by Maddy Barone
“Come over to the house,” Connie urged. “We need to celebrate.”
Taye cast a considering gaze over his wounded, especially Gina’s mom. “That would be great, but not today. Can we do it in a few days?”
“No problem,” said Des gravely.
His wife nodded. “Bet you’re all tired and longing for your own beds.” She turned to the Madisons. “You’re welcome to join us. We’d be glad to have you.”
Eddie Madison inclined his head with a smile. “Thanks. Let us know when and where. We’ll be there.”
“We’ll send someone with the invite,” Des said, still grave.
Mayor Madison held out a hand to Taye. “We appreciate everything you’ve done for us.”
Taye shook the hand vigorously. “Likewise. We couldn’t have done it without you.”
Eddie and his wife turned to leave the train station. Ray lingered, holding Patia’s hand.
Patia raised appealing eyes to her father, who shook his head sternly. Patia sighed and gave Ray a tender kiss. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” Another frown from her dad made her amend her statement. “I’ll see you as soon as I can. You rest.”
Des looked over at one of his sons. “Fetch horses. Looks like the ladies shouldn’t be walking.”
A couple of the young men took off at a run. Cole steered Gina to a bench. “Rest here,” he said. “It will take a while to bring horses from the Plane Women’s House. I’ll help with the baggage.”
As he walked away, Gina noticed a handful of men standing at the edge of the platform staring at her and her mom. Probably not any of the men from Taye’s extended family. Gina wasn’t sure why she thought that. They didn’t have the tall, lithe frame of any of the wolves, or the careless grace. Des confirmed her thoughts by turning a cold face toward them, and they hurried to find somewhere else to be. Des could look very scary. Gina remembered when she thought Cole was scary. She smiled a little at that thought.
The horses arrived in twenty minutes and five minutes after that, Gina was mounted and on her way to her new home.
****
The den was a fortress. Even when they were still a mile away Gina could see the tall stone walls stretching around what would have been several city blocks in Kansas City. There were clusters of houses outside, but none too close to the wall.
“Who lives in those houses?” she asked.
Cole, walking beside her horse, turned to look up at her. “Friends of the Pack. People the Pack protects.”
“They don’t live inside the compound?”
“No, the den is only for Pack.”
The den. Gina drew in a breath, imagining wolves roaming freely through a single big room, shedding hair and tracking mud everywhere. She would get used to it.
Cole must have known what she was thinking. “It’s nice. It used to be a motel, back in the Times Before,” he told her. “My grandmother came here to live when my grandfather died. Some of the Clan came too, and they fixed it up. Later, when more of the Pack mated, they added on. It’s a lot bigger now. Dad made updates for mom so it’s like it was in the Times Before. There’s running water and electricity. Heat in every room. You’ll see.”
With the wall it was impossible to see anything yet. The strong gate opened as they approached. It was wide enough for two horses walking side by side to pass through. Taye led the way on foot, with Carla close behind him on a horse. It took several minutes for all of them to pass through so the gate could be closed. Taye led the way around to the back of a large one-story building to a stable. There were small brick houses in lines on either side of the main building. Everything seemed well kept and tidy.
Cole lifted her down from the saddle. “Trace will take your horse. Come on, I want you to see the den.”
Trace was a beanpole of a teenager with a shy smile. He took her reins with a mumbled greeting. She obeyed Cole’s tug on her hand and followed him through the yard to a door at the rear of the building. There was a pathway that ended in three stone steps. The path was lined by a crowd of still-faced men who stared at her. In the doorway was a big man with a shaved head and an ugly scar down one side of his face.
He wasn’t familiar.
More men pushed past him from inside the den and spilled out into the yard.
“Uncle Laura,” Cole called with affection. “I’ve brought my mate home.”
Laura? Gina stared at the giant. Maybe it was a Lakota word that meant Fierce. The big man nodded just slightly. None of these men were familiar. She realized Taye had brought only a fraction of his Pack to Omaha. These were the men he’d left behind to guard the den. She didn’t recognize them as individuals, but she could see they were all Pack. They were tall and lean, with lethal grace. A month ago, they would have terrified her. But that was before she’d known Cole. Now, she knew that though they were every bit as dangerous as they looked, they would never harm her. A month ago she had been a different person.
Gina caught her breath. That had been only a month ago? Shock rooted her feet to the stone step she was climbing.
Cole instantly stopped too. “Honey? Are you okay?”
A month ago, she had barely known Cole. In fact, she’d been scared of him. She shook her head in disbelief.
“Dad!” Urgency sharpened Cole’s voice. “Get a doctor. Gina’s―”
“No, I’m fine,” she cried. “I’m fine.”
There were at least seventy of them here, and all of their faces softened with worry.
“Really, just fine.”
To prove it, she gave everyone a big smile and started up the steps again. Laura watched her with concern in his dark eyes. His sharp gaze moved to spot a little behind her. “Bring the ladies right in.” He sounded as bossy as Cole at his worst, but kind too. “Clear the way. We have soup and bread if you’re hungry.”
