by Maddy Barone
By angling his head just right he could see the cage that held his brother twenty yards away. A guard armed with a long rifle sat between them. Unlike the last guard, this one remained alert. Wolf’s Howl hadn’t been tortured yet, and maybe he wouldn’t be. By now Storm would have taken word back to Omaha. They would be rescued by the Pack and Clan. Gina, too. He made himself rest, giving his body every possible moment to heal as much as possible.
His mate’s scent came again, teasing his nose and making his wolf crazy. The wolf’s agitation surprised Cole until he caught the extra note in Gina’s scent. Blood. His mate was bleeding! It took all his control to not leap toward her scent. From the clank of chains and enraged growls twenty yards away, he could tell his brother wasn’t as controlled. But the scent faded again.
It was hard to calm his agitation, but Cole forced himself to settle against the floor, trying to relax. He had to get out of here and take care of his mate. What had been done to her? The thought of her alone, hurt and afraid, twisted his guts into festering knots. He was her mate. He should be able to protect her. Instead he was chained in a filthy cage like an animal. Carefully, so he didn’t make noise that would alert the guard, he strained to break the collar from his neck. No use. He wedged his hands between his neck and the collar and tried again. Still nothing.
He wasn’t sure how long he lay silently raging over his helplessness before he noticed a new scent. Distant but getting nearer and clearer each second. The Pack had arrived. Cole refused to be found by his kin as a beaten victim. He shook his hands out and slid them again between his neck and the collar. As he did so, the chain clanked. He shot a glance at it and followed the links to the heavy bolt that fastened the chain to the metal floor only a foot from his head.
His breath caught and he mentally slapped himself. Why hadn’t he tried to pull that free? Sure, when he’d tried it yesterday, he’d been too weak, but he was stronger now. He shot a quick glance at the guard, but it was too dark for a human to see what he was doing. Shifting so he was kneeling over the bolt, he grasped the chain, braced himself, and pulled. It was awkward. The chain only allowed him to raise his head twelve inches over the floor, which didn’t give him enough room to get a good grip. Panting, he lay back down on his side.
As he quietly panted, a gunshot rang out close by. Icy fingers grabbed his heart and squeezed. Gina had gone in that direction. He had to get to her.
Safe with the guard’s attention drawn away by the gunshot, he rolled on his back and pulled on the chain as hard as he could. Still awkward, and the angle was bad, but he heard the metal screech. Stopping immediately, he lifted his head to look at the guard. Just as the man’s head turned from Wolf’s Howl’s cage to his, a horn in the camp gave three blasts. The guard leaped up from his chair, looking wildly around.
Run away, Cole silently urged the man. Go, find out what is happening so I can get free and find my mate.
Gunfire sounded from the western side of camp. The guard took a couple of long steps toward it, then paused, gripping his rifle more tightly. Men yelled, others screamed, but they were distant. The guard slowly backed up to his chair. He cut a glance at Wolf’s Howl’s cage, and then to Cole’s. Cole lay quietly on his side, doing his best imitation of an exhausted, beaten man. Every line of the man’s body shouted that he wanted to go find out what was happening, but he refused to leave his post.
A few yards behind the guard, a pair of eyes glinted in the dark. Cole’s lips curved in a vicious grin. He was sure the guard wouldn’t get a chance to decide whether or not to abandon his post.
He was right. The wolf skulked in the dark, waiting until the guard half-turned toward him, then leaped and tore out the guard’s throat.
“Rock!” called Wolf’s Howl.
More wolves trotted out. Cole recognized his cousins Eagle and Gray Shirt as they headed in his direction while Rock and Storm went to Wolf’s Howl.
Cole finally managed to tear the chain free of the bolt. For the first time in more than twenty-four hours, he rose to his feet and stood straight. Dizziness made him sway. Eagle, as big and strong as his dad, Shadow, shifted to human and forced the cage bars that Howl had bent fully open.
“You okay, Cole?” he asked.
Cole took a step toward the opening and the weight of the chain nearly pitched him out head first. Gray caught him. “Easy, cousin.” Horror, only half hidden, widened his eyes as he looked Cole over. “What did they do to you?”
