Waking Up Dead (The Western Werewolf Legend #1) by Catherine Wolffe Page A

Laying a hand on the boys’ weary heads, she smiled when
her children yawned openly.
    “ South.” Sonja peered up
ahead at the wagons they’d procured for the journey. The
Confederate soldiers now wore civilian clothing thanks to Hortence
and her spells. South sounded like a far-away place and the idea
made Sonja nervous. Her hands wanted to shake. She gripped the
reins tighter. The road up ahead wound around bends and up hills
before spilling into another valley with new growth greening more
readily the farther they went. “I’m sorry I got you into this
mess.” The words came unbidden.
    Sonja didn’t give them time to linger
before she smiled for her younger sister. The woman was beautiful
with her long waves of coppery fire. The boys resembled their mom
and Sonja secretly hoped they always would. A smattering of bright
freckles dusted their noses and pert, pink lips formed perfect bows
in their cherub faces. Love swelled in her chest. Her family – in
all their innocence - what was left of them was precious to her.
She tried not to think of what she would do if anything happened to
them.
    Briann quieted again. Sonja wanted to
give her sister some comfort, some support. However, the danger
they all faced remained a grave deterrent. She slapped the reins
over the horse’s rump and steered the team to follow the wagon
ahead of theirs.
    The men secured several wagons to help
with the refugees who couldn’t walk properly. Sonja drove one,
while Smitty and Connors drove the other two.
    “ Sonja, if anything should
happen to me, will you see to the boys?”
    The pain of her sister’s statement
weighed heavy on her chest. “Don’t talk like that, please. We’ll be
fine. I won’t let anything happen to you or the boys, I
promise.”
    Her sister’s beautiful green eyes
gleamed with unshed tears. “Don’t promise things you can’t deliver,
sis.”
    “ You don’t think I can
protect you?”
    “ It’s not that. I know
you’d do everything you could to see us safely out of harm’s way.
Fate may have other ideas. That’s all.”
    They rode side by side for a long time
without saying anything.
    Truth sometimes had a way of crippling
one’s notions of their abilities. Sonja would speak to Hortence and
the Guardian about Briann’s visions. Surely, her sister was
mistaken about her abilities. She was her sister whom she loved
more than life itself. If she had to give up her gift to save her
sister, she’d gladly do it.
    “ How are you ladies doing?”
The voice was deep and laced with real concern.
    Sonja recognized General Stewart
without seeing who rode the magnificent black stallion coming up
behind them. Admiring the silken mane as the animal came along
side, she considered the horse may be as undead as the
rider.
    With her head tilted back, Briann
shared a warm smile with the general. “We’re fine,” she
said.
    The youngest boy groaned before
glancing at the horse. “Ride, momma, ride.” His small finger
pointing up toward the general on his horse.
    Briann didn’t pause and Sonja found
herself beaming with pride for her sibling. She allowed the general
to grip the boy under his arms after she hoisted him high, allowing
Stewart to settle him in place in front of him in the
saddle.
    “ You’ve made a new friend,”
Sonja observed.
    The youngster found the reins the best
thing to play with and Stewart smiled quietly. “He reminds me of my
own.”
    A sharp realization hit her
square in the chest. The general had a family. Well – had a family. How would
he ever go back to them now? “I’m sorry.” Her lips thinned over the
image in her mind’s eye. No wonder he wanted to help them. The
bastards had stolen so much more from him than just his life. She
stared straight ahead, unable to meet his eyes as he rode beside
the wagon.
    “ Please, Mrs. Brooks. Don’t
concern yourself over the past. As a career officer, I’ve long ago
resolved myself that someday I would face what so many have