Home for the Holidays

by Terry Spear

  He finished making mugs of cocoa for everyone and topped it with whipped cream. Laurel pulled the monkey bread out of the oven and set it on a platter, then placed it on the coffee table. Ellie set reindeer napkins next to the platter.

  They all kicked off their shoes to sit down and watch Christmas movies, share monkey bread, and drink their cocoa, but Peter began gathering the shoes and setting them under the side table, which had Meghan smiling and telling him she loved him.

  He loved her right back, more than anything else in the world.

  * * *

  Meghan still had a mild headache after Rollins had knocked her out. She took a couple of pills to help alleviate it, trying not to let anyone notice, but Ellie did. Meghan gave her a look that said not to mention it to anyone. Ellie sighed and nodded.

  Meghan felt so much love for Peter and her family for being here for her after what she’d gone through with Rollins. Everyone being here made this Christmas extra special, and she was glad Peter seemed just as pleased to have everyone here. She had really wanted to make the monkey bread for them, but having everyone help made it all the better.

  “Next Christmas, we have to do this at Laurel’s house,” Ellie said, “because of all those cute little wolf pups she’s going to have.”

  Everyone laughed. And Meghan knew this was the beginning of a new family tradition, all of the sisters mated, and wolf pups on the way, monkey bread for breakfast and turkey for dinner, and the rest of the time, playtime with their mates.

  She nestled against Peter on the couch as everyone else snuggled with their respective mates, and they smiled as the Christmas movie began. Being mated to Peter made this the best Christmas ever.

  Epilogue

  “My brother, Bjornolf, and his wife, Anna, are coming to see us to ring in the New Year,” Peter said, getting off the phone with his brother and smiling at Meghan. He couldn’t have been happier to share the news with his twin brother and his wife that he and Meghan were now mated and they wanted to celebrate it with them. “And they said they’d return for our St. Patrick’s Day wedding.”

  “Oh, that’s wonderful!” Meghan was frowning when she saw a large, padded envelope and a medium-size box from the postal service. “What are these for?”

  “Just open them,” Peter said, hoping she’d be happy with the new Christmas apron and angel and not see either of them as something that brought back bad memories.

  She opened the envelope and pulled out the apron that said Member of the Wolf Pack, with a picture of everyone with their snow wolves.

  “Ohmigod, I love this.” She gave Peter a big hug and kiss, her arms wrapped around his neck. “To replace the apron I used on Bill’s wound, right?”

  “Yeah. Nurse Matthew tried to get the bloodstains out of it at the clinic, but he said they wouldn’t come out. I hoped this one would give you better memories.”

  “Of us finishing the snow wolves that won first place in the snow-sculpture competition? You bet!” She eyed the other box.

  He was glad she loved the apron, but he still wasn’t sure how she’d regard the angel.

  When she opened the box and found a cherub-like angel sitting on a star, she smiled. “For helping Lena move on.”

  “I hoped you would like it and that it wouldn’t bring bad memories.”

  She hugged him to her breast. “I love it, and I love you. Why didn’t I mate you a long time ago?”

  He chuckled and kissed her again. “That’s what I keep asking myself.” He glanced at the clock. “It’s time for you to speak to the pack about Rollins. Are you ready?”

  She sighed. “Laurel said she’s been having bouts of nausea, and Ellie’s running things at the inn. So I guess I’m on my own.”

  “Not at all. I’ll be there with you every step of the way.”

  She slipped the little angel into her coat pocket before he helped her into her coat. “What would I do without you?”

  He kissed her, then pulled on his own coat. “I would have convinced you I was the only one for you before long if we hadn’t already settled this. I can’t even imagine not waking up next to you in the morning, or playing with you in the snow as wolves or as humans. You make my world complete.”

  He took her hand and led her out to the car. He couldn’t be prouder of her.

  Meghan felt the same way about Peter making her world complete. She’d worried when her sisters had mated and left her that she might just be feeling the need to have someone around, like her sisters had been all her life. But with Peter, every moment was special. Just the gifts he’d gotten her to bring her better memories of the issues she’d had to deal with showed how special he was to her. She loved him, and when she stood up before who knew how many wolves to talk to them about Rollins, he would be right there beside her.

  But she wasn’t expecting to walk into the barn to find a whole display of angels as the backdrop for her session. Before she could begin her talk, everyone there gave her a standing ovation for having discovered the truth of what had happened to their men in the mine and helping to take the murderer down. One thing was for certain: she never intended to return to the mine—just in case Rollins’s ghost was now haunting the tunnel. She brushed away tears, loving the pack she now truly belonged to, and Peter most of all, standing at her side as her sisters and their mates applauded her.

  She turned and kissed Peter, to show the pack he was the reason she was here today.

  And the pack cheered even louder as photos were snapped and Peter kissed her back with abandon.

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  Co-owner of the Wolff Timberline Ski Lodge, Blake Wolff had to hurry to get Rosco ready for his canine avalanche training. He entered the lodge and saw his older quadruplet brother, Landon, feeding the dog.

  “Hey,” Landon said, grinning at Blake. “Hell, if I’d known all the trouble you would have with the snowblower, I would have come out and helped you.”

