It wasn’t the word itself that bothered her. It was how they used it. These wolvers had a lexicon of words and phrases that were completely unfamiliar to her. It wasn’t their definitions. It was their usage. ‘He didn’t come home’ could mean from the store, or from ‘going over the moon’ or ‘going over’ for short, depending on the context of the conversation. Alpha was more complicated. ‘The Alpha’ was easy. An ‘alpha’ was harder. They sounded the same and to some extent could be used interchangeably. Everyone understood but her. She needed to ask them to use bunny-ear quotation marks for capitalization.
It was all very confusing and aggravating and throughout Bull’s tactical meeting, Tommie felt like she’d been shoved aside. Everyone else was excited. They were going to fight for their freedom from oppression while she was relegated to babysitting. It was so not fair!
And now she was tramping down the hill to find a surly teenaged girl because she’d stupidly volunteered for the job.
“She’s down at the bathrooms,” one of the cubs told her.
“She’s always down at the bathrooms,” said another.
“It’s like her face is stuck to the mirror down there,” said the third.
Tommie stopped her stomping and took a deep breath. It would be hard to be the only teenaged girl in that group. Macey had no one to share that bathroom mirror with, no one to talk about hair styles, clothes, or makeup, or anything else young women her age cared about.
She took a deep breath, pasted on her most congenial face, and immediately spied Macey in the girl’s second favorite place. She was sitting in a tree outside the bathrooms, legs dangling from a lower branch, and reading a paperback book.
“Hi, Macey. What are you reading?” She asked it with her most nonthreatening smile in accord with her personal Rules of Engagement when meeting new clients. Put the client at ease with a short conversation about an innocuous subject.
The girl looked down at her and curled her lip. “None of your damn business and why would you care?” She closed the book and placed her hand over the cover.
Not an auspicious start, but an opening nonetheless. Rule two said find common ground.
“Oh, no particular reason. I just like to read and since I didn’t get to bring much with me, I thought you might let me borrow it.”
The look Macey gave her said if she fell in a well, Macey wouldn’t loan her a rope to haul herself out. When the girl surreptitiously turned the book over to effectively hide the cover, Tommie had an idea. Make a connection through shared interests.
“I like racy romances, myself. You know what I mean, hot sex and to-die-for heroes. I remember how my mom used to bitch about my inappropriate reading material. Inappropriate, that’s what she called it.” Tommie’s laugh was scornful. “The way she said it, you’d think I was reading porno with pictures or something. I mean, it wasn’t like I was six years old.” She shook her head at the stupidity of adults.
There was a flicker of interest in the girl’s eyes and then, like the door closing, it was gone, but that little opening gave Tommie hope.
Macey frowned. “Why are you here?”
“Here talking to you or here with your pack?”
“Both. And it’s not my pack.”
Tommie chose to ignore this last. Technically it wasn’t Macey’s pack or any pack at all for that matter, and Tommie knew how good teenagers were at what her mother called splitting hairs. It was easier to ignore the comment than argue about it.
“You know why I’m here. I was with Bull when we got Samuel and Eli out of that place. We brought Samuel home.”
“You didn’t bring my father home, though, did you? And it was your fault he was in there in the first place.”
Her fault? “Macey, they took me when I went to see about your father. I didn’t send him there.”
“You didn’t send him, but it was your fault. It was because of you that doctor was looking for us.”
“Honey, I didn’t know what I was. I grew up outside.” Tommie used outside as the wolvers did, meaning outside the wolver community.
“That’s probably why he wants you, too. You’re an outsider,” Macey sneered.
“Who wants me?” Surely the girl couldn’t be jealous. Macey had only just met Bull. Tommie smiled to herself at the thought. She’d only just met Bull, too, and he was kind of a book-boyfriend kind of guy.
“It doesn’t matter.” Macey waved her off with a roll of her eyes and the same stupid-adult look Tommie had used before. “Now, what do you really want? Because this stupid let’s be friends routine isn’t working.”
