Midlife Wolf Captured My Heart (Fated To The Wolf #7)

1. Sadie

1

Sadie

S adie sat at the counter in Howlers’ Bar and Grill looking through a list of potential books she could order for Angel’s Creek’s High School Library. Sadie, a bear shifter, was the media coordinator. School was in full swing and the kids, if not the teachers, were full of energetic excitement about sharing stories about their summer vacations with their classmates. Of course, in a town as small as Angel’s Creeks, most of the students had spent the summer together, but that didn’t stop them from reminiscing.

Sean McCullum, the wolf shifter who owned the bar and grill grinned at Sadie. “You can’t stop working even long enough to enjoy this fine establishment.”

“I guess I just feel so much at home here that I can be productive and fill my belly with good eats, that I don’t have to cook, at the same time.”

“Makes perfect sense to me.” Jade Thomas grinned, sliding a sweet iced tea to Sadie.

Jade was a wolf shifter and a member of the same Nightshade Wolf Shifter Pack as Sean. She had managed the place as long as Sean had owned it, although she had cut down a little on her hours since she went through the mating ceremony with her beloved dragon shifter, Marvin.

“I have to run out and do some errands.” Sean waved at Sadie. “I’ll see you later.”

Howlers’ was a great place for shifters of all animal breeds, as well as humans. It was almost like the bar on the eighties’ television show, Cheers, where everyone knows your name.

A tall, well-built man with salt and pepper hair sat on the stool next to her. Jade slid a napkin and a menu over to him. “What can I get you, sir?”

“Dakota. I would love a beer. Whatever you have that’s good on tap.”

Sadie thought that the voice sounded familiar and glanced over at him. She smiled widely and held out her hand. “Dakota Higgins. I heard that you were back in town.”

He grinned and clasped her hand. “Pleased to meet you.”

A thousand tingles of electricity traveled up her arm and throughout her body at his touch. She pulled her hand back, wondering at the sensation. It was completely new to her.

“I’m Sadie. I’ve several of your documentaries, and I have all of your books. I’m a huge fan.”

“Thank you, Sadie.”

Jade raised her eyebrows at Sadie.

“Dakota Higgins is from your own wolf shifter pack. He is a world-famous photographer and author. He tracks the lives of wildlife with his camera, researches everything he can about the animals, and then writes books about them. I’m pretty sure he’s also done at least a dozen documentaries that are shown on the nature channel.”

Jade seemed suitably impressed and offered her hand to him. “Please to meet you. I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you, especially since you are a member of the Nightshade Wolf Shifter Pack. I’ve heard your name mentioned a few times, but I don’t recall meeting you.”

“I haven’t been back in almost thirty years. I’ve been traveling all over the world, and just when I get done with one trip another irresistible opportunity presents itself.”

Dakota looked at Sadie and cocked his head. “How did you know I was a wolf shifter? I don’t necessarily advertise that.”

“I’m a huge fan. I’ve done extensive research. Besides, one shifter instinctively knows another.”

He nodded. “True enough.”

His leg brushed hers for a brief second and a rush of warmth flowed through Sadie almost taking her breath away. He quickly pulled his leg away and Sadie wondered if he had felt something, too.

Dakota ordered dinner and then Sadie looked at him searchingly. “I know you are here for the gallery showing of your work in Albuquerque. Do you by any chance have any downtime? I know that the kids at the high school would love to hear about your adventures if you would be interested in being a guest speaker.”

“I don’t know. Standing up and talking in front of a bunch of kids who would rather be outside playing or their video games sounds a little daunting. The life and times of the black rhino can’t compare to that.”

“You’d be surprised. There are a lot of kids who would love to hear a presentation from you. Plus, they love the opportunity to get out of class.”

He laughed. “I do remember that much about high school. I’ll be around for a couple of weeks. Let me know what’s good for you. I’ll be there.” He handed her his card which had his email address and phone number on it.

Sadie bombarded him with questions about his travels and he told her several funny and heartwarming stories about animals. “They all have their own personality. All a person has to do is look into the eyes of any animal and see their soul.”

“I’ve always believed that.”

Their legs brushed together a couple of times and he touched her hand and arm a few times. Each time they touched, Sadie felt as though she melted inside. A million butterflies exploded in her stomach and her heart raced. No man had ever had this kind of impact on her before.

Finally, he yawned and excused himself. “My flight got in early this morning, and I spent several hours at the gallery before driving here. If you’ll excuse me, I have a bed that’s calling my name. It was a pleasure meeting you.”

“Wow. He’s incredibly interesting. I listened to as much of the conversation as I could,” Jade said, wiping down the counter. “I might have to take a day off, grab the kiddos, and visit the high school while he presents.”

“Let me know. I’ll make sure that there’s room for you all. I guess I’d better get back home, too. My bed does sound nice.”

“It does. I’ll be taking off as soon as Sean gets back. I’ll see you later, Sadie.”

“Good night, Jade.”

Sadie looked at her sandwich and then at her friend, Talia’s bowl. “What did you bring for lunch?”

“I made a tamale pie casserole for dinner last night. Sebastian left enough for the both of us.” Talia pushed a bowl toward Sadie.

