Wolver's Gold (The Wolvers) (30 page)

She wanted to acquiesce, to do what he wanted and not long ago, she would have. Not now.
“That’s a very old fashioned attitude, Mr. McCall, and not like you. Particularly when I consider how you were raised.”

“Maybe I’m an old fashioned sort of guy. Maybe I think when you find something pure and
precious, you don’t want it sullied by filth. And Gold Gulch is rolling in filth, Rachel.”

“
And we all closed our eyes to it, refusing to recognize it,” she countered. “I closed my eyes for fifteen years. I can’t do it anymore. You won’t always be there to protect me, Mr. McCall. No matter how all powerful you think you might be, bad things can still happen. I need to stand up for myself. I need to stand for my pack.”

McCall ran his fingers through his hair. “I know
that, too, and it’s not that I think you aren’t capable. I know you are. I’ve seen it. But the thought of you being hurt is enough to drive me out of my mind. I don’t care if it’s old fashioned. I don’t give a damn if it’s unenlightened. It doesn’t have to make sense. I need you to promise me that you’ll stay away from any situations where you might be hurt.”

It was too late for that. She was going to be hurt and how ironic that he was the one who would hurt her more than tooth or claw ever could.

“I promise,” she told him, because the truth wouldn’t help. She stepped into his arms. “But you have to promise, too. Don’t hide from me. Don’t protect me. Don’t torture me with your secrets.”

“
Fair enough. I promise.” He kissed the top of her head and set her away. “Now you’d better get going. I don’t want you to get caught slinking back to the hotel.”

She couldn’t leave him this way; worried and relying on promises they both knew might not be kept.

“Then you’d better get going, too, Mr. McCall.”

Rachel unbuttoned her shirtwaist as fast as her fingers could fly. She’d left her chemise and cover behind, leaving only her corset beneath her bodice. It chafed a bit without the soft fabric against her skin, but the look in McCall’s eyes was worth it. She laughed as she let her skirt fall to the floor.

“You seemed so fascinated with my corset...”

She couldn’t finish before
he groaned and his hands were at the sides of her breasts, the rough pads of his thumbs sliding over the mounds held high by the corset beneath. When they found the nipples, she shivered and laughed with pleasure at the look on his face.

“
I like it.” He smiled and the color of his eyes deepened with lust, replacing the look of disquiet and dread.

“And the bloomers, Mr. McCall?” she asked coyly.

“Drawers, Miss Kincaid. It’s highlighted in my copybook. I remember the important things.”

“But you’ve forgotten time is short.”

“I haven’t forgotten a thing,” he said, sliding his hand between her legs and backing her to the wall. He looked surprised at what he found there. She was ready to take him.

“I told you
I was waiting a long, long time,” she laughed low and sultry.

“Fantasizing about me?”

His belt was gone, his buttons undone. He lifted her up to settle over his hips while he settled himself inside her. He wasted no time, but drove into her, hard and fierce, groaning something about Victorian women being ahead of their time with their split crotch drawers.

She started to explain that wasn’t the purpose, but each time he drove into her he hit the spot that sent her mind spinning and pulsed fire through every nerve of her body. She could feel his body tensing along with her own and the thought of their coming together at that perfect moment excited her even more.

“What do you call me in your fantasies, Red?”

“
Challenger. Challenger,” she panted. His name became a chant, whispered into his hair as he bent his head to her shoulder and panting himself, brought them together in a rush of ecstasy.

“
I call you heaven,” he whispered.

Chapter 30

The days rolled by unnoticed, filled with the routines of life
. Her nights were filled with McCall. It was so easy to pretend this was how it would be forever, to forget that her happiness was fleeting.

“Stop it!”

As fast as Rachel pushed a hairpin in, McCall pulled another out. She punched behind her with her fist, but caught only air. McCall stood two feet behind her, grinning at her over her shoulder in the mirror. Her hat slid over her eye. She righted it and when she tried to place the long, sharp pin that would hold her hat in place, he stole another pin from her hair.

“Mr. McCall, I have one nerve left and you’re standing on it. Now stop
your pestering and let me put my hat on.”

“Wear it down and I’ll stop.”
He said, fingering another pin.

“
I’m a grown woman, not a girl.” She settled the hat and stuck in the four inch pin.

“That doesn’t mean you have to tie your hair up in a knot. Shit,” he huffed, “My grandmother wears it that way.” He laughed when she rolled her eyes. “All right, she wears her hair in a military buzz cut, but if she actually had hair, she’d wear it in a knot just like that.”

“You get to see it when we’re alone,” she whispered, looking nervously back toward the kitchen.

Bertie and Liddy were busy clearing up the kitchen so Rachel could get ready for her book club presentation.

“I’m as nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs and you’re not helping,” she complained.

McCall took her shawl from the peg and settled it around her shoulders
, kissing her neck as he did so. “You sure you’ll be warm enough? It’s getting colder.”

“I’m only going to the schoolhouse and according to Cassie, the place will be packed. It’ll be an oven in there.”