It was a setback, but the ice was broken. Tommie got right to the point. “It’s about what happened this morning.”
Macey’s sneer turned into a lip curl. “You mean how if you hadn’t stuck your nose in where it didn’t belong, I’d be out of here?”
“No, about how you didn’t give me the information I needed. Someone could have been hurt and I got in trouble for your mistake.”
“So?” Macey’s eyes lifted to the side, away from Tommie face.
“So?” Tommie repeated. She was losing what little patience she had left. “Someone could have died.”
“So?”
A small smile played about Macey’s lips. Her eyes hadn’t moved. She wasn’t ignoring Tommie. She was watching someone.
Tommie followed the girl’s eyes to a dark car partially hidden by the trees alongside the road exiting the park. A man had emerged and was walking toward them.
“Macey, get down from there,” Tommie ordered. “We have to go.”
“I don’t, but you’d better.”
“Macey, I’m not fooling here. We need to go.”
The man was walking with purpose. Tommie didn’t think he was looking for directions.
“Get down,” she almost shouted.
“Make me.” Macey sneered the dare.
The snarky little bitch chose the wrong day to dare Tommie. What little patience she had disappeared.
“Fine. Have it your way.”
Tommie wrapped her hands around Macey’s ankle and pulled. The book went flying as Macey tumbled to the ground with a surprised screech. Ignoring the book, which was indeed a racy romance, she grabbed a hank of Macey’s hair instead, and began hauling the girl along with her.
“You may be bald headed by the time we get there, but you are coming with me,” Tommie snarled to the kicking and screaming girl. She did, however, relent enough to allow Macey to gain her footing, but she’d retained her grip on the hair.
The man began to run. Tommie ran, too. Macey had a choice; run or lose half a head of hair. They’d only run a few yards when Stretch stepped from behind a tree with a shotgun in his hands.
“Keep moving,” he shouted as he took aim at the man running behind them.
Tommie didn’t argue, but she did glanced back to see their pursuer halt and retreat. She ran a few more yards, hauling the crying girl behind her, before she stopped. She was angry and trembling when she released Macey’s hair, grabbed her shoulders, and shook her.
“Your Alpha, he is not a good wolver, Macey. You know that in your heart. I know that because I know the wolvers up there.” She pointed with her chin in the direction of the camp. “You’ve been surrounded by good people all your life, so I know you know the difference. It’s time for you to wake up and grow up.”
Macey pushed her away. “I hate you. I hate all of you. You can all go to hell. I love him and he came for me, just like he said he would. Everything would have been fine, but you got in the way.”
“I didn’t get in the way. Ten thousand dollars did. He wants his money, Macey, and he wants us dead. You heard what Bull said the same as the rest of us. Bull doesn’t lie. Your Alpha does.”
“No! He’s not lying. He wants me and he’s coming to get me. No one needs to get hurt. He promised. He’s coming to get me.” Macey was crying openly now, sobbing, but Tommie was so angry, she didn’t care.
“Then he’d bett
er not come tonight, because if he gets anywhere near you or those pups, I’ll kill him.” Tommie leaned in until she was nose to nose with the girl. “And don’t think I won’t, because I’m certifiably crazier than he is. I’ve had a lifetime of practice.” Her skin was burning. Her eyes were blazing. Her wolf was close to the surface. She could see it in Macey’s face.
“I didn’t go to the pack with what you did. I wouldn’t let Bull come after you for it. I came down here as a friend, because you need one and I need one, too. I accept the attitude. I accept the smart mouth, but when you answered, ‘So?’ to the possibility of people who love you being hurt or killed, that’s where you crossed the line, because the people you’re talking about are the people I’m growing to love and nobody takes that attitude with people I love.” She gave Macey a shove.
“So? Get that shitty little ass of yours back to camp and don’t give me any lip, because the way I feel right now, I could snatch you bald headed just for the hell of it.” She turned away and then back again. “And just so you know, anytime you want to switch that word out for I’m so sorry, or I didn’t mean it, I’ll be happy to be your friend and love you, too.”
