Laurie’s Wolves(87)

She sobered, swallowed, and nodded. “Got it.”

A second later, her eyes glazed over. Someone was communicating with her. Zach watched her pupils dilate as she licked her lips. A minute went by.

Finally, she bolted to sitting and came fully back to herself. “We have to go.”

“What?” Corbin sat upright.

“They need us at the resort.” She scooted off the bed. “It’s snowing again. Coming down hard. It’s deep. About two hundred people are trapped at the lower lodge. Most of the guests left, but not all. And the entrance isn’t passable.” She turned toward Zach as she ran across the room and grabbed a pair of her jeans from the floor. “Your parents are there, Sharon, several employees, and Melinda with Trace and Keegan, but they need more hands.”

“Jesus, it’s already three in the afternoon. We were having sex that long?”

Corbin chuckled as he came up behind Laurie and grabbed the jeans, dropping them back to the floor. “We can’t get there by car, babe. We’ll have to shift.”

She nibbled her lip. “Shit. Didn’t think of that. How will we explain our arrival?”

Zach stood. “No idea. We’ll figure it out when we get there. Tell Melinda we’re on the way and have her meet us at the south entrance with clothes. That’s an employee-only entrance at the back of the locker room.”





Chapter Twenty


Laurie shivered with cold as Melinda opened the door to the locker room and let the three of them inside. They were all in wolf form, unwilling to shift as long as it wasn’t necessary. They would have risked losing a toe or two if they had to stand in that snow in human form very long naked.

Melinda pointed at a pile of clothes on the bench behind her and spoke quietly. “Place is packed. I told everyone you three were coming, that you had abandoned your car about a half mile away, and you were back here changing into dry clothes.”

Laurie shifted first, and then stood before her sister naked. “Thanks. Perfect. We’ll be right out.”

Melinda nearly jogged from the room.

Corbin and Zach shifted simultaneously beside her.

All three of them were dressed and reasonably warm in less than a minute. They rushed from the locker room to join the family and all the stranded guests in the main section of the lodge. The resort didn’t have rooms for spending the night. It was simply a ski lodge, which meant all these people had rooms in town at the various hotels. They would need to huddle together for the night with few provisions in the form of blankets or other comforts.

Zach had filled her and Corbin in on the basics telepathically as they’d made their way through the thick snow to get to the lodge.

Food was not an issue. Neither was heat. There was an enormous wood-burning fireplace on one wall, so even if they lost electricity, the fire would heat the room to a manageable temperature.

Carlie greeted them, waving from the kitchen area as they entered the room. “Laurie. So glad you’re here. Can you give me a hand back here?”

Laurie glanced at her mates and then rushed to help Zach’s mom with food.

Carlie gave her a brief hug. “You okay, hon?”

“Yeah. Sorry to be such a crazy woman. I thought… Well, it doesn’t matter what I thought now.” She smiled at Carlie whose face portrayed nothing but understanding. She decided to change the subject. “Does this happen often?”

Carlie shook her head. “No. It’s happened a few times over the years, but not usually so early in the day.” She shrugged. “When the snow starts coming down hard, sometimes the road gets impassable fast. It’s not unheard of. But there’s no way for the snowplows to keep up with it when it’s this thick and falling this fast. As soon as it stops, the city will have us cleared out quickly, but until then, we hunker down.”

“Could be all night then?”

“Probably. I’d bet by morning they will be able to get in with snowplows.”

Melinda came around the counter, holding a pad in one hand with a pencil stuck tucked above her ear. She leaned over the food prep area. “I have so many orders for burgers I lost count, and there are several men who would love a beer. Do we have beer?”

Laurie giggled. “Have you ever waitressed before?”

Melinda glanced down at herself. “No. Why?”

“You look silly.” Laurie pointed at the pencil.

“What? I’m trying to do a job here, dork. You want to switch?” Melinda reached slowly for the pencil, holding the pad out in front of her.

Laurie held up both hands. “Hey, I’ve never waitressed either. I don’t even play nice with adults. I’m more of a kid person.”