Thoreau - Chapter 31: Chapter 31

"River!" I dropped my besties' hands and ran toward my floofy friend. "I'm so happy you're okay!"
Toro? He raised his head from luna's lap and looked up at me as I dropped to my knees next to him. Toro not scared?
"Not anymore. I was scared Mama and Papa were going to punish me for not listening, but luna said getting sucked into the fight ball and having the life scared out of me was punishment enough."
I wasn't sure if he'd want me to pet him right now, so I clenched my hands into my shorts to keep them from reaching for him.
Not scared of me? He lowered his head and looked at his paws.
"Why would I be? You protected me! Even though there were three bad wolves, you kept me safe!"
Hurt? He pointed his nose at the dried blood on my shirt.
"Chime Karma healed it." I shrugged.
Not mad at me?
"Of course not. Nothing was your fault, so don't feel bad. I should have stayed out of it. Then I wouldn't have gotten hurt or scared or worried everyone."
Ty-Ty mad at me, he sniffed and a tear rolled down his cheek. Ty-Ty yell and say mean tings. Me is bad wolf, Toro.
"No, no, no! You're a good wolf, River!" I told him. "I love you! And I'm going to hug you now."
When he didn't say no, I held as much of him as I could in my arms and buried my face in his long, soft fur.
"George-us just lost his temper," I said quietly. "I know he probably doesn't do it very often, but I'm sure he didn't mean to hurt your feelings."
George-us? luna linked me as I hugged River. Are you calling Ty george-us?
Yes. I wanted to call Peri sunshine like he does, but Mama said that's beta's special name for her. So I gave her the nicky name pretty and, since beta's so handsome, he's george-us. Pretty and george-us.
Oh, my heart. You're saying gorgeous. Luna rolled her lips inside her mouth, but I knew she was hiding a smile.
That must mean she liked my little nicky names! I was so happy she did because I was very proud of them!
Then River nuzzled his snout in my neck to get my attention.
Osh and Firf mad at me? he asked.
"Let's ask them," I said. "Ocean, Firth, are you mad at River?"
Nope! and Of course not! the two wolves yipped at once.
Figuring it would be River's next question, I looked up at my besties with wide eyes.
"No one's mad at you, Riv." Arch crouched down to rub River's head.
"Yeah, not even old stick-in-the-mud Spring," Wayne smirked as he cut his eyes over at my wolf.
"Hey! Spring is not a stick and he's not in the mud!" I protested. "My wolfie is the best!"
Don't judge my path if you haven't walked it, grasshopper, Spring told him, which sounded much better than what I'd just said, even if I didn't understand why he called Wayne a grasshopper.
"Did what I say offend you? You should hear what doesn't come out of my mouth." Wayne grinned, then tried to tackle Spring, but my wolf dodged him easily.
Are you always an ignoramus, or do you just show off when I'm around? Spring raised one eyebrow.
"Good one, Spring!" Atty said. "Pretend I'm high-fiving you."
Arch and Leo laughed and luna giggled, but I was trying to figure out what word Spring had called Wayne. As they bantered, I leaned over and whispered in River's ear.
"Is WayWay an indoor anus?"
What anus means, Toro? he whispered back.
"I don't know. George-us, what's anus?"
Ty-Ty too mad to talk— River started to say, but Beta Ty decided to answer.
Spring called him an ignoramus, not an indoor anus. That's like calling someone a dummy.
"Oh. And what about ignor— imorgain— need-more-rain-on-us?"
Ig-nor-a-mus, Beta Ty said slowly, means dummy.
"So if I want to call someone a dummy, I can say he needs-more-rain-on-us or he's an indoor anus?" I asked to make sure I got it right. "Hey, River! That rhymes! How cool is that? Two words that both mean dummy and they rhyme!"
For some reason, that made Beta Ty laugh. He laughed and laughed as River and I looked at each other with confusion.
River, I am sorry I lost my temper and called you a bad wolf, he said once his laughter died down to chuckles. You are a very good wolf and I love you. It's just, I tried so hard all week not to let them get my goat. When you went off, it was like all my effort had been wasted, but I realize now that I should have focused more on protecting you from them than on out-maturing them. Can you forgive me?
Yes, TyTy. Me forgives you.
Then River looked at me, and we tilted our heads to the left in unison.
