Wolver's Reward Read Online Free PDF

into the room. She liked her
job helping Mrs. Martin in the kitchen and she'd become a helluva
cook. Pups and cubs loved her. She was good at soothing their hurts
and fears even though she couldn't soothe her own.
    He
was thinking these things when he passed the cargo van again, pulled another U-ey
and parked back a ways behind the disabled vehicle. The girl was
still sitting on the bumper. He got out of the truck and walked
slowly toward her, turning up the collar of his leather jacket
against the rain.
    "Looks like you
could use some help," he called to her.
    She stood as he
approached and peered at him, using her hand like a visor to keep
the rain from her eyes. Those eyes widened as if surprised by what
she saw.
    "No."
    He saw her lips
form the word, but the sound of it was drowned out by the thrumming
of the rain. He was thin, but he was tall and his shoulders had
broadened to an impressive width. Dressed all in black and walking
toward her through the haze of rain, he understood how she might
see him as frightening. With Forest and her timidity still on his
mind, River raised his hands to show her he meant no
harm.
    "I just stopped to
help," he called. Keeping his hands high, he stopped.
    If Ryker hadn't
trained him well, River might have missed the slight movement of
her head as her eyes flickered to a spot behind him and to his
right.
    "No!"
    This time he
heard her clearly just as a shadow loomed up from the ditch beside
the road. He turned to meet the attacker, a woman, big and broad
and wearing a man's coat and cap. Raised hand now curled into a
fist, River drove it downward and felt the satisfying crunch of
cheekbone. He had no time to savor his quick response, however, as
another figure, this one male, dove for the backs of his knees. His
knees buckled, but he threw himself backward, rolling over the body
behind him and landing on his feet. He kicked and sent the attacker
sprawling in the mud. Still another came at him.
    These were wolvers, three females and two males, and they'd set him up.
They'd expected a human, not one of their own. They were counting
on their superior strength and speed, and outnumbering their
victim. Surprise!
    His
fist landed in a soft belly . He heard the grunt of pain as the wolver fell away.
Another came from behind and he bent to capture the female wolver
on his back and drag her over his shoulder. That the shifter was
tiny bothered him not at all. He'd made that mistake years ago and
had a scar on his back to prove it. Females could be more vicious than males. He tossed her forward like a sack of
Mrs. Martin's flour. She landed atop another who was charging
toward them.
    "Ow, that
hurt," the male squealed.
    "You said this would
be fun. You lied," the little one whined.
    Did
he really just see her kick the guy? River didn't have time to think about it. His
boot took another off his feet. They weren't well trained, but they
kept coming at him like flies that needed to be swatted
away.
    "That wasn't fair,"
the wolver on the ground complained.
    "Tough shit,"
River shouted back. What the hell did they expect?
    A red headed
female who'd done nothing up to this point, now ran forward and
slapped his shoulder, yelling, "Shame on you!" before she ran
away.
    River didn't
retaliate. He couldn't. It was too bizarre.
    It
was now obvious that t he girl in the orange sneakers was the bait. Hadn't he seen
his old band use Forest in the same way? He could hear her crying
just as Forest had cried. Forest always felt sorry for the
victim.
    "No. No. Please don't hurt..."
    All
the anger he'd felt back then came surging forward. He'd been too young and weak to help Forest. He
wasn't weak now.
    She started running forward and he knew what
would happen next. A backhand or punch would send her flying; her
punishment for having a heart. He didn't want to see her hurt.
    It was time to end it, to show these shifters
they'd messed with the wrong wolver. He didn't care how incompetent
they were. Howls of pain