The Wolf Within (Book 1 of Wolf Within Series)

Take Me With

** Dakota's POV **

"It's unlocked! Come on in." I called, not wanting to leave the wolf's side. Both Rangers came inside, Ranger Alexa immediately knelt down on the other side of the wolf and started to examine the gun shot.

"Ma'am, I'm Ranger Castello, were you at all hurt in the incident?" The other Ranger asked, kneeling beside me after closing the door. Their eyes looked at me briefly but they seemed to have a hard time pulling their eyes away from the wolf. They had short platinum blonde hair, with a slight fauxhawk of messy spike. The glasses that rested on their nose were sleek, accentuating their air of intelligence. They had a strong build and very androgynous features, with a flat chest and strong jawline, which seemed to be flexing in frustration.

"I'm fine, but the man outside... Oh god, I should've checked on him. He wasn't moving so I assume... well I think he's dead.." I said weakly. I wasn't sure how to feel about the fact that I left the man bleeding in the grass, choosing to tend to the wolf instead. He was trying to kill me, the wolf saved me. I thought to myself. He wasn't moving whereas the wolf was badly injured and saveable. I tried to justify it, but still felt a bit guilty.

Ranger Castello must have seen my inner turmoil because they placed a hand on my shoulder in an attempt to comfort me. "You didn't do anything wrong, I'll go check on the man. Can you tell me where he was in relation to the porch? We didn't see him when we drove up" They stated.

"He's outside, to the right of the porch a few yards near the tree line. I can show you." I said and began to get up when suddenly I felt an instinctive pull to stay. It was like my gut was telling me "Don't go...please. Stay." I then hesitated, and sat back down again. I looked at the wolf, her eyes on me, watching. She seemed to be pleading with me to stay.

"It's alright. I can find him." Ranger Castello said and promptly got up and went to check on the man lying, presumably dead, in the prairie.

Ranger Alexa looked up at me from the wolf and said, "It's alright." Tears ran down my face as she said that. Her hand reached across the wolf for mine, I gave it to her and she squeezed it gently. "It's not your fault." Her voice was gentle as she continued, "We've been having problems with poachers around here and it looks like you dealt with one of them. They are ruthless and dangerous. You are lucky nothing bad happened to you."

"I know." I said, glancing down at the now sleeping wolf. "This wolf saved my life." My voice was filled with thanks and I looked back to Ranger Alexa, "Please don't let anything bad happen to her."

"Sweetheart, like you said, this wolf saved your life. Don't worry. We will take good care of her." She said, and gave it a gentle pet on its back. "You'll be fine Chief," she whispered just as Ranger Castello walked back into the house.

"Al, it'll be best if we get her back to the station." They looked down at me, apparently they sensed my want to protest her leaving. "It'll be alright, we have better equipment there. She'll do better if we remove the pellets from the shot."

Ranger Alexa stood and grabbed the bloodied blanket from the counter, "May we borrow this to bring her back with us?"

"Yeah, of course." I answered, and as they lifted the wolf from the ground, she let out a whimper. My instincts perked back up at and suddenly I realized I would be all alone if they left. I was normally quite brave but I wasn't stupid brave. I knew I was still vulnerable alone in my cabin and the threat of another nearby poacher was still very real. My gut may be extremely active right now, but it hasn't steered my wrong yet. "Um," I started, and Ranger Castello looked back at me as Ranger Alexa finished carrying the wolf out of the door and made her way to their truck. "I'm afraid to stay here alone, would it--" I stopped for a moment, and hoped my question would be clear.