“Yes, sir,” Sara said, making a mental note.
“Then call Hugo. Make sure you make it clear you’re contacting him on my orders. Otherwise, he probably won’t even talk to you. Feel free, by the way, to tell him to call me to confirm that. Either way, give me a call after you’ve spoken with Hugo and let me know if we’re on. Once we’re square with a time, contact Drew and have him get our Alpha Force members there, too. Oh, and here. These are for you.” He handed her a set of card keys that he said were duplicates of his that would let her into the kennel building and the labs below, which she had already returned to him. “I know I don’t have to remind you to keep these to yourself, but you may need to set something up in the lab areas sometime.”
Sara was glad but a little surprised. Only the general, and those members of Alpha Force with a need to work in the labs, had key cards to get there. All, though, had access to the kennel floor above.
That was that. Sara had already programmed Major Drew Connell’s number into her smartphone, so as she headed down the hall to her own quarters she called him. No problem there, setting up the time and place. She was also able to get the number for General Myars’s aide, Captain Rynton Tierney. She needed to use appropriate protocol to get through to General Myars despite being under orders to speak to him.
She entered her apartment and sat on the well-worn couch in her main room before calling Captain Tierney. She wished she’d brought a cup of coffee from the cafeteria. She didn’t have any to brew in her kitchenette, which was fine since it wasn’t equipped with a coffeemaker, anyway.
She heard background noise in Tierney’s phone. “We’re on our way to Ft. Lukman now,” he said. “In the car. I’ll hand the phone to General Myars.”
Just like that, Sara was able to schedule the meetings the next day that General Yarrow had requested. “We’ll be at Ft. Lukman within the hour,” General Myars said. “We’ve already arranged for quarters while we’re there.” His tone suggested he wasn’t pleased about it. “It’s not the night of a full moon, but I understand that isn’t necessarily a prerequisite. You can tell General Yarrow that I do not wish myself, or anyone in the Ultra Special Forces Team, to be subject tonight to little green men—oh, I mean attacking werewolves or whatever.”
And then he was no longer on the line. Probably a good thing, Sara thought. The animosity had been almost palpable.
She called Drew back to confirm everything so he could get the Alpha Force members primed to attend the all-hands meeting the next day.
“Something wrong?” Drew asked.
“Just...well, I’m not holding out a lot of hope for the meetings to go well.” She related her conversation with General Myars to him.
“Sounds like, even though he was polite enough to visit General Yarrow in the hospital, Myars isn’t overly fond of werewolves.” Drew sounded half-amused—and half-angry, if Sara was any judge of it over the phone.
“My take on it, too,” she agreed. Apparently, even if not all USFT members knew about the Alpha Force shifters, their CO was aware of the nature of the unit.
“Is General Yarrow available to meet me again tonight?”
Sara told Drew that she had accompanied him to his quarters.
“I’ll give him a call. I’d like to strategize with him. You, too. But you’ll need to come to our labs. My wife, Melanie, and I will be conducting some tests on Jason—we want to make sure that whatever my cousin inhaled is out of his system with no lasting effects, in either of his forms. It’s not something we want to delay anymore, so we’ve got him joining us tonight.”
Sara paused. Did she want to see Jason at all? Even if she did—well, he would be transforming into his wolfen form then back, if she understood what Drew had said.
In a way, that might be perfect. She felt much too attracted to him as a human, and watching him shift once more might be enough to permanently end that attraction.
And that was exactly what she needed.
“I need to call General Yarrow to confirm that we have things set up,” she told Drew. “I’ll ask him to join us tonight at the lab. What time?”
“Nineteen hundred hours.”
Which was only a couple of hours away.
“Fine,” Sara said. But she would not look forward to it.
* * *
Jason didn’t really want to do this. “I’m fine now,” he told Drew, who’d made him take a seat in a downstairs laboratory on one of the most uncomfortable chairs he’d ever sat in. It was plastic and canvas, faced a small desk in the large lab with its complicated layout and it sucked.
