Page 42 of Midlife Wolf Captured My Heart

No, you wouldn’t, you liar,he thought.You wouldn’t have missed it for the world.

After several cups of coffee, he settled down to work on the book. He got a bling letting him know that he had an email. It was from Zac.

Hunters are definitely in the area. They killed two shifters who weren’t attached to a clan and were simply living theirlife. Be on high alert. I cannot stress enough that you should never shift alone. We don’t know how many hunters there are. The word from other packs and clans is that they are targeting alphas, but will kill anyone.

Dakota groaned. For the most part, he was a “live and let live” person. However, there were some people who didn’t deserve to breathe the same air as others.

He reread the message and then deleted it. Even though he wasn’t in Angel’s Creek, he had always received emails from the pack over the last couple of decades. Once in a while, he read them just to see if there was anything interesting going on. Usually, though, he deleted them. Now, he might start reading them just to see what was happening in the area. Dakota assured himself that he had no intention of reestablishing ties with his hometown.

“I wonder if Sadie and I will keep in contact after I leave. It would be nice to hear from her, but on the other hand, it might be painful for her.” After a second, he added, “And me.”

Dakota was getting restless, so after a couple of sandwiches, he packed up his gear and headed up the mountain. He wanted to shoot some more pictures and maybe make a collage for Sadie.

The crisp mountain air filled his lungs as he scanned the landscape. A beautiful mountain bluebird landed on a branch right in front of him. It seemed to be curious about him. Dakota moved slowly as he removed his lens cap and steadied his camera. He swore that the bird was posing for him as it tilted its head to one side and then gave him a profile shot.

“Thank you, Brother.” Dakota spoke softly because he didn’t want to scare the bird away.

Over the next hour, he managed to get shots of the pinyon jay, dark-eyed junco, mountain chickadee, and Swainson’s hawk. He got a great picture of two rabbits playing with eachother, a very curious chipmunk, as well as several other animals. Pleased with the photographs he managed to get, he thought he might head home. He could stop off at Hobby Lobby craft store because they usually had some pretty awesome frames.

His mind thought about a book he could create based on the pictures he’d taken in the area. People in New Mexico would be interested, but so would those interested in biology because they were always interested in learning about different animals that weren’t in their area.

He grinned when he remembered being in Wyoming with a colleague. The man had never seen antelope before and was like a kid because he was so excited.

“I could offer the book free to the subscribers of my newsletter that my publisher writes and sends out. People love free stuff and it could get more people signed up, which meant more publicity, not only for me, but also for the animals and their causes.”

With a million ideas racing through his mind, he set up to take one more picture. A twig snapped behind him. He dropped his camera, so it hung by the strap. He quickly replaced the camera lens and whirled around.

His heart raced and he looked around, trying to figure out the best exit strategy if he needed one. Two men and a woman stepped out of the copse of trees.

It was almost a replay of his encounter with the first three men. “What are you doing here?” a tall man with blond hair asked.

Dakota sighed and shook his head. He held up his camera. “Taking pictures of the wildlife.”

“Why?” the woman asked.

“Because I’m a photographer. That’s what I do,” Dakota said flatly.

The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as he studied the trio. He stood his ground because he wasn’t going to show an ounce of fear, unless they made a threatening move and he had to run.

There was silence and then the shorter man, with shaggy dirty blond hair smiled. “I know him. He’s Dakota Higgins. He is a famous wildlife photographer, and he’s a member of my pack.”

Dakota could feel the tension drain out of his body and seep into the ground away from him. He smiled and nodded at the young man. “You’re a member of the Nightshade Wolf Shifter Pack?”

“Yep. I’m Jimmy White. It’s an honor to meet you, and in your element even.” He stuck out his hand for Dakota to shake.

His companions looked confused so Jimmy explained. “He is a wildlife photographer. He’s written several books and been on tons of documentaries.”

The other two nodded and smiled like a lightbulb suddenly came on.

The woman held out her hand. “I’m Hailey. I’m from the bear shifter clan. This is George, from the dragon shifter clan.”

George offered his hand. “We’re the scouts on duty right now. I’m sure that Zac sent out a message letting everyone know that hunters are in the area.”

“I got the email this morning. I figured they would ignore me since I’m just a photographer.”

Hailey shook her head. “This particular group of hunters has been known to kill humans. They are pretty vicious. Plus, they have cameras up so if you’ve shifted even once, they would know you.”

Jimmy cocked his head to one side. “You are the one who may have already encountered the hunters, aren’t you? You got a picture of one and sent it to Zac.”

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