Tuesday Teaser 6/19/18 Gina’s Wolf Part 15

It’s hard to believe it has been only a week since I got back from RAGT! It feels much longer.  I started the new day job yesterday. It is with the same company, and even the same team. I’m an Operations Coordinator and my main responsibility will be QAing work. Quality Assurance R Us.  I think I will like it when I get settled into the job. This week I have to go into the office every day, which is a big change from rolling out of bed and just walking into the other room. Now I have to get up, take a shower, put “real” clothes on, eat something, and drive to work. Oy!

Ready to get back to the usual weekly snips from Gina’s Wolf? As always, these aren’t edited or even proof read, so please overlook any booboos. Oh, and speaking of booboos, have you see BooBoo Stewart? He’s very young, only twenty-four. I imagine lots of the next generation of the Pack and Clan look like him. Just had to share!

Enjoy the image and the snip!

Chapter Six

The sound of barely controlled terror in his mate’s voice forced more speed from his weary legs. Cole knew his boast that he could take twelve men was an empty one. Deep inside, his wolf cringed at the memory of the pain and confusion that followed the bullet slamming through his head. Omaha was only a mile and a half away, a mere five minute sprint for him if he were rested and not carrying a burden. No, never a burden. Gina was his one chance at love and a family. He would save her. He had to save her. He made his legs to stretch farther and faster. His head throbbed in time with his steps.

The outline of Omaha’s wall was a murky shadow in the dark ahead. So close. Not close enough. The shine of the motorcycle lights gleamed on the road beneath his feet. So close. Too close. He was running, but it was a terrible effort now. His lungs were on fire, his ankles threatened to turn with every step, his arms were clenched around his mate in death grip.

“Drop me,” Gina screamed in his ear. “They won’t hurt me. You can run faster without me.”

He’d already said he would never leave her. He didn’t have enough wind to repeat himself. “No,” he grunted between pants.

The roar of one motorcycle was bare yards behind him now, the others close behind it. His speed was failing. His strength was almost gone. Defeat rose in a bitter wave to crash over his heart. But his mate was clinging to him, breathing in almost silent sobs against his neck, so he spit on defeat and kept running. His legs didn’t want to obey. His feet and thighs screamed with every step. The thought of his mate―his mate!—being forced to marry someone else kept him going. I won’t let them have you, Gina, he swore silently. I will save you or die trying.

It would be better to live, but with Omaha silent in the dark ahead and her stepfather’s army nipping at their heels, death looked more likely.

I failed you, mate. His footsteps were wavering now, his heart close to bursting with exhaustion. I’m sorry. So sorry.

“Put me down,” she begged.

For one moment he considered it. The motorcycles were right on his heels. They would shoot him as soon as they got a clear shot that wouldn’t hurt Gina. If he left her, he could run to Omaha and get help. Or, he thought with disgust,  they’ll pick Gina up and shoot me in the back while I run away. He clenched his teeth. No, if I die, I’ll do it facing my enemy and defending my mate.

New strength rose in him from some deep well he hadn’t known he had. From the corner of his eye he saw the front wheel of a motorcycle drop behind him as he poured on more speed. There was a lone tree by the road a few yards ahead. If he could get there, he could drop Gina to her feet and put her between him and the tree to make a last stand.

A sound rose in the distance. It first it was only an undefined smudge in the dark, but it sharpened, piercing through the roar of motorcycle engines. Cole’s heart leaped. The sweet familiarity of wolf howls turned his desperate despair to fierce joy. He couldn’t spare the breath, but he howled back anyway.

Four footed black shadows flowed in great bounds over the road ahead. Cole doubted if the motorcyclists either saw or heard the wolf warriors coming their way. In the distance, a widening square of light opened in the wall around Omaha. The rumble of trucks joined the howling of the wolves. He laughed in fierce exaltation.

“Cole?” His mate sounded worried. “What?”

The headlights of the motorcycles swerved and swung away.

“We’re saved,” he shouted at her.

She twisted her head to look over his shoulder. “They’re giving up? Why?”

He allowed his speed to slow to a trot, then a walk. “My kin,” he said simply.

“Your…?” Gina twisted to look forward again. When she saw the bobbing lights of the trucks coming from Omaha she gasped. “Oh, my! You can put me down now.”

For a moment he held her closer, savoring her scent. The fear that gave it an acrid tinge was fading. He wasn’t as good with scents as some of the pack, but he detected a sharp edge of embarrassment and unease. The trucks were only half a mile away now, and his cousins were even closer. He dared to brush his lips lightly over her hair before he lowered her to the road.

His mate made futile attempts to smooth her hair. He smiled at her as he tried to control his breathing. She had nearly been captured by the enemy, but she fussed now about her appearance. It made his blood run cold when he thought of how close it had been. His legs trembled so badly from exhaustion he had to hobble to the tree and lean against it. He glanced back down the road they had travelled and saw the red taillights of the motorcycles growing smaller.

They were safe.

Her hat must have fallen off somewhere along their desperate flight. Gina did her best to tidy her hair. She didn’t want to meet her prospective in-laws looking frazzled or bedraggled. Gina could see the trucks were almost here, three of them, with deafeningly loud engines. Was his father driving one of the trucks? Or was it his cousins that she had met in Omaha that day in the coffee shop?

Two of the trucks sped up and went past them, probably in pursuit of the motorcycles. They wouldn’t catch up. The motorcyclists were her stepfather’s crack advance troops. They could go faster than heavy, lumbering trucks. The third truck slowed and rolled to a stop nearby. But her attention was pulled from the truck by the arrival of what seemed like a whole pack of dogs. The headlights of the truck showed the dogs were big, gray, and fierce. She took half a step back and froze when they … shimmered in the dark.

Her mouth gaping open, she stared at the naked men who appeared out of the shimmers. They were equally big and fierce. She closed her mouth and swallowed when the men went from embracing Cole to turning to stare at her.