Chapter Two
Five Years Later
Jonathan McKnight tapped on Franklin’s bedroom door then opened it and stuck his head inside. It was hard to believe they were identical twins when you compared their two rooms. Jonathan couldn’t walk across his floor without stepping on something, but Franklin’s floor was clean enough to eat on. It wasn’t even noon yet, and he’d already made his bed. Jonathan couldn’t remember the last time he’d made his. “Hey, Frankie, can I borrow your sleeping bag?”
Franklin sighed, laid his book face down on his desk then turned towards Jonathan and narrowed his eyes. “Why?”
“I have a date and mine smells like stale beer.”
“That’s disgusting; and the answer is definitely no.”
Jonathan stepped into Franklin's room then shut the door behind him and leaned against it. “Come on. It’s my last chance to hook up with Carrie.”
“We deploy tomorrow. This is your last chance to spend time with Mom and Dad.”
“Mom’s not even talking to me. She still blames me for your decision to enlist.”
Franklin scooted his chair away from his desk, folded his arms across his chest and arched his eyebrows.
Jonathan’s jaw tightened. “No one put a gun to your head and said you had to join up just because I did.”
Franklin balanced on the back two legs of his chair. “Someone has to keep you out of trouble until you get your head screwed on straight.”
Jonathan hated the way everyone assumed he’d enlisted on a whim. It might have seemed like an impulsive decision, but he’d given it plenty of thought. Franklin was the one that had taken a major detour from his life’s plan. Jonathan hadn’t even had a plan until he started talking to the army recruiter at school. “Seriously, Frankie, why’d you enlist? You know we won’t see much of each other once we get out of basic training.”
“We can hang out when we’re not on missions.”
Jonathan ignored the obvious dig. Franklin had been planning on going on a completely different kind of mission. They both had—until two years ago when Jonathan discovered the pleasures of beer, pot and girls.
Franklin never wavered from the straight and narrow path. He was a model Mormon, a poster boy for how to live a clean, boring life.
Jonathan tried to keep the path in sight; but he enjoyed his side trips too much to give them up. He’d repent later; when he was too old to have fun. “I’ll give you fifty bucks.”
“I’m not going to help you commit a mortal sin. And even if that weren’t an issue, I still wouldn’t loan you my sleeping bag. That’s just gross.”
“Where’s that fabric freshener stuff Mom uses?”
Franklin stood up and crossed the room then put his hands on Jonathan’s shoulders. “Don’t do this.”
Jonathan grinned and patted Franklin’s cheek. “Don’t worry about it, Frankie. You’re righteous enough for both of us.”
“It doesn’t work that way and you know it. And what about Carrie? If you really loved her, you wouldn’t even think about taking her virtue.”
“Jeeze, Frankie! I'm not taking anything she doesn't want to give. And I never said I loved her.” A twinge of guilt pricked Jonathan’s conscience. He’d already decided to drop the L-bomb if nothing else worked. He and Carrie slid into second base on their first date and rounded third more than once since then. But she refused to go any further, claiming she wanted to save herself for marriage. But after last weekend, there wasn’t much left to save. There was no way in hell he was going into combat as a virgin.
Franklin cleared his throat. “Are you going to be careful?”
“What do you mean?” Jonathan knew exactly what Franklin was asking but couldn’t resist the temptation to tease him.
Franklin rolled his eyes. “Do you have protection?”
Jonathan smacked his forehead with an open palm. “Oh man, I knew I was forgetting something. Do you still have that sample pack they gave out in health class last year?”
A deep crimson flush spread up Franklin’s neck, across his cheeks and over the tops of his ears. “I threw it away.”
Jonathan laughed and punched Franklin’s shoulder. “I’m just messing with you. Don’t worry, I got it covered. And, yes, the pun was intentional.”
The back seat of the Mustang wasn’t exactly ideal for a couple of virgins. Things were awkward enough without the added challenge of trying to seal the deal in such a small space. That’s why Jonathan decided to take Carrie out to his family’s old gold mine for a private tour. Dad was thinking of reopening the mine so he’d had it inspected. The first twenty feet was solid rock. It’d take a major earthquake to bring it down. They’d stay in the entrance, just deep enough to block the wind. The prospect of getting laid should be enough to keep Jonathan’s claustrophobia under control. It wasn’t the most romantic place, but it was private.
Jonathan would have sprung for a hotel room, but that would have been too obvious. Carrie liked to pretend that every bit of progress in their physical relationship was an accident. If she wanted to claim that they’d been swept away by passion and that neither of them had planned for it to happen, well, who was he to argue? He patted his back pocket to be sure the condoms were still there then grabbed the sleeping bag out of the trunk.