Or maybe it was the anticipation of what was to come that made Jason feel so uncomfortable.
It was early evening. Jason knew he had to take some of the elixir in a short while so he would shift here. That was the only way that his cuz and cuz’s wife could do a thorough inspection of him to make sure that whatever he’d breathed in last night was all the way out of his system.
“We’ll make sure of it.” Drew looked like the damned soldier he was, in his camo uniform—and yet, he had put all the garb over it to prove he was a doctor, a white lab suit.
His wife, Melanie, was a pretty lady, with bright blue eyes and long brown hair she had fastened back behind her neck. Nice, too—full of sympathetic smiles. She’d left their daughter, Emily, at home with a trusted neighbor who babysat so she could come here and help out.
No camo uniform on her, but she wore a similar lab outfit—because she was a veterinarian.
“Okay,” Jason said resignedly. “Get it done.”
Drew’s turn first. Using standard medical stuff Jason had seen before, he checked Jason’s heart rate and blood pressure. “All seems fine there.” He sent him to the adjoining bathroom with a small container so he could provide a urine sample. But then Drew took out what Jason hated: needles. He looked away when Drew pulled his arm straight, used some kind of cleaning stuff in the crook of his arm and drew blood. “I’ll analyze this tonight,” he said.
Which Drew could do on his own. Jason’s cuz was more than a medical doctor for humans. He was the one who’d taken the old, standard family elixir that helped a bit while they were shapeshifted to allow shifting outside the full moon—when it was effective—and turned it into something that not only worked all the time but did a damned good job, plus it let every shifter who used it keep their human awareness while in their alternate form.
In addition, thanks to sometimes incorporating another formula developed by a different Alpha Force member, Dr. Simon Parran, they were working on being able to avoid shifting during full moons, as well as other improvements.
Jason wasn’t the only one who was happy about that.
When Drew was finished drawing blood, he patted Jason’s back. “You can breathe again, cuz. For now. But we’ll want you to shift in five minutes so we can check you that way, too.”
“Fine.” Jason continued to sit for a short while longer, staring out over the lab. It was full of shiny metal cabinets with glass doors that Drew said were always kept locked, even though the bulk of the already prepared elixir was now kept in a secured refrigeration unit down the hall. Some cabinets had equipment on top—really sophisticated-looking microscopes and stuff Jason couldn’t identify but figured it was state-of-the-art. Computers, too, on shelves here and there. The place was inevitably kept clean and sterile, the better for ensuring that the amazing elixir could be brewed without any contamination.
As Jason sat there, he thought he really was still unwell. He was hallucinating—wasn’t he?
For two people had just entered through the lab door. General Greg Yarrow...and Lieutenant Sara McLinder.
What were they doing here, especially now?
This was his time here to ensure he was okay.
And he was just about to shift into wolfen form. Surely no one thought he’d do that in front of these nonshifters—even though he’d already shifted before in Sara’s presence. But it had been his choice then. He’d wanted
to have some fun with her.
It wouldn’t be fun to tease her here, in the presence of all these other people, particularly when his shift would be for medical purposes.
Some other time, though...well, sure, it would be enjoyable to do that again.
Especially after that kiss.
“Hi, General, Lieutenant,” he began, drawing himself to a stand.
But before he could get closer, Drew and Melanie had positioned themselves between him and the newcomers. “Welcome,” Drew said. He turned briefly, glanced at Jason, then back toward the others. “You know, General, this is not the most auspicious time for you to observe another shift here.”
Which implied the general had seen shifting here at Ft. Lukman before. But it hadn’t been Jason who had changed then.
“No,” the general said, “but with our meeting coming up tomorrow, I want to observe a shift generated by the most current version of the Alpha Force elixir in case I have to describe anything about it.”
“Or defend it.” Drew didn’t sound happy about that.
“That’s right.”
Melanie got closer to her husband and put her arm around his waist. “If those special forces guys don’t like the idea of shifters, they don’t belong here,” she said to the general.