  “You watched.”

  “Of course. You were really entertaining this morning.”

  “I hadn’t dreamed I’d have that much trouble with it.”

  Landon laughed. “You won’t be so eager to volunteer when our hired help calls in sick again. I told you it wasn’t a piece of cake.”

  “Next time, I’ll be a pro.” Luckily, no one else had seemed to notice, except for one pretty skier in pink and white, who’d made him smile when he’d heard her laughing when he fell on his ass.

  He’d had a rough morning of it when the family Saint Bernard, Rosco, had shot off after a rabbit on a walk. Blake had barely been able to stay on his feet on the icy snow while trying to get the dog under control. He swore Rosco had pulled him for half a mile before finally giving up on the chase and doing his business. Rosco was usually well behaved and mild-mannered, until it came to rabbits and squirrels on a walk. The dog had never caught up with one, and Blake wondered what would happen if he ever did.

  “Hey, Rosco, are you ready to train to locate avalanche victims?” Blake asked, petting the dog’s head.

  The Saint Bernard stood and wagged his tail.

  “Okay then. When I return, we can take turns skiing?” Blake asked Landon.

  “Yeah, you can go first.”

  “See you in a bit.” Blake grabbed the equipment he’d need, then took Rosco out to where several volunteers were being buried in ice caves just out of sight so the avalanche rescue dogs could practice searching and finding them once they were given the signal.

  The avalanche “victims” were wrapped in thermal blankets and had hooded, insulated cloaks. Thermal-insulated pads were used to line the snow inside the ice caves, which were dug large enough to give t
he volunteers plenty of air while the dogs searched for them.

  Rosco had to take training every year, and this was a perfect situation where he could work with lupus garous. The Saint Bernard had saved two men’s lives after an avalanche at the family’s ski resort in Killington, Vermont, so the family was proud of their dog.

  “Hey, Blake,” Jake Silver said, coming over to shake his hand. He was one of the subleaders of the Silver Town wolf pack and glad they had another rescue dog in the pack. “Is Rosco ready?”

  “Hopefully. This will be the first time he’ll be looking for our kind buried alive.”

  “He’ll do great.”

  “Thanks, Jake.”

  The dogs and their handlers were kept away from the victims’ positions so they wouldn’t see where the men were being buried. In only thirty minutes, a rescue dog could search two-and-a-half acres of avalanche terrain, unlike humans who would take four hours to cover the same area. Of course, as lupus garous, the wolves also had the advantage of being able to smell the scent of humans up to fourteen feet underground, and running as a wolf helped to speed up the equation.

  Then the alert whistle called for the dogs’ searches to begin.

  And the hunt was on. Ten dogs ranging from German shepherds to Labradors and golden retrievers, plus one Saint Bernard, raced off to search for the buried victims. All their handlers ran after them with shovels, probes, and first aid kits.

  * * *

  Nicole was watching her suspects coming off the slope when they turned in the direction of the avalanche dog training. Her suspects and several other skiers had started to watch the trials so Nicole did too. Observing the rescue dogs in motion was fascinating. They ran one way, then another, noses to the ground, and were as excited to find their victims as she was watching them. Then she saw Rosco and his handler, and she smiled. Now she had a handler/dog team she really wanted to cheer on. Not that she didn’t want the other dogs to find victims. That was the whole point, and everyone wanted them to work as quickly as they could. But she already had a soft spot for the wolf and his dog. After the business with him trying to get the dog under control on his walk, she really hoped they’d come out on top.

  One of the German shepherds had already found a victim and was digging at the snow like crazy, his handler and rescuers ready with shovels to help dig out the volunteer. Rosco was still turning one way and then another, stopping, smelling, wagging his tail like crazy. And then Rosco barked and began digging at another location, snow flying.

  Adrenaline was flowing through Nicole’s blood, and she hoped Rosco had found his victim. Considering how many people were gathered around him as he started to dig, she figured he had succeeded.

  The handler was encouraging Rosco, and then the dog was deep in the hole with only his backside hanging out, his tail wagging. The handler pulled the volunteer out of the ice cave, and the victim gave Rosco a treat as part of the game. It was a way of reinforcing the behavior of finding.

  The wolf made sure the victim didn’t have any ill effects from being in the ice cave, then slapped the victim on the back and turned his attention to the other handlers’ dogs, who also had found victims. The one that had found the first victim was already done. It had taken fifteen minutes for Rosco to find and dig out the victim.

  He had done a good job. New dogs could be confused by all the different people who had passed through the area. When all the victims were rescued and checked over, the handlers and dogs took off for their vehicles, all except Rosco and his handler. He gave Rosco a treat and praised him generously. The dog adored him. Suddenly, as if the wolf knew somebody was observing him, he glanced in her direction and looked surprised to see her watching him. He smiled a cocky, little smile and winked.

  Nicole felt her whole body flush with heat, which never happened. Of course, she didn’t often ogle guys, especially ones who were wolves, and get caught at it.

  He led the dog on a leash to the lodge, and Nicole switched her focus to her suspects.

