Wolf Tracker (19 page)

The guests left with a protective escort of wolves. Taye seemed unwilling to take any risk with his pretty little cousin. Ellie leaned close to Tami to give her a hug on her way out. “Congratulations again,” she said shyly. “I hope you’ll be very happy. I’ll be married by next summer.” The young blond giant gave Ellie a blinding smile.

“Thank you. Congratulations to you, too.”

After the guests were gone, the Grandmother gathered all the women together and hurried them off to her room to plan the weddings. Renee was talking out loud to herself about cakes and buttercream, and Marissa was excited about decorations. Carla had a thoughtful look on her face as she held her hand out in front of her and tilted it to let the diamond catch the little light in the hallway. Rose was silent. Tami trailed along behind them, shocked all over again at Tracker’s acceptance of her proposal.

Once in the Grandmother’s room, the old lady took charge. “Ladies, back in 2014 a wedding was a grand occasion, but we’ve already used up important food stores for Christmas. These weddings will have to be a bit more low-key.”

That was fine with Tami. Her wedding to Brad had been lavish, and Tami had hated it. But her mother had paid for it, so she’d ordered everything the way she wanted it, with hardly a nod to Tami’s preferences. “Good. It’s not like we can have wedding dresses and veils, and I doubt there’s a hothouse growing roses and baby’s breath in the area.”

Marissa blinked. “Hey! Who’s going to give us away? Faron should give me away. Is there a church? Or should we get married at the Plane Women’s House?”

“I think we should be married here,” Carla chimed in. “I don’t think Taye will want us all going into town.”

The Grandmother raised her thin voice. “We have several days to plan. It will take Dan a little while to find a priest and bring him back.” She fixed her eyes on Tami. “My question is for Tami. Do you really want to marry Dan? Or are you doing this just to thwart Richard Dickinson?”

“I really want to marry Tracker,” Tami lied, then paused, realizing it wasn’t entirely a lie. “I like Tracker. He’s a good man.”

“Yes. He is,” the Grandmother agreed. “And he wouldn’t be marrying you if he didn’t have feelings for you.

“But do you love him?” Rose asked curiously.

Tami hesitated. “I like him. And I feel happy when I see him. That’s more than some marriages have.”

Renee agreed. “My first husband turned out to be a tomcat who put most of his paycheck up his nose. When we got married, I was so in love with being in love, I didn’t see what kind of guy he really was. Between the booze, the women, and the drugs, all he had left for me was a hand digging through my wallet and a quickie every now and then. Divorcing him was the best thing I ever did. Hawk is different. He’s mature. Responsible. When he says his wolf will never look at another woman, I believe him.”

Thank God
, thought Tami,
Brad wasn’t like that.
Even at the end, they had been friends. Their love life had died long before their marriage had, but Brad had never mistreated her.

Love life. It was terrifying to think she was about to marry a near stranger, one who had stipulated their marriage wouldn’t be in name only. He expected sex. A warmth flared between her legs, and she felt a relieved happiness at it. Sleeping with Tracker would be good. He wouldn’t tie her down and force her. She imagined making love with a man who would take his time to please her. She could do that with Tracker. He had never been anything but kind and respectful to her. He would be a gentle lover.

Wouldn’t he?

Chapter Nineteen

Tami was in the stable grooming Freedom when Tracker returned four days later. What did it say about her that she was more comfortable talking to her horse than joining in the preparations for the weddings? She had been the same way with her wedding to Brad. That was why Tami had found herself wearing a dress so loaded with ruffled lace, she’d felt like a giant cupcake. She had no idea what she would wear this time. Her jeans, probably. No, that green dress she hadn’t worn yet. She wasn’t a dress kind of girl, but this was a festive occasion, right?

Tami, in the stable at the opposite end of the compound from the gate, hadn’t heard Tracker’s arrival. Snake found her and gleefully herded her back into the den to greet her bridegroom and the priest. Tami swallowed nerves as she took off her coat and hung it carefully on the hook before letting Snake push her merrily into the rec room.

Tracker, standing back from the fireplace, gave her the slightest of smiles. Funny, how such a small change in expression could warm her. She smiled happily back. Taye was standing with one arm around Carla beside the fireplace, talking to a man wearing a bulky black coat, whose bald head emerged from a green scarf wrapped high around his neck. It gave him the look of a turtle. Tami walked toward him, and he turned to her with his lips clamped so tightly together they seemed to disappear into his face.
Snapping turtle
, she decided with an inward nervous chuckle.