He turned her to face him and bent to look in her eyes. “Which means your battle’s half won. If they weren’t interested, they wouldn’t come. You should probably send a pretty thank you note to Barnabas Holt. If he hadn’t tried to stop it, you’d only have half the crowd.”

Once word of the book club topic spread, due largely to Eustace and Cassie, the
Second did some spreading of his own, largely through Orly Peters and Jake Coogan. Over the past few weeks they let it be known that the Mayor wasn’t pleased with this stirring of ‘modern ideas’ that could only bring unrest to their peaceful community. They even went so far as to suggest that if a certain spinster in this town had a strong man’s hand to guide her, there would be no meeting at all. It was also hinted that that was about to change.

Holt had closeted himself with her father on several occasions and while her father emerged, shaken and pale, he swore he made no promises.
Rachel wasn’t sure she believed him, but McCall assured her it was true. One of Daisy’s flowers complained.

“Every time he has a sit-down with that old dandy, Holt comes back here pissin’ fire and takes it out on Daisy.
These walls ain’t so thick that we don’t hear what’s goin’ on, though Daisy, bless her, tries to keep it quiet.”

Rachel was horrified, not only by the abuse, but the fact that her refusal was the cause of it.

“Can’t you do something? Arrest him. Bring him up before the Mayor’s Court. Something.”

“And then what? Do you think the Alpha will punish his right hand? What has he done so far, but give his
Second more and more power.” McCall shook his head. “Daisy knows the score. She’ll have her revenge and she’s willing to wait for it.”

Daisy wouldn’t have to wait long.

Eustace couldn’t wait to tell them about what was going on about the town.

“
Achilles Marbank came marching out of the General Store with those two fools, Peters and Coogan, dangling by the backs of their jackets,” he recounted. “Said if the Mayor had something to say about what real men should or shouldn’t do, he should come out and say it himself and not send two such sorry excuses for men to do it. Said he might come to the book club, too, and he dared any ‘real’ man in town to try and stop him.” He slapped his thigh and hooted with laughter. “The tourists thought it was part of the show. I should have told them to come back Friday night. There’d be an even bigger show.”

“Eustace!
It isn’t meant for the tourists. It’s for the pack,” Rachel argued. The event was planned for fifteen minutes before closing when the streets would be almost empty of tourists. They wanted to make a point without damaging business revenues.

“There’s always a good crowd the day before the hanging.
We’ve got the Bank Robbery, and the big shootout and capture of Jake Brannigan in the morning, and building the gallows in the afternoon.”

“Before the trial?”
McCall asked. “Isn’t that jumping the gun?”

“Why?” Bertie asked, “That’s the way they did it the first time. When fifty eyewitnesses saw him do it, the evidence was pretty one-sided. Law said he had to have a trial, so they gave him one. Of course, it took ‘em longer than two days to hang him, because they had to hold the funerals for the dead
, clean up the mess from the bank burning, and give folks a chance to get here for the party.”

“Excuse me?” McCall looked around the kitchen at all the faces smiling at his ignorance.

“Hangings were a big event back then,” Washington explained, “and not just for Gold Gulch. “Families on outlying ranches and farms, and folks from neighboring towns came to watch. They brought picnic baskets and made a day of it. They got to see justice done, used it as an example to their children, and had an opportunity to visit with friends and neighbors.”

“Besides,” Eustace added, “Gold Gulch was mostly wolver back then and we like our justice swift.”

“Unless you’re innocent,” McCall added sardonically.

“But Jake Brannigan wasn’t and the tourists don’t care. It’s not like we’re doing the real thing.”

“And it’s one of our biggest money makers,” Bertie chimed in. “Why, we’ll be frying up chicken and ham for box lunches and family picnics all day. Streets’ll be so crowded you won’t be able to move. You’re going to be busy, Sheriff. It’s a big day for pick pockets, too.”

“Sheriff Porter used to deputize six or eight men to help keep an eye on the crowd.”

“Nice of the Mayor to tell me. Where am I going to find that many men on short notice? I’m assuming on a day like that, you’re all pretty busy.”

“That’s the beauty of it. I’m thinkin’ they’re planning to say you derelicted your duty or whatever they call it. That’d be grounds for firin’ you, wouldn’t it? They needed to keep you on ‘til Hangin’ Day, but once it’s over...” Eustace drew his fing
er across his neck. That’s why they’re holdin’ Court on Saturday night.”

Washington and McCall exchanged glances. “What do you mean they’re holding Court?” The schoolmaster asked.
“Court’s not until Monday.”

Sunday was the first night of the full moon when the pull was strongest, but even the Second was wise enough not to schedule Mayor’s Court on a Sunday and then demand attendance. Sunday was the only short day of their seven day workweek. To hold it after closing on one of the busiest days of the year was almost as bad.

“That’s the other thing those fellers were saying. Didn’t I tell you? Mayor’s holding Court at ten to settle some important issues. All pack members are to be in attendance. He’ll be convening at the church since there won’t be room nowhere else. O’course, that don’t mean you ladies,” he said to the women. “But don’t you worry. We got ‘em licked.” He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. “Most of ‘em are betas,” he said of the list of names, “But hell, they’re only dealing with tourists. They’ll be by tomorrow to pick up their badges. Might be good if you said a few words to swear ‘em in all official like.”