TyTy has goat? he asked at the same time I said, "You have a goat?"
What? Beta Ty frowned.
"You said the bad betas were after your goat. I didn't know you had a goat!" I bounced up and down a little. "Can I meet it? Please, george-us?"
Me, too, TyTy! Me meet goat! Me eat goat!
"No, River!" I pouted. "I want to pet it first!"
Otay. Toro pet goat, den me eat goat.
"You want a pet goat?" Leo asked with a frown. "Emerson and Gelo might not go for that idea, Reau."
"No, george-us already has one!" I shouted, excited to meet a real, live goat. "I hope it's one of those baby-sized ones! I read a book about a petting zoo once, and there were pictures of the cutest little goats ever!"
"We have some pygmy goats at the farm, which is what I think you mean," Atty chimed in. "That's what most petting zoos have, anyway. You can see them the next time you visit Henry."
As I cheered loudly, luna smiled and reached over to rub River's head.
"Ty, I didn't know you and Peri had a pet goat. I've never seen one in real life. Can I meet it, too?"
Oh my Goddess, Beta Ty groaned. Somedays, I wish I could just evaporate out of my own head!
"You know, Arch," Wayne said as I wondered why he'd want to do that, "I have no fucking clue what they're talking about—"
"Language!"
"—but I'll bet twenty bucks the original comment that our boy's working off of had zero mention of a real goat."
I prefer him talking about my imaginary pet goat over him asking me what an anus is! Beta Ty chuckled.
"An anus?!" Atty and Arch hollered while Wayne fell over laughing.
That's when Grace walked up to us.
"Reau, are you ready to go?" she asked. "I'm not rushing you, just wondering if I have time to visit the restroom before we leave."
"Yes, big sissy, but wait for me! I will pee with you!"
"Um, no, I am not peeing with you," she said slowly. "You can visit the boys restroom while I visit the girls."
"That's what I meant, you indoor anus!" I giggled.
"Thoreau!" luna squeaked.
"What?" I tilted my head. "Oh! Should I have said Grace needs-more-rain-on-us?"
And Beta Ty laughed so loud, everyone gave River a funny look, and River tried his best to 'splain.
Spring call Wayne indoor anus. Toro ask what indoor anus means. TyTy say indoor anus and need-more-rain-on-us mean dummy. Bad betas are indoor anus. Dey chase TyTy goat all week!
"Exactly, River!" I patted his head before I stood up and grinned at Grace. "Now to the restroom, then shopping! Come on, Spring! Let's go!"
"Do I even want to know?" Grace shook her head, but took my hand when I held it out.
"No," Arch and Leo muttered together, which made everyone else chuckle.
"Have fun practicing how to fight!" I called, walking backwards as Grace led me away. "I'm glad everyone is happy again! Bye, luna! Bye, Atty! Bye, Zio Leo! Bye, River! Bye, george-us! I will come see pretty and your goat sometime soon!"
"Hey!" Arch shouted when I stopped and turned around. "Don't your besties get a goodbye?"
"Bye, Firth and Ocean!" I yelled over my shoulder. "I will miss you!"
"THOREAU EZRA JONES!" Wayne bellowed.
As Grace giggled, I decided to tease them just a little more.
"Goodbye, my best besties in the whole wide world!" I had to yell really loud since we were halfway across the field now. "Don't squeeze any tushies while I'm gone!"
"What in the actual fuck, Reau?!" Wayne shrieked as people all across the field turned to stare at him and Arch.
"Hurry, big sissy!" Gripping her hand tight, I dragged her along as I took off, Spring trotting with us. "They might decide to chase me!"
"My goodness, you can be a little booger, can't you?" Grace panted.
"I have boogies?" I tilted my head back and turned my face toward her so she could check. She didn't notice, so I squeezed her hand three times. "Big sissy. Look up my nose. I have boogies?"
"For the love of the moon, Reau! I am a chubby girl with a full bladder trying to run and breathe and talk at the same time! Wait until I use the toilet before you say anything else, or I'm going to pee myself!"
"Oh, okay. Sure." I put the fingers of my free hand over my lips and pretended to zip them close. "My friend Briar taught me that. It means I'll stop talking. Wait! I messed it up! I talked with my mouth zippered closed! Oh, no! What if my lips fall off now? I'll never be able to eat peabutter jelly sammiches again! Hey! Where are you going, big sissy?"
