A Warrior Thanksgiving, page 1
A WARRIOR THANKSGIVING
TERESA GABELMAN
CONTENTS
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
About the Author
Also by Teresa Gabelman
The Protectors Series
A Warrior Thanksgiving
Copyright 2022 Teresa Gabelman
All rights reserved. The right of Teresa Gabelman to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. This is a work of fiction and any resemblance between the characters and persons living or dead is purely coincidental.
Gabelman, Teresa (2022-12-21). A Warrior Thanksgiving (The Protectors Series)
Kindle Edition.
Created with Vellum
CHAPTER 1
Once again Sloan was looking around corners before walking down hallways in the compound. His fucking compound. Dammit, he was getting sick and fucking tired of trying to hide from Nicole and the rest of the Mates every time a holiday was close.
The talk around the compound was that Nicole was gearing up for the biggest charity event to date. He was also informed it involved all of them and now definitely wasn’t the time. There was so much going on plus safety was a huge issue as it always was when they were involved with anything. Fuck!
He stopped outside the kitchen listening. If he heard one female voice, he was hightailing his ass out of there.
“Nicole isn’t here.” Damon said from behind him.
Sloan sighed, but still frowned. “It’s not just Nicole. Look in there and see if any of the Mates are inside.”
Damon just stood staring at Sloan for a long time.
“What?” Sloan growled his eyes narrowing.
“They’re just women, boss.” Damon said as a small smirk curved his lips.
“Fuck you, Damon. Together they’re a force.” Sloan’s eyebrows furrowed as he sighed. “And wear my ass down.”
Sloan shoved passed him and burst into the kitchen.
“I don’t have time for their shit.” Sloan continued to grumble. “I have rogue vampires and demons coming out of my ass.”
“That sounds painful.” Jared, who was sitting at the table, smirked.
Sloan’s eyes snapped toward him. “Aren’t you supposed to be on shift right now?”
“Lunch break.” Jared pointed at his sandwich.
“Lunch break my ass.” Duncan frowned as he sat down with his own plate of food. “I just saw you in here eating breakfast an hour ago.”
“Dude.” Jared’s eyes slid to Duncan. “Chill with the calling me out bullshit. The boss is right there.”
“Eat and get the fuck out of here.” Sloan’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “I don’t want to see you near the compound until your shift is over.”
“But what about dinner?” Jared tried to act upset, but the half grin on his face clearly indicated he loved fucking with Sloan.
Sloan just growled Jared’s way as he went to get himself something to eat. Missing breakfast usually had him rummaging in the kitchen before noon. Becky had offered to make him breakfast before he left, but instead they ended up back in bed for another hour. Sloan let a smile tip his lips at the memory from this morning with his beautiful Mate.
“Oh, yeah, I almost forgot.” Jared’s voice had his smile disappearing as well as the memory. “Nicole was looking for you a few minutes ago. You just missed her.”
“Shit.” Sloan slammed his sandwich together before turning and heading for the table. He always took his meals in his office at his desk because he was so fucking busy but knew that would be the first place Nicole would look for him. The longer he could hold off on this confrontation the better.
“I think it’s a good idea she has.” Jared pushed his empty plate away.
“What?” Duncan asked between bites of food. “A football game between us and the Guardians?”
“Yeah.” Jared nodded folding his arms over his chest leaning back in his chair. “Not only would it give us a chance to show up those fuckers, as well as get in a few cheap shots, but helping a bunch of kids is a definite plus.”
“I wouldn’t mind a good game of football.” Damon said with a sinister grin. “Good way to release some of the bullshit we’ve been loaded down with.”
“I don’t think decapitation of the opposing team is allowed.” Duncan cocked his eyebrow at Damon who just shrugged with a sinister grin.
Sloan grunted at Damon’s actions. “And you guys think you can have a full-fledged football game without killing each other?”
“Sure.” Jared said then snickered. “We’re all adults.”
“With huge temper issues.” Sloan added with a cocked eyebrow. “I can hardly keep you from killing each other in my office.”
“We all love each other, bossman.” Jared snorted just as Charger walked in the door. “Ain’t that right, Charger my buddy?”
“Fuck you, Jared.” Charger didn’t miss a beat as he headed toward the refrigerator.
“What?” Jared threw up his hands at Sloan’s sideways glance. “It’s our love language.”
“Are you or are you not the fucker who ate my piece of chocolate cake?” Charger slammed his own sandwich on the table before sitting down glaring at Jared.
“Jesus.” Sloan muttered finishing off his food quickly so he could get the fuck out of there.
“Didn’t have a name on it. No name…fair game.” Jared replied, still sitting with his arms crossed and chair tilted back. “Guess you can try to take it out on me during the football game. Unless you’re too pussy to play.”
“Did you hear me say that I was agreeing to any of this?” Sloan broke in before Charger decided to tackle Jared across the table. “Anyone hear that come out of my fucking mouth?”
