1. Sean

1

Sean

" W here is that old mutt that runs this joint?" a loud, booming, cheerful voice called out.

Sean McCullum, the tall, red-haired wolf shifter who owned Howlers' Bar and Grill popped his head out of the basement, looking for the voice's owner.

His eyes opened wide, and he gasped when he saw his best friend, Sawyer Cooke, standing at the counter.

Sean was grinning from ear to ear. "I'll be damned. When did you get into town?"

Sawyer was a doctor who had been working with the program, Doctors Without Borders, for the last several years. He hadn't been back to Angel's Creek, New Mexico, for three years. The two men were wolf shifters who belonged to the Nightshade Wolf Shifter Pack.

"I got back last night. I planned on dropping by, but you would have been closed by the time I drove from the airport in Albuquerque. Besides I was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to dive into bed. Luckily, my folks still had their guest room available."

"You mean your old bedroom." Sean laughed. "The last time I stopped in to see them, your football and basketball trophies were still on the wall, your skateboard was by the door, and all your books and music were on the shelves. It was almost a shrine."

Sawyer cocked his head back and smirked. "I am pretty awesome and deserving of a shrine."

Both men laughed. Sawyer sat at the bar and Sean slid a beer over to him.

"What kind of trouble have you been into?" Sean asked.

Sawyer grinned. "I've bounced all over this globe like a ping-pong ball. I've been to Sudan, Yemen, and Haiti, as well as a lot of other countries. You name the place and I've probably stitched up someone or given someone vaccinations there."

"What's been the toughest part?"

Scratching his chin, Sawyer thought about it for a minute. "It was probably when I was in Yemen. We had set up a clinic near a conflict area. One minute, I was treating people for malnutrition and the next I was pulling shrapnel out of people. It really took a toll on all of us."

Sawyer sipped his beer. "There were some great victories as well. I was in Congo last year and they had a small Ebola outbreak. We trained the local health care workers on how to handle the emergencies, those just starting to get sick, and well, the after, if someone didn't make it. They learned extremely quickly and soon they were running the show."

"Sounds like you're out there doing great things," Sean said. "I'm proud of you."

Just then, Jade, Sean's manager and their packmate, came out of the kitchen with a double cheeseburger for Sawyer and another beer. She set it down in front of him and hurried over to hug him.

"You're a sight for sore eyes. Just as handsome as ever, my friend," Jade said.

Sawyer smiled. "You look good. You still hanging out with that dragon shifter?"

Jade laughed. "We went through the mating ceremony and have two little ones."

"Congrats, my friend."

"Thank you. I'm so glad you're back. What are you going to do while you're home?" she asked.

"Actually, I planned on asking Sean if he wanted to go on a week's vacation with me. I want to take a ski trip at the resort Monta?a Maldita."

"I don't know about that. I have this place to run," Sean said.

"Don't give me that crap. You know as well as I do that I can run this place just fine. You haven't had a vacation in years. You need to go," Jade said.

Sean grinned at Sawyer. "You know the place is named ‘Cursed Mountain,' don't you?"

"I don't," Jade said.

"According to legend, a long, long, long, long…" Sean started.

Jade looked at him, laughed, and shook her head.

"…time ago, there lived a small tribe of people on the mountain. They were very happy. They were mostly hunters, although they were able to grow enough food during the warm months to sustain them through the winter. At the time, they called the mountain Monta?a del Sol, or Mountain of Sun, because while the winters were hard, the summer months were great."

Sean noticed that not only Jade and Sawyer were watching him expectantly, but so were several other people. "One winter, a stranger showed up. He was half-frozen, very sick, and had been badly injured. The people welcomed him, even though they thought the stranger had a dark presence or aura around him."

"Oh, no," said Jade.

Nodding, Sean continued. "The healer took care of him through the winter. As the stranger grew stronger, bad things happened around the village. None of the crops would grow that spring and summer. Their horses died. The hunters came back empty-handed saying that they couldn't find any game, but they heard weird noises and saw strange shadows in the woods."

"No good deed goes unpunished," one of the people in the bar said.

"The weather was extremely violent that summer and into fall. The people experienced the worst storms that they had ever experienced before. People began to say that the mountain was angry. A few people died because of the storms."

All eyes were on Sean as he continued his dark tale.

"One night, they discovered that there was an awful odor coming from the village's well, which was one of their important water sources. It was filled with some kind of rank, slimy substance. A small blackened stone with cryptic marks was found at the base of the well. Now, they would have to trek a mile to the river for water. They noticed that the stranger had vanished."

"Why would he curse the place? They saved him?" one patron asked.

Sean shrugged. "No one knows. Two days later, the healer became very sick and had a high fever. She was delirious and kept mumbling about evil magic and curses. The healer said that the stranger was an evil warlock who cursed them despite the fact that they took care of him and saved him from a torturous death."

"What happened to the villagers?" Jade asked.