Cole brushed that aside. “I have to find my mate,” he said urgently. He tried to jerk the heavy collar around his neck open. “Help me with this.”
Even Eagle couldn’t force the collar open, but he and Gray managed to break a link near the collar. Three links remained connected to the collar, but he ignored those. Wolf’s Howl ran over, followed by Storm and Rock.
“What’s going on?” Howl asked eagerly. “Where’s everyone?”
“My dad is leading an attack from the south,” Eagle said. “Your dad is attacking from the west. Mayor McGrath and his City Guard are right behind them. They must not have attacked yet. There’s not enough gunfire for that.”
Gunfire was sporadic, and not close to them. The wolves wouldn’t use guns, so the gunfire must be from Kansas-Missouri. When the Omaha guard opened fire, it would be a lot louder. Cole scanned the immediate area. Where was his mate? The large eating tent was nearby, but she wasn’t there. Dawn would be breaking soon, and the army cooks must have been at work already, but there was no movement around the tent. In fact, the only other person in sight was the guard, and he was dead.
“Gina,” Cole said authoritatively. “I have to find her. I scented her a little while ago, and she was bleeding.”
“I smelled that, too.” Howl faced northeast. “The scent went in this direction.”
“Let’s go,” Rock said.
Profound gratitude filled Cole. He loved his cousins. They might have wanted to join in the fight, but they put the lure of personal battle glory aside to ensure the safety of his mate. They had gone only a few yards when another gunshot, from very near, cracked through the air.
“Gina!” Cole burst into a run.
His brother and cousins followed. Even though impending dawn lightened the darkness in the camp and his wolf’s eyesight was sharp, he didn’t see the soldiers running toward them or Rock and Storm peeling off to intercept them. Cole’s attention was wholly focused on the large tent he was sure his mate was in. He caught her scent now, though it was barely perceptible through the stench of blood.
He tore open the door flap and pushed into the tent. Wolf’s Howl and Gray followed him in. The canvas hangings dividing the tent into rooms confused him for only a second. He shoved them aside, shouting his mate’s name.
He followed the scent of her blood to an inner room. Horror froze his rage for a moment. He only vaguely saw the body of President Todd lying prone at his feet and a battered woman sprawled farther way with blood seeping from her mouth and nose. Another man was slumped close by her. Only a yard away, a short, stoutly built man was on his knees, trying to bludgeon Gina with a pistol. He was hampered by a knife sticking out of his back. Gina lay slack on the canvas floor, unmoving.
His horror was swallowed by red hot rage. Cole lunged toward the man, grabbed the hilt of the knife, and jerked it up through flesh and bone. “Finish him,” he snapped at Gray, who was right behind him, and fell to his knees beside his mate.
“Gina,” he breathed, gathering her to his chest. He leaned close, hoping to feel her breath sigh over his cheek. He waited, heartbeat suspended for a long, agonizing moment, until he felt her chest expand and contract. She was alive. He eased his grip on her and leaned away to examine her. Dried blood was crusted at her swollen lip. That wasn’t as fresh as the blood streaming from the split in the skin at her hairline. Whatever had struck her had left a curved print in her forehead. He touched feather-light fingertips to the bump, trying to determine how bad it was. Fresh rage flooded him. He would make
the one who had done this to her pay.
He snapped his head around to see what had happened to the man who had been attacking Gina and grunted in satisfaction. The coward was dead. Gray Shirt held the pistol, staring at the bloodied butt with a disgusted look on his face.
“Is your mate okay?” he asked.
“I don’t know.” He turned back to Gina. “Gina? Wake up, honey.”
Wolf’s Howl called, “This lady is still alive, but I think she’s badly hurt.”
Cole didn’t care about the other woman. She was probably one of Todd’s wives. Gina was the only woman who mattered to him right now.
Gray checked the pistol and thrust it into the back of his jeans. “I’ll go get help.”
“Did Uncle Jumping Stag come?” Cole demanded. The Clan healer and holy man would be able to help Gina.
Gray shook his head. “But Dancing Wolf did. I’ll find him and bring him here.”
