Page 11 of The Wolf I Sworn To Hate

Edward grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet. She tried to put pressure on her right leg and winced as another sharp pain exploded in her ankle.

“What’s wrong?”

“I twisted it. I don’t think it’s broken.”

Sawyer and Sean had skied by as Edward helped steady her.

“Are you alright? I’m a doctor, you know,” Sawyer said.

She looked over at Sawyer who had a concerned look on his face.

“I’m fine. I don’t need help from people like you,” she spat.

Instead of being upset, Sawyer laughed. “Suit yourself.”

The two men looked at each other and continued down the rest of the mountain, leaving poor Edward to help her get down the rest of the slope and over to their cabin.

“You don’t have to be such a bitch.”

“Edward. You don’t use language like that.”

“I do when the shoe fits. Even after the way you treated them, they were willing to help you. Instead, you were rude and nasty. It was embarrassing.”

Xyla huffed and bit her tongue. She wanted to make a comment about Edward being too young and immature to understand the facts, but she swallowed her words. Besides, the niggle in the back of her brain told her that he was right.

It took a long time for them to get back to the cabin, and both she and Edward were tired when they finally got inside.

She gingerly took off her shoes and socks to let her father inspect her ankle.

“It is swollen and looks bruised. Are you sure it’s not broken?” Elliot asked.

“I’m sure. See, I can move it. It just hurts to stand on it. I’ll be fine.”

“Maybe we should leave.”

“No,” Edward and Xyla said in unison.

“I’m not going to ruin Edward’s birthday. It’ll be fine tomorrow. I’ll just put some ice on it tonight and keep it elevated.”

Elliot looked doubtful. “We’ll see how it looks tomorrow.”

“I’m hungry.” Edward pointed to his belly. “It’s on empty. Refill required.”

“I don’t really feel like going to the dining room. You guys go and bring back a doggie bag.”

Edward peered into his sister’s face. “You don’t look like a dog. More like a cat.” He jumped back, laughing, as she swatted at him.

Elliot grinned at them. “I’ll go get us some to-go boxes from the dining room. I’ll be back. Come help me.”

“Xyla promised me a piece of chocolate cake and some ice cream for dessert because I didn’t fall any of the times we went down the black diamond.”

“We only went down once,” Xyla said wryly.

Edward crossed his arms over his chest. “That is irrelevant. I didn’t fall.”

“Come on, chow hound. Let’s go get everyone some dinner.”

“Thanks, Dad. I want a cheeseburger and fries tonight.”

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