Wolver's Gold (The Wolvers) Read Online Free PDF

cared for? And all in addition to the work I do here. And what will be my reward if I somehow manage to outlast the male in charge?"
    "Rachel," Bertie warned, but Rachel wasn't listening.
    "I'll end up renting a room from someone else because my house isn't mine any more, living on the trifle I've managed to save from what little pocket money I've been allowed or on the allowance my family pays me to stay away because it’s cheaper than feeding me themselves. So I ask you, what good does it do me to mate?"
    Poor Mrs. Hornmeyer looked like she'd been slapped and realizing how close to home she'd hit, Rachel was immediately contrite.
    "Oh no, Mrs. Hornmeyer, I didn't mean… I only meant…"
    "If you don't mind, dear, I think I'll go to my room. I'm not…" She sniffed and turned away. "Not feeling very well."
    "You know that window God opened for us?" Bertie said when the door closed behind the weeping woman, "I think you just closed it." She shook her head with a look of disgust. "Your poor mother would be ashamed of what you just did, cutting that poor woman down when she's already been pushed lower than she deserves. Do you know why she's here? Because that sorry excuse of a son of hers tossed her out.
    " I remember when Liddy Hornmeyer first came to Gold Gulch, her but a slip of a girl, newly mated and willing to do what she could to make a go of it. That was over fifty years ago, when this place still wasn't much of anything but loose boards and sagging roofs. Lucius Hornmeyer was a good man, a good wolver, and I don't believe for a minute he'd leave his wife thinking she'd have nowhere to go and nothing to go with. I expect he thought his son would do his duty by his Mama, just like Lucius done by his, but that son of his is cut from different cloth. He'd as soon she starved to death if it'd save him the few dollars he spares her every month.
    "Then you come along and rub her nose in it. I never thought I'd say this, Rachel Kincaid, but I'm ashamed of you, too."
    Rachel sat heavily on the partially made bed, beaten by the rebuke and horrified at her own cruelty. "If it's any consolation, I'm ashamed of myself. I'll apologize."
    "Sorry don't fix what's broke," Bertie told her.
    "I know," Rachel said sadly. Once words were said, they couldn’t be taken back. She closed her eyes and when she opened them again, they were pleading. "What's wrong with me, Bertie? I'm so angry all the time. It's been building and building inside. I can't keep it down any more and I feel like I'm going to explode. And please don't tell me I need a man, because I don't. I don't."
    Bertie stared at Rachel for a moment, then shrugged and nodded. "When was the last time you took a walk through this town and said howdy to your neighbor ladies? I ain't talkin' going to the mercantile to place an order. I'm talkin' about socializin'."
    "Bertie, I don't have time…" Rachel began, but shut her mouth and closed her eyes when she felt the anger rising again.
    "I ain't passin' judgment, I’m askin'."
    "I don't know. Years."
    "Why?" Bertie asked.
    "You know why!" Rachel answered and felt her temper flare yet again. "I don't have time. By the time I get the hotel ready for bed, I'm ready for bed myself."
    Bertie nodded. "Then maybe you better make time and get out there and take a look around, because you're gonna find a whole passel of women out there who look like you. They smile at the tourists, but that smile don't reach their eyes. They're wore out. Not like me," she laughed suddenly and winked.
    "What's the secret then, Bertie? You work harder than anyone I know."
    "I got Victor," Bertie laughed. "Now don't go lookin' all prissy at me. I ain't sayin' you need a man, unless, of course, you can find one like Victor. "
    Rachel stared at the woman. Victor Mullins wasn't any wolver woman's dream. He was small and wiry with a face like a mule. He had little ambition and the only reason he kept his beta position within the pack was because he showed up