Page 17 of The Wolf I Sworn To Hate

Both of them watched the door intently until Xyla was sure her eyes were going to fall out of her head. The sounds got louder and louder. She held her breath as she saw the door handle turn.

Sean’s face popped into view. “I think you guys can squeeze out of here. Pack some clothes. We’ll wait for you at the top of the tunnel to help you out. The main house has a generator. You need to hurry.”

He shut the door as soon as he finished speaking. She was so glad to see that help had arrived, even if it was Sean.

Xyla jumped up and put the fire in the fireplace out because she didn’t want the cabin burning down.

She called to her father, “Pack some clothes and what you need. We’re getting out of here.”

Xyla and Edward hurriedly put on their coats, gloves, hats, scarves, and boots.

She opened the door and pushed Edward out. “You go first. I’ll hand our bags up to you and then I’ll come.”

Edward used the handholds that Sean and Sawyer had dug into the packed tunnel and climbed his way to the top. Sean and Sawyer reached down to pull him out of the hole.

“Can you catch our bags?” Xyla called.

“Yeah. Throw them as high as you can.”

She tossed the packs into the air, and Sawyer snagged them with the shovel and pulled them to the top. Xyla’s heartthundered a million miles an hour as she slowly climbed the tunnel walls. She was terrified that it was going to cave in on her any minute. Finally, she reached the top and the two men pulled her out.

“Follow the tracks back to the main house,” Sawyer said.

She looked down to see her father standing at the bottom of the tunnel, waiting to throw his pack up. Sawyer caught it, and then Elliot climbed up. The three of them slowly walked toward the resort. The snow was up to Edward’s chest in places, and Xyla and Elliot had to pull him out. There were a few times that Xyla was afraid they weren’t going to be able to get him to the main house. Finally, though, they made it to the front door. The three of them were frozen stiff when they stumbled inside.

Sara hurried over to them. “Let’s get you out of those coats. Sit down by the fire and warm up. I know you’re freezing.”

Franny, the resort’s cook and Howard’s wife, bustled up to them with a tray. “Two cups of coffee and one cup of hot chocolate to warm your insides.”

“Th-th-thank y-y-ou.” Edward’s teeth chattered so much that he barely got the words out.

“You’re welcome, Son. I know you’re hungry. I have some food as soon as you’re thawed out enough to eat.”

“Thank you,” Xyla said.

Elliot sneered. “The least you could have done was made a path from our cabin to the main house. Edward struggled the entire way and got stuck several times. It took us forever to get here.”

William glared at him. “You’re lucky that you got out of your cabin at all. Darren, Tristan, Sawyer, Sean, and Howard have been working since sun up to get everyone dug out of their cabins. Sean and Sawyer dug themselves out. Darren, Tristan, Sawyer, Sean, and Howard are still out there looking for firewood. Maybe they should have left you in the cabin.”

Elliot’s jaw dropped, and Xyla had to put her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. People didn’t often stand up to her father because his money always bought people and they constantly kowtowed to him.

With a last hard look at Elliot, William turned toward the crowd. “We have seven rooms here. Sara and I have our suite, and Howard and Franny have their suite. Ginny also has her suite. Marcie and Ellie have a room, and the men have a room. Esme and Blake have one of the rooms. The Hansons have a room. Xyla, you can decide whether you want to room with your brother and father or with the women.”

Xyla looked at Marcie and Ellie. “Would you mind?”

“Nope. The more the merrier,” Marcie said.

William continued. “We have cots, sleeping bags, blankets, and pillows so everyone can be comfortable.”

A few minutes later, a cold blast of air chilled the room as the five men came in with armloads of wood. They dumped it into the box next to the fireplace.

“Thank you, men. That should keep her going for the night,” William said.

Elliot looked at them and snarled. “You brought in a ton of snow. You should have cleaned off outside.”

“Maybe it would be better for all of us if you returned to your cabin. You can carry some wood back to keep yourself warm,” William said, glaring at Elliot.

Once again, Elliot looked completely shocked, and Xyla had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. She kicked Edward, who snickered a little.

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