Blood continued to run down his mate’s still face. “Get me something to use as a bandage first.”
Eagle came in. He looked around the room with a grim expression while Gray handed Cole a napkin from a spilled stack on the floor. “Don’t bring Dancer here,” Eagle said. “These tent walls won’t stop bullets. The Omaha Guard has arrived. Hear the gunfire? It will be headed this way, I bet. We need to get the ladies somewhere safe.”
Gray nodded. “I’ll scout ahead and find the safest route out of this place.”
“Red Feather is just outside the tent,” Eagle said. “He’ll let us know if any of the enemy comes close.”
After Gray left, Eagle looked down at the three dead men. Cole thought he would ask about them, but he turned sympathetic eyes to Gina. “Is your mate okay?”
Cole lifted one shoulder in a helpless shrug. Gina’s head rested in the crook of one of his arms, her face still slack. He lifted the napkin away from her forehead. Blood still welled, but more sluggishly. “She won’t wake up.”
“This lady is awake,” called Wolf’s Howl.
Cole glanced over and saw the other woman sitting up with her head in her hands. “Gina?” she said, raising her bruised face to look around the tent. “Where is…” Her gaze hesitated briefly as it swept over the dead men and landed on Gina. “Gina!” she said again, struggling to get free of Wolf’s Howl’s gentle grasp. “Young man,” she said severely, “put some clothes on immediately.”
“Be careful,” Wolf’s Howl told her anxiously. “You’re hurt.”
Cole cut through his brother’s words. “Who are you?”
“Gina is my daughter.”
This was his mate’s mother? He couldn’t see any family resemblance, but maybe without the broken nose, swollen mouth and bruised cheeks and chin, she would look like her beautiful daughter. Pity for her injuries battled with his dislike of the woman who had put her second husband over her daughter’s wellbeing over and over.
A tiny breath of a voice electrified him. “Mom? Are you alright?”
*
Gina heard voices, distant and distorted, as though she were under water. Someone spoke her name with an urgency that told her she really ought to pay attention, but she didn’t care. Pain made it hard to care about anything. The voice kept on and whatever she lay on moved, jiggling her head. She concentrated on the voice and gradually she realized it was more than one. Two? Or was it three? She listened and after a time she realized she recognized one. Her mother was one of the people speaking.
Where were they? Memory seeped sluggishly back into her brain. Gun? Yes, her mother had had a gun. She shot Todd. Gina woke a little more. She remembered Tanner and Jon. Her mom? Tanner had done something to her mom, something bloody.
“Mom?” She moved feebly, trying to sit up. “Mom, are you alright?”
“Gina!”
That was Cole’s voice. She was lying half in his lap and half on the ground. Her mind was groping for more memories. “I’m okay,” she said. It was a lie. Her face was a blaze of throbbing aches, but she didn’t want him to worry. His arms tightened around her almost to the point of pain. His head dipped low over her and after a second, she felt something wet fall on her face. He was crying. She tried to reach up and pat his cheek. Her hand was seized in a tight grip.
“Gina,” Cole said thickly. “We have to leave here. It’s not safe.”
She couldn’t quite see him. “Mom?”
“I’m coming too.” Her mom’s voice was firm, almost defiant, but oddly muffled.
“Yes, ma’am, I’ll carry you.”
Gina wasn’t sure whose voice that was. There was suddenly a lot of movement around them, and a low babble of voices talking about a secured direction out of camp, and then she was being lifted and settled against Cole’s chest. There were what seemed like dozens of naked men crowding around her, but none of them seemed embarrassed about it.
Cole bent his head and she saw the silver gleam of tears on his cheeks. “We have to move fast, honey. Hold on and we’ll have you safe in Omaha as quick as we can.”
“Okay,” she mumbled.
Her head bounced unpleasantly as he ran. It bounced harder when he came to a sudden halt. Belatedly she registered the voice that commanded him to stop. The pain in her head was overwhelmed by nausea in her stomach. Major Ellis.
“Give us Miss Todd,” the major commanded in a ringing tone.
