Fennel sighed. “Yeah, it seems like that’s the case.”

  “What about the rest of you?” Dylan asked.

  “Nope. We had no idea you were following us. I’m sure Eddie would have been alive if we’d known that.”

  “Yeah, but in the heat of the moment? Do you think Jim would have gotten control of his emotions?” Dylan asked.

  Fennel shrugged. “Maybe. I can’t believe Jim left us to fend for ourselves.”

  “Some friend, right?” Dylan said. “We know he was the driving force behind all this.”

  “Yeah. Like always.” Fennel frowned. “So you really think he didn’t plan to come here to meet up with us at all?”

  “He’s your friend. What do you think? If it were me, I’d suspect he thought the two of you would never survive in the snowstorm. That someday someone would find both Xander’s and your bodies when the snow melted. Well, and Eddie’s. If the teen had succumbed to the cold too, there wouldn’t have been any witnesses to tell the true story,” Dylan said.

  “Hell.” Fennel didn’t look happy about the prospect, but he didn’t look entirely surprised.

  “He took your bags and Eddie’s SUV from the lodge so it would appear the four of you had just checked out of both your rooms. He could even come up with his own version of the story if the two of you had died. He could have said one of you shot Eddie instead,” Dylan said. “He might still claim that.”

  “Have you found Eddie’s SUV yet?” Fennel asked.

  Dylan shook his head.

  Fennel sat up taller, looking a little smug. “All right. Well, I’ll testify against Jim, but I need to know what kind of a deal I can get.”

  “We’ll have to talk to the DA about that,” CJ said. “Let’s get going. We can make it back to Silver Town by nightfall if we go now.”

  They put out the fire in the fireplace and packed up Fennel’s things, then loaded his gun and rifle on Dylan’s snowmobile. CJ called in the situation to Peter. Fennel was riding with Michael, and Eric told them he was returning to the national forest where he worked.

  They said goodbye to Eric, CJ thanking his brother for coming to help them with this. Then Eric headed back to the national forest reserve and the rest of them drove back to Silver Town.

  Dylan was looking forward to being home with Roxie. He realized how much he needed her in his life. He knew Michael and CJ would also be glad to be home with their mates. Fennel would be sitting in jail next to Xander once they got his written testimony and until he could get bail.

  Halfway home, they took a break to have lunch. Dylan called Roxie but she sounded frazzled. “Yeah?” she said.

  “We got Fennel. He’s alive and well.”

  “Wonderful.”

  “We’re headed home with him now. I’ll be in tonight. I’m not sure how late it will be, but we’ll be in.”

  “That’s great. I’ve got to go.” Then Roxie hung up on him.

  CJ had been laughing with his mate. Michael was smiling as he talked to his wife. The other guys smiled at Dylan. Yeah, his call to Roxie hadn’t gone well. He wished he could rescue her from whatever ordeal she was dealing with. He hoped it had nothing to do with him.

  “She’s thrilled we’ll be home tonight,” Dylan said, hoping everything was okay between them and that she was only dealing with issues at the lodge today that had taken her full attention.

  “Yeah.” Daniel was still a bachelor like Bryan, and he was nodding too, but neither looked like they believed him. Maybe because Dylan hadn’t even said goodbye to her before she hung up on him.

  Dylan figured the guys thought he was in trouble with Roxie, which might give them a chance to date her. Then he wondered if either of them had dated her already! They were still eating, and he couldn’t stop thinking about Roxie. He made a quick call to Kayla. “Hey, is everything all right with Roxie? I called her and she seemed completely overwhelmed. I was worried about her.”

  Kayla said, “Oh, Dylan. Yeah, we’re dealing with a major disaster. I’ve got to go.” She hung up on him.

  Hell. What had happened? Dylan pocketed his phone, but he was frowning.

  “What’s wrong?” CJ asked. He’d finished his call with his wife and had overheard Dylan’s call to Kayla.

  “I’m not sure. They’re dealing with a major disaster, Kayla said.”

  “Okay, well, let’s get going so we can get there sooner.”

