Page 15 of The Wolf I Sworn To Hate

“Thank goodness that you’re safe. I’m so worried about everyone else.” William wrung his hands together. “Nothing like this has ever happened here before.”

His face was red and he was shaking. Sean was afraid that he was going to have a heart attack.

“It’ll be alright,” Sean said. “If we can get a cup of coffee, we’ll head out with some shovels and dig out the others. Are all the cabins occupied?”

“Yes. We always put guests in cabins before we fill up the main building because people like the cabins a little more.”

“Do you have any way to communicate with the outside world?” Sean asked.

William shook his head. “The radios are down.”

“Okay, so we might be stuck here a couple of nights.” Sawyer’s voice was calm as he, too, was worried about William. “You need to figure out where people are going to sleep, at least for tonight, if not for a few nights.”

“Ginny, our housekeeper, will work with Sara to figure that out. We have enough food, medical, and other supplies to keep everyone safe for at least a week, maybe two if we stretch it,” William reported.

“Hopefully, we won’t be snowed in that long, but that’s good to know.” Sean finished his cup of coffee and ate the last bites of his energy bar. He looked at Sawyer. “Ready.”

“Let’s get this show on the road.” Sawyer set his cup on the table and looked at Howard. “Shovels?”

“I wish I could help,” William said.

Sean looked at him and smiled. The man was at least seventy and used a walker. “You can help by making sure that everything goes smoothly here.”

“That I can do, young man.”

Sawyer, Howard, and Sean headed out to the closest cabin. It was Darren’s and Tristan’s cabin. The two men quickly packedand took their bags to the resort and then joined the shoveling crew.

They worked until lunch and went back to the resort. The five men shoved a couple of sandwiches into their mouths, swallowed some soda, and headed back outside. By dusk, they had all of the cabins cleared out except for one. The other men had gone back to the resort because their hands were bloodied. Sawyer’s and Sean’s hands were, too, but they decided to keep going. It had to be done. Blake had wanted to help, but he had broken his wrist the day before.

Sean looked at the cabin and then back at Sawyer. “I don’t suppose we could just leave them in there?”

Sawyer laughed. “Think of Edward. That poor kid has been stuck with those two people all day. He must be in mortal hell right now.”

Heaving a heavy, exaggerated sigh, Sean hung his head. “Fine.”

As the snow continued to fall on their heads, the two men started shoveling again.

6

Xyla

Xyla screamed when she heard the explosion. She looked out the window and saw the wall of snow rushing toward them.

“Shut the shutters. Hurry. Shut them now,” Xyla yelled. “We have to keep the snow from breaking the windows and getting in.”

The three of them managed to get the shutters closed over the windows. The roar grew louder and louder as the snow hit the cabin, shaking it. Xyla covered her ears because the sound was deafening. Edward pressed up against her side, covering his ears. His eyes were wide with fright.

Xyla wrapped her arms around her brother and held him close to her as the shuddering and thunder went on for an eternity. She was terrified that they would be buried under a pile of splinters and snow. Finally, it stopped.

Edward was trembling and she sat on the couch, pulling her next to him. “It’s okay. We’re okay.”

Sucking in a huge breath and trying to calm her racing heart, she looked around. They were in complete darkness except for the tiny fire that still burned in the fireplace.

“The snow didn’t cover the chimney or the place would be filled with smoke. That’s a good sign.”

Elliot walked over to the front door and cautiously opened it. A wall of packed snow greeted him. He shut the door and walked over to the couch, sitting next to Xyla.

“I knew coming here was a bad idea,” he growled.

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