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“Okay, that’s good to know. I didn’t bring my purse, but you could put your wallet in there while we’re running as wolves or out hiking.” She looked out at the pine trees and sighed. “The first thing I want to do after we arrive at the cabin is swim in the lake. It’s so hot out.”
He felt the same way. “I’m all for that.”
Up ahead, they saw two men walking on the private road, carrying hiking packs, tents, and sleeping bags, scruffy, bearded, both dark-haired. Nate pulled over onto the shoulder of the road. “Hey, this is private property out here.”
The one man shrugged. “Didn’t see anything posted.”
“No trespassing signs are posted all over.” Nate hated when people who trespassed on the pack’s private land always claimed that. Hunters, hikers, you name it. But the land was privately owned, and they didn’t want humans trespassing on it, should some of the pack members want to run in their wolf coats during the day—or night.
“Well, we’re on our way out of here. Nice to meet you. Have a great day.” The men continued to hike back toward town as if they could do whatever they wished and get away with it. Not intheirpack territory.
“They lied about not seeing the no trespassing signs, don’t you think?” Kayla asked.
“Yeah, I’m sure of it.” Nate called Sheriff Peter Jorgenson on Bluetooth. “Hey, Kayla and I are about a half mile from the Silver Falls cabin, and we ran into two human hikers who are trespassing on the private road. They both have dark-brown hair and beards and are wearing jeans and hiking boots. One is wearing a black T-shirt; the other has a gray T-shirt.”
“They are loaded down with camping gear,” Kayla added. “So it appears they’ve been in the woods for a while. With the van window open, we smelled their pungent, sweaty body odor. We could smell they’d been drinking—beer, whiskey—and smoking pot too.”
That was the thing about their sense of smell. It was heightened as wolves, and they could smell odors more intensely. Nate might have brushed it off because he just wanted to enjoy this time with Kayla, but they had to let trespassers know there were consequences for trespassing. Otherwise, they were bound to do it again and share with others that they had done it, and then the trespassing couldspiral out of control. They had to think of their wolf pack’s safety above all else.
Peter said, “We’ll intercept them on the road.”
“Great.” It was always a good idea to be vigilant to keep their wolves safe.
As soon as Nate and Kayla reached the cabin, she sighed with relief. “We’re here. I haven’t gone camping since I moved to Silver Town.”
“Neither have I. Each of us just needed the perfect camping partner.”
She smiled. “We sure did. Now, let’s hope it’s a success. What if we find out wedon’tmake compatible camping partners?”
“Not happening. We’re going to have a blast.”
“We will.”
With a couple of boxes of groceries in hand, Nate climbed up the steps, set the boxes on the porch, and unlocked the front door. He opened the door and set the boxes inside on the island counter in the kitchen while Kayla hauled in more groceries. Then he grabbed the straps of Kayla’s hiking pack and eased it off her shoulders and set it down on the floor. They finished unloading the groceries and his backpack from the van. He shut and locked the door while she got them some water to drink.
“Boy, this is going to be so nice,” she said, looking around at the cabin.
“It sure will be.” He pulled her into his arms and kissed her.
“Really great. No interruptions.”
They drank their fill and then put away all the perishable groceries. Afterward, they carried their packs into one of the bedrooms with a beautiful view of the blue lake surrounded by woods on three sides.
The cabin had three bedrooms so that families could stay there in comfort. A large fireplace took up most of one wall, perfect for winter and chilly nights. The living area had three brown couches, one that folded out into a bed for additional guests, and a bookcase filled with books and board games for all ages. A stack of blankets could be used for cuddling on the couches on cold nights.
The cabins were about half a mile apart, and each had electricity and running water, but none of them had Wi-Fi. The cabins were meant to be a getaway for wolf families and friends and not a place to conduct business. It was a way to reconnect with their wolf halves and with nature—though they had all the comforts of home life too while staying at the cabins, more so than if they went tenting. Which, for mating, worked out better for them.
“I almost feel guilty that it’s just the two of us staying here when I know this is the most sought-after cabin and it’s the prime season for rentals,” Kayla said.
Though the cabins were used year-round.
“I reserved it months earlier,” Nate said.
She smiled and shook her head. “And you kept it secret from me all this time?”
“Yeah, I even kept it from Nicole until a few weeks ago. I was afraid she’d mention it to Roxie or Blake, and they’d make the mistake of mentioning it to you. I really wanted it to be a surprise for your birthday.”
“Well, this is fantastic. I’m just glad we could both get away and enjoy it.”