Carrie arched her eyebrows. “What’s that for?”
“To sit on. The ground inside the mine is really cold.” Okay, that was lame, but Carrie didn’t call him on it. She didn’t object when he led her inside the mine and unrolled the sleeping bag. She even grinned at him when he kicked off his Tony Lamas and crawled inside. Things were looking good. Jonathan unzipped it a little further and lifted the corner. “Wanna snuggle?”
Carrie giggled, stepped out of her dainty, little shoes and slid in next to him. He knew the drill. He had to kiss her and rub her back for at least five minutes before she’d let him unbutton her shirt. So far, so good. He fumbled around with her bra for another couple of minutes before realizing it was one of those Victoria’s Secret contraptions that fastened in the front. But how did it fasten? It wasn’t a hook. Should he ask her to help him out or just keep pawing at it?
“Jonathan, stop.” Carrie grabbed his wrist and moved his hand to her shoulder. But then she scooted closer, accidentally-on-purpose brushing against him.
Jonathan gritted his teeth and rolled onto his back. Carrie was driving him crazy. Her mouth said ‘stop’ but the rest of her was saying ‘go, go, go.’ It didn’t matter. He never ignored a girl’s request to stop.
Carrie nuzzled his neck and whispered, “You don’t have to stop everything. Kiss me.”
Jonathan hated this game. They’d been playing it forever during their on-again-off-again relationship. “I’m leaving for Camp Pendleton tomorrow. This is our last chance.”
“Don’t say that.” Carrie’s voice wavered.
Jonathan hadn’t meant to imply that he wasn’t coming back at all; but he might as well roll with it. “I don’t want to go to war without knowing what it’s like to be as close as two people can be.”
Carrie grabbed his face and crushed her lips against his, bumping teeth. She thrust her tongue into his mouth and groaned.
Ugh. Her TicTac must have dissolved. Jonathan didn’t want to ruin the moment by offering her another one, but jeeze…who orders roasted garlic on a date? He pulled his mouth from hers and nibbled his way down her throat.
Carrie froze. Her entire body stiffened beneath Jonathan’s.
What now? He hadn’t even unhooked her bra yet.
She pushed him off and sat up. “Did you hear that?”
“Hear what?” He trailed his fingers up her spine onto her shoulders and tried to guide her back into his arms.
She grabbed her blouse and clutched it to her chest.
Great. It had taken him thirty minutes to get the damn thing off of her. If she put it back on, he might as well give up and go home.
Something growled.
The so
und came from deep inside the mine. Okay, maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all. Jonathan slid out of the sleeping bag and fumbled around in the dark for his flashlight.
He directed the beam into the tunnel. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end. Is that a wolf? The animal was freaking huge; black with a diamond shaped patch of white fur between its glowing, blue eyes. Blue? Didn’t wolves have yellow eyes?
Carrie whimpered and clung to Jonathan’s arm, jiggling the flashlight.
Jonathan lowered his voice to a whisper. “Move slowly and go get in the car.”
“I’m scared.”
“I can’t protect you if you don’t let go.” Jonathan kept his voice low and spoke slowly. “Just back up nice and easy and walk to the car.”
Carrie finally let go then turned and ran out of the mine, shrieking like a banshee.
Jonathan snatched a rock off the ground expecting the wolf to give chase. It didn’t. It bared its teeth and growled at Jonathan.
“Oh, you want a piece of me, do you? Well, come and get it.”
The wolf crept closer, growling and snapping its teeth.
Jonathan aimed at the diamond patch between its eyes and hurled the rock.
The wolf yelped then collapsed on the ground.
Jonathan backed out of the mine then turned and walked to the car, fighting the urge to run as he watched over his shoulder.
He was almost there when the wolf staggered out of the entrance. Moonlight glinted off its sleek, black fur. Foam dripped off its canine teeth. Was the animal rabid, or just pissed?
Jonathan grabbed the door handle and gave it a yank, but only managed to rock the car. Are you kidding me? He pounded on the hood. “Carrie, unlock the door!”
Nothing. The wolf crept closer.
Jonathan peeked in the window and found Carrie curled up in a ball with her hands over her face. He picked up another rock.
The wolf looked over its shoulder into the mine then turned and bolted into the forest.
Jonathan dropped the rock and knocked on the window. “It’s okay. The wolf’s gone.”
