But when the woman came in with her pug, Gabrielle stayed to watch Doc do the exam and vaccinations, and the lady was grateful to learn Doc Mitchell had his replacement. Gabrielle couldn’t officially say she was working there as a vet until she received her Colorado state license.

  “We’re so glad you’ll be joining us,” the woman said.

  “Thank you. I look forward to it.”

  “Are you ready to get some skiing in?” Landon asked Gabrielle, as if he was worried Doc would keep her there the rest of the day to help out and get acclimated to the way his clinic operated.

  “Yeah, I am. And thanks, Doc,” Gabrielle said.

  “I should be thanking you.” Then he turned to Landon and said, “Take good care of Rosco, the kittens, and our new vet in the meantime.”

  “You know it.” Then they said their goodbyes and Landon put Rosco and the cat carrier in the car. “I can’t tell you how glad I am that you’re joining us for good. But I’m curious. When we were at the clinic, what made you decide to take it over?”

  “When I saw the baby moose and the fawn, the baby owls, and the injured eagle. My clinic wouldn’t take care of injured wild animals like that, for one thing. For another, we wouldn’t even have them out there. Of course, you and your family and the pack-run town were really big considerations. But seeing the rehab center made me feel like it was all the more important that I take this job.”

  On the drive back to the lodge, Landon said, “And then getting the place for free helped.”

  “Before I knew Doc Mitchell was giving the whole business to me for free, I was ready to say yes. I was just hoping I could afford it, once I sold my own place and used some of the savings I have. I still can’t believe he isn’t selling it to me. I hope he doesn’t regret the decision, but I can always pay him something for it in compensation if he needs the money later. Besides, returning here to stay for good has become a necessity for me. There has never been a wolf in my life like you, someone who could turn my whole world inside out and make me want to ditch Florida for the unknown.”

  “You won’t regret it. I promise you.”

  She smiled at him. “You are the best. I need to tell my co-op I’m leaving, and I need to get the paperwork together concerning my qualifications to meet those required by the Colorado board for licensing.”

  “Okay, do whatever you need to do, and I’ll help you with whatever I can. Living here in Silver Town was the best decision my family ever made. Any reservations we might have had were gone once we settled here.”

  Gabrielle got a call on her cell phone and smiled. “Lelandi.”

  “It doesn’t take long for good news—or bad—to spread in a pack.” Landon smiled at her.

  “That’s something I will have to get used to.” She answered her phone.

  “Hi, Gabrielle? This is Lelandi. Doc Mitchell told us the good news. He might not have told you, but we help move our valued new members here, at no cost to you. Everyone will help.”

  “Oh, thanks. I have a lot of furniture I’ll be leaving with the house, or selling there. It suits a Florida home, not a woodsy Colorado mountain home. But thanks. The idea of moving is a nightmare though.”

  “We’ll help you every step of the way.”

  “Thank you. I really appreciate that.” Gabrielle was surprised. When she and Lelandi ended the call, Gabrielle called the co-op and gave them her notice, though she would also send written notice as soon as she could email it.

  “You can’t,” their office manager said, sounding flustered and upset.

  Of course Gabrielle could. She only had to give two weeks’ notice, per the co-op’s agreement, but she was surprised to hear their office manager’s concern. “What’s wrong?”

  “One of the vet’s licenses has been suspended as of today. It’s Dr. Clarkston. He was charged with drug abuse. But it wasn’t just that. He had eight prior DUI convictions and several other incidents that prompted this. Another vet was in a car accident and broke his leg. He won’t be able to return to work for about six weeks. Can you believe it? And then you want to go? That leaves us with only one full-time vet. Can you please wait until we hire two vets to replace you and the other doctor? Otherwise we’ll be really short on help.”

  “Let’s see how it goes. If you can’t find a couple of vets before I’m scheduled to leave, I’ll stay there until you do.” She still needed to sell her house and get a vet’s license in Colorado, so she didn’t mind helping her co-op and her clients a little longer.

