Ellie's Wolf by Maddy Barone Page A

away from him, and ran to Ellie. They collided with such force that only Quill’s arm kept Ellie on her feet.
    “Sara, are you okay?”
    “I wanna go home!” wailed Sara.
    “I’ll take you home,” Stone promised. “I’ll take good care of you.”
    The intense look on his face startled Ellie. He was gazing at Sara as though she was a stream and he had been lost on the prairie without water for a week. His whole body canted toward her, his hand reaching to touch her hair.
    “Don’t touch me!” Sara screamed.
    Stone gave Ellie a look of appeal. Right then he looked like the artless fifteen-year-old he had been when she’d last seen him. Ellie patted Sara on the back. “It will be okay,” she soothed. “Really. All the wolves will take care of us. Two already went to check on Mel.”
    Sara lifted her head with a sniff. “I need a hanky.”
    Ellie watched Stone pat his naked sides, and then his pants pockets, in a futile search for a handkerchief. Desperate, he tore one of the front pockets out of his jeans and held it out for Sara. “Here, use this.”
    Ellie could see that Sara would rather spit on it, but with her nose running, she snatched it with a look of disdain on her face. Quill tossed a shirt at Stone and put his own on. The dark green fabric made his hazel eyes look even greener. He had the most beautiful eyes Ellie had ever seen on a man.
    “Let’s get moving,” Quill said. “We’re going to need more horses for the women. Plates and cups too. And food. Lance and Sand, go see what you can find. The rest of us are going to the hotel to see what’s going on with Snake and Paint and the other lady.”
    After Stone buttoned up his shirt, he tried to put his arm around Sara’s waist. Sara snapped, “Leave me alone!”
    Stone scowled but settled for walking very closely to her. Ellie walked on Sara’s other side. Other men filled in around them, so the two women were completely surrounded by protectors. Quill took point in the wedge of men plowing their way through the crowd.
    The air outside the old school was a little cooler. Ellie breathed it in gratefully. Other men were gathered on the cracked sidewalk outside the old school. Two of them were Jeremy and Rye. Quill paused long enough to shake first Jeremy’s hand and then Rye’s.
    “We owe you,” Quill said solemnly. “If you ever need anything, find any of the Lakota Wolf Clan or the packs in and around Kearney. We’ll do whatever we can for you.”
    Sara pushed through the men, Stone closely shadowing her, to glare at Jeremy. “You could have moved a little faster.” Her tone turned grudgingly grateful. “But thanks.”
    Rye gave a careless chuckle. “Just as feisty as ever, aren’t you, Chatterbox? If you were ten years older, I might have been tempted to fight for you myself.” He flicked her chin with a casual forefinger and gasped in pain when Stone caught it.
    “Don’t touch my mate,” Stone growled through clenched teeth.
    Rye pulled his finger back and curled it as if verifying it wasn’t broken. “Sorry.” He touched the brim of his hat to Ellie and Sara. “Ladies. Best wishes for your future happiness.”
    Quill shook his head as he watched Rye and Jeremy stroll away. “Rye. He looks familiar.”
    Down the block a knot of people spilled from a large building into the street, shouting something Ellie couldn’t understand. But the wolves, with their superior hearing, caught it right away. They exchanged glances, bodies tensing.
    “To the hotel,” Quill commanded. “Hurry!”

Chapter 4
    The desk clerk told them the Fosse room was 1001, on the top floor of the ten-floor hotel. Ellie was gasping for breath by the time she finished leaping up the steps. Quill and the others had practically flown up them, dragging the two women with them. Unlike her and Sara, none of the men were breathing hard.
    The hotel room’s door was open, and a few scared looking men were hovering at the far end of the hall, casting wide-eyed