Tuesday Teaser 6/25/19, Gina’s Wolf Part 46

It’s been a tough road writing-wise lately. Just before my mom had her stroke I was excited and ready to finish Gina’s Wolf. You know what they say about the best laid plans, right? Sigh. I’ve spent hours in front of my computer but the words just won’t come. I know what comes next, I know what happens in the next chapter, but the words just aren’t’ there.

I still don’t have the excitement back, but I am writing a little. Part of this is due to my writing group, The Word Weavers of Fargo-Moorhead are a great bunch of ladies. I love the support they’ve given me. The result is a new snip from Gina’s Wolf tonight. I will continue to write this story. I WILL get it done! 🙂

Before that, I wanted to let you all know that I will be doing a swag bag and book giveaway of all the great stuff I got at Lori Foster’s RAGT earlier this month. Look for a newsletter in a few weeks with the entry form.

And now, here is the teaser. It’s been so long you might need to go back and review a few posts to catch up.

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 City 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 north east. “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 Red Feather peeling off to intercept them. Cole’s attention was wholly focused the large tent he was sure his mate was in. He caught her scent now, though barely discernable 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, Gina.”

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. “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.”

“The 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 feeble movement against his arm and a tiny breath of a voice electrified him. “Mom? Are you alright?”