  Dylan appreciated that CJ felt his concern and wanted to get this show on the road. If Dylan could, he’d help with resolving whatever disaster they needed assistance with at the lodge.

  Roxie couldn’t believe they had pipes freeze and break not only in the lobby bathroom but also in the fire sprinkler on the roof. The one on the roof could have been even more of a major disaster if she hadn’t caught it in time, though shutting down the water for the whole lodge had been a necessity and had caused a lot of problems for the guests. Thank God for the wolf pack. They were over in force to fix things—to repair the pipes, clean up the water, get the electricity back on, get their lodge activities going—but it still took several hours to get it all done, and poor Dylan had to call her right when she was trying to get everything coordinated to fix things. By the time she had a moment to call him back, he must have been riding on the snowmobile or in the middle of trouble and he couldn’t answer the phone.

  She hoped he was all right. She texted him several more times whenever she had a moment, but she still couldn’t get ahold of him.

  “Hey, we almost have everything under control,” Blake said. “It’s so good that you caught the one on the roof before it was a total disaster.”

  “Oh, I agree. I was just on the second floor and thought I heard something like water shooting out on top of the roof, so I went up to check it out,” Roxie said.

  “Well, it’s a damn good thing you did,” Landon said, joining them.

  They were sopping wet and looked a mess. They had to get cleaned up and change after dealing with all that cleanup. They smiled at each other and took a break to go to their homes, Landon going with Blake so they could shower and dress in clean clothes.

  Then they were back to work, ready for the next adventure. Though Roxie was sure hoping that was the worst one they’d have to deal with today.

  Chapter 17

  When Dylan and the others finally arrived at the lodge, he hurried to grab his camping gear off the snowmobile, shook everyone’s hands—except Fennel’s, of course—and strode into the lodge. CJ was taking Fennel to the sheriff’s office, and Peter was waiting for him there. But Dylan only had thoughts about seeing Roxie and offering his help if she needed it. He couldn’t wait to see her and just hug and kiss her.

  Rosco rushed to greet him, which always delighted Dylan. The Saint Bernard treated him like he was one of the family. Dylan petted Rosco and put his camping gear on the floor by the dog’s bed so no one would trip over it in the lobby.

  Then Blake joined him, carrying Buttercup cradled in his arms. “I’m late for dinner with Nicole so I can’t talk, but I’m glad to see you back. I’ll see you later. I want to hear everything about your trip and finding Fennel when we have time to talk.”

  “Yeah, sure,” Dylan said. “Uh—” Before he could ask about the trouble they’d had, Blake was out the door with Rosco and Buttercup. Dylan headed to the registration desk to speak to Kayla. He didn’t see any problems at the lodge, but it had been hours since he’d called Roxie, so in that time, they probably had already dealt with it.

  Kayla looked frazzled, her hair damp and in straggles around her face. She smiled at him. “Crisis averted. We had frozen pipes burst in one of the lobby restrooms. We had water everywhere. Then Roxie discovered a fire sprinkler on the roof had broken. That was really serious business. I was in the middle of a wedding gig, and Blake and Landon were busy with other issues. Roxie was trying to get the plumber out pronto, the water stopped, and the place cleaned up when you called. Everyone had to stop whatever they were doing and race to help her deal with all the issues. It was a real mess.”

  “Damn. I wish I could have been here to help you out.” Though capturing Fennel had been really important, not to mention Dylan was glad Fennel was alive and hadn’t died of hypothermia or from any other cause.

  “How did things go with you, Dylan?” Kayla asked.

  “We caught Fennel, and luckily he was healthy and is willing to testify against Jim.” Dylan couldn’t have asked for more from him.

  Kayla’s jaw dropped. “Wow. That’s really great.”

  “It is. We got lucky. They could have all held their tongues and then it would have been their word against Luke’s. We have other evidence, but it really helps for Fennel and maybe Xander to turn on Jim. So where’s—”

  “Roxie? I’m right here,” Roxie said, heading toward him, and he wheeled around to give her a hug. “Whoa.”

  He smiled. “I so missed you.” Her hair was just as damp as Kayla’s and she looked just as tired, but she was beautiful. “What are you and Kayla still doing here? I was going to go to the house, but it was dark there so I figured you were here.”

