Page 5 of The Wolf I Sworn To Hate

Xyla looked around. “It truly is beautiful out here.”

Her eyes narrowed as she saw a familiar face. “Dirty shifter,” she muttered under her breath.

She caught his eye and they stared at each other for a minute. Lightning flashed between them and he snarled at her. She knew that they shared a mutual hatred of each other.

“Xyla, come on. I’m ready to go.”

She shook her head and focused on her brother. “Okay. Let’s go.”

The three of them went down the red slope so many times that Xyla lost count. She was so sore by the time they walked to their cabin that she would have been fine with a pack of ramen and a hot bath. However, both Elliot and Edward insisted they go to the main building for dinner.

Xyla raised her eyebrows when she saw the huge number of people seated in the dining room. Then, she remembered reading on the resort’s website that the food was so amazing that people from the town fifteen minutes below the mountain often came for dinner. Sara hired a wait staff for the evenings. They would drive up for the dinner hours, wait tables, and then return to town. Apparently, the pay and tips were good enough for them to make the drive for just three hours of work each night.

Dinner was delicious. She ordered the chicken fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and country green beans, and it was the most incredible food she had ever eaten. The triple chocolate cake practically melted in her mouth.

In between bites, Edward excitedly recounted their experiences on the slope, laughing at the number of times he fell the first couple of times they skied down.

Xyla smiled and nodded at the appropriate times but was really thinking about how great a bath and then bed would be. Her smile faded when she looked across the room and saw Sean sitting with a friend and two women. Her heart thudded and hatred welled up inside of her.

She thought about how much she had really liked Sean when she first met him. Xyla had gone intoHowlers’as often as she could, just to talk to him. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach and her heart skipped a beat each time he flashed a sexy smile at her.

Then, she found out that he was just like the other dirty animals that had killed her mother. Her father never told her what kind of shifter had murdered Jennifer, but all shifters were the same. They were wild animals that attacked innocent humans for no reason.

Her father’s harsh voice broke into her thoughts. “Animals belong outside and not sitting at the table like the rest of us civilized people.”

“Actually, Dad, people are animals, too. They belong to the animal kingdom, just like bears, rabbits, and even mosquitoes.”

Elliot looked at Edward and pressed his lips tightly together. The vein in Elliot’s neck was throbbing hard and his face had become bright red. For a moment, Xyla was afraid that he was going to have a heart attack.

Edward, oblivious to his father’s anger, continued to dive into his ice cream.

Elliot gritted his teeth. “Let’s get out of here.”

Edward protested, pointing to his bowl. “I’m almost done.”

“Finish quickly.” Elliot tapped his fingers on the table, impatiently.

When Edward finally finished his ice cream, Elliot threw enough cash on the table to cover their meal and a decent tip and they left. Xyla was sure that she could feel Sean’s eyes boring holes in her back as they left.

Edward and Elliot showered quickly and went to their rooms to watch television. Xyla filled the large bathtub with hot water and poured in a generous amount of fragrant lavender salt. She sank down into the tub, closed her eyes, and sighed.

An image of Sean instantly popped into her mind. He was tall and extremely well-built. Sean’s emerald green eyes showed the emotions that his face and voice hid. She could see sadness in them when he didn’t think anyone was watching him, and Xyla had often wondered why he was so sad. A part of her had hoped that maybe someday she could take away his sadness.

A warm tingle flowed through her as she thought about how they had flirted. Sean had a sexy smile that would take her breath away. Late at night, she would fantasize about running her hands over his thick arms and muscular chest. She imagined what it would feel like when he kissed her. There was nothing she had wanted more than to feel his naked body pressed against hers as he took her virginity and let her feel the ecstasy of their bodies moving together.

She shook her head. All of her fantasies were before Elliot told her that he had found out that Sean was a wolf shifter who belonged to the Nightshade Wolf Shifter Pack. Elliot belonged to a group of men who hated shifters who made sure they didn’t attack any innocent humans.

Her heart hardened with hate when she realized that Sean hadn’t been honest with her and that he was one of those animals who killed her mother.

Xyla had left Angel’s Creek to go to college soon after she found out the truth. Her father and brother moved to the same town to be near her.

“I can get through this week with him here for Edward’s sake. I’m sure that Sean doesn’t want to associate with us any more than we want to be near him, so we’ll both just keep our distance.”

Sighing heavily, Xyla admitted that this was probably easier said than done and this vacation wasn’t going to be very relaxing at all.

3

Sean

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