As usual, I will begin this blog post by talking about the weather. Today was the first day since January 7 that we got up to freezing. That is more than two months! It was so warm that the parking lot is like a lake with ice burgs half submerged.

Fear not. It is not spring yet. We are expecting a ‘massive and possibly historic’ winter storm starting tomorrow afternoon and going through Friday morning. If you want to read about it you can click the link. My day job office may close, but since I’m a telecommuter I will work. Unless I lose power. But that won’t be fun either. Hopefully this will be the end of the bad weather. So all we need to do it get through this and then the flood and it will all be good.

I’ve been making good progress on Gina’s Wolf. I’m getting excited as I move into the final act of the story. I spent several hours playing with cover art last weekend. I need to contact my editor and see when she has a slot open. You know what this means? Depending on her schedule, this book may be out in early summer!

Here is today’s snip. I hope you like it.

______________________________________________________________________________

Cole didn’t want to wake up. The pain was waiting to engulf him in flames of agony. He lay on the cold metal floor of the cage and tried to slow his breathing. Was he himself? Or was the wolf out? Very cautiously, he opened his eyes.

A furry leg with less fur than usual was in front of him. Between the patches of fur, the red flesh was blotched with charring. The stench of burned meat made his stomach turn. The wolf was out. Memories thudded into him like clubs. He had been forced into a choke collar like they used on dogs, and it was fastened to the floor of the cage in a way that allowed him to lift his head only twelve inches. The floor reeked of blood, dead skin, and singed fur. Or maybe that was him.

Gerald Todd was a madman. From noon until midnight he had performed what he called scientific experiments on him. He wanted to see if the man healed burns at the same rate as the wolf. He watched dispassionately as coals were applied to man flesh on the left side of his body and waited with implacable patience until the wolf forced his way out in an effort to protect the man.  Then he had the coals applied to wolf flesh on the right. Every reaction was written down.

“No screams?” he asked at one point with mild interest.

Cole hadn’t bothered to respond even though he’d been in his man form at that time. He was a wolf warrior of the Lakota Wolf Clan, and wolf warriors did not give their enemies the pleasure of seeing their pain. At midnight he thanked Cole for his cooperation and told him to get some rest. Tomorrow they would see how he healed from stab wounds.

Cooperation. Cole almost growled out loud. Gerald Todd would die. If Cole himself was unable to do it, his father and kin would. Cole eased his head to the side so he could see the sentry posted a few yards from his cage. The man’s eyes were closed, his body slumped in the chair. Stupid sentry shouldn’t sleep on duty, but Cole was glad for his incompetence. Time to let the wolf go back so Cole the man could get rid of the collar. The collar was tight on the wolf, but a little looser on the man. But try though he might, he couldn’t pry the thing open. He lay his head down again to conserve his strength. Cold didn’t normally bother him, but now he was weak with pain and blood loss, and the cold crept deep into his bones.

A scent teased him. It was there one minute, and then faded, only to return and fade again. He let the wolf out to use his superior sense of smell. The scent was faint. Familiar. Safe. His nostrils flared, trying to catch and identify it.

Dad.

Fierce joy surged through him.

Not just dad. That was … His mate? The cold that weighted his bones was nothing compared to the cold that covered him now. No. No, Gina couldn’t be here. This was the last place she should be. He closed his eyes and dropped his head, forcing back a whine. The heavy chain connected to his collar clanked.

“Hey.” The sentry stood up from his chair, glaring at Cole. “Shut up there.”

The wolf lowered his head and closed his eyes as if sleeping. Was dad here or was Cole just imagining it? And if dad was here, why couldn’t he scent anyone else from the pack? Dad wouldn’t come alone with Gina. The wolf inhaled deeply. That was his little brother. Dad, Wolf’s Howl and Gina? That didn’t make sense.

A quiet sound had the wolf’s eyes open again. The sentry slumped bonelessly in the chair and the scent of blood rose fresh and sharp in the air. A dark shadow separated from the rest of the shadows, too small to be his dad or brother.  It moved in a rush to the cage.

“Quick, Wolf’s Howl,” his mate hissed. “He’s chained up.” She knelt beside the cage, hands clutching the bars. “Oh, Cole.” Tears gleamed in her eyes as she looked him over.

He forced his wolf back and took human form. “I’m alright,” he whispered. He tilted his head to look up at his brother. “Where is everyone else? Dad?”

Wolf’s Howl shook his head. “We’re it. Your mate was coming alone to rescue you. I tagged along.”

He loved his mate, and he loved that she cared enough to come for him, but that was the stupidest thing she could have done. “The guards have a rotation. One will check on me in about thirty minutes. You have to work fast. If you aren’t finished within twenty minutes, you have to leave me. Take her out of here and keep her safe.”

“No,” Gina said.

“Okay.” Wolf’s Howl handed Gina a knife. “Step back, sister. Go search that guard for keys while I work on this. We’ll have him out before any guards come.”

In spite of the pain and horror, Cole smiled to see Gina sheath the knife in the inner sheath in her jeans with one sure motion before she retreated. His mate wasn’t helpless.

Wolf’s Howl crouched, wrapped his hands around two bars, and pulled. His face contorted with the effort. The bars moved a hair’s breadth. His brother released the bars with an explosion of breath, rested a second, then positioned himself again. Every muscle in his bare body bulged as he strained to pull the bars apart.

Cole wanted to help. He was chained in the center of the cage and neither his arms nor legs could touch the bars. If he’d been able to reach that far, Todd would already be dead.  He tried again to pry the steel collar from his neck, but, as with every other time he’d tried, no matter how he gripped it he was too weak to budge it.

The bars groaned as they parted three inches. Wolf’s Howl collapsed against them, shaking. “Almost,” he panted. “One more time.”

Cole forced himself to not order him to hurry.  “Good job, Howl. You are the strongest in our generation. You can do it.”

His mate rushed over. “I can’t find any keys,” she said franticly.

