Canadian Wolf
Canadian Wolf
Linda O. Johnston
He's the one man she can never trust… Sergeant Major Owen Dewirter lives every day with the guilt of having let a shifter hurt one of his own. Now he's being forced to work beside Alpha Force newcomer Selena to train a new covert unit of shifters for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and stop a rash of serial kidnappings. Can Owen ignore his prejudices–and his fantasies–about his sexy new partner and do his job?When their passion ignites in the remote Canadian woods, the tension between Owen and Selena puts the joint mission in jeopardy. Can they learn to trust each other while tracking the enemy? Or will a cunning foe lure them into a dark and deadly endgame?
She didn’t even think about resisting…
When their mouths met, the whole idea of conducting research on her own to avoid him flew from her mind, even as she pulled him even closer.
His hardness against her was irresistible. “Owen,” she whispered against his mouth.
“Good thing we’re in your bedroom,” he said hoarsely. “Or was this why you came in here?”
Despite herself, she laughed a little without pulling back very far. “Believe me, I came in here to avoid this.”
“Nope, I don’t believe you.” He softened his words by deepening the kiss.
Selena moaned against him, even as her most sensitive body parts warmed and tingled in anticipation.
But though she still reveled in her memories of the last time despite recognizing what a bad idea it had been, having sex with Owen again would be an even worse idea…and it was absolutely foolish to even contemplate it here.
LINDA O. JOHNSTON loves to write. While honing her writing skills, she worked in advertising and public relations, then became a lawyer…and enjoyed writing contracts. Linda’s first published fiction appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and won a Robert L. Fish Memorial Award for Best First Mystery Short Story of the Year. Linda now spends most of her time creating memorable tales of paranormal romance, romantic suspense and mystery. Visit www.lindaojohnston.com (http://www.lindaojohnston.com).
Canadian Wolf
Linda O. Johnston
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
My special thanks to my wonderful agent Paige Wheeler of Creative Media Agency, and to my delightful Harlequin editor, Allison Lyons, who have been so fantastic in helping to keep the stories of Alpha Force an ongoing miniseries.
Thanks, too, to writers Leslie Knowles and Ann Finnin, who read my manuscript and gave me some great revision ideas.
And as always, thanks to my amazing husband, Fred, whom I always acknowledge in each of my books because he inspires me.
Like my other Alpha Force Nocturne™ books, Canadian Wolf is dedicated to shape-shifters and the readers who love them.
Contents
Cover (#u53ff08f2-8b39-5d4d-ac58-f509e20a84ca)
Introduction (#u653605ad-3800-5d12-8eaa-277aed52fddb)
About the Author (#u0e1fa1f5-f8b7-5465-a6d9-9f19bfb9cd05)
Title Page (#u5cd610b2-4748-57f2-936a-9cf1f7018b86)
Dedication (#uce6ba437-d96f-5a32-a716-0996e0a01d66)
Chapter 1 (#u3587c65a-ba99-544e-8785-744864668483)
Chapter 2 (#u1b287d78-3302-52e6-a1a7-27d527ee94c6)
Chapter 3 (#u16bfa509-8405-5e5f-8e51-07bf05c73f89)
Chapter 4 (#u0226cd61-9af6-5017-a5bb-6b585ab73281)
Chapter 5 (#ubee23bd5-deb1-580f-a367-b3353331290f)
Chapter 6 (#u9e0f9f0b-411f-5d66-98d3-a1c174530050)
Chapter 7 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 8 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 9 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 10 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 11 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 12 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 13 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 14 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 15 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 16 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 17 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 18 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 19 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 20 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 21 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 22 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 23 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 24 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 25 (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 1 (#ulink_a2a4582e-f67f-54e3-a2a9-bc0331390489)
“I’m still so jazzed!” said Lieutenant Rainey Jessop, clasping her hands under her chin. “Working with Mounties. This’ll be so much fun!”
Lieutenant Selena Jennay sent a wry smile toward her aide. Rainey had been excited from the moment the two of them had first been given this assignment—yesterday. As for herself, she was skeptical. She’d reserve judgment until she better understood the players in this new mission.
She took a seat across from her aide at the table in the small meeting room with gray wallpapered walls, the secluded area to which they’d been shown after arriving at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s northwest Vancouver facility. Her cover dog, Lupe, a canine who resembled a mix between a wolf and a husky, lay beside her.
She glanced at Rainey. “Do you think it’s more fun than working with shapeshifters?”
Rainey looked momentarily shocked, a rare occurrence for the outgoing and chatty young woman. “Hardly. But I’m going to get to work with both Mounties and shapeshifters. Amazing!” She paused, and her smile morphed into a frown as two men in white shirts and blue pants walked into the room. “Although I’d hoped that we’d get to work with Mounties in their gorgeous dress uniforms and tall hats,” she added under her breath.
Selena and Rainey rose to meet the men, smoothing down the camo uniforms of Alpha Force, the highly covert US military unit to which they belonged. Selena’s light brown hair and Rainey’s darker brunette locks were both pulled back tightly into clips.
“Good morning,” said the first man to enter. He appeared middle-aged and had short white hair. Walking around the oval wooden table to where Selena and Rainey now stood, he held out a veined, long-fingered hand. “I’m Anthony Creay, deputy commissioner of the RCMP’s general policing services.”
Then he was the head of the group who’d contacted Alpha Force, Selena reasoned. “Hello, sir,” she said, shaking his hand. She introduced both Rainey and herself. Then she let her gaze drift to the other man.
“Sergeant Major Owen Dewirter,” he said, proffering his hand for a shake, too. “Also with general policing services.”
And most likely the man with whom they’d be working over the next few weeks, Selena figured. The other guy was his superior officer and probably just wanted to make sure things got started well.
“Which one of you is the shapeshifter?” Owen asked. The sergeant major had a distinctively handsome face, with brilliant blue eyes beneath strong brows that matched his short, wavy black hair. His nose was aquiline, his chin broad with just a hint of a beard shadow.
Yet judging by his unreadable expression, Selena had the impression that he wasn’t overly fond of shifters. Did he even believe in them? That wasn’t clear, at least not yet.
“That would be me,” she said in as mild a tone as she could muster, considering her initial bout of irritation. She could be wrong. She didn’t know the guy, let alone how RCMP members thought or acted. He might be attempting to impress his superior officer by remaining emotionless.
“How fascinating!” Anthony did indeed appear fascinated. He stood behind a chair at the opposite side of the table, his eyes wide, his mouth slightly open. “I’m pleased that you’re here to give us a close-up demonstration.”
“Yes. About that.” Rainey drew their attention as she sat down again. Her movement caused Lupe, who’d stood up as the humans did, to sit as well. “We’ve discussed that and are not sure about the best way to handle it. You see, we need a bit of privacy. Actually, Lieutenant Jennay needs a bit of privacy,” she amended. “I’m her aide, and I’ll be with her, but a shift requires that someone, er—”
“I’ll be nude,” Selena interjected. She remained standing for now, her arms crossed. “That’s why I have a female aide. We use a special proprietary elixir, and we will make some available to the shifters you have recruited into the new RCMP team that we’re to train. When the rest of our Alpha Force team arrives tomorrow or the next day, they’ll include a male shifter or two. They may be more amenable to being observed by men when they change. But although you can definitely see me once I’ve shifted, you unfortunately can’t watch me shift.” She found herself looking straight into Owen Dewirter’s still-unreadable gaze. “Too uncomfortable for me. And I don’t like to feel uncomfortable.”
“I see.” The words were drawn out slowly by Anthony Creay as he sank down into a chair across from the two women. And clearly, to Selena, the point was that he could not see. Not everything. “Nude? I didn’t consider that—but I believe that observing a shift was part of our understanding. So we would be sure of the genuineness of the help we’re getting.” As he scowled, his fleshy lower lip protruded.
Owen took a seat beside him, then exchanged glances with his superior officer. When he turned back to Selena, he had a decided frown on his face, too. “We need to work something out here,” he said. “We have to watch the process to be sure you’re a real shifter and not just trying to put something over on us.”
His pronunciation of the word out—with an almost long O sound—emphasized that he was Canadian. But his accent wasn’t the only difference between them. He wanted her to get nude in front of him for her demo shift? Not gonna happen. Even though he was one great-looking guy. The thought of him observing her body as she stripped sent waves of heat through Selena that made her feel as if this meeting was on the hottest summer day in the US South instead of a cool evening in the Canadian West.
Was this whole thing primed to be a fiasco? Selena hoped not. She and Rainey were here representing Alpha Force and, since they had been in the western United States and were therefore the closest of those in their unit who had been selected to help the RCMP form their own similar unit, they’d been ordered to Vancouver to give a small and limited demonstration.
Limited being the key word.
Even Lupe must have sensed the tension in the room since she stood beside Selena and whined. Selena reached out and hugged the wolf-dog closer to her.
“Here’s the thing,” she said to the men in as reasonable a tone as she could muster. “Let me introduce you first to my cover dog. Lupe, this is Deputy Commissioner Creay and Sergeant Major Dewirter.” She scratched Lupe behind the ears in a manner that caused the dog to turn her head toward the two men, not that Lupe, a genuine canine, could understand her words. “Gentlemen, this is the canine who looks a whole lot like me when I’m shifted. The way I figured we’d do this demonstration is for Rainey and me to go into another room. You can keep Lupe with you and lock the door to the room. With Rainey’s help, I’ll shift. Then when you unlock the door there’ll be Rainey inside with a canine who looks a whole lot like Lupe. Voilà! That’ll be me, shifted. There’ll be no other person in the room. With doors locked and all, there’s no way we’d be able to do this without it being the real thing.” The very suggestion that they’d try to pull a scam on representatives of a national police department that had requested their help really peeved Selena.
“But we understood we could see the actual shift take place.” Creay’s tone was icy.
Selena glanced toward Rainey, who looked uneasy and bewildered. Well, she needn’t be. Selena was in charge here, at least for now.
“I understand your wish to see the process, gentlemen,” she said. “Maybe you’d have been able to if you hadn’t requested Alpha Force’s presence so urgently. You said you needed at least our initial representation within one day. We were the closest team members available. So here we are.”
“I recognize that,” Creay retorted. “But we don’t have any extra time, either, to wait—or to deal with a situation where things aren’t as represented to us.”
“Are you accusing us of lying?” Selena hated to be confrontational, but their attitude was forcing her into it.
“We’re not accusing you of anything.” Owen’s voice sounded placating, but his expression remained unreadable. “We just want to ensure we’ve got what we were promised by the US military.”
Selena wanted to make good on that promise, too, for the sake of Alpha Force. She took a deep breath, then said, “Look, we want to cooperate with you—but certain things are nonnegotiable. If you don’t feel you can trust us, if you think we’ll play some kind of hoodwinking, magical game even when you can watch to make sure the room stays locked—well, maybe we’d better just leave right now.”
Selena saw Owen glance once more into the angry face of his commanding officer. Then Owen looked directly toward Selena. “Okay,” he said. “We understand your concern, and I hope you understand ours. Our mission is highly important. And...well, it’s probably no surprise to you that not all people believe in shapeshifters. We just need—”
“Do you believe in them?” Selena glared as if daring him to say that who she was, what she did, wasn’t real.
“Yes,” Owen said quietly, planting his arms on the table in front of him and leaning toward her. “I do. But this is all new to Deputy Commissioner Creay and he has his doubts.”
Interesting, Selena thought. Creay’s position was that of the majority of regular people. But the sergeant major was a believer. How did he know the reality?
Well, if he was the one who’d be working with them, maybe she would find out. Or not, if things continued to deteriorate.
He leaned in closer toward Selena, and his confrontational posture made Lupe tense up and growl. Glancing at the dog, he backed up slightly. “We seem to be at a stalemate. I’ll be with you at the headquarters of the new team we’re forming. But Deputy Commissioner Creay won’t be with us. He’s going back to our headquarters in Ottawa when we’re done here. I may be able to watch some of the male shifters change then, but he needs to see you shift now.” His expression changed then from demanding to something Selena couldn’t interpret at first. Challenging?
Could be, considering his next words.
“I’ll tell you what, Lieutenant Jennay. If you strip and show us your change, I’ll strip right along with you. That way we can both feel uncomfortable, not just you. Although I have to admit that I’m just a normal human being.”
Selena blinked in surprise at his outrageous offer.
Normal? She doubted that. The idea set her body on fire, and it was all she could do to prevent herself from letting her gaze slide down his fully clothed body toward the area she really would like to see nude.
But was he serious? Or was this some kind of additional challenge? “That’s not—” she began.
“Not necessary,” Deputy Commissioner Creay interjected. Selena drew her gaze away from Owen and focused on Creay. His expression had calmed a bit. “I trust the people I spoke with at Alpha Force, and I’ll trust them more after one of us gets to observe a shift. But that’s apparently not going to happen now, so why don’t you do your shift, as you suggested, inside a locked room. We’ll check out the room before you enter and then monitor the shift from the outside. For now, that should be fine.”
Selena gave a sigh of relief that the face-off had now been averted, even as she continued to watch Owen Dewirter. Now his eyes, too, were unreadable.
What would he do if she told him that she accepted his offer to strip bare?
No matter how much she liked the idea on some level—like, deep inside her now-blazing body—she wouldn’t agree. Handling her shift the way she had already described was the best way to go. It should satisfy them. This was an RCMP facility. Where would Alpha Force find another dog that looked like Lupe and be able to sneak it in?
Besides, she was aware that others in Alpha Force sometimes used this method of shifting in a secured room to prove to nonshifters who—and what—they were, and she hadn’t heard of any problems resulting.
But all she said was “Fine. So...shall we get started?”
* * *
Owen Dewirter observed Selena from across the table—for the moment, at least—as she stood.
Maybe he’d been way out of line with his suggestion. It had been impulsive. But it had also been born out of irritation and a need to end their impasse.
Owen hadn’t wanted to strip here—although the idea of seeing Selena Jennay nude definitely stiffened a certain part of his body. But he also knew Anthony Creay well enough to be certain that his superior officer didn’t like to be denied anything he believed he was entitled to.
This way, Anthony wound up making the decision—a good thing, and probably the only way to make the superior officer stand down. And now what Lieutenant Selena Jennay had proposed had become acceptable. She would shift without a male audience.
She would shift, though. He didn’t actually doubt that she was a shapeshifter.
Although he believed—no, knew—they existed, he had major concerns about shapeshifters.
But this one was also a gorgeous, sexy woman—even dressed in the sexless camouflage uniform of US soldiers.
She was slender, moderately tall, with full lips and high cheekbones. Her light brown hair seemed most unusual, with highlights that shimmered in even the low artificial lights in this conference room. Her amber eyes flashed with emotion as she spoke—like now, as she conversed softly with the other woman, glancing occasionally toward the two men.
Owen rose, too, as did Anthony. “Do you know of any suitable room?” his superior asked in a low voice.
“Why not in here?” Owen asked. “We can leave.” As he spoke, he scanned the small chamber, furnished only with the table and chairs. They were two stories up, so their visitors couldn’t slip Selena out and a dog in—especially since the window overlooked the parking lot and the station’s inside guard post. Whoever was on duty would no doubt see any shenanigans.
“I suppose that would work,” Anthony said, also looking around.
As they spoke, Lieutenant Jennay speared them both with a sharp gaze that gave no quarter. Owen had no doubt that if her demeanor was typical of the US military’s Alpha Force, that explained how the covert group accomplished its sometimes impossible missions.
He looked forward to this assignment.
He’d been one of the very few members of his division within the RCMP’s general policing services who hadn’t immediately scoffed when Anthony asked in his interview whether he believed in shapeshifters. Owen knew they were real.
He just didn’t happen to like them. Experience had taught him to mistrust them.
And yet, it was in his country’s best interests for a group of shifters from the States to help the RCMP to form its own covert unit, similar to Alpha Force, but a police unit instead of a military one.
Owen was all about helping his country. He would head the team. The fact that he’d previously worked with canines at the RCMP’s police-dog service training center wouldn’t hurt, either.
“So what do you think?” Selena eventually asked, her hands on her hips and confrontation in her expression.
“We’ll lock you right in here,” Owen said with no inflection, as if he had no interest in continuing the confrontation. “This is as good as any place. Maybe not the most comfortable location to get naked, but you won’t be aware of it for long anyway.”
“Not true,” Selena snapped back. She clearly hadn’t lost her attitude. “You may believe in shapeshifters, but you don’t know anything about Alpha Force and our elixir if you think we lose awareness. For your information, the elixir developed by members of Alpha Force allows us to shift without a full moon and to keep our human awareness when the moon isn’t full, and neither is the case with other shifters.”
“Sounds like a useful concoction.” Owen had understood there was something that made Alpha Force members different from other shapeshifters, but hadn’t known what it was.
She seemed to relax a little after that. “But that’s okay for now. You’ll learn more as we help to train your RCMP shapeshifters.” She drew out those words as if to rub the concept back in his face.
He realized that he was smiling—wryly perhaps, but genuinely. She wasn’t only lovely. She amused him.
Even though she was a shapeshifter. Or so she said.
She was right. He knew little about Alpha Force, its elixir or anything else related to the unit. But if she could genuinely shapeshift now, when the next full moon wasn’t due for a couple of weeks, it would tell him a lot.
“There aren’t any security cameras in here, are there?” Selena asked. He watched as she scanned the walls.
“No,” said Anthony Creay. “This room is usually used for secure and private meetings.”
“Okay, then we’re on.” Selena looked around a little more as if she didn’t trust what he said, but there were no places that Owen saw, either, where equipment could be hidden.
“Fine,” he said. “Now, what would you like us to do?”
It was her turn to grin. “If you’d like, you can go ahead and get naked anyway.” She let her eyes scan Owen’s body up and down, and he felt himself start to respond. Not a good idea. Not here, and not ever.
But since they were going to be working together, should he call her bluff after all? He gave it a second’s thought before he knew the answer. No sense in angering his commanding officer. “Nope,” he said. “I think this is your cue, not mine.”
She shrugged one shoulder, as if she had no interest in whether he kept his clothes on or not. Too bad, he thought. But it was better that way.
“So what would you like us to do?” he asked her.
“Leave.” She began walking around the table, holding out the leash attached to her dog’s collar. “Just watch out for Lupe. She’s a great dog—but like me, she’s got quite a bite if you rile her.”
He assumed she was still just teasing. Even so, he gingerly grabbed hold of the leash’s looped handle. It was his responsibility, not his superior officer’s. The furry wolf-dog looked up at him with eyes that did indeed appear a similar amber shade to Selena’s. Her cover dog. The way she would appear while shifted, she’d indicated.
A fine representative of the wolf species, albeit with some traces of other canine stock, like, perhaps, Siberian husky.
“I bite, too, Lupe,” he said, although the way he petted her furry head belied his words—justifiably. He liked dogs. A lot.
It was their shapeshifting counterparts that he didn’t trust.
Was Selena different? He’d see, as time went on.
“Well, don’t bite my dog,” Selena said.
She turned around, waving her hand. “Right now is a good time for you gentlemen to leave.” She glanced over her shoulder. “After you lock the door you can stand in the hall to make sure we don’t slip out and play the games that you apparently expect. Rainey will knock for you to open the door when my shift is complete.”
“Fine.” Owen waited until Anthony had cleared the doorway, then followed.
He turned back for an instant, just long enough to notice that Selena was already preparing for what would occur after he locked the door. Her head was bent as she started unbuttoning her shirt.
Too bad he really couldn’t stay and watch. Maybe some other time.
The other woman, Rainey, had crossed the room and picked up the large backpack she’d carried inside before. She studied its insides, and before Owen left, he saw her extract some kind of bottle. Was that the elixir Selena had mentioned?
He figured he would find out, if not today, then in the days to come, when he was with the Alpha Force members who had promised to help instruct the new RCMP members he had assisted in recruiting.
Those new members were also shapeshifters—or so they’d claimed—and had their claims confirmed by reputable friends and family, including others within the RCMP. He hadn’t yet had a chance to watch them shift, either, since they did so only under a full moon—so far.
“Hey, haven’t you left yet?” That was Rainey, who’d looked toward the door after handing the bottle to Selena.
Selena had stopped moving and was also watching him suspiciously.
“On my way.” He gave a small yank on Lupe’s leash. The dog obeyed and preceded him out the door.
Owen shut the door behind him and took the key from Anthony’s hand. He turned it in the lock.
“So,” he said, “I guess now we just wait.”
* * *
Moving her erect ears, inhaling deeply to further stimulate her sense of smell, Selena stared at the door.
Her shifting had finally ended. As always, there had been discomfort.
Also as always, she had finished taking off her human clothes before imbibing the elixir and waited while Rainey shone the special battery-operated light on her that resembled the glow of a full moon. But this time she had also turned to stare at that closed door.
