Protector Wolf

by Linda O. Johnston

  She felt suddenly bereft and alone—and maybe even wanting to see this guy shift again. How odd was that?

  “So,” Ryan said, “it’s lunchtime. I know we had breakfast together, but are you interested in joining us again, and not just for coffee?”

  Piers, who now stood facing them with Rocky at his feet as usual, moved a little, and Maya had a sense that he was silently conveying his wish that Ryan hadn’t asked—and that she wouldn’t agree.

  Which might mean he’d hurry them through the meal, and she wouldn’t want that.

  “You know what?” she said. “I think I’d rather get a dinner commitment tonight. Is that okay with you two?” A nice, long dinner, but she didn’t say that. At least if that worked out she’d get to see Ryan again—and maybe come up with a new approach to get him talking more. Too bad they were staying in a hotel. If she had her own place here she could cook him dinner…and seduce him with food. To talk, at least.

  “Sure,” he said quickly, turning back to her. His expression now seemed somewhat relieved, and that made her feel a bit gloomy. He was jumping at a chance to get out of her company more quickly, at least for a little while. Piers must have reminded him of something.

  Oh, well. They’d see each other that evening.

  And might she be able to convince him to consume whatever he ate or drank and change into a wolf that night? She smiled at the idea.

  But her smile immediately evaporated as she saw a crowd of people heading down the sidewalk toward them. They were still a distance away, but the man in front looked like Morton Fritts.

  That identity was confirmed as the people got closer. How many were there? They didn’t move fast, but Maya thought that the people bringing up the rear were photographing the area and the Frittses.

  Why? As they drew closer, Maya saw Trev among them. Some of the others fanned out and seemed to take photos, and maybe videos, of Maya and the people and dog she was with, too.

  What was going on?

  Piers asked the same thing. “What are those damned animal-haters up to?” he whispered to Ryan.

  “I’m afraid we’re about to learn.”

  “Shouldn’t we just get out of here?” Piers pulled slightly on Rocky’s leash as if preparing the dog to run.

  “No. We need to find out…in case we need to deal with it.”

  Maya wondered if the group was about to say they’d started killing wolves or something horrendous that they wanted photographed so the world would know about it.

  But a minute later, Maya wished she had just fled the area.

  Things were never simple.

  For as soon as the group reached them, Morton Fritts, his face still covered by healing wounds, bellowed, “So we found you back here again, you wolf-lovers. Bad enough that your damned vicious creatures attacked me the other night. But look at this. Look what they did to my Vinnie.”

  He moved off to the side, and Maya saw that, behind him, his wife was being wheeled in a chair pushed by Carlo Silling.

  She was dressed in shorts that revealed bandages up and down both legs.

  And her neck was bandaged as if she’d been bitten, her face even more mangled by scratches, or worse, than Morton’s had been.

  *

  Maya’s mood immediately shot from excited and happy and curious to—well, she still was curious. But she was also scared. Not for herself, but for all wolves around, regular and shifters.

  Ryan and others.

  Surely he hadn’t hurt Vinnie. But who had? A truly wild wolf?

  Were there other shifters around besides Ryan? She thought he’d hinted at it, but that was one of the things she’d have to somehow wrestle from him.

  For now, she stepped forward around Ryan and made herself ask Vinnie, “What happened? I know you’re hurt, but will you be okay?”

  As she anticipated, the first thing the injured woman did was say, “What do you think happened? Just like my poor, dear husband, I was attacked by one of your damned wolves.” She glared at Maya the entire time she talked, and winced a lot between words.

  “I’m very sorry.” And she was. For Vinnie, yes, although for her to have gotten hurt by a wolf she had to have ignored Maya’s talk yesterday and put herself in that wolf’s presence.

  It was one thing for Maya to ignore herself, knowing the possible dangers and deciding to do what she wanted anyway.

  But Vinnie should definitely have known better, especially after her husband had been hurt, too.

  “Of course you’re sorry,” Vinnie hissed, wincing some more and placing her hand on first one cheek, then the other. “Because you know this can’t go on. Something has to be done about your horrible wolves.”

  “And we’re going to do it.” That was Morton, who’d maneuvered to stand beside his wife. “You can tell your damned WHaM group. And you—” he looked around Maya toward where Ryan still stood “—can let your damned Fish and Wildlife tree huggers know that keeping wolves on a federal protection list anywhere is not acceptable—never mind that this is the western part of Washington. If anything, our state fish and wildlife group should be in charge here, too, not just in the eastern part, but it really doesn’t matter. You won’t see which, if any of us, disposes of the wolves so you won’t be able to arrest us. But you can be sure they’re going to disappear.”

  “Oh, we’ll know,” Maya spat back. “You’re threatening them. We’ll protect them.” She certainly would do her darnedest and figured that Ryan, who had even more reason to do so, would do all he could, as well. “And if anything happens to them, just guess where we’ll start looking for the perpetrator.”

  But the very idea of anything happening to those wonderful, wild animals made her quiver inside.

  They had to do something to make sure they stayed safe. Immediately.

  But what?

  She turned toward Ryan, knowing she looked hopeless.