Macey was staring at her like she really was crazy, but Tommie no longer cared.
“Go!” she shouted when Macey didn’t move fast enough for her liking.
With one last sob, Macey backed away and went.
Stretch, who had watched quietly from a few feet away, now walked beside Tommie. His elbow nudged her arm and when she looked up, still fuming, he winked and rubbed his head and its thinning hair.
“Remind me never to get on your bad side. I don’t have much to spare.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Tommie said with a breathless laugh. She felt as if she’d run a race.
“So, did you mean what you said? Do you love us?”
Tommie laughed again. “I’m growing to love you. Let’s not rush the relationship.” She stopped and looked down at the shotgun he held. “Thank you, by the way. What were you doing down here with that?”
“Bodyguard,” he said proudly. “Bull said he needed someone he could trust to keep an eye on you.”
Tommie threw her hands up in the air. “Great. The babysitter gets a babysitter.”
Chapter 21
Bull watched Tommie give him a thumbs up and a smile before quietly going to work with the others who were packing everything that could be torn up or destroyed in the coming battle. The confrontation had to happen here in the camp, but that didn’t mean they had to sacrifice what little they had. Clothes were packed away. Tents were replaced with old and worn out spares, with torn nylon and canvas, and strategically broken poles
Her casual greeting of him was telling. She wanted him to think everything was okay. Bull wasn’t so easily deceived. If things had gone well, Tommie would have come to him immediately to share her success. Besides, he’d already seen Macey’s return and her tear stained face. He crossed the short distance between them and as she was adding a load to the back of his truck, he moved in behind her. With hands at her hips, he whispered in her ear.
“Beating up on little girls now, spitfire? And after you told me no huffy-puffy. Shame on you.”
He thought he sounded teasing. He thought she’d hear the smile in his voice, but her reaction wasn’t one of amusement. Her whole body stiffened and she let out a little gasp of pain. She didn’t turn, but gripped the side of the bed of the truck and rested her head against the edge.
“I was awful, Bull,” she whispered. Her voice was tight as if she was trying to stop herself from crying. “I said terrible things.”
Bull leaned into her. “Maybe they were things she needed to hear.”
“I pulled her hair,” she sniffed out her confession.
“Oh. Well. I didn’t hear about that,” he said seriously, but he couldn’t keep his body from shaking with laughter. “Hair pulling is such a serious offense.”
She turned in his arms and struck his chest with her little fists. “It’s not funny.”
“Yes it is,” he said, but quickly corrected when he saw her jaw tighten. “Okay, maybe it isn’t, but I bet it got her attention.”
Tears slipped from the corners of her eyes. “The wrong kind of attention.”
He wasn’t laughing anymore. He ran his thumbs over her cheeks, wiping away the tears. “Was it really that bad?”
“Worse.” She told him what happened, including every little detail.
He wanted to laugh at her again when she stated her preference for sexy romance books, but he couldn’t. She looked so miserable.
“I was already angry with you and I took it out on her.” The tears came again. “Oh, Bull, how could she not care for these people.” She fisted his shirt in her hand. “Please. You have to let me fight. I might not know what I’m doing, but my wolf will. She’s angry, too. I can feel her. I did the hair pulling, but the rest was her. She sees these wolvers as hers. She wants to protect them. She needs to protect them. She knows, Bull,” she said as if he’d disagreed with her. “She knows they deserve something better than what they’ve had, something better than this. She wants to see them have it. I don’t know how she knows, but she does, just like she knows...” Tommie closed her mouth and eyes and shook her head.
Bull pushed away the hair that tears had glued to her cheek. “I understand how you feel, Tommie,” he told her because it was true. He felt it too, more than he cared to admit. “But I have my reasons for putting you in charge of the cubs and one of those reasons is that I trust you to do what’s best for them if things don’t work out well.”