  Landon was frowning at her as he pulled into the lodge’s parking lot.

  “Okay, thank you. It’s just been such an awful upheaval right now. We’ve got the part-time vets trying to take care of all the clients the other two vets and you were responsible for,” the manager said.

  “The vet here has no one to cover for him.”

  “Oh, okay. Is the vet clinic in Colorado where you are skiing? If so, you’ll have to get your state license for there, won’t you?”

  “Yes, I will.”

  “Okay, well, I already put out the word we were looking to add one more vet on the staff at the clinic, so I’ll send out the notice we’re looking for two now. Thanks so much, Dr. Lowell. We’ll see you first thing next week then.”

  “Right.” Ugh. Gabrielle finished the call and turned to Landon. “Okay, so we’ve lost two other vets at the clinic, one permanently.” She explained what had happened as she got out of the car. “I might have to stay a little longer than planned. They may need to hire another vet technician to help out until the injured vet returns to work.”

  “That’s not good.” Landon held onto the carrier of kittens and walked Gabrielle and Rosco into the lodge. “What can I do to help you get everything done?”

  She smiled. “Don’t worry, I’m coming here. I do need to get my vet’s license in Colorado. I have all the credentials: I graduated from an approved school of veterinary medicine and I’ve passed the computerized national examination. I just need to send all the information to them—complete the application, indicate where I’ve been practicing and give them my license number, and send them the fee. I’ll do that today. I have all my documents saved on the cloud.”

  “Okay, good. If there’s anything you need me to do, don’t hesitate to ask.”

  “Lelandi said that some of the wolf pack members will help me move.”

  Landon laughed. “I haven’t heard them offer to move anyone else here. When we came here, we were on our own. They really want you here. But I’ll be there to help as soon as you need me to.”

  Gabrielle unhooked the leash from Rosco’s collar in the lodge, and he greeted Roxie and Kayla, who were both coming out to greet Gabrielle.

  They both gave Rosco a hug first because he was in the way. Then gave Gabrielle hugs, and she knew the whole pack had already heard that she was going to be their new vet. She felt welcomed like she’d never felt before in her life. She knew she was doing the right thing.

  She explained to the sisters about work, and then repeated the news to Blake who hurried to meet up with them in the lobby and give her a hug.

  “What can we do to help?” Blake asked, the sisters looking on eagerly to learn what they could do too.

  Kayla took the carrier of kittens from Landon.

  “Nothing for now. I just want to have fun on my vacation. Before long, I’ll have to leave here and be back at work in Daytona Beach.” Gabrielle took Landon’s hand. “We’re going skiing before lunchtime, if you can spare him for a little while longer.”

  “He’s all yours,” Kayla said, smiling. “I’m heading to the house with the kittens. I’m thrilled Doc Mitchell already posted on Facebook about adopting Ambrosia.”

  Gabrielle was glad that he had taken the momma cat in.

  Everyone agreed.

  “Yeah, and we can’t be any gladder you’re returning to us, Gabrielle,” Roxie said.

  “Thanks. I’m looking forward to it.” Then Gabrielle and Landon took off for the ski slopes. She was glad she would be part of a wolf pack. And some year in the distant future, she wouldn’t be hoping to find a wolf to replace her at the clinic. She would be working with another wolf to train him or her to be her partner at the clinic eventually.

  “Since I’ve been here, I haven’t seen Doc any happier than he is now. I suspect he’ll be celebrating at the tavern tonight,” Landon said. “Speaking of celebrating, we’ll be doing that at our house too.”

  “That will be fun.” When she became a vet, there hadn’t been anyone to congratulate her. Of course the three vets and the staff had welcomed her to the co-op, but there hadn’t been any big celebration. This was so different from the way it was back in Florida.