"Some of them climbed further up the mountain, looking for food or game to hunt. They didn't find anything but reportedly said they heard evil voices telling them to leave, they saw shadowy figures, and felt icy cold winds that didn't seem to be natural. Some of the folks didn't make it off the mountain. Eventually, the people left their village and the mountain became known as Monta?a Maldita. For a long time, everyone avoided the mountain. Rumor is that anyone who trespassed faced the warlock's spirit and suffered some kind of misfortune. Even now, people sometimes disappear from the mountain," Sean finished, his voice dark and eerie.

Jade clapped. "You tell a great story, Sean. People disappear in the mountains all the time. How many times have people disappeared on our own mountain and the only thing haunting it are the benign spirits of our ancestors? You're going on this vacation."

Everyone laughed and the people in the bar, who had been captivated by Sean's story, returned to their food and drinks.

"Do you still have all of your ski equipment?" Sawyer asked Sean.

"I do. Skis and snowshoes. You?"

"You've seen my room. My parents haven't thrown anything of mine away. I guess they keep hoping that teenage boy who went away to college will come back someday."

Sean grinned. "When are we leaving?"

"The day after tomorrow. Let's meet at nine in the morning and make a list of the supplies we'll need and inventory what we have so we know what we need to buy. Then, we'll go shopping."

"Sounds good," Sean agreed.

"Alright. I'll let you get back to work and go spend some time with my parents."

After Sawyer left, Sean realized that he was a lot more excited about the ski trip than he thought he would be. It was true that he hadn't had a vacation in more than five years and while he loved his bar and grill, the idea of getting away for a few days sounded amazing.

Two days later, Sean was at Sawyer's house and they loaded everything into Sean's truck.

As they drove toward the ski resort, Sawyer asked, "Is there anyone special in your life?"

"Not since Ivy died in childbirth five years ago. Every time I even think about a woman, I picture her lying in that hospital bed, holding Joshua, who was stillborn, and then exhaling that last time."

"I know it hurt you so much to lose her, but you have to get over her. She would want you to find another love."

"I know, but there's no one in Angel's Creek who I could love the way I loved her. She wasn't perfect and we had a couple of disagreements the eight years we were married, but she owned my heart and soul," Sean said, the pain evident in his voice.

His heart ached as he remembered holding Ivy and kissing her one last time. Sean's soul shattered into pieces as he pictured her looking down at their baby and then joining him in whatever came after this world.

"You were childhood sweethearts and you'll always have a special place in your heart for her and the baby. You should be open to loving again. You're only thirty-one."

"Blah, blah, blah. Are you taking over Dr. Ruth's role in doling out relationship advice?" Sean laughed. "What about you?"

"Actually, there was someone special in Yemen. Her name was Dr. Diana Collins. She was the girl-next-door kind of beautiful and smart and amazing. We were hot and heavy for a while, and I fell in love with her."

"What happened?"

"I asked her to marry me. She said that she wasn't interested in getting married, settling down, and having kids. Diana said that working for Doctors Without Borders had been a lifelong dream and a family would only get in the way. She transferred to a different location a week later, and I never heard from her again."

"Ouch."

"It hurt for a while, but looking back, I realized she wasn't my fated mate. She didn't have a scent that called me to her or anything like that. Just some really great sex and a passion for helping other people." Sawyer sighed. "Let's talk about something else. How about the Avalanche?"

"You want to talk about Colorado's hockey team?" Sean laughed.

"Sure. I love hockey."

After a five-hour drive, they checked in. Sawyer had reserved a two-bedroom cabin for the two of them.

A tall, thin man with white hair greeted them. "I'm William Butler and I own this resort with my wife, Sara. You let us know if there's anything I can do to make your stay even more amazing than it already will be."

Sean smiled at the man he figured was in his seventies. The old man had a firm grip. "Thanks. I'm sure everything will be perfect."

Sawyer shook his hand.

"You boys have fun but be safe out there." Sara shook their hands. "We have plenty of coffee and hot chocolate when you're done, and dinner is served from six to eight."

"Thank you," Sean and Sawyer said at the same time.

They unpacked the truck quickly.

Sawyer looked at Sean and grinned. "Do you want to start off with the double black diamond?"

Sean shook his head. "It's been a while. Let's start with the red slope. I think a couple runs on a more intermediate slope to get warmed up would be best."

"Coward."

"Smart."

Laughing they hopped a ride on the ski lift and headed up the mountain. The white-covered mountain dotted with the green needles of the evergreens was a beautiful sight. He spotted an elk in the distance. The tension he had been holding inside forever slowly melted away.

They hopped off the ski lift and walked to the top of the red slope. Sean looked over at the people preparing to start their descent and groaned.

"What's the matter?" Sawyer asked, following Sean's gaze.

"Do you see that woman with dark brown hair and a blue ski jacket? She's standing with a boy and an older man wearing a black parka?"

Sawyer nodded. "Old friends of yours?"

"No. Quite the opposite. That is Xyla Hanson and her father, Elliot. They hate shifters and there are a few rumors that suggest that Elliot might have been involved with a couple of hunters. The last time Xyla ever spoke to me she called me a dirty humanoid who didn't deserve to breathe the same air that she did."

"How sweet of her." Sarcasm dripped from Sawyer's mouth. "Don't worry, though. This resort is big. I'm sure we won't run into them too much."

"Here's hoping."