More tears followed. “Die. That’s what you mean. They might die. You might die.” She sobbed as if the words hurt. “If that happens, Bull, I won’t be able to be trusted. I won’t be able to take it, not on top of everything else. To find all this and have it taken away? No, I won’t be able to take it. I’ll lose my mind or I’ll die, too. My wolf is strong enough to fight, but I’m not. It took everything I had to fight that cage. I don’t have anything left.”
She clung to him and he held her, and looking up he saw that the others and stopped their work to watch. No, they were waiting for his nod to call them forward. For all their apparent weaknesses, these wolvers were a tough lot. They didn’t cry easily, yet the women had tears in their eyes as if they shared Tommie’s pain. The men looked awkward, their eyes shifting this way and that like they wanted to do something, but didn’t know what. Bull gave them the nod they were waiting for and then whispered into Tommie’s hair.
“No, Tommie, you won’t lose your mind and you won’t die. You’ll keep fighting, because that’s what you’ve always done. You have no choice. It’s how you’re built. You’re stronger than you think. I know,” he told her, because that too, was true.
One by one, the misfit band of wolvers came to her. Some only touched her, a stroke to her arm, a pat to her back. Others whispered words of encouragement along with their touch.
When Molly touched her, Tommie pulled far enough away from him to look the woman in the eye.
“I’m sorry,” Tommie started to say, but the woman stopped her with a finger to her lips.
“Shush now, you only did what I should’ve done a long time ago. She needs to understand others’ pain and not just her own. She came to me and hugged me and cried. She’s been so angry. She hasn’t done that in a long, long time. I shouldn’t say it, but I will. It felt good.”
Stretch was the last to come forward. He didn’t touch her, but stood for a moment playing with his fingers and looking at his feet. When he finally looked up, he grinned sheepishly. “I think we’re growing to love you, too,” he said.
Finally, Tommie smiled. “Okay then. It’s time the big baby stopped blubbering and got back to work.”
“Use your own damn shirt,” Bull complained, but he laughed and raised his arms when she tugged his tee shirt from his jeans to wipe her eyes. “No nose blowing, though.”
Cora saved his shirt by
handing Tommie a paper towel. “When you’re finished wiping up the blubber, I could use some help in the bus.” She walked away muttering, “They think that bus is some hotel with a front desk for dropping off their luggage.” and then she turned and called to Boris. “If you’re planning on making supper tonight, you’d best be quick about it. You need to get your stuff packed up or we’ll have pots and pans scattered hither and yon come morning.”
Tommie tucked his shirt back in. It formed an uncomfortable knot, but he let it lay. Her head hung low and a curtain of hair covered her face, so he used a finger to lift her chin.
“You okay now?”
She kept her eyes downcast, but tried to smile. “As okay as I can be after throwing a public pity party. I guess Macey and I have a lot more in common than I thought. I should have apologized while they...”
“Tommie.”
“No, Bull, I had no right to lay my troubles at their door. Their problems are a lot bigger than mine. They’re looking at...”
“Look at me,” he ordered, not harshly but not gently either.
“Are you going to do your huffy-puffy thing? Because I don’t think I can...”
“Damn it, spitfire, will you just look at me.”
Her shoulders sagged and she gave a long suffering sigh, but she did raise her eyes to his. “What?”
“You and I, we’re survivors.” He nodded over his shoulder. “They’re survivors, too.”
He was going to say more. He was going to tell her he’d been waiting for and wondering when this breakdown would occur. After all she’d been through and was still going through, it was bound to happen sooner or later in one way or another. He was going to tell her he was glad it happened now. It was out of her system. Whatever happened later, she’d handle it. He was going to tell her she was one of the strongest wolvers he’d ever met. He was going to tell her, but he didn’t. He kissed her nose instead.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked again just to be sure.
This time her smile was bold and genuine. “I am, but you’re going to have to do better than a kiss on the nose when you come home to me tonight.”
Wolver's Rescue Page 18
