Protector Wolf

by Linda O. Johnston

  “But she shouldn’t threaten any protected species,” Burt Sharan interjected, putting his arm around his wife.

  “No, she shouldn’t,” Maya said, “though I can certainly understand her position.” Her head drooped—and Ryan found himself beside her, his arm around her the way Burt had done with Kathie.

  He felt something amazing, something indescribable, when Maya turned and put her head on his shoulder. He faced her, held her even closer, wanting to comfort her—and more. His whole body was reacting to her closeness. And it didn’t hurt knowing that this woman was someone who gave a damn about wolves.

  But Ryan’s shoulders stiffened at that thought. She cared about wolves, sure—but what would she think about people who turned into wolves, and back again?

  Most regular humans, unless they’d had contact with shifters, didn’t believe in them. And once they had something like that, which they considered weird and paranormal and scary, happen within their consciousness, they backed away.

  Might even become particularly fearful of those creatures, real or shifted.

  Even so, for now, he didn’t loosen his grip.

  But he couldn’t help wondering how Maya would react knowing that the wolves who’d nearly attacked her last night were likely shifters.

  Or that he was a shifter, too.

  Chapter 6

  How could she be so very aware of this man’s nearness? His arms around her.

  His lower parts hard as he pressed against her.

  Absurd to even think about it. He was simply being nice. Kind. Sympathetic.

  She shouldn’t need sympathy. Morton Fritts did. She felt just terrible about what had happened to him, as if it was her fault.

  But she hadn’t brought the wolves here. She was merely an advocate, excited that a wonderful protected and endangered species appeared to be making a resurgence here.

  Enough of a resurgence that she, perhaps acting foolish in her delight, had nearly been attacked, too.

  If anyone should have been mauled, it was her.

  “Thanks,” she finally said in as decisive a voice as she could muster. She pulled back, immediately feeling somewhat bereft as Ryan no longer held her, no longer touched her. But it was better this way. “Let’s go find our table—although I’m not very hungry now.”

  “Don’t let any of this get to you.” Ryan’s tone sounded like an order, and she looked up into his face. His brows were knitted, but there was something in his expression that suggested caring. She started to smile, though a bit weakly she figured—but then he added, “Of course I gather you also did something as foolish as Morton Fritts, but you’re just lucky you weren’t hurt, too.”

  She took a step back, bumping into someone standing there in line. She excused herself but didn’t take her gaze off Ryan.

  How did he know that? She hadn’t left a message when she’d tried calling him at the hotel. And all she’d really said on the subject this morning was that she’d had an interesting night.

  Still, under the circumstances—the howls and barks in the distance and her obvious love of wolves—he could certainly have guessed what she’d done.

  And since he apparently hadn’t been in his room when she called last night, maybe he had done the same thing. And maybe he had seen her, though she hadn’t seen him.

  She needed some answers. “Yes,” she said, “I’m lucky, and maybe you are, too. Did you do anything after you heard those howls last night?”

  When he frowned and opened his mouth to reply, she shook her head. “Let’s go sit down and order breakfast—and we can each tell our reactions to those sounds and what we did about them.”

  *

  Okay, so he’d gone a little too far in his initial chastisement of Maya. So what?

  He didn’t have to get into specifics.

  As they made their way between tables, with him in front, Ryan spotted Piers sitting at a table outside just beyond the glass door. He couldn’t see Rocky at first but figured the dog had been there long enough to relax and lie down on the patio.

  “There they are,” he said and finished leading Maya to the table.

  Rocky stood up, and Ryan couldn’t help smiling at the way Maya immediately went over and petted him before taking her seat facing Piers. That was a good thing, since one of the remaining chairs had its back to the far patio wall, and if Ryan sat there he’d be able to keep an eye on the crowd.

  Ears, too—although he hoped he didn’t regret too much that he was there as a human, with limited ability to eavesdrop. But if someone happened to mention the word wolf he was sure he would hear it.

  Piers picked up the menus near him on the tabletop. Ryan noticed he’d already gotten a cup of coffee. As he handed a menu to Ryan, Piers looked at him quizzically, as if asking what he’d missed.

  But he’d heard the worst of it before heading to the table: Morton Fritts had apparently been attacked by a wolf.

  Ryan didn’t want to bring that up now. There was nothing they could do over breakfast to research which type of wolf had attacked the man, let alone fix that situation.

  As a result, he just gave a brief shrug and opened his menu. “Great! They have a good selection, and I’m hungry.” Which he actually was, after his busy night on the hillside.

  Not to mention the energy used for shifting. That burned a lot of calories.

  As he read the menu, he did hear the word wolf and several times with his heightened hearing. He allowed himself to glance in those directions. Other seated diners, both here and inside, seemed to be discussing the events of last night—at least the howls, since he heard that word a few times, too.

  He also heard the word attack at least once…

  News had apparently spread about Morton Fritts. Not that it was likely to be hushed up for any reason—not even by shifters, if they were the source of the problem. They could discuss it while in human form, but would they know who did it—shifters or not? And if shifters, which ones were involved?