She managed a glance at the major. He was flanked by Lieutenant Mott on one side and two privates on the other. Her vision was a little fuzzy. It looked like the ground behind them wavered. The wavering morphed into furry wolves leaping at the Kansas-Missourians’ backs. And then the major and the other men were painted with the vivid red of blood. Her stomach decided it was the right time to turn itself inside out. She twisted in Cole’s arms and heaved until nothing more came up. He stroked her shoulder and murmured in a low, soothing tone while she puked, and when she was done, he ran again.
Throwing up hurt. It hurt so bad that she concluded unconsciousness was her friend. She saw flashes of her stepfather’s army camp go past in a blur before she shut her eyes. When the darkness fell over her, she embraced it with relief.
****
Gina didn’t know where she was when she first woke. She didn’t know how much time had passed since Cole had carried her out of the camp. Vague flashes of memory pierced the darkness of her mind. Being juggled against Cole’s warm chest as he ran through muddy fields. A slower, smoother pace and the flash of early morning sun off ice. The roar of some vehicle and the rattle of tires over uneven ground. Her head aching viciously.
She swallowed and raised her head from the pillow to look around the room. Safe, she thought. This was the room she and Cole shared at the Limit. Another glance showed the chair beside the bed was occupied, but not by Cole. The slumped figure there had long brown hair.
“Carla?” she called.
Her mother-in-law jerked upright, eyes blinking sleepily before she lunged to her feet and reached a hesitant hand toward Gina. “Gina, how do you feel? Does your head hurt?”
Gina took a moment to consider her head. Pain was there, but it was much less than it had been the last time she’d been awake. “A little. Where’s Cole? What happened? What day is it?”
Carla held up a hand. “One question at a time. Cole went to lie down about fifteen minutes ago. He hasn’t left your side since he brought you back to Omaha yesterday morning.”
The door opened and Taye stepped in. His face was set in a chilly expression. “You’re awake. That’s good.” He dipped his head in his wife’s direction. “Carla, I’ll get Cole.”
Gina struggled to sit up after he left. Taye’s manner had been pointedly cool. “What’s the matter? Is he mad at you?”
Carla pulled a wry face as she stuffed pillows behind Gina’s back. “We’re in trouble. All of us women are in trouble.”
“What? Why?”
Carla sat back down in the chair with a sigh. “You snuck out and put yourself in danger, and none of us, not me, Rose, and Pat
ia, even tried to stop you. In fact, we helped you.”
Gina shook her head. She had thought Taye loved his wife. She would have sworn he adored her and would do anything for her. She’d hoped that she and Cole would have that same kind of relationship. “He shouldn’t be mad at you! It was my idea.” She gulped to keep back tears. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know it would ruin things for you.”
“Ruin?” Carla smiled and reached out to take Gina’s hand. “Do you think this is the first rough patch me and Taye have had? It isn’t. You know, married couples ―even the ones that love each other deeply― have trouble from time to time. The only cure is to talk it through. We need to tell each other how we feel and work it out. The last few days have been too busy for us to have the time to do that yet, but we will.”
“Really?”
“Sure.” Carla squeezed her fingers. “A word of advice from an old married woman. It’s okay to get angry and be hurt, but don’t stay angry and be sure to tell Cole how you feel. My son is a good man, but he’s not a mind reader. I’ve gotten to know a whole lot of men since marrying Taye and joining the Pack, and I’ve noticed that most of them are blind to even the broadest hint. The best way to communicate is with words. Okay?”
Before Gina could respond, fast footsteps sounded in the hall and the door burst open. Cole came in, hair rumpled and heavy-eyed, dressed in only cutoff shorts. Those eyes brightened when he saw her.
“You’re awake.” He seized her and held her with fiercely gentle arms, carefully avoiding touching her head or face. After a long moment, he let her go and sat on the bed. “I am so angry with you. You scared me.”
Over Cole’s shoulder she saw Taye hold out a hand to Carla. “Come on, mate, we need to talk,” he said.
Carla stood up, giving Gina a significant glance. Gina waited until the door closed behind the older couple before touching a hand to Cole’s cheek. “Why are you angry?”
“You put yourself in the enemy’s hand.” His nostrils flared. “You could have been killed!”