Carrie finally popped the lock.
Jonathan slid behind the wheel. “Why’d you lock the doors?”
“I was scared.”
“Of what?” Jonathan couldn’t believe she was that stupid. “Wolves don’t have opposable thumbs. It wasn’t going to open the door and climb in next to you.”
“I’m sorry.” Carrie turned on the water works. Her shoulders shook as she sobbed.
Jonathan pulled her close and pressed her head against his shoulder. He hated it when girls cried. “It’s okay. We’re both safe.”
Carrie fisted his shirt in her hands and clung to him.
Maybe the night wasn’t a total bust after all. Nothing could jump start a make-out session better than the fear of dying.
“You wanna get in the back?”
Carrie sniffed and nodded her head. “Can you get my shoes? I left them in the mine.”
“Can’t we get them later? There might be more wolves in there. They travel in packs.”
“Those are Coach shoes. I just bought them yesterday.”
“Fine.” He might as well grab his own boots and sleeping bag while he was at it. “But this time, don’t lock the door.”
Jonathan picked up another rock, just in case, and headed toward the mine.
An earth-shaking blast knocked him to the ground. He covered his head as dirt, splintered wood and small rocks rained down on him.
What the hell? Was that a bomb? So much for getting laid.
River
River kissed the white speckles on Sugar’s muzzle that had inspired the mare’s name. She’d never seen the substance, much less tasted it, but Reuben had. She shifted her gaze to his face. “How’s she doing?”
Reuben frowned and shook his head. “The foal’s breech. Scrub up.”
Reuben moved to the left, making room for River. “After the next contraction, I’m going to push the foal as far forward as I can. I need you to reach in there and see if you can find a foot.”
River slid her hand in beside Reuben's.
“Here we go.” His face reddened as he pushed. “Trace the hip all the way down the leg until you find the hoof.”
Reuben had already ruptured the amniotic sac, so it was relatively easy for River to follow his instructions. “Got it! Now what?”
“Cup the hoof and fetlock in your hand to protect the uterus then guide the foot through the pelvic opening, into the birth canal.”
River was afraid of hyperextending the foal’s joints, so she hesitated.
“Don’t worry about hurting the foal. It’s probably dead. We need to save your mare.”
River hated to lose the foal, but she’d raised and trained Sugar herself. She couldn’t bear the thought of losing her. She gritted her teeth and forced the foal’s foot into the birth canal. As soon as she let go to grab the other foot, the foal jerked its leg back into the uterus. “Hey!”
Reuben chuckled. “Looks like I wrote her off too soon.”
“Her? How do you know it’s a filly?”
“Only a female would be this stubborn.” Reuben tilted his head towards the steaming bucket of water in the far corner of the stall. “Grab a couple of bandages and tie slip knots in the ends.”
River resisted the urge to wipe her hands on her apron and used a sterile pair of tongs to pull the strips of fabric out of the scalding water.
She had to wait for the bandages to cool and for Sugar’s next contraction to end before she could try again. This time when she got the foot into the birth canal, she positioned the looped end of one of the bandages above the fetlock and tightened it like a noose then repeated the procedure with the left leg.
Reuben pulled his hand out and grabbed one of the cloth strips. “You take the other one and when I say ‘go,’ pull back and down as hard as you can. Don’t stop until the foal’s all the way out.”
“What if Sugar stops contracting before we get it out?” You were supposed to work with the mare’s body, not against it.
“The umbilical cord is going to be pinched closed before the head’s delivered. This little one’s not out of the woods yet.”
River followed Reuben’s lead and wrapped the end of the cloth strip around her wrist three times then across her palm twice before tightening her fist.
Reuben nodded and grinned at River. “Pull!”
As soon as the shoulders were delivered, a gush of amber liquid poured out of Sugar. Reuben wrapped his free arm around the foal’s upper body and lowered her to the straw-covered ground. Reuben had guessed correctly. The foal was female.
River dropped to her knees. “She’s not breathing!”
Reuben slid an arm under the foal’s flanks and lifted her rear into the air. More of the amber liquid poured out of her nose and mouth. The filly coughed and wheezed then shook her head and looked right at River.
She didn’t want to risk the foal not bonding with Sugar, so she resisted the urge to pet her and joined Reuben on the other side of the stall. He pulled a sterile bandage out of the bucket and started wiping the muck off his upper body. “What’s her name?”
River’s lips parted in a grin. “You want me to name her?”
“Without your help, she wouldn’t have made it.”