“Do you hate kids or something, Sloan?” Jared frowned shaking his head slowly back and forth as he studied his boss.
“Only the ones named Jared.” Sloan shot back gaining chuckles from everyone even Jared.
“So, when is this football game supposed to take place?” Charger asked not looking up from his food.
“Nicole said Thanksgiving since most of the kids don’t have anywhere to go.” Damon, who was usually silent during these discussions, informed them. His eyes landed on Sloan as a slight grin tipped his lips.
The room was silent as they all thought about what Damon had just said. They may be hardened Warriors, but their hearts were wide open for the innocent both young and old.
“That’s just fucking sad.” Charger shook his head. “Count us in. Whatever we can do to help out we’ll do. I’ll get the Guardians together and call in a few more so we have enough.”
“New meat!” Jared rubbed his hands together in anticipation, a huge grin on his face.
Charger snorted. “They are going to think the exact same thing when I tell them who we are playing against.”
“Guess I’ll let Nicole know she has the go ahead.” Damon chuckled at Sloan’s expression.
Sloan had sat silently listening and realized that Charger had been right. For anyone to be alone during a holiday was just fucking sad, especially a child. He had spent many holidays alone by choice, but since Becky he realized just how lonely those times had been for him.
“Go ahead for what?” Nicole said as she walked into the kitchen followed by Pam and Tessa. She looked from Damon to Sloan. “Thought I wouldn’t find you, huh?”
Sloan forced himself not to smile. These damn Mates were smarter than he sometimes gave them credit for. “I’ve been right here.”
“Uh-huh.” Nicole gave him a suspicious stare before looking back at Damon. “Give me the go ahead for what?”
“Sloan here has graciously opened his black heart to—” Jared started but stopped when Sloan growled.
“I’ll give most of the Warriors time off so they can participate in your fundraiser.” Sloan announced after giving Jared a glare.
“And I will do the same as well as recruit some new Guardians out of the area. Maybe we can even get them to transfer to this unit since we need the fucking help.” Charger added pushing his empty plate away.
The silence coming from Nicole had Sloan glancing her way. “What?” He said as she continued to stare at him.
“What’s the catch?” Nicole’s eyebrows lowered, her gaze searching his as if trying to see right through him.
“No catch.” Sloan answered without hesitation.
“I still want Sid to make a feast for the kids.” Nicole said still watching him closely.
“He will have the time off, but it’s up to him whether he wants to do it or not.” Sloan answered again without hesitation. A smirk formed on his lips as he watched the confusion cross Nicole’s face. He loved taking her off guard. Every single idea she came to him with he gave her shit, but still never stopped her from raising money for the kids. Not that he didn’t try because sometimes in their line of work things didn’t work out, mostly due to the safety of innocents.
Nicole remained silent for a few minutes then walked toward Sloan. “Thank you.” She went to lean down and hug him, but instead used the back of her hand
“What in the hell are you doing?” He grumbled glaring up at her.
“Just making sure you didn’t have a temperature.” Nicole said, then beamed a smile at him. “Seriously, thank you Sloan. This is going to be even bigger than our baseball fundraisers. As soon as everyone hears about this the tickets are going to sell out in record time.”
Sloan allowed the hug she gave him, as well as Tessa and Pam who also touched his forehead gaining laughter from the Warriors in the kitchen.
Standing abruptly Sloan took his dish and put it in the sink before noticing the Warriors all looking at him with huge grins. “If you fuckers need more to do I have plenty of assignments.” That wiped the grins off their faces as they started looking busy as if they were in a hurry because not one of them wanted extra work. Walking out of the kitchen Sloan headed toward his office feeling a sense of peace. Whether most knew it or not Sloan didn’t always like being the asshole he had to be, but there were times that called for him to be a bastard and it was usually for the good of others.
Walking into his office he went to his desk and sat down. His eyes automatically went to Becky’s desk which was empty in the back of the room. She had a doctor’s appointment today and anytime she wasn’t near he felt it deep in his soul. He knew his reaction to things changing had everything to do with her.
Running his hand through his hair he cursed. Jesus, he was turning into a mushy ass pussy. With a growl he shuffled the papers and files around on his desk not really knowing what he was looking for, but would rather be doing that than facing these new ‘nice’ feelings he was having. Not only was no one used to the ‘nice’ side of Sloan, neither was he and at times it pissed him off. This job didn’t have room for nice. They worked with and against some of the meanest fuckers in the world.
Shaking his head trying to sort out his thoughts and why he was feeling this way he was relieved when his phone rang and that was saying something. He hated the fucking phone.
“What?!” He growled into the phone releasing his anger and frustration he actually felt better. When the person on the other end remained silent then hung up, Sloan smiled. That was more like it.
CHAPTER 2
Jill and Steve kept giving each other looks but remained silent. Neither of them knew what to say to Adam. His break-up with Angelina had affected them all in one way or another, but damn it she wanted Adam back. Hell, she wanted Angelina back. This was all wrong and it pissed her off.
