Wolver's Rescue (27 page)

Bull let it go. Now wasn’t the time to tell
her that if he survived this night, he would be hunting Eli
tomorrow.

~*~

Just as she knew she would, Tommie found
Molly not far from the camp. Only a few years older than Tommie,
the woman looked worn out by life. Her face was lined and her hair
was shot with grey. She stood quietly looking out into the forest,
her hands folded in front of her as if in prayer. Tommie called her
name softly, though Molly had no doubt heard her coming. Molly
didn’t move.

“
It’s time to get ready,”
Tommie said when she came to stand beside her. “Bull wants the
young ones well away before the moon comes up and the change
begins.”

“
He’s out there,” Molly
whispered, still staring into the trees.

“
Who is?” Tommie whispered
back, suddenly wary.

“
Eli.”

“
He can’t be.” They were
miles and miles away from the clinic where Eli was last
seen.

“
He’s out there,” Molly
insisted though she didn’t raise her voice. “I can feel him. He’s
nearby.” She finally turned her head toward Tommie. “It’s that way
when you’re truly mated. You can feel him and when he’s too far
away, it hurts. I know he’s nearby. I can feel him and it doesn’t
hurt.”

Tommie didn’t question it. She knew how badly
her own wolf whined when Bull was away. It made her sad and was
extremely annoying. She could only imagine what it would feel like
if her wolf had a stronger bond with Bull. She was about to remind
Molly that they had to go, when the woman turned with a determined
look on her face and started her walk back.

A new wariness crept over Tommie. “Molly,”
she called softly as she ran to catch up. “You won’t do anything
stupid tonight, will you?”

Molly offered a sad smile. “Not tonight. It’s
too important. And not while my cubs are too young and Eli is still
alive.”

When they returned, the five cubs were
clustered together and waiting. Each carried a canvas sack filled
with childhood comfort; a favorite doll or stuffed animal, cookies,
a bit of candy and a few photographs just in case the night, as
Bull kept putting it, when south. One carried a favorite plastic
two handled cup with a lid to sip from. One held a large and ragged
square of silky cloth that once was bright pink, but had been
washed to a rosy off-white.

Tommie knew what that was. Though she didn’t
remember much about it, her mother had spoken of it often enough.
When Tommie came to them, she carried a piece of a former baby
blanket. It was all that was left of her ‘bankie’, and according to
her mother, it was six months before Tommie would go anywhere
without the green rag.

Bravely smiling parents gave goodbye kisses
and hugs. When Tommie took the youngest into her arms, one of the
cubs stepped forward. Remembering Bull’s advice, she turned the
toddler over to him with thanks for his strong arms. She was
rewarded with the same goofy grin Bull had received.

With bags of diapers, piles of blankets,
extra drinks and a final promise to guard them with her life,
Tommie was ready to set off to the most important and only
babysitting job of her life. She had little time to say goodbye to
Bull. He had other things on his mind. She understood, but she
desperately wanted one last word, one last touch before she went
away.

It was as if the man heard her call. He
looked up from where he was talking to Bogie, a silent wolver who
looked remarkably like that actor for whom he was named, and strode
across the camp to stand by her side. He slid his hand into her
hair, tilted her head back, and kissed her hard and wet and
long.

When he released her, he leaned his forehead
against hers. “Remember, spitfire. You’re a helluva lot stronger
than you know. I’ll see you tomorrow after all is said and
done.”

She gave a silent sharp nod as he moved away.
All she could think was she’d see him tomorrow if things didn’t go
south and she couldn’t say that aloud.

The three cubs led the way, each carrying a
toddler along with a bag. The hideout was a little over a mile
away, an abandoned workman’s shack deep in the woods. The boys had
found it on one of their hours long excursions into the forest.
Tommie worried about their safety, but Bull laughed at her
concerns. Running off for hours was the way all wolver cubs learned
and these cubs had been deprived of that pleasure for years.