McCall and Washington exchanged another significant glance. This time, it was the sheriff who spoke. “We’re moving up the schedule.
Don’t waste time putting anything back. Take it all. Saturday will be a busy day at the bank. They won’t have time to notice, if they haven’t already. How’s the leg?” he asked Washington.

“It’ll hold, but I don’t expect to need it.”

Rachel had suspected there was more damage to Washington’s leg than either man had let on. Wolvers tended to heal quickly, but though he did his best to hide it, Washington’s limp remained.

“Yeah, right,” McCall said, but he didn’t sound like he agreed or thought it was right. “
I’ve said my piece and there’s no convincing you otherwise, but I still want you to be careful.” He looked at the list Eustace gave him and shook his head at the omega. “They’re all betas except you, and you’re not going to be deputized.”

“Aw, come on, McCall. I can do it! Even with my bad legs I can take on a tourist...”

“Never said you couldn’t, but I don’t want your attention to be anywhere but on Miss Rachel. You hear me? After her book club, I want you sticking to her like glue. She’s in the kitchen, so are you. She goes to the store, so do you. You tell Maudie she’ll have to make do without you for a few days. You’re on security detail.”

“I don’t need a bodyguard,” Rachel protested at the same time Eustace did.

“Is this the sheriff talking or the...”

“The sheriff,” McCall said decisively. “Miss Kincaid is stirring up trouble, trouble they’ve already said they don’t like. The easiest way to stop it is to stop the ringleader, make an example of her,
send a silent message, so until she’s played her part, I want someone with her at all times. Bertie, Liddy, I want you on watch, too.”

“We don’t even know if I can do this,” Rachel worried, “What will you do if I fail?”

John Washington looked at McCall. “A lack of confidence is such an ugly trait in a woman, don’t you think?” he asked drily.

“It’s a pity, really,” McCall answered seriously, though his eyes were dancing with humor, “If it wasn’t for that, she’d be kind of cute.”

“You two are not funny,” Rachel huffed. “I’m serious. What will you do if I fail?”

“Failure is not an option, Miss Kincaid,” they said together and started to laugh.

“Stop it. Stop it! It isn’t the least bit amusing to me,” she insisted, “Don’t you two see? Don’t you understand what will happen if something goes wrong?” She threw up her hands. “Go ahead and laugh, but if you two go and get yourselves killed, I shall never speak to you again. Never!”

They thought that was funny, too, until she burst into tears and fled to her room.

McCall was there before she could close the door, gathering her into his arms and holding her head to his chest and whispering comforting words.

“Hey now, what’
s all this, Red? No need to cry. We were only trying to lighten the mood.”

“I’m going to lose you,” she sobbed.
One way or another, he would no longer be hers.

“You knew that from the beginning,” he said gently.

“But it’s too soon.” It seemed like only yesterday she had three weeks. Suddenly, she had three days. “You don’t have to do this,” she said, and hated the sound of desperation in her voice, but still, she went on. “You could leave tonight. We could leave tonight. I could go with you.” She felt him catch his breath and her heart stopped. What if he laughed at her suggestion?

“You’d leave your home, your father, your friends?
For me?” He sounded incredulous.

“Yes, yes, I’d do anything for you, anything to keep you safe. I love you, Challenger McCall. I wasn’t going to tell you, but I have to say it once before
you’re gone from me forever.”

“I love you too, Red, and I wish things could be different, but this is my call
ing. It’s what I was meant to do. I’ve made the commitment and I can’t run away from it.”

He crushed her to him, so tightly she could barely breath
e, but she didn’t protest. She couldn’t. She could never be close enough to Challenger McCall. He loved her.

“You’ve made me dream of possibilities
,” he went on. “There’s got to be a way to make this work. I just can’t think about it right now. Later, baby. Later, we’ll think and talk and find a way. Right now, I need you to be strong.”

Later would be too late. Rachel could be Challenger McCall’s lover,
but she could never be the Alpha’s mistress, the woman who would be cast aside when he found his Mate. She sniffled back the new tears that threatened and stiffened her spine. He needed her to be strong and that’s what she would be. She’d have years ahead to shed her tears.

“
Nothing’s going to happen to John,” he assured her, “and nothing’s going to happen to me.”

“I know,” she
whispered, because she knew it was what he needed to hear, but it was a lie. Something would happen to Challenger McCall one way or another, and whatever way the wind blew, she would be left behind and alone.

It was much easier than Rachel thought it would be. Book club attendance swelled beyond the rows of seats in the schoolhouse. Their success going over the moon had awakened their wolves and given the women of Gold Gulch pack the same sense of power and freedom she had felt when she ran as a wolf. With that power awakened, they were eager for more of that freedom in their daily lives and since the awakening had begun with
Jane Eyre
, they were curious to see what ideas would come next. They wanted the respect they deserved and their wolves demanded, and hoped to find it in the little red schoolhouse.