Page 43 of Midlife Wolf Captured My Heart

“Guilty as charged. I don’t know if they were hunters, but they weren’t polite.”

“How much longer are you going to hang out on the mountain?” George asked.

“I was going to take one more picture, but you scared my model away, so I’ll head back now.”

“Be careful,” Hailey said. “It was a pleasure to meet you.”

“All of you, as well.”

Dakota walked back to his truck on high alert. He was accustomed to the ordinary noises of mountains and the woods, so he didn’t jump at every single noise. “People who suck the joy out of the simple things in life should be put on a giant miserable island together.”

He thought about Charred Cove Island and grinned. It would be amusing to see how long a group of hunters would last on an island full of bad-ass shifters.

Sadie texted him that afternoon and suggested they shift and go for a walk.I know of a different place besides our usual mountain we could go. It’s protected.

Although he still wasn’t sure about how safe anyplace in the area could be, he replied,Sure. Sounds good.

A few seconds later, his phone buzzed.Meet me at my place around four.

He pulled into the driveway right at four. She was waiting in her car.

“My friends, Conner and Beth, own a huge ranch outside of town. There is a huge wooded area. They said that we could shift and wander around if we wanted to. It’s more than a hundred wooded acres, so it’s big enough to get some exercise in. It’s also well protected.”

“Conner. He’s the alpha’s brother.”

Sadie grinned. “Yes. He was in the rodeo for years but finally settled down recently. He and his wife bought several hundred acres on the outskirts of town.”

They still looked around for cameras and anyone lurking around before they undressed and shifted. Dakota was amazed that he was able to shift a lot quicker and easier than normal. Maybe he had just needed practice or maybe it was Sadie.

Their walk was a lot more relaxing because he was relatively certain there weren’t hunters lurking around. They would tend to stay off of private land – not because they respected people’s properties but because there wouldn’t be many, if any, shifters to kill.

After about an hour, they headed back. They shifted and dressed.

She tilted her head at him and smiled. “How about dinner at my place. Nothing fancy. I was thinking sausage gravy and biscuits, eggs, and ham.”

“I love breakfast for dinner. I’m in.”

He cooked the eggs and ham while she made the biscuits and gravy. Working together felt comfortable. Dakota decided that he could almost get used to a domestic scene like this – almost.

“Your homemade gravy is the best I’ve ever had.” He smirked. “So are the biscuits.”

She made a face at him because he saw her pop open the cans of butter-flavored biscuits. “Nice job on the eggs and ham.”

“A man on the go has to know how to make scrambled eggs and warm up ham.” After a couple of bites, he looked at her curiously. “What are your plans for the future?”

She put down her fork and steepled her hands. “To be honest, I haven’t thought long and hard about it. My biggest goal before was going to college and getting a position as a media coordinator or a librarian at a public library. Obviously, I accomplished those. Since I love books so much, I thought aboutwriting one. You reminded me how much I love researching, so I might find a topic I love and write a book. Or, I love the fantasy world with magic, witches, faeries, and other magical critters. I might just create a whole new world, make up a few new creatures, and create a supervillain that the whole world hates. My hero would be a woman – probably a female witch. I have friends who are witches and I adore them, so I might just base my characters on them. There will also have to be wicked witches.”

“What about a family?”

“There’s never been anyone I would consider mating with until…” She smiled at him and asked, “What about you? Have you ever thought about life after traipsing through the wild blue yonder capturing animals on your camera?”

“Not until I’m so feeble that I can’t walk and camp out in the wild. I’m hoping that I have a good thirty or forty years left. I guess after that I’ll just wither away and die.”

“You’ll always have a home in Angel’s Creek.”

“I know.”

They finished dinner and he loaded the dishwasher while she stashed the leftovers. She turned around and smiled at him. His heart melted and he couldn’t resist pulling her toward him and wrapping his arms around her.

---