“That’s okay,” Cole said. “My brother has just about got this cage open. Right, Howl?”

His brother nodded, rising again and taking hold of the slightly bent bars. “Ready?

“Wolf’s Howl, you are amazing!”

Cole would have been jealous of the admiration on her face if it hadn’t been directed at his brother.  He couldn’t believe she was here. Once they were back in Omaha he was going to have long talk with her. Not until after he’d covered her entire body with kisses, but they were going to talk.

The bars groaned again and slowly parted another few inches. Wolf’s Howl fell to his knees, gasping for breath. Gina stuck her arm in the gap and then inched her shoulder through.

“Not big enough. Even if I could fit, I can’t pull that chain out of the floor,” she said. “Can you do more?”

Wolf’s Howl nodded. “Just need to rest a few seconds.”

Cole counted every second that rushed by. How much longer until a guard made his rounds? Finally, Wolf’s Howl shook out his arms and took up his stance. He pulled. The bars were bending more readily now.  Another inch. Two. Three.

A lazy voice edged with a sneer drawled, “Well, isn’t that impressive?”

Yes, it is still winter. You’re probably getting sick of hearing that. I’m pretty sick of saying it. Or actually, I’m sick of having it. For some reason I think March means spring. But of course it doesn’t. We’re getting possibly 12″ of snow or more over the weekend. Some of the worst blizzards in history have been in March. The last really bad March blizzard in Fargo was in 1966. The drifts were so big that trains were completely buried. Men stood on top of snow and their heads were level with power lines. You can read a little about that blizzard here

This snip is a bit short, and a little confusing, because I keep changing the name of the young wolf warrior with Wolf’s Howl. It was Looking Glass, but I thought that sounded a bit feminine so I changed it to Owl. But Owl and Wolf’s Howl are too much alike so I’ll probably change it again. Any suggestions?

Anyway, here it is. Enjoy!

“I have to<” Gina insisted. “I can’t sit around waiting. Todd is probably already torturing Cole. Besides, I am the one who knows where Cole will be held and how to get through the camp without being seen.”

The second man said, “We’ll go with you.”

Gina blinked. “What?”

Wolf’s Howl grinned and pounded a fist into his friend’s shoulder. “Yeah, great idea, Owl.” He turned the grin onto her. “We will be your escorts. You shouldn’t be out here on your own.”

 “No. Aren’t you patrolling? That’s your job. You need to stay here and do it.”

Her brother in law’s face turned stony. “You’re not going anywhere alone. Dad wouldn’t like it.”

She almost blurted that Taye wouldn’t like them going with her either. They would get in trouble for abandoning their patrol. “You can’t.”

He cocked his head like a dog. “Cole could be hurt. How will you bring him back if he can’t walk?”

That stopped her. She should refuse. But he made a good point. And they were tall and strong, and with them along she wouldn’t be afraid of the dark. She sighed. “Okay, but we better get going. It’s a long walk to the camp.”

She ended up not doing much walking, since the men took turns carrying her at a ground eating lope. One turned into a wolf and ran ahead while the other carried her like a baby. They switched off every half hour or so. Gina felt awkward. She didn’t know them well. Wolf’s Howl was her husband’s brother whom she had only just met. Owl was a complete stranger. They were naked. Didn’t running naked hurt their dangly bits? She almost giggled at the thought but kept it to herself. It didn’t seem to bother them. The breeze created by their speed cut right through her, but they were warm, so she ignored any thoughts of their dangly bits and held on.

“There,” murmured Owl as he slowed his pace. “I can smell the camp ahead.”

She sniffed as he set her down. “I don’t smell anything.”

“Fire. I smell fire, maybe for cooking.”

What time was it? Much too late for supper, too early for breakfast. She squinted up at the sky, but she didn’t know how to read the positions of the stars to tell time.

“It’s about two hours after midnight.” Wolf’s Howl’s low voice startled her. He must have returned from scouting and changed back to a man without her even noticing. “Where is he?”

Gina was silent, gazing in the direction the camp must be. She was pretty sure Cole would be in one of the cages the army travelled with to punish soldiers. Those were usually on the back of a flatbed truck parked near the mess tent. That location was one the entire army would see regularly. Todd liked to remind his men what happened to troops who displeased him. But it might be different with Cole. Todd might keep him somewhere close to his own tent.

“Sister, where?” Wolf’s Howl was insistent. “Tell us so we can go and get him.”

She jerked her head to around to stare up at him. “You can’t go.”

He stared at her for a long moment. “Did you think you would go alone?”

“Yes. I know the camp and if I get caught, I won’t be …” She trailed off, not wanting to say ‘tortured’. Because her stepfather wouldn’t cut her or experiment on her but what he would do wouldn’t be pleasant. “Hurt. You stay here. I’ll go find him and bring him out.”

Wolf’s Howl folded his arms over his chest. “No.”

“No?”

“Keep your voice down,” Owl hissed.

Gina swallowed. “No,” she said again, more quietly. “It’s too dangerous for you to go.”

“You can’t go. What if you can’t find him? I will be able to sniff him out. And if he is chained, are you strong enough to break him free? And if he has to be carried, will you be able to put him over your shoulder and run?”

Fists clenched, Gina glared. His argument was unanswerable. Owl put one hand on her shoulder and one on Wolf’s Howl’s. “The longer you fight, the more time we lose. I will stay here. You will both go. If something goes wrong, I can go for help.”

“Nothing will go wrong.” Gina closed her eyes briefly. Please, don’t let anything go wrong. It might have been a prayer, but she wasn’t a religious person. On the other hand, if they got Cole safely away, she’d be willing to go to church every week.

“Nothing will go wrong,” Wolf’s Howl affirmed. “If we aren’t back by dawn, go back to Omaha.”

While the men clasped forearms, Gina turned and marched toward the camp. Her brother in law caught up in a flash. “I will go first,” he told her firmly. “I know where the sentries are and how to get past them.”