The filly was sired by Reuben’s prize stallion, Thunder. She had a blaze on her forehead shaped like a lightning bolt, but Gabriel’s horse was already named Lightning.
“How about Thunder’s Storm? We can call her Stormy.”
Reuben smiled. “I like it.”
River’s chest swelled with joy as she watched Stormy scramble to her feet for the first time. “I’ll never get tired of witnessing the miracle of birth.”
Worry lines creased Reuben’s brow and deepened the wrinkles around his eyes. “I need to talk to you about something.”
River couldn’t think of anything she’d done recently that warranted a lecture. Esp
ecially not after helping save Stormy. “Am I in trouble?”
Reuben chuckled and shook his head. “I want to discuss your future. Let’s go to the cleansing pools. We can talk about it while we soak.”
River was eighteen, old enough to force a merge. Hannah had been on bed rest for months with a difficult pregnancy. Reuben refused to use a whore or servant girl to meet his needs.
River’s mouth was suddenly so dry she couldn’t swallow. She knew what this was about. Reuben was going to ask her to mate with him.
The trek to the cleansing pools was only a twenty-minute hike, but River’s heart hammered in her chest as if she’d been running for hours. She’d known this day was coming ever since Reuben had first claimed her five years ago. She’d dreamed of becoming his beta and bearing his children. She was nervous about mating, but merge fever would change that. Maybe he’d already trapped a wolf for her.
When they got to the cleansing pool, Reuben unlaced his vest. “Did you hear the wild pack howling last night?”
River nodded. This is it.
“I told Gabriel to set a couple of live traps this morning.” Reuben peeled his shirt off then dropped his hands to the rawhide ties on the front of his breeches.
“Oh?” Surface dwellers like River and Reuben were accustomed to nudity. She’d seen his naked body hundreds of times, and he hers. There was no reason to be self-conscious.
“Most women your age have already merged.”
“I know.” River turned her back and untied the laces of her vest with shaking fingers.
By the time she was undressed, Reuben was already half submerged, arms stretched out like eagle’s wings on the smooth stones bordering the cleansing pool.
River trembled as she descended the steps into the hot mineral water. She took her usual seat, across from Reuben…and waited.
Reuben closed his eyes and slid lower, resting his head against the boulder behind him.
River chewed on her thumbnail as she studied her soon-to-be mate. He was a blacksmith, as well as an enforcer, so he kept his hair trimmed short and his beard shaved. Even relaxed, his muscles bulged as if straining under a heavy load.
Reuben’s lips parted, releasing a soft snore.
River squeezed her fist and squirted a stream of water at him.
He jerked awake and blinked then swiped the water off his face. “What was that for?”
“You said you wanted to talk to me.”
Reuben sighed then stared at her, as if deciding how to broach the subject. Was he nervous? Surely, he knew that she’d be honored to accept his offer. Besides, Reuben was Zebulon’s son. He could take any woman he desired, whether she agreed or not—except Reuben wasn’t the sort of man to take a woman against her will, even if it was his right to do so.
River rested her chin on her knees and held her breath. She turned her head, just a little. Exposing her neck. If that didn’t encourage him, nothing would.
“Have you experienced any desires to mate?”
Heat spread up River’s throat and across her cheeks. She ducked her chin and pulled her braid over her shoulder, covering her neck. Had she been too bold? “I’m not sure.”
Reuben smiled. “You’d know if you had. How do you feel about Jesse as a potential mate?”
Jesse? River blinked and shook her head. Quick little jerks that did nothing to help process what she’d just heard. “But…I belong to you.”
Reuben’s eyes widened as his lips parted. “River. I can’t mate with you.”
“I know I’ll never be as pretty as Hannah, but as soon as I have your baby in me, my breasts will grow and—”
“That’s not the problem.”
“I’ll spend more time in the house, I’ll learn to cook and clean and—”
“River, stop.” Reuben dropped his head into his hands. “How can I explain this?”
“If I’m not good enough to be your beta, take me as a concubine.”
Reuben’s head snapped up. “With your bloodlines, you deserve nothing less than alpha status.”
“I don’t care about status.” River loved Hannah as much as she did Reuben. Some women treated beta mates and concubines like servants, but Hannah wasn’t like that. River wouldn’t find a better home than the one she already had.
“River…” The pity in Reuben’s voice stung worse than his rejection.
“Why did you claim me if you never intended to mate with me?” River kept her tears at bay, but couldn’t keep the tremor out of her voice.
“It was your mother’s last request.”