Maybe the distraction had helped, since the discomfort hadn’t seemed as bad as usual. Even now, shifted, she couldn’t help wondering what it would have been like if Owen Dewirter had actually removed his clothes, too.
“You okay?” Rainey asked as she always did.
In her wolfen form Selena couldn’t shrug and say, “Of course.” Instead, she just gave a soft growl and lowered her head.
“So, you ready to show off to those doubting Thomases?” Rainey asked next. “Why would they even invite Alpha Force to help save their Mountie butts if they didn’t believe that our abilities—your abilities—were real?”
That wasn’t something Selena could respond to, either. Not now, in any event. And in fact she had no answer.
But she’d definitely gotten the sense that the smart-alecky Owen Dewirter believed in, but did not appreciate, shifters.
She would find out why. Eventually.
For now, she padded over to the door and listened. Even as a human, her hearing surpassed that of normal people, but it was particularly enhanced after her shift, as were her senses of smell and taste.
She sensed that Lupe was still outside. The men were talking, perhaps joking a little.
The older man clearly did not know what to expect.
She lifted her paw and touched the door frame, which cued Rainey, who knocked to summon the two Mounties.
Selena heard footsteps on the hallway floor. In seconds, she heard the sound of the key in the lock. The door was pulled open, and Owen stood there, looking in.
On one side of him was Anthony Creay. On the other was Lupe, who pulled on her leash.
Selena walked forward and traded nose sniffs with her cover dog.
“Care to come in and look around, gentlemen?” Rainey sounded smug.
“Yes,” said Anthony, and he strode through the open entry.
Owen just stood there, looking into the room and down at her. She could not read his expression. It wasn’t admiring, but neither was it full of scorn.
“It is real,” she finally heard the older man say. “No Selena here, just the dog. The wolf. Whatever.”
“Yeah,” Owen agreed. “It’s real. And that’s a good thing, since our guys have a lot to learn to accomplish our underlying mission.”
She might help to teach them a lot—but she needed to know exactly what that mission was. And soon.
Chapter 2 (#ulink_59e6fd80-8b24-5797-9543-56fb1d53d765)
It was morning, the day after the three Alpha Force members, including the dog, had arrived in northwest Vancouver.
Now Owen was ready to drive them up to their new headquarters, where he—and they—could get to work.
For the moment, he had parked his SUV in front of the hotel where both he and the visitors had spent the night. He settled back in the driver’s seat, waiting for them.
Last night, when their sort-of demonstration had ended, it had been too late to head out. Besides, Selena had looked tired after what she had been through. Once Anthony acknowledged that she must indeed be a shifter—Owen hadn’t doubted it by then—she, her aide and her dog had remained in that conference room while Anthony and he went back into the hall.
Owen hadn’t locked the door that time. He’d figured Selena, changing back from a wolf-dog into a human—a naked human—might have wanted that option, but she hadn’t asked for it before shifting back, and neither had her aide.
Of course neither he nor Anthony had attempted to peek. Even so, Owen, who never considered himself to have much of an imagination, had still somehow visualized what her slim but curvaceous body might have looked like without any clothes on...
Well, he could imagine anything he wanted, including sexual attraction to a female shapeshifter in human form. That fantasy would remain far from reality, for a whole lot of reasons, not the least of which was that she was a professional colleague...and—oh, yes—she was a shifter.
The good thing was that Anthony now believed—which meant their operation could move forward.
Plus, Owen hadn’t had to strip to get the dispute resolved. It had been a dumb offer on his part. He knew that. He’d recognized it even as he’d suggested it, Anthony’s attitude notwithstanding. Worst thing now was that it might negatively affect his professional relationship with Selena. He’d have to be careful and treat her with total respect from now on.
And keep his clothes on.
Before they’d adjourned last night he’d called this hotel and made reservations for them and himself for the night. His current home was in Ottawa, since he’d been most recently stationed at the RCMP main headquarters there—until now. But he would become a resident of West Columbia as soon as they got there.
He scanned the front of the hotel and saw the trio emerge. He got out of the car to open the doors for them.
The women rolled suitcases behind them and carried bags over their shoulders. Rainey seemed in charge of the dog.
As they got closer, Selena blatantly looked him up and down. Interesting. Did she approve of what she saw?
“You’re not wearing your Mounties uniform,” she said. “Not even the casual kind you had on last night—although someday soon we’re going to insist on seeing you in one of those classic and formal red jackets and rounded hats.”
She had a smile on her face. She looked well rested and seemed clearly in teasing mode. Good. Maybe things weren’t as bad as he thought.
“Only if you earn the right to see me that way,” he said, keeping his face expressionless. “I have to admit that I like you in the civilian clothes you’re wearing today a lot better than the camo uniform.” The jeans and T-shirt she wore hugged her curves.
Why was he noticing such things? Especially after cautioning himself to resist any sexual attraction to her.
He quickly opened the rear hatch and helped them load their suitcases and backpacks, then watched as Rainey ushered Lupe into the backseat and followed the dog inside. Lupe was obviously a well-trained dog, one he’d enjoy working with, given the opportunity.
He doubted that the humans, while shifted, would be as well behaved.
By the time he closed the door after the woman and dog, Selena was already buckled in the front seat. He hurried to the driver’s side and got in.
“So where, exactly, is our destination?” Selena said as he turned the key in the ignition.
“West Columbia.”
“How far is it?”
Owen maneuvered the car away from the curb. It was his own vehicle. Even though this was an official mission, the whole operation was to be done undercover. Plus, he was moving to this area to be in charge of the new covert team. He would not drive his prior on-the-job vehicle, an RCMP sedan, around here.
“About an hour from here,” he finally answered as he pulled into traffic. “It’s a somewhat remote, moderate-sized town where tourists come and go, so we won’t stick out as being intruders. It abuts some forested mountains and seems like a good location for our new detachment, but we’ll see. The location is also part of our experiment. The new RCMP members who are part of my team are already located there, and to everyone they talk to they’re on vacation but considering moving there. That’s what all of us are to say, if anyone asks.”
Owen drove north toward Highways 1 and 99, the Trans-Canada Highway nearest to where they started out, although it would turn into the Upper Levels Highway and Sea-to-Sky Highway before they reached their destination.
“Sounds good,” Selena said. “Since you’re national police and not military, you shouldn’t need something like Ft. Lukman, which is Alpha Force’s headquarters. It’s an actual military facility in Maryland and has units stationed there besides ours. We’ll tell you more about it, if you’d like, as we undertake our training sessions. By the way, what’s your new team to be called?”
“It’s the Covert Special Services Group. Our nickname for the group, at least for now, is the Canada Alphas, or CAs.”
“That works,” Selena said. “At least it’s somewhat compatible with Alpha Force.”
He glanced at her yet again and saw that she was smiling, and that lovely expression was aimed toward him.
“Now all we need to do is to get your shapeshifting team whipped into shape,” she said.
* * *
Staring out the window at the lovely, forested Canadian countryside with vast mountains in the background, Selena couldn’t help wondering how hard their assignment would be. From the little she’d learned when ordered to hurry to this area, the shifters Alpha Force was going to assist in training had only just been recruited into the RCMP. They probably had no experience in law enforcement or the military. Their shapeshifting backgrounds probably hadn’t even allowed them to consider the possibility of shifting outside of full moons, let alone keeping human cognition while in shifted form.
Bless you, Alpha Force elixir, she thought.
Yet she had a sense that this man, who’d be in charge of the RCMP contingent, could make her job even harder.
She needed to figure him out.
What did he really think about shapeshifters?
And the idea of his offering to get naked...? Stop thinking about that, Jennay, she ordered herself silently.
She glanced into the backseat. Lupe lay down with her ears up but her eyes closed, and Rainey watched the view out the window, as Selena had been doing.
Yesterday, they’d been in a car most of the day—a rental vehicle they’d picked up hurriedly in Seattle and dropped off in Vancouver.
Good thing they’d had adequate ID with them to get into Canada—their passports and military identification. But Alpha Force members were always prepared for anything. It was part of the job.
She hoped she was prepared for the man beside her.
Turning to Owen, she asked, “I gathered that you believed in shapeshifters even before you got the assignment of working with them, right?”
“That’s right.”
Along with his bland acknowledgment, she watched Owen’s physical reaction. There was none. At least none that she could see. He didn’t look at her, and his handsome blue eyes didn’t blink as they stared at the road ahead of him. His strong chin remained at the same level as before. He continued to drive at a speed compatible with the flow of traffic, watch the road and not say or do anything that would indicate his attitude toward shifters.
But she was curious. She wasn’t sure why it mattered, but she hoped he not only believed in shifters, but also liked them, at least a little. Might even be interested in them as more than strange aberrations in the world of human beings. Maybe one of them in particular.
Not that she would encourage anything between them but a good professional working relationship. He might be attractive and hunky, and her human hormones might be tweaked just by looking at Owen Dewirter, but she knew far better than to get involved with a nonshifter. She had learned her lesson, and learned it well.
Besides, this nonshifter seemed to have an opinion, one she couldn’t interpret.
But with him, or despite him, she intended to do all she could to make sure that the Alpha Force mission here was a complete success for both the US military and the Canadian Mounties.
Of course, she’d have help when the rest of the Alpha Force contingent arrived.
When Owen didn’t follow up his acknowledgment with anything else, Selena decided to push him for more. “Most people don’t believe in shapeshifters. Why do you? Have you met any? Seen any shifts?”
“Some members of my family knew a shapeshifter.” He didn’t look at her, but his icy expression as he regarded the road suggested he didn’t want to say anything more about it.
Not that that would deter her.
“Knew? They don’t now?”
“No,” he said shortly.
“I gather that the experience wasn’t a good one. But even if they told you about it, if you didn’t see it yourself, why did you believe?”
“Let’s just say I saw and heard enough to convince me. So how about you? What made you join Alpha Force?”
She must have hit a nerve. But surely the man must have realized that if he was about to work with a bunch of shapeshifters, they’d want to know his experiences with others of their kind.
For now, though, she’d go along with him.
“I grew up in Wisconsin, in the same area as the commanding officer who first developed the elixir. He helped to form Alpha Force, and his cousin’s a member, too.” That was Major Drew Connell and recently promoted Lieutenant Jason Connell. “I heard they were looking for new recruits, so of course I had to jump in.”
Not to mention how the timing had worked. She’d needed something then to help her get over a bad romantic relationship.
The divorced guy she’d been dating then, and cared for a lot, hadn’t known she was a shifter. His cute but sneaky young son had unfortunately seen her ending a shift once before her aide moved her away. The kid gleefully told his father that Selena was a werewolf. Her boyfriend had responded to his son that shapeshifters existed only in stupid stories and he wanted his kid to be realistic and smart. He had told Selena about it. Laughed about it.
So she’d left him and her teaching job and hurried home—only to find this position where shapeshifters were revered and treated well.
But she didn’t want to talk about it. Not now and not ever. Like she’d done with her questions to Owen, he’d pushed buttons with his that really bothered her. It was time for a change in subject.
“I’ve always heard such wonderful things about the RCMP,” she said. “How long have you been a member? And do you like it?”
He glanced over at her. Now those gorgeous blue eyes of his actually had an expression in them—pride, if she read it right. “Ten years, and I love it.”
She asked more questions, and Rainey leaned forward to join in the conversation. For the rest of the ride they were regaled with tales of undercover adventure in trapping bad guys, enjoyable training sessions with those horses that the Mounties rode and antics of the K-9s Owen had worked with. He apparently liked canines, even if his feelings about people who shifted into wolves weren’t quite so warm.
Selena realized that, if she wasn’t careful, she might actually come to like sexy Owen Dewirter. And that could really be bad news.
* * *
By the time they reached West Columbia, Owen could almost believe this was a pleasure ride instead of an official diplomatic mission of sorts: the Canadians requesting US assistance for a particularly touchy situation.
One he hadn’t yet discussed with his new best friends.
Friends? Heck. Under other circumstances, he’d have seduced Selena, or at least attempted to, with more than an irreverent yet necessary offer to take his clothes off. She definitely attracted him that way...at least as she was right now, all sexy human female.
The glances they sometimes shared, brief as they were, suggested she might be attracted to him, too. That was fine here, in the car, when neither could act on any inappropriate appeal.
Later, he’d pretend those glances had never happened.
He drove through the residential area and onto a driveway that rose a short distance through a forest and into the hills.
Up that driveway was the small enclave of two homes that had been acquired to become the CAs’ hidden headquarters—assuming everything worked out.
Owen parked on the paved area between the homes and was met by the four new recruits for the CAs who had rushed out of the smaller of the two houses. The one-story white wood-frame building would be used as the meeting place for the US and Canadian teams as the CAs learned how to use their shifting skills for the good of their country.
The group had clearly been watching for their arrival.
“Hi, Owen.” That was Constable Sal Emarra, the youngest of the new recruits, only nineteen years old. Like the others, he didn’t wear an RCMP uniform; instead he was dressed in casual civilian clothes of a tourist. He held out his hand for a shake, even as he peered past Owen into the vehicle.
It was too late for him to see the passengers since they had exited at the other side. In fact, they were already being greeted by the other recruits even as Owen hurried to open the hatch and extract the luggage.
“Where should we put our things?” Selena asked, joining him.
“I can handle them all.”
“But—”
Before she could grab any, Owen hefted the backpacks over his shoulders, then took hold of the suitcase handles.
Selena shrugged and said, “Just be careful with the backpacks.”
“Of course.”
He put the luggage in the larger of the two homes, a two-story that would be used as the Alpha Force barracks. Then he joined the group for pizza in the other house.
Before eating, though, he stood and looked at each and every member of the group. “Let’s go around the room and introduce ourselves.”
“Better yet,” said Selena, also standing now, “don’t just give your names but tell us whether you’re a shifter and if so, what you shift to.”
She gave him a small, smug smile, as if she’d somehow shown him who was boss.
He didn’t contradict her, though. That information did need to be shared.
Selena went first and then Rainey introduced herself as another lieutenant and Selena’s nonshifting aide.
The others went next: Constables Sal Emarra, Tim Franzer, Craig Neverts and Andrea Willburn. The men informed everyone that they all shifted into wolves, too.
However, Andrea, a pert young woman with short black hair and a long nose, said, “I shift into a falcon—and that’s really fun. But tell us, Selena. How do aides work—and what’s a cover dog?”
“Oh, you’re all going to have fun learning what Alpha Force is going to teach you,” she said, grinning.
Owen didn’t miss the way her smile lit up her face or the way her amber eyes sparkled like twin topaz gemstones.
Oh, yeah, this was going to be fun, indeed.
Chapter 3 (#ulink_af0b0904-2c56-5f06-9408-05fd7cfdd7d3)
Selena couldn’t start teaching anything until her fellow Alpha Force members arrived. She might have the teaching credentials and some experience with the unit, but Captain Patrick Worley was the commanding officer on the American side of this operation.
That was why she decided to excuse herself, leaving Rainey with the others who were peppering her with questions about how someone who wasn’t a shifter worked with Alpha Force. There were things, of course, that Rainey could not reveal about their covert military unit, but Selena trusted her not to mention them. Right now, she needed a little time to herself.
“Where are you going?” Owen called to her from the porch as she walked across the lawn with Lupe beside her.
From there, Owen appeared even taller. Even sexier.
She caught her errant thoughts. “Nowhere in particular.”
“Well, then, why don’t I show you where your sleeping quarters will be?” He pointed toward the other house as he walked down the steps. “You can choose which room you want.”
Selena liked that idea. In fact, as much as she loved being part of a large, close-knit outfit like Alpha Force, she hoped to find a room that would give her some privacy.
In fact, maybe she could just pick out a room and chill out there for a little while.
Although it would be hard to chill at all with a hot guy like Owen around. And if she didn’t stop thinking about him that way, she was going to have one really tough time working with him on their training assignment.
She started toward the larger house and Owen walked beside her. “Ever been to Canada before?” he asked.
“No, this is my first time. Have you ever been to the States?”
“A few times.” His tone suggested he might not have been impressed with her country, but when she glanced at him his face had gone to that neutral, unreadable expression she couldn’t interpret.
She had to keep a lot of secrets as a shifter and member of Alpha Force, but she had a sense that Owen Dewirter might have an even greater number of his own.
The front of the other house was similar to the one they’d just left. They climbed stairs onto the broad wooden porch, Lupe following. It was empty, but Selena imagined sitting out there with the entire group one of these days, holding one of the lessons she intended to provide.
After he unlocked the door, she walked through the five upstairs bedrooms, but it was the one downstairs that called to her. It was an understated room with a narrow white dresser with a mirror on top, a small chair and a single bed that was not much larger than a cot. The bare essentials. There was even a private bathroom—small but convenient.
Feeling a presence behind her, she turned and realized Owen was in the room with her. She was in a bedroom, all alone with Owen. Why had she noticed that? And why did it make her feel so warm inside? In fact, the lower part of her body seemed to ignite.
She chilled it immediately. “I’ll take this one.”
“Somehow I thought you would.” He looked at her with an expression that seemed heated—as if he also recognized they were alone in this house in a bedroom.
Then, clearing his throat, he said abruptly, “I’ll leave you to unpack. See you back at the other house.” And with that, he left.
That was a good thing, Selena told herself, though she felt suddenly bereft.
Instead of unpacking, though, Selena called Captain Worley. When she got his voice mail, she left a message, asking him to call with his expected arrival time.
Then she quickly opened her suitcase and pulled out a few items that she hung in her closet. Almost everything was civilian casual, to maintain their cover.
She next went to the entry and got both of the backpacks. She unpacked the remaining bottle of elixir stored in an insulated container and secured it at the back of the refrigerator.
Then she said to Lupe, “Ready for a walk, girl? When you’re done we’ll go back to the others.”
But as eager as Selena was to get started, she had a feeling it would be a long afternoon.
* * *
Owen had returned to where the constables who now reported to him still surrounded Rainey in the small and crowded living room. They were asking her questions about Alpha Force.
Too bad he hadn’t stayed around to listen to her answers. The more he knew about the group that would be helping to train these raw new candidates, the better.
Instead, he had gone off to spend time with Selena. Not that he regretted it.
He felt more than saw her enter the room a short while later. His nerve endings tingling, he looked up as she and her dog joined the group. But then he noticed that Tim Franzer seemed to sit up straighter. He even moved over on the sofa and waved at the empty spot for Selena to sit down.
The guy wasn’t especially tall or muscular, and he didn’t appear particularly good-looking to Owen, not with his round face and prominent nose.
Even so, Selena gave him a big smile as she joined him.
Which irritated Owen.
If she ever smiled at him that way... She wouldn’t. But it was definitely hot. She was definitely hot—no matter what else she was.
“So, Selena,” said Craig Neverts, getting her attention. He was a nicer-looking guy than Tim, with dark hair, a wide mouth and prominent chin. “I’m finding all the stuff that Rainey’s told us to be amazing. She said you guys shift when the moon isn’t full and you’re going to teach us how.”
“Soon,” Selena said. “When our other Alpha Force members arrive. But maybe tomorrow we can give a brief demonstration of what I’m like while shifted even if they’re not here yet.”
She glanced toward Owen, her expression challenging as if she expected him to say something about how she had done the same for him and his commanding officer—shifting remotely. Not demonstrating the actual shift.
He remembered the demonstration and his lame offer of getting naked with her. Feeling those stirrings again, he banished the images that the mere thought brought to mind.
“Well, I, for one, don’t appreciate just hanging around here like this,” said Andrea Willburn. But she must have sensed that Owen, her new commanding officer, was glaring at her. “Sorry.” She appeared somewhat chastised. “But if it’s okay, can we maybe...well, go into town now rather than waiting till later? Party a little, as part of our cover? I mean if we’re not accomplishing anything useful today?”
To Owen, she somewhat resembled a falcon, the kind of animal she apparently shifted into, with her cap of dark hair and large, beak-like nose.
He thought about her suggestion. It might be the best thing to give everyone the afternoon in town. He’d stay behind, alone, and get some much-needed distance from the woman who was getting under his skin. He looked at Selena as he said, “Why not? Go ahead.”
* * *
That was fine with Selena.
As everyone left the room, she sat there. She had no particular interest in shopping or partying. Besides, she needed time away from Owen. Time to get her mind away from X-rated fantasies and back on the assignment. She took Lupe out on the porch, where she planned to sit and rest.
“You’re still here.”
At the sound of his voice, she turned to see Owen. Why was he still here? “Why didn’t you go with your troops?” Selena challenged him.
“Why didn’t you?” he countered.
“I—I need to take Lupe for a walk.” Not that she hadn’t, just a little while ago.
“I’ll go with you.”
He wasn’t her commanding officer, and she could have responded in the negative. But what the heck? Nothing would happen on a little walk in the woods.
There were worse things than hanging out a little more with Owen, her inner voice said.
Yeah, like not getting to be with him at all...
