12. Xyla

12

Xyla

X yla 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 her last 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 because all of 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, playing Phase 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 playing Twister, 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."

Ellie laughed. "Sawyer is the same. But we didn't come here to hook up with anyone."

"We also didn't come here to get snowed in, but here we are." Marcie spread her hands out to emphasize her words.

"You hang out with Sean a lot," Ellie said. "Are you two a thing?"

"No. We knew each other a long time ago. I used to live in Angel's Creek where he owns a bar. I left to go to college. It was a coincidence that my brother wanted to come here for his birthday week at the same time that Sean and Sawyer decided they needed a vacation. He treats me like a sister, too."

"I've never seen anyone look at his sister the way Sean looks at you," Marcie teased. "Don't worry. I'm not jealous. I don't hate, I celebrate my sisters. If you can get him to look twice at you, then good for you."

Xyla just smiled.

Ellie wiggled her eyebrows up and down comically. "You know, Darren and Tristan aren't bad, either. They aren't quite as hot as Sean and Sawyer, but they might be fun to flirt with. Maybe you should talk to Darren."

Marcie grinned as she dealt the cards. "Maybe I should. It might make the time go by a little faster until we can get out of this place."

"I think it's kind of fun – maybe even a little romantic," Ellie said.

"Maybe if you're Poe," Marcie retorted, referencing the famous author of horror stories.

"It's not that bad." Ellie looked at Xyla. "She always did have a tendency to exaggerate. That's why she did so well in the drama department."

Everyone laughed. They chatted about their lives and whatever else came to mind as they played cards until lunchtime.

After lunch, the sky quickly darkened as the heavy gray clouds covered the sun. The wind picked up, and Xyla watched as it seemed that some of the trees were going to have their limbs ripped off by the wind. She pressed her hand against the cold glass, feeling it vibrate beneath her palm.

The loud, roaring wind sounded as though it was trying to rip the boards off the building and find its way inside. A particularly strong gust hit the resort, drowning out all sounds inside. Everyone was very still, hardly daring to breathe, as they waited for the entire place to explode into a million splinters.

Xyla stared outside. Snow was blowing by the window sideways.

"A blizzard." William sighed. "Did you all know that it doesn't take much snow to make a blizzard? It is a blizzard when the wind blows the snow so much that it takes visibility down to zero."

A few people murmured sounds to acknowledge William, but no one was interested in his trivia. The same thought was on everyone's mind. Were they going to survive this storm?

As though reading their thoughts, William said, "Don't worry. This place is very sturdy and we have weathered a lot worse storms than this."

The wind and snow seemed to take his words as a challenge and whipped into an even greater frenzy.

"It won't do us any good to sit and listen to the storm. Darren, name a song that has a drink in it."

" Straight Tequila Night, by John Anderson."

She pointed to Tristan. " Red, Red, Wine, by UB40."

I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke, was Edward's contribution.

After a minute, everyone got into the game and started calling out songs as fast as they could think of them.

They went around the room and when no one could think of another song with a drink, she asked for songs that named places. Everyone got so caught up in the games they forgot about the storm for a while – until the electricity went out.

Marcie squealed and several others groaned.

Howard stood up and headed for the coat rack. "Don't worry, guys. I'll figure it out."

"I'll come with you," Sean said.

"Nothing is going to happen in the dark that wouldn't happen in the light. Let's keep going. We're on names. Marcie started us off with, Linda on My Mind by the one and only Conway."

" Delta Dawn , by Tanya Tucker," Ellie called out.

Everyone was still nervous. Somehow, the darkness made the raging storm outside seem even worse. Sara brought out some lanterns, and the glow from the fireplace made it a little more bearable.

"We should be telling ghost stories instead of naming songs," Darren said.

Marcie shook her head and put her hand over her heart. "Not right now. I might be only twenty-six, but I don't think my heart could handle it."

He grinned at her. "I'll protect you."

It seemed like forever, but the lights finally came back on. Howard and Sean staggered back into the building covered in snow. Their faces were red from the whipping wind.

Xyla looked at Sean and smiled at him. He winked at her, making her heart beat a little faster for a minute.

"It was just a loose wire. No worries, folks," Howard said.

About an hour later, Franny announced dinner and everyone gathered in the dining room. After everyone had finished dinner, Xyla helped Franny and Ginny clean up and joined everyone in the parlor for a movie. She sat next to Sean with their fingers linked together. Xyla had no idea what the movie was about. She was too focused on the sexy man sitting next to her and the bolts of electricity that continuously sparked inside of her just from the touch of his hand.

That night as she snuggled deep in her sleeping bag, she thought about Sean. He made her feel things that she had never thought possible. In the back of her mind, she wished that they never got out of the resort.