  But with all the various conversations, many of which seemed to be on that subject, and the fact that there was a curious woman at his side so he couldn’t simply sit there listening, Ryan gave up on the possibility of learning much that was useful right away.

  Nor did he get any sense, via scent or conversation, that anyone here was a shifter—not that his belief was conclusive.

  He decided to order eggs with sausage and toast. Good thing he figured that out fairly quickly since their server, a thirtysomething woman who looked like she’d been at this for a while, came right over to their table for their orders.

  Maya asked for only toast and decaf. When the server was gone, she looked toward Ryan. “Did you go outside, too, after you heard the howls?”

  Ryan knew he had to be cautious about how he responded. But he’d already hinted that he was aware she hadn’t stayed in her room.

  Not that she’d recognized him. Sure, he had chased the other wolves away from her, but he didn’t think she had a clue that any of them were shifters.

  Before he responded, though, he glanced toward Piers and grinned, knowing his aide would take his cue and keep any answers on his part consistent with Ryan’s.

  “Yes, we did hear those howls and all and went out for a little while,” Ryan said. “As representatives of US Fish and Wildlife, we wanted to gather as much information as we could. We wanted to listen, to try to determine how many animals, presumably wolves, were howling and from what direction. We left Rocky in our car since he wouldn’t necessarily follow a safety protocol and stay with us rather than pulling away to chase whatever was making those sounds.” He glanced down at the dog, who once more was lying on the patio.

  Ryan then shot a glance toward Maya, just as the server came with her decaf and his high-octane coffee. She also refilled Piers’s cup. “Your food will be up shortly,” she said, then left.

  “Did you hear any more when you were out there?” Maya asked. “See anything?”

  “A few more distant howls
and barks, but that was all—and we didn’t see any wolves or other wildlife.” He didn’t need to tell the truth, of course. In fact, nearly everything he said was a lie. He happened to be one of those wolves. “How about you? Did you go outside to check things out, too?”

  He needed to tread somewhat lightly here, but he’d already suggested he knew that answer.

  “Yes,” she said. “I wanted to see the wolves, so I followed the sounds as best I could.”

  “I gathered they were on the hillsides beyond the park. Was that what you determined?”

  “Yes,” Maya said. She sucked in her lips slightly as if in worry, and if Ryan read her expression correctly she was recalling all that had happened.

  “And did you see any?” Her response would be what determined how he followed up.

  “Yes,” she said almost curtly. He gathered she didn’t want to continue after that.

  But Piers, great aide that he was, was the one to ask, “Really? What did you see?”

  Her eyes narrowed, and then she looked down at the table. “They were beautiful,” she said almost reverently.

  Ryan shouldn’t feel so happy to hear her words, her attitude. Maya might be one gorgeous woman with a laudable attitude toward wolves—but she had no idea who and what he was, along with the probability that there were at least a few others in this area.

  She might not be so pleased about the proximity of wolves if she did.

  “How many wolves did you see?” Piers continued. “Where were they? I assume you didn’t get near any of them, right?”

  Piers hadn’t been close enough to see the encounter among Ryan and the two other wolves he believed to be shifters, but Ryan had filled him in once he had shifted back to human form—including how he had kept the wolves from attacking the lovely and foolish human who’d tracked them down.

  “Well…” Maya looked toward Ryan as if attempting to judge how much he knew. He’d already suggested that she might have done something as foolish as Morton Fritts and was therefore lucky she’d not been hurt.

  But he wasn’t about to tell her why he believed that to be true.

  He looked straight back into her soft hazel eyes. “Why don’t you tell us what you did and what you saw?”

  “Because I’m both happy and embarrassed about it.”

  Their food arrived then, and Maya looked pleased at the interruption. But a short while later, when they’d all taken their first bites of food—and Ryan had given Rocky a taste of his sausage—he said, “Okay, tell us about your night.”

  She took a deep breath and raised her light brown eyebrows as if she actually did feel discomfited about her anticipated response. But she described having followed the howls and other canine sounds into the woods, using her flashlight and camera—and being confronted by a couple of wolves.

  “But then there was a third one,” she said, “who distracted the two that seemed as if they might attack me. I ran away then.”

  “I hope you sent thoughts of thanks to the wolf that helped you,” Piers said, taking another sip of his coffee before glancing toward Ryan.

  Ryan couldn’t help a small smile although he aimed it at his own cup rather than toward his aide.

  “I definitely did,” Maya said. “He might have saved me from…from being mauled like Morton Fritts.”

  “Quite possibly,” Ryan agreed. “You need to be careful. In fact, once we find out the details of the attack on Fritts, I’d suggest you give another presentation on behalf of WHaM, or just in general if that’s better for you. You should emphasize to people to stay far, far away from wild animals, because they are wild. They don’t know even to stay away and not hurt wonderful people like you who give a damn about them.” Unless they happen to be shifters with access to the Alpha Force elixir, he thought, but of course he wasn’t going to mention that.

  “That sounds like a good idea.” She looked him straight in the eyes again.

  Damn, but she was one beautiful woman. He was attracted to her. Very attracted. Would like to do more, a lot more, than just have breakfast with her…and save her from other wolves.