Now, where did that come from? She liked the guy, sure. But only as a temporary colleague. And if he truly didn’t like shifters despite believing in them, as he’d hinted before, that was even more reason not to spend much time with him.
So was the fact that she was sexually attracted to him.
Without looking at Owen, she grabbed Lupe’s leash and started out. The woods behind the houses smelled rather like citrus from the fir trees that formed a tight canopy, which nearly blocked out the sun. A carpet of downed needles crackled beneath their feet.
“Good area for shifters,” Selena told Owen, wanting to hear his reaction to her touch of goading.
“Glad to hear it.” She looked up to find him grinning down at her. Grinning? He now accepted the idea of her being a shifter?
Heck, that was what she was and why she was here.
Lupe didn’t have much to do except explore, sniffing the ground and air. They nevertheless stayed in the woods for twenty minutes or so.
“Ready to go to town, too?” Owen asked as they headed back.
“Sure,” Selena said, glad she’d survived the walk unscathed. Then she tripped over a branch and Owen grabbed her arm to steady her.
She found herself smiling in thanks up into his handsome, rugged face and saw that there was more than concern in his eyes. Not just casual heat, either.
More like lust.
She opened her mouth just a little as she attempted to thank him...and Owen’s lips came down on hers.
The kiss seemed to ignite the cool forest, especially when his arms went around her and pulled her close. She held him tightly, too, tasting him with her tongue as his teased hers.
Her eyes closed, and for a moment she was aware only of Owen. And herself. Here. Together, in the wilds, where anything could happen.
Before she could conjure any steamy scenarios, he pulled away. His breathing was hard and irregular, as was hers, and his expression was still full of heat, but his words were just normal and friendly, as if nothing had happened.
“Let’s drive into town, shall we?”
“Right. Sure. That sounds fine.”
* * *
Selena put Lupe in the kitchen of the house where they’d be staying, then joined Owen at his car.
Neither of them mentioned that kiss or where it had come from—let alone how inappropriate, yet suggestive, it had been.
Maybe it was just an act of closure after their initial discussions of nudity. Something they just had to get out of their systems. Now it was over. At least she hoped so.
Why, then, did it leave her aching for more?
Owen drove them carefully down the hill, then parked along the main commercial street and led her into the Yukon Bar. It was crowded, but even so, there were a couple of available tables. At his urging, Selena chose one—the one closest to the door and therefore the farthest from the noisy bar.
“Is this all right?” she asked.
“Definitely.”
She ordered a glass of red wine; he ordered a beer. When their server left, he asked, “Is it okay— I mean, you’re all right drinking alcohol?”
She laughed. “You mean...people like me? Yes, when we’re like this, all usual activity is fine.”
He smiled at her. She liked his smile and the way it raised his hint of dark beard ever so slightly. “I think I have a lot to learn about people like you.”
“And I have a lot to learn about the Mounties. You’ve told me a bit about your background, but how did you wind up here, in this kind of assignment?” One he didn’t seem to relish. “And when are you going to tell me the main reason for the formation of the CAs unit? I gather it’s something important.”
“It is.” He moved a little closer and spoke softly. “It’s actually a bunch of serial kidnappings that have justifiably gotten our senior officers’ attention, but it would be easier to explain more about it when your folks get here and I can do it all at once.”
The server brought their drinks, and since neither was especially hungry after that pizza, they ordered only a small appetizer to share.
When the server left, Owen looked at Selena with his gorgeous blue eyes and said nothing for a long moment. She felt her insides heat as if those eyes were igniting her nearly as much as his lips had. Before she lost herself in their depths she said, “Okay, tell me why you’re here.”
Shrugging, he took a drink of his beer. He still kept his voice low as he responded. “Not much to say that you don’t already know. As a kid, I always loved to see Mounties in their formal red uniforms riding horses and all. I told you about some of my assignments, but most recently I was assigned to the task force investigating those kidnappings I mentioned. That’s partly why I was chosen to help form the Canada Alphas—so I could use a different direction to catch the kidnappers.”
“Your career sounds amazing,” Selena said.
They started speaking again of Canada and what Selena might see here. The rest of their outing was pleasant. More than pleasant. Selena found herself looking into Owen’s face constantly, sharing smiles and laughs and banter, almost as if they were flirting.
Which, of course, they couldn’t be. Despite that onetime, unforgettable kiss. They were professional colleagues—that was all. Her role was to teach him and his fellow RCMP members what they needed to know and then leave.
Developing any other kind of relationship just couldn’t happen.
* * *
Sitting across the table from the lovely Selena, Owen now wished they’d found the rest of their crowd and hung out with them.
As much as he was enjoying Selena’s company, he was...well, he was liking it too much. Liking her too much.
Trying too much to remind himself what she was. Why she was here.
How touching her, kissing her, had been way out of line.
But he’d absolutely enjoyed their kiss. He also enjoyed the memory of it now, as he watched those full, sexy lips of hers while she talked and smiled and drank her wine and nibbled their appetizer.
This was unlike him. In all his assignments, he was totally professional. He got along fine with colleagues, sure. Even attractive female ones. But he had always behaved with absolute professionalism.
He had already blown that once with Selena. It couldn’t happen again.
She was talking softly now, about her recent assignment, although just loudly enough that he could hear her over the roar of the crowd around them. “Rainey, Lupe and I were in the Seattle area on more of a recon kind of thing. There were some reputed AWOL soldiers hanging out there, around a secluded campground, and the regular army hadn’t been able to confirm it. The idea was that the soldiers might be acting the roles of hunters or naturalists or whatever. They might be easier for a wolf to spot.” She paused and smiled, raising the ends of those sexy lips slowly. “They were. The assignment was pretty well over when I got a call from my superior officer. So here we are.”
“Yes, and I think your presence here will be a particularly good thing. We’d already been planning to form the CAs, but it had to come together even faster than originally thought because of those kidnappings. We—”
He heard a cell phone chime. “Mine,” Selena said. She pulled it from her pocketbook and looked at it. “It’s my captain. Excuse me.” She rose and walked away.
At the same time, Owen’s phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket and looked at it. Anthony Creay, his boss.
“Yes, sir?” he answered.
“I hope you’re getting your CAs trained well and fast, Owen. There’s been another kidnapping.”
“But the last one was only last week. There’s always been a good month or more before the next one.” Owen realized his protest was inane. If there’d been another kidnapping, the criminals’ prior MO on the four previous cases was no longer relevant.
“True. They’ve been so successful that they must be ramping it up. Which is all the more reason that your group is so critical.”
Selena returned and sat across from him again, no longer holding her phone. He mouthed Creay when she raised her eyebrows in question.
“We’re still waiting for some of the Alpha Force members,” he said, this time keeping his voice low in case anyone was eavesdropping.
“I heard what you said,” she told him in a soft voice. “Tell your boss they’ll be here tomorrow.”
Across the table his eyes met hers. The mission was about to get under way. And things were about to get interesting.
Chapter 4 (#ulink_f4c3a573-437a-5296-91cf-aa580fe8df57)
They left immediately, at Owen’s suggestion, which was fine with Selena. She didn’t telephone Rainey, nor did Owen call his CAs. “I’d rather tell them in person to get their tails back to the hotel where they’re staying for now so they’ll get up early for a briefing, even if your Alpha Force guys haven’t arrived yet,” he told Selena, and she agreed.
Owen led Selena out the door, but instead of going to the parking lot, they turned left outside and began hurrying down the sidewalk.
“I’d thought the gang would end up at the Yukon, too,” he said, “and we could have just talked to them here. But I’m aware of the other bars in town that my group also seems to like. I haven’t been downtown much with them, but they took care to introduce me to their favorites.”
Several cars drove by under the streetlights, but Selena and Owen were the only ones on the sidewalk outside the bar. The air was cool. Selena was glad she had grabbed a sweater to bring along after partially unpacking her suitcase earlier. She had removed the black wrap when they’d sat down, but now she pulled it on again over her T-shirt.
She was surprised, after sticking an arm through one sleeve, that the other sleeve was lined up so she could easily finish shrugging it on. Owen had grabbed it and held it up for her. Apparently, on top of being a member of the RCMP, he was a gentleman.
“Thanks,” she told him, turning enough to glance at him. He nodded in acknowledgment and kept walking.
Evidently more used to the crisp air than she was, he didn’t don a sweater or jacket over his gray plaid shirt. It fit well over his black jeans, hugging his chest in a way that suggested his training as a Mountie kept his physique in perfect shape.
West Columbia reminded Selena of countless small towns she’d visited back in the States. The street they traversed, Columbia Avenue, was lined with shops of various types.
There were also a number of restaurants, all with lights on and apparently still open. Selena didn’t recognize their names, but they seemed to be an assortment of family-style and gourmet eateries. Some of the aromas wafting out of them, especially the gourmet establishments, filled Selena’s senses and made her smile, even though she was far from hungry. Maybe she’d have an opportunity to sample some of the food here before her assignment was complete.
“This seems like a very pleasant town,” Selena said to make conversation. She was very aware of Owen at her side. She had the sense he wanted to pick up the pace but had reined himself in somewhat to accommodate her.
He didn’t need to. She was quite comfortable walking fast and did so often at home as part of a daily fitness regimen. She ran, too, when she felt like it—in both her forms.
Partly to accommodate him instead, and partly to challenge him, she began walking faster.
He kept up with her with apparently no effort. “I like your speed,” he said, sounding not at all out of breath, which didn’t surprise her.
“I thought you might.” She glanced up at him at her side and caught a glance that appeared somewhat amused—and a whole lot sexy.
She looked away quickly and stepped it up a notch or two more.
The first bar they came to, in the middle of a retail block, was Myrtell’s. Selena heard the loud hum of conversation even before Owen opened the glass door, and as they stepped inside, the sound level rose to near deafening, despite her being in human form.
Myrtell’s was crowded and smelled of liquor and popcorn and people scents that probably were only somewhat discernible to the patrons here, but were strong and not all pleasant to Selena.
She wasn’t about to mention that to Owen, let alone complain. But after they’d both looked around for several minutes and failed to see either Rainey or any of the CAs, Selena was glad when they left.
Once again, Owen allowed her to choose their speed. And once again, she walked fast, though she didn’t settle into a run.
The next place—the Wonderbar—was on a side street about three blocks farther than Myrtell’s. Its entry was covered by a sign that resembled a theater marquee, and Selena heard the crowd noises emanating from the place nearly as soon as they turned the corner from Columbia Avenue.
As they reached the door, Selena inhaled the aromas emanating from the Wonderbar. If she had to guess, the patrons here preferred beer over the other kinds of alcohol she had smelled at both of the other bars.
She first heard, then saw, Rainey when she looked inside the door. Her aide was sitting with the four recruits around a moderate-sized round table that held glasses of many sizes, indicating their differences in drinks. Wineglasses sat before Andrea and Tim. Sal had a tall glass in front of him with an amber liquid and ice inside, suggesting a drink with hard liquor—or perhaps it was just a soft drink. Craig and Rainey seemed to fit in better with more of the crowd here since beer steins were on the table in front of them.
Interesting choices, but Selena had no time to do more than give that a passing thought. Owen and she hurried through the door and up to that table.
“Hey, welcome.” Sal stood to pull his chair aside to make room for the newcomers. Knowing the young, skinny guy was only nineteen years old, Selena glanced at his amber drink, but she knew that was the legal drinking age in British Columbia. If he had hard liquor in front of him it would be acceptable here, and the scent Selena detected told her it was alcohol.
“Yeah. Where’ve you been?” Andrea asked. Across the table from Sal, she, too, stood and looked around as if seeking another seat for them, her wide but smallish eyes peering over her prominent nose as she checked out the place.
“Looking for you,” Owen said, not entirely truthfully, Selena thought, since they hadn’t sought out the rest of the crowd when they first got to the Yukon Bar. “We needed to let you know we’re going to hold an update session very early tomorrow morning.”
“Then there’s been some news?” Rainey was on her feet, too. Selena couldn’t help grinning at her aide. Rainey was always eager to jump into whatever assignment they had, and being here with these other shifters seemed to only increase her enthusiasm. She’d pulled a Minnesota Timberwolves sweatshirt on, probably her attempt at a silent joke with regard to the wolf shifters here, including her commanding officer—Selena.
“Yes,” Owen said. “We’ll tell you about it first thing tomorrow.”
“And discuss how we’re going to handle things a little later,” Selena added, “when the rest of our Alpha Force team arrives.”
“Right,” Owen agreed. “But right now I’d suggest you head back to your hotel rooms so you can get a reasonably good night’s sleep. You have fixings for breakfast at our...site?”
Selena figured he’d avoided saying “headquarters” in case anyone around was eavesdropping. All the crowd she saw seemed caught up in their own conversations—and imbibing. But she appreciated his discretion.
“Yes, we do,” Craig said.
“Great. Then get on back to where you’re staying now.”
“Soon as we finish our drinks,” Craig agreed, and the others nodded. Selena suspected they had only recently ordered refills since none of their glasses appeared especially empty. But that was okay. The alcohol might help them sleep better.
“We’ll see you in the kitchen of the main house, then, at o-seven...er, seven a.m.,” Selena said, quickly getting herself out of military speak.
“Yes, ma’am,” Rainey whispered with a sly grin.
Selena wasn’t sure whether the RCMP knew US military protocol, speaking or otherwise, let alone followed it. But when she glanced around the table, all the CAs were grinning.
Especially Sergeant Major Owen Dewirter.
* * *
“You’re staying downtown somewhere, aren’t you?” Selena asked as Owen pulled her chair out so she could stand.
Despite being an officer of the law, he didn’t always follow traditional etiquette with women. Even so, something about Selena made him want to revert to the old ways he’d learned as a child here in Canada—actions that had supposedly been imported from the mother country of the UK years, even centuries, ago. Odd, he knew. And he didn’t want to overthink it now.
But on some level he realized he was hoping to make himself think of his obligatory partner in this program as a lady, not an officer in the United States Army whose rank might be in some ways equivalent to his own in the nonmilitary RCMP, or perhaps even higher. And certainly not as a shapeshifter from whom he had a lot to learn to fulfill his current assignment.
Plus, he got closer to her this way than he otherwise might. Could smell her fresh, almost floral scent—nothing like the scent of dogs or wolves that he might otherwise have anticipated.
In addition, while being polite, he could imagine touching her for other reasons than assisting her in and out of cars or pulling her chair out for her.
Which most likely meant he should start being rude from this moment on.
“That’s right,” he responded. They left the others behind at the table and wended their way through the bar crowd to the exit door. Once they were out on the sidewalk he continued, “My team and I will move into the house you and your other Alpha Force members will be occupying now once you’ve trained us and moved on.”
“So where are you all living now?”
“Hotels. I’m in one, and the rest of the CAs are in a different one.” He’d thought that would help his subordinates bond without worrying too much about being part of a regimented system. That would come in time. And he didn’t worry about his command. As soon as the training and the mission started, they’d know who was in charge.
She turned sideways to look up at him. “It would be more convenient for you to stay downtown right now rather than driving me back to the house. I could wait until Rainey is ready to go, then ride with whoever drove her here, or she and I could even walk back to the HQ if she doesn’t have a ride. It’s not that far.”
“In the dark and in tonight’s chilly air? No way.”
He couldn’t help but appreciate her offer, though. She didn’t automatically consider him and the CAs her inferiors, who were required to take good care of her in exchange for teaching them.
“All right.” She sounded relieved. He liked that, too. He figured she had made the offer because she believed it to be convenient for him, even though she’d hoped he’d refuse it.
They walked back to his SUV in the Yukon Bar’s gravel parking lot, and without thinking, he took Selena’s arm and helped her into the passenger seat.
Despite the sweater she wore that kept him from touching her skin, he was highly conscious of her warmth. She, too, appeared to notice the contact, since her head turned quickly and her amber eyes captured his for just an instant. “Thank you,” she said. He shut the door, then went around to the driver’s seat and started off.
He had anticipated struggling to find a neutral topic of conversation on the short drive back to the enclave when he realized he wanted to know everything about this woman—including more of what she really thought about being a shapeshifter. But he didn’t really want to bring that up. Not now.
He was relieved when she started the conversation. She sat in shadows in the seat beside him, but the lights outside the vehicle illuminated her enough that he could see her lovely face—and the fact that she was smiling as she watched the scenery while he drove.
First, she commented on the bars they’d visited. “I liked the Yukon best, but I can see why our gang likes the Wonderbar. There’s more action there, for one thing.”
“True. But I was with them once at the Yukon and they really got into talking about...what they were. Quietly, and using euphemisms, in case anyone was listening.”
“Euphemisms like what? Although I might have heard them all. Used them all at different times.”
He told her Andrea’s description of what they all had in common as being windows through which illumination fell—like the full moon that changed them, he assumed. Did Selena still identify with that? He knew that shifters in her Alpha Force didn’t need to wait for the right phase of the moon. He had even seen it, sort of.
His new unit members were also students, ready to learn all they could about the universe. They were animal lovers. And more. And with each description, Owen heard Selena draw in her breath and giggle.
He liked that he could please her like that.
“You enjoyed that conversation, too, didn’t you?” she asked, facing him as he waited at a traffic light.
“I liked her ingenuity,” he admitted.
“Did you ever think, when you decided to join the RCMP, that you’d find yourself in such an unusual situation?”
He hadn’t. Not really. But he had previously become aware that shapeshifters existed, and the experience he’d had suggested that illegal, even violent, situations could result from contact with them.
“No,” he said curtly as the light changed and he stepped too quickly on the gas.
He glimpsed Selena’s movement beside him, as she was jolted back into her seat.
“Sorry,” he added, but didn’t explain his discomfort.
“You had a bad experience with shapeshifters, didn’t you?” she asked quietly.
Damn, but the woman was perceptive. He would have to watch himself around her.
“No,” he said only somewhat truthfully. He realized then that this might be a good time to tell her—and vent a little. “Not me personally. But a short while after I joined the RCMP I had a couple of family members killed in the States—in Minnesota—and others there asked me to come and talk to the local authorities and try to make sense of what had happened. I traveled there, and that’s when I learned that one of those killed had been a distant family member by marriage who’d been a wolf shifter. He was shot with a silver bullet while shifted, after he’d killed my blood relative, a third cousin. Despite attempting to dredge out the details and help, I didn’t get a lot of information on motive or anything else, other than that it was a family tragedy, and I never did make any sense of it. The cousin who was killed was apparently a prominent business owner in the area, and the details were hushed up so the shop he owned would survive. His wife and kids still own it and we stay in touch at the holidays.”
It was something he almost never talked about, and neither did anyone else in the family, except maybe those in Minnesota. But letting Selena know that he genuinely believed in shapeshifters—and why—had seemed appropriate.
“Look, Owen, I understand that it’s a difficult topic to discuss, but—”
“Glad you recognize that.” He realized he sounded curt, but she apparently got the message and didn’t push. In fact, they didn’t say much as he continued onward until he reached the houses. She might not be satisfied with his silence, but that was the way he wanted it.
He pulled his car in front of the larger house, where she and Rainey would spend this night and should be joined by the rest of her Alpha Force team tomorrow. They had left the lights on, and the two homes were illuminated.
He saw a half-moon off to the east. Not a full moon. It nevertheless seemed symbolic of what was to occur here.
As he parked, Selena opened her own door. He quickly exited the SUV and hurried around to hold it for her and to reach out for her hand as if to steady her.
“I’m really okay,” she said, not touching him and giving him a stubborn look. Her full bottom lip stuck out obstinately. Sexily. “But—”
“You definitely are okay,” he said. And then, as if he had planned it—maybe to keep her quiet—he bent down, put his arms around her curvaceous, struggling body and put his lips on hers.
Struggling? No. Maybe for a moment, but then she reacted. Positively. Hotly. She leaned in and placed her hands on his chest, and he relished the feel of her so close, her warmth.
The kiss went on for hours, or was it only seconds?
Didn’t matter. Didn’t matter that it was inappropriate, or that his body was reacting in a way that made him both uncomfortable and eager all at the same time.
She wasn’t the one to pull away. He was, and he regretted it.
“Rainey could get back here anytime,” he said breathlessly, looking down into Selena’s face.
She looked bemused. And hot. And even inviting.
He declined the invitation. “Let me walk you up to the door,” he said, taking her arm once more.
She seemed to realize who and where she was at that instant. Her expression hardened; her cheeks reddened in the pale light.
“No need,” she said, pulling away, and he watched as she ran up the porch steps and used her key to enter the house.
Chapter 5 (#ulink_a47d3bfa-705f-54cb-aae4-bbf96a449fda)
Lupe greeted her enthusiastically, whining as Selena walked into the house and jumping up and down in the kitchen behind the chair Selena had set up as a gate.
The wolflike dog had been alone for a while and needed to go outside for a walk.