Sadie gratefully pushed aside the sandwich and dove into the bowl. “You are such a great cook. I’m surprised that Sebastian hasn’t put on a hundred pounds since your mating ceremony.”

“He works out too much. He runs constantly, goes to the gym, and sometimes goes on those undercover missions.”

Talia’s mate owned a security firm that did anything from acting as bodyguards to installing security systems to running operations for the government and other entities.

“When are you going to find a mate?”

Sadie shook her head. “It’s not that easy for me. Not everyone can come back from college and then hook up with their high school crush, like you and Sebastian.”

Talia grinned. “It’s true. I had a thing for Sebastian since I can remember, but he never knew I existed. I’ll never forget how he introduced himself the day that I moved back home from college.”

“You had gone through an extreme change. You were always pretty, but you came back from college a gorgeous woman.”

“Thank you. But there has to be someone out there for you.”

For some reason, Sadie’s mind briefly flashed back to Dakota and how her body heated up every time they touched. His scent had stayed with her, and she imagined she could smell it on her clothes now.

“There’s no one in Angel’s Creek who interests me.”

“Whatever happened to Billy Murray?” Talia asked, referring to Sadie’s high school boyfriend.

“When we graduated, we realized we wanted different things out of life. He wanted to move to the big city and be a businessman. I wanted to go to college and then come back to Angel’s Creek and do exactly what I’m doing. I was so excited that the previous media coordinator, Mrs. Carson, decided to retire just as I was graduating from college.”

Sadie took a bite of the tamale pie and moaned with the spicy goodness of the dish. “Billy went his way and I went mine. It was an amicable breakup, and I haven’t heard from him since then. His parents always go to our bear shifter clan meetings, ceremonies, etc., but he never comes back.”

“Didn’t you date anyone in college?”

“A few people, but nothing serious. I’m happy being an old maid. I have the books and the kids. When I retire, I’ll spend my days sitting on my back porch, sipping sweet iced tea, reading books and maybe even writing some of my own. I won’t have anyone to answer to. If I need to spoil children, I’ll just visit your house.”

Talia laughed.

“Changing the subject, you’ll never guess who I ran into last night at Howlers’ .”

Talia raised her eyebrows. “Who?”

“Dakota Higgins.”

“The Dakota Higgins?”

“Yep. I have a meeting with Principal Jones after lunch to schedule a time when he can come and speak to the kids.”

“That will be amazing. I’ve read all his books and seen his documentaries. He does incredible work. I know he’s a member of my pack, but I’ve never met him.”

“No. He graduated from high school here, went to college, and never returned to Angel’s Creek.” Sadie popped the lid back on the empty bowl and pushed it back toward Talia, who packed it up with her bowl.

“I’ve heard the pack members talk about him a few times. My parents talked about him a couple of times when I asked them about him. They said that he had always been extremely shy and kept to himself. He rarely, if ever, joined the pack activities. I’m excited to meet him.”

“He was very interesting to talk to. The passion he has for photography and wildlife was obvious when he told me stories. Even Jade was interested.”

Talia smiled. “Sounds like you have a little bit of hero worship going on.”

Sadie shrugged. “Maybe. I’ve always loved biology. If I hadn’t majored in library sciences, then I would have majored in biology.”

“I’m glad you didn’t. Then I wouldn’t have had a job.”

“I don’t know. Who knows, I might have been the next Jane Goodall, only instead of focusing on chimpanzees, I might have become a world-renowned expert on bears. The only problem is the extensive amount of time one has to spend in the wild. I like beds, flushing toilets, and home-cooked meals.”

The bell rang. Sadie stashed her sandwich in the fridge and headed to the principal’s office. Principal Connie Jones readily agreed to Dakota coming into the school as a speaker. Sadie said she would set everything up.

Sadie smiled as she walked back to the library. She called Dakota to make sure that he was available in two days. A slight tremble flowed through her when she heard his deep voice.

“I will make sure to put it on my schedule. I’ll be there.”

“That’s terrific. I look forward to seeing you there.”

She closed her eyes for a second and inhaled deeply. She could smell his scent, which was a combination of a light citrus scent and pine. That makes sense for a man who spent all of his time outdoors. However, there was just something about it that tickled her cells and ignited tiny flames inside of her.

“Ms. Andrews, are you okay?”

Sadie’s eyes flew open to see Andrew Hutchings in front of her.

“Yes, sorry. I was just thinking about something. How can I help you?”

“Mrs. Garner assigned us a project. We have to pick a career in science and present it to the class. We have to do research, have a slide presentation, create a poster, a tangible product associated with it, and write a speech. We have to use at least two sources that aren’t online. You know I love Hodgins from Bones. I want to be a forensic entomologist like him. Do you have something I can use?”

Sadie helped him find several sources he could use, thinking that Andrew was a genius. She would bet a million dollars that he’d love Dakota’s presentation – almost as much as she would.

Is it just his presentation I’m looking forward to or the chance to be near him again?

Sadie shook her head, trying to push away the thought. I’m being ridiculous. I just met him. I need to stop acting like a crazed fan who just met her favorite actor.