She didn’t have to say any more. He adjusted his position and was suddenly inside her, moving and heating her and arousing her even more as she thrust her own body up in a primitive, wonderful rhythm.
She heard him moan her name even as he pounded and pressed harder. “Selena...”
And then she flew over the edge.
* * *
Okay, so he had taken advantage of her, here in the silence of the currently unoccupied house.
He had taken advantage of himself, too, Owen thought as he walked behind Selena up the steps to the main floor. As phenomenal as making love with her had been—again—he shouldn’t have done it.
The more he made love with Selena, the more he wanted her. But soon they would be in a position of never seeing each other again, even if the CAs’ mission was successful. Which it had to be.
When they reached the front door, he reached out for the knob, then stopped. “Okay to open it?”
“You mean you want me to listen and sniff the air to ensure there’s nothing or no one out there we don’t want to see?” Her tone was wry, but her brilliant amber eyes shone as if she appreciated his acceptance of her. He considered teasing her, lying to her, claiming that wasn’t what he’d meant at all. But it had been, at least to some extent. And he did accept her, maybe too much.
Although he still hadn’t actually seen her shift...
He had, however, seen her while she was shifted. Watching her in the process would simply give him another reason to see her naked.
Did he really want to see her changing as he had viewed the male CAs actually shifting into their wolf forms?
He well knew the answer was yes, as strange as that seemed even to himself.
“You got it,” he told her. “Use all those wolfy senses of yours and make sure we’re okay.”
He put his arm around her slender, black-clad shoulders as she did, in fact, turn up her nose into the air and inhale. She stood still, and as he watched the concentration on her lovely face, he figured she was listening, too.
In a moment she said, “All seems well, at least as far as I can tell. Time for us to go back to our respective quarters and get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be filled with one vital exercise.”
“That’s for sure,” he said. But he still didn’t open the door. Instead, he pulled her back into his arms and gave her one final, hot, deep kiss for the night, then finally led her outside into the darkness and walked her to the front door of the house where she was staying. There, he gave her another kiss—much quicker and cooler. “See you tomorrow,” he whispered.
“No, later today.” She stood on tiptoe for a moment and gave him another quick kiss in return, then used her key to enter the house.
Good thing he had parked down the hill so as not to be so obvious about his presence up here. He remained on alert with his human senses as he made his way down the driveway, and the brief walk gave him some additional time to think.
As Selena had not had to remind him, tomorrow was damned important.
Despite not being a shifter, he had special senses, too—more intuition than enhanced bodily senses, though.
His gut told him that they would all have to be particularly careful tomorrow in the last round of exercises.
Would something go wrong?
Not if he could help it.
* * *
Despite lying in her bed and hearing Lupe snoring gently on the floor beside her, Selena didn’t sleep much that night.
It wasn’t entirely because she kept rehashing in her mind her latest round of great sex with Owen. No, she was worried.
She had come here as a member of Alpha Force, and her very special unit had been trusted with a very special assignment.
They had all, every one of them, performed well so far, demonstrating and teaching and advising.
But was it enough?
For it seemed there was something else they had to do, something that hadn’t been fully anticipated.
They had to protect their students. Protect them potentially from perhaps the most vital part of what they were contributing to help the CAs—the Alpha Force elixir.
Maybe. Maybe the presence of that ipecac, or another chemical, had been a fluke. An accident. It wasn’t present in the remaining vials. Selena was pretty convinced of that.
At least it hadn’t been tonight, when Owen and she had been there.
But tomorrow?
Did the Alpha Force team dare to allow the CAs to drink the stuff again, just in case?
Did they dare forbid them from trying it—especially when that could ruin their entire pending mission?
One ugly thought in particular imposed itself in Selena’s mind.
What if Owen truly had been waiting for her that night? What if he had fully intended her to be there with him checking out the elixir, to ensure that it was pure and untainted, so she could report that to Patrick Worley and the other Alpha Force members here?
She hadn’t actually seen Owen leave this enclave.
What if he had gone back inside the meeting house, down into the basement, and contaminated one or more vials of the elixir that she would, at least theoretically, vouch for tomorrow?
Was that why he had made love with her again—as one hot, major, sexy distraction?
No. Surely not. He couldn’t do such a terrible thing...could he?
Or was she convincing herself he wouldn’t because, despite all her better judgment, she was falling in love with him?
She wasn’t certain. Couldn’t be certain.
As a result, she would definitely get up very early in the morning and check out the elixir yet again, before Owen arrived. Or appeared to arrive.
During the rest of the day she would be cautious, too. She loved Alpha Force. She owed it to Alpha Force to do her job right. A life could be riding on the result—that kidnap victim’s.
The lives of the shifting CAs, too.
“Oh, Owen,” she whispered into the night and heard Lupe’s doggy nails on the wooden floor beside her bed as her cover dog stood at her words. She reached over and petted Lupe’s soft, furry head. “It’s okay, girl. I’m just talking out loud. We’ll be fine. I’ll make sure of it.”
She hoped. And she definitely hoped she would not have to accuse the man she was starting to love of treason against his country.