  Then she saw Rhys and his cousin headed in her direction, returning to the ski lodge. They were smiling, talking to each other. Before they noticed her, she walked in ahead of them, thinking that this would be a really good time to have her partner to hug. She began looking for a male who appeared to have no female companion at the moment and that she could turn into her boyfriend for just a few minutes as her cover. Of course, it could all backfire if the man made a scene and the cousins witnessed it.

  Then she saw the cute guy who had been trying to get the Saint Bernard and the snowblower under control. If anyone deserved a hug, it was him. As long as the wolf didn’t have a mate or girlfriend and ruin her Good Samaritan deed. Besides, it was his fault he’d winked at her after the dog avalanche training.

  * * *

  “How’d Rosco do?” Landon asked Blake. “I wanted to come out and watch, but I got stuck on guest issues.”

  “Nothing bad, I hope.” Blake unhooked Rosco’s leash.

  “No, typical stuff. Somebody had their TV playing loudly all night. I wish their neighbors had told us last night and we could have dealt with it. One person said he couldn’t figure out the coffeemaker.”

  “We provide the easiest ones to operate to alleviate trouble,” Blake said.

  “Right. He still couldn’t figure it out. Too simple, I guess. He had an aha moment when I showed him how it was done. Then a woman was having trouble with her alarm going off so she finally unplugged it—but she wanted to use it. I had to show her how to reset the times. We probably should have gotten a simpler model.”

  Blake smiled. “Kayla insisted we have the ones with the automatic change for daylight saving time so we wouldn’t have to change all the clocks in the rooms twice a year. I’m glad you were here to take care of the issues. As to Rosco, he did great. He found an avalanche victim in record time.”

  “I’m glad to hear it. Saint Bernards suit the lodge, and I’m glad he’s knuckled down to do his duty during avalanche rescues.”

  “I agree. We really thought he’d be an avalanche rescue dog dropout when he was a puppy. Have you heard from either of our sisters about the closing?”

  Roxie and Kayla planned to join them in Silver Town after closing the deal on the sale of the family’s ski lodge in Vermont, but they still had to correct some issues with the lodge before the sale went through.

  “I got a call from Kayla. She said she and Roxie accomplished everything needed to satisfy the buyers, so the closing took place and our sisters are on their way here. I should have told you earlier, but you were so busy, and I forgot.”

  “That’s great.” Knowing the Vermont lodge had sold was a real relief. Blake was glad his sisters had been able to manage that while he and Landon opened the ski lodge here. “Did they need one of us to pick them up at the airport?”

  “No. Kayla said Lelandi was eager to pick them up and welcome them to the pack.”

  Blake was glad she would do that for them. “Since Lelandi’s the coleader and psychologist for the pack, I wonder if she intends to warn them about all the bachelor males who are looking for mates and are anxious to meet with them.” That’s all he and Landon had heard when they first arrived. Where were their sisters?

  “Could be. And she wants to make sure they feel welcome. Which is one of the reasons we all wanted to be part of a pack.” Landon glanced around at the hubbub in the lobby: skiers and other visitors were entering or coming out of the restaurant, others leaving the lodge to ski or coming in from skiing, some sitting around the double-sided fireplace. A couple of kids were sitting on the floor petting their sleepy Saint Bernard. “I’m glad our sisters are arriving soon. Kayla needs to help us with our marketing, and Roxie does wonders with the staff. We’ll be a lot better organized when they’re here. I bet they can’t wait to try out the new slopes here too. Powder snow in Colorado instead of ice skiing in Vermont—they’ll love it.
”

  “Yeah, they’re excited about it.” There wasn’t anything the family loved more than being part of the ski community. They were also looking forward to having visitors interested in hiking and other sports in the region. They loved being here with a wolf pack, which was why the family had solicited Darien and Lelandi Silver to allow them to open a ski lodge here, once they learned Silver Town was actually run by wolves. Not everyone in the pack had been happy about them opening the business at first. “I think most of the wolves in the pack accept us now,” Blake said.

  “Yeah. We knew we’d have to work at it a bit. I suspect when our sisters show up, some of the bachelor males will be even more agreeable to us being here.”

  Blake shook his head. “Roxie and Kayla won’t be prepared for the onslaught of dating offers, I bet.”

  “They might not admit it, but I think they’re looking forward to it. Little did we know there were so many males looking for she-wolf mates.”

  The brothers had worked super hard at trying not to take business from the bed-and-breakfast and the Silver Town Inn in town, doing everything they could to help advertise the other wolves’ businesses too. It was good wolf-pack public relations. Most of the wolves were warming up to them being here. They’d finally opened the Hungry Wolff’s Bar and Grill at the lodge, and that had also concerned some of the business owners in town.

  The Silver Town Tavern, which boasted the best drinks and lunches and dinners around, was open exclusively to wolves, courtesy of a high-dollar membership that the wolves didn’t really pay, so human visitors needed someplace else to go for dinner. Even so, the tavern’s owner, Sam, and his mate, Silva, had worried the Wolff restaurant might take more of the wolf population’s business. Silva ran the Victorian Tea Shop, which was open for lunches, but not everyone wanted to leave the slopes to eat lunch in town.