the chair. “I realize I get one chance to do this right and, damn it, B, I don’t want to blow it. Are you sure you want to have a baby with me?”

Because she had to be sure. There would be no taking it back once they made the decision. And she might live to believe she’d made a huge mistake. His hands broke out in sweat.

His mate’s face steeled to the unreadable Betty Tao look. She rose. “What?”

“Have you ever given any thought to the blood that runs through my veins? It will someday run in any children I have. Tao blood. Leadership blood. All of that is great.” His chest felt tight. “It’s Magnum’s blood.”

“Drew….”

He shook his head, interrupting her. She needed to hear him. “I get this isn’t what you envisioned. I’m sorry. I have to think…I mean, we could have an evil child. It wouldn’t be your fault; it would be mine.”

She placed her hand on his arm. “You don’t have an evil vein in your body.”

“I do. You should see the daily fight to keep it down. I even had to make Ryker promise to kill me if I turn into Dad.”

B dropped her arm. “I…I didn’t know you did that. How…typical.”She shook her head. “That’s neither here nor there at the moment. You think it’s possible our child could be insane, a megalomaniac, and it would be your fault?”

“Yes.” Drew could hear the panic in his voice. He hadn’t had a good case of being so freaked out in over a decade. Even with the humans, he’d kept his cool. She wanted a baby? “I mean my grandparents couldn’t have known their son was going to be so awful. Look.” He backed away. “I need out of this house for a bit. I need to think. I am sorry, B. This sucks. I know it does.”

“Tell me one thing.” She looked out the window. “Is this because Archie fondled me when I was a child and you don’t trust me to take care of our baby?”

“No.” He grabbed her shoulders, whirled her around. “Listen to the words I’m saying and smell my truth. This is not about you. You’d be a great mother. But what will you do if he or she starts murdering?”

B stepped back. “I can feel your need to run. Go. We’ll talk later.”

“I ruined a moment you were excited about. I can’t take this back.”

“Drew.” A growl rolled through her voice. “I am fully aware of who you are. I don’t believe for one second you would produce any child who would go on to lay scorch on the Earth. I did, however, know there was a very good chance baby talk would freak you out. Not for the reason it did. I held off talking about it because I didn’t want to freak you out. Go. We have a big day tomorrow. The run and the gift-giving. You need air, and I need you to get some.”

His mate understood him; she always had. What other female would be fine with their mate running out at a moment like the one they were having?

“B—”

She interrupted. “Drew. Go. I’m not going to be patient forever. And you didn’t sleep last night, so do try to get some tonight, if you can. I’ll see you tomorrow. Don’t be late.”

He didn’t smell any pain coming off B, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t hiding it. “Even if we never have children, we’ll always have each other.”

His mate turned her back on him and walked to the window. “Have a good run, my love.”

***

Betty stormed through the crowd of revelers. The real party wouldn’t start until after the run. It seemed, however, some of the pack was happily getting their holiday on a little bit early. Good for them. Her scent must have given away her mood because no one stopped her or tried to get in her way. She was a woman on a mission.

Crazy baby? Bad blood? Just the two of them?

On the far side of the gravel lot opposite the bar, Ryker stood with his arms folded, staring impassively at Roland James. The tension roiling between them didn’t bode well for anyone. Not her problem. Not tonight.

Betty didn’t mind it being only she and Drew for the rest of their lives. She’d be lucky to have every day with him, to close her eyes with a last breath knowing he was with her. Tears threatened, and she pushed them down. She’d always thought they’d have kids. Bunches of them. Pups running through the backyard after their first shift, laughter, pack.

B pushed through the door of Gee’s and slid up to the bar. The old bear looked at her, eyebrows raised. He walked over and leaned toward her.

“Hello, Betty.”

She nodded. “Gee. I’d like a drink. A big one.”

“Sure.” He moved behind the bar and came back with a glass he set down in front of her.

She pointed to the red container. “That’s water.”

“Big drink.”

Her hands shook, and she put them in her lap. “I’m not having a great night. I get that was funny. Only my sense of humor…it’s fled.”

“Which is why I’m not pouring you a large drink. Not making it my business how folks around here want to drown their sorrows. I’d be out of a job if I did. But you’re the Alpha’s mate. You can’t come and get drunk if you’re mad or sad. Doesn’t look strong.”

She leaned forward. “Then give me the bottle, and I’ll take it home.”

“Not going to happen.”

Betty slumped in her seat. Wasn’t this supposed to be a happy time of year? She’d been enthused after hanging out with the humans. When had it all gone to shit?

