Barlow halted. He had a strange feeling. He pawed at the ground and let out a small whine. This wasn’t the same feeling he had when he felt someone was watching him, or even hunting him.
Something was wrong. Something was off, and he wasn’t sure what.
Susie.
Dread flooded through him, and he let out a howl before pelting back to the lodge. He didn’t know how he knew it, but something was wrong with her. She needed him.
He shifted and ran through the lodge, ignoring the outraged yells at his nakedness. He found Susie still in the sauna. Towels were wedged under the door, blocking her exit.
Barlow snarled and yanked the door off its hinges. Susie fell into his trembling arms.
*
“How the fuck could you let this happen?”
Susie opened her eyes to find Barlow all but tearing the hotel manager a new one.
“There we are,” cooed Jules, pressing a glass to Susie’s lips.
“Ummm!”
The water felt amazing as the cool liquid sloshed down her parched throat.
“We are sorry, sir,” quavered the manager, “but you did not need to rip the door off. If you had merely removed the towels…”
“She could have been killed!” bellowed Barlow.
“I hardly think…”
Barlow looked like he was about to explode.
“What happened?” asked Susie. “I couldn’t get out, and I think I passed out.”
“Some towels were wedged under the door,” explained Jules. “It was just an accident.”
“Oh?” Susie remembered the person in black. “Just an accident, huh?”
Jules gave her a knowing look. “Luckily, your knight in shining armor was here to save you.”
“Barlow found me?”
“He came running into the lodge stark naked – you’re a lucky girl by the way – and ran straight to the sauna. He pulled the door off its hinges and got you out.”
“Oh.” She looked up at Barlow again, vaguely thinking it was a pity he had managed to find clothes. Though, she wasn’t sure she liked the sound of Jules getting to see him without his clothes on. She didn’t want the nearly married she-wolf getting any ideas!
“Susie!”
Ugh – she considered passing out again as Allen ran to her side. She shifted and swore under her breath as she realized she was still only wearing a very short towel.
“Susie, my darling,” cooed Allen, grasping her hand.
Jules pursed her lips but didn’t say anything.
Susie tried to pull her hand away, but she felt as weak as a newborn kitten. Thankfully, her knight came to her aid.
He dropped the manager in favor of harassing Allen
“Out of my way,” Barlow snapped, tossing Allen aside.
“How dare you?” cried Allen, bristling with indignation. “Susie is…”
“Not yours,” finished Barlow.
Susie blinked at him, almost expecting Barlow to say she was his. He didn’t, but she was too tired to try and bother to understand her confused feelings about that.
“You…”
The two males squared off, chest to chest. Jeez, Barlow would kill him. She didn’t want that. Not because she cared about Allen, but she just didn’t have the energy to deal with the blood splatter at that moment.
“Barlow,” she breathed.
The big wolf was by her side in an instant.
“Little darling,” he cooed at her.
“I want to lie down, could you…”
She was in his arms and being gently carried up the stairs before she could finish her sentence. He allowed Jules to come with them and she helped Susie into a pair of pajamas, but as soon as he could, he chased Jules out the room.
Barlow lay down beside her and tucked an arm around her. She regretted that she wasn’t in the mood for anything more, but the cuddling certainly felt good. Though, she was miffed that this incident was severely cutting into the time she had left with Barlow. That alone upset her, but in spite of the manager’s assertion that it was an accident, she couldn’t help but feel someone was purposefully trying to hurt her. Fear crept down her spine, and she snuggled a little more into Barlow’s welcoming arms. In these arms, she didn’t feel like any harm would ever come to her.