Wolf’s Glory (12 page)

Glory lifted her head from his shoulder. “Really?”

“We have enough meat for a few days. Others can hunt.” This time his kiss was a lot less comforting and a lot more sexy. Damn, he could kiss. His kiss could bring a dead woman back to life just so her toes could curl. It was the type of kiss to make a woman forget the hurt people around her, the blankets boiling in the pot behind her, and even the fact that she was wearing torn, filthy clothes. She felt beautiful and desirable and reveled in it.

A snide voice ruined it for her. “Aren"t those blankets ready to be hung up yet?”

demanded Heather disagreeably.

Shadow ignored her, sliding his lips from Glory"s mouth to her earlobe, making her breath shudder against his throat. “Blankets, Shadow. Shadow, I gotta get back to work.

Shadow!”

“Later, sunshine. I haven"t tasted this spot yet.”

“Shadow! Go find Rose!”

He lifted his lips away and stared at her with eyes that shimmered wolf-gold in their black depths. “Are you giving me orders?” he asked with mild disbelief. “All right. But when I come back we"re going to finish this.” He gave her one more kiss and walked away, fading to his wolf form even as he untied the string of his breechcloth and let it drop. Glory had about a second to admire that muscled physique before it blurred into fur. He picked up the breechcloth with his sharp teeth and trotted off.

“Oh, my God,” said Heather. “You let that animal kiss you?” She shuddered

dramatically. “That"s so disgusting!”

Glory yawned as insultingly as she could. “Really? You"d jump his bones in a heartbeat if he"d let you. Not that he ever would.”

“No, he"d rather have to search through all that fat to find your—”

Glory raised the paddle she"d been stirring the pot with threateningly. “Are you actually going to work today or just stand there flapping your mouth?”

When Heather glared and turned to go, Glory restrained herself from blowing a raspberry after her. And Jill said she acted like a five-year-old. Ha!

Shadow had no trouble picking up his brother"s scent. Sky was in wolf form, running fast to the east. Shadow suspected Sky was following the trail of a horse"s scent, and he had a horse trailing him. He was sure the first horse belonged to Two Bears, and it was carrying double, from the depth of the hoof prints. Had Two Bears stolen the woman his brother"s wolf had chosen? Only a fool would take a wolf"s mate away. He hadn"t thought Two Bears was a fool.

But maybe he was. Only a few hours from the camp Shadow came upon the signs of a

struggle. The ground was churned up by horse hooves and foot prints. The smaller footprints must be from the woman. Wolf pawprints turned to man footprints. Shadow could scent blood, but not large amounts. If the woman was hurt, Sky would go crazy. He was too young to control his wolf in a killing rage. Shadow nosed around until he found the scent of the woman mingled with the second horse, and Sky"s man scent was there too, and the horse"s tracks turned south. The first horse and Two Bears" scent followed. Shadow was hours behind, so he set himself to a steady lope and pursued his brother.

As he had expected, the tracks led to Taye"s den. It was dark when he got there, an hour after sundown. He howled to signal to the Pack that he had arrived and shifted into his man form outside the gate. He put his breechcloth on as a couple of Pack members came to greet him and open the gate.

“I"m looking for my brother,” he told them.

One of the guards was struggling with a grin and the other was shaking his head. “Sky"s here, and he"s crazy. Go talk to him. Smack his head a few times. Maybe you can knock some sense into him.”

He went inside and immediately caught the feminine scents of several women, including Rose. He followed the scents to a room down a hallway. He knocked on the door, and his brother opened it with a scowl.

“Are you on their side?” he demanded sullenly.

Shadow entered the room and saw Two Bears crouched in a corner with the Beta Des

standing close by and Rose on a couch at the far side of the room flanked on either side by women. The taller of these had pale blonde hair arranged around a stunningly beautiful face but a painfully slender body. Another had brown hair to her waist and a tired frown. She looked at him with a direct gaze. Des came forward to greet him in Clan fashion by slapping his shoulder, then hugging him.

“Lupa, this is Wolf"s Shadow. He"s Beta for the Clan. Sky"s brother. Shadow, this is our Lupa. Taye mated her a week ago.”

The Pack"s Lupa was the woman with long brown hair. She got up from the couch the women were sitting on and came toward him with her hand outstretched like the townsmen did. Shadow wasn"t used to shaking hands, but he did it. They said the usual nice-to-meet-yous, and Sky could hardly wait to interrupt.