Selena needed to go outside, too, to cool off in the Canadian breeze after that kiss. That hot, suggestive, sexy kiss that made her insides so aware that Owen felt like a lot more than a professional contact.
She also wanted to ponder some more, on her own, Owen’s brief tale of how he had learned of shapeshifters—and his reason for not thinking much of them. Could she get him to discuss it further with her? He hadn’t seemed inclined to do so. And she certainly couldn’t fix the situation.
After Selena released Lupe from the kitchen, she cautiously opened the front door and looked outside to make sure Owen was gone.
But his vehicle was still there, parked on the pavement linking the two houses.
Lupe whined—she didn’t want to wait. So Selena figured she had better take her dog outside now.
She fastened the woven yellow nylon leash to Lupe’s matching collar and picked up a recyclable bag for anything Lupe might leave. “Let’s go,” she said, smiling at her eager dog.
On the front porch, Selena looked around before closing the door behind her. No sign of Owen. Good. But she’d have to try to hurry since she’d no idea when he might reappear, most likely from the other house.
Lupe seemed interested in going to the area between the two buildings, which was mostly grass edged in neatly trimmed bushes. Needles from the nearby fir trees decorated the lawn.
Lupe pulled gently, her nose to the ground, and Selena followed. Since it was dark outside and the illumination from the lights around the driveway wasn’t very bright, this area remained shrouded in shadows. That was fine. Selena stayed alert, all of her enhanced senses attuned to ensure that nothing perilous was around.
Selena detected the scent of some kind of small feral animal, although it was light enough to suggest that whatever it was had come and gone. But that explained why Lupe seemed extremely interested in smelling the grass and its light needle covering. The dog soon produced what she needed to, and Selena scooped it with the bag she’d brought.
That was when she heard a sound other than the branches of the nearby trees blowing in the light breeze and the very distant sound of an occasional automobile.
No, this was soft footsteps on pavement. Lupe heard them, too, since she raised her head, and her pointed, erect ears moved like antennae toward the direction of the sound.
Had Rainey returned? Selena hadn’t heard any car noises.
No, it was probably Owen heading toward his car. Selena remained still, listening. There was no reason to believe that whoever it was constituted a threat to Lupe or her.
Lupe pulled her lead and dashed toward the sound. “Wait!” Selena commanded, keeping her voice low. She didn’t want the person to hear her, especially if it was Owen.
But Lupe didn’t wait. Her leash taut, she kept pulling Selena in the direction of the driveway. She was usually quite obedient. Not now. Did she sense a danger from which she wanted to protect Selena? Or a friend she wanted to greet?
Selena found out in moments as the back-lit figure of a tall, well-built male appeared in the gap between the buildings. Lupe headed toward him, and Selena released her leash.
It was clearly Owen.
Selena followed her dog, knowing she needed to work to get Lupe even better trained here. Yes, she was mostly obedient, emphasis on mostly. Alpha Force cover dogs did get a significant amount of training, but they weren’t necessarily expected to act as official K-9s who sniffed out explosives or cadavers or anything like that. Their function was to be there for their shapeshifter counterparts so that if anyone saw an animal in wolfen form, they wouldn’t be surprised—even if that particular wolf happened to be a shifted human.
Same went for other types of cover animals, such as those for felines or birds or whatever.
Selena knew that the Canadians would soon need to find cover animals for all of their CAs, including a falcon counterpart for Andrea. But that was far from being her current concern.
“What are you doing out here?” Owen demanded as she got closer.
“Since Lupe’s all over you, I’d imagine that’s pretty clear. She needed to go out.” Selena purposely made her tone sarcastic. That would certainly reduce any further possibility that he’d want to kiss her again, wouldn’t it?
“Sure. But...well, even up here, you need to be careful. One reason we chose this area is that we don’t know of any problems, but there are no guarantees.”
As she got nearer, he wasn’t silhouetted now and Selena could make out his features. Handsome features—with his brow knitted in apparent concern.
And that made him look all the more appealing.
She suddenly had an urge to rush toward him and be the one to instigate the next kiss.
Fortunately a noise sounded behind him. An automobile was heading up the driveway. Rainey was probably returning.
That sound also gave Selena an instant to calm herself—and her very human hormones. “I appreciate that,” she said. Then, to remind him—and herself—of who and what she was, she added, “You may not be aware of it, or even if you are you might not be thinking about it. But shifters’ senses are very much like the animals’ they shift into. I heard you come outside the other house probably a lot sooner than another person would, for example. I’ll stay wary, but you don’t need to worry about me.”
“Right.” He didn’t sound entirely convinced.
Rainey parked the car she had driven—a rental, Selena figured, although she wasn’t sure whose—and came running up. “Hey, you two. Three, I mean.” She bent to pat Lupe. “I’m ready to go off to bed so I can get up early tomorrow. How about you?”
Selena glanced toward Owen before answering. His gaze was on her, and it was probably a good thing that Rainey remained somewhat in the shadows behind him.
She hopefully couldn’t see the very hot, very suggestive gaze that Owen leveled on Selena. But she caught it. And quite possibly she thought the same thing he did.
Yes, she was ready to go off to bed. Alone.
But the idea of sharing it with Owen?
After their earlier kiss, it definitely crossed her mind.
* * *
Off to bed. Oh, yeah, Owen had heard that. Thought about it as he regarded Selena. Sexy Selena. Hot Selena, whom he’d definitely enjoyed kissing.
Werewolf Selena.
She and her dog walked with him to his SUV as if she hadn’t sensed the gist of his thoughts about bed when Rainey had mentioned it. Maybe she hadn’t—although her expression seemed to say otherwise.
No matter. He could always act now as if Rainey’s words hadn’t triggered his imagination—not to mention a reaction from his most private body parts. Selena had, after all, reminded him earlier of why he wasn’t fond of shapeshifters.
“I’ll be back here first thing with the rest of the group,” he said, slipping into the driver’s seat of his SUV. He’d decided to stop in at their hotel to speak with them briefly before heading to his own room that night. “I’ll make sure we get here early for them to get breakfast ready for all of us. As Canada Alphas, they’ve already begun to learn that their duties are diverse, and preparing meals can be among them.”
He liked how Selena smiled under the faint lights. He was also amused when she shifted her dog’s leash to free up one hand so she could grab hold of the car door.
“My turn,” she said, starting to close it.
“Hey, you’re a gentleman, too,” he teased as he settled into the seat.
“You got it.” She slammed the door shut.
But as he turned the key in the ignition, his mind rebelled against what he had said.
Selena was anything but a man, gentle or not.
And her very womanly characteristics just might drive him nuts as he continued to work with her on this assignment.
* * *
Once they were all inside the house, Selena went upstairs with Rainey and helped her choose the room she would stay in while they were here. Rainey opted for the one overlooking the front of the house. Selena then left Rainey upstairs and returned to the room that was now hers.
She had already changed into her long-sleeved navy pajamas, washed her face and settled herself beneath her bedcovers when Rainey knocked on her door. “Come in,” she called.
Rainey, too, had put her on pj’s, a frilly pink outfit that contrasted pleasantly with her dark, curly hair. She grinned as she sat at the foot of Selena’s bed.
Selena leaned back on both pillows that were resting against the plain black headboard. “Well, we’re here,” she said.
“Yep, and I gather that we’re really supposed to start our assignment tomorrow.” Rainey paused. “Are you ready to show these Canadian folks what real Alpha Force shapeshifters are all about?”
“That’s what we’re here for.” Now it was Selena’s turn to smile. “We’ll teach them what being a US shifter—and an aide—is all about.”
“And a cover dog, too.” Rainey slipped her backside from the bed so she could kneel to pat Lupe, who lay on the floor nearby.
“Exactly.” Selena didn’t want to kick out her aide, but she did want to try to get some sleep. “So...” she began.
At the same time, Rainey asked, “So did you have fun tonight?”
It was all Selena could do to hide her startled reaction. Surely nothing on her face, in her demeanor, revealed that she’d shared a kiss with the man who was in charge of the Canadian group that Alpha Force was here to help.
No. Rainey must just be making conversation. Wasn’t she?
Nevertheless, Selena made herself respond as if Owen was just some ordinary guy whom she didn’t find attractive at all—maybe married and twice her age. Or at least that was what she attempted.
“Sure,” she said nonchalantly. “I had a drink with Owen at one of the other bars in town before we found you guys. He wanted to know more about what Alpha Force was about, but I doubt he got it from our limited conversation there in public. He, of course, knows that shapeshifters exist and that I’m one of them, but I still have the impression he finds them—us—weird.” She wasn’t about to reveal to Rainey how Owen had formed his opinion of shapeshifters. “I hope he gets over that enough to work well with his own CAs.” That was the truth, at least. “He got a phone call that apparently suggested they’ll be needed sooner than anticipated, and he’d better be ready for it.”
“Well,” Rainey said, “we’ll see how he is at breakfast tomorrow. The rest of them, too. I had the impression that they’re way different from our Alpha Force members, even though they’re shifters. They were fun to be with, sure, but they struck me as being kind of wild kids. Good kids, though. Tim even let me use his rental car overnight. I just hope that giving them more control of their ability to shift will help tame them down.”
“Guess we’ll have to make sure of it,” Selena said. But she was glad she wouldn’t be the only shifter there as things progressed. She wouldn’t be the most senior, either.
And surely having other Alpha Force members here, like Captain Patrick Worley and Lieutenant Marshall Vincenzo, as well as their aide, Captain Jonas Truro, would also make it easier for her to remember who she was and why she really was here.
And to remember to stay far away from Owen Dewirter except to teach him what she could as an Alpha Force member.
To ignore any attraction she felt for him and, definitely, to make sure she never touched him again, let alone kissed him.
When Rainey left a short while later, and after Selena gave Lupe a good-night hug and settled herself back into bed, she couldn’t help rehashing those intentions and told herself she needed to focus on her assignment.
She just hoped she could.
In the meantime, she lay in bed conscious of the quiet here in the Canadian countryside, except for occasional hoots from local owls.
She mulled over all that had happened over the past couple of days, including Owen’s tale of his family and shapeshifters.
She was concerned about what would happen tomorrow, and if Alpha Force—no, if she—would be able to do all that was expected to help the CAs start their team and deal with the kidnappings that Owen had mentioned.
Not to mention her concern about her absurd attraction to Owen Dewirter that she needed to find a way to turn off. Permanently.
* * *
Owen saw Selena almost as soon as he reached the CAs compound early the next morning.
She was outside again, with her dog, in the crisp early air. He knew that had to be a frequent ritual. Dogs had needs that had to be fulfilled often, especially last thing at night and first thing in the morning, no matter what the weather, no matter what the temperature.
No matter what the dog’s responsibilities, such as acting as a cover for her owner.
Under the brightening morning sky, it was easier for Owen to remain less concerned about Selena’s safety in daylight. Besides, he wasn’t alone. All four of the CAs who needed to be trained and sent into the field were exiting the vehicles behind him.
They weren’t trained at all, let alone as his special team—yet—but he figured they’d do something if he needed help.
He waved to Selena as he hurried up the front steps of the house. It was dumb, but he felt glad to see her wave back.
“Hey, sir, er, Owen,” Andrea called from behind him. “What are we going to do today?” She, like the rest of them, had dressed in casual clothes—jeans and a sweatshirt.
Before coming here, the CAs had been given a brief amount of preliminary training as Canadian police officers and instructed in some of the formalities. Owen had nevertheless told them that, although he was in charge, informality was fine here.
When he had visited them at their hotel last night, he had briefly described to them part of what they’d be up to today, but it wouldn’t hurt to repeat it, drum it into their heads, so they would be ready once the rest of the Alpha Force team arrived to teach them their methods of shapeshifting.
“First thing, I’m going to brief you about our assignment and the update I received last night that I didn’t mention to you before. Then the rest of the day will depend on when the other Alpha Force members arrive.”
“Got it.” She was surrounded by the other CAs on the porch, their gazes all trained on him. Each watched him with concentration, a couple of them nodding.
They all looked interested and eager.
But that didn’t mean they’d be able to do the job—especially with all the tweaks that needed to be added to normal, rational, predictable RCMP constable duties. Not that they were the usual RCMP constables.
Turning his back on them, he hurried into the house. Maybe he was just being naive, but he believed that Selena would be the ideal trainer—and not just because she was a shapeshifter. They’d studied her background, and since she’d been a teacher before joining Alpha Force, she should be able to take these young shifters and instruct them on exactly what was needed to fulfill the RCMP’s needs here.
That was why she was here—not to create impossible sex fantasies in Owen’s mind each time he saw her.
And at night when he tried to sleep...like last night.
He shook off the thought. Heading into the kitchen with the gang behind him, Owen began asking questions before giving orders for breakfast preparation. “Who’s good about cooking eggs? Sal? Great. There are some in the fridge along with butter, and the frying pan is in the drawer beneath the stove. Who’s our go-to toast guy?” Tim Franzer raised his hand, which left Craig Neverts, Andrea and him. Owen decided to brew the coffee, so he told Craig and Andrea where the items were to set the large dining area table.
“Now, let’s get to work,” Owen said.
“Need any help?” Selena, along with Rainey and Lupe the dog, had just come through the kitchen door.
“I think we’re good,” Owen said. But he watched as Selena immediately approached Sal and started helping to cook the eggs.
Was there anything that woman couldn’t do? She was a US soldier, a teacher, a cook...and a shapeshifter.
And sexier than any other woman Owen had met.
With all that in her favor, he’d no doubt that she’d be one hot partner in the bedroom.
But that was one scenario he’d never see realized.
He walked over to the large coffeemaker, glad he had something entirely neutral to accomplish.
Something that allowed him to keep his back toward the rest of his cohorts—so no one would be able to notice the bulge at the front of his jeans.
Chapter 6 (#ulink_eb202218-39c6-5a7f-bcce-39de120c6216)
Selena was glad to keep busy, even though it was a challenge for all the CAs and her to stay out of each other’s ways while whipping up their breakfast together.
Finally they had the meal prepared, and all of them found seats around the sizable dining table. She didn’t plan it, but Selena found herself sitting beside Owen near the doorway to the kitchen. Not a bad place to be. In fact, the two of them were more or less in charge, so why not join forces for what needed to be said here?
Not surprisingly, Owen said he had a lot to tell them, including information he’d just learned yesterday that they needed to know. But he directed them to start eating first.
Selena wanted to hear Owen speak a lot more than she wanted to eat.
Nevertheless, Owen handed her a bowl so she could scoop out her own helping of eggs. “These look great,” he said.
“They are great,” said Craig, who sat across from them. He had already dished himself a substantial helping and had his fork up to his mouth.
Sal and Andrea were on one side of Craig, and Tim had a seat next to him. Rainey was beside Selena. It was almost as though the two groups were opponents—except that Owen sat close enough to her to appear to be on her side.
That wouldn’t be entirely accurate, though. They weren’t enemies, of course, but the differences between them seemed as weighty as the matters they needed to work on together.
Then there was the proverbial elephant in the room, at least as far as Selena was concerned: her totally inappropriate sexual attraction to the man.
Selena ate rapidly, watching the others across the table and listening to their friendly hazing of one another. Even Rainey became the subject of their amusing gibes. How could she stand to be in a whole room full of animals? they’d teased her. Even their commanding officer, Owen, was an animal. A human one. Selena knew he didn’t need to shift to become a feral creature.
To Owen’s credit, he jested along with them, talking about how he would use his own wild nature to mow down any of those here who dared to disobey him.
But after a few minutes of the revelry, Owen fortunately ended it.
“Okay, everyone,” Owen called out. “Let me have your attention.” He had finished his eggs and toast quickly and now just held a coffee cup in his large right hand. Despite the prior levity, his deep voice now resonated with authority and seriousness, and although it wasn’t extremely loud, he did, in fact, appear to capture everyone’s attention.
Selena put her fork on her plate though she wasn’t through eating. But she wanted to concentrate on what he said.
“I’m going to start at the beginning,” Owen said. “I’ll give a quick recap of why those of you who are now part of the Canada Alpha team have been recruited, both to refresh your recollections and to make certain our Alpha Force visitors know enough. Then I’ll tell you why what you’re about to embark on is crucial to our national security. How you can help save lives.”
Selena had been informed of the basics before, but hearing them from Owen, with his point of view and earnest tone, drove home the importance that she’d been told surrounded her mission here.
Yes, the recruits were shapeshifters. How they had been found and recruited into the RCMP was only hinted at, but their ultimate objective was a matter of Canadian national security as Selena knew.
“We’re all very pleased to have found each of you and look forward to your justifying the trust we’ve placed in you.” Owen’s gaze moved slowly from Sal to Andrea to Craig to Tim. In exchange, they each peered solemnly toward him and nodded.
He then looked toward Rainey and, finally, at Selena. Those eyes of his were gleaming and blue and grave. They didn’t turn her on at that moment, but they definitely made her take notice. Made her want to fulfill whatever they commanded.
Which, right now, was apparently just to listen.
“I believe you were told what we need to accomplish, how we got the attention of the US military and why we were let in on the highly secret existence of your Alpha Force, but just in case, here’s the story.”
Owen took a sip of coffee, then reached toward the carafe that sat on the table not far away.
“I’ve got it.” Selena reached for it and then poured coffee into the nearly empty cup that Owen held out. She warmed her own, and Rainey’s, too, before passing the carafe so the CAs could take more as well.
“Thanks,” Owen said. Then he finally dived into the crux of what they all needed to hear. He described the horrific serial crimes taking place in Canada. Family members of some of Canada’s most successful business magnates, or even the magnates themselves, had been kidnapped to extort tremendous amounts of money. “There were four prior abductions that we’re aware of, and you’ll recognize the surnames of the victims—or at least those of you who are Canadian will.”
Selena hadn’t heard of three of them, but the fourth, Marc Wagnere, was well-known in the States as being the originator of an internet search-engine site that competed easily with Google and others. She’d heard something about the senior guy’s illness, but as far as she’d known, that was all that had gotten into the news—not anything about an abduction.
“Of course, this is all confidential information,” Owen continued, “and you’re not to discuss it with anyone except among yourselves. And now there’s another victim.”
Before he continued, Selena heard a noise outside. Lupe did, too, since the large, furry dog stood up and barked.
Selena couldn’t help glancing at the other three wolf shifters in the room. They appeared both alert and confused, looking from one to the other. She suspected they’d heard the outside sounds as well.
Was there some jeopardy here? No, she knew who had just driven up the driveway to the headquarters.
“Let’s pause for a moment, okay?” she asked Owen, whose hearing probably hadn’t been tweaked. “And I think you ought to get someone to brew some more coffee.”
“Why?” He looked concerned and not exactly happy.
Before Selena could explain her assumption the doorbell rang.
Lupe barked once more even as Selena hurried from the dining room and down the hall to the front door. She had just grasped the knob when she felt a hand on her shoulder and Owen pulled her away.
“What the hell are you doing?” Owen demanded. “We don’t know who’s out there. It could be dangerous.”
Selena hesitated. She could be wrong. She moved away from Owen’s grasp and again approached the door. This time she looked through the peephole viewer.
Sure enough, she saw whom she’d expected to see.
Staying out of Owen’s reach, she pulled the door open, then grinned at the men who stood there—her fellow Alpha Force members assigned to this mission. No cover dogs, though. Lupe was the only one on this mission.
“About time you gentlemen got here,” she told them with a smile, although they had appeared earlier than expected.
“Easy for you to say,” retorted Patrick Worley. “Wait until we tell you all we went through to arrive early.”
“Hold that thought,” Selena said, “and come inside. We’re in the middle of a report on why we’re here—and something that just occurred.” She was a little annoyed that the last time she’d spoken with Patrick, he’d indicated there was no way they could arrive this early.
Was this an attempt to make a good impression on the CAs, by demonstrating that the importance of this mission to Alpha Force made them pull out all the stops to get here fast?
Maybe. But Selena doubted it would have that effect on Owen.
It certainly didn’t on her.
Nevertheless, she was glad to see them.
“Sergeant Major Owen Dewirter of the RCMP,” Selena said, assuming all the formality expected of a US soldier on duty, “I’d like you to meet Alpha Force members Captain Patrick Worley, Lieutenant Marshall Vincenzo and Captain Jonas Truro.”
As the group shook hands, Selena smiled, feeling all kinds of relief circulating inside her.
Formality be damned. These were people with a job to do—herself included.
A job for which they all needed a briefing.
“Hey, everyone,” she said. “C’mon back inside so we can talk.”
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Linda O. Johnston
He's the one man she can never trust… Sergeant Major Owen Dewirter lives every day with the guilt of having let a shifter hurt one of his own. Now he's being forced to work beside Alpha Force newcomer Selena to train a new covert unit of shifters for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and stop a rash of serial kidnappings. Can Owen ignore his prejudices–and his fantasies–about his sexy new partner and do his job?When their passion ignites in the remote Canadian woods, the tension between Owen and Selena puts the joint mission in jeopardy. Can they learn to trust each other while tracking the enemy? Or will a cunning foe lure them into a dark and deadly endgame?