“You know”—Gee picked up a glass and started to clean it—“many folks get depressed this time of year. It can be sad to not have family around or realize you don’t have the life you always thought you would. I remember one time, many years ago, I had a similar conversation with your great-grandmother.”

All right, he’d caught her attention. She loved when the bear told stories. “You did?”

“You’re named after her. Only no one called her Betty. Elizabeth wasn’t going to ever be so informal. She was Elizabeth. Her mate was Patrick. They sometimes called each other ‘ma’am’ and ‘sir.’ Had a real sense of right and wrong, those two.” He shook his head, and she wondered if he was seeing them as though they were really there.

“Do I look like her? My parents always talk about how they named me after her because she was such a strong wolf.”

Gee shook his head. “She didn’t have red hair. Your sister, Magnolia—she looks like Elizabeth, but you have her spirit. I knew it when you were born. You looked me right in the eye the same way she used to.”

Betty smiled. “What else was she like?”

“Well, she and Patrick used to fight as hard as they loved. He would do something to make her mad, and she would rail at him not caring who they were in front of.” Gee tapped his fingers on the bar. “One time, at Winter Solstice, the pack had gotten back from a run. Everyone had piled together to warm up, the way they always do. And I don’t know what Patrick said, but Elizabeth she jumped over the bar, grabbed some of the best whiskey, and poured it over his head before she tore his shirt off his body.” Gee shook his head. “The next day Patrick came in and paid for the bottle.”

Wow. Betty had done a lot of dramatic things in her life, only she’d never thought of publicly pour alcohol over Drew’s head. Even when he’d come from being missing she’d not told him off in front of others. Her grandmother was…spirited.

“And you have no idea what they were fighting about?”

Gee rocked back on his feet. “Not the particular details. I know it had to do with your grandfather, Stan.”

Stan, Betty remembered. Before he’d died in a raid—or maybe it had been a war, the details of the skirmish and his death were sketchy in her mind—he used to bounce her on his leg. He always smelled of peppermint and cigars. He had a deep, throaty laugh.

“I haven’t thought about him in years. He was a nice man.”

“That night, your grandmother was convinced your grandfather had turned him into some kind of hooligan. Patrick had given him permission to skip the run. The old Alpha, one of Drew’s ancestors—actually, the shortest Alpha on record, think he only lasted two years before his brother killed him—was easy-peasy about the rules. Patrick didn’t think Elizabeth should have cared so much, considering the Alpha didn’t.”

Betty shuddered. Two years. She tried not to think of Drew being assassinated. Mangum’s cronies had been mostly dealt with, although a few remained, always trying to get over onto pack land. Other than them, she couldn’t imagine anyone actually wanting to hurt Drew.

Although, when the pack got stronger, he’d be at more risk. A fully functioning pack was far more desirable. Betty shook her head. She couldn’t fix the problems of the world. She’d mated a male who was Alpha. Living with the ramifications was one of her jobs.

“Funny to think they worried about my grandfather. He was such an upright person. A dominant. Ran the lumber business. Serenaded his mate every year on their anniversary, even after she died.”

“Listen, I’m not expert. I have a daughter, as you know.”

Gee so rarely spoke of Amelia. She was always around, yet so infrequently did she join them for celebrations. Betty had always wondered if she was extremely shy. The slim girl never reciprocated Betty’s overtures of friendship. Not when Magnum was alive and not since Drew’s return. Eventually, Betty had given up.

“How is she?”

“Oh, fine.” Gee shook his head. “Listen, raising children is tricky business. It’s like mixing drinks. Overall you can add the same booze to the same simple syrup a million times. It makes the same combination. Except for the one time it doesn’t. One ingredient goes sour and, boom, you’ve got a gross concoction. You don’t even know how it happened—you always store things at the right temperature, buy them fresh. Just, one day, it’s bad. That day, your great-grandmother, she was afraid your great-grandfather had left the ingredients out to sour.”

Betty put her head in her hands. She’d love to talk more openly, only she didn’t want every wolf in the room to hear her business. Drew was afraid they were starting with improperly stored stuff. Maybe he was right. What chance did the baby have with a mother who was always screwing everything up?

Gee touched her arm and she looked up at his usually stern yet kind eyes. His gruff demeanor didn’t seem present at all. “You two have as much of a chance as anyone else. Do you understand what I’m saying to you? There was nothing wrong with the product for generations. One bad seed does not a poorly formed apple make.”