“Shadow, Two Bears stole my mate. I want to kill him. It"s my right.”

His little brother looked coldly furious. Shadow was impressed by his calm. Aside from a swollen nose, Two Bears was unhurt. If someone had stolen Glory he would have gutted him. He nodded gravely. “In proper time, Sky. Where is Taye?”

The Lupa answered. “He"s out hunting. He should be back any time now.”

Shadow looked at Rose sitting huddled in the blonde woman"s arm. There was a bruise shadowing her left cheek. “Rose, are you hurt?”

“No,” Rose said with a hiccup. “But I"m not marrying either of those guys!”

Sky swept toward her impetuously. “You"re my mate!”

The Lupa stood squarely in his path. “Sky, I warned you. Back up.”

Sky did, reluctant but obedient to the Lupa"s steely voice. “Lupa, she"s my mate.”

“Yeah, I believe you. But Rose is too young. She can stay here with us—Taye! Thank God you"re back.”

Shadow watched as Taye embraced his mate with tender arms. “Sweetheart,” Taye

murmured against her hair. He nodded to the blonde woman. “Mrs. Madison.” His eyes took in Rose on the couch with Mrs. Madison, Two Bears in the corner, Sky"s angry face, and Des and Shadow. “What"s going on?”

The Lupa had a powerful voice. She cut through Sky"s furious words. “Here"s the short version: Eddie dropped Lisa here just for tonight while he visits Dane Overdahl. Right after Eddie left, Sky rode in with Rose. He says his wolf has chosen her as his mate. That man—

Two Bears—had stolen her from the Clan camp and tried to take her east to marry her.

Without her permission. You can see that her wrists were bleeding from where he tied her up.”

Shadow looked sharply at Rose, and saw that her pale frail wrists were raw. Rage twisted in him, and he looked at his brother with new respect. How had he kept his temper with the scent of his mate"s blood in his nostrils?

“Sky took her away from Two Bears and brought her here. Two Bears followed. Sky

wanted to kill him. I stopped him.”

Taye let go of his mate to walk over to Rose, who cowered slightly from him. “Don"t be afraid of me; I"m your cousin. Are you from the plane from the Times Before? Then you must be frightened and homesick. I"m sorry you"ve been hurt. You"re safe here.” He went to Two Bears and stared at him coolly. “Two Bears, have the men of the Clan become woman stealers?”

“I wanted a wife!” Two Bears held his head high and steady. “I thought Rose would love me.”

Taye shook his head. “You"re lucky Sky only broke your nose. If you had stolen Carla I would have slit your belly open and left you for the birds.”

“Ew,” said the Lupa. Mrs. Madison looked sick.

Sky said, “That wasn"t me. Rose did that.”

Taye"s grin was white and amused. “Good for you, little cousin!”

“Ask her why she did it.” Sky"s voice was a tenor rumble of rage.

With most of the men in the room looking at her inquiringly, Rose said defensively, “He tried to kiss me, and he put his hand on my—” She broke off at the multiple growls that drowned out her voice and leaned a little closer to Mrs. Madison.

Shadow stalked to Two Bears, feeling his wolf tearing to get free and kill the man who had tried to hurt a mate of the Clan. How was Sky controlling himself? “You…” Shadow heard his own voice growl out of a throat gone raw with fury. “You will answer to the Council and thank your god that I don"t hamstring you and leave you for the crows.”

Taye"s white grin was gone, his mouth a hard line. “He"s in my territory. I will execute him.”

“No!” Sky howled. “He stole
my
mate! His blood is
mine
!”

It took all his control, but Shadow stepped back, acknowledging his younger brother"s precedence this one time. “Fine, kill him, then. It is your right.”

Rose"s high voice cut through the growls sharply. “No! That"s murder. He deserves a trial.”

Sky turned away from Two Bears to glare at his mate. “Why?”

“Everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty.” Rose managed to sound like a schoolteacher lecturing a dim-witted student. “That"s the law.”

The wolf was close to breaking Sky"s control, Shadow could tell. The edge of rage in his tenor voice was a thin blade. “The laws from the Times Before don"t count. He"s not innocent. He stole you. He would have hurt you. There"s nothing to prove. He dies.”

Rose looked at Shadow. “You could take him to the council, though, right?” she argued.

“Isn"t that what you said? That"s like a trial, right?”

Shadow watched his brother"s face soften and wondered if his face did that for Glory.