  Everyone who was a lupus garou who had gotten word about her becoming their new vet had to stop them and congratulate her as she and Landon headed for the chairlift through the snow. She felt like a celebrity. No one paid any attention to her back home. It was almost embarrassing to have so many people excited about her moving there and becoming part of the pack, but she knew they were really happy to have her and it wasn’t all put on.

  She and Landon finally made it to the chairlift line.

  “That’s only a few members of the pack. I’m sure you’ll find everyone welcoming,” Landon said, smiling at her.

  “It’s great to feel that way.”

  “It is. We had a mixed reception. Some were concerned that our business would take away business from the rest of the town, and then Blake snagged Nicole’s attention when she dropped into the lodge, which meant no bachelor males in the pack had a chance with her. With you, it’s different. You fill a need that helps everyone out.”

  Gabrielle and Landon had been so busy talking, and she’d been so busy thinking about what she had to do next, that she wasn’t paying attention to the chair when they got ready to ride it up. It slammed into them from behind and she bounced off. Landon jumped off and joined her, and they moved out of the way of the chairs.

  Everyone continued to move off on the chairs until Gabrielle and Landon reached the beginning of the line and the next couple motioned for them to go ahead of them. Man, that was embarrassing. From feeling on top of the world to nearly falling on her face. She laughed at herself when they got on the chair this time, and she held on tight.

  He smiled at her. “It happens all the time.”

  “Yeah, but it’s the first time for me. That was scary.”

  Chapter 14

  After skiing the rest of the morning and having lunch, Landon gave Gabrielle a hug and kiss in the lobby. “I never tell anybody my dreams, but I just have to tell you mine, considering how I met you. I dreamed a beautiful she-wolf would swim into my life. Since I run a ski lodge, I figured it was just nonsense, like most dreams are.”

  “Was this before or after you saw me swimming in the pool when I wasn’t supposed to be?” She arched a brow.

  “Before. About a week before, actually. The she-wolf was diving off the swimming platform at Doc Mitchell’s lake. Like I said, I didn’t put much stock in it. Not even after I saw you swimming in the pool and learned you were a wolf and a vet. It just came back to me all at once when we saw the swimming platform at Doc’s lake. And immediately I thought of you swimming there.”

  “What was I wearing? In your dream?”

  He smiled.

  “Not the string bikini.”

  “Nope. It was summer and you weren’t wearing anything at all. But your hair was definitely blond.”

  “A naked woman. Were you swimming with me?”

  “I was just about to.”

  She laughed. “In the raw or…?”

  “In the raw. Of course.” He was already thinking about making his dream come true next summer.

  She smiled and kissed him. “I’m going to run up to my room and get some paperwork for the licensing done, and I need to officially send off a letter that I’m giving notice. Do you have a computer I can use to type it up? I can email my resignation to the vet clinic. As to the Colorado board, I need to mail my paperwork to them, so if we can print it all out, I can send it in.”

  “We sure do and then we’ll drive the car over to the house since I left it parked at the lodge. And we’ll make snowmen.”

  “Sounds like a winning plan to me. I’ll let you know as soon as I’m headed down.”

  “All right. I’ll help my brother and sisters out in the meantime.”

  “I’m sure they will appreciate that.” Then she headed for the stairs to her floor.

  Landon walked into the office and his sisters both smiled at him.

  “So,” Roxie said, “Brother, it looks like your dreams might come true.”

  “I’m hoping that some other wolf doesn’t convince her he’s the one for her instead once she moves here.”

  “No way. Just keep doing what you’ve been doing. It’s been working so far,” Kayla said. “Snowman building next, right?”

  “Yes.” He told his sisters what Gabrielle was doing.

  “Oh, I hadn’t even thought of the issue of Gabrielle having to get a state license. Doc Mitchell is thrilled about her taking over,” Roxie said. “He sent a message to everyone in the pack.”

  “I heard about the text message but didn’t have time to check it. I think Gabrielle will be really happy once she’s able to move and get settled in,” Landon said.

  “You know Doc Mitchell will be celebrating tonight,” Kayla said.