  “It was a really long day. But I’m through. I’m so ready to go home.” Roxie hugged him tightly and shivered. “You are so cold. Let’s get you to the house and warmed up, and you can tell me all about it.”

  “You can tell me about your disaster today too.”

  “Ha! I figured Kayla had filled you in.” She smiled at Kayla. “Night, Sis!”

  “Night, Roxie!”

  Then Nate arrived at the lodge. “Hey, guys. I finally made it back from my stakeout and thought you’d be at home by now, Kayla. I heard you had some trouble.”

  Kayla laughed. “Yeah, let’s go.” She and Nate followed Roxie and Dylan out of the lodge, then waved goodbye as Roxie and Dylan made it to Roxie’s home and Kayla and Nate walked past Blake and Nicole’s home to their own.

  Roxie unlocked the door. “Blake took Rosco and Buttercup to their place for the night because you were returning home and they wanted to give me a break.”

  “I saw him doing that, but I wondered if that had been the plan all along.”

  “I had them last night while you were gone. When you said you were returning, I told Blake and he said he’d take them. I’m so sorry that I couldn’t talk to you when you called. I texted and called you later, but you had to have been on your way home by then.”

  “No problem, though I have to admit I was damned worried about you.”

  She smiled. “I was really overwhelmed at the time. Did you eat any dinner?” She almost sounded hopeful he hadn’t.

  “No, we had lunch on the trail, but we wanted to get home before it was too late. I can just make a tuna-fish sandwich or something.” But he really wanted to have dinner with her—fix it for her—after her hard day if she hadn’t eaten already. He checked his phone and saw all her text messages and he smiled.

  “No way. You need a nice hot meal. Besides, I’m starving. I had lunch too, but with the mess we had at the lodge, I never ate dinner and figured I’d just have it with you when you got in.” Roxie ran her hand over his arm.

  He smiled and kissed her mouth. “Okay, good. So what do you want me to make?”

  “We can have spaghetti if that works for you. I defrosted hamburger for the meat sauce, and I have all the rest of the ingredients we’ll need. Tomatoes, tomato sauce, mushrooms, onions, garlic cloves, bell peppers. How does that sound to you?”

  “I love everything you fix. I can make it, and you can put your feet up and tell me what happened at the lodge today.”

  “We both had a wild and adventurous day. We’ll make it together.”

  “Okay. Do you want me to cut up all the veggies?” he asked.

  “Yeah, sure.” She pulled the container of mushrooms, an onion, garlic, and bell peppers out of the fridge. “I’ll start the hamburger.” She brought out a pan and began cooking the meat. “I was thinking we could go out to dinner tomorrow night if you aren’t busy trying to capture Jim.”

  “Tomorrow night works for me. We didn’t find any sign of Jim at the cabin, so we’re kind of stuck on where to go next unless I stake out his place. But I suspect he’s not returning there. He might have even thought if the other guys arrived, they’d get arrested. Though I had considered he might have believed they’d never make it there alive. A warrant is out now for his arrest at least.” He told Roxie about how they captured Fennel. “It was anticlimactic. I expected him to go down fighting, but I don’t think he would kill another man just to get him out of the bind he’s now in. He’s just too beta. The same with Xander. Jim had to have orchestrated the whole thing, and I believe what Fennel told us.”

  “Okay, good. Then you’ll have the bastard. You just need to catch him. Or the police do.”

  They mixed the ingredients together and cooked them some more, adding tomato sauce and spices. She tossed a spinach salad with tomatoes, black olives, and mushrooms while he made garlic toast.

  Roxie told him all the details of the frozen pipes in the lobby restroom and the sprinkler on the roof of the lodge and what a mess that had been. “We all went home to clean up and change clothes, but Kayla and I didn’t have time enough to fully dry our hair.”

  “Well, I still wish I’d been there for you.”

  “Thanks. Would you like some wine?” She brought out a couple of wineglasses. “Merlot?”

  “Yeah. We deserve it.”

