Page 30 of The Wolf I Sworn To Hate

As promised, once everyone went to their rooms, Sean grabbed his sleeping bag and stretched out in one of the recliners by the fireplace. Edward covered up with a couple of blankets and fell asleep quickly.

Sean closed his eyes. The resort was huge but was quickly getting claustrophobic with all the people in it. He remembered the warmth of the cabin, especially once the fire was going well.

Maybe staying in the cabin away from everyone might not be a bad plan.I can stay away from Xyla and Elliot and just do my own thing.

The more he thought about it, the better it sounded. Unfortunately, William relied on him and Sawyer to keep the place stocked with wood and with other jobs around the place.

The last image in his mind before he went to sleep, though, was not the solitude of a cozy cabin. It was the sight of Xyla’s naked body glowing in the firelight.

12

Xyla

Xyla was washing the tables in the dining room after breakfast the next morning when her father cornered her.

“What were you doing with Sean yesterday?”

She sighed heavily. “I already told you. I was feeling restless and needed a walk. The people here are great, but it gets a bit stifling. However, it was dark outside and I really didn’t want to get lost. He was nice enough to walk with me.”

Xyla cringed because she hated lying. However, she really didn’t know how she could say, “Well, Dad, I asked him to go to the cabin with me to get your meds and then I jumped his bones. I’m pretty sure it’s the best experience I’ll ever have in my life.” With that thought, she looked away from her father, focused on the table she was washing, and smirked.

“You need to stay away from him. He is a wolf shifter. Shifters can’t be trusted. He will kill you the second he gets you alone and thinks he can get away with it.”

She closed her eyes and sucked in a huge breath. Xyla was normally intimidated by her father, but he was getting on herlast nerve. She whirled around, put her hands on her hips, and glared at him.

“You need to knock it off. Your hatred is consuming you and turning you into a dark, miserable man who no one wants to be around. Sean and Sawyer are obviously good people. They saved our lives. They have gone out of their way to help out around here. What have you done besides make nasty comments?”

Elliot’s face was red and the vein on his neck was throbbing again. “It would have looked very odd if they had saved everyone else’s lives and not ours.”

“They didn’t have to save anyone’s life. They didn’t have to work for hours and hours, blistering their hands. Both of them could have stayed in the main house, warm, and comfortable. They went above and beyond what a lot of men would have done, including you. All of them, Sean, Sawyer, Tristan, Darren, and Howard worked hard becauseallof them are great guys.”

Her chest was heaving and she gritted her teeth as she stared into her father’s eyes.

He snarled at her and pushed her shoulder. “You’re stupid. You’re letting your hero worship for a person you used to trust color your eyes. Give either one of those two wolves a chance and they will slaughter us all.”

Elliot turned and stormed away. Xyla watched him go with mixed feelings. She loved him because he was her father. However, she was completely disgusted by his attitude.

Has the man completely lost his mind?

Then, she reminded herself that she had thought the same before the avalanche. The only one in the family who had any sense was Edward.

A wave of guilt washed over her. She hadn’t been spending much time with her brother lately. When she finished washing the tables, she went in search of him, intending to ask if he wanted to play a game or hang out.

He was in the middle of a battle royal on his game system with Darren. William had allowed Edward to charge his system but told him not to tell anyone he was getting special privileges.

Xyla wandered into the library. Marcie and Ellie were hanging out in there, playingPhase 10. They had started a fire in the fireplace so the room was nice and toasty.

“Hey, guys. Mind if I hang out?”

“Not at all. We’ll deal you in. Marcie’s kicking my butt, anyway.”

“Sounds fun. I haven’t played this game in ages.”

Marcie sighed and looked out the window. The snow was piled halfway up, blocking the meager sunlight. “This is not what I had in mind for our grand vacation. I pictured days on the slopes and nights in our cabin watching scary movies and drinking wine. Not playing games, cooped up with tons of other people I don’t know.”

Ellie patted her on the arm. “It’s not so bad. Okay, so we’re not skiing. The people here are all nice and we’ve had fun. I’ve seen you laughing and having a good time playingTwister,charades, or a number of other games.”

“I guess.” Marcie sighed. “It would have been pretty awesome if I could have hooked up with Sean. He is smoking hot. Unfortunately, he treats me like a kid sister, no matter how hard I flirt.”

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