The conversation buzzed around the table- the short-haired bridesmaid, Lorne, was desperately trying to calm Dina and Tom down, while everyone else looked frazzled, tired, or hungover. The storm outside rattled the long windows of the hotel, and Rosie exchanged a look with Win. He smiled at her- a simple, sweet, honest smile that took her by surprise. It cut through the chaos in an instant, and Rosie found herself smiling back.
Before she could make any more of the gesture, the entire room flipped on a dime- it was as if someone had waved a wand and made everyone as uncomfortable as possible. One of the bridesmaids stood up, and hurried Dina outside- all the bridesmaids exchanged confused looks, and Rosie furrowed her brow. This was more than just worry over where they were going to put the guests for those extra days, she could tell.
Sliding up the communal bench, she leant over to Win to see if he knew anything she didn't.
"Do you know what the hell is going on here?" She gestured around the room, and he shook his head.
"I think- I don't know, but-" he turned to confer with one of the groomsmen, and the two of them stood up suddenly. "I have to go. I'll be back soon, I promise."
He turned his back on her and stormed out of the room, leaving Rosie sitting by herself, staring at the spot he had just been in. What the hell was that all about? She leant back in her seat, taking a defiant bite of her croissant, and narrowed her eyes. This whole thing was freaking her out. She didn't like not knowing what was going on. The door clicked open, and Dina walked back in, looking as if she'd been slapped in the face. Rosie hurriedly stood up and scurried up to her.
"Dina?" She asked, taking her hand and squeezing it tight. "Is everything okay?"
"What?" Dina looked up, as if she was waking up from a long sleep. "Oh, Rosie. Sorry. I just-"
She paused and took a long, deep breath, like she was struggling to get her head around what she'd just found out.
"Freddy's here."
"Huh?" Rosie narrowed her eyes. She remembered Freddy- the lying, cheating, possessive piece of shit Dina had been dating before she'd met Tom. They'd only been together a few months, but he'd grown pretty obsessed with her. When they'd split, it had been ugly- the kind of break-up you pull horrified faces over at cocktails afterwards. But surely he wouldn't have come all the way out here, would he? What was there to gain?
"He's on the island, and he brought his pack," Dina replied softly, casting her eyes downward as if she was ashamed of the words coming out of her mouth.
Rosie's heart leapt into her mouth. She'd never connected Freddy's awfulness with the fact that he was a shifter, but she had often wondered if it was the fact that he led his own pack- the alpha, he insisted on calling himself- that led him to expect his own way in every other aspect of his life. And now he was here? With them? While they were stuck on the island with no way of getting off?
Rosie's panic obviously read all over her face, because Dina immediately leant over to give her a hug.
"Oh, it's going to be okay, I promise," she murmured in her ear, and Rosie felt herself relax at once. Dina had always been the big cousin- the one who looked after everyone else, who made everything all better. Whether it was fixing up Rosie when she came off her bike in grade school, or nursing her through her first big break-up when she was in sophomore year of high school, Dina was one of the only people who Rosie truly believed when she said it would all be okay.
"I'm not worried about me," Rosie squeezed her cousin, then leant back. "Are you alright?"
"I'll survive," she nodded, trying to keep her face impassive and failing. "They're…they're all dealing with it, the guys, and some of the girls are going with them. We'll get through this, you know we will."
"Wait, the groomsmen have gone out there to fight them?" Rosie's jaw dropped. "Do they know…do they know they're shifters? What if they get hurt?"
"They know. And they're grown-ups, they know what risks they're getting themselves into," Dina responded soothingly. "Honestly, I really need someone to stay here and help me sort out the rest of the guests."
She looked at Rosie pleadingly, and Rosie took a moment to take everything in. Dina needed her at her best, not going to pieces over all the information that had just been dropped on her. She glanced over her shoulder out the window, and found herself hoping that Win would be okay, that he wouldn't get hurt while he was out there doing whatever he was doing. She took a deep, steadying breath, and turned herself back to Dina.
"Of course," she nodded. "I'll help."
Before she had chance to say anything else, Tom hurried over to them.
"So, I spoke to reception about the…situation," he began, his voice low and urgent. "And they've been able to organize a boat to get some of the guests off the island."
"Seriously? Oh, thank God," Dina gasped in relief. The last thing she would have wanted was for innocent bystanders to get dragged into her potentially dangerous drama with Freddy.
"We need to get them organized now, though," Tom continued, brushing a strand of hair from Dina's face. "I think we should just get rid of the lot of them, as many as we can, without freaking them out with what's actually going on."
All at once, Tom seemed to remember that Rosie was sitting at the table with them.
"And, of course, you can go if you want, too, Rosie," he nodded at her. "We would totally understand if you wanted to."
"You think I'm coming all this way just to miss your wedding?" She jibed. "Good luck getting rid of me."