She didn’t even think about resisting…
When their mouths met, the whole idea of conducting research on her own to avoid him flew from her mind, even as she pulled him even closer.
His hardness against her was irresistible. “Owen,” she whispered against his mouth.
“Good thing we’re in your bedroom,” he said hoarsely. “Or was this why you came in here?”
Despite herself, she laughed a little without pulling back very far. “Believe me, I came in here to avoid this.”
“Nope, I don’t believe you.” He softened his words by deepening the kiss.
Selena moaned against him, even as her most sensitive body parts warmed and tingled in anticipation.
But though she still reveled in her memories of the last time despite recognizing what a bad idea it had been, having sex with Owen again would be an even worse idea…and it was absolutely foolish to even contemplate it here.
LINDA O. JOHNSTON loves to write. While honing her writing skills, she worked in advertising and public relations, then became a lawyer…and enjoyed writing contracts. Linda’s first published fiction appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and won a Robert L. Fish Memorial Award for Best First Mystery Short Story of the Year. Linda now spends most of her time creating memorable tales of paranormal romance, romantic suspense and mystery. Visit www.lindaojohnston.com (http://www.lindaojohnston.com).
Canadian Wolf
Linda O. Johnston
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
My special thanks to my wonderful agent Paige Wheeler of Creative Media Agency, and to my delightful Harlequin editor, Allison Lyons, who have been so fantastic in helping to keep the stories of Alpha Force an ongoing miniseries.
Thanks, too, to writers Leslie Knowles and Ann Finnin, who read my manuscript and gave me some great revision ideas.
And as always, thanks to my amazing husband, Fred, whom I always acknowledge in each of my books because he inspires me.
Like my other Alpha Force Nocturne™ books, Canadian Wolf is dedicated to shape-shifters and the readers who love them.
Contents
Cover (#u53ff08f2-8b39-5d4d-ac58-f509e20a84ca)
Introduction (#u653605ad-3800-5d12-8eaa-277aed52fddb)
About the Author (#u0e1fa1f5-f8b7-5465-a6d9-9f19bfb9cd05)
Title Page (#u5cd610b2-4748-57f2-936a-9cf1f7018b86)
Dedication (#uce6ba437-d96f-5a32-a716-0996e0a01d66)
Chapter 1 (#u3587c65a-ba99-544e-8785-744864668483)
Chapter 2 (#u1b287d78-3302-52e6-a1a7-27d527ee94c6)
Chapter 3 (#u16bfa509-8405-5e5f-8e51-07bf05c73f89)
Chapter 4 (#u0226cd61-9af6-5017-a5bb-6b585ab73281)
Chapter 5 (#ubee23bd5-deb1-580f-a367-b3353331290f)
Chapter 6 (#u9e0f9f0b-411f-5d66-98d3-a1c174530050)
Chapter 7 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 8 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 9 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 10 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 11 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 12 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 13 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 14 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 15 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 16 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 17 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 18 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 19 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 20 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 21 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 22 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 23 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 24 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 25 (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 1 (#ulink_a2a4582e-f67f-54e3-a2a9-bc0331390489)
“I’m still so jazzed!” said Lieutenant Rainey Jessop, clasping her hands under her chin. “Working with Mounties. This’ll be so much fun!”
Lieutenant Selena Jennay sent a wry smile toward her aide. Rainey had been excited from the moment the two of them had first been given this assignment—yesterday. As for herself, she was skeptical. She’d reserve judgment until she better understood the players in this new mission.
She took a seat across from her aide at the table in the small meeting room with gray wallpapered walls, the secluded area to which they’d been shown after arriving at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s northwest Vancouver facility. Her cover dog, Lupe, a canine who resembled a mix between a wolf and a husky, lay beside her.
She glanced at Rainey. “Do you think it’s more fun than working with shapeshifters?”
Rainey looked momentarily shocked, a rare occurrence for the outgoing and chatty young woman. “Hardly. But I’m going to get to work with both Mounties and shapeshifters. Amazing!” She paused, and her smile morphed into a frown as two men in white shirts and blue pants walked into the room. “Although I’d hoped that we’d get to work with Mounties in their gorgeous dress uniforms and tall hats,” she added under her breath.
Selena and Rainey rose to meet the men, smoothing down the camo uniforms of Alpha Force, the highly covert US military unit to which they belonged. Selena’s light brown hair and Rainey’s darker brunette locks were both pulled back tightly into clips.
“Good morning,” said the first man to enter. He appeared middle-aged and had short white hair. Walking around the oval wooden table to where Selena and Rainey now stood, he held out a veined, long-fingered hand. “I’m Anthony Creay, deputy commissioner of the RCMP’s general policing services.”
Then he was the head of the group who’d contacted Alpha Force, Selena reasoned. “Hello, sir,” she said, shaking his hand. She introduced both Rainey and herself. Then she let her gaze drift to the other man.
“Sergeant Major Owen Dewirter,” he said, proffering his hand for a shake, too. “Also with general policing services.”
And most likely the man with whom they’d be working over the next few weeks, Selena figured. The other guy was his superior officer and probably just wanted to make sure things got started well.
“Which one of you is the shapeshifter?” Owen asked. The sergeant major had a distinctively handsome face, with brilliant blue eyes beneath strong brows that matched his short, wavy black hair. His nose was aquiline, his chin broad with just a hint of a beard shadow.
Yet judging by his unreadable expression, Selena had the impression that he wasn’t overly fond of shifters. Did he even believe in them? That wasn’t clear, at least not yet.
“That would be me,” she said in as mild a tone as she could muster, considering her initial bout of irritation. She could be wrong. She didn’t know the guy, let alone how RCMP members thought or acted. He might be attempting to impress his superior officer by remaining emotionless.
“How fascinating!” Anthony did indeed appear fascinated. He stood behind a chair at the opposite side of the table, his eyes wide, his mouth slightly open. “I’m pleased that you’re here to give us a close-up demonstration.”
“Yes. About that.” Rainey drew their attention as she sat down again. Her movement caused Lupe, who’d stood up as the humans did, to sit as well. “We’ve discussed that and are not sure about the best way to handle it. You see, we need a bit of privacy. Actually, Lieutenant Jennay needs a bit of privacy,” she amended. “I’m her aide, and I’ll be with her, but a shift requires that someone, er—”
“I’ll be nude,” Selena interjected. She remained standing for now, her arms crossed. “That’s why I have a female aide. We use a special proprietary elixir, and we will make some available to the shifters you have recruited into the new RCMP team that we’re to train. When the rest of our Alpha Force team arrives tomorrow or the next day, they’ll include a male shifter or two. They may be more amenable to being observed by men when they change. But although you can definitely see me once I’ve shifted, you unfortunately can’t watch me shift.” She found herself looking straight into Owen Dewirter’s still-unreadable gaze. “Too uncomfortable for me. And I don’t like to feel uncomfortable.”
“I see.” The words were drawn out slowly by Anthony Creay as he sank down into a chair across from the two women. And clearly, to Selena, the point was that he could not see. Not everything. “Nude? I didn’t consider that—but I believe that observing a shift was part of our understanding. So we would be sure of the genuineness of the help we’re getting.” As he scowled, his fleshy lower lip protruded.
Owen took a seat beside him, then exchanged glances with his superior officer. When he turned back to Selena, he had a decided frown on his face, too. “We need to work something out here,” he said. “We have to watch the process to be sure you’re a real shifter and not just trying to put something over on us.”
His pronunciation of the word out—with an almost long O sound—emphasized that he was Canadian. But his accent wasn’t the only difference between them. He wanted her to get nude in front of him for her demo shift? Not gonna happen. Even though he was one great-looking guy. The thought of him observing her body as she stripped sent waves of heat through Selena that made her feel as if this meeting was on the hottest summer day in the US South instead of a cool evening in the Canadian West.
Was this whole thing primed to be a fiasco? Selena hoped not. She and Rainey were here representing Alpha Force and, since they had been in the western United States and were therefore the closest of those in their unit who had been selected to help the RCMP form their own similar unit, they’d been ordered to Vancouver to give a small and limited demonstration.
Limited being the key word.
Even Lupe must have sensed the tension in the room since she stood beside Selena and whined. Selena reached out and hugged the wolf-dog closer to her.
“Here’s the thing,” she said to the men in as reasonable a tone as she could muster. “Let me introduce you first to my cover dog. Lupe, this is Deputy Commissioner Creay and Sergeant Major Dewirter.” She scratched Lupe behind the ears in a manner that caused the dog to turn her head toward the two men, not that Lupe, a genuine canine, could understand her words. “Gentlemen, this is the canine who looks a whole lot like me when I’m shifted. The way I figured we’d do this demonstration is for Rainey and me to go into another room. You can keep Lupe with you and lock the door to the room. With Rainey’s help, I’ll shift. Then when you unlock the door there’ll be Rainey inside with a canine who looks a whole lot like Lupe. Voilà! That’ll be me, shifted. There’ll be no other person in the room. With doors locked and all, there’s no way we’d be able to do this without it being the real thing.” The very suggestion that they’d try to pull a scam on representatives of a national police department that had requested their help really peeved Selena.
“But we understood we could see the actual shift take place.” Creay’s tone was icy.
Selena glanced toward Rainey, who looked uneasy and bewildered. Well, she needn’t be. Selena was in charge here, at least for now.
“I understand your wish to see the process, gentlemen,” she said. “Maybe you’d have been able to if you hadn’t requested Alpha Force’s presence so urgently. You said you needed at least our initial representation within one day. We were the closest team members available. So here we are.”
“I recognize that,” Creay retorted. “But we don’t have any extra time, either, to wait—or to deal with a situation where things aren’t as represented to us.”
“Are you accusing us of lying?” Selena hated to be confrontational, but their attitude was forcing her into it.
“We’re not accusing you of anything.” Owen’s voice sounded placating, but his expression remained unreadable. “We just want to ensure we’ve got what we were promised by the US military.”
Selena wanted to make good on that promise, too, for the sake of Alpha Force. She took a deep breath, then said, “Look, we want to cooperate with you—but certain things are nonnegotiable. If you don’t feel you can trust us, if you think we’ll play some kind of hoodwinking, magical game even when you can watch to make sure the room stays locked—well, maybe we’d better just leave right now.”
Selena saw Owen glance once more into the angry face of his commanding officer. Then Owen looked directly toward Selena. “Okay,” he said. “We understand your concern, and I hope you understand ours. Our mission is highly important. And...well, it’s probably no surprise to you that not all people believe in shapeshifters. We just need—”
“Do you believe in them?” Selena glared as if daring him to say that who she was, what she did, wasn’t real.
“Yes,” Owen said quietly, planting his arms on the table in front of him and leaning toward her. “I do. But this is all new to Deputy Commissioner Creay and he has his doubts.”
Interesting, Selena thought. Creay’s position was that of the majority of regular people. But the sergeant major was a believer. How did he know the reality?
Well, if he was the one who’d be working with them, maybe she would find out. Or not, if things continued to deteriorate.
He leaned in closer toward Selena, and his confrontational posture made Lupe tense up and growl. Glancing at the dog, he backed up slightly. “We seem to be at a stalemate. I’ll be with you at the headquarters of the new team we’re forming. But Deputy Commissioner Creay won’t be with us. He’s going back to our headquarters in Ottawa when we’re done here. I may be able to watch some of the male shifters change then, but he needs to see you shift now.” His expression changed then from demanding to something Selena couldn’t interpret at first. Challenging?
Could be, considering his next words.
“I’ll tell you what, Lieutenant Jennay. If you strip and show us your change, I’ll strip right along with you. That way we can both feel uncomfortable, not just you. Although I have to admit that I’m just a normal human being.”
Selena blinked in surprise at his outrageous offer.
Normal? She doubted that. The idea set her body on fire, and it was all she could do to prevent herself from letting her gaze slide down his fully clothed body toward the area she really would like to see nude.
But was he serious? Or was this some kind of additional challenge? “That’s not—” she began.
“Not necessary,” Deputy Commissioner Creay interjected. Selena drew her gaze away from Owen and focused on Creay. His expression had calmed a bit. “I trust the people I spoke with at Alpha Force, and I’ll trust them more after one of us gets to observe a shift. But that’s apparently not going to happen now, so why don’t you do your shift, as you suggested, inside a locked room. We’ll check out the room before you enter and then monitor the shift from the outside. For now, that should be fine.”
Selena gave a sigh of relief that the face-off had now been averted, even as she continued to watch Owen Dewirter. Now his eyes, too, were unreadable.
What would he do if she told him that she accepted his offer to strip bare?
No matter how much she liked the idea on some level—like, deep inside her now-blazing body—she wouldn’t agree. Handling her shift the way she had already described was the best way to go. It should satisfy them. This was an RCMP facility. Where would Alpha Force find another dog that looked like Lupe and be able to sneak it in?
Besides, she was aware that others in Alpha Force sometimes used this method of shifting in a secured room to prove to nonshifters who—and what—they were, and she hadn’t heard of any problems resulting.
But all she said was “Fine. So...shall we get started?”
* * *
Owen Dewirter observed Selena from across the table—for the moment, at least—as she stood.
Maybe he’d been way out of line with his suggestion. It had been impulsive. But it had also been born out of irritation and a need to end their impasse.
Owen hadn’t wanted to strip here—although the idea of seeing Selena Jennay nude definitely stiffened a certain part of his body. But he also knew Anthony Creay well enough to be certain that his superior officer didn’t like to be denied anything he believed he was entitled to.
This way, Anthony wound up making the decision—a good thing, and probably the only way to make the superior officer stand down. And now what Lieutenant Selena Jennay had proposed had become acceptable. She would shift without a male audience.
She would shift, though. He didn’t actually doubt that she was a shapeshifter.
Although he believed—no, knew—they existed, he had major concerns about shapeshifters.
But this one was also a gorgeous, sexy woman—even dressed in the sexless camouflage uniform of US soldiers.
She was slender, moderately tall, with full lips and high cheekbones. Her light brown hair seemed most unusual, with highlights that shimmered in even the low artificial lights in this conference room. Her amber eyes flashed with emotion as she spoke—like now, as she conversed softly with the other woman, glancing occasionally toward the two men.
Owen rose, too, as did Anthony. “Do you know of any suitable room?” his superior asked in a low voice.
“Why not in here?” Owen asked. “We can leave.” As he spoke, he scanned the small chamber, furnished only with the table and chairs. They were two stories up, so their visitors couldn’t slip Selena out and a dog in—especially since the window overlooked the parking lot and the station’s inside guard post. Whoever was on duty would no doubt see any shenanigans.
“I suppose that would work,” Anthony said, also looking around.
As they spoke, Lieutenant Jennay speared them both with a sharp gaze that gave no quarter. Owen had no doubt that if her demeanor was typical of the US military’s Alpha Force, that explained how the covert group accomplished its sometimes impossible missions.
He looked forward to this assignment.
He’d been one of the very few members of his division within the RCMP’s general policing services who hadn’t immediately scoffed when Anthony asked in his interview whether he believed in shapeshifters. Owen knew they were real.
He just didn’t happen to like them. Experience had taught him to mistrust them.
And yet, it was in his country’s best interests for a group of shifters from the States to help the RCMP to form its own covert unit, similar to Alpha Force, but a police unit instead of a military one.
Owen was all about helping his country. He would head the team. The fact that he’d previously worked with canines at the RCMP’s police-dog service training center wouldn’t hurt, either.
“So what do you think?” Selena eventually asked, her hands on her hips and confrontation in her expression.
“We’ll lock you right in here,” Owen said with no inflection, as if he had no interest in continuing the confrontation. “This is as good as any place. Maybe not the most comfortable location to get naked, but you won’t be aware of it for long anyway.”
“Not true,” Selena snapped back. She clearly hadn’t lost her attitude. “You may believe in shapeshifters, but you don’t know anything about Alpha Force and our elixir if you think we lose awareness. For your information, the elixir developed by members of Alpha Force allows us to shift without a full moon and to keep our human awareness when the moon isn’t full, and neither is the case with other shifters.”
“Sounds like a useful concoction.” Owen had understood there was something that made Alpha Force members different from other shapeshifters, but hadn’t known what it was.
She seemed to relax a little after that. “But that’s okay for now. You’ll learn more as we help to train your RCMP shapeshifters.” She drew out those words as if to rub the concept back in his face.
He realized that he was smiling—wryly perhaps, but genuinely. She wasn’t only lovely. She amused him.
Even though she was a shapeshifter. Or so she said.
She was right. He knew little about Alpha Force, its elixir or anything else related to the unit. But if she could genuinely shapeshift now, when the next full moon wasn’t due for a couple of weeks, it would tell him a lot.
“There aren’t any security cameras in here, are there?” Selena asked. He watched as she scanned the walls.
“No,” said Anthony Creay. “This room is usually used for secure and private meetings.”
“Okay, then we’re on.” Selena looked around a little more as if she didn’t trust what he said, but there were no places that Owen saw, either, where equipment could be hidden.
“Fine,” he said. “Now, what would you like us to do?”
It was her turn to grin. “If you’d like, you can go ahead and get naked anyway.” She let her eyes scan Owen’s body up and down, and he felt himself start to respond. Not a good idea. Not here, and not ever.
But since they were going to be working together, should he call her bluff after all? He gave it a second’s thought before he knew the answer. No sense in angering his commanding officer. “Nope,” he said. “I think this is your cue, not mine.”
She shrugged one shoulder, as if she had no interest in whether he kept his clothes on or not. Too bad, he thought. But it was better that way.
“So what would you like us to do?” he asked her.
“Leave.” She began walking around the table, holding out the leash attached to her dog’s collar. “Just watch out for Lupe. She’s a great dog—but like me, she’s got quite a bite if you rile her.”
He assumed she was still just teasing. Even so, he gingerly grabbed hold of the leash’s looped handle. It was his responsibility, not his superior officer’s. The furry wolf-dog looked up at him with eyes that did indeed appear a similar amber shade to Selena’s. Her cover dog. The way she would appear while shifted, she’d indicated.
A fine representative of the wolf species, albeit with some traces of other canine stock, like, perhaps, Siberian husky.
“I bite, too, Lupe,” he said, although the way he petted her furry head belied his words—justifiably. He liked dogs. A lot.
It was their shapeshifting counterparts that he didn’t trust.
Was Selena different? He’d see, as time went on.
“Well, don’t bite my dog,” Selena said.
She turned around, waving her hand. “Right now is a good time for you gentlemen to leave.” She glanced over her shoulder. “After you lock the door you can stand in the hall to make sure we don’t slip out and play the games that you apparently expect. Rainey will knock for you to open the door when my shift is complete.”
“Fine.” Owen waited until Anthony had cleared the doorway, then followed.
He turned back for an instant, just long enough to notice that Selena was already preparing for what would occur after he locked the door. Her head was bent as she started unbuttoning her shirt.
Too bad he really couldn’t stay and watch. Maybe some other time.
The other woman, Rainey, had crossed the room and picked up the large backpack she’d carried inside before. She studied its insides, and before Owen left, he saw her extract some kind of bottle. Was that the elixir Selena had mentioned?
He figured he would find out, if not today, then in the days to come, when he was with the Alpha Force members who had promised to help instruct the new RCMP members he had assisted in recruiting.
Those new members were also shapeshifters—or so they’d claimed—and had their claims confirmed by reputable friends and family, including others within the RCMP. He hadn’t yet had a chance to watch them shift, either, since they did so only under a full moon—so far.
“Hey, haven’t you left yet?” That was Rainey, who’d looked toward the door after handing the bottle to Selena.
Selena had stopped moving and was also watching him suspiciously.
“On my way.” He gave a small yank on Lupe’s leash. The dog obeyed and preceded him out the door.
Owen shut the door behind him and took the key from Anthony’s hand. He turned it in the lock.
“So,” he said, “I guess now we just wait.”
* * *
Moving her erect ears, inhaling deeply to further stimulate her sense of smell, Selena stared at the door.
Her shifting had finally ended. As always, there had been discomfort.
Also as always, she had finished taking off her human clothes before imbibing the elixir and waited while Rainey shone the special battery-operated light on her that resembled the glow of a full moon. But this time she had also turned to stare at that closed door.
Maybe the distraction had helped, since the discomfort hadn’t seemed as bad as usual. Even now, shifted, she couldn’t help wondering what it would have been like if Owen Dewirter had actually removed his clothes, too.
“You okay?” Rainey asked as she always did.
In her wolfen form Selena couldn’t shrug and say, “Of course.” Instead, she just gave a soft growl and lowered her head.