Gina rolled her eyes. “Fine.”

She followed him, stepping carefully over the muddy ice. This was really happening. She was going into her stepfather’s camp. A tiny voice screamed she was an idiot, and for a moment her stomach felt like it was filled with cold lead. But she had to find Cole and get him out. She wasn’t completely helpless. Her hand strayed to the hilt of the knife at her waist. She had to do it.

She fixed her eyes resolutely on the broad bare back in front of her and went to rescue her husband.

Winter is still not over!

Not surprising, of course, since it’s only the end of February. The last day it was above freezing was January 7. We broke the record for the most snow ever in February a few days ago. We’ve had five blizzards now and several winter storms, plus some light snow like we’re having today. I think it’s supposed to be 3 more inches by midnight. I just LOVE shoveling my car out. At least there isn’t much snow in the forecast. Just a couple of inches on Friday, but that’s March so it doesn’t count. As you can tell from the temps, it doesn’t feel like winter is going to end anytime soon.

I’m still on overtime at the day job, so writing time has been hard to come by. The thing is I do have time, but I am so tired and crabby after my ten hours that I just don’t want to do anything but play stupid Facebook games. So please excuse the shortness of this teaser. Friday is the last day of overtime so I plan for more writing time this weekend.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Carla allowed herself to be pulled several yards away and fell into deep, raw sobs. The two men went with her, making timid, ineffectual sounds of comfort. Carla’s grief and anguish sounded too real to be pure acting. As she moved stealthily toward the door, Gina inwardly promised her mother-in-law that she would free Cole or die trying.

Gina closed the little gate silently and hurried over the muddy snow to the cover of the brush one hundred yards away. Even outside the wall she could hear Carla wailing and figured she had at least until her mother-in-law quieted before the guard would climb back up to the walkway at the top of the wall and look out. Surely he wouldn’t abandon his Lupa while she wept.

Gina made it to the brush and paused to catch her breath. She couldn’t hear Carla anymore, but whether it was because of distance or because Carla had calmed down she wasn’t sure. She started off toward the river with caution, trying hard to walk as noiselessly as Cole had on their journey to Omaha, but it was impossible. She cringed at every rustle of a twig as she passed through the shelter of the brush. She had to watch where she was stepping so her foot wouldn’t get sucked into mud. Walking like that was hard and slow. It was about a mile to the river. How far after that to Todd’s camp? She wasn’t sure. Her pace faltered as she calculated. Could she even get there before morning? Her heart threatened to sink.

It didn’t matter. She would figure it out.

Creeping through the dark, deserted city had been spooky, but slogging through the dark, deserted countryside was scary too. Broken remnants of buildings from the Time Before were the scariest of all. Cold shivers danced along her spine every time she saw a tumbled wall with windows staring at her like empty eyes. You’re brave, she told herself. What you’re doing is too important to let a spooky walk stop you. She wasn’t sure about the first part, but she was determined to find Cole and free him. The details of that plan were still a little murky, but something would come to her.

She found the river by stumbling down the bank and skidding on her back through icy mud.  For a moment she lay there, panting and trying to force tears back. A sound from the top of the bank, almost too low to be heard, froze her breath in her chest. A glance up showed two hairy creatures with gleaming white fangs and ferocious glowing eyes.

The creatures sprang down the six-foot bank right at her. Tears blurred her vision before she flung an arm over her eyes.

“Gina?” cried a male voice above her. “Sister, what are you doing here?”

“Why do you smell like the chief?” said another.

She lowered her arm.  Two men stood there, stark naked, their hair long and black. “Wolf’s Howl?”

Her young brother-in-law crouched and laid a careful hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay? How did you get here?” He glanced around. “Where is your guard? You can’t be here alone.”

She struggled to sit up. He put on hand under her arm and pulled her to her feet. How annoying that the teenager was taller than she was. She tilted her chin. “I’m going to get Cole.”

The second man, who was just as young as Wolf’s Howl, scowled. “With who?”

“No one. Just me.”

Instead of immediately dragging her back to Omaha, Cole’s brother looked thoughtful. “You can’t go by yourself.”

She relaxed a little. “I have to. I can’t sit around waiting. Todd is probably already torturing Cole. Besides, I am the one who knows where Cole will be held and how to get through the camp without being seen.”

The second man said, “We’ll go with you.”

Gina blinked. “What?”

Wolf’s Howl grinned and pounded a fist into his friend’s shoulder. “Yeah, great idea, Glass.” He turned the grin onto her. “We will be your escorts. You shouldn’t be out here on your own. Dad wouldn’t like it.”

She almost blurted that Taye wouldn’t like them going with her either. She should refuse. But they were tall and strong, and with them along she wouldn’t be afraid of the dark. She sighed. “Okay, but we better get going. It’s a long walk to the camp.”

Sorry I missed last week. It was my mom’s birthday. She’s not as old as I thought she was. She was born in 1935, not 1933, so she is 84. She has dementia, which is an awful, awful disease. She is not as bad off as some people. That is, she dresses herself (when she feels like it. She often stays in her jammies and robe all day) and uses the bathroom herself. She says the same thing over and over, and over. She asks the same question every few seconds because she has no idea she already asked that. Anyway, I brought over supper and my brother baked a cake and stuck a whole forest of candles on it. When we carried it in singing Happy Birthday her whole face lit up. Seeing her big smile always makes me happy.

We’ve had a few days of warmer weather. I think it hit 17F this week. Of course, we’re expecting 2-4 inches of snow tonight. The weather man said he doesn’t expect it to get above freezing until the first week of March. The last day above freezing was January 7. Remember me saying I love winter? Well, I do, but there can be too much of a good thing!

I have been writing quite a bit. Well, actually, I’ve been mostly deleting what I write, since my idea isn’t panning out the way I hoped it to. I’ve decided to just push forward and get something written. I can edit garbage but i can fix a blank page.

