The Wolf Within (Book 1 of Wolf Within Series)

Finally A Vacation

** Dakota's POV **

It was so nice to get away from work finally. I had been stuck trying to meet the ridiculous deadlines I had been given for the past two months.

Working as an Art Director was supposed to be fun. I thought to myself. If my boss was better at his job, maybe it would be. He had never been good with timelines and had gotten into a bad habit of only giving me half the time that was actually needed to complete any of my tasks. Not to mention he hardly did any work for himself and was constantly making me do his work as well.

While taking the credit for it AGAIN. I thought to myself in disgust. I shook my head as I tried to shake off the feeling.

"We are here to have fun. NOT focus on work." I said, as I looked down at my cat, in hopes that she would acknowledge my statement in solidarity. Instead, I was given a few tail twitches and some tightly shut eyes as she laid on her side, cuddled up next to the pillow on the sofa. Apparently, I had interrupted her nap. "Awe, I'm sorry Silvy." I cooed as I walked to her and pet her gently between the ears. "Did I wake you?" She answered with a yawn and a big stretch. "Would you like me to leave you alone so you can sleep?" She laid on her other side and released a small meow in reply and went right back to her nap.

"Alright." I said as I returned to the kitchen counter and continued preparing dinner. I had been getting chicken kebabs ready to cook over the open fire. It was nice to have some peace and quiet while I did so. I was so happy my parents hadn't let anyone book the cabin for the week. They had told me, when I asked if I could use it, that they couldn't make any promises. I couldn't blame them, it was a popular rental space and they hadn't wanted to lose their loyal renters. Thankfully, when they saw how overworked I was they allowed it.

It was a nice little cabin they had built before they had me. It was situated on a wonderful plot of prairie land which had a small lake, perfect for fishing. The whole prairie was surrounded by a thick forest and, on a good weather day, the distant mountains could be seen. It was the place to be when one just wanted a break from the world.

I took my plate of kebabs outside to the fire I had started when I arrived. The wood had burned down enough to allow for some open fire cooking, without too much risk of the meal getting burnt to a crisp. My stomach roared with hunger, thanks to work I had gotten here a few hours late and was just starting to cook my dinner at 11:30 pm.

"Dakota, before you go on vacation, did you finish setting up the contract with that artist?" Mark had said on the phone this morning. That mixed with the three hours of trying desperately to get in contact with the artist in question, who apparently had been in the middle of their own vacation, I was unable to get to the cabin until 8 pm.

Day one of fourteen though. Still thirteen days after this one to relax. I thought to myself as the smell of chicken and grilled vegetables filled the air. While the food cooked, I went into the cabin and turned on the radio; I wanted to listen to some classic jazz hits as I ate my dinner. Silvy didn't seem to mind, she just curled up tighter on the couch.

Poor thing, must be tuckered out from the long drive here.

I went back outside and began munching on my dinner when, in the distance I heard a sound that made my skin crawl.

It was wolves howling.

Normally I wasn't skittish about wolves being in the area. They had been roaming these lands for a lot longer than people had anyway, so really, I was just a guest in their home. As long as I respected them, they'd leave me alone.

But this was different. This was the most wolves I'd ever heard howl at once. Normally, when I heard them howl it was maybe three or four of them howling together. This was.... Well, it sounded like an ARMY of wolves.