Tuesday Teaser 1/15/19: Gina’s Wolf Part 32

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!”