River had never been so humiliated in her life. She hopped her butt up onto the stone border and climbed out of the cleansing pool. She couldn’t bear another moment of Reuben’s pity.
“Where are you going?”
“My nose is a little stuffy, so I think I’ll go sit in the steam cave for awhile. I’ll see you back at the stable.” River’s congestion was caused by unshed tears, but she didn’t want Reuben to know that. She didn’t want him to know just how deeply his rejection had wounded her.
Eli
Eli stayed in his wolf form as long as possible, which wasn’t nearly long enough. His outsider clothes were buried under a ton of rubble. His own clothes were stowed in his pack on Old Red’s back. It was too cold to hike naked, but he had to shift back early enough to give his wolf’s scent a chance to fade before Old Red got a whiff of him. He was in no mood to deal with a belligerent horse.
What a fiasco. This was supposed to be a simple mission. Slip in, set the charge, slip out and wait for it to go boom. No witnesses, no casualties, no problems.
Everything was going fine until those two kids showed up. Letting an outsider see you in wolf form was a serious crime, but Eli thought he could stay hidden in the dark and scare them off with a few vicious growls. He hadn’t expected the boy to shine a light on him. And he sure as hell didn’t expect him to stand his ground, or knock him out with a rock. Outsiders were usually such cowards.
Eli rubbed the still growing lump on his forehead. How was he going to explain that? Or the fact that he’d miscalculated the amount of C-4 he needed to flood the mine? The blast was supposed to take advantage of a fault under Turquoise Lake, not blow up half the mountain. The council wanted it to look like a natural disaster, not a terrorist attack.
He needed to hole up and lick his wounds before reporting back to Jesse.
When he got to the spot where he’d tied Old Red to a tree, all he found was a broken rope. “Damn your sorry hide, Red!”
He knew he shouldn’t blame Old Red for bolting. That blast would have spooked even the calmest horse. It had stopped Eli’s heart, and he knew it was coming. He pressed his palms against his ears, but it didn’t help. What if the ringing never went away?
It took him half the night to find his horse and the rest of the night to make it back into New Eden. He was exhausted, in pain, and in no mood for a dressing down by his commanding officer. A couple of hours relaxing in a steam cave would go a long way towards restoring Eli’s spirit as well as his body.
The steam cave and cleansing pools were on the edge of Reuben’s territory. Technically, he should ask before entering, but Eli was family so he wasn’t exactly trespassing. Still, the last couple of time’s he’d run into Reuben, he’d been about as friendly as a wet cat. The man’s only mate was on bed rest until she whelped his pup so it was no wonder he was testy. He really needed to take another mate, or at least use a whore.
Eli tied Old Red to the hitching post with what was left of his rope, then stripped and stuffed his clothes back inside his pack. He ducked his head and crawled into the steam cave.
“Hey! Get outta here!”
Eli jerked his head up and banged it on the cavern’s ceiling. He mumbled a few choice swear words under his breath and rubbed the sore spot.
A skinny, adolescent female with waist-length black hair, tear-streaked cheeks and dark eyes glared at Eli. She scooted her butt across the stone bench
and plastered herself against the back wall of the cavern. “Stay away from me.”
Damn, that wall had to be at least a hundred and ten degrees. “I’m not going to hurt you, kid. I just want to unwind a little.”
“Well, do it somewhere else.”
“This is the only steam cave within twenty miles—”
“Go back to your mountain. Use your own steam cave.”
So, she knew who he was…or at least that he was an heir of Sanctuary. “It’s too far.”
“Not my problem.”
She looked familiar, but Eli couldn’t quite place where he might have seen her. She had the golden, tanned skin of a surface dweller so there was no reason he should know her. No servant would dare speak to him with such disrespect but she was too young to be anyone’s concubine or mate. “I know your laws. As long as I remain unaroused—and believe me, that won’t be a problem—there’s no reason we can’t share the cave.”
“I’ll give you a reason, but you won’t like it.”
The little vixen was feisty. “How old are you, kid? And what’s your name?”
“Old enough to kick your ass. And none of your business.”
Eli laughed.
The girl’s hand moved so fast, it was a blur.
He didn’t even have time to duck. The rock hit him square in the chest. “Hey!”
Until last night, no one had dared throw anything at Eli. That was twice in twenty-four hours that someone had hit him with a rock.
“Get outta my cave!”
Feisty females were cute and entertaining. Belligerent, disrespectful of authority and rock-throwing brats were not. “This is not your cave and you need to watch your mouth little girl.”