  But any thoughts beyond encouraging her to be a wildlife proponent were inappropriate.

  And so, after exchanging gazes with her, he gave a goofy grin and dug back into his breakfast.

  *

  Oh, that look on Ryan’s face. It was as if he forgave her foolishness in seeking out the wolves—yet he cared about her, was glad she was okay.

  Or was she reading too much into it?

  Maya reached over and picked up her last piece of toast, slathering a little apricot jam on it. That gave her an excuse not to look directly at Ryan, at least for this moment.

  But she remained fully aware of his closeness. And how she felt glad about that.

  But only because the guy also liked wildlife. And maybe he seemed a little attracted to her just because he was glad she was out there promoting the return of wolves to this area and championing all creatures.

  “I like the idea, too,” said Piers, sort of interrupting the mood, but that was a good thing.

  Maya took a decisive bite of her toast. She had no intention of getting interested in any man, let alone one who lived outside Washington, DC.

  And just the fact that Ryan appeared to love wildlife, too, didn’t mean they shared anything else in common. Or that the way they cared could coincide.

  She had gone through that before with her ex, who’d turned out to be the opposite of what she’d believed. She had even developed what she’d believed to be a relationship with him, a reporter who seemed to support her pro-wildlife position.

  But just the opposite. He had turned on her in a number of articles lambasting WHaM for not just documenting and counting an influx of wildlife but acting as advocates, too. She’d been hurt and angry and determined not to get involved with someone like that again.

  US Fish and Wildlife undoubtedly had a different agenda from WHaM, despite their few similarities.

  And Maya figured she had a different agenda from Ryan—although his suggestion about a modified topic for her next talk actually made sense.

  “So how long are you staying in town?” she asked Ryan, turning back to face him again. Maybe he was leaving today and she wouldn’t see him again.

  That should make her feel relieved, shouldn’t it? But it didn’t.

  “Not sure yet,” he replied, which did in fact give her a sense of relief. A small one.

  Being in his presence, getting to know him better—would that be a good thing?

  Possibly…but only as long as they helped each other in their quest to ensure that wolves remained welcome and safe in this area.

  And hopefully didn’t attack any more people. But neither of them could guarantee that.

  She, though, by giving another talk on staying far away from them might be able to help, at least a bit.

  But would she convince herself…?

  “How about you?” Piers asked. “How long will you be here?”

  “I’d originally thought just a couple of days,” she said. “But it sounds as if there is a lot more I can do here, both by informing people and maybe even finding out about the wolves here and how dangerous they might be. If they attack people, that’s bad for them as well as for the humans near them. It gives people an excuse—maybe even a good one—to hunt the wolves, even though they’re protected in this area.”

  “I think we’re on the same wavelength,” Ryan said, his tone decisive and his expression now not particularly warm but highly businesslike—a good thing.

  “Then let’s work together,” she said. “Find out about that attack last night and try to determine the wolves’ location. And despite the danger those wolves may present—well, I’m hoping to find a way to make sure they’re left alone.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Piers said, nodding, then looking toward Ryan.

  “Absolutely,” he agreed.

  Chapter 7

  Maya found the rest of their break
fast quite pleasant—until it ended and she got into a small squabble with Ryan about who was going to pay for her meal. She allowed Ryan to win after he convinced her that the federal agency he worked for might not directly make contributions to WHaM but would be glad to assist it in at least this small way.

  On the way out, she noticed that Trev was sitting at a table near the door with another man and a couple of women. Good. Though he’d said he wasn’t from this town, he apparently had friends here—and hopefully was putting in a good word with them about WHaM and wildlife.

  And those friends included women. Hopefully he was flirting with them, so Maya didn’t need to feel so uncomfortable with this nice fellow wildlife lover.

  She split up with Ryan and Piers on the sidewalk outside and Maya gave Rocky a goodbye hug. She considered doing the same with the guys—Piers first, although it was really Ryan she wanted to touch again. But she hugged neither man.

  “Where are you off to?” Ryan asked. She had wanted to ask him the same question but had decided not to since it might seem too personal.

  “Oh, I need a few things so I think I’ll head to the grocery store.” She left unsaid that she hoped to learn more from the Sharans about the people in town who were happy that wolves were back. Not to mention whether they’d heard more about what had happened to Morton Fritts.

  “Sounds good. But are you also going to follow up with our suggestion and arrange to do another talk in the park—one about staying away from wild animals?”

  “Yes,” she said, “I’ll do that later this afternoon. And if you give me your cell phone number, I’ll call and let you know how it goes.”

  All three exchanged numbers, and Maya wished she’d thought of doing that yesterday, after they’d met and learned of their joint appreciation of the wolves’ return. Considering all that had happened since then it seemed even more necessary that they keep in touch as long as she remained in Fritts Corner.

  The men then led Rocky in the opposite direction from Maya along the fairly empty sidewalk. The street didn’t have much traffic, either. But Fritts Corner wasn’t a particularly large town. As far as Maya was concerned, its only claim to fame was the proximity of the influx of wolves.