"Are you sure?" Dina asked, turning to her with a serious expression on her face. "It could get dangerous. You can make your own decisions, but you should at least know-"
"I do, Dina, and I'll stay," she nodded. "You need help getting this all sorted, and I'm good at the practical stuff."
Dina let out a long sigh, and looked at her with a small smile on her face.
"You never were one to give up easily," she shook her head, then leant forward and gave her a tight, spontaneous hug. "Thank you."
"No problem," she squeezed her back. "Okay, let's get everyone on that boat, shall we?"
The next hour and a half seemed to speed by; Rosie barely had time to think as she and Dina hustled guests on to boats, offering smooth apologies and trying to deflect any questions they could about what the hell was actually going on. It was clearly killing Dina to have to send all her guests home early, but she kept on a game face, doling out stories about dangerous weather and promising she would be in touch as soon as she got home. Once the word got around, and everyone had hurriedly packed up their stuff and said their goodbyes, they managed to pile the rest of the guests- maybe a hundred people- on to the large boat floating in the harbor, and waved them off across the stormy sea. Dina kept the robotic smile on her face as she watched them go, obviously trying to fight the urge to burst into tears or beg to come with them.
"Hey," Rosie nudged her, "It's okay. They're gone now."
Dina's muscles all seemed to slump over at once, as if the energy had been drained from her.
"I know. This just isn't how I pictured spending the day before my wedding, you know?" She shook her head, and turned to walk back inside. Rosie half-turned her head around, certain she could hear something in the distance, but it was whipped away by the wind before she had a chance to pick it out. She hurried to catch up with Dina, following her back inside the hotel, grateful to be out of the wind and rain at last.
"Are you…is the wedding still going ahead?" Rosie asked, trying to be delicate and failing. Dina turned to her, incredulous.
"Of course it is, Jesus. I know this isn't ideal, but we're not letting Freddy get in the way of this, no matter how much he wants to."
"Is that what this is about, you think? Stopping the wedding?" Rosie had been trying to figure out exactly what Freddy planned to gain from crashing Dina's nuptials, but she hadn't been able to put her finger on it yet.
"You remember how obsessed he was, right?" Dina fell gratefully into the deep sofas that sat just next to r
eception, massaging her temples and attempting to wring out her hair. "I have to assume he's here to try and fuck things up with me and Tom."
"How are you so calm about all of this?" Rosie shook her head. "If this was me…"
"Trust me, when you find the right person, even terrible exes won't matter," she shrugged. "No matter what they try and do to you."
Rosie half-nodded in acknowledgement. Six months ago, she would have said the same thing, but that was because she was in that smugly perfect relationship. Now, she had no idea what that must feel like.
Suddenly, a yell came from just behind them. Rosie's head whipped round- it was the same voice she'd heard when they were down on the beach, she was certain. Her eyes practically boggled out of her head when she saw who it was- Maya, one of the other bridesmaids, was sprinting at full pelt up towards the hotel- and hot on her tail was a snarling wolf. And it was gaining on her.
Maya was gesturing desperately towards the door, and Rosie realized at the last second what she wanted. Springing out of her seat, she darted forward and yanked it open- Maya shot pas the threshold, and Rosie just managed to get the door shut before the wolf slammed hard against the glass. The entire window rattled, as Maya picked herself up off the floor, gasping. Dina hurried over to her, but Rosie found herself staring down at the animal she had just shut out.
She had never met a shifter before in real life, let alone one who was already in their animal form, and doubly let-alone one who was hungry for blood. She found herself frozen to the spot as she stared at the creature, it's eyes flashing almost fully gold, as it slowly, painfully dragged itself to it's feet and peered up at her. The wind and rain were whipping it's fur in every direction, and it bared it's teeth and pressed it's muzzle up against the glass once again before it turned and shot off across the hills and out of Rosie's eye line. A shiver shot down Rosie's back as she watched the wolf vanish across the horizon. And then she remembered who else was out there.
"Where are the others?" Rosie demanded, turning to Dina. Maya was conferring intimately with one of the groomsmen, and didn't look like she needed any more attention. "Are they still out there?"
"Of course they are," Dina replied, her voice bizarrely calm considering what she'd just seen. "They're fine, trust me, they can take care-"
"I'm going out there," Rosie shook her head. "Did you see that thing?"
"Did you?" Dina shot back, immediately getting between Rosie and the door. "You can't go out there, you'll get killed."
"Have you seen Win yet?," Rosie pointed out. "How many of them are here? Four? Five? More? And he's out there all alone?"
"I don't know," Dina admitted, "I'm trying not to think about that."
One of the groomsmen- Rick, maybe?- turned to them, apparently just tuning in to their conversation. He had arrived back a few minutes after Maya, and it was only now that Rosie noticed the cut across his chest.
"Seven. We found where they were hiding, chased them out- but they're still on the island."