In only a minute Gina was seated at a long table in an enormous dining room with her mom across from her. The table was oak, the pale wood scarred from years of use, but clean. The whole room was clean, no wolf hair or mud to be seen on the polished wood floor. In fact, no furry wolves were present at all, although the room filled with men who could turn into wolves. Many of them were examining her and her mother with silent curiosity.
Cole leaned over her. “Save this seat for me. I‘ll get us our soup.”
It wasn’t like a restaurant, she realized. No one would come to take their order and serve their food. It was like a cafeteria, with a line of men queuing up at the large serving window. She watched Cole and Jay take trays and collect flatware. More signs of communal living. Gina told her sinking heart firmly that it was okay. Living with a bunch of other people meant everyone shared the work. Cleaning up after a meal that served a couple of hundred people would take hours. Cooking that meal would take hours too. Her heart sank a little in spite of the lecture she gave it.
Her mom sighed audibly. Gina looked at her closely, and saw she was pale. “Mom, are you okay?”
“Of course. Just tired.” Her smile looked forced. “It’s been a long day already.”
Patia sat down at Gina’s other side. “If you need to rest, Jay can take you to a room to lie down.”
“No, that’s fine. I’m sure something to eat will perk me right up.”
Gina wasn’t too sure about that. Her own head didn’t hurt, but her mother’s injuries were much worse, and she looked pale and weary.
Cole and Jay came back with the soup. It was more like a stew, thick and rich with beef and vegetables. The bread was crusty and chewy. “There’s nothing like food from home,” Cole said happily.
Her mom asked the question Gina had been thinking. “Who does the cooking here?”
“We take turns,” Cole replied, scooping out some butter to spread on his bread.
“You won’t need to anymore,” Jay said, smiling and nodding at Gina.
“What do you mean?” she asked. “Everyone takes turns?”
Cole swallowed his bread. “Mostly it is the young unmated men w
ho are on kitchen duty. There is a rotation we sign up for. It’s mandatory for most of us. Mated men and men over thirty don’t have to sign up unless they want to.” He pointed with his chin across the room at Laura, who was sitting beside a very slender woman with fiery red hair. “Laura and his mate like working in the kitchen, so they sign up for a shift every week.”
Gina’s mom put her spoon down. “Laura. Is that a Lakota name?”
Jay chuckled. “No. It’s his name. For a long time he wanted to be called Lobo. But Gen said his name was Laura, and that is what she called him. Now everyone calls him that.”
“Gen is his mate.” Cole shuddered theatrically. “Don’t argue with her. You won’t win.”
Jay chuckled again. “She’s an Alpha. Laura never was anything but quiet until her. Never made a fuss or stood up for himself. He was a goner the minute he set eyes on her, and to win her, he had to learn to be stubborn. He had a good teacher though. No one can out-stubborn Gen except him.”
Cole leaned close. “A man does what he has to if he wants to win his mate.”
Gina’s mom swayed and half fell against Jay, who scooped an arm around her with a concerned frown.
A sudden hush silenced the clatter of flatware and the scrape of chairs. A glance around showed Gina that everyone was looking at Taye, who stood at the table a few places down from her.
“You all deserve to know what happened in Omaha.” His voice was deep and level, loud enough to be heard all over the big room. “The important thing is, we won. But it wasn’t without cost. We lost brothers and cousins. Others are wounded. We will mourn. But we did not return from Omaha without gains, either. This is Mrs. Summer. Jay is courting her. And this is her daughter, Gina. Cole’s mate.”
The gazes on her felt heavy. She swallowed and smiled nervously. When she looked back at Taye he was watching her mother.
“I will tell you what happened in Omaha, but both ladies were wounded in the fighting. They need rest.” In a lower voice, he said to Jay, “Take Mrs. Summer to lie down. Cole, you should take your mate away too. You all already know what happened in Omaha.”
Cole leaned closer to her. “Are you done eating?” When she nodded, he smiled. “Let’s go to our room,” he whispered.
Something in the curve of his smile made her realize he must have a bed in his room. It had been too long since they’d made love. Heat rose in her cheeks and warmed other places.
“Okay,” she said, almost managing a casual tone.
Patia sighed audibly. “I’ll take care of your bowls.”
Cole flashed his sister a blinding smile. “Thanks.”
Most of the men in the room watched them go. Gina told herself she would get used to that too. “Do all of these men live here?” she asked Cole as they passed through the wide door.
“No, about half of them live at the Plane Women’s House or with the Clan.” He took her hand and nodded to the room across the hall. “That’s the rec room. We hang out there. Mom sometimes sings in the evenings, and we play games and stuff like that.”
Gina got a brief glimpse of a large room with polished wood floors and scattered tables and rugs.
“I’ll give you a tour later.” He touched fingertips to her cheek. “Right now I want you alone in our room. Come on. It’s down this hall.”
Her toes curled with anticipation. To be alone with her husband in their own space was exactly what she wanted. The hallway was long, with doors every fifteen feet or so. The rooms were probably small. That was alright. Privacy was what mattered to her.