  He, on the other hand, stood there straight and tall and strong-looking.

  “I don’t know what your problem is with wolves,” he said, “or why you apparently put yourselves into situations where they attack you. But Maya is right. If it’s just one wolf and it’s particularly dangerous, maybe we can do something about it. But if you’re doing this purposely, for some reason of your own—”

  “We just want things to go back to the way they were before more damned wolves started showing up here!” Vinnie stood up from her wheelchair and hobbled toward Ryan to face him. “And if the government won’t do something about it, we will.”

  Chapter 17

  What provoked Ryan most at the moment were the members of the media who had followed the Frittses here and were taking videos. They started hollering out questions.

  “Why are there wolves around here now?”

  “What is the government going to do about capturing dangerous animals like that?”

  “What is US Fish and Wildlife doing here now? Are you already involved in locating and euthanizing the dangerous wolves?”

  Ryan, who now stood beside Maya on the crowded sidewalk to attempt to protect her from this mess, bit his tongue to avoid yelling at this group of humans who didn’t have a clue.

  The problem was, he didn’t, either. Which wolf—which type of wolf—was doing this?

  He’d considered the possibility it could have been Pete Sharan, since he had been shifted last night. Ryan would ask Pete some questions but didn’t believe it was that young shifter. The aspects of their meeting, and Ryan’s brief viewing of the Frittses, made that very unlikely.

  And why had both Frittses been hurt that way? Sure, they’d apparently put themselves into a dangerous situation, confronting agitated wolves of whichever type. But why?

  And why were so many media representatives here, in this remote town? There were more than had shown up for Maya’s first presentation. Had the Frittses called them, piqued their interest by mentioning the attacks? Maybe they’d have had no interest in just one, but now it was becoming an epidemic, even though b
oth of those who’d been hurt were in the same family.

  “Sorry, everyone,” Ryan finally said after tamping down his temper. “No comment. But I will be looking into this situation further. We don’t want any more incidents in which people are hurt. We don’t want any wolves to be hurt, either. Please remember that they are still listed as an endangered species, especially in this part of Washington, and cannot be hunted.” And be sure to put that in any articles you write, he thought but didn’t say.

  Questions still bombarded him as he turned and started walking toward Piers and Rocky, glad that Maya remained beside him. There was more he could have said about what constituted an endangered species—but in fact he didn’t have all the answers.

  He was a shapeshifter in the military, not really an employee of the Fish and Wildlife Service. He knew a little, but not enough.

  That gave him an internal excuse not to answer any questions, but he was hardly going to admit that rationale.

  “What are you going to do?” Maya asked as they hurried away. “I think we need more information about where the Frittses have found the wolves and gotten so close and—well, do you think they’re endangering themselves on purpose?”

  “I wouldn’t be surprised,” Ryan said. “I’d like to know why, though.”

  “Because they’re obviously interested in wolves.” Piers kept up with them along the sidewalk, with Rocky leading the pack. “And dislike them. But it doesn’t make sense that they endanger themselves unless they have some other motive to cause the wolves to look bad. Getting rid of them in this area, sure—but why is it that important to them?”

  “Yeah, we need to find out their motive, and also which wolf or wolves are involved.”

  “Which, as in whether they’re shifters?” Maya fortunately kept her voice low. She looked between Ryan and Piers as if unsure which would answer.

  “That’s right,” Ryan responded even more softly. “But we don’t talk about that here.”

  Not that anyone was close enough to hear, certainly not the media behind them. But Maya needed to understand that there’d been a reason he had only spoken with her in a remote area of the park.

  Secrecy. It was extremely important, especially to Alpha Force. The world wasn’t to learn about the covert military unit. Especially not on his watch.

  “I get it,” she said. “But—look, I want to stress that I need more information, too. I want WHaM to help protect the wolves around here. All the wolves, even if the rest of my group isn’t…well, aware.”

  He could have hugged her. She was willing to do what she could to help shifters as well as feral wolves, and was listening to him, not being specific in what she said.

  He had even more of an urge now to explain his own background and reason for being here. Piers’s and Rocky’s, too.

  That meant he had to leave her presence for a while, right now, to make sure he followed all necessary protocols.

  “We really appreciate that,” he said, looking at her. “And—well, we’re going to walk you back to the hotel, then Piers and I need to go find a place to make a phone call.”

  Her expression turned wry. “A private call, I take it. That’s fine. I know you’re full of secrets.” She grinned, then grew solemn again. “But just don’t forget that we’re on the same side. I just want to help.”

  He had an urge to grab and kiss her right there, despite Piers being beside them and a whole slew of locals and media still following them. He hadn’t turned to check out how many were there, but he could hear the footsteps—some that sounded uneven, so they were probably the Frittses keeping up despite their limps—and irritated comments. It might be hard to get away to find a quiet and private location. But hopefully his group’s heading into the hotel for a while would get the others bored enough to leave.

  In addition, some cars on the road beside them slowed as drivers gawked at the parade behind them. Some shouted questions, too, and a few got responses from the gang—explaining they were trying to get more information about dangerous wolves.