“I’m not a little girl. I’m eighteen.”
Eighteen? Eli doubted it. She looked to be about fifteen, maybe sixteen at the most. But however old she was, she had a good arm. He’d come here to relax, not get pelted with rocks.
He held up both hands and backed towards the entrance. “Okay, okay. I can tell when I’m not welcome. See you around, kid.”
“Not if I can help it.”
She hurled another rock but Eli was expecting it, so he had time to duck. It whizzed past his ear and struck something behind him with a dull thud. Eli whirled around and nearly ran into Uncle Reuben.
He grabbed Eli’s arm with one hand and rubbed his bruised shoulder with the other. “What’s going on in here?”
Eli shrugged and twisted out of Reuben’s grasp. “It looks like you have a trespasser.”
The girl stood up and marched towards Eli. She was skinny and underdeveloped with narrow hips and small breasts but much older than he’d originally thought. Maybe she really was eighteen.
She shook her finger at him as if he were a wayward child. “You are the trespasser.”
Ordinarily, Eli wouldn’t have been attracted to her at all, but he hadn’t been with Aspen, or any other woman, for over a month. He couldn’t keep his body from responding to the naked girl any more than he could keep from breathing.
He turned his back to hide his predicament from the girl, but unfortunately, that meant he couldn’t hide it from Uncle Reuben.
Reuben growled and bared his teeth as he moved between Eli and the girl, guarding her. He’d given up half his power—as well as half his life expectancy—when he shared the gift of his wolf with Hannah. But he was still a one hundred twenty-year-old alpha, in his prime, and extremely dangerous.
Eli ducked his chin, but Reuben continued to growl. His eyes shifted from brown to amber.
Eli couldn’t keep from whimpering as he lowered his gaze and turned his head to the side, exposing his neck.
Reuben continued to glare at Eli as he spoke to the girl. “Get dressed and go home. I want to have a talk with this young pup.”
As soon as the girl left the steam cave, Reuben’s eyes returned to their normal shade of brown.
Eli waited until the girl disappeared from sight then jumped to his own defense.
“I just finished my mission. I was tired. I wasn’t paying attention. I didn’t know she was in there, I swear.”
“Eli.”
“Yes, sir.”
“What happened?”
“She threw a rock at me and told me to get out.”
Reuben nodded. “That sounds like River.”
The bands of anxiety around Eli's chest loosened, but he remained guarded. “I’m sorry.”
“I’ll bet you are. She has a good arm.”
Eli rubbed his chest. “You can say that again.”
“Looks like she wasn’t the first.”
“What?”
“Your forehead?” Reuben picked his breeches up off the ground and stepped into them.
“Oh, that.” Eli touched the egg-sized bump and grimaced. He refused to admit that an outsider had gotten the best of him. Reuben had been an Enforcer for nearly a century. His interrogatory skills were legendary. He’d know if Eli was lying, but a half-truth might work. It would give him a chance to try out his story before he had to report to Jesse. “That happened during my mission to sabotage the McKnight Mine.”
“So, what do you think of her?”
“Excuse me?”
“Are you attracted to River?”
“She’s a little young…”
“She’s eighteen.”
“Who’s courting her?” Eli slid past Reuben and pulled his clothes out of his pack.
“No one.”
“What’d she do? Chuck a rock at her betrothed?” Eli relaxed a little as soon as he tugged his breeches on.
“River was never betrothed. I had a first stage courting contract on her, but annulled it last year.”
The girl must be the orphan Reuben claimed after her mother was executed for murder. At least he knew where she got her temper and violent disposition—and why Reuben changed his mind about taking her as a mate.
“You didn’t answer my question.” Reuben’s back and chest expanded as he pulled his tunic on over his head. The man could crush Eli like a fly if he were so inclined. “Are you attracted to River?”
This felt like a trap. “Why do you ask?”
“I love River as if she were my own daughter.”
“Then I would never—”
“I want you to court her.”
“Mother is choosing my alpha and beta mates.” Since he had no chance of claiming the woman he loved, he didn’t care who filled those highly coveted roles. As long as it wasn’t some hateful brat that thought it was okay to throw rocks at him.
“Did you see the brands over River’s heart?”
“No.” He’d been too busy looking at other parts of her. His heart belonged to Aspen, but he was still a man.
“River, daughter of Asher and Issachar’s daughter, has excellent bloodlines. Shula will approve the match.”