“So, you ready to show off to those doubting Thomases?” Rainey asked next. “Why would they even invite Alpha Force to help save their Mountie butts if they didn’t believe that our abilities—your abilities—were real?”
That wasn’t something Selena could respond to, either. Not now, in any event. And in fact she had no answer.
But she’d definitely gotten the sense that the smart-alecky Owen Dewirter believed in, but did not appreciate, shifters.
She would find out why. Eventually.
For now, she padded over to the door and listened. Even as a human, her hearing surpassed that of normal people, but it was particularly enhanced after her shift, as were her senses of smell and taste.
She sensed that Lupe was still outside. The men were talking, perhaps joking a little.
The older man clearly did not know what to expect.
She lifted her paw and touched the door frame, which cued Rainey, who knocked to summon the two Mounties.
Selena heard footsteps on the hallway floor. In seconds, she heard the sound of the key in the lock. The door was pulled open, and Owen stood there, looking in.
On one side of him was Anthony Creay. On the other was Lupe, who pulled on her leash.
Selena walked forward and traded nose sniffs with her cover dog.
“Care to come in and look around, gentlemen?” Rainey sounded smug.
“Yes,” said Anthony, and he strode through the open entry.
Owen just stood there, looking into the room and down at her. She could not read his expression. It wasn’t admiring, but neither was it full of scorn.
“It is real,” she finally heard the older man say. “No Selena here, just the dog. The wolf. Whatever.”
“Yeah,” Owen agreed. “It’s real. And that’s a good thing, since our guys have a lot to learn to accomplish our underlying mission.”
She might help to teach them a lot—but she needed to know exactly what that mission was. And soon.
Chapter 2 (#ulink_59e6fd80-8b24-5797-9543-56fb1d53d765)
It was morning, the day after the three Alpha Force members, including the dog, had arrived in northwest Vancouver.
Now Owen was ready to drive them up to their new headquarters, where he—and they—could get to work.
For the moment, he had parked his SUV in front of the hotel where both he and the visitors had spent the night. He settled back in the driver’s seat, waiting for them.
Last night, when their sort-of demonstration had ended, it had been too late to head out. Besides, Selena had looked tired after what she had been through. Once Anthony acknowledged that she must indeed be a shifter—Owen hadn’t doubted it by then—she, her aide and her dog had remained in that conference room while Anthony and he went back into the hall.
Owen hadn’t locked the door that time. He’d figured Selena, changing back from a wolf-dog into a human—a naked human—might have wanted that option, but she hadn’t asked for it before shifting back, and neither had her aide.
Of course neither he nor Anthony had attempted to peek. Even so, Owen, who never considered himself to have much of an imagination, had still somehow visualized what her slim but curvaceous body might have looked like without any clothes on...
Well, he could imagine anything he wanted, including sexual attraction to a female shapeshifter in human form. That fantasy would remain far from reality, for a whole lot of reasons, not the least of which was that she was a professional colleague...and—oh, yes—she was a shifter.
The good thing was that Anthony now believed—which meant their operation could move forward.
Plus, Owen hadn’t had to strip to get the dispute resolved. It had been a dumb offer on his part. He knew that. He’d recognized it even as he’d suggested it, Anthony’s attitude notwithstanding. Worst thing now was that it might negatively affect his professional relationship with Selena. He’d have to be careful and treat her with total respect from now on.
And keep his clothes on.
Before they’d adjourned last night he’d called this hotel and made reservations for them and himself for the night. His current home was in Ottawa, since he’d been most recently stationed at the RCMP main headquarters there—until now. But he would become a resident of West Columbia as soon as they got there.
He scanned the front of the hotel and saw the trio emerge. He got out of the car to open the doors for them.
The women rolled suitcases behind them and carried bags over their shoulders. Rainey seemed in charge of the dog.
As they got closer, Selena blatantly looked him up and down. Interesting. Did she approve of what she saw?
“You’re not wearing your Mounties uniform,” she said. “Not even the casual kind you had on last night—although someday soon we’re going to insist on seeing you in one of those classic and formal red jackets and rounded hats.”
She had a smile on her face. She looked well rested and seemed clearly in teasing mode. Good. Maybe things weren’t as bad as he thought.
“Only if you earn the right to see me that way,” he said, keeping his face expressionless. “I have to admit that I like you in the civilian clothes you’re wearing today a lot better than the camo uniform.” The jeans and T-shirt she wore hugged her curves.
Why was he noticing such things? Especially after cautioning himself to resist any sexual attraction to her.
He quickly opened the rear hatch and helped them load their suitcases and backpacks, then watched as Rainey ushered Lupe into the backseat and followed the dog inside. Lupe was obviously a well-trained dog, one he’d enjoy working with, given the opportunity.
He doubted that the humans, while shifted, would be as well behaved.
By the time he closed the door after the woman and dog, Selena was already buckled in the front seat. He hurried to the driver’s side and got in.
“So where, exactly, is our destination?” Selena said as he turned the key in the ignition.
“West Columbia.”
“How far is it?”
Owen maneuvered the car away from the curb. It was his own vehicle. Even though this was an official mission, the whole operation was to be done undercover. Plus, he was moving to this area to be in charge of the new covert team. He would not drive his prior on-the-job vehicle, an RCMP sedan, around here.
“About an hour from here,” he finally answered as he pulled into traffic. “It’s a somewhat remote, moderate-sized town where tourists come and go, so we won’t stick out as being intruders. It abuts some forested mountains and seems like a good location for our new detachment, but we’ll see. The location is also part of our experiment. The new RCMP members who are part of my team are already located there, and to everyone they talk to they’re on vacation but considering moving there. That’s what all of us are to say, if anyone asks.”
Owen drove north toward Highways 1 and 99, the Trans-Canada Highway nearest to where they started out, although it would turn into the Upper Levels Highway and Sea-to-Sky Highway before they reached their destination.
“Sounds good,” Selena said. “Since you’re national police and not military, you shouldn’t need something like Ft. Lukman, which is Alpha Force’s headquarters. It’s an actual military facility in Maryland and has units stationed there besides ours. We’ll tell you more about it, if you’d like, as we undertake our training sessions. By the way, what’s your new team to be called?”
“It’s the Covert Special Services Group. Our nickname for the group, at least for now, is the Canada Alphas, or CAs.”
“That works,” Selena said. “At least it’s somewhat compatible with Alpha Force.”
He glanced at her yet again and saw that she was smiling, and that lovely expression was aimed toward him.
“Now all we need to do is to get your shapeshifting team whipped into shape,” she said.
* * *
Staring out the window at the lovely, forested Canadian countryside with vast mountains in the background, Selena couldn’t help wondering how hard their assignment would be. From the little she’d learned when ordered to hurry to this area, the shifters Alpha Force was going to assist in training had only just been recruited into the RCMP. They probably had no experience in law enforcement or the military. Their shapeshifting backgrounds probably hadn’t even allowed them to consider the possibility of shifting outside of full moons, let alone keeping human cognition while in shifted form.
Bless you, Alpha Force elixir, she thought.
Yet she had a sense that this man, who’d be in charge of the RCMP contingent, could make her job even harder.
She needed to figure him out.
What did he really think about shapeshifters?
And the idea of his offering to get naked...? Stop thinking about that, Jennay, she ordered herself silently.
She glanced into the backseat. Lupe lay down with her ears up but her eyes closed, and Rainey watched the view out the window, as Selena had been doing.
Yesterday, they’d been in a car most of the day—a rental vehicle they’d picked up hurriedly in Seattle and dropped off in Vancouver.
Good thing they’d had adequate ID with them to get into Canada—their passports and military identification. But Alpha Force members were always prepared for anything. It was part of the job.
She hoped she was prepared for the man beside her.
Turning to Owen, she asked, “I gathered that you believed in shapeshifters even before you got the assignment of working with them, right?”
“That’s right.”
Along with his bland acknowledgment, she watched Owen’s physical reaction. There was none. At least none that she could see. He didn’t look at her, and his handsome blue eyes didn’t blink as they stared at the road ahead of him. His strong chin remained at the same level as before. He continued to drive at a speed compatible with the flow of traffic, watch the road and not say or do anything that would indicate his attitude toward shifters.
But she was curious. She wasn’t sure why it mattered, but she hoped he not only believed in shifters, but also liked them, at least a little. Might even be interested in them as more than strange aberrations in the world of human beings. Maybe one of them in particular.
Not that she would encourage anything between them but a good professional working relationship. He might be attractive and hunky, and her human hormones might be tweaked just by looking at Owen Dewirter, but she knew far better than to get involved with a nonshifter. She had learned her lesson, and learned it well.
Besides, this nonshifter seemed to have an opinion, one she couldn’t interpret.
But with him, or despite him, she intended to do all she could to make sure that the Alpha Force mission here was a complete success for both the US military and the Canadian Mounties.
Of course, she’d have help when the rest of the Alpha Force contingent arrived.
When Owen didn’t follow up his acknowledgment with anything else, Selena decided to push him for more. “Most people don’t believe in shapeshifters. Why do you? Have you met any? Seen any shifts?”
“Some members of my family knew a shapeshifter.” He didn’t look at her, but his icy expression as he regarded the road suggested he didn’t want to say anything more about it.
Not that that would deter her.
“Knew? They don’t now?”
“No,” he said shortly.
“I gather that the experience wasn’t a good one. But even if they told you about it, if you didn’t see it yourself, why did you believe?”
“Let’s just say I saw and heard enough to convince me. So how about you? What made you join Alpha Force?”
She must have hit a nerve. But surely the man must have realized that if he was about to work with a bunch of shapeshifters, they’d want to know his experiences with others of their kind.
For now, though, she’d go along with him.
“I grew up in Wisconsin, in the same area as the commanding officer who first developed the elixir. He helped to form Alpha Force, and his cousin’s a member, too.” That was Major Drew Connell and recently promoted Lieutenant Jason Connell. “I heard they were looking for new recruits, so of course I had to jump in.”
Not to mention how the timing had worked. She’d needed something then to help her get over a bad romantic relationship.
The divorced guy she’d been dating then, and cared for a lot, hadn’t known she was a shifter. His cute but sneaky young son had unfortunately seen her ending a shift once before her aide moved her away. The kid gleefully told his father that Selena was a werewolf. Her boyfriend had responded to his son that shapeshifters existed only in stupid stories and he wanted his kid to be realistic and smart. He had told Selena about it. Laughed about it.
So she’d left him and her teaching job and hurried home—only to find this position where shapeshifters were revered and treated well.
But she didn’t want to talk about it. Not now and not ever. Like she’d done with her questions to Owen, he’d pushed buttons with his that really bothered her. It was time for a change in subject.
“I’ve always heard such wonderful things about the RCMP,” she said. “How long have you been a member? And do you like it?”
He glanced over at her. Now those gorgeous blue eyes of his actually had an expression in them—pride, if she read it right. “Ten years, and I love it.”
She asked more questions, and Rainey leaned forward to join in the conversation. For the rest of the ride they were regaled with tales of undercover adventure in trapping bad guys, enjoyable training sessions with those horses that the Mounties rode and antics of the K-9s Owen had worked with. He apparently liked canines, even if his feelings about people who shifted into wolves weren’t quite so warm.
Selena realized that, if she wasn’t careful, she might actually come to like sexy Owen Dewirter. And that could really be bad news.
* * *
By the time they reached West Columbia, Owen could almost believe this was a pleasure ride instead of an official diplomatic mission of sorts: the Canadians requesting US assistance for a particularly touchy situation.
One he hadn’t yet discussed with his new best friends.
Friends? Heck. Under other circumstances, he’d have seduced Selena, or at least attempted to, with more than an irreverent yet necessary offer to take his clothes off. She definitely attracted him that way...at least as she was right now, all sexy human female.
The glances they sometimes shared, brief as they were, suggested she might be attracted to him, too. That was fine here, in the car, when neither could act on any inappropriate appeal.
Later, he’d pretend those glances had never happened.
He drove through the residential area and onto a driveway that rose a short distance through a forest and into the hills.
Up that driveway was the small enclave of two homes that had been acquired to become the CAs’ hidden headquarters—assuming everything worked out.
Owen parked on the paved area between the homes and was met by the four new recruits for the CAs who had rushed out of the smaller of the two houses. The one-story white wood-frame building would be used as the meeting place for the US and Canadian teams as the CAs learned how to use their shifting skills for the good of their country.
The group had clearly been watching for their arrival.
“Hi, Owen.” That was Constable Sal Emarra, the youngest of the new recruits, only nineteen years old. Like the others, he didn’t wear an RCMP uniform; instead he was dressed in casual civilian clothes of a tourist. He held out his hand for a shake, even as he peered past Owen into the vehicle.
It was too late for him to see the passengers since they had exited at the other side. In fact, they were already being greeted by the other recruits even as Owen hurried to open the hatch and extract the luggage.
“Where should we put our things?” Selena asked, joining him.
“I can handle them all.”
“But—”
Before she could grab any, Owen hefted the backpacks over his shoulders, then took hold of the suitcase handles.
Selena shrugged and said, “Just be careful with the backpacks.”
“Of course.”
He put the luggage in the larger of the two homes, a two-story that would be used as the Alpha Force barracks. Then he joined the group for pizza in the other house.
Before eating, though, he stood and looked at each and every member of the group. “Let’s go around the room and introduce ourselves.”
“Better yet,” said Selena, also standing now, “don’t just give your names but tell us whether you’re a shifter and if so, what you shift to.”
She gave him a small, smug smile, as if she’d somehow shown him who was boss.
He didn’t contradict her, though. That information did need to be shared.
Selena went first and then Rainey introduced herself as another lieutenant and Selena’s nonshifting aide.
The others went next: Constables Sal Emarra, Tim Franzer, Craig Neverts and Andrea Willburn. The men informed everyone that they all shifted into wolves, too.
However, Andrea, a pert young woman with short black hair and a long nose, said, “I shift into a falcon—and that’s really fun. But tell us, Selena. How do aides work—and what’s a cover dog?”
“Oh, you’re all going to have fun learning what Alpha Force is going to teach you,” she said, grinning.
Owen didn’t miss the way her smile lit up her face or the way her amber eyes sparkled like twin topaz gemstones.
Oh, yeah, this was going to be fun, indeed.
Chapter 3 (#ulink_af0b0904-2c56-5f06-9408-05fd7cfdd7d3)
Selena couldn’t start teaching anything until her fellow Alpha Force members arrived. She might have the teaching credentials and some experience with the unit, but Captain Patrick Worley was the commanding officer on the American side of this operation.
That was why she decided to excuse herself, leaving Rainey with the others who were peppering her with questions about how someone who wasn’t a shifter worked with Alpha Force. There were things, of course, that Rainey could not reveal about their covert military unit, but Selena trusted her not to mention them. Right now, she needed a little time to herself.
“Where are you going?” Owen called to her from the porch as she walked across the lawn with Lupe beside her.
From there, Owen appeared even taller. Even sexier.
She caught her errant thoughts. “Nowhere in particular.”
“Well, then, why don’t I show you where your sleeping quarters will be?” He pointed toward the other house as he walked down the steps. “You can choose which room you want.”
Selena liked that idea. In fact, as much as she loved being part of a large, close-knit outfit like Alpha Force, she hoped to find a room that would give her some privacy.
In fact, maybe she could just pick out a room and chill out there for a little while.
Although it would be hard to chill at all with a hot guy like Owen around. And if she didn’t stop thinking about him that way, she was going to have one really tough time working with him on their training assignment.
She started toward the larger house and Owen walked beside her. “Ever been to Canada before?” he asked.
“No, this is my first time. Have you ever been to the States?”
“A few times.” His tone suggested he might not have been impressed with her country, but when she glanced at him his face had gone to that neutral, unreadable expression she couldn’t interpret.
She had to keep a lot of secrets as a shifter and member of Alpha Force, but she had a sense that Owen Dewirter might have an even greater number of his own.
The front of the other house was similar to the one they’d just left. They climbed stairs onto the broad wooden porch, Lupe following. It was empty, but Selena imagined sitting out there with the entire group one of these days, holding one of the lessons she intended to provide.
After he unlocked the door, she walked through the five upstairs bedrooms, but it was the one downstairs that called to her. It was an understated room with a narrow white dresser with a mirror on top, a small chair and a single bed that was not much larger than a cot. The bare essentials. There was even a private bathroom—small but convenient.
Feeling a presence behind her, she turned and realized Owen was in the room with her. She was in a bedroom, all alone with Owen. Why had she noticed that? And why did it make her feel so warm inside? In fact, the lower part of her body seemed to ignite.
She chilled it immediately. “I’ll take this one.”
“Somehow I thought you would.” He looked at her with an expression that seemed heated—as if he also recognized they were alone in this house in a bedroom.
Then, clearing his throat, he said abruptly, “I’ll leave you to unpack. See you back at the other house.” And with that, he left.
That was a good thing, Selena told herself, though she felt suddenly bereft.
Instead of unpacking, though, Selena called Captain Worley. When she got his voice mail, she left a message, asking him to call with his expected arrival time.
Then she quickly opened her suitcase and pulled out a few items that she hung in her closet. Almost everything was civilian casual, to maintain their cover.
She next went to the entry and got both of the backpacks. She unpacked the remaining bottle of elixir stored in an insulated container and secured it at the back of the refrigerator.
Then she said to Lupe, “Ready for a walk, girl? When you’re done we’ll go back to the others.”
But as eager as Selena was to get started, she had a feeling it would be a long afternoon.
* * *
Owen had returned to where the constables who now reported to him still surrounded Rainey in the small and crowded living room. They were asking her questions about Alpha Force.
Too bad he hadn’t stayed around to listen to her answers. The more he knew about the group that would be helping to train these raw new candidates, the better.
Instead, he had gone off to spend time with Selena. Not that he regretted it.
He felt more than saw her enter the room a short while later. His nerve endings tingling, he looked up as she and her dog joined the group. But then he noticed that Tim Franzer seemed to sit up straighter. He even moved over on the sofa and waved at the empty spot for Selena to sit down.
The guy wasn’t especially tall or muscular, and he didn’t appear particularly good-looking to Owen, not with his round face and prominent nose.
Even so, Selena gave him a big smile as she joined him.
Which irritated Owen.
If she ever smiled at him that way... She wouldn’t. But it was definitely hot. She was definitely hot—no matter what else she was.
“So, Selena,” said Craig Neverts, getting her attention. He was a nicer-looking guy than Tim, with dark hair, a wide mouth and prominent chin. “I’m finding all the stuff that Rainey’s told us to be amazing. She said you guys shift when the moon isn’t full and you’re going to teach us how.”
“Soon,” Selena said. “When our other Alpha Force members arrive. But maybe tomorrow we can give a brief demonstration of what I’m like while shifted even if they’re not here yet.”
She glanced toward Owen, her expression challenging as if she expected him to say something about how she had done the same for him and his commanding officer—shifting remotely. Not demonstrating the actual shift.
He remembered the demonstration and his lame offer of getting naked with her. Feeling those stirrings again, he banished the images that the mere thought brought to mind.
“Well, I, for one, don’t appreciate just hanging around here like this,” said Andrea Willburn. But she must have sensed that Owen, her new commanding officer, was glaring at her. “Sorry.” She appeared somewhat chastised. “But if it’s okay, can we maybe...well, go into town now rather than waiting till later? Party a little, as part of our cover? I mean if we’re not accomplishing anything useful today?”
To Owen, she somewhat resembled a falcon, the kind of animal she apparently shifted into, with her cap of dark hair and large, beak-like nose.
He thought about her suggestion. It might be the best thing to give everyone the afternoon in town. He’d stay behind, alone, and get some much-needed distance from the woman who was getting under his skin. He looked at Selena as he said, “Why not? Go ahead.”
* * *
That was fine with Selena.
As everyone left the room, she sat there. She had no particular interest in shopping or partying. Besides, she needed time away from Owen. Time to get her mind away from X-rated fantasies and back on the assignment. She took Lupe out on the porch, where she planned to sit and rest.
“You’re still here.”
At the sound of his voice, she turned to see Owen. Why was he still here? “Why didn’t you go with your troops?” Selena challenged him.
“Why didn’t you?” he countered.
“I—I need to take Lupe for a walk.” Not that she hadn’t, just a little while ago.
“I’ll go with you.”
He wasn’t her commanding officer, and she could have responded in the negative. But what the heck? Nothing would happen on a little walk in the woods.
There were worse things than hanging out a little more with Owen, her inner voice said.
Yeah, like not getting to be with him at all...
Now, where did that come from? She liked the guy, sure. But only as a temporary colleague. And if he truly didn’t like shifters despite believing in them, as he’d hinted before, that was even more reason not to spend much time with him.
So was the fact that she was sexually attracted to him.
Without looking at Owen, she grabbed Lupe’s leash and started out. The woods behind the houses smelled rather like citrus from the fir trees that formed a tight canopy, which nearly blocked out the sun. A carpet of downed needles crackled beneath their feet.