“We can take him to the council,” he confirmed, catching Sky"s elbow when he opened his mouth to complain.

“Excuse me,” said Two Bears coldly. “I"d rather you killed me here.”

“You"d like that,” Sky snarled at him. “Not to have to face the shame.”

Shadow was watching his brother"s mate. She was so pale, almost as pale as Glory, and bony with new growth. Would she love Sky? Right now he sensed fear and anger in her, and not all of it was directed at Two Bears.

Taye broke the tension with a sharp hand clap. “I haven"t eaten yet, sweetheart, have you?”

“Not yet,” the Lupa said drily. “It"s been a little busy here.”

“Then you need a good meal so you don"t get any skinnier. And Eddie Madison won"t thank us for starving his wife.” He paused to smile at the blonde woman before glancing again at Shadow. “Will you stay for supper, kinsmen?” Taye nodded at his Beta. “Des, tie Two Bears in the stable.”

Shadow was hungry. Supper was not an entirely comfortable meal, at least not for Mrs.

Madison who sat straight in her seat and stared hard at her plate. Madison was the name of the mayor of Kearney. Was this his wife? No. She must be his son"s wife. If she put on some weight to soften her narrow frame she would be truly beautiful. Her face was angelic.

Certainly prettier than Glory"s face, but she lacked Glory"s fire and abundant curves.

It wasn"t comfortable for Rose, either, who wouldn"t look at Sky for more than a second, however often he tried to touch her hand. She sat just as stiffly and silently as Mrs. Madison.

Few other wolves of the Pack were present, but Shadow could scent their curiosity just out of sight beyond the dining room.

The Lupa tried to make conversation. “So, Shadow, you are marr—I mean, you found

your mate?”

Warmth unfurled in his chest when he thought of Glory and the way she had kissed him today. “Yes. She is beautiful. Glory comes from the Times Before.”

“We"re all from the Times Before.” The Lupa indicated Mrs. Madison and Rose. “It can be a little difficult to fit in here. It"s so different from our old lives. I don"t know Glory well, but I know she"s strong. When the plane crashed she helped a lot of people. How is she?”

Shadow took his time cutting his meat. How was his mate? She was beautiful. She was brave. She was strong-willed. But he didn"t think that was what the Lupa was asking. How was Glory?

When the silence stretched while he was trying to think of an answer, his brother"s young mate spoke up. “She"s tired. And really, really dirty. She wants clean clothes and hot water. And she misses her family. A lot.”

Shadow raised his eyebrows at Rose. Did this woman-child know his mate so well?

“What makes you think that?”

The thin shoulders shrugged. “She cries at night. We talk.”

This must be what the meat on his plate felt when his knife sliced through it. “She cries?” He felt like crying himself. Glory should tell
him
these things.

His face must have showed that because the Lupa reached across the table to pat his forearm like it was a puppy"s head. “We all cry sometimes. Suddenly finding ourselves here is like having the entire Clan and all your friends killed, and you a prisoner in place you"ve never seen before.”

“A prisoner?” said Taye, hurt.

“Only at first,” the Lupa reassured him. “Once I began to love you I didn"t feel like a prisoner.”

Shadow pushed the vegetables around his plate, looking between his cousin Taye and Taye"s mate. Love. He could see they had warm feelings for each other. More, the Lupa easily accepted her mate"s brief affectionate touch in a way Glory never accepted his. The dining room was mostly empty, and except for the silent blonde woman, they were all kin. So he asked the question.

“You love Taye. Why?”

“Because he loves me.”

Taye kissed his mate"s forehead, making Shadow seethe with envy.

“I love Glory. Why doesn"t she love me?”

Rose looked at him with exaggerated surprise. “You do? But you hardly know her.”

“She"s my
mate
.”

Rose"s face said she wasn"t convinced. “This predestined mating thing sounds pretty stupid to me,” she muttered, shooting Sky a dark look before turning back to Shadow.

“What"s her favorite color? What does she like to do?”

Shadow floundered. “What?”

“See? You don"t even know her.”

Sky leaned across the table. “What color do you like?” he asked eagerly.

Rose glowered at him, folding her arms over her chest.

Shadow stroked the dimple beside his mouth thoughtfully. “That doesn"t mean I don"t love her. We haven"t had a chance to talk much yet. She is busy caring for the injured, and I am hunting to bring back meat to feed the Clan and replace our winter stores.”