Wolf Lake Box Set: Werewolf Shifter Romance

Chapter 2

2

I walked to the door and breathed a sigh of relief when the key worked. I stepped inside and surveyed the surroundings. There were real wood floors, stainless-steel appliances, and furniture that looked hand-crafted and more expensive than a New York City penthouse. The three bedrooms and two baths were in the rear behind a hallway wall, and to my right was the kitchen and dining room. To my left was the open living room with a large wraparound couch that flanked a wide flat screen TV.

However, there were a few signs that this was a cabin and not a luxury house. For one, a bunch of dead animals stared at me from the walls. They were stuffed heads from Mr. Trimble’s many hunting trips around the area. I was greeted by the unblinking eyes of moose, deer, coyotes, and cougars. Contrary to the name of the lake, there was no wolf. Another sign of the wilderness was the large fireplace to my far left and the gun over the mantle. It was a single-barrel rifle, and judging by its polished, faded wood looked to be quite old but still serviceable.

I gingerly walked along the floors and looked through the bedrooms for the plainest one, or at least the one with the fewest priceless valuables to accidentally break. That turned out to be the one to the farthest right, and I unpacked my clothes into the seventeenth-century dresser drawers and lay my coat on the four-poster wood bed of the same era.

The sun was setting by the time I cooked some steak from the freezer and stepped out onto the rear part of the porch. It had a great view of the shimmering lake as the wind calmed. The surface was like a giant mirror that reflected the blue skies and white, fluffy clouds. The cabin had a long dock that stretched out twenty feet into the lake, and like the rest of the bank there was an inviting white sandy beach.

I walked down the stone path and stepped onto the dock. It was as sturdy as a bomb shelter and clacked beneath my shoes as I strode the fifteen yards to the end. I knelt down and leaned over the edge over the water and looked into the depths. The bottom was ten feet below me, but the water was so clean it looked like I could dive in and stand up. I brushed my fingers over the surface and was glad to feel the water wasn’t too cold.

A noise caught my attention. I turned and watched a car drive along the road past my cabin. In the driver’s seat was a suited gentleman of about forty with dark spectacles and pursed lips. Beside him I caught a glimpse of another man, but the shadows were too deep for me to ascertain his looks. They drove onward, but slowed and pulled into the driveway of the cabin beside mine. While the lawn around the neighboring cabin was green with grass, the building itself was rustic. Old logs made up the walls and a thick stone chimney rose up from the moss-covered roof. A small rear porch was the architectural highlight of the structure.

The men stepped out and I could hear them talk to one another, but couldn’t make out the words. I noticed movement out of the corner of my eyes and turned to see Mrs. De Fray scurry out of her cabin beside mine. She hurried across what was, at least for the time being, my lawn and over to the neighboring cabin. The two men were still unpacking what appeared to be groceries when she jumped them. I still couldn’t hear what they said, but the gentlemen smiled at her and her laugh echoed down to me.

Then De Fray hurried off and waved to me on the way by. I waved back and looked to the neighboring cabin, but the men had gone inside. Their lights were turned on, reminding me that if I didn’t want to bump into a priceless antique I’d need to get my own lights clicked. I returned to the cabin, but was so tired I bagged the idea of the lights and went to bed.

The morning sun shown into my room and into my face. I scrunched up my face and buried it beneath a pillow, but my internal alarm clock shooed sleep away and told me it was time to wake up. I sighed and raised my head to look at the clock I’d brought. Seven in the morning. Sometimes I really hated myself.

I slipped out of bed, realized the temperature was just a smidge above freezing and a little below cool, and wrapped myself in the lowest bed sheet. I shuffled into the kitchen, put a pot of coffee on the machine, and sat down to contemplate the woodwork in the table until my wake-up juice was ready. There were two windows in the dining room, one at the front of the house and the other on the right side. I sat at the head of the table with my back to the kitchen and noticed the curtains were drawn and the front window had a good view of the road.

A figure strode down the road toward the men’s cabin. He was a handsome man of about thirty-five with dark black hair and a clean-shaven face. The man walked with a confident gate and wore a dark ensemble of a t-shirt, pants and shoes. The road was about thirty-yards from the window and I sat ten feet from the front of the cabin, but the man paused and stared inside and straight at me. He smiled and waved at me. I sheepishly smiled and gave a weak wave back, and he thankfully walked onward. I’d just met the mystery man in the neighboring cabin.

My coffee was ready and after breakfast I dressed for an exploration of the lake. I stepped outside and inwardly groaned when I noticed Mrs. De Fray hurry toward me. She always seemed to be in a rush to talk to everyone.

“Good morning, Miss Stevens! I have no doubt you slept well on our quiet lake,” she greeted me.

“Like a log,” I replied.

De Fray’s eyes flitted over to the neighboring cabin and she lowered her voice. “Did you happen to see our handsome gentlemen in the Campbell cabin?”

“I did notice them last night. Do they own it?” I wondered.

“Oh yes. The Campbell family has owned that cabin since before any of the others were built. The dark-haired gentleman, his name is William Campbell, he’s the current owner and comes up here for some quiet time away from his traveling. He arrived here a few days ago and plans on staying for at least the month.”

“So his business takes him away a lot?” I guessed.

De Fray laughed. “No, my dear. Will is quite rich. He hardly needs to lift a finger and he makes millions. No, he spends his time traveling. I’ve heard he’s had quite his share of adventures in Africa and Eastern Europe.”

“So he doesn’t come here much?” I asked her.

“Once every few years, but this is the first time he’s come around for our annual party, at least since he was a boy.” She squealed and clapped her hands. “It will be such fun to have him among the ladies. He’s quite the charmer, and his companion is very polite. The most regal servant I’ve ever seen. I asked Will where I might find one and he said only in the deepest parts of Eastern Europe. You see, the companion’s a foreigner, a Mr. Dmitri Vuk. Isn’t that such a funny name?”

“A very unusual last name,” I agreed.

“Well, I must be off. There are other friends to see and so much to plan for the party. Oh, before I forget.” She pulled a slip of paper from her purse and handed it to me. “The itinerary for the party. Ta-ta!” She gave her farewell and scampered off.

I glanced at the paper and saw it had the date and time for the picnic party along with what was being served. I was pleasantly surprised to find that hot dogs and other summer fare would be served along with a side dish of caviar and wine for drink. There was something about a wolf hunt that intrigued me, but there weren’t any particulars that told me what it entailed. I pocketed the paper and walked to the road. The road led left and right, and I decided on the left. It would lead me past the Campbell cabin, and I was curious to catch a better glimpse of my neighbors.

I leisurely strode by the cabin and caught my first look at the front. There was a small step in front of an old wooden door, and I could see that the rock foundation disappeared into the dirt. Like my cabin there were windows looking out on the road, but the heavy curtains were closed. The car was parked in the driveway, but I didn’t see anyone around the front or back. The cabin had a dock much like mine, but narrower and older. An oar-powered boat sat in the water with the rope wrapped around a post connected to the dock. I was disappointed not to see anyone, but I had other sights to see.