Jason could see Sara at General Yarrow’s side. Her eyes widened as if she couldn’t believe that someone would confront her commanding officer that way.
But of course Melanie wasn’t a member of the military despite her close affiliation.
“Maybe not,” the general said with a shrug. “But they are here, and we need to do the training for the planned joint mission as soon as possible.”
“Even if they’re willing to harm you and Alpha Force members to make some kind of point—one we don’t even get?”
That surprised Jason. It was Sara this time who confronted her commanding officer. Not only that, her gaze had slipped from the general to Jason, as if she might actually give a damn that he’d possibly been harmed.
An unwelcome yet enjoyable warm and fuzzy feeling swept through Jason. He shot her a quick smile. For an instant, she returned it then seemed to catch herself and resumed the grim, remote expression she’d had before.
“Hey,” Jason said. “Bring on that super elixir, cuz. I’m ready to give the general and lieutenant a demo of exactly how wonderful the stuff is right now. And I can’t wait till Melanie gets the chance to give me her best veterinary checkup and extract some of my most vital bodily fluids.” He winked at Sara, who stared at him in apparent shock.
Then he strutted across the lab to the refrigeration unit where small amounts of elixir were stored.
* * *
He was in wolfen form.
Unlike how he usually behaved during a shift, when he almost always was outdoors and able to prowl, he was confined in a room with others.
Mostly nonshifter humans.
No specially designated aide had assisted him. Drew had handed him the elixir. He had drunk it, then walked beyond the rows of sterile cabinets to take off his clothes.
Drew had also followed with the light needed to effect the shift and aimed it at him. General Yarrow had been with him, watching the whole thing.
The shift had commenced nearly at once. That was when both Melanie and Sara had joined the general and Drew.
Jason’s shift had occurred in front of all of them.
He had tried to observe Sara’s reaction—especially at first, when his still human organs would be visible to her—but his discomfort shifting, and the presence of other people, distracted him.
When it was finished, she hadn’t run screaming out of the room. Neither did she regard him with contempt.
But she did regard him with... He wasn’t certain what she was thinking.
Immediately, Melanie Connell had started her poking and prodding of his wolfen body. Even drew blood and saliva and urine, although peeing into a cup while shifted was far different from doing it in human form.
And then she was finished.
He sat on the cold floor of the lab, relatively motionless despite wanting to run.
But his dosage of elixir had been small, so he knew he could change back fairly quickly.
That was when he would learn what Sara McLinder was thinking.
* * *
It was all a scientific experiment. Neutral observation of an interesting phenomenon. Yet another act in her capacity as General Greg Yarrow’s most trusted aide.
Sara had nearly been able to convince herself of that when they had all watched most of Jason’s initial shifting into wolf form. That was something the general had really wanted to do, so what could she do but stay by his side?
And then, after all the veterinary tests Melanie conducted on Jason, it had been time for him to change back.
Right there, in the lab, since General Yarrow had also wanted to see that.
As a result, Sara had gotten to see a lot. More than she wanted? Well...yes and no.
Close up this way, it was fascinating.
In this very controlled, very human, very clean environment on a pristine white floor: a body changing, from a man, standing then crouching while arms and hands changed to legs and paws in a more compact form. A muzzle, hair erupting everywhere. Low moans and growls of discomfort and pain.
And then a wolf.
Afterward, back again. Similar, in the opposite direction. That was where Sara could have lost control if she hadn’t considered in advance how to handle this.
For when it was over, there was Jason in all his naked glory. Again.
Only for a moment, of course. Well, several moments in which Sara pretended to look elsewhere while Drew brought a blanket over to cover strategic areas as he handed Jason his clothes once more.
Jason seemed a little out of breath even after he’d donned his clothes. As if they’d planned it in advance, they all headed for the small lab office area and took seats around the desk. Four of them were clad similarly in their camo uniforms, but Melanie, who, like Drew, had removed her lab jacket, wore a button-down shirt over navy slacks.
