Free Alaskan Sanctuary by Teri Wilson Page A

newspaper.
    Things had gone too far. It didn’t matter if Ethan quit writing the column. It didn’t matter if Lou fired him. There was no turning back.
    You’ve gone viral.
    It was too late.
    Tate crunched through the snow until he stood less than an arm’s length from the defaced cabin wall. “With all the snowfall we’ve been getting this morning, I can’t see any obvious footprints. But the paint is definitely fresh. This couldn’t have been done more than an hour ago. ”
    So Piper probably hadn’t seen it yet. Good.
    But she would soon enough. Would it frighten her? Maybe. Would it hurt her? Most definitely. It would stain her heart as surely as it had stained her little log cabin.
    One of the wolves howled, a lonely lament that sent a chill up Ethan’s spine, and an owl swooped overhead. He forced himself to look at the graffiti again.
    Killers.
    It left a bad taste in Ethan’s mouth. A taste oddly reminiscent of regret.

Chapter Five
    P iper was nothing short of giddy as she drove back up the mountain to the wolf sanctuary. She had a plan, a real plan, for getting the rescue wolves back in the community’s good graces. At last. Things were beginning to turn around, thanks to Posy.
    She’d loved Piper’s idea for the recital. The little ballerinas would dance a simplified version of Little Red Riding Hood , minus the scary ending, of course. The choreography would chiefly consist of the girls tiptoeing and doing simple ballet steps in red tutus and capes. Liam’s youth group could help construct the forest set. And at the end of the dance, after the girls had glided offstage and into the audience, Piper would walk across the stage with Koko on a leash. Just the two of them. It would be the last thing anyone expected. A real wolf.
    It was different, just different enough to pack the chairs of Aurora’s community center. Hopefully. Posy’s dance school and the wolf sanctuary could both use a little boost. A ballet studio and a wildlife rescue center weren’t exactly the most obvious allies, but working together made sense.
    Even the thought of what Ethan might have to say about the arrangement wasn’t enough to put a damper on Piper’s excitement. She tried not to think about that as she turned onto the highway that led up the mountain, and waved at the state trooper’s car that passed her coming from the opposite direction.
    Not thinking about Ethan was difficult, considering his picture stared up at her from the front page of the newspaper she’d tossed onto the passenger seat. She flipped it facedown.
    There, that’s better.
    Why should she worry about Ethan’s opinion on the matter, anyway? Other than the fact that he was paid to write about that opinion in the newspaper and all. She shook her head. It didn’t matter. Hundreds of people would view one of her wolves at Posy’s recital. Once they saw that these rescued animals were actual living, breathing creatures and not crazed monsters, they would understand. Or at least she prayed that they would. She couldn’t let Ethan Hale stand in her way. Not this time. These animals had been through enough.
    She pulled into the drive of the wolf sanctuary, half expecting to find Ethan waiting for her with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face, ready for battle. Time had gotten away from her at the ballet studio. Now she was late, an infraction for which she’d just chastised him the day before.
    But when she climbed out of the van, that wasn’t what he was doing at all. She paused and stared, wondering if she was seeing things. Because why on earth would Ethan Hale have taken it upon himself to paint her cabin?
    She marched toward him. “What are you doing?”
    He tossed her a glance over his shoulder before going back to the task at hand. “Painting.”
    “I see that.” She stood for a moment, wondering what exactly was happening. The gallon of paint that she usually kept stored in the shed was planted beside him in the snow. The brush that