“Good area for shifters,” Selena told Owen, wanting to hear his reaction to her touch of goading.
“Glad to hear it.” She looked up to find him grinning down at her. Grinning? He now accepted the idea of her being a shifter?
Heck, that was what she was and why she was here.
Lupe didn’t have much to do except explore, sniffing the ground and air. They nevertheless stayed in the woods for twenty minutes or so.
“Ready to go to town, too?” Owen asked as they headed back.
“Sure,” Selena said, glad she’d survived the walk unscathed. Then she tripped over a branch and Owen grabbed her arm to steady her.
She found herself smiling in thanks up into his handsome, rugged face and saw that there was more than concern in his eyes. Not just casual heat, either.
More like lust.
She opened her mouth just a little as she attempted to thank him...and Owen’s lips came down on hers.
The kiss seemed to ignite the cool forest, especially when his arms went around her and pulled her close. She held him tightly, too, tasting him with her tongue as his teased hers.
Her eyes closed, and for a moment she was aware only of Owen. And herself. Here. Together, in the wilds, where anything could happen.
Before she could conjure any steamy scenarios, he pulled away. His breathing was hard and irregular, as was hers, and his expression was still full of heat, but his words were just normal and friendly, as if nothing had happened.
“Let’s drive into town, shall we?”
“Right. Sure. That sounds fine.”
* * *
Selena put Lupe in the kitchen of the house where they’d be staying, then joined Owen at his car.
Neither of them mentioned that kiss or where it had come from—let alone how inappropriate, yet suggestive, it had been.
Maybe it was just an act of closure after their initial discussions of nudity. Something they just had to get out of their systems. Now it was over. At least she hoped so.
Why, then, did it leave her aching for more?
Owen drove them carefully down the hill, then parked along the main commercial street and led her into the Yukon Bar. It was crowded, but even so, there were a couple of available tables. At his urging, Selena chose one—the one closest to the door and therefore the farthest from the noisy bar.
“Is this all right?” she asked.
“Definitely.”
She ordered a glass of red wine; he ordered a beer. When their server left, he asked, “Is it okay— I mean, you’re all right drinking alcohol?”
She laughed. “You mean...people like me? Yes, when we’re like this, all usual activity is fine.”
He smiled at her. She liked his smile and the way it raised his hint of dark beard ever so slightly. “I think I have a lot to learn about people like you.”
“And I have a lot to learn about the Mounties. You’ve told me a bit about your background, but how did you wind up here, in this kind of assignment?” One he didn’t seem to relish. “And when are you going to tell me the main reason for the formation of the CAs unit? I gather it’s something important.”
“It is.” He moved a little closer and spoke softly. “It’s actually a bunch of serial kidnappings that have justifiably gotten our senior officers’ attention, but it would be easier to explain more about it when your folks get here and I can do it all at once.”
The server brought their drinks, and since neither was especially hungry after that pizza, they ordered only a small appetizer to share.
When the server left, Owen looked at Selena with his gorgeous blue eyes and said nothing for a long moment. She felt her insides heat as if those eyes were igniting her nearly as much as his lips had. Before she lost herself in their depths she said, “Okay, tell me why you’re here.”
Shrugging, he took a drink of his beer. He still kept his voice low as he responded. “Not much to say that you don’t already know. As a kid, I always loved to see Mounties in their formal red uniforms riding horses and all. I told you about some of my assignments, but most recently I was assigned to the task force investigating those kidnappings I mentioned. That’s partly why I was chosen to help form the Canada Alphas—so I could use a different direction to catch the kidnappers.”
“Your career sounds amazing,” Selena said.
They started speaking again of Canada and what Selena might see here. The rest of their outing was pleasant. More than pleasant. Selena found herself looking into Owen’s face constantly, sharing smiles and laughs and banter, almost as if they were flirting.
Which, of course, they couldn’t be. Despite that onetime, unforgettable kiss. They were professional colleagues—that was all. Her role was to teach him and his fellow RCMP members what they needed to know and then leave.
Developing any other kind of relationship just couldn’t happen.
* * *
Sitting across the table from the lovely Selena, Owen now wished they’d found the rest of their crowd and hung out with them.
As much as he was enjoying Selena’s company, he was...well, he was liking it too much. Liking her too much.
Trying too much to remind himself what she was. Why she was here.
How touching her, kissing her, had been way out of line.
But he’d absolutely enjoyed their kiss. He also enjoyed the memory of it now, as he watched those full, sexy lips of hers while she talked and smiled and drank her wine and nibbled their appetizer.
This was unlike him. In all his assignments, he was totally professional. He got along fine with colleagues, sure. Even attractive female ones. But he had always behaved with absolute professionalism.
He had already blown that once with Selena. It couldn’t happen again.
She was talking softly now, about her recent assignment, although just loudly enough that he could hear her over the roar of the crowd around them. “Rainey, Lupe and I were in the Seattle area on more of a recon kind of thing. There were some reputed AWOL soldiers hanging out there, around a secluded campground, and the regular army hadn’t been able to confirm it. The idea was that the soldiers might be acting the roles of hunters or naturalists or whatever. They might be easier for a wolf to spot.” She paused and smiled, raising the ends of those sexy lips slowly. “They were. The assignment was pretty well over when I got a call from my superior officer. So here we are.”
“Yes, and I think your presence here will be a particularly good thing. We’d already been planning to form the CAs, but it had to come together even faster than originally thought because of those kidnappings. We—”
He heard a cell phone chime. “Mine,” Selena said. She pulled it from her pocketbook and looked at it. “It’s my captain. Excuse me.” She rose and walked away.
At the same time, Owen’s phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket and looked at it. Anthony Creay, his boss.
“Yes, sir?” he answered.
“I hope you’re getting your CAs trained well and fast, Owen. There’s been another kidnapping.”
“But the last one was only last week. There’s always been a good month or more before the next one.” Owen realized his protest was inane. If there’d been another kidnapping, the criminals’ prior MO on the four previous cases was no longer relevant.
“True. They’ve been so successful that they must be ramping it up. Which is all the more reason that your group is so critical.”
Selena returned and sat across from him again, no longer holding her phone. He mouthed Creay when she raised her eyebrows in question.
“We’re still waiting for some of the Alpha Force members,” he said, this time keeping his voice low in case anyone was eavesdropping.
“I heard what you said,” she told him in a soft voice. “Tell your boss they’ll be here tomorrow.”
Across the table his eyes met hers. The mission was about to get under way. And things were about to get interesting.
Chapter 4 (#ulink_f4c3a573-437a-5296-91cf-aa580fe8df57)
They left immediately, at Owen’s suggestion, which was fine with Selena. She didn’t telephone Rainey, nor did Owen call his CAs. “I’d rather tell them in person to get their tails back to the hotel where they’re staying for now so they’ll get up early for a briefing, even if your Alpha Force guys haven’t arrived yet,” he told Selena, and she agreed.
Owen led Selena out the door, but instead of going to the parking lot, they turned left outside and began hurrying down the sidewalk.
“I’d thought the gang would end up at the Yukon, too,” he said, “and we could have just talked to them here. But I’m aware of the other bars in town that my group also seems to like. I haven’t been downtown much with them, but they took care to introduce me to their favorites.”
Several cars drove by under the streetlights, but Selena and Owen were the only ones on the sidewalk outside the bar. The air was cool. Selena was glad she had grabbed a sweater to bring along after partially unpacking her suitcase earlier. She had removed the black wrap when they’d sat down, but now she pulled it on again over her T-shirt.
She was surprised, after sticking an arm through one sleeve, that the other sleeve was lined up so she could easily finish shrugging it on. Owen had grabbed it and held it up for her. Apparently, on top of being a member of the RCMP, he was a gentleman.
“Thanks,” she told him, turning enough to glance at him. He nodded in acknowledgment and kept walking.
Evidently more used to the crisp air than she was, he didn’t don a sweater or jacket over his gray plaid shirt. It fit well over his black jeans, hugging his chest in a way that suggested his training as a Mountie kept his physique in perfect shape.
West Columbia reminded Selena of countless small towns she’d visited back in the States. The street they traversed, Columbia Avenue, was lined with shops of various types.
There were also a number of restaurants, all with lights on and apparently still open. Selena didn’t recognize their names, but they seemed to be an assortment of family-style and gourmet eateries. Some of the aromas wafting out of them, especially the gourmet establishments, filled Selena’s senses and made her smile, even though she was far from hungry. Maybe she’d have an opportunity to sample some of the food here before her assignment was complete.
“This seems like a very pleasant town,” Selena said to make conversation. She was very aware of Owen at her side. She had the sense he wanted to pick up the pace but had reined himself in somewhat to accommodate her.
He didn’t need to. She was quite comfortable walking fast and did so often at home as part of a daily fitness regimen. She ran, too, when she felt like it—in both her forms.
Partly to accommodate him instead, and partly to challenge him, she began walking faster.
He kept up with her with apparently no effort. “I like your speed,” he said, sounding not at all out of breath, which didn’t surprise her.
“I thought you might.” She glanced up at him at her side and caught a glance that appeared somewhat amused—and a whole lot sexy.
She looked away quickly and stepped it up a notch or two more.
The first bar they came to, in the middle of a retail block, was Myrtell’s. Selena heard the loud hum of conversation even before Owen opened the glass door, and as they stepped inside, the sound level rose to near deafening, despite her being in human form.
Myrtell’s was crowded and smelled of liquor and popcorn and people scents that probably were only somewhat discernible to the patrons here, but were strong and not all pleasant to Selena.
She wasn’t about to mention that to Owen, let alone complain. But after they’d both looked around for several minutes and failed to see either Rainey or any of the CAs, Selena was glad when they left.
Once again, Owen allowed her to choose their speed. And once again, she walked fast, though she didn’t settle into a run.
The next place—the Wonderbar—was on a side street about three blocks farther than Myrtell’s. Its entry was covered by a sign that resembled a theater marquee, and Selena heard the crowd noises emanating from the place nearly as soon as they turned the corner from Columbia Avenue.
As they reached the door, Selena inhaled the aromas emanating from the Wonderbar. If she had to guess, the patrons here preferred beer over the other kinds of alcohol she had smelled at both of the other bars.
She first heard, then saw, Rainey when she looked inside the door. Her aide was sitting with the four recruits around a moderate-sized round table that held glasses of many sizes, indicating their differences in drinks. Wineglasses sat before Andrea and Tim. Sal had a tall glass in front of him with an amber liquid and ice inside, suggesting a drink with hard liquor—or perhaps it was just a soft drink. Craig and Rainey seemed to fit in better with more of the crowd here since beer steins were on the table in front of them.
Interesting choices, but Selena had no time to do more than give that a passing thought. Owen and she hurried through the door and up to that table.
“Hey, welcome.” Sal stood to pull his chair aside to make room for the newcomers. Knowing the young, skinny guy was only nineteen years old, Selena glanced at his amber drink, but she knew that was the legal drinking age in British Columbia. If he had hard liquor in front of him it would be acceptable here, and the scent Selena detected told her it was alcohol.
“Yeah. Where’ve you been?” Andrea asked. Across the table from Sal, she, too, stood and looked around as if seeking another seat for them, her wide but smallish eyes peering over her prominent nose as she checked out the place.
“Looking for you,” Owen said, not entirely truthfully, Selena thought, since they hadn’t sought out the rest of the crowd when they first got to the Yukon Bar. “We needed to let you know we’re going to hold an update session very early tomorrow morning.”
“Then there’s been some news?” Rainey was on her feet, too. Selena couldn’t help grinning at her aide. Rainey was always eager to jump into whatever assignment they had, and being here with these other shifters seemed to only increase her enthusiasm. She’d pulled a Minnesota Timberwolves sweatshirt on, probably her attempt at a silent joke with regard to the wolf shifters here, including her commanding officer—Selena.
“Yes,” Owen said. “We’ll tell you about it first thing tomorrow.”
“And discuss how we’re going to handle things a little later,” Selena added, “when the rest of our Alpha Force team arrives.”
“Right,” Owen agreed. “But right now I’d suggest you head back to your hotel rooms so you can get a reasonably good night’s sleep. You have fixings for breakfast at our...site?”
Selena figured he’d avoided saying “headquarters” in case anyone around was eavesdropping. All the crowd she saw seemed caught up in their own conversations—and imbibing. But she appreciated his discretion.
“Yes, we do,” Craig said.
“Great. Then get on back to where you’re staying now.”
“Soon as we finish our drinks,” Craig agreed, and the others nodded. Selena suspected they had only recently ordered refills since none of their glasses appeared especially empty. But that was okay. The alcohol might help them sleep better.
“We’ll see you in the kitchen of the main house, then, at o-seven...er, seven a.m.,” Selena said, quickly getting herself out of military speak.
“Yes, ma’am,” Rainey whispered with a sly grin.
Selena wasn’t sure whether the RCMP knew US military protocol, speaking or otherwise, let alone followed it. But when she glanced around the table, all the CAs were grinning.
Especially Sergeant Major Owen Dewirter.
* * *
“You’re staying downtown somewhere, aren’t you?” Selena asked as Owen pulled her chair out so she could stand.
Despite being an officer of the law, he didn’t always follow traditional etiquette with women. Even so, something about Selena made him want to revert to the old ways he’d learned as a child here in Canada—actions that had supposedly been imported from the mother country of the UK years, even centuries, ago. Odd, he knew. And he didn’t want to overthink it now.
But on some level he realized he was hoping to make himself think of his obligatory partner in this program as a lady, not an officer in the United States Army whose rank might be in some ways equivalent to his own in the nonmilitary RCMP, or perhaps even higher. And certainly not as a shapeshifter from whom he had a lot to learn to fulfill his current assignment.
Plus, he got closer to her this way than he otherwise might. Could smell her fresh, almost floral scent—nothing like the scent of dogs or wolves that he might otherwise have anticipated.
In addition, while being polite, he could imagine touching her for other reasons than assisting her in and out of cars or pulling her chair out for her.
Which most likely meant he should start being rude from this moment on.
“That’s right,” he responded. They left the others behind at the table and wended their way through the bar crowd to the exit door. Once they were out on the sidewalk he continued, “My team and I will move into the house you and your other Alpha Force members will be occupying now once you’ve trained us and moved on.”
“So where are you all living now?”
“Hotels. I’m in one, and the rest of the CAs are in a different one.” He’d thought that would help his subordinates bond without worrying too much about being part of a regimented system. That would come in time. And he didn’t worry about his command. As soon as the training and the mission started, they’d know who was in charge.
She turned sideways to look up at him. “It would be more convenient for you to stay downtown right now rather than driving me back to the house. I could wait until Rainey is ready to go, then ride with whoever drove her here, or she and I could even walk back to the HQ if she doesn’t have a ride. It’s not that far.”
“In the dark and in tonight’s chilly air? No way.”
He couldn’t help but appreciate her offer, though. She didn’t automatically consider him and the CAs her inferiors, who were required to take good care of her in exchange for teaching them.
“All right.” She sounded relieved. He liked that, too. He figured she had made the offer because she believed it to be convenient for him, even though she’d hoped he’d refuse it.
They walked back to his SUV in the Yukon Bar’s gravel parking lot, and without thinking, he took Selena’s arm and helped her into the passenger seat.
Despite the sweater she wore that kept him from touching her skin, he was highly conscious of her warmth. She, too, appeared to notice the contact, since her head turned quickly and her amber eyes captured his for just an instant. “Thank you,” she said. He shut the door, then went around to the driver’s seat and started off.
He had anticipated struggling to find a neutral topic of conversation on the short drive back to the enclave when he realized he wanted to know everything about this woman—including more of what she really thought about being a shapeshifter. But he didn’t really want to bring that up. Not now.
He was relieved when she started the conversation. She sat in shadows in the seat beside him, but the lights outside the vehicle illuminated her enough that he could see her lovely face—and the fact that she was smiling as she watched the scenery while he drove.
First, she commented on the bars they’d visited. “I liked the Yukon best, but I can see why our gang likes the Wonderbar. There’s more action there, for one thing.”
“True. But I was with them once at the Yukon and they really got into talking about...what they were. Quietly, and using euphemisms, in case anyone was listening.”
“Euphemisms like what? Although I might have heard them all. Used them all at different times.”
He told her Andrea’s description of what they all had in common as being windows through which illumination fell—like the full moon that changed them, he assumed. Did Selena still identify with that? He knew that shifters in her Alpha Force didn’t need to wait for the right phase of the moon. He had even seen it, sort of.
His new unit members were also students, ready to learn all they could about the universe. They were animal lovers. And more. And with each description, Owen heard Selena draw in her breath and giggle.
He liked that he could please her like that.
“You enjoyed that conversation, too, didn’t you?” she asked, facing him as he waited at a traffic light.
“I liked her ingenuity,” he admitted.
“Did you ever think, when you decided to join the RCMP, that you’d find yourself in such an unusual situation?”
He hadn’t. Not really. But he had previously become aware that shapeshifters existed, and the experience he’d had suggested that illegal, even violent, situations could result from contact with them.
“No,” he said curtly as the light changed and he stepped too quickly on the gas.
He glimpsed Selena’s movement beside him, as she was jolted back into her seat.
“Sorry,” he added, but didn’t explain his discomfort.
“You had a bad experience with shapeshifters, didn’t you?” she asked quietly.
Damn, but the woman was perceptive. He would have to watch himself around her.
“No,” he said only somewhat truthfully. He realized then that this might be a good time to tell her—and vent a little. “Not me personally. But a short while after I joined the RCMP I had a couple of family members killed in the States—in Minnesota—and others there asked me to come and talk to the local authorities and try to make sense of what had happened. I traveled there, and that’s when I learned that one of those killed had been a distant family member by marriage who’d been a wolf shifter. He was shot with a silver bullet while shifted, after he’d killed my blood relative, a third cousin. Despite attempting to dredge out the details and help, I didn’t get a lot of information on motive or anything else, other than that it was a family tragedy, and I never did make any sense of it. The cousin who was killed was apparently a prominent business owner in the area, and the details were hushed up so the shop he owned would survive. His wife and kids still own it and we stay in touch at the holidays.”
It was something he almost never talked about, and neither did anyone else in the family, except maybe those in Minnesota. But letting Selena know that he genuinely believed in shapeshifters—and why—had seemed appropriate.
“Look, Owen, I understand that it’s a difficult topic to discuss, but—”
“Glad you recognize that.” He realized he sounded curt, but she apparently got the message and didn’t push. In fact, they didn’t say much as he continued onward until he reached the houses. She might not be satisfied with his silence, but that was the way he wanted it.
He pulled his car in front of the larger house, where she and Rainey would spend this night and should be joined by the rest of her Alpha Force team tomorrow. They had left the lights on, and the two homes were illuminated.
He saw a half-moon off to the east. Not a full moon. It nevertheless seemed symbolic of what was to occur here.
As he parked, Selena opened her own door. He quickly exited the SUV and hurried around to hold it for her and to reach out for her hand as if to steady her.
“I’m really okay,” she said, not touching him and giving him a stubborn look. Her full bottom lip stuck out obstinately. Sexily. “But—”
“You definitely are okay,” he said. And then, as if he had planned it—maybe to keep her quiet—he bent down, put his arms around her curvaceous, struggling body and put his lips on hers.
Struggling? No. Maybe for a moment, but then she reacted. Positively. Hotly. She leaned in and placed her hands on his chest, and he relished the feel of her so close, her warmth.
The kiss went on for hours, or was it only seconds?
Didn’t matter. Didn’t matter that it was inappropriate, or that his body was reacting in a way that made him both uncomfortable and eager all at the same time.
She wasn’t the one to pull away. He was, and he regretted it.
“Rainey could get back here anytime,” he said breathlessly, looking down into Selena’s face.
She looked bemused. And hot. And even inviting.
He declined the invitation. “Let me walk you up to the door,” he said, taking her arm once more.
She seemed to realize who and where she was at that instant. Her expression hardened; her cheeks reddened in the pale light.
“No need,” she said, pulling away, and he watched as she ran up the porch steps and used her key to enter the house.
Chapter 5 (#ulink_a47d3bfa-705f-54cb-aae4-bbf96a449fda)
Lupe greeted her enthusiastically, whining as Selena walked into the house and jumping up and down in the kitchen behind the chair Selena had set up as a gate.
The wolflike dog had been alone for a while and needed to go outside for a walk.
Selena needed to go outside, too, to cool off in the Canadian breeze after that kiss. That hot, suggestive, sexy kiss that made her insides so aware that Owen felt like a lot more than a professional contact.
She also wanted to ponder some more, on her own, Owen’s brief tale of how he had learned of shapeshifters—and his reason for not thinking much of them. Could she get him to discuss it further with her? He hadn’t seemed inclined to do so. And she certainly couldn’t fix the situation.