They had just gotten done with their rounds and had stopped to grab something to eat. Adam sat silently going through his phone. He had hardly said anything during the long hours of work. It had been an uneventful shift. A few rogues that hadn’t even put up a fight as well as a few empty locations they had to search. It had been pretty damn boring.
Her phone went off gaining her attention. Looking down at it she smiled. “Sweet!”
“What?” Steve looked up from his own phone.
“Nicole said the charity football game was a go. She wants us to meet tonight to make the plans.” Jill said excitedly. She loved when Nicole did things like this because it helped so many kids without families. The shit they dealt with day in and day out could get to you quickly, but being able to unwind and do something good for good people especially children made the shit days tolerable.
“Hell yeah!” Steve slammed his phone down. “We are going to kick Guardian ass.”
Jill laughed with a nod then frowned. “Man, I wish I could play, but I seriously doubt this will be touch football.”
“Fuck no it won’t be touch football. And with the star quarterback on our team there is no way we can lose.” Steve boasted then glanced at Jill. “Hey, wasn’t it during one of our touch football games the first time you met Dr. Hottie?”
Jill rolled her eyes at Steve’s name for Slade, but her body reacted to the memory. Jeff, may he rot in hell, had just laid her out during a so-called touch football game. Slade had swooped in, and it was instant lust from that moment on. Jill snickered at the thought.
“I guess.” Adam had said taking her attention away from her Slade memory…pity.
“Guess what?” She asked missing what they had been talking about.
“He guesses he’s going to play.” Steve frowned looking angry but was holding back because they were all tiptoeing around Adam. Well, she was tired of it and decided right then she was going to stop the tiptoe dance.
“If he doesn’t want to play, that’s fine.” Jill shrugged gaining a glare from Steve. “I heard Kent was a pretty good football player. Quarterback I believe he said.” It wasn’t a total lie. She heard him bragging about it during training after word got out about the charity game. She didn’t know if he was a quarterback or not but decided to throw that out there. No matter how much Adam was hurting right now she knew how serious he took his football and if Adam was anything it was very competitive especially against assholes like Kent.
Jill gave Steve a warning shake of her head when she saw his mouth open. She waited for Adam hoping he would take her bait.
“I said I’d play.” Adam frowned, then added. “Fuck Kent. He’s an asshole.”
Their food came after Adam made that statement. She and Adam ate in silence as Steve made plans on how they were going to beat the Guardians. Jill kept looking at Adam who seemed so deep in thought totally ignoring Steve as was she. Deciding it was time to rip the band aid off she cleared her throat.
“Me and Katrina are meeting up with Angelina tomorrow night.” Jill stated watching Adam closely. “We’re both off. You have a problem with that?”
Adam took a long drink before answering. “No, I don’t have a problem with that.” He finally answered then continued to eat.
“I’m also going to ask her to help out with the charity.” Jill added after a few minutes of awkward silence. She could see out of the corner of her eye Steve’s mouth drop open. “Do you have a problem with that?”
Adam’s eyes snapped up to hers as they narrowed. “No problem, Jill.” He quickly finished his food, then pushed the empty plate away his eyes still on Jill. “I have no anger toward Angelina. None. She did what she had to do and I’m doing what I have to do. I don’t give a shit if you understand that or not. I am working out things in my own way and need no help so if that is what you are trying to do with me and Angelina, then stop now. If all of this is innocent, then I have no problems with you doing anything with Angelina. Understood?”
“I’m worried about you Adam.” Jill said and she swore she saw his glare soften somewhat. “That’s all.”
“Don’t worry about me.” Adam sighed as he stood up. “And there is no reason for you not to continue to be friends with Angelina. Actually, it would piss me off if you stopped being her friend, Jill. She definitely needs one.”
“So do you.” Jill pointed out staring up at him.
“Ah, hello.” Steve pointed to himself. “What do I look like? A shit fly? He’s my boy and I’m his…not in a weird way.”
Adam actually gave a half grin to that, but it faded quickly. “I’ll see you guys tonight. Text me the time and place we’re meeting with Nicole.” He turned to walk away.
“Ah, dude.” Steve called out. “You drove.”
Adam turned tossing the keys to Steve. “Make sure you drive and not Jill.” He ordered before he walked out the door.
“Don’t worry about that. I want to live.” Steve snorted then noticed Jill glaring at him. “Hey, you suck at driving. That hasn’t changed.”
Jill rolled her eyes, then looked back at where Adam left. “I miss him.”
“Who Adam?” Steve shoved half a slice of pizza in his mouth then continued to try to talk. “He just fucking left. Geez, you’ll see him tonight. Chill.”
“I know that dumbass and don’t talk with your mouth full.” Jill tossed him a napkin. “I meant I miss who Adam was with Angelina. Ever since they broke it off, he’s not here. He’s different.”