  “We do. We had a rough day.” They finally served up the spaghetti, salad, and garlic toast and sat down to eat, clinking their glasses together.

  “So you don’t have any ideas about where Jim could be?” Roxie took a drink of her wine.

  “No. But tomorrow, I want to speak with Fennel and Xander again and learn if there’s anywhere else Jim might have gone if he hasn’t already fled the country.”

  “Oh, that would not be good.”

  “I know. Damn, this spaghetti is good,” Dylan said, getting ready to take another bite.

  “Yeah, and it’s great for leftovers too. I love your garlic toast.”

  “Thanks.”

  “By the way, Carmela asked where you were staying, and I told her here. I had dinner with her and Kayla last night, so the word will likely get back to my brothers,” Roxie said.

  Dylan reached over and squeezed her hand, worried she was changing her mind about having him stay there with her. He would do whatever she needed him to for her peace of mind. “Will it be a problem?”

  She laughed. “No, or I wouldn’t have said you could stay. But if you’re going to be at my house, you might as well…stay. Permanently.”

  “I don’t want to be presumptuous, but you don’t mean you want to mate me, do you?” God, he hoped so.

  She smiled. “You may be presumptuous all you want. Yeah, I sure do want to mate you. I love you.”

  Absolutely thrilled, he rose from his chair and pulled her from hers and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her, tasting the wine on her lips. “You have made me the luckiest wolf alive, and I love you right back.”

  “You don’t mind that you’ll gain a whole family, parents even, since Nicole and Nate’s parents will adopt you too?” She sounded worried that he would be.

  “I would be thrilled. I’ve been alone for way too long. I thought I was fine with it until I met you. I could never go back to living on my own and be happy like I’ve been with you—no social life, no one to enjoy meals and movies and share such an intimate connection with.”

  “I’ve been lonely now that my sister and brothers have found mates and moved out. I knew they were important in my life, but I didn’t realize how hard it would be for me when everyone was mated, some of them having kids, and for me being the odd man out. But that’s not why I want to mate you. I absolutely adore you. When I couldn’t shift back and you let me out of my bedroom, raced up the stairs to get my phone, and acted like none of it was any big deal? That meant the world to me. We have been having a great time living together. I thought of waiting until after you finished working for the FSW, but I’m not going to change my mind. What about you?”

  “Not me. I sure don’t want to wait.” He couldn’t be happier that she didn’t want to wait.

  “Do you want to finish dinner and then—”

  “Yeah. Let’s do it.” He kissed her again, and then they sat down and started eating the rest of their salads, then ate more of their spaghetti. “When I saw you in that haze after you revived me on the pool deck, I thought you had the most beautiful brown eyes. I swore you were an angel.”

  “You needed one.”

  He chuckled. “I sure did. I was surprised to learn you were a wolf. I should have known you were the perfect one just for me.”

  “I was glad to learn you were a wolf too. I knew you would heal up faster because of it. I liked that you were working for the Fish & Wildlife Service, searching for bad guys who were harming wildlife and arresting them when you could.”

  “Yeah, it was a great job, long days, but because I didn’t have a family, it worked out fine for me. At the time. I will be glad to be here in a deputy sheriff role, close to home and loving on you.”

  “That’s what I want to hear. Now I know I’ll have a date for the Valentine’s Day celebration.”

  “A mate. For every special couple occasion and otherwise.”

  “Even better.”

  Roxie and Dylan finally finished the rest of their food and wine, cleaned up, put the remaining spaghetti in the fridge, and raced each other up the stairs to the bedroom. She was laughing as he was so close to her, teasing her, but unlike her sister who would try to pass her, he was a gentleman and just having fun with her. She loved playing with him.

  She figured her brothers might have told her to wait and date Dylan longer, for them to even get to know him better—as in drilling him about his whole life—but they hadn’t waited when they met their mates. Wolves often didn’t. So she wasn’t delaying this. Kayla and Nate had waited way too long—to Roxie’s way of thinking—but Roxie wasn’t anything like her sister. Roxie knew in her heart what was right. And that meant being with Dylan as his wolf mate in perpetuity.