Nearly at the end of the hall Cole paused outside a door. He lifted her hand to his lips and turned it to kiss her palm. “I’ve waited for this moment since I first saw you in the coffee shop in Omaha. It makes me so happy to have my mate in my room at last. I’m going to make love to you in my bed. I’m going to sleep with you in my arms, here in my own room. Our room.” He pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. “It’s a dream come true.” He kissed her again. “I know we’ve been married for a while, but it’s tradition to for the husband to carry his bride over the threshold of their home, isn’t it?”
He scooped her up and opened the door. He paused in the dark room and inhaled deeply before stiffening. When he flicked the light on, she saw the scowl on his face. She looked around and her heart plummeted. Three sets of bunkbeds lined three walls.
Not even a private room? Desire fled. Tears threatened.
Cole muttered something. He lowered her to her feet with care before growling something in Lakota she didn’t understand. Cole stepped further into the room and glowered at the beds for a long minute until he abruptly swung around to the door. Laura stood there, with the red-haired woman just behind him.
“Where’s my stuff?” Cole demanded.
Laura held up a placating hand. “We needed space for the men from the Clan. They won’t be here much longer.”
The woman punched him in the back. “Don’t tease him,” she ordered. “Cole, we did need the space, and we were told you had found a mate, so we fixed up Snake and Mel’s old house for you.”
She pushed her husband aside with a swing of her hip to smile at Gina. “I’m Gen. Genevieve Fisher Wolfe. We’ll get to know each other later. Let’s get you two settled in your new home.”
The relief that filled Gina made her weak. She grabbed Cole’s arm to steady herself. “A house?” she said hopefully.
Gen had a big smile that showed a lot of perfectly straight, white teeth. “A house,” she confirmed. “Not a big house, but it has everything you need. Come on. I’ll show you.”
The house was at the end of the row of houses along the east side of the compound. Every house looked nearly identical. As Gen had said, it wasn’t large. Nothing like the mansion she’d grown up in with President Gerald Todd of Kansas-Missouri. It was a neat square, painted white, with a narrow, covered porch and a window on either side of the front door. The sharply slanted black shingled roof had a pair of dormer windows. Gina thought it was perfect.
Cole led her up the two steps to the porch. He looked back at Laura and Gen. “I can take it from here.”
Laura frowned with slightly overdone concern. “You might need help getting settled in,” he suggested.
His mate punched him in the arm. The blow was hard enough that Gina heard the thud and flinched. “Moron,” she told him in an exasperated but fond tone. “Don’t tease them.” She looked over at Gina. “If you need any help later, just ask. We’ll all be glad to do what we can.” She gave her husband a shove. “Bye!”
Gen took a few steps before turning back with a smirk. “Oh, and we put fresh sheets on the bed. You’re welcome.”
Gina waited a minute until they had gone back into the den. “Are they always so … violent? I mean, she calls him names and punches him.”
Cole lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “Laura likes it.”
“Is that his name? Or is it a nickname? Like, for Laurence?”
Cole leaned down until his forehead rested on hers. “Do you really want to talk about that now?”
The warmth of his body and the idea of fresh sheets on the bed turned Gina’s thoughts to other things. “No. Show me our new house and save the bedroom for last, because I think we should spend some time there.”
He kissed her. “I like that plan.”
He scooped her up in his arms and shouldered the door open. “A quick tour. I’ve visited this house when Snake and Mel lived here. The front hall is pretty narrow. Mind your feet. “
“You could put me down.”
“Nope. I don’t think I can.” He carried her through a door on the right. “Here’s the living room.”
It had one rather sad looking sofa in dire need of reupholstering under a window that, since it had no curtains, let in plenty of light. A low, battered table was in front of the sofa. A braided rug made with bright, cheerful colors saved the room from being depressing.
Gina put her mouth close to Cole’s ear. Since she was so close, she
nibbled his earlobe. “Do you think we could get some new furniture?”
“Uh.” He cleared his throat. “Sure.”
“And curtains?”
“Uh-huh.” He closed his eyes and drew a deep, shaky breath. “If you don’t stop that we might not make it to the bedroom, and that couch doesn’t look all that comfortable.”
She drew back reluctantly. “What’s next?”
Cole didn’t move. “I could give you a tour later,” he suggested.
The low growl made her remember the noises he made in bed. “Yes, maybe later. Is there anything really important we need to see now?”
Cole’s eyes almost glowed. “Yeah.” His voice dropped an entire octave. “Our room.”
He turned and carried her back through the living room.
“You can put me down now.”
The corner of his mouth twitched in a suppressed smile. “Not yet.”
“Bossy,” she accused, almost smiling.
“Alpha,” he countered, smugly.
He paused to open a door opposite the living room. “This is our room.”
Gina let her breath out with relief. The bed had a carved walnut headboard polished to a high gleam. A red and white patchwork quilt covered it. A tall chest of drawers and a vanity matched the headboard. A dainty chair in front of the vanity and a large mirror above it made it plain that she would sit there to comb her hair. Another cheerful braided rug covered the wood floor beside the bed. Best of all, heavy curtains hung over the window.
Cole held her more tightly against his chest. “What do you think? Can you be happy living here?”
She didn’t even have to think about it. A house of their own. Bedrooms with doors and curtains over the window. “Yes. Will you put me down now?”
“In a second.”