Tommie had never had that pleasure either,
and she wasn’t sure she’d missed all that much. The wolf thing
sure, but this wasn’t running with the wind. This was slogging over
the damp forest floor, slipping on who-knows-what in her only pair
of shoes and wondering what kind of animals lived here that might
be bigger than her.

This night terrified Tommie on several
levels. The worst, she refused to think about, but there were other
things that worried her as well. She’d already explained to the
boys that if they met a bear, she was leaving them to deal with it
and running like hell. They laughingly told her they could outrun
her any day of the week.

“
I was told I could rely on
you,” she huffed good naturedly.

“
Oh, you can rely on me,”
said Daniel, who she’d learned was Cory’s fraternal twin. “You can
rely on me to be the first back at camp if we meet that bear. I’ll
take my chances with wolves over bears any day.”

“
Wise guy. You’ve been
hanging around Bull too much. He’s a bad influence and I’m telling
your mother.”

“
Don’t worry,” said the
third boy, whose name she didn’t catch, mostly because everyone
called them ‘the cubs’ as if they were one unit. “We’ll each grab a
pup before we go. Not this one, though,” he said of the little boy
he carried. “I’m leaving Binky with you. He sleeps with me and he
wets the bed. I’m tired of rolling over in the wet
spot.”

Binky looked like he was going to cry and
Tommie felt a spark of panic.

She’d never had much to do with babies and
toddlers other than smiling and saying how cute they were, or
handing them a piece of candy to keep them busy while she spoke
with their mother. She’d lived like a recluse in the company of her
parents and later alone. She had no friends or relatives with whom
to share their bouncing bundles of joy. She’d never changed a
diaper in her life and she wasn’t sure she could comfort and quiet
a crying child, which would be essential on a night like this. If
she’d never cared for a single toddler, how could she care for
five?

A partial solution presented itself in the
form of another concern. During the whispered conversation, Macey
walked silently behind them. While she wasn’t joining in with the
nervous whispers, she wasn’t glowering or curling her lip,
either.

Falling on your neighbor’s mercy was as good
a way as any to mend fences. Tommie was willing to fall, but she
wasn’t willing to skewer herself on the fencepost.

“
I’m sorry I pulled you
hair,” she began, but stopped when Sammy tugged on her
hand.

“
You pulled her hair?” he
cried in pint sized outrage and at the top of his giant sized
lungs.

“
Sammy!” Macey hissed. She
grabbed his hand from Tommie’s and bent to put her face in his.
“What did Mommy say about whispering?”

“
If you can’t whisper, you
can’t talk,” the little parrot answered.

“
So now you can’t talk.” She
put his hand back in Tommie’s and when Sammy looked like he might
have something to say about the matter, she raised her finger along
with her eyebrows and her little brother’s mouth snapped
shut.

“
Damn, you’re good, Macey. I
was hoping you would be. I stink with kids. Don’t have a
clue.”

“
Is that why you’re
apologizing for what you said? You want my help?”

“
No, that’s why I’m
apologizing for pulling your hair. I meant every word I
said.”

Macey didn’t answer, though Tommie thought
she detected a ghost of a smile.

They walked in silence after that and Tommie
never realized that a little over a mile was so long.

With the departure of their young, the
atmosphere of the camp changed. The beer was put away. The coolers
were closed. The dancing and singing stopped. The light went out of
their eyes. Women wept. Men consoled them while looking like they
could cry, too. Someone turned off the radio and the silence that
followed was the silence of death.

This silence, too, Bull remembered from the
past.

But these wolvers were from the present. They
were aware of the danger that stalked them. They could fight back.
They had to fight back. He marked the sky and stepped forward.

“
Wolvers.” He called their
eyes to him as his power swelled. “Why did you invite death to the
party? Why did you say your last goodbyes? You want them to
remember that last kiss, that last hug and of course, they will.
Even the pups will remember in their own way. We wolvers have long
memories.”