Who do you think should kill President Todd? Or should he live? On with the story:

____________________________________________________________________________

It was good to be moving in the chilly air.  Gina wasn’t nearly as smooth and confident with her blade as Rose, Carla and Patia, but she knew she was better than the first time she had picked up a knife. Wouldn’t her stepfather be surprised by her increasing proficiency? Surprised? More like horrified. She bared her teeth in a smile at the thought.

Her body slowed as a new thought came to her. She knew how to set Cole free. All she needed to do was get out of Omaha and into her stepfather’s camp. Taye would never let her go. She turned to her mother-in-law and blurted out her plan.

“No.” Carla’s voice was as firm as her husband’s. She looked away from Gina and sheathed her knife. “I will not tell the gate guards to let you leave. Taye would never forgive me. Even if you managed to free Colby, he wouldn’t forgive me either. Taye will make a plan to rescue Colby.”

“But not in time!” Gina looked imploringly at Rose and Patia. They appeared sympathetic, but not encouraging. She turned back to her mother-in-law. “Carla, do you know what Todd will do to him? He’ll study him. Maybe stab him to see how quickly he will heal or cut off a finger or two to see if they grow back.”

Carla shuddered visibly. “I can’t,” she said, slightly less firmly.

“Please,” Gina begged. “Please, just go to one of those little gates Cole told me about and tell the wolf on guard to let me out. I can go to the camp and let Cole go before he gets experimented on.”

Carla pressed a fist to her mouth. “Even if you made it to camp, how could you set Colby free? There will be guards.”

Gina tilted her knife so the weak March light gleamed along its edge. “I know where they’ll keep Cole, and I know where the guards will be. I’m not very good with this yet, but I know where to stab a man now.” She looked at Rose. “You can drill me in it again. We have time since I can’t leave until dark.”

Rose nodded, but her pale brows pulled together. “We can’t just stroll out of the house to the wall. Running Fox won’t allow it.”

“I am Lupa.” Carla’s shoulders went back. “I will be obeyed.”

“Yes!” Waving her hands triumphantly, Patia did a little dance.

Rose shook her head. “Do you think an order to open the gate for Gina to leave will be obeyed? Even coming from you?”

Carla faltered. “No,” she admitted, stopping Patia’s dance cold.

“Mom!”

“So we’ll have to be sneaky about it,” Carla went on.

“Mom, maybe you could just distract the guard for a minute,” she suggested. “Long enough for Gina to slip out.”

Rose looked Gina up and down and tapped a considering fingertip against her lower lip. “The guard will smell you,” Rose said. “We’ll have to disguise your scent.”

A breath she hadn’t known she was holding rushed out of her. “You’ll do it?”

Carla’s mouth tightened. “I don’t like it. If anything happens to you…”

She hadn’t had long to think about it, but Gina knew what she was about to say was true. “I don’t think I could live with myself if I didn’t try to help Cole. I’d rather try and fail than not try at all.”

Carla sighed. “Okay. But this won’t be easy. We can’t leave The Limit without a guard, much less prance through the city on our own.”

Gina’s shoulders sagged. That was true.

“You can ask for Shouting Rain to escort us,” Rose suggested. “His hearing isn’t as good as some. I think I have an idea.”

Rose’s idea wasn’t much. All Gina would have to do was slink along behind Rose, Carla, and their guard through Omaha until they got to the wall, wait until Carla lured the men away from the door, and sneak out. It could work. It had to work.

After supper the women spent the hours before full dark rubbing Taye’s T-shirts and sweatpants all over Gina in an effort to cover her scent with his. She and Carla practiced synchronizing their walking rhythms so only one set of footsteps would be heard.

“We’ll make as much noise as we can while we walk, so no one will hear you following us,” Rose said encouragingly.

“I want to go too,” Patia protested. “Aunt Rose is going.”

“No.” Carla shook her head. “Your father will be furious enough.” She bit her lip and looked at Gina. “This isn’t a good idea,” she began.

Gina rushed to cut her off. “Don’t change your mind. Please. It will work.”

Carla gave in. “Alright. Patia, stay here and make sure everyone thinks Gina is in her room.”

Patia reluctantly agreed to stay back. “But only if you promise to talk dad into letting me go visit Ray in the hospital tomorrow.”

“Promise. That will be safer than this.” Carla cast Gina another uncertain look. “Okay, you slip out to the garden while I pitch a fit and demand to go to the wall. Be ready to follow us.”

It worked. In a few minutes Carla and Rose came out of the house with a tall, stocky man Gina vaguely recognized. Both women were talking animatedly and walking heavily, almost stomping, really. It made it easy for Gina to walk in time with them, hiding the sound of her footsteps. The streets were completely deserted. The eeriness of it sent a shiver down her back. In all her months in Omaha she’d never seen the city empty. She kept about fifteen yards behind Carla, Rose and their escort, but she wished she could follow more closely, just to be near other breathing humans.

It seemed the wall was just as deserted as the city, at least until a shadow moved from the narrow walkway near the top.

“Lupa?” called a man softly.

The man who came quickly down to the ground was also vaguely familiar, but what caught Gina’s eye was the outline of a door in the wall.

“Lupa?’ he said again with concern. “What are you doing here?”

“I needed to see the door my son left through,” Carla announced in a loudly tragic voice. “Colby,” she choked out, covering her face with her hands. “Oh, Colby.”

Rose put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her away from the door. “Don’t cry, Carla. Come on, it will be okay.”

“Colby,” wailed Carla.

She allowed herself to be pulled several yards away and fell into deep, raw sobs. The two men went with her, making timid, ineffectual sounds of comfort. Carla’s grief and anguish sounded too real to be pure acting. As she moved stealthily toward the door, Gina inwardly promised her mother-in-law that she would free Cole or die trying.

I’m sorry to say it is still winter in Fargo, ND. Winter is just about guaranteed to hang on through March and most of April, so I have no reason to be depressed, but I am. It was warm(ish) over the weekend, so I had planned to drive up to Winnipeg with a friend. We didn’t get far before we saw cars in the ditch and we started sliding a bit. We decided to abandon our plans. I feel like a need a break. More snow starting tomorrow through Thursday, and then brutally cold temps again. So no break in sight.