After Selena released Lupe from the kitchen, she cautiously opened the front door and looked outside to make sure Owen was gone.
But his vehicle was still there, parked on the pavement linking the two houses.
Lupe whined—she didn’t want to wait. So Selena figured she had better take her dog outside now.
She fastened the woven yellow nylon leash to Lupe’s matching collar and picked up a recyclable bag for anything Lupe might leave. “Let’s go,” she said, smiling at her eager dog.
On the front porch, Selena looked around before closing the door behind her. No sign of Owen. Good. But she’d have to try to hurry since she’d no idea when he might reappear, most likely from the other house.
Lupe seemed interested in going to the area between the two buildings, which was mostly grass edged in neatly trimmed bushes. Needles from the nearby fir trees decorated the lawn.
Lupe pulled gently, her nose to the ground, and Selena followed. Since it was dark outside and the illumination from the lights around the driveway wasn’t very bright, this area remained shrouded in shadows. That was fine. Selena stayed alert, all of her enhanced senses attuned to ensure that nothing perilous was around.
Selena detected the scent of some kind of small feral animal, although it was light enough to suggest that whatever it was had come and gone. But that explained why Lupe seemed extremely interested in smelling the grass and its light needle covering. The dog soon produced what she needed to, and Selena scooped it with the bag she’d brought.
That was when she heard a sound other than the branches of the nearby trees blowing in the light breeze and the very distant sound of an occasional automobile.
No, this was soft footsteps on pavement. Lupe heard them, too, since she raised her head, and her pointed, erect ears moved like antennae toward the direction of the sound.
Had Rainey returned? Selena hadn’t heard any car noises.
No, it was probably Owen heading toward his car. Selena remained still, listening. There was no reason to believe that whoever it was constituted a threat to Lupe or her.
Lupe pulled her lead and dashed toward the sound. “Wait!” Selena commanded, keeping her voice low. She didn’t want the person to hear her, especially if it was Owen.
But Lupe didn’t wait. Her leash taut, she kept pulling Selena in the direction of the driveway. She was usually quite obedient. Not now. Did she sense a danger from which she wanted to protect Selena? Or a friend she wanted to greet?
Selena found out in moments as the back-lit figure of a tall, well-built male appeared in the gap between the buildings. Lupe headed toward him, and Selena released her leash.
It was clearly Owen.
Selena followed her dog, knowing she needed to work to get Lupe even better trained here. Yes, she was mostly obedient, emphasis on mostly. Alpha Force cover dogs did get a significant amount of training, but they weren’t necessarily expected to act as official K-9s who sniffed out explosives or cadavers or anything like that. Their function was to be there for their shapeshifter counterparts so that if anyone saw an animal in wolfen form, they wouldn’t be surprised—even if that particular wolf happened to be a shifted human.
Same went for other types of cover animals, such as those for felines or birds or whatever.
Selena knew that the Canadians would soon need to find cover animals for all of their CAs, including a falcon counterpart for Andrea. But that was far from being her current concern.
“What are you doing out here?” Owen demanded as she got closer.
“Since Lupe’s all over you, I’d imagine that’s pretty clear. She needed to go out.” Selena purposely made her tone sarcastic. That would certainly reduce any further possibility that he’d want to kiss her again, wouldn’t it?
“Sure. But...well, even up here, you need to be careful. One reason we chose this area is that we don’t know of any problems, but there are no guarantees.”
As she got nearer, he wasn’t silhouetted now and Selena could make out his features. Handsome features—with his brow knitted in apparent concern.
And that made him look all the more appealing.
She suddenly had an urge to rush toward him and be the one to instigate the next kiss.
Fortunately a noise sounded behind him. An automobile was heading up the driveway. Rainey was probably returning.
That sound also gave Selena an instant to calm herself—and her very human hormones. “I appreciate that,” she said. Then, to remind him—and herself—of who and what she was, she added, “You may not be aware of it, or even if you are you might not be thinking about it. But shifters’ senses are very much like the animals’ they shift into. I heard you come outside the other house probably a lot sooner than another person would, for example. I’ll stay wary, but you don’t need to worry about me.”
“Right.” He didn’t sound entirely convinced.
Rainey parked the car she had driven—a rental, Selena figured, although she wasn’t sure whose—and came running up. “Hey, you two. Three, I mean.” She bent to pat Lupe. “I’m ready to go off to bed so I can get up early tomorrow. How about you?”
Selena glanced toward Owen before answering. His gaze was on her, and it was probably a good thing that Rainey remained somewhat in the shadows behind him.
She hopefully couldn’t see the very hot, very suggestive gaze that Owen leveled on Selena. But she caught it. And quite possibly she thought the same thing he did.
Yes, she was ready to go off to bed. Alone.
But the idea of sharing it with Owen?
After their earlier kiss, it definitely crossed her mind.
* * *
Off to bed. Oh, yeah, Owen had heard that. Thought about it as he regarded Selena. Sexy Selena. Hot Selena, whom he’d definitely enjoyed kissing.
Werewolf Selena.
She and her dog walked with him to his SUV as if she hadn’t sensed the gist of his thoughts about bed when Rainey had mentioned it. Maybe she hadn’t—although her expression seemed to say otherwise.
No matter. He could always act now as if Rainey’s words hadn’t triggered his imagination—not to mention a reaction from his most private body parts. Selena had, after all, reminded him earlier of why he wasn’t fond of shapeshifters.
“I’ll be back here first thing with the rest of the group,” he said, slipping into the driver’s seat of his SUV. He’d decided to stop in at their hotel to speak with them briefly before heading to his own room that night. “I’ll make sure we get here early for them to get breakfast ready for all of us. As Canada Alphas, they’ve already begun to learn that their duties are diverse, and preparing meals can be among them.”
He liked how Selena smiled under the faint lights. He was also amused when she shifted her dog’s leash to free up one hand so she could grab hold of the car door.
“My turn,” she said, starting to close it.
“Hey, you’re a gentleman, too,” he teased as he settled into the seat.
“You got it.” She slammed the door shut.
But as he turned the key in the ignition, his mind rebelled against what he had said.
Selena was anything but a man, gentle or not.
And her very womanly characteristics just might drive him nuts as he continued to work with her on this assignment.
* * *
Once they were all inside the house, Selena went upstairs with Rainey and helped her choose the room she would stay in while they were here. Rainey opted for the one overlooking the front of the house. Selena then left Rainey upstairs and returned to the room that was now hers.
She had already changed into her long-sleeved navy pajamas, washed her face and settled herself beneath her bedcovers when Rainey knocked on her door. “Come in,” she called.
Rainey, too, had put her on pj’s, a frilly pink outfit that contrasted pleasantly with her dark, curly hair. She grinned as she sat at the foot of Selena’s bed.
Selena leaned back on both pillows that were resting against the plain black headboard. “Well, we’re here,” she said.
“Yep, and I gather that we’re really supposed to start our assignment tomorrow.” Rainey paused. “Are you ready to show these Canadian folks what real Alpha Force shapeshifters are all about?”
“That’s what we’re here for.” Now it was Selena’s turn to smile. “We’ll teach them what being a US shifter—and an aide—is all about.”
“And a cover dog, too.” Rainey slipped her backside from the bed so she could kneel to pat Lupe, who lay on the floor nearby.
“Exactly.” Selena didn’t want to kick out her aide, but she did want to try to get some sleep. “So...” she began.
At the same time, Rainey asked, “So did you have fun tonight?”
It was all Selena could do to hide her startled reaction. Surely nothing on her face, in her demeanor, revealed that she’d shared a kiss with the man who was in charge of the Canadian group that Alpha Force was here to help.
No. Rainey must just be making conversation. Wasn’t she?
Nevertheless, Selena made herself respond as if Owen was just some ordinary guy whom she didn’t find attractive at all—maybe married and twice her age. Or at least that was what she attempted.
“Sure,” she said nonchalantly. “I had a drink with Owen at one of the other bars in town before we found you guys. He wanted to know more about what Alpha Force was about, but I doubt he got it from our limited conversation there in public. He, of course, knows that shapeshifters exist and that I’m one of them, but I still have the impression he finds them—us—weird.” She wasn’t about to reveal to Rainey how Owen had formed his opinion of shapeshifters. “I hope he gets over that enough to work well with his own CAs.” That was the truth, at least. “He got a phone call that apparently suggested they’ll be needed sooner than anticipated, and he’d better be ready for it.”
“Well,” Rainey said, “we’ll see how he is at breakfast tomorrow. The rest of them, too. I had the impression that they’re way different from our Alpha Force members, even though they’re shifters. They were fun to be with, sure, but they struck me as being kind of wild kids. Good kids, though. Tim even let me use his rental car overnight. I just hope that giving them more control of their ability to shift will help tame them down.”
“Guess we’ll have to make sure of it,” Selena said. But she was glad she wouldn’t be the only shifter there as things progressed. She wouldn’t be the most senior, either.
And surely having other Alpha Force members here, like Captain Patrick Worley and Lieutenant Marshall Vincenzo, as well as their aide, Captain Jonas Truro, would also make it easier for her to remember who she was and why she really was here.
And to remember to stay far away from Owen Dewirter except to teach him what she could as an Alpha Force member.
To ignore any attraction she felt for him and, definitely, to make sure she never touched him again, let alone kissed him.
When Rainey left a short while later, and after Selena gave Lupe a good-night hug and settled herself back into bed, she couldn’t help rehashing those intentions and told herself she needed to focus on her assignment.
She just hoped she could.
In the meantime, she lay in bed conscious of the quiet here in the Canadian countryside, except for occasional hoots from local owls.
She mulled over all that had happened over the past couple of days, including Owen’s tale of his family and shapeshifters.
She was concerned about what would happen tomorrow, and if Alpha Force—no, if she—would be able to do all that was expected to help the CAs start their team and deal with the kidnappings that Owen had mentioned.
Not to mention her concern about her absurd attraction to Owen Dewirter that she needed to find a way to turn off. Permanently.
* * *
Owen saw Selena almost as soon as he reached the CAs compound early the next morning.
She was outside again, with her dog, in the crisp early air. He knew that had to be a frequent ritual. Dogs had needs that had to be fulfilled often, especially last thing at night and first thing in the morning, no matter what the weather, no matter what the temperature.
No matter what the dog’s responsibilities, such as acting as a cover for her owner.
Under the brightening morning sky, it was easier for Owen to remain less concerned about Selena’s safety in daylight. Besides, he wasn’t alone. All four of the CAs who needed to be trained and sent into the field were exiting the vehicles behind him.
They weren’t trained at all, let alone as his special team—yet—but he figured they’d do something if he needed help.
He waved to Selena as he hurried up the front steps of the house. It was dumb, but he felt glad to see her wave back.
“Hey, sir, er, Owen,” Andrea called from behind him. “What are we going to do today?” She, like the rest of them, had dressed in casual clothes—jeans and a sweatshirt.
Before coming here, the CAs had been given a brief amount of preliminary training as Canadian police officers and instructed in some of the formalities. Owen had nevertheless told them that, although he was in charge, informality was fine here.
When he had visited them at their hotel last night, he had briefly described to them part of what they’d be up to today, but it wouldn’t hurt to repeat it, drum it into their heads, so they would be ready once the rest of the Alpha Force team arrived to teach them their methods of shapeshifting.
“First thing, I’m going to brief you about our assignment and the update I received last night that I didn’t mention to you before. Then the rest of the day will depend on when the other Alpha Force members arrive.”
“Got it.” She was surrounded by the other CAs on the porch, their gazes all trained on him. Each watched him with concentration, a couple of them nodding.
They all looked interested and eager.
But that didn’t mean they’d be able to do the job—especially with all the tweaks that needed to be added to normal, rational, predictable RCMP constable duties. Not that they were the usual RCMP constables.
Turning his back on them, he hurried into the house. Maybe he was just being naive, but he believed that Selena would be the ideal trainer—and not just because she was a shapeshifter. They’d studied her background, and since she’d been a teacher before joining Alpha Force, she should be able to take these young shifters and instruct them on exactly what was needed to fulfill the RCMP’s needs here.
That was why she was here—not to create impossible sex fantasies in Owen’s mind each time he saw her.
And at night when he tried to sleep...like last night.
He shook off the thought. Heading into the kitchen with the gang behind him, Owen began asking questions before giving orders for breakfast preparation. “Who’s good about cooking eggs? Sal? Great. There are some in the fridge along with butter, and the frying pan is in the drawer beneath the stove. Who’s our go-to toast guy?” Tim Franzer raised his hand, which left Craig Neverts, Andrea and him. Owen decided to brew the coffee, so he told Craig and Andrea where the items were to set the large dining area table.
“Now, let’s get to work,” Owen said.
“Need any help?” Selena, along with Rainey and Lupe the dog, had just come through the kitchen door.
“I think we’re good,” Owen said. But he watched as Selena immediately approached Sal and started helping to cook the eggs.
Was there anything that woman couldn’t do? She was a US soldier, a teacher, a cook...and a shapeshifter.
And sexier than any other woman Owen had met.
With all that in her favor, he’d no doubt that she’d be one hot partner in the bedroom.
But that was one scenario he’d never see realized.
He walked over to the large coffeemaker, glad he had something entirely neutral to accomplish.
Something that allowed him to keep his back toward the rest of his cohorts—so no one would be able to notice the bulge at the front of his jeans.
Chapter 6 (#ulink_eb202218-39c6-5a7f-bcce-39de120c6216)
Selena was glad to keep busy, even though it was a challenge for all the CAs and her to stay out of each other’s ways while whipping up their breakfast together.
Finally they had the meal prepared, and all of them found seats around the sizable dining table. She didn’t plan it, but Selena found herself sitting beside Owen near the doorway to the kitchen. Not a bad place to be. In fact, the two of them were more or less in charge, so why not join forces for what needed to be said here?
Not surprisingly, Owen said he had a lot to tell them, including information he’d just learned yesterday that they needed to know. But he directed them to start eating first.
Selena wanted to hear Owen speak a lot more than she wanted to eat.
Nevertheless, Owen handed her a bowl so she could scoop out her own helping of eggs. “These look great,” he said.
“They are great,” said Craig, who sat across from them. He had already dished himself a substantial helping and had his fork up to his mouth.
Sal and Andrea were on one side of Craig, and Tim had a seat next to him. Rainey was beside Selena. It was almost as though the two groups were opponents—except that Owen sat close enough to her to appear to be on her side.
That wouldn’t be entirely accurate, though. They weren’t enemies, of course, but the differences between them seemed as weighty as the matters they needed to work on together.
Then there was the proverbial elephant in the room, at least as far as Selena was concerned: her totally inappropriate sexual attraction to the man.
Selena ate rapidly, watching the others across the table and listening to their friendly hazing of one another. Even Rainey became the subject of their amusing gibes. How could she stand to be in a whole room full of animals? they’d teased her. Even their commanding officer, Owen, was an animal. A human one. Selena knew he didn’t need to shift to become a feral creature.
To Owen’s credit, he jested along with them, talking about how he would use his own wild nature to mow down any of those here who dared to disobey him.
But after a few minutes of the revelry, Owen fortunately ended it.
“Okay, everyone,” Owen called out. “Let me have your attention.” He had finished his eggs and toast quickly and now just held a coffee cup in his large right hand. Despite the prior levity, his deep voice now resonated with authority and seriousness, and although it wasn’t extremely loud, he did, in fact, appear to capture everyone’s attention.
Selena put her fork on her plate though she wasn’t through eating. But she wanted to concentrate on what he said.
“I’m going to start at the beginning,” Owen said. “I’ll give a quick recap of why those of you who are now part of the Canada Alpha team have been recruited, both to refresh your recollections and to make certain our Alpha Force visitors know enough. Then I’ll tell you why what you’re about to embark on is crucial to our national security. How you can help save lives.”
Selena had been informed of the basics before, but hearing them from Owen, with his point of view and earnest tone, drove home the importance that she’d been told surrounded her mission here.
Yes, the recruits were shapeshifters. How they had been found and recruited into the RCMP was only hinted at, but their ultimate objective was a matter of Canadian national security as Selena knew.
“We’re all very pleased to have found each of you and look forward to your justifying the trust we’ve placed in you.” Owen’s gaze moved slowly from Sal to Andrea to Craig to Tim. In exchange, they each peered solemnly toward him and nodded.
He then looked toward Rainey and, finally, at Selena. Those eyes of his were gleaming and blue and grave. They didn’t turn her on at that moment, but they definitely made her take notice. Made her want to fulfill whatever they commanded.
Which, right now, was apparently just to listen.
“I believe you were told what we need to accomplish, how we got the attention of the US military and why we were let in on the highly secret existence of your Alpha Force, but just in case, here’s the story.”
Owen took a sip of coffee, then reached toward the carafe that sat on the table not far away.
“I’ve got it.” Selena reached for it and then poured coffee into the nearly empty cup that Owen held out. She warmed her own, and Rainey’s, too, before passing the carafe so the CAs could take more as well.
“Thanks,” Owen said. Then he finally dived into the crux of what they all needed to hear. He described the horrific serial crimes taking place in Canada. Family members of some of Canada’s most successful business magnates, or even the magnates themselves, had been kidnapped to extort tremendous amounts of money. “There were four prior abductions that we’re aware of, and you’ll recognize the surnames of the victims—or at least those of you who are Canadian will.”
Selena hadn’t heard of three of them, but the fourth, Marc Wagnere, was well-known in the States as being the originator of an internet search-engine site that competed easily with Google and others. She’d heard something about the senior guy’s illness, but as far as she’d known, that was all that had gotten into the news—not anything about an abduction.
“Of course, this is all confidential information,” Owen continued, “and you’re not to discuss it with anyone except among yourselves. And now there’s another victim.”
Before he continued, Selena heard a noise outside. Lupe did, too, since the large, furry dog stood up and barked.
Selena couldn’t help glancing at the other three wolf shifters in the room. They appeared both alert and confused, looking from one to the other. She suspected they’d heard the outside sounds as well.
Was there some jeopardy here? No, she knew who had just driven up the driveway to the headquarters.
“Let’s pause for a moment, okay?” she asked Owen, whose hearing probably hadn’t been tweaked. “And I think you ought to get someone to brew some more coffee.”
“Why?” He looked concerned and not exactly happy.
Before Selena could explain her assumption the doorbell rang.
Lupe barked once more even as Selena hurried from the dining room and down the hall to the front door. She had just grasped the knob when she felt a hand on her shoulder and Owen pulled her away.
“What the hell are you doing?” Owen demanded. “We don’t know who’s out there. It could be dangerous.”
Selena hesitated. She could be wrong. She moved away from Owen’s grasp and again approached the door. This time she looked through the peephole viewer.
Sure enough, she saw whom she’d expected to see.
Staying out of Owen’s reach, she pulled the door open, then grinned at the men who stood there—her fellow Alpha Force members assigned to this mission. No cover dogs, though. Lupe was the only one on this mission.
“About time you gentlemen got here,” she told them with a smile, although they had appeared earlier than expected.
“Easy for you to say,” retorted Patrick Worley. “Wait until we tell you all we went through to arrive early.”
“Hold that thought,” Selena said, “and come inside. We’re in the middle of a report on why we’re here—and something that just occurred.” She was a little annoyed that the last time she’d spoken with Patrick, he’d indicated there was no way they could arrive this early.
Was this an attempt to make a good impression on the CAs, by demonstrating that the importance of this mission to Alpha Force made them pull out all the stops to get here fast?
Maybe. But Selena doubted it would have that effect on Owen.
It certainly didn’t on her.
Nevertheless, she was glad to see them.
“Sergeant Major Owen Dewirter of the RCMP,” Selena said, assuming all the formality expected of a US soldier on duty, “I’d like you to meet Alpha Force members Captain Patrick Worley, Lieutenant Marshall Vincenzo and Captain Jonas Truro.”
As the group shook hands, Selena smiled, feeling all kinds of relief circulating inside her.
Formality be damned. These were people with a job to do—herself included.
A job for which they all needed a briefing.
“Hey, everyone,” she said. “C’mon back inside so we can talk.”
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Linda Johnston
Тип: электронная книга
Жанр: Современные любовные романы
Язык: на английском языке
Издательство: HarperCollins
Дата публикации: 16.04.2024
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О книге: He′s the one man she can never trust… Sergeant Major Owen Dewirter lives every day with the guilt of having let a shifter hurt one of his own. Now he′s being forced to work beside Alpha Force newcomer Selena to train a new covert unit of shifters for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and stop a rash of serial kidnappings. Can Owen ignore his prejudices–and his fantasies–about his sexy new partner and do his job?When their passion ignites in the remote Canadian woods, the tension between Owen and Selena puts the joint mission in jeopardy. Can they learn to trust each other while tracking the enemy? Or will a cunning foe lure them into a dark and deadly endgame?