She stopped laughing when he turned back to Taye and began yelling. “Stolen! As if I were a horse! And dragged through a snowstorm to this den of iniquity!” He jabbed a stubby finger in Carla’s face. “And why? So I can marry you?”

The look of mild amusement melted away from Taye’s face. He stepped in front of Carla, putting her behind him, and his growl cut through the turtle man’s ranting like a knife. Several other men in the room pushed the turtle man back, making a fiercely scowling barrier around him. Carla made an effort to push back in front, but Taye didn’t let her.

“Never raise your hand toward my mate again,” he snarled at the turtle man.

To give the turtle credit, he didn’t flinch. “I am a man of God. You won’t hurt me. You had that barbarian bring me here for a reason.”

That cool defiance infuriated Taye, Tami could tell. This was getting out of hand. If she wanted to be married by a priest and keep Dickinson away from the den, she had to move quickly.

“Actually, that was me,” she said cheerfully into the threatening silence.

The priest swung toward her and so did several wolves, who bunched themselves between her and the minister. Tracker stepped to her side, standing close enough for her to feel his arm nudging hers. Tami made herself relax against his side. With a quiet word, Tracker cleared the wolves out of the way. She waved her hand at the turtle man.

“I’m Tami Casper,” she introduced herself. “I think you’ve met my fiancé, Dan Stensrud?”

The minister glared. “We weren’t introduced. He came into the rectory and told me he would break my legs if I didn’t come with him.”

Tami turned shocked eyes on Tracker. He shrugged. “He said he would come in the spring. You want to be married by a priest, and I ain’t waiting ’til spring.”

His mild, dismissive tone told her protesting would do no good. Besides, the priest was here now. She tried to smile graciously at the fuming priest. “I’m glad you’re here,” she began.

“I’m not,” he grumbled.

Taye frowned. “Sweetheart, are you sure you want to be married by this man?”

The priest seemed to grow a few inches. His finger quivered when he pointed it at Tami. “I am not marrying you to two men!”

Tami gaped. A small sound came from Tracker or maybe it was just the feel of his chest rising as he inhaled sharply, and she looked up to see a tiny smile on his lips. It immediately disappeared, swallowed by his usual impassiveness. Taye choked on a growl, as if his vocal chords couldn’t decide whether to growl or laugh.

Carla finally managed to shoulder the wolves aside to stand beside Taye. “
I
am marrying Taye.
She
is marrying Dan. And Renee is marrying Bobby Hawk in Flight. And Marissa is marrying Red Wing.”

For some reason this seemed to cheer the priest. “Four Christian marriages at once?” He rubbed his hands together as gleefully as Snake offering to bite Dickinson. “That is worth traveling in the winter for.”

“Good. That’s settled, then.” Carla managed to sound comfortable. “I’m Carla Wolfe. Er—Carla Zimmerman. This is my mate, Taye Wolfe. And you are?”

“I am Father John Duncan, of Saint Mary’s in Grand Island.”

“Pleased to meet you. Let me take your coat,” Carla offered politely, then at a frown from Taye, she corrected herself. “Let Mikey take your coat. Would you like something warm to drink? Jelly, get our visitor a cup of the cider. Warm it first.”

“It’s already warm. It’s been hanging over the stove all day, Lupa.” The teen boy cut through the wolves to go to the kitchen.

“Thank you.” The priest surrendered his coat and spread his hands to the fire. “I assume you don’t have a chapel here? This room will do well enough for the ceremony.”

“Good,” Taye grunted. “Let’s get this over with.”

Right now? A sudden icy fist clenched Tami’s stomach. Carla’s voice pried the fist open. “Not this minute, Taye. Des will have to go into Kearney to bring Faron Paulson here. Marissa wants her son at the wedding to give her away, remember? And even though it won’t be a feast, Renee needs some time to get a special meal ready and bake the cake.”

“All right.” Taye sighed. “It can wait until after supper, I suppose.”

“Tomorrow, Taye. It’s already almost suppertime. The weddings will be tomorrow afternoon. We’ll need to find a room for the priest to sleep in.”

Tami was amused and impressed by the way Carla bossed the wolves around, even Taye, the Alpha. They all obeyed her. The mellowing priest was given a cup of the hot cider, and soon a room was cleared out for his use. Taye stood like a guard dog over Carla as long as the priest was in the room. After Father John had drunk his cider, one of the wolves took him to his room for a nap before supper. Only then did Taye relax.