Imagine living in this weather with no central heat or electricity. No thank you! Not without a warm, loving wolf warrior who would die to keep me warm and comfortable 🙂
Remind me of this when it is 85 with high humidity, okay?

Here is the snip for this week. It hasn’t been proof read for typos and errors so be kind 🙂

“The president has one of your people in his custody. He offers a trade. Send out his daughter and he will release your man.”

Gina’s hands clenched. This was what she’d been afraid of from the minute Patia had woke her. Her breath went out of her. leaving her cold and light headed.

“And who would that be?” the mayor boomed. “Is that him, held up by two of your men? I can’t tell, as my eyes aren’t what they were. Let him come right up so we can get a good look.”

“I want to see,” Gina hissed.

The two broad backs in front of her tensed, and after a minute, they parted a few inches so she could peer between their shoulders.

“Can I get  closer?” she asked.

Another pause, before Sky and Taye moved closer to the edge. She stuck to them like a burr, one hand on each of their shoulders. She took a deep breath and stood on tiptoes to look over the parapet. Three figures walked toward the wall. Well, two were walking. One was stumbling between the other two, held by his arms. He was naked except for a blue cloth tied around his hips. His head drooped, his black hair hanging over his eyes, but Gina recognized him.

“Cole,” she whispered.

She didn’t see any blood on him, but the way he weaved on his feet said he wasn’t well. What had Todd done to him? He lifted his head and squinted up at the wall. There were no bruises on his face, but even at a distance of twelve feet she could see that his face was slack, his eyes unfocused.

A signal must have been given, because the two men dragged Cole back.

“Alright,” shouted the Kansas-Missouri man. “You’ve seen him. Send Miss Todd out and we’ll release your man. Do we have a deal?”

“Yes,” Gina shouted.

But her voice cracked in the middle of it and turned to a croak. Taye didn’t glance over his shoulder at her as he said, “No,” quietly but very, very firmly.

Her hand clenched on his shoulder. “I have to. You don’t know what they’ll do to him.”

“It doesn’t matter,” he said.

He and Sky stepped backwards, forcing her to back up too. Carla grabbed her arm again. “Did you see him?”

“Yeah. He looks okay. Not hurt. Just sort of unfocused, like he’s been drugged.”

Carla’s eyebrows pinched together, digging the groove between them deeper. She glanced at her husband, but he was still facing away from them, looking out over the wall.

“Taye,” Gina said, but he held a hand up and tilted his head toward McGrath.

The mayor called, “We need some time to discuss this. Come back tomorrow.”

“No. You have one hour.”

The mayor turned away and went down the steps to the city. Sky followed him. Taye waved Carla and Gina to go next. Gina hurried down the stairs, preparing her arguments. Taye didn’t give her a chance to make them. As soon as they were on the ground, he put his hands on her shoulders and made her look at him.

“No, Gina. Do you think Colby would want to have his life at the cost of yours?”

She ignored Mayor McGrath, who had turned to them. “They won’t kill me,” she said.

“You are my daughter, my son’s mate, and a woman of my Pack. It is for me to keep you safe.”

“But―”

Taye remained gentle but firm. “No.” He looked over her shoulder at McGrath. “The answer is no. We will make no trade.”

The mayor was sober faced. “Are you sure? He’s your son.”

“Colby would rather die than have his mate returned to a man who doesn’t treat her with the respect and honor she deserves. I will protect her while he can’t.”

Gina opened her mouth to scream at him, but Carla caught her arm with a sad smile. Gina drew a breath and changed tactics. “Please,” she begged Taye. “We can’t just leave Cole with them.”

He patted her shoulder. “We won’t. We’ll get him back.”

“How?”

He exchanged a glance with Sky. “I don’t know yet, but we will.”

Sky escorted Carla and Gina back to the Limit and then left, probably to rejoin Taye and McGrath. A few of the men from the pack remained at the house as guards but most were gone to carry out the duties assigned them. Gina sat in the dining room, counting the minutes and then the hours, waiting for Taye to come and tell her his plan to get Cole back.

Carla sat at the table with Gina, mending a pair of jeans. Tension showed in the way she yanked the thread through the fabric with increasing jerkiness. Patia repeatedly asked to be taken to the hospital, but Running Fax, the man left in charge at the house, refused to let her leave. Rose somehow managed to look both serene and concerned while doing knitting a sock. Gina was sure she herself looked like she was ready to punch something, which was exactly how she felt. With no handwork to keep herself busy, she drummed her fingers on the table.

Lunchtime came and went with still no word. Finally, Carla held her mending up, showing a pair of jeans with a knife sheath now neatly attached to the inside.

“For you,” she said, tossing them to Gina. “Let’s all go out to the patio and practice our knife work. You too, Patia.”

It was good to be moving in the chilly air.  Gina wasn’t nearly as smooth and confident with her blade as Rose, Carla and Patia, but she knew she was better than the first time she had picked up a knife. Wouldn’t her stepfather be surprised by her increasing proficiency? Surprised? She snorted. More like horrified. She bared her teeth in a smile at the thought.

Her body slowed as a new thought came to her. She knew how to set Cole free. All she needed to do was get out of Omaha and into her stepfather’s camp.

Here in Fargo, North Dakota, USA, it is cold. That is the truth. It may not be as cold as where you are at. Maybe you are much colder than we are here. This cold snap covers a good bit of the US, so just about everyone is far below average. If the normal high is 60F, then having your afternoon high be 30 is darned cold. Fargo’s normal high is 17 for this date. This afternoon at 4:00 it was -25. The windchill was -55. Now the temp has dropped a degree, but the wind is lighter, so the windchill is only -50.

