25. Sean

25

Sean

T he next morning, William pulled Sean aside. "What happened, Son?"

Sean hesitated for a minute and then decided to tell him the truth. "Darren, Tristan, and their buddies were bear shifters. They didn't survive. If anything is left of their bodies after the scavengers get them, it will look like they were attacked by wolves."

"I hate that for you. I know that you and Sawyer are good men, but I realize that you did what you had to do."

"Thank you. Sometimes the bad guys don't give us a choice, but I suspect that you've experienced enough in your lifetime to know that."

William rubbed the back of his neck and gave a rueful smile. "I don't know how I didn't see it. I'm normally an excellent judge of character."

"Some people are good at hiding their true identity. Neither Sawyer nor I picked up on the fact that they were shifters. They purposely didn't shower so we couldn't sense them."

William nodded and grinned. "I'm going to have to buy a case of Lysol to clear the air."

"Good luck with that."

A few hours later, William walked into the parlor where everyone was hanging out.

"Can I have your attention, please? The road crew has managed to get the snow cleared and everyone can leave. I would ask that certain events that occurred here, stay here."

The room was silent. Everyone knew that he was referring to what happened with Darren and Tristan.

Marcie called out, "What happens on Monta?a Maldita stays on Monta?a Maldita."

"Here, here," Blake seconded.

"Excellent. Also, Sara and I would like to offer full refunds to you guys. You came up for a vacation and you spent the time cooped up in this building. A lot of you helped out."

"That's the only decent thing for you to do," Elliot said.

"Dad, no. William, do not refund anything to us. The avalanche was an act of nature and you guys were not at fault in any way."

Esme added her two cents in. "Plus, you provided us with shelter, food, and everything else we needed."

Ellie smiled. "Actually, this turned out to be a pretty decent vacation. We didn't ski, but we met some new friends, and it is certainly a great story to tell our friends."

"Excellent. Maybe a discounted future stay, then," William offered. "The plows will have the driveway cleared out within the hour. It has been an honor and a privilege to get to know you all."

William looked over at Elliot and cleared his throat. "Almost all of you."

Sean smirked as did most of the people in the room.

People headed back to their cabins to get the rest of their stuff.

Sean walked over to Xyla. "Can we talk in the library for a minute?"

A look of panic crossed her face, but she nodded.

"I know you hated me when you first got here, and to be fair, I wasn't fond of you, either. However, circumstances changed and we got to know each other. I tried to deny it at first, but, Xyla, you are my fated mate. I fell in love with you. Will you go through the mating ceremony with me?"

Tears poured out of her eyes. "Sean, you have to know that I am in love with you, too. There is nothing I want more than to spend the rest of my life with you – but I can't. It would destroy Dad. Plus, he would do everything he possibly could to ruin our lives, and he wouldn't let me anywhere near Edward."

For the second time in his life, Sean's soul shattered into a million pieces. "I understand."

She wrapped her arms around him and pressed her lips against his. He held her close to him for a brief second.

"Goodbye, Sean."

Sobbing, she ran out of the room. Sean fell onto the couch. He sat with his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands. He wanted to cry, too.

Sawyer walked in. "I just saw Xyla run out of here, crying. What… Oh."

He sat beside Sean and put his arm around his shoulders.

After several minutes, Sean said, "Let's go home."

Edward ran into the library. "We're leaving, but I wouldn't get in the car until I could say goodbye to you. I love you guys."

Sean hugged the little boy and then Sawyer followed suit.

"We love you, too," Sean said. "You're a great young man. When you get older, you come to Angel's Creek and find me at Howlers'. "

"I promise."

"You can come see me, too, but I'm not as much fun since I have the doctor's office."

Everyone laughed.

"I guess I'd better go before Dad gets mad and comes in here. Bye, guys. I'll see you later."

"If I ever have a son, I hope he's just like Edward," Sawyer said. "He's going to make the world a better place."

It didn't take long for them to say farewell to the resort folks and pack Sean's truck. The further they got from the resort, the more it seemed like a crazy dream.

"I think you need a roommate until I find my own place. I love my folks, but I don't want to live with them while I'm negotiating things with the old doctor and finding my own place."

"You are welcome to stay with me as long as you want. I'm glad that you decided to put down some roots."

They dropped their clothes off at Sean's house. He took a quick shower and changed clothes. Sawyer, who wore the same size as Sean, followed suit. Sean even had a new, unopened package of underwear and another of socks for Sawyer.

"I never thought I would be so grateful for clean clothes," Sawyer said, walking out of the bathroom. "Even in the desert, I still managed to have clean clothes."

Sean's stomach rumbled, reminding him that he needed to eat. "We could order pizza or we could go to Howlers' "

"You know everyone will be dying of curiosity, so we may as well go now and get it over with. Plus, I have a hankering for a couple of bacon cheeseburgers and a beer or ten."

The bar was hopping when Sean and Sawyer walked in and sat on the bar stools at the counter. Jade squealed, ran around, and hugged both of them. When everyone realized that the men were back, they crowded around. News of the avalanche had spread around town like wildfire.

Sean held up his hand "First, we want to order. I want a steak, baked potato with the works, corn on the cob, and a beer. Keep the beers coming. We'll call a rideshare to get home."

"I want two double bacon cheeseburgers, loaded fries, and bottomless beer."

Jade rushed to get their orders in and brought their beers.

After they both took huge swigs, she said, "Now spill."

Sawyer and Sean took turns describing the sounds the avalanche made and how they managed to get out of their cabin. They told everyone how they spent the day digging everyone out of their cabins."

"We had a couple more snow storms with some wickedly high winds, so we boarded up the windows. Sean almost got killed when a tree blew over. It would have landed on top of him but he managed to jump out of the way just in time. As it was, some of the branches clobbered him."

"The worst part about the whole situation was that we were all cooped up together and a few of the fellas didn't know how to use their five minutes of shower time wisely. It will probably take them weeks to clear the stench out," Sean said.

Neither of them mentioned Xyla or the bear shifters. As Macie said, "What happens on Monta?a Maldita stays on Monta?a Maldita."

Jade brought their food, and the crowd went back to their business, leaving the men to eat in peace.

"Are you coming back to work tomorrow, Boss?"

Sean looked at Jade as though she had lost her mind. "Hell, no. I need to recover from my vacation. I'm going to sleep in. Get up, eat, take a shower, take a nap, and then rinse and repeat."

Sawyer lifted his glass. "I second that emotion. I've got business to attend to, but it'll wait a few more days."

Sean grinned. "Sawyer has decided to give up being a globe trotter. He will be in the old doctor's practice and stay in Angel's Creek."

"Wonderful. It'll be good to have you back."

"It'll be good to be back."

Rory, one of their pack members and the co-leader of the Griffins Motorcycle Club, gave them a lift home, while his brother, Sebastian, the other co-leader of the club, drove Sean's truck to his house.

"Thanks, guys. We appreciate it."

"No worries, Brothers. Have a good night," Rory said.

Sean took another, long hot shower just because he could and it felt good. Then, he climbed in between the cool sheets.

He closed his eyes but couldn't fall asleep. His heart hurt so much and he missed Xyla.

"You stupid fool. I can't believe you let yourself fall in love again, especially with someone like Xyla."

He gave a humorless laugh. "I feel like I'm in some kind of Shakespearean love story with the overdone theme of ‘love conquers hate.' Except in this story, hatred won."