Grace didn't answer me as she dropped my hand and bolted toward the girls restroom. I looked down at Spring, who was shaking his head and grinning.
"Guess she really has to pee," I said with a shrug.
Guess so, he agreed.
Atticus Bel Aire
After Alpha Mason left with the Russian triplets, Gamma Landry gave everyone fifteen minutes to reset before he started the training session.
Thoreau had already left with Grace, and Leo wandered off to check on Beta Emerson and his mate, so Arch, Wayne, and I hung out with luna and River as we waited.
I was happy to see River back to his usual sweet self. I could tell Beta Ty was still struggling, though, no matter how much he tried to hide it from everyone, especially his own wolf.
River was one of the most baby wolves in the pack, right alongside Alpha Ash's wolf, Obsidian. They were such babies that they couldn't even talk very well, although River's speech was much more basic unless Sid was upset enough to regress. Both wolves were shy and gentle when they weren't escalated, but all hell broke loose when they were. While Sid took a lot of pushing to reach that level of anger, it was too easy to set River off, and I couldn't imagine living with such a wolf day in and day out.
Beta Ty did it with grace and good humor, though, and usually kept River on an even keel, so we all knew that whatever those Russian triplets did or said must have been pretty bad.
Maybe they threatened to do something to luna or his mate or both, Chester said.
Disparaging his luna was guaranteed to trigger any beta, and threatening her was a death sentence. And if they'd brought Peri into it...
Yeah, I can see that causing River to react like he did, I agreed as I watched Olivia Benson trot over to our little group.
"Dude!" she laughed and rubbed her knuckles on the top of River's head. "You need to stop playing with your prey and just kill it! You could have ended that fight any time you wanted to!"
I snorted. She was absolutely right. Even with my inexperienced eye, I'd been able to see that River was just toying with those idiot triplets. He might have lost some tufts of fur, but that's all any of the triplets got a mouth full of. He didn't start taking damage until Reau got involved and he'd had to switch from attacker to defender.
It was one thing for a single wolf to battle three when he had nothing to guard but his own throat. It was another matter entirely when he had a pup clinging to his belly.
Don't encourage him, Livvy, Beta Tyler groaned. He almost got Reau killed!
"You must not have been watching the same fight I was," she chuckled. "He's the only reason the kid's still alive!"
He never would have been in any danger in the first place if River hadn't snapped, beta sighed. Those triplets baited him all week, and he fell right into their trap.
"Oh, please." Livvy crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "They begged to have their asses kicked all week, and he took care of it. He has nothing to apologize for, unless it was waiting so long to finally do it. Trust me, beta, if it wasn't him, it was going to be one of the gammas or maybe even me. You don't even want to know the bullshit they spewed about why I'm twenty-one and don't have a mate yet."
Hearing that made me kind of mad. Livvy didn't deserve cruel words or taunting. She was a nice girl, a fierce warrior, and a great big sister to Gamma Landry, who she stepped up to raise after their parents' deaths. She deserved a mate to pamper her and love the loneliness out of her eyes, not a trio of jerks tormenting her over what was already a sensitive subject for her.
A few times now at training, I'd overheard some of the unmated guys trying to convince her to go out with them, but she made no bones about telling them she was waiting for her mate. Gamma Lan once told me that he couldn't count how many times the late Beta Everett Breckenridge tried to get her to go home with him. Finally, she got fed up and gave him a bloody nose along with the warning that if he didn't leave her alone, she'd bring it up with the alphas.
Beta Everett. Now there was a fella who always confused me. Sure, he was funny and full of energy, but he went through partners faster than anyone in the pack, which would have been all right if it made him happy, but he was never satisfied.
He was always looking for something he couldn't find, I thought.
His mate, Chester suggested. He was never satisfied because it was never his mate.
True, I agreed.
But now he was dead and Spring was left behind, and who knew what would happen if Spring found their mate? Without a human half, would his mate accept him? And what would it do to Spring if not? Already torn from his human, would Spring be able to handle his mate rejecting him?
It was a bad situation all around, and now Thoreau was brought into it. The little guy probably had his own mate, and how would Spring deal with that? Thoreau was my new little buddy and I didn't want him to go through any more hard times, and Spring didn't deserve any more pain, either.