Carla turned accusing eyes on Tracker. “You kidnapped a priest?”

Tami was so close to Tracker, she could feel the almost infinitesimal tension that crept into his spine. “Needed him to do the wedding,” he said briefly.

It looked to Tami like Carla took a calming breath and counted to ten. “Okay, fine. Tami? You coming? We better get going on the wedding plans.”

As she moved to follow Carla, Tracker trailed his hand down her arm to catch her fingers and raise them to his mouth for a quick kiss. “I’ll see you at supper.”

“Right. See you later.”

* * * *

The women didn’t go to the dining hall for supper. Instead, Jelly and a couple of the younger wolves brought their food to them. They ate in the room adjoining the one Carla and Taye shared, and made plans for the weddings tomorrow afternoon. There was one rough table and two plain wood chairs, and a scattering of fur rugs in front of a freshly lit stove. The room was pretty cold, so they stayed as close to the stove as they could. Tami claimed a fur and sat cross-legged on it with her plate balanced on one knee. She kept her mouth shut, and let the others decide everything. She didn’t care what she wore or whether or not she should carry a sheaf of fir branches. Her thoughts were centered on Tracker and the wedding night rather than the wedding.

Tracker’s new caresses made Tami uncomfortable. It wasn’t because they turned her off. Actually, the opposite, and Tami wasn’t sure she trusted her body’s response. She told herself not to be stupid. He was nothing like those guys in Greasy Butte. Their idea of caressing involved hard hands gripping tightly and lots of slobbering while she tried to get away from them. Tracker’s hands were callused but gentle, touching her with barely more pressure than a whisper, and his few kisses hadn’t involved any tongue at all. This new hint of arousal he conjured in her was a good thing.

A voice broke into her thoughts and she looked up at Carla sitting in a chair at the table. “Sorry?”

“I asked if that was all right with you?”

Tami looked around at the other faces all pointed at her. Renee looked neutral, Marissa was anxious, Rose yawned, the Grandmother’s head was nodding and Carla looked polite. “Sorry. Is what all right with me?”

“If we wear our regular clothes? The men won’t have anything special to wear, so we thought we would wear our regular clothes to the wedding.”

“Oh, sure. That’s great.”

Marissa was plainly disappointed, but accepted it. Apparently that wrapped up the wedding plans, because the women all went to the door. Lining the hall were about a dozen men, including the bridegrooms-to-be and young Jelly, who went into the room to collect their supper dishes. The Grandmother looked pleased to see the bridegrooms.

“Hawk and Red Wing, come into my room,” she ordered. Her eyes lingered on Tracker for a minute, considering. “You, too, Dan. Your fathers aren’t here to give you a talk about how to treat your mates, so I will.”

“What about me, Grandmother?” Taye protested. “My father died before he could give me a talk.”

The old lady looked from him to Carla consideringly. “The Lupa appears perfectly happy, so you must be doing something right. You don’t need the talk.”

Taye’s smile at Carla was roguish. “Those romance novels taught me well, didn’t they, sweetheart?”

Carla rolled her eyes and then ignored her husband. “Jelly, we will need lots of hot water tomorrow morning. All the women will want to shower, and the grooms will, too.” This was said to the men’s backs as they disappeared down the hall behind the Grandmother. “We will need clean sheets for the beds, too.”

The boy, holding a stack of dishes with an amazing amount of strength and dexterity, sighed. “Yes, Lupa.”

“And, Jelly, I wonder if you would be the one to give me away at the wedding? I would hold your arm, and then when the priest asks who gives this woman to this man, you say, ‘I do.’ Would you do that for me?”

The teenager’s head lifted, his eyes shining with proud excitement. “Yes, Lupa!”

Was she supposed to pick someone to give her away, Tami wondered. Who? She knew no one here. Except maybe Snake? He had been as close as her shadow. Yes, she’d ask Snake.

Des was speaking to Taye in a quiet murmur. Tami caught something about guards changing and going in to Kearney. It reminded her that Dick was still out there and could attack the den at any time. Once she was safely married to Tracker, would he give up on her? Would he go back to pestering Connie? That thought bothered her. The other women had gone into their own rooms, leaving her in the hall with Taye and Des and a couple other men she didn’t know.