He was using one of those memories now. The
voice he spoke with was formed by the Alpha he remembered, the one
who’d brought him over for the first time. It was what that Alpha
would have told his pack if given the chance. He walked to the fire
pit, to the center of the half circle they’d formed.

“
They will also remember it
as the night you died. Someone has to be there to tell the tale or
they will always question that kiss. Was it a kiss goodnight or one
of resignation? Samuel,” he called and the old man jumped at the
sound of his name. “You said you had nothing to lose. You’re wrong.
You have everything to lose. You have the future of your young to
lose. There is nothing more important than that. They are pack and
pack comes first.”

Bull turned to the tall man who had his mouth
open and ready to speak. “Don’t say it Stretch. Don’t you dare.
There are no omegas here. I see your courage. I see your strength.
I see your loyalty to each other. There are no omegas here,” he
repeated with conviction. “I say it because I know.”

They had to believe it or the plan would
fail. Looking at their faces, they did. Bull began to hope his lie
was true.

“
Get that radio on,” Samuel
ordered. “Start the laughter and the singing ladies and everybody
take their places. The moon’s about to rise and we’re supposed to
be having a party.”

Now all Bull had to do was uphold his end of
the deal. He’d forced the change on men before. It was a power that
belonged to a pack leader, an Alpha, and God knew he wasn’t one of
them. Eugene Begley claimed that all alpha males had the power
within them, but few could tap into it without the mantle that gave
a leader his power. It was Begley’s theory that Bull tapped into
his when he brought himself home the first time he went over the
moon. Bull didn’t think it was anything to write home about. It
took him two fucking years to do it. But the trick helped with the
work he did.

It sucked the life out of him to do it, and
the fight that usually followed sapped his strength further.
Tonight, he would bring the five females over and fight a battle at
their side. He wasn’t sure he could do it.

“
Come on, boss,” Samuel
tugged at his sleeve. “Don’t stand there gawpin’. We got us a
battle to win.” He gave Bull his gap-toothed grin. “Yes, sir, we
got a battle to win and you got to get that big body of yours hid
if we’re going to do it.”

“
You got it. Remind the
others to guard their throats and watch their hamstrings.” Bull
lifted his hand up over his head as he jogged out into the trees.
“Good hunting.”

Bull found the place that he had chosen that
morning, a rise high enough for him to clearly observe the
territory below, but low enough that anyone looking up wouldn’t see
its advantage. There were few campers at this time of year. Monday
and the forecast of bad weather had sent those few off in search of
drier pastures and more comfortable beds. His little band was alone
except for the wolvers milling around the two SUVs below.

As expected, there were six, and Bull took in
each one as he watched. He marked how they moved and how they were
built, who were the strongest among the strong. Their attributes as
humans would translate to their wolves.

The one with long legs and slender torso
would take advantage of his leaping heights. The one who was short
and slender and moved with a cat like grace would fight like the
tip of a bullwhip. He would slash, slice, and be gone. The one with
the broad chest and stout legs would use his weight and power to
knock his opponent off his feet. All of these men were built for
fighting. He was surprised they didn’t wear matching tee shirts
with Pack Enforcer written in bold letters across their chests.

Only one showed any of the tenseness that
should come before a fight. He kept himself separate from the
others and by the way he paced back and forth alongside the
vehicle, Bull suspected this was his first real fight. It made
sense to allow a young male to cut his warrior teeth on the flesh
of a sure victory. Bull vaguely wondered how the young male would
survive the test.

They were all too young and too confident in
their power. They casually scanned the trees around them and
watched the road looking up into the further reaches of the
campground. They expected no scout, but if they’d seen one, they
would run him to ground for the sport of it and not for what he
might report. Not once did they look behind them to where Bull
crouched. They were not as formidable as they seemed. Such enemies
could be beaten if you used their cockiness against them.