Using River’s full name was a low blow. Eli’s father was an unknown outsider so his own name—Eli, son of Zebulon’s daughter—was pathetically simple. Not only was he two generations removed from the only alpha in his line, it was on his mother’s side. “Asher and Issachar were both powerful alpha’s but they were surface dwellers.”
“What’s your point?” Reuben narrowed his eyes—his glowing amber eyes.
“No offense, Uncle Reuben.” Eli emphasized the word ‘Uncle’ to remind Reuben of their blood connection and took two steps back. “I only meant that River’s people have always been surface dwellers. She might not want to live inside Sanctuary.”
Reuben’s eyes returned to normal. “Then join us on the surface. You could spend more time with Paul.”
Eli swallowed around the lump in his throat and dropped his gaze, pretending to focus on the mindless task of lacing his vest. Reuben had called in every favor and sold half his herd to buy Paul—and Eli was grateful for it—but every time he heard his son call Reuben ‘Pa,’ it tied another knot in Eli’s gut. He did his best to stay as far away from Reuben’s ranch as possible.
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Reuben tightened and tied the laces on his breeches. “Of course, I’d expect you to honor our agreement and maintain your relationship as his cousin.”
You expect too much. Eli clenched his jaw to keep his mouth shut. He didn’t want to offend Reuben. Hope stirred in Eli’s breast as he realized a way he might be able to work this situation to his advantage. Hope was a dangerous thing. He’d worked hard to eliminate it—but here it was again, clawing its way out of his chest, opening old wounds. “If I agree to court River, will you help me secure Aspen’s freedom?”
“She’s a common whore.”
“Because of me!” Eli’s nails dug into the palms of his fisted hands. His body trembled. He could tell from the way his eyes burned that they were glowing. His wolf wanted out. “It’s my fault.”
Reuben balanced on one foot, then the other as he pulled his boots on. “She was betrothed to Solomon when you trapped a wolf for her to merge with and then mated with her. What did you think would happen?”
“Solomon was her parent’s choice, not Aspen’s. We thought that once she was bound to me, Solomon wouldn’t want her. He already had an alpha and a beta. Aspen would have been his fifth mate, little more than a concubine. He never even tried to court her. Aspen begged me to help her. If I’d thought for even one moment that the council would rule against us, I never would have risked it.”
Eli couldn’t restore Aspen’s social station. He couldn’t give her their son, but he might be able to restore at least a portion of her honor. And in the process, secure his own happiness. He tried to keep the excitement out of his voice. “I’ll take River as my alpha—if you give me Aspen as a concubine.”
“I was at your merge ceremony. You mated with two women, so I know you aren’t bound to Aspen.”
“I mated with four women.” In truth, Eli had only managed two, but Mother had paid the remaining two whores to swear that he’d taken them as well. It was all part of her campaign to promote Eli’s political career. A career he didn’t want. “And of course I didn’t bond with Aspen. Men don’t bond.”
“Then why are you so obsessed with her?”
“You don’t have to be bound to someone to love them.” Eli leaned against Red’s shoulder to maintain his balance as he pulled on his boots. He wasn’t nearly as agile as Reuben. “What’s the point of this interrogation?”
“Is there room in your heart for more than one woman?”
Eli closed his eyes and sighed. “I’ll provide for River and protect her, as I will all of my mates. I’ll sire as many children with her as she wants, but I won’t lie. River will be alpha in name only. Aspen will always have first place in my heart.”
“Would you be willing to take River as your alpha, even if she didn’t bond with you?”
“She won’t want me if she’s bound to someone else.”
“I don’t want her bound to anyone.”
“You want her to mate before she merges?” Surely not. That was a death sentence. It would shorten her life to that of an ordinary human.
“I want her to have the same freedom from bondage that you have.”
“That’s not possible.”
Reuben chuckled and slapped Eli’s back. He kept his hand on his shoulder and squeezed it until Eli grimaced and pulled away.
“Actually, it is. But you don’t need to know the particulars unless you agree to my terms.”
“Which are?”
“No one must ever doubt that River is your alpha. Her children will inherit your birthright, even if they are sired by another man.”
At first, Eli was too stunned to speak. Why would such a demand be necessary? Women only mated with one man. Occasionally a poor widow might take another mate, but it was always as a last resort, when she couldn’t afford to feed her children.
“And most importantly, you will allow River to do whatever it takes to prevent bonding after she merges.”
“Are you saying that a woman can prevent bonding by mating with more than one man?” Such a thing had never occurred to Eli, but it made sense.
“You will allow River to remain on the surface, even if you decide to reside inside Sanctuary Mountain. And you will never physically punish her; nor will you allow anyone else to do so, even if it requires you take her place as proxy.”