"Seven?" Rosie exclaimed in horror. "And Jesus, what the hell did they do to you?"
"Nothing," Rick looked down at his chest, and Rosie did a double-take- the cut was gone, leaving only a few splashes of blood to indicate that it had been there at all in the first place. He looked back up at Rosie, his face serious. "You need to forget about them for now. We need people holding down the home fort, and making sure they don't get into the hotel."
"I can't not think about it," Rosie cut across her, stomping past him and towards the kitchen. All this time, as the groomsmen and bridesmaids had piled their way back into reception, she couldn't help but notice someone was missing. Win.
Slipping into the kitchen, she was grateful to find it empty- she supposed there were better things to do at a time like this than worry about getting a decent Yelp review. Rifling through the drawers, she quickly came up with a decent-sized knife, and tucked it beneath her waterproofs. The thought of Win- out there, by himself, with those wolves loose and angry and on the hunt- half made her want to cry, and half made her want to punch someone. How could they leave him out there? Why was no-one with him?
Knowing that if she gave Dina another chance, she would physically stop her from leaving the hotel, Rosie spotted a back entrance leading out of the kitchen, and quickly slipped outside. The wind was howling even harder than before, but Rosie's ears pricked up- she could hear something in the distance. It didn't sound like human voices- no, it sounded like howling, something animalistic. She was suddenly aware of how hard her heart was hammering in her chest- the memory of that wolf, and the glint of it's teeth under the lights of the hotel as it pulled it's lip back into a snarl, burned in her brain. But she strode out, down the path, and towards the noise. She knew she was being pigheaded-hell, she knew she was probably putting herself in a hell of a lot of danger for someone she'd just met- but she wasn't about to let Win get torn to pieces just because no-one had noticed he wasn't back.
Rosie picked up her pace, hurrying over to the cliffs- she was sure she'd heard someone saying that the wolves were down in the caves, so maybe that's where Win had gone? To find them? Or maybe they'd just taken him there. Rosie heard the howling once again- and sure enough, it was echoing, bouncing off the walls of the caves a few hundred feet from her. It sounded amplified, as if there was more than one of them down there. She tried to push the fear from her mind, focusing on the task at hand- find Win, get him back to the hotel, and regroup from there. Whatever was going on, it seemed like they're group had as good a chance as any of actually taking these wolves down- after all, Rick had healed right in front of her eyes, just another bizarre addition to the already-surreal day. If they had super-healing on their side, that had to give them the advantage, right? She sniggered to herself, the fear and panic swirling in her brain making every little thing doubly hilarious.
She was snapped out of her reverie by the sound of a roar from the caves now below her-not a wolf's howl, but something deeper, throatier, more dangerous. She froze in her tracks-wolves she had expected, but what the hell was this?
Slipping her hand under her jacket, she took hold of the knife- she really hoped she didn't have to use it, but it was comforting knowing that it was there. She took another few steps forward, peering over the cliff, and finally saw the source of the noise.
Down inside the caves, a bunch of wolves-maybe five, she couldn't count them all, they were moving so fast- had surrounded another creature. A bear. An enormous, deep brown, snarling grizzly bear. The wolves were taking turns jabbing at the bear, darting in, only to get slapped away by an enormous paw or gnash of the teeth. Rosie's jaw dropped. She thought it had just been the wolves- and now there was a bear thrown into the mix? Was it another shifter, or a resident of the island? Surely not- grizzlies weren't exactly known for gravitating towards tropical climates. Rosie crept closer, so she was only twenty or thirty feet from the action, holding her breath as she peered round a rock formation to get a better look.
Now she was closer, she could have sworn there was something…familiar about the bear. In it's eyes, maybe, or the way it moved. It looked like it should have been overwhelmed by now, but the wolves seemed terrified, none of them deigning to get too close to the animal. She could hardly blame them- every time one of them approached, the bear would lash out, emitting an enormous roar that seemed to resonate off the rocks surrounding them.
Suddenly, one of the wolves made an attack- leaping forward and managing to sink it's teeth into the back of the bear's neck. The other wolves were yelping and barking with what seemed to be encouragement as the bear attempted to shake it off, spraying droplets of blood and spittle on to the sand beneath them. Another one of the wolves darted forwards, and managed to get it's teeth into the bear's throat. Rosie gasped- part of her wanted to charge forward and defend the animal, but she knew she would only get herself hurt. The bear stumbled forward, it's front paws giving out beneath it as the wolves continued their vicious attack. And then, all at once,
the bear drew itself up, on to it's hind legs, dangling the wolves several feet above the ground. The wounds looked deep- Rosie could see the blood dripping from them even from where she was hiding- but the bear began to lash out with it's paws, tearing and slashing at the wolves around it's neck.
Edward (BBW Western Bear Shifter Romance) (Rodeo Bears Book 1) Page 43