* * *
Owen received a phone call very early in the morning from his superior, Deputy Commissioner Anthony Creay.
The call didn’t wake him, though. He hadn’t slept well that night. And he wasn’t surprised.
He had a lot on his mind, including Selena Jennay...and her many, diverse, amazing assets.
“What’s up, Anthony?” he asked after their initial greetings. He didn’t rise from bed but just lay there, waiting.
“Another message from our kidnappers,” he said. “This one was another warning—and a recorded message from their hostage begging for help. They’re trying to ratchet things up as they play games with us. And before you ask, we’ve again put some of our most skilled technical people on it to try to track down where the calls are coming from, but these guys are smart. The signals are bounced around the entire solar system, or so it seems. In any event, there’s some satellite involvement from what I gather, as well as pinging from several different countries all over the world. But some newer-technology drones we had flying in the vicinity where we believe they’re hiding did sense some kind of outside human presence within the woods—before their electronics were hacked into this time. The kidnappers might just have some kind of undercover sentry on duty, though, since there wasn’t any indication of anyone going to or leaving the site. All the more reason to send in your shapeshifters, since the drones also conveyed indications of wildlife in the area.”
“What was the warning this time?”
“Basically the same kind of thing, reminding the RCMP that poor, frantic, screaming Madame Brodheureux will be killed in days unless her loving husband dips into th
e coffers of Xanogistics really quickly now and pays them off. Oh, and all games must stop and reality is the key, whatever that means.”
“It still sounds to me as if they’ve heard rumors of something like shapeshifters supposedly coming to save their prisoner, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, I think. And I also think that, if so, we have a traitor in our midst—one who has to be outed before your actual operation begins tomorrow. Any ideas?”
“I’m working on it,” Owen said, and he was. The problem was that he hadn’t yet reached any conclusions. Whoever it was had to have knowledge and somehow have the ability to reach those kidnappers. Or perhaps be one of them in a double-agent role here.
Who? And how?
One of his new team? A member of Alpha Force? Either way could be deadly to the CAs.
“Any further information on that shifting liquid?” Anthony asked, changing the subject somewhat. Or not. The likely scenario was that the same person who was in contact with the kidnappers had also tainted the elixir.
“Not yet, although I worked with one of the Alpha Force members to confirm that what we still have here appears pure and workable.”
“Let’s hope so. Now, keep me informed about today’s exercises as they’re undertaken. I’ll want to feel sure that tomorrow’s a go.”
So will I, Owen thought. “Yes, sir,” he said. They soon hung up. A good thing.
It was definitely time to start this new day.
Chapter 21
That morning, before they all went to the meeting house for breakfast and to help the CAs prepare for their day, Selena requested a brief session with her fellow Alpha Force members.
Patrick looked at her curiously as they all headed into the sparsely furnished living room—their CO was wearing official camo fatigues. “Something wrong?”
“You mean besides some of our elixirs being tainted yesterday?” Selena had stopped beside the fireplace, Lupe at her side, and stood watching the others. She felt too restless to sit down. Too uneasy, and too eager to accomplish something, anything.
Seeing Patrick’s displeased grimace at her sarcasm, she realized she needed to settle down and act like the professional military member she was.
“Sorry,” she said. “It’s just that I’ve been concerned about it, as we’ve all been. I even wound up visiting the meeting house in the middle of the night and going to the basement to do what I could to check the remaining vials.”
“Really? By yourself?” Rainey, sitting on the edge of the sofa, looked hurt, as if she thought she should have been asked to accompany her.
Selena had already gone through several scenarios in her mind and decided to be truthful—to a point. “No, it turned out that Owen was as worried as I was, so we met up there and checked out all the vials. He recognized that I would be better than him in noticing any inappropriate odors, but we both studied the coloration. They all seemed fine. But just so you all know, that’s where I’m sneaking off to first thing this morning, too—the basement of the meeting house, and I won’t want the CAs to know. I just feel I need to double-check those vials again. Okay?”
What if whoever had contaminated that one vial purposely allowed the rest to remain pure—until this morning? She still hadn’t zeroed in on one person she thought was guilty, but that didn’t mean whoever it was wouldn’t act again surreptitiously despite their keeping closer watch on the elixir. She looked again at Patrick.
“I think that’s a good idea,” her commanding officer said, “at least for today’s final exercises. But you all should be aware I was concerned, too—so much so that I ordered a new supply of fresh elixir to be flown in today. Jonas and I will drive down after breakfast to pick it up at the Vancouver airport. It’ll arrive too late to be used today, so your checking out the current supply again is a great idea, Selena. But we need everything to be perfect tomorrow, and if anything goes wrong it won’t be because of anything Alpha Force could have prevented.”
“Thank you,” Selena said as gratefully as if she was the one in charge and would be blamed for any failure. She almost wanted to laugh at herself. But she did feel relieved, not just because she wasn’t the only one who was truly worried, but also because there was a probable solution on the way.
She was surprised when Jonas came over, shook her hand and followed it with a hug. And a laugh. “Since when does our newest member consider herself in charge?” he asked.