Eli broke out in a cold sweat. River was headstrong and hot tempered. She was bound to commit at least one crime during their lifetime.
“What if I court River, but she doesn’t want to be my alpha?” River obviously didn’t like Eli any more than he liked her. It wouldn’t be hard to insure her rejection.
“Then you have no promise.” Reuben smiled, but it was the predatory grin of his wolf. “I’m not a fool, Eli.”
Reuben had lost favor and political clout when he left Sanctuary Mountain to claim his recruit as his alpha mate, but that was over a hundred years ago. He was still Zebulon’s son and still a high-ranking enforcer. It was worth a shot, but Eli needed his own guarantee. “I’ll court River, but I won’t make her my alpha until after Aspen is released from the brothel.”
Reuben locked his gaze on Eli’s face. “Keep your paws off River until after she’s merged with her wolf.”
“Of course.”
“Jesse is your superior officer, right?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I’ll have you transferred to my unit for the winter.”
“I don’t want any special favors.” Eli swallowed even though his mouth was suddenly dry. He didn’t want to spend the winter on the surface while Aspen was locked inside Sanctuary Mountain.
“It’s not a favor. I want to keep an eye on you while you’re courting River.”
Eli nodded. What choice did he have?
River
River stomped down the trail toward home. She didn’t even stop to get dressed. The laces of her vest smacked against her thigh as she swung her arms, but the sting of the rawhide strips gave her something to focus on other than her humiliation. It was bad enough that Reuben saw her as a daughter instead of a desirable woman. But then that arrogant jackass, Eli, had also insulted her. He’d called her a little girl. “Gah!”
She smacked the side of a boulder with her vest and then with her breeches. Hannah would give her hell if she tore a hole in the buckskin, but it felt good to unleash her fury on something.
She jerked her clothes on and shoved her feet into her boots then tipped her face to the sky and screamed, “I am not a child!” She realized, even as she did it, that her tantrum did not support her declaration. Her temper cooled, leaving her with nothing but humiliation and shame.
She went straight to the stable to seek comfort from Sugar. She threw her arms around her neck and buried her face in her mane. “Reuben doesn’t want to mate with me.”
“River?” Gabriel’s head peeked over the stall. He was only fifteen, but he was nearly as tall as Reuben.
River groaned. If she’d known he was in there, she would have gone somewhere else to cry. “Go away.”
Gabriel slipped into Sugar’s stall and pulled River against his chest. “I’ll mate with you.”
“You can’t.” River didn’t want to hurt Gabriel’s feelings, but there was no way she’d ever mate with him. “You haven’t merged yet.”
“I’ll ask Pa to let me force it.”
“Force what?” Reuben stepped into the stable.
River tried to pull away from Gabriel, but he only held her tighter.
He threw his shoulders back and lifted his chin. “I want to merge early so I’ll be ready for River.”
“No.”
“Why not? You don’t want her.”
Gabriel’s words stung.
“I’m your father and your alpha. I don’t have to give you a reason.” Power rolled off Reuben, agitating the horses. Thunder kicked his stall. Reuben reined his wolf in and gentled his voice. “But I’ll give you several. You’re too young. Forcing a merge before you’ve finished growing is dangerous. You’re still an appr
entice with no way to support a family. And I’ve already found a mate for River.”
River ran through a mental list of all the men that had yet to choose their alpha or beta mates and came up short. Reuben had just told her he wouldn’t let someone take her as a lesser mate, or a concubine. “Who?”
Reuben looked up, as if he’d forgotten she was even there. “My nephew, Eli, son of Zebulon’s daughter.”
Gabriel pressed his lips together and flared his nostrils. His chest heaved with each ragged breath as he tried to maintain eye contact with Reuben. It was a valiant effort, but Gabriel couldn’t defy a fully grown alpha. Not yet. He dropped his gaze and lowered his head, then bolted out of the stable.
River tried to swallow around the lump in her throat, but only managed to gulp air. “I’m not mating with Eli. He doesn’t even like me.”
“Just keep an open mind while he courts you.”
“What did you do? Promise to promote him if he took me off your hands?”
Reuben closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead, confirming her suspicions. He moved his hand to the back of his neck and rolled his head, as if he was in pain. “If you aren’t mated before Gabriel’s sixteenth birthday, I’ll let him force an early merge.”
“I love Gabriel but not like that. I can’t mate with him.”
Reuben smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Now you know how I feel about you.”