Tomorrow isn’t looking very good either. The low is expected to be -37. That is not a record, but it’s getting close. This won’t last too long, though. We’ll be up to 24 by the weekend. I bet I see people wearing shorts on Saturday.

Frostbit can occur within ten minutes in these conditions. I had to stop and get gas today, and I had my hat pulled way down and my scarf pulled way up. I had long johns on under my jeans and two pairs of socks on in my honking big snow boots. Like many people up here, I have two winter coats. One is good for cold weather. It is kind of cute, and actually has a shape. I reserve the other one for COLD weather. It makes me look like a cross between the Michelin man and the Abominable Snow woman, but it is warm. Strangely enough, everyone I saw today looked just like me.

What’s the weather like where you are at? Are you cold? How are you dealing with it?

I am back from the Barony of Nordskogen’s 12th Night event. I had a great time. I joined the SCA about 20 years ago but don’t play like I used to. Fun events like this make me wonder why I am not more active. I got to see some of my favorite people. It’s the people I miss the most. I meant to take a bunch of pics, but of course I forgot. Grr. Here are a few of the ones I took.

I really had a great time. I’m looking forward to being more involved from here on out. I bought a ton of fabric to make myself more garb. Some court garb (think heavy and fancy) and maybe some lighter weight summer type garb. I’m going to try to stick to Renaissance Italy, which is what my persona is supposed to be. We’ll see! Maybe I’ll post some pics of what I will be sewing from time to time.

I didn’t get that much time to write since I was either packing, or away, or unpacking for most of last week, but I do have a snip for you. I hope you enjoy it!

Gina woke in confusion. The sun was already gleaming weakly through the curtain when someone pounded on her door. Patia’s voice called, “Gina? Gina, come quick. Something awful has happened!”

Gina’s  heart leaped into her throat and stayed there the entire time she threw on her clothes and ran out of her room. The hall was dark. Patia grabbed her arm and rushed her down the stairs, through the kitchen where breakfast was being prepared, to the restaurant’s empty dining room, where a dim light cast eerie shadows over a handful of people. Taye was there, face as a hard and grim as stone. His arm was around his wife, and only when he glanced down at her did his face soften slightly. Carla’s cheeks gleamed with tears, but her lips were pressed firmly together. Rose leaned her back against the edge of a table, her arms crossed over her chest and a scowl on her face. Sky looked about as happy as Taye. He turned when she and Patia came in.

She forced her voice to be calm. “What happened? Are we under attack?”

“Not exactly.” Taye reach his free hand to touch her shoulder.  “Cole has been captured.”

Cold swallowed her. “Captured?” she echoed. “By my stepfather?”

“His people,” Taye said gently.

The cold reached her heart. “Is he alive?”

“Yeah. It will be alright.”

She jerked her head from side to side. “No,” she whispered. “It won’t.”

Taye left Carla to fold Gina in a fatherly embrace. “Yes, it will. We’ll get him back.”

For a moment she let herself believe it. But her mother’s husband would never release his prize.  A wolf shifter was too unique to give up. Todd would perform tests on him to find out all he could about his shifting abilities before finally killing him to dissect him. If Cole was lucky, he would be dead before the dissection began. She stepped back from Taye and regarded him numbly.

“My stepfather will never let him go.”

Taye glanced over her at Sky. “Then we’ll take him back.”

Sky nodded and glanced at the window. “It’s time to go.”

“Go where?” Gina asked.

“To the wall,” her father-in-law replied. “They’re bringing Cole out so we have proof he’s alive.”

Her heart sank. That meant her stepfather wanted something.

“Patia and Rose will stay here,” Taye said in a tone that made Gina realize where Cole got his bossy ways. “Carla and Gina are mother and mate. They will come.”

 She went to get her coat and joined the rest of them in their cold walk to the wall around Omaha. They climbed steps to a ledge that ran along the inside of the wall near the top. The dozen men already there squeezed back to let them pass. They could look out over the top of the wall but their bodies remained safely protected.

The mayor was already there. His greeted them pleasantly, but she could see the strain in the lines around his mouth. “They’re out there.”

He nodded to the wall.  Gina stood on tiptoes to look out. In the glare of the early morning sun she saw only an indistinct line of people standing quite a distance from the wall before Taye gently pulled her back.

“Don’t show yourself,” he cautioned.

He and Sky stepped in front of her, solidly blocking her from looking out.

Carla lopped her arm through Gina’s. “Did you see him?” she said.

“No,” she whispered. “I didn’t have enough time to get a good look.”

Her mother-in-law smiled. “No use whispering.” She nodded at her husband and Sky. “They can hear us no matter how quiet we are.”

Mayor McGrath drawled, “Is that a white flag? I believe it is. Should we accept their surrender?” His dark chuckle said he knew Kansas-Missouri wasn’t surrendering. “What the f—” He broke off with a quick glance over his shoulder at Gina and Carla. “I wonder what they want.”

Taye spoke, and Gina thought his words were more for the women behind him than for the mayor. “There are a dozen men standing in a line just out of gunshot range. One of them is Cole. He doesn‘t look injured, but he is being held up by a man on either side of him. Either he is too weak to stand on his own or he is ill.”

Carla’s hand tightened on Gina’s arm, but she said nothing. Gina herself wanted to push her way to the wall and look for herself. She stiffened her spine and kept quiet.

Taye went on. “Two men are coming closer. They have a stick with a white cloth tied to the end.”

“Parley,” said McGrath. He raised his voice. “Let them come closer.”

After a moment, the mayor shouted again, more loudly. “That’s close enough, gentlemen. What can I do for you this fine spring day?”

“We come on behalf of His Excellency, President Gerald Todd of Kansas-Missouri.”

“Oh,” the mayor murmured as if to himself. “I was wondering who was running around out there.”

Gina blinked. Wasn’t he taking this seriously?

He raised his voice again. “And?”

“The president has one of your people in his custody. He offers a trade. Send out his daughter and he will release your man.”