“Since this new member is a former schoolteacher and learned fast that anything that goes wrong in her classroom is ultimately her responsibility,” Selena responded, feeling a lot more lighthearted.
“Okay, let’s head on over there,” Patrick said, breaking up the emotion-fest, which was fine with Selena. “When we get breakfast going, you can excuse yourself to head for the bathroom or whatever. We’ll make sure everyone else remains in view while you run your new assessment, okay?”
“Fine with me.” Selena felt immensely relieved, first that Patrick was on her side and, second, that she would in fact get the opportunity to make one more inspection.
She only hoped that Patrick found a way to capture Owen’s attention, or at least secure his presence. Not that Selena truly suspected him of anything—or did she? In any case, she’d feel a lot less uneasy if, this time, she remained on her own.
* * *
Owen had driven himself back to the enclave alone that morning, parking this time in the area at the top of the hill. He had followed the other CAs, who rode in the rental car driven by Sal. The young man clearly wanted to show that he felt fine this morning.
Was that some kind of indication he had poisoned himself yesterday to remove any suspicion against him about things that might go wrong in the next couple of days?
Highly unlikely. Not that upbeat, enthusiastic kid, right?
Yet at the moment, Owen wasn’t ready to dismiss anyone from his list of suspects who could have caused yesterday’s incident.
Now he was in the kitchen with his entire group of CAs, who all sat at the table, chatting eagerly about their upcoming day. The two other wolf shifters were priming Sal about what they were likely to see and do in final preparation for undertaking the real thing tomorrow.
“The mountains here are likely a lot different from the ones we’ll face tomorrow,” Tim was saying. “Less craggy, and maybe even more wooded, is what I’ve gathered. But we’ll rehearse it today as if it was the real thing. Both times, especially tomorrow, the main thing we have to do is remember to act like the wolves we’ll be, and prowl, and watch—and help the guys back at our headquarters, who’ll be monitoring the video from the cameras we’ll be wearing so they can zero in on where the hostage is being held.”
Exactly, Owen thought. If only it was that easy.
He wondered when the Alpha Force team intended to join them for breakfast. In the meantime, he and Andrea seemed to be the designated chefs this morning. They were cooking pancakes, easy stuff, quick and filling. That should be enough, along with the caffeine in the coffee he had already brewed, to help stimulate the shifting CAs’ energy. Or maybe their adrenaline would be sufficient.
Did shifted werewolves or falcons produce adrenaline?
Heck, he really didn’t know much at all about shifters—and here he was, relying on them to lead the way on this highly critical mission.
He nearly pounded the stove with the pan he was holding, the one in which he had just poured pancake batter, but caught himself. His lack of complete knowledge wasn’t the only source of his frustration.
He wanted more information about the origin of yesterday’s elixir problem. He wanted to feel fully comfortable that tomorrow would be a highly successful day, that the captive would be rescued and the kidnappers caught—or killed.
Speaking of frustration...where was Selena?
As if she had heard him, there she was, along with the rest of the Alpha Force team. They seemed to breeze into the kitchen and take over, as though their confidence in who they were and what they
did was secure.
If only he could feel that certain of how things would go.
“Good morning,” said Patrick, clearly asserting his position as their leader. He even wore a camouflage uniform this morning, which perhaps was standard for the Alpha Force members on official duty at their own posts. That was fine, as long as he stayed up here and didn’t head down the hill to West Columbia, where townsfolk might see him.
Owen assumed he was making a nonverbal statement by his clothes—making sure the CAs remembered who Alpha Force was and what they were doing here.
None of Patrick’s subordinates were clad similarly, though. Selena, as usual, managed to make a black T-shirt and jeans look highly sexy. The two aides, Jonas and Rainey, also wore black, but Marshall, though similarly clad, had on deep green clothing.
“Are we all ready for the final exercise today?” Patrick looked around the room at the other CAs, who sipped their coffee and talked softly to each other. Owen wished he had the hearing of a shifter so he could have heard what they’d been discussing. Were they revving each other up for success? Or priming themselves to do what they could, yet potentially fail?
It should certainly help to have the Alpha Force members among them.
“Pancakes? Yum.” That was Selena, who joined him at the stove.
“Care to help me cook them?” he asked.
“Sorry. I need to take a potty break, and hopefully you’ll be finished cooking by the time I get back here.”
Really? Potty break, when she had just arrived from right next door? She didn’t look ill or uncomfortable. That seemed like too much information anyway.
Owen had a thought, that what she’d said was intended for everyone to hear. He also had an idea where she was really going when she left the kitchen. Would she go downstairs to the basement alone to give the elixir a final check for the day? He hoped so.
On the other hand, what if she was the person who’d contaminated it? He didn’t think so, didn’t want to think so, but...
She had been gone a little more than a minute when he decided he wanted to join her if his assumption of where she had gone was correct. He could then observe to make sure she didn’t do anything she shouldn’t with the elixir. Despite believing his suspicion had no merit, he couldn’t be positive.
Canadian Wolf (Paranormal Nocturne Romance) Page 19
