Page 24 of Corey
“I waited until daylight then hiked through the woods and ran straight into his cabin. He was lying unconscious in the snow.”
“What?” Wes barked, and everyone started talking at once.
Corey sighed. “I had the flu, but I’m fine now.”
“You should’ve called, Cor,” Wes said, clearly annoyed. “What if she hadn’t stumbled onto you. You’d still be lying out there.”
“Then I guess we’d have a Corey popsicle,” Lex stated. “A Corsicle?”
“Storm was with me.”
“I’m surprised that beast didn’t start eating you,” Chaz said in a dry voice, and Corey glared at him.
“If he was going to eat anything, it would’ve been my cat,” Sera interrupted. “But he didn’t.”
“That’s because he’s a good wolf,” Corey stated, and Chaz and Lex snorted.
“Anyway, no one was eaten,” Brand said, getting them back on track. “But you said the men showed up at the cabin later, right?”
“That’s right.” Corey glanced over at her, and Sera remembered how she’d fallen apart in the cellar. She cleared her throat, hating that moment of weakness.
Looking from Julia to Ellie to Lottie, she had a feeling none of them would’ve broken down. They all seemed so strong and confident. And happy as hell. God, she envied them. At one time, before the incident that changed her life, she’d smiled so much more and believed in good triumphing over evil. But now, not so much.
“I have a feeling they’ll be back, too,” Corey said grimly.
“I’ll put a call in to Mitch,” Brand announced. “See if he has any intel on J&J Shipping.”
“Who’s Mitch?” Sera asked.
“My dad.” Julia smiled. “He works in D.C. and has access to all sorts of intel. In the meantime, Sera can come upstairs with me and the girls. I have some warmer clothes you can borrow, if you need some.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to take your things.”
“Not a problem,” Julia said, standing up. “You can borrow whatever you need.”
“C’mon,” Lottie said, also getting up with Chaz’s help. The big man doted on her like nothing Sera had ever seen. It was…incredibly sweet. A fierce ache filled her.
Ellie also hopped up and pressed a quick kiss to Wes’ lips. They all seemed so close, like a little family, and Sera longed for that. To belong to a group. Losing herself in work had seemed like the answer until recently. Now, however, she knew that wasn’t the case. Because when she’d needed help, no one had been there for her.
Until Corey.
She realized he was watching her, and when she met his ice-blue gaze, he gave her a nod and her heart thumped harder. He didn’t have to say anything. The reassuring look on his rugged face told her everything she needed to know.
He and his friends were going to help her. She didn’t have to keep running scared. Relief flooded through her as Lottie linked an arm through hers and led her toward a back room and staircase.
Chapter Ten
“Okay, Emerson,” Lex said, leaning back in his chair with a shit-eating grin on his face. “Spill it. And we want all the gory details.”
“Spill what?” Corey asked, trying to ignore the way his friends stared at him. Yeah, okay, so maybe he never brought a woman around. But was it so inconceivable that they were now staring at him like he had two heads?
Jesus.He really was that fucked up.
PTSD? Check.
Baked goods, puzzles and a wolf? Triple check.
A beautiful woman? Hell no.