"River!" Beta Emerson ran up to us, breaking me out of my thoughts and Beta Ty and Livvy out of their conversation.
At beta's shout, River immediately hunched his back and started pawing the ground. We all felt his nervousness and fear in the pack bond, and luna rubbed his ears to try to soothe him.
Is Beta Em mad at River? Chester asked with a confused frown.
I don't think so, I said with a shrug. I don't know why he would be. River saved Reau's life.
And Beta Emerson proved me right when he held out his arms.
"Thank you for protecting my baby brother, Riv."
With a happy hum, River snuggled into Beta Emerson's hug, and we all smiled.
Then Angelo caught up to his mate and stood in front of them. Holding the sides of the wolf's face, he touched his forehead to River's.
"You ever need anything, you don't hesitate to ask," he said in a rough voice. "Any time, any place, no matter what it is, you call and I will answer."
As the rest of us turned aside to give the three of them a moment, luna blew out a heavy breath and let her shoulders drop.
"It's been a long day and it's not even 10:30 yet," she moaned.
Sorry if you were taken away from something important, Beta Ty started to say, but luna waved one hand.
"Oh, I was only doing my potties, and I don't care much for that."
"Potties?" I asked.
Glancing over at my buddies, I saw Arch's eyes were wide and his lips quivered, and Wayne's face was turning red from holding back his laughter.
Pilates, little mate, Quartz corrected as he jogged over to us. And it is good for you, whether you like doing it or not.
"I know. It's just boring doing it all alone."
"Luna," Livvy said, tilting her head to the side as her eyes went far away, "would you be interested in forming a small pilates group? I can think of several shifters who'd like that. Grace Benson, for example, hates coming to fighter practice, but she's trying to lose weight and improve her muscle tone and sees it as her only option to do so."
"Oh!" Luna's pretty blue eyes suddenly sparkled. "I'd love that! Would you be our instructor? Wyatt showed me how to play a video on my phone, but I'd prefer a real person."
"Sure! We can set up more details later, like where and when, but your permission and enthusiasm are all I need to get the ball rolling."
"Well, you have both! Let's do it!"
As luna and Livvy high-fived, Quartz shared that Alpha Mason had put the triplets on their plane and was now watching it take off with Chime Karma.
"Good," Angelo growled as he, Beta Emerson, and River joined our little circle. "And just so you know, I called one of my friends a few minutes ago. His name's Vasili Ivanovich and he happens to be their alpha. They have a surprise waiting for them when they get home."
A surprise? River wagged his tail. Me like surprise!
"Oh, it's not a nice surprise, trust me," Angelo smirked. "He was not happy with what I had to tell him, so I am sure he will make them regret what they did for a long time."
"Good!" we all - even luna! - said loudly, which made River chuff out the wolf version of a giggle.
"But we'll get you a nice surprise, okay, Riv?" Beta Em said with a grin. "As a thank you."
Me no need tank you. Toro me fend! And Toro a pup. Me 'tect pups! Always 'tect pups! Always, always!
"I can't wait to see him with his own pup," I chuckled.
Oh, you've done it now, Atticus, Quartz groaned.
I didn't know what he meant until River started to hop all around us.
Me have pups! TyTy put pup in mate belly!
"Dude!" Arch gasped. "Cole is going to kill you!"
"Oh, great. Mom and sissy both pregnant at the same time." Wayne put his hands over his face. "Kill me now."
"Tyler James!" luna yelped. "You got Peri pregnant already?!"
Of course not! Beta Ty howled. We haven't been mated long enough for her to even go into heat yet! Besides, we decided to wait a few years. She feels we're too young, and I feel we're too financially insecure for babies right now. River just has pup fever.
"It's good to wait until you're both ready," Angelo said.
"River, don't pressure them," Beta Emerson scolded in a gentle tone. "There are lots of pups you can play with in the pack until you have your own."
Pups, pups, pups! River sang as he bounced around and ignored beta. Me want pups! Pups, pups, pups! Me want pups!
Thanks, Atticus. Beta Ty rolled his eyes. He'll be singing that for hours now.
Welcome! I grinned, then yelped and ran when he took control and lunged at me.
And that's how Gamma Landry's 10 a.m. training session turned into a giant, hilarious, high-speed game of tag that even Quartz joined.
Although everyone secretly knew it was only because luna did.