“Good,” General Yarrow said at once. “Not that I’m any kind of expert, but the shift looked quicker, more controlled, than I’ve seen it before.” He looked toward Jason. “How are you feeling? I take it that nothing you inhaled before inhibited the process, but are you inclined to cough any more than usual, or is there any other difference that you sense?”
“No, sir,” Jason said. “I’m really feeling pretty well now—subject, of course, to how Drew and Melanie tell me I should be reacting.”
They all laughed. Even Sara, who had once again wound up sitting beside Jason. She hadn’t planned it. Had he? Drew was the one behind the desk, since the lab was his venue.
She tossed a glance at Jason to find that he was leveling a look at her, too. Was he challenging her to say something?
It wasn’t as if she hadn’t seen him shift before.
General Yarrow was the one, though, who got her to talk. “So, Sara,” he said, “I’ve no doubt that you believe in shapeshifting now.” His tone was teasing and ironic, like a father who’d told his skeptical kids there was a Santa Claus and had introduced them to a store version at Christmas.
Bad analogy, Sara thought. First of all, most kids continued to believe in Santa for a while, even after they’re told Jolly Old Saint Nick is just a myth.
Shapeshifting was definitely real, even though she hadn’t believed in it at all when her paternalistic commanding officer had hinted about it before.
She’d now seen it herself. Several times.
“Yes, sir. In fact, as I’m sure you know, I’ve believed in it for a couple of days. But you have to admit that, in the regular world before I met Alpha Force, it wasn’t odd of me to have my doubts.”
“Not odd at all,” Jason said. “But isn’t it more fun to believe?” His lowered brows and grin made it clear he was teasing. Maybe even trying to remind her of his hotness during the proce
ss when he was unclothed and his masculine organ was so erect—and so obvious.
“Definitely. You know, I really like dogs. Haven’t been able to own one since joining the military, but it’s fun to be around them here—or at least canines of varying types.” The look she tossed back at him was all innocence, as if she hadn’t gotten what he’d been trying to do.
He laughed. “Any time you want to work with Shadow and me, or any of the other dogs, you’re welcome. And you know we shifters are generally assigned assistants who help by bringing our elixir doses and lights along to wherever we need them. Why don’t you give that a try one of these days, too?”
“I just might do that,” Sara shot back, then hoped her small flinch wasn’t too obvious. She was acting as if the two of them were alone, not in the company of others, including her commanding officer.
“Really? Interesting thought.” General Yarrow’s lined face grew pensive. “I could possibly assign you to stay here on a longer-term, temporary-duty status once we reach whatever agreement we work out with the USFT, to make sure it is honored. You’d have a dual function of working directly and deeply with Alpha Force to be able to assist even better with my reports—as shaded as they are—to the highest-ranking officials who supervise these special units.”
Uh-oh. That wasn’t what Sara had intended. Staying here? Being assigned to work closely with Alpha Force, with Jason on indefinite TDY? Bad idea.
And yet she found the idea intriguing.
“Well, everyone, I need to go take Jason’s samples to my clinic for analysis first thing tomorrow, and then I have to go home and get Emily,” Melanie said. “Would any of you like to join us for dinner?”
She had stood and was regarding all of them, Jason included. But Drew nixed that invitation—as well as the implied one to Sara. “Sorry, but I’d really like the general to come to our place so we can talk. Maybe we can invite all of you some other time.”
“That’s fine,” Sara said, not wanting Melanie to feel uncomfortable. Although, as the wife of a military officer, she probably felt outranked now and then, anyway. And since that officer was not only a member of Alpha Force but also a shifter himself—well, Sara felt sure that Melanie knew how to cope with situations that Sara couldn’t even imagine. “I was planning on just grabbing something light at the cafeteria and taking it back to my quarters. I want to go to bed early so I’ll be rested to assist with anything I’m needed for tomorrow.”
Untamed Wolf Page 12