This weekend I am going down to 12th Night in Minneapolis. My friends Dave and Robyn are coming down from Winnipeg and picking me up here in Fargo, and then we’ll drive to our friend’s Ellen’s house to stay. I had hoped to sew a new sideless overdress for my Italian Renaissance gown like this one, but I caught a cold and couldn’t scrounge up the oomph to do that. So I suppose I’ll wear my green and purple Byzantine instead. That’s okay. There is time to make something new later. I hope I’ll remember to take some pics to share with you for next week.

Today’s clip of Gina’s Wolf hasn’t been even re-read, so it probably has a ton of typos. I hope you enjoy it. Next week things get really good!

There were two coming toward him with stealthy care. He thought there might be a third hanging back.

The men stopped three yards away. Cole’s snarl was weak. “Damn it,” said one, a quaver in his voice. “I thought he was supposed to be asleep by now.”

“He’s not a regular wolf,” the second man said coolly. “The tranq must not be strong enough.”

“Give him more!”

“And kill him? The President would be a bit miffed with us. No, give it a little time.”

Even through his blurred vision, Cole saw the first man pale.

“We gotta do something!”

“We wait. He’s about ready to go down now.”

He was. Cole backed up one wavering step at a time, focusing all his willpower on staying on his feet.

The cooler of the men narrowed his eyes at Cole. “Don’t move, Wolfy. Jack, shoot him in the leg.”

From further behind the two men, Cole saw the dull gleam of a rifle barrel. There was a third man. He dodged the bullet but the effort sent him into nose first into the muddy grass. The sound of the shot was oddly muffled. Even so, Omaha was only two miles away. The shot would have been heard on the wall. Human ears might not have heard it, but his kinsmen would have. Someone would come to help. He just had to hold them off that long. He just had to get up and back away. Come on, he told himself. Get one leg under you. Come on. Do it. Do it!

But he couldn’t. His head was too heavy to hold up. With an inner scream of protest, he rolled onto his side and put his head down. Just for a second, he told himself. Just one second of rest and them he would get up.

He didn’t get up. As if the noise were coming from a long, long tunnel, he heard the men approach.

“Got him!” said one.

“Jack, bring up the cage,” said another. “Let’s get him loaded up and get the hell out of here.”

And then Cole heard nothing.

***

“Ladies.”

The Limit’s housekeeper clapped her hands to get their attention. Gina stood between Rose and Carla in the private dining room adjacent to the kitchen with half a dozen other women who worked at the Limit.

“We must make an exact list of every food item we have in the house, right down to the last teaspoon of salt. As a restaurant, the city Council is allowing us higher rations than private households, but we must be careful to use only what we are allowed. We don’t know how long the siege will last so we have to make our rations stretch as far as they will go. Does everyone have their notebook and pen? Very good, then, let’s get to work making lists of everything we have.”

Gina went into the pantry armed with her notebook and pen and began measuring the dry goods. Last night Cole had assured her the mayor had made plans for gathering food so that Omaha would be well supplied when President Todd came. She became more and more nervous as she measured and weighed the flour, sugar, and other dry goods. Would there be enough to last through a siege? She hadn’t gone hungry even once her life. Unless something changed, it looked like she would be hungry soon. So would everyone else in Omaha. If food supplies got low, who would be given priority? The soldiers would have to eat to be strong enough to fight. What about the patients in the hospital? Sick people needed healthy food to get better. A long time ago, she had heard that her stepfather had cut supplies off to hospitals. He thought sick people were a liability, and food was given to those whose work was critical to his empire. Feeling sick, she toiled on in the pantry until supper time.

Patia returned to the Limit just as the restaurant opened its doors to supper guests. There were few. The waitresses took orders and served food. Since only a couple of the tables were occupied, Carla, Patia, Rose, and Gina took one of the little tables. Two of the men from the pack sat at a table close by. At a more distant table three men were obviously and loudly disgusted by the size of their supper portions.

“There was a time when a man could actually leave here full,” grumbled one.

“But it tastes good.” That voice seemed to make an effort to be positive. “And everyone is going to eating a little bit less for a while. We should enjoy this while we can.”

The first man pushed his plate away with a curse. “I want to talk to the manager.”

The two men who’d escorted Patia home stood up. Their dark eyes fixed on the whiner. “You got something you want to complain about?”

He looked up at them and something in his face shifted. His forehead glowed with sudden sweat. “No. I guess I was just blowing off steam.” He nodded enthusiastically. “I guess we just better plan to eat small for a while.”

“That’s right.” His companion nodded. “We are all in this together.”

As Gina helped with dishes later, she thought about what Omaha could expect in the next few days or weeks. Hungry people were desperate, and desperate people do stupid things. She hoped this whole thing would be wrapped up soon.

She got ready for bed alone. Last night Cole had been with her. She loved making love with him. She loved the way he held her afterwards just as much. Maybe he would’ve held anyone his wolf chose with the same tenderness, but she wanted that tenderness to be just for her. If she wasn’t his mate, would he still treat her the same way? She hoped so. The bed seemed cold and empty without him. Wasn’t that stupid? They’d only spent two nights together, but already not having him there seemed wrong. She wanted she wanted all of this to be over slushy could go home to his place and start a new life there with him. In spite of her worry, she fell asleep thinking of that new life.

She woke late. The sun was already gleaming weakly through the curtain when someone pounded on her door. Patia’s voice called, “Gina? Gina, come quick. Something awful has happened!”

Woo-hoo! It’s 2019. That’s a good thing. As long, that is, as it doesn’t turn into 2018 all over again. :O

I’ve been writing again ,so that is a good sign for the coming year. I have the next two chapters plotted and ready to write. The third chapter is still a little muddy, but I’ll figure it out. My time is as always tight. But now that my writing group is doing sprints I am pretty much guaranteed 30 minutes of writing a week. Hopefully a lot more than that, but when I work 40 hours and have various functions 4 evenings a week writing time is hard to find. But as I said, I’m writing again. Gina’s Wolf is approaching the climatic third act. Things should get pretty exciting soon.

