Tuesday Teaser July 24, 2018 Gina’s Wolf Part 20

Life is never boring. Did I mention that half-feral neighborhood cat that we have kinda sorta adopted? The adorable little boy we named Sammy? I think he’s pregnant.

This is Sammy about a month ago.  He (She?!!!) is not this small anymore. Still sweet, but …  Kittens. Kittens are so adorable and cute when they aren’t yours.  🙁

But we will deal with the situation. I will revel in kitten madness and hope to find good homes for them.

Gulp.

On to more of Gina and Cole’s story!

Through the pounding of her blood in her ears, she barely heard the tap on the door. Cole did, though, and he lifted his head away from her.

“Dad?” he called.

Gina’s eyes flared wide. His dad was out in the hall? While they were doing this?

“Sorry, son.” Mr. Wolfe’s voice was quiet, barely audible, but Gina thought he sounded truly apologetic. “A man has come from President Todd under a flag of truce. You need to come to McGrath’s office for the parley.”

Gina froze. Embarrassment died under a wave of dread. She should have known  her stepfather would lose no time in trying to get her back. “What time is it?” she asked Cole.

“A little after four,” his father replied from behind the closed door.

He could hear that even through a closed door? Embarrassment flared again. Oh, lord, what else had he heard from the hallway?

“What time is the parley?” Cole asked.

“We’re leaving as soon as you’re ready.”

“I’ll be out in two minutes.”

Cole looked down at her for a second before dipping his head for one last quick kiss. “I have to go.”

Just like that his weight was gone and he was off the bed and headed for the door.

“Cole, wait for me.” She scrambled out of the bed and looked around for the clothes his mom and sister had left. “Give me one minute to get dressed and I’ll meet you in the hall.”

He stopped at the door with his hand on the knob. “You don’t need to get dressed. Go back to bed and get some more sleep. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“What?” She snapped around to look at him. The cotton where he’d had his mouth caught wetly on her breast. She ignored it. “I’m going with you.”

His brows twitched together. “No, stay here where it is safe. I’ll tell you everything when I get back.”

Her hands settled on her hips. “I’m going. This concerns me.” When his face got darker, she fixed him with an unyielding glare. “You know what we were just doing? If you ever want to do that again with me, you’ll shut up and quit being so bossy.”

A muffled chortle from the hall got fainter as his father walked away. Cole transferred his scowl to the door before turning back to her. “No, Gina. You need to stay here and let me take care of you.”

Her mouth dropped open. “You aren’t in charge of me. Even if I accept this mate thing, you don’t get to make decisions for me. ”

His hands fisted, relaxed, and fisted again. “Please trust me. I’ll look out for your best interests. I don’t want you anywhere near anyone from Kansas-Missouri. I need you to be safe.”

He was trying again to rein in his bossiness and be reasonable. It made her step away from indignation and smile. “Thank you, Cole. I think I’ll be safe with you and your dad there, and this meeting is probably at least partly about me. I deserve to be there, don’t you think?”

He scowled again but nodded reluctantly. “Okay. Hurry and get dressed and meet me downstairs in the kitchen.”

After quickly dressing she hurried downstairs. Cole’s dad was in the foyer. He greeted her with a grave smile that gave no indication that he knew what she and Cole had been doing only a few minutes ago. He lifted his head to look at the top of the stairs. Carla hurried down to them.

The older woman gave her husband a kiss. “We should go into the private dining room,” she said. “The Limit opens for dinner in half an hour and we’re just in the way here.”

Gina saw three young men setting up tables and chairs in the large room to their left and two girls arranging tablecloths, floral centerpieces, and places settings on the tables. Mr. Wolfe led them through the room to the narrow corridor that led to a smaller dining room. Cole was already there, with five other men that she didn’t recognize, standing clustered around the foot of a word wooden table. Only Cole was fully dressed; the others wore only jeans. They were talking in low, angry ones. Gina didn’t think they were angry at each other, though. There was no animosity on their faces.

One of them, whose long black braids were steaked with silver, broke off what he was saying when they came into the room. “Chief,” he said. “Bad news. Miss Nikki from the House Pack and her husband have been killed.”

His words were a punch in Gina’s gut. Her breath whooshed out of her. “What?” Tears pushed out as she looked almost blindly for Cole. “Cole?”

He was there, his arm going around her shoulders to pull her face to his chest. “It’s alright, Gina, it’s alright.”

“No, it’s not.” She let him hold her for a second before she pushed away. “It’s my fault. I know exactly what happened. They helped us, and Todd retaliated by having them killed. I hate this. I hate him!”

Cole pulled her close again and murmured into her hair. “You’re right. Mostly. Yeah, the Kansas-Missouri army found Mr. and Mrs. Anders’ place. But it’s not your fault they were killed. That is on your stepfather and his people.”

All the men in the room growled agreement. Gina lifted her tear smeared face to look at them. They didn’t look especially sweet or even civilized with rage setting their features into stone.

“You’re right,” she said fiercely. “It’s not my fault. The Anderses were good people. They didn’t deserve to die for being good people. It’s him. Gerald Todd. I want him to pay for this.”

The men growled again, approval this time. Cole stroked her hair. “I promise, he will pay for it. Are you sure you want to go to this meeting? I don’t want you to be upset or show it to whoever comes from Kansas-Missouri.”

She took a deep breath. “I’m going. Don’t worry. I’ll be calm. I’ll be so cool that butter won’t melt in my mouth. But I’m going to look the envoy in the eye and smile. I’ll smile because I got away and I have allies now. Let him go back to Gerald Todd and tell him I don’t belong to him anymore.”