17. Sean

17

Sean

S ean slipped in a few minutes later and took a quick five-minute shower. He thought about melting some snow in a bucket and washing some clothes, but he still had a pair of pants, underwear, socks, and a shirt that couldn't stand on their own. He would have to wash clothes soon, though.

He meandered through the house and found Sawyer hanging out in the library, reading by the fire. Sean plopped in the chair across from Sawyer.

Sawyer looked up from the book and raised his eyebrows. "How'd it go?"

"How did what go?"

Sawyer grinned. "Don't play dumb with me. I saw you and Xyla slip into their cabin."

"Oh. That. Well, she initiated sex again, although I won't deny the fact that I anticipated it when we went into the cabin. It was pretty great." Sean grimaced. "She's terrified of her father, though. She asked me to wait a few minutes before coming inside because she didn't want to deal with her father."

"You can't really blame her for that, although it didn't work. I heard him raking her over the coals when she came in."

"Such a pleasant man to be around." Sean rubbed his face and leaned back in the chair. "I have a ton of mixed feelings about her. Her scent haunts me. Before, when she was acting like a spoiled, snobby bitch, I detected her scent, but then it just pissed me off."

"And now?"

"It's haunting. I feel drawn in and it drives me crazy."

Sawyer grinned.

"I know what you're going to say. You think that means that she's my fated mate."

"Yep."

Sean shook his head vehemently. "There's no way. First, she's human."

"You know, even though I was in god-forsaken countries, I still got the newsletter sent out by the Nightshade Wolf Shifter Pack that talks about everything that is happening. I know that Angie, who is a human, is mated with an alpha of the wolf shifter pack in the shifter world. Beth and Savvy are witches, and they married Rory, a wolf shifter, and Conner, the brother of our pack's alpha. Don't give me a line of crap about how she can't be your mate because she's human."

Sean was quiet for a second. "I feel like I'm betraying Ivy. You know I loved her more than anything, and she was my fated mate."

"But she's gone now and has been for a very long time. Ivy loved you so very much, and I promise that she would want you to be happy and find love again. You know that."

"I do like Xyla, but I'm not in love with her."

Sawyer closed his eyes and shook his head. "You're grasping at straws here. You know as well as I do that just because someone is your fated mate doesn't mean that you are going to automatically fall in love. These things take time, but in the end, it will work itself out."

"Maybe, but in the end, it really doesn't matter. There is no way that Elliot would allow Xyla to be with me, and she's not strong enough to defy her father."

"You never know. One day, when she figures out that she's in love with you, she just might. It's pretty obvious that she loves you just by the way she looks at you."

"I guess. We'll see."

Sean grabbed a book and sat down with it, intending to read until dinner. However, he fell asleep before he got through the first page. The next thing he knew, Sawyer was shaking him awake.

"Either that's a really boring book or you're exhausted."

Sean stretched and stood up. "I think that I'm exhausted. I don't think I recuperated from shoveling people out. Then, there were all the chores to do around here."

"Not to mention staying up all night when you rescued Edward. As your official doctor, I prescribe you a week in bed, sleeping."

"I don't see that happening. But you know, this was supposed to be a relaxing vacation. What the hell happened to that?"

"Well, you know, I didn't want it to be boring for you. Come on, let's get some food and then you can go to bed."

"That sounds like a plan."

During dinner, Marcie suggested they have a rematch with Sawyer and Ellie, but Sean shook his head. "I'm sorry, I can't keep my eyes open. Maybe another time."

As soon as he finished eating, Sean went straight to his cot and was instantly asleep. He didn't wake up until the bright sun's rays danced in his face the next morning.

Sawyer grinned when Sean stumbled into the dining room. "Franny saved you a plate. She knew that you were exhausted."

"I can't remember the last time I slept this late."

"You obviously needed it. Hurry up and finish your breakfast. I feel the need for a walk."

Sean ate and carried his plate into the kitchen. He kissed Franny on the cheek and said, "Thank you."

She grinned and swatted at him with her towel. "You're welcome. Get out of here."

"Let's go north this time. We can shift in the cabin instead of in the woods," Sawyer suggested. "It's been a while since we've gone in that direction."

"Correction. It's been a while since you've gone in that direction. I was just there."

They hadn't gone too far when they saw bear tracks. When they followed the tracks, they discovered that the bears had circled the entire resort. Sean and Sawyer followed the tracks into the woods. The tracks stopped at a hunter's shack.

"Interesting," Sawyer said. "They have to be shifters. No wild bears would be out in this. They're all hibernating."

"I wouldn't be so worried about it, but they are circling the resort. That makes me very uneasy."

"I agree."

"We need to warn the folks at the resort to be careful. I don't think we should tell them we saw bear tracks – just animal tracks." Sean groaned. "That's all we need is to fend off a bear shifter attack."

"They'll see our wolf tracks and will know that we know."

"What do we know?" Sean asked.

"I don't know."

Everyone was gathered in the parlor when they got back, watching a movie. When it ended, Sawyer stood up.

"Can I have your attention for a minute, please?" He waited for everyone to quiet down and look at him. "Sean and I were scouting around today. We saw some animal tracks circling the resort. Please be vigilant when you go outside and don't go out alone. Wild animals can get desperate in situations like these and might just see you as a food source."

Everyone nodded and started talking again. Ginny came in and announced lunch.

Edward tapped on Sean's shoulder just as he finished the last bit of soup.

"Hey, Edward. How are you feeling?"

"Bored. What are you doing this afternoon? Can we hang out?"

"Sure. I think you, Sawyer, and I can go outside and build a snow fort. What do you think?"

Edward's eyes lit up. "That would be awesome."

They spent the next couple of hours making an impressive snow fort out of cold, white, compacted bricks that would be the envy of any mason. Then, they created a huge arsenal of snowballs.

"Go get your sister," Sean said.

Grinning widely, Edward ran inside. He came back a couple of minutes later and said, "She's on her way."

She walked outside. "Edward, where are you?"

He stood up and pelted her with several snowballs while Sean and Sawyer stood off to the side watching and laughing. They loved seeing the boy have fun, despite the situation they were in.

"Oh, you turkey. You ambushed me."

She bent over, gathered snow, and made snowballs to lob back at him.

When Edward was out of ammunition they went inside for some hot chocolate.

Xyla pointed her finger at Sean. "I'll get you for this."

He grinned. "Bring it."

Sean took another nap until dinner. Afterward, Edward convinced Ellie, Marcie, Sawyer, Xyla, and Sean to play charades with him.

They teamed up girls against guys. It was the best game of charades that Sean had ever played. He couldn't remember the last time he laughed so much.

Edward hugged him before heading off to bed. "Thanks, Sean. You're the best."

"You are, too," Sean replied.

"That kid adores you. You are so good with him," Sawyer remarked.

"He's a good kid, and he probably has a bit of hero worship going on. Xyla said he thought he owed me a life debt."

Sawyer laughed. "That's never a good thing. I've seen the movies."

That night, he replayed the day in his mind.

I could be having that kind of fun with my own son.

He quickly banished the thought. It wasn't meant to be.

Sean closed his eyes. He was beginning to realize that he had been afraid to live after he lost his family, but Xyla and Edward were showing him how to live again.