This is very rough, so please excuse any typos or boo boos.

The lieutenant in charge at Headquarters looked up from the papers he was reading when Cole came in. “Morning. You’re just in time to join the foot patrol. Bob? Here’s your partner for the morning, Cole Wolfe. Wolfe, this is Sergeant Anderson.”

“Morning, Wolfe.” Sergeant Bob Anderson held out a leathery hand to shake. “Let’s get going.”

Anderson was a lanky forty-year-old who knew the city streets well. Cole, being a stranger to the city, let him lead. The Omaha native was friendly and unflappable. Cole was no coward, but when they found two women involved in a hair pulling girl fight in front of the building that held the food stores, he hung back. Two men fighting? That he could handle. Bash their heads together. Grab one by the neck and toss him into the street and give the other a kick in the pants. But ladies? He let Anderson handle it.

“Mrs. Morton, you get up off the street. Shame on you. Both of you,” Anderson said firmly. “Mrs. Brockmeier, what is all this about?”

Each of the women accused the other of taking more than her fair share of flour. Bob settled that decisively and calmly, and soon both women left, shooting dirty looks at each other but not speaking. Cole watched with awe.

“How did you do that?” he asked as they began walking their patrol again.

“Shoot. I’ve been a Guardsman for twenty years. Everybody knows me well enough to know I won’t let them get away with anything.”

It seemed to be true. There weren’t many people on the streets, but everyone they saw greeted the Sergeant with respect. His own respect for the older man grew as their patrol went on.

“So,” Anderson said when they turned to head back to headquarters, “I hear tell your daddy sent for reinforcements. When do you figure they’ll be here?”

Cole calculated. “Maybe tomorrow.” The wolves would come first. Then the men from Kearney would come, but they wouldn’t be able to move as fast as the wolf warriors. “Some tomorrow. More in a few days.”

Anderson nodded, a little grim. “We could use the help, and the sooner the better.”

After their four-hour street patrol, they returned to headquarters for lunch and rest. Captain Erickson took the concise report Anderson made and dismissed them to the day room. Half a dozen men were already there, nursing tin cups of coffee and playing cards. The men nodded at Anderson. “Sandwich fixings in the fridge,” one said.

Cole followed Bob to the fridge. The coffee smelled awful, but not as bad as the sour stench of unwashed men. Being here with these stinky men instead of with his mate made his wolf unhappy.

“Hey, Sarge,” called another of the men, whose teeth were both crooked and green. “Who’s your new friend?”

  Anderson didn’t look up from spreading mustard over his bread. “Cole Wolfe from Kearney. Why don’t you boys introduce yourselves?”

None of the men did. Crooked and Green leered. “Aw, it’s the bride groom. He got to go home last night and play kissy-face with the little woman.”

Cole’s wolf came to sharp alert. When the man made loud kissing noises, the wolf lunged at the cage that held him in Cole’s mind, trying to break free. Cole’s nostrils flared.

“Was it fun, lover boy? Did your bride spread her pretty–”

Cole’s vision shimmered with gold and red as his wolf tried furiously to get free.

“Colby.”

His father’s voice, heavy with Alpha authority, stopped the wolf. The red and gold shimmer died as the wolf slunk back to the cage, lips peeled back in a snarl. Cole took one breath through clenched teeth and forced himself to relax.

“You will not kill this man.”

It was a struggle, but Cole made himself tilt his head to the side in submission.

Taye Wolfe sauntered to Crooked and Green, his face set in a cold expression he never directed at anyone in his Pack. His voice dropped to a low, lethal growl. “Do not ever speak of my daughter again.”

The man couldn’t seem to hold the Alpha’s gaze, he swallowed and looked down at the table. “Didn’t mean nothing. Just a little friendly joshing.”

The Alpha of the Pack stared down at the man. “The only reason you’re alive is because Omaha needs every fighter it can muster.”

The man wilted when Taye turned his attention back to Cole. “Have something to eat and then get some sleep.  You go outside the gate again tonight to patrol.”

***

It was wet tonight, thought Cole, trotting along the river bank on his patrol. It wasn’t quite rain, but it was more than fog, and his fur was heavy with moisture. It was almost cold enough to snow.  It was a heavy, wet cold that he didn’t like. He loved to romp in the snow, but this wet cold was no good. It muffled his sense of smell and deadened his hearing.

Romping in the snow with his mate would be fun. They probably wouldn’t get any more snow this year, but next year… He had plans for next year. Maybe by then she would be heavy with his child. That thought warmed him in spite of the cold. He remembered the warmth of his mate lying beside him in bed. In his mind he lovingly savored the press of the curve of her breast against his. Would his father allow him to go back to the Limit again tonight? He hoped so. He wanted to—

Pain stabbed through his neck, rocking him sideways. His wolf yelped. What was it? It was too fiery and deep to be a thorn. It was… Out of the corner of his eye he saw the end of an arrow. A strange arrow, too little to fly far. The sound of footsteps, muffled by the cold, came to him. He tried to run away, but his legs didn’t work right. Something too close to panic seared his belly. This was like… Like on the train. He remembered the train. Something about the train… He couldn’t remember.

Wobbling, like a stupid townsman who’d drank to much, he turned to face the enemy.

My favorite days of the year are here! I’m sneaking in a little writing time while my visiting brother sleeps. Later this morning we are going to stroll downtown Fargo and have lunch in a little bistro type restaurant. After Christmas mass, the rest of the family will come to my place for a buffet style supper, and then opening presents.

Speaking of presents, I wanted to do something to show my appreciation for YOU, my readers. Below are links for a couple of my books which you can download for free from now until December 31.

Sleeping With the Wolf is free just about everywhere, like here on Amazon

Wolf’s Glory

Ellie’s Wolf .

I hope you have a lovely holiday with a lots of new books to love and fun family time.

Happy Reading and Merry Christmas!