  “I think a lot of people will be,” Landon said.

  Blake joined the siblings in the office. “You just have to make sure she doesn’t see all the other bachelor males.”

  Landon laughed. “What do I need to do to earn my keep here?”

  “Everything’s covered for now,” Blake said. “Let’s head out.”

  “Go ahead,” Landon gestured. “I’ll wait for Gabrielle.”

  * * *

  Gabrielle felt lighthearted about this whole situation. Maybe in a few days, she would be more anxious, but right now, she was excited. She finished the application for the state license and then she texted Landon: I’m on my way down.

  Landon replied: See you in a minute. My sisters and brother already headed over to the house with Rosco.

  Gabrielle hurried down the stairs and across the lobby. When she reached the office, Landon set her up on the computer and she typed up her letter. She printed it off and then sent the email to her vet office, giving them official notice. After that was done, she printed off all her documents for the Colorado state board and one of the Wolffs’ staff said he would take it to the post office for her and mail it right away.

  Then Landon and Gabrielle drove over to the house, saw Nicole with his sisters and brother all working on a snowman, and parked in the garage.

  “This is going to be so much fun,” Gabrielle said.

  “It is. We haven’t built a snowman as a family in forever. And Nicole said she hasn’t either.”

  Ready for some serious snowman work, Gabrielle and Landon joined the others and she asked the family, “So what are we making, then?”

  Using a snow shovel, Roxie was filling a bucket with snow. “We’re making a giant snowman. We were going to make a snowman family, but there are getting to be too many of us and so many of the pack family members do that already. So we decided on a giant snowman.”

  “That sounds like fun,” Gabrielle said.

  The others had started the base of the snowman and Gabrielle and Landon jumped in to help.

  After building the smooth base, they took a hot chocolate and Christmas sugar cookie break.

  “This has been so enjoyable.” Gabrielle eyed the growing snowman. “I imagined a small snowman, nothing like this.”

  “We haven’t ever made one this big before, either,” Roxie said. “This has been great.”

  They brought out a couple of ladders and began making the middle section of the snowman. But sometime during the work, they ended up in a snowball fight. Landon pelted Blake, who had to get him back. Nicole threw a snowball at Roxie, and Gabrielle threw one at Landon. Everyone ran to the deeper snow where they could gather their balls of snow.

  Snowballs were flying fast after that, and Gabrielle laughed so hard her stomach hurt. Kayla threw them at everyone as fast as she could gather a snowball. Nicole made a pile of them first. Gabrielle got hit more than anyone since she was still laughing so much.

  After a few more snowball tosses, they were back to building more of the middle section of the snowman.

  “Will others try to copy you?” Gabrielle asked as they loaded another few buckets of snow on a wooden sled where the snow was still deep and pulled it to the cleared-out section where they were building the snowman.

  “No. That’s one thing about a wolf pack: we’re family. No one tries to create the same kind of wolf snow sculptures like the Victorian Inn’s ones, and no one will copy us,” Landon said.

  “That’s good. After all the work we’ve put into this, it would be awful to hear someone else did the same thing,” Gabrielle said.

  All afternoon they worked on it until they had the base and middle part of the body done. The sun was beginning to set and colored the snow pink and yellow. It was beautiful. Gabrielle had never considered how pretty a sunset reflecting off the snow could be.

  “Let’s have supper,” Landon said. “Then Gabrielle and I are going night skiing.”

  “We can finish the snowman tomorrow afternoon,” Roxie said.

  “Yes, I agree,” Blake said. “It’s supposed to be cloudy and snow all day, no sun, and the weather will continue to be freezing so that will help to preserve our snowman.”

  Everyone headed inside, banging snow off their gloves and boots at the door.

  “So we’re having steaks and mashed potatoes and broccoli,” Roxie said, “to celebrate Gabrielle’s becoming our vet. No spirits for you two, though, if you’re going skiing.”