Chapter Nine
Chapter Nine
With the sun down and the sky clear, it got cold fast. Snake told her to take one blanket for herself. When she protested that Laura needed both blankets, he snorted.
“Lobo would kill me if he knew I let you get cold. Take a blanket. He’s a wolf warrior, so he can take the cold, even with blood loss.”
She reluctantly took one blanket and draped it around her shoulders. “You call him Lobo?”
“Yeah. I notice you call him Laura. He hates that name, you know.”
She stiffened. “His name is Laura. He told me to call him that.”
“Okay,” he shrugged. “It’s probably different for mates.”
“Are you marr— er, mated?”
“Nope. I hope someday I’ll find her.” Even in the dark she could see the yearning on his face. “I’ll take care of her and love her every day of my life.”
Gen stared. “That’s sweet.”
“Nah, it’s what wolf warriors do when they find their mates. We take care of them and protect them and love them. Like you and Lobo.”
“You think he loves me? We only met a few days ago. That’s not long enough to fall in love.”
“Fall in love?” he echoed. “I don’t know what falling has to do with love. Love is what you do when you find someone special. You want them to be safe and happy. You want them to have enough to eat and a good place to live. It’s more than just that, though. You care about them even more than you care about yourself.”
Gen stared at him, struck by this young man’s matter-of-fact summation of love. The moonlight shone on his blade of a nose and outlined his full mouth. He was awfully young to be so wise. “Your wife will be a very lucky woman.”
He grinned, looking suddenly younger. “I hope so!”
Gen wasn’t sure how long it took for help to come. Maybe a couple of hours. Snake heard them long before she did. He got up, still naked in the freezing air, and stood in front of her as though protecting her. Rabbit got up too, growling a little. He subsided and settled on his haunches beside Gen.
There were eight men on foot who came at a trot along the road. They wore what looked like jeans and T-shirts or button up flannel shirts, and moccasins on their feet. Not one of them wore a coat. Most of them looked young, early to mid-twenties, although a couple of them were a little older. Two carried a stretcher they set down beside Laura, a few of them carried bundles. One who carried a bag knelt beside Laura on the other side from Gen and lifted the blanket to check the hole in his chest. He smiled briefly at Gen.
“I’m Jumping Stag,” he said in a quiet voice. “I have medical training.”
Gen smiled a wobbly smile back. Thank God. It might look like Laura was healing at a miraculous rate, but she wanted a doctor to look at him. The oldest of the newcomers walked up to Gen and nodded down at her.
“I’m Jay,” he said politely. “Taye’s beta. Stone told us you are Lobo’s mate.”
“Yes,” she said uncomfortably.
She hadn’t accepted him yet but that had to be just a technicality at this point. She got her feet under her to stand but he waved her back with one hand while holding the other out and snapping his fingers. One of the other men handed him the bundle he carried. She recognized him. Stone, who had run for help. She smiled at him, and he smiled happily back. Jay opened the bundle and shook out a thick blanket.
“Here.” He handed it to her. “You must be cold.”
It was ten times nicer than her blanket. She hesitated, looking at Laura. Jay must have read her mind.
“We have more blankets,” he said. “Stag will make sure Lobo is okay. We brought food too. You hungry, ma’am?”
She was. In the past few days she’d eaten something for every meal, but it hadn’t been enough at any of them. She smiled a little when she remembered how Laura had berated himself for not taking better care of her. And the smile died when she remembered how Snake described love. “Yes, I am.”
He held out his hand again, and one of the other men placed a tube-shaped package about two inches by six inches in it. “It’s cold,” Jay said apologetically. “The Lupa will have hot drinks ready when we get back to the den. It’s sausage and cheese.”
She had to let go of Laura’s hand to open the waxed paper. It held a thick pre-sliced sausage and a block of yellow cheese. “I can’t possibly finish this.”
“Eat what you want. We can bring any leftovers back. Share with your dog. This is your dog, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” Laura had warned her not to feed cheese to The Beagle because it gave her gas. Ridiculously, tears rose. She sniffed back a sob, looking down at Laura’s still face.
Jay looked alarmed. “Ma’am?”
She pointed to where the Beagle lay. “His dog,” she choked. “Laura’s dog is dead. She was killed when she tried to protect us.”
Jay’s face smoothed into stone. “We’ll bring her back with us so he can bury her,” he said gently.
Gen fumbled to free her thin blanket and held it out. “We can wrap her in this.”
“Okay.”
Jay took it, but Stone came close and handed her another thick blanket. “You need to stay warm,” he told her earnestly. “Lobo won’t like it if you get cold.”
Numb, she watched Jay hand her blanket to the kid, who walked down the road, spread the blanket out over the snow and lifted The Beagle on to it. He wrapped the blanket around her little body, picked her up and brought her back to them.
Gen made herself eat a slice of sausage. It was good, with just enough spices to give it a bite, but Gen didn’t taste much. She ate another. A small sound beside her whipped her head around. Laura looked up at her, his eyes reflecting pain.
“Laura?” she whispered. “Look, your cousins are here. Everything is going to be okay.”
He nodded almost imperceptibly. “Good. They’ll keep you safe.” He swallowed. “The Beagle?”
She had hated this part of her job. It had never been harder to have to tell a person their furbaby had died. “She’s dead.”
“How?”
“After you were shot, she attacked. The horse kicked her in the head. It was instantaneous. She probably didn’t feel a thing.”
After a long moment he let out a long breath. “She died fighting. That’s a good death.”
Jay crouched to talk. “She was a warrior. We’re bringing her back to the den.”
Gen glanced up and saw that all of the men were standing in a semi-circle with sober faces, like mourners at a funeral. She had to fight not to cry. She took another bite of sausage, chewing savagely.
The medical guy spoke next. “Everything looks good. I need to take the bullet out, but it’s already closed so it would be better to do that at the den. We’ll lift Lobo onto the stretcher and carry him back.”
“I can walk,” Laura said in a weak tone.
“Yes,” Jumping Stag said crisply, “but I will feel better and so will your mate if you are carried.”
He sent Gen a prodding look. “Absolutely,” she agreed.
In a few minutes Gen was in Mystic’s saddle, and Laura and The Beagle were on the stretcher, and the whole party headed to the Den at a trot.