  Ryan was relieved when they finally reached the hotel. He turned to face their pursuers. Carlo Silling still pushed the wheelchair, but Vinnie was no longer in it. “Thank you all for caring about wolves,” Ryan said. “Now, we’re heading to our rooms for a little privacy.” There was some grumbling, and the Frittses appeared ready to limp inside and confront them, but Ryan turned away.

  The lobby wasn’t extremely busy, fortunately. Though Maya said she’d be fine here, Ryan insisted on accompanying her upstairs to her room. Piers led Rocky to the rear of the first floor, where their rooms were.

  The stairway was empty except for them as they walked to the third floor. No one followed, not even the Frittses.

  After Maya used her key to unlock the door, Ryan pushed it open, then followed her inside, instinctively wanting to make sure no one waited for her there—like another anti-wolf protester.

  Was that really his reason? After checking the place out, he returned to her side near the door.

  “What’s that about?” she asked. “Do all Fish and Wildlife people act like police or security people and look for intruders—wolf or human?”

  “Maybe not all,” he said with a laugh, and then, knowing he had to leave, he grew serious. “Just be careful. And I don’t only mean keep away from wolves in the woods.”

  “I promise that—”

  She didn’t finish, since he took her in his arms and gave her a quick—yet hot—kiss. It felt better than he wanted to think about to have her curvaceous body snugged up against him—making parts of him stand at attention. He quickly let go.

  “See you later, for dinner,” he said.

  “Yeah, see you later,” she responded with a grin so sexy he considered staying for a while.

  But he didn’t. He left the room, closing the door behind him—and looked forward to seeing her again in a few hours.

  *

  Maya had an urge to dash right back out the door.

  To kiss Ryan again? Yeah, right. But she didn’t think she’d be able to just hang out here for the few hours until they met up for dinner.

  One of these days, she’d head to places like the local animal shelter or, better yet, city hall, to discuss the wolves and their reception by citizens other than those like the Frittses, or people who showed up at her talks. How about the rest of the locals? What did they think?

  How had Trev learned about what happened to Vinnie? Or had he simply seen, and joined, the crowd and found out about it then? She might ask him next time she saw him, but she wasn’t about to try to contact him now. Despite his initial appearance of being a wildlife lover interested in WHaM, he’d seemed to vacillate a bit when they’d spoken. She wanted him, and the other wolf fanciers in town, to stay that way no matter what had been going on with the Frittses.

  Yes, she’d have to start mingling again soon. Asking questions phrased to encourage people to recognize that wolves were wonderful representations of wildlife—stressing the wild.

  But not now. She was too keyed up, plus she wanted to at least pretend to obey Ryan this time. And since today was Sunday, no one would be at city hall anyway.

  Heading into the woods at night after hearing a wolf howl was an entirely different matter.

  She sat down on the edge of the lacy coverlet on her bed, crossing her jeans-clad legs and holding her cell phone, which she’d extracted from the small purse she’d been carrying. She pushed a button to call a person whose voice might help calm her: Cheryl Jaker, a fellow WHaM member who also lived in Colorado.

  Cheryl answered right away. “Maya! Good to hear from you. How are things in the state of Washington?”

  Maya stared at a picture on the hotel room’s wall, a representation of a train with an old-fashioned engine at the base of a mountain. She had wondered, on seeing it for the first time, where that area was located—and whether there were wolves around at the time.

  “Not great,” she said. She proceeded to give her fri
end a rundown on her talks here and the people she’d met, the existence of wolves—some of which she’d seen—and the apparent attacks on people by them.

  Her only reference to Ryan, Piers and Rocky was a mention that some US Fish and Wildlife folks happened to be there, too. She didn’t say anything about shapeshifters.

  Even if she hadn’t promised to stay quiet about them, she wouldn’t want her good friend and colleague at WHaM to think she’d gone crazy.

  “That’s terrible!” Cheryl exclaimed when she was done. “What are you going to do to help protect the wolves?”

  “I’m fortunate to have the Fish and Wildlife guys around. They’re aware of the situation and seem to be taking charge. Fortunately, with the protected status of wolves in this area, they’re not just giving a license to the people who’ve been hurt, or anyone else, to kill the animals.”

  A license like that under the circumstances could be an even bigger mistake than usual, if the attacking animal happened to be a shifted human…

  “Well, that part’s good, at least. Keep me informed. And you take good care of yourself, understand? I know how you love to go meet the animals you’re just supposed to view from a distance and count for our census. If some around there are particularly likely to harm people…”

  “I get it. And as I said, I’ve been telling everyone to avoid the wildlife to be safe.”

  “Are you heeding your own warnings?” Cheryl knew her too well.

  “I will from now on,” she said—crossing her fingers as she had before when making promises to Ryan. She would take care of herself—but she would do what she needed to do.

  *

  “You have a better idea?” Ryan asked Piers. They were in the rental car, with Rocky lying on the backseat, still in the hotel parking lot. There was no particular place they needed to go, but this was certainly a private location.

  A good place, Ryan thought, for them to make their phone call.

  “No, but I thought we were getting into the car to drive somewhere to call HQ. I’d have brought a cup of coffee or something.”