Canadian Wolf (Paranormal Nocturne Romance)

by Linda O. Johnston

  “Okay,” she said again. “Here goes.” She stood near him as she removed the clear glass vial from the plastic bag. She placed both on the floor.

  She started to strip. First, she pulled her black shirt over her head, mussing her silvery-brown hair, but she did not attempt to smooth it out. She next kicked off her athletic shoes, pulled off her socks and then stepped out of her jeans. She stood there in her underwear for just a moment, looking at him. Smiling softly at him, as if teasing...and tempting.

  In moments, she had removed her bra and panties. Without getting near him or waiting to see if he got closer to her, she knelt, picked up the vial of liquid and drank it all quickly.

  “Now,” she said, “let’s get that light going.”

  And he did.

  Ignoring his initial surge of lust at seeing her naked, he watched as if mesmerized as, in moments, her change began. Her limbs grew thinner, changed shape, even as her lovely, smooth skin started to grow hair. Her eyes, still looking at him, remained the same for a long moment, but the rest of her head began quickly morphing into the shape of a wolf’s.

  He didn’t say anything. Couldn’t say anything. Was he completely turned off by what was happening?

  Yes—and no. He was as fascinated as he had been when the men changed into wolves, even though this was Selena, the woman to whom he was so attracted. With whom he had made love.

  He wasn’t sure how long he had been watching, but soon there she was—a sleek, fur-covered, attentive wolf.

  * * *

  She stared up at him with her newly modified eyes, her muzzle in the air, watching him stare back at her.

  What had he thought of her change? What was he thinking now?

  She couldn’t ask. Did not want to ask.

  She needed to start moving. She had something to accomplish.

  She loped to the stairway and up its steps. At the top she had to wait since she could not open the door. She felt Owen’s legs against her side as he reached around her and pushed the door so she could get out.

  She again had to wait until he opened the front door, and there he maneuvered around so he was the first to go through.

  Ever the gentleman, the cautious police officer, he glanced around before allowing her to exit, looking, she imagined, for interlopers.

  She waited just in case, not wanting to intrude on what he was doing, yet even in waiting she was not idle. She moved her ears to listen, again lifted her nose to scent the air.

  She sensed nothing of any concern.

  When Owen stopped walking she sprinted past him, enjoying her freedom to run unimpeded on four legs, swiftly, to the pathway beneath the trees and into the forest.

  She did not wait to see if he followed. They had discussed what he would do before, when they could both speak and negotiate and each comprehend what the other was saying.

  He called, “Selena, wait,” but she did not obey. She was not a trained pet canine. She was an Alpha Force wolf with work to do.

  She ran and ran as pine needles scratched at the base of her paws, sometimes feeling only soft dirt instead. Around her were the aromas and sounds of those trees and, sometimes, their occupants—squirrels, birds of many types, wildlife even she did not recognize since this was not her usual habitat.

  Finding a small clearing soon that was void of tree branches in the center, she tilted her head back and looked upward. No falcon soaring there.

  She picked up only stale aromas, from when the other shifters had trudged through here, yet she slowed her pace when she started off again because she had sensed a different clearing, the one where the aides waited.

  What would Rainey do if she knew her shifting charge was so close and in wolfen form? Selena did not know and did not want to find out.

  Another clearing appeared, and this time, when she looked up, Selena did see the falcon soaring in circles.

  She stalked more slowly this time, not wanting to startle her shifted counterparts into attacking her as if she was truly a wild wolf, a foe of theirs.

  She made small woofing noises to alert them, in a pattern humans might recognize as Morse code even if unfamiliar with what the pattern stood for. In this instance she used dash-dot-dash-dot, then dot-dash.

  This was one form of communication she had informed these CAs about, should they need to let another one of their kind know of their presence. It was the pattern for C-A.

  She approached, scenting all three wolfen forms near her. They were similar yet different in appearance and in scent, and she knew who was who.

  Craig was the closest when she entered their clearing at the top of a mountain, along its far side. They each watched her warily as if anticipating she might not be one of their kind.

  She simply sat and watched them, nodding her head. They soon appeared to accept her, and she observed them start to ignore her and resume the exercise they had been conducting before she’d joined them.

  One at a time, they lowered their bodies closer to the ground and slunk to the edge of the clearing. Then they each raised their heads and looked out from among the trees over the nearby valley to the mountain slope just beyond. They scented the air as their ears moved to capture sounds.

  As if they were in fact in a similar area, searching similar mountains for signs of life. Human life. Kidnappers and victims.

  She found no indication of any problems, any danger, despite the message received by Anthony Creay. Even so, she waited and watched, curious, cautious...and concerned.

  * * *

  Owen had just joined Rainey and Jonas at the clearing, where they waited as backup for the shifted CAs. It had been challenging to locate it, but he had finally succeeded.

  The area was small, with several boulders in the center, where they sat and waited and chatted.

  They looked up, no doubt to watch for a falcon circling overhead. Owen had seen the soaring bird that was Andrea several times on his way up here when there had been other breaks in the trees, and he couldn’t help but marvel. Despite her falcon form, she was actually another person...most of the time.

  As was Selena.

  Now, joining the aides, he told them he was here to observe, went through the motions of acting normal, as if he hadn’t just seen the most incredible situation in his life—watching Selena shift into wolf form.

  Yes, he had anticipated everything that had happened during her shift. Hadn’t he already viewed the men changing from human to wolf form several times? He’d known what to expect.

  But this time, it was Selena. Gorgeous, nude Selena.

  “Why are you here?” Rainey asked as she walked over to where he stood by the path. She cast a look over her shoulder at Jonas, who was surveilling the woods. Her dark hair seemed even more a nest of curls than usual, maybe because of the breeze here. “Where is Selena?”

  “She’s—”

  “She shifted, didn’t she?” An amused and too-smug smile appeared on the aide’s face. Did she know that Owen had made love with the shifter she’d been assigned to assist? He had a sinking feeling she did.

  Well, so what? It was over now. They were over now, except for working together on this difficult assignment for the organizations they worked for.

  “Is she up on this mountain, too?” Rainey asked next when he didn’t directly respond to her other question. At least that one he had no issue about answering.

  “Yes, she’s joining the CAs for now.”

  “But why?” That was Jonas, who had hurriedly strode over to join Owen. He, too, wore casual dark clothing.

  Talking to them forced Owen to focus on what they were saying instead of the vision of Selena and her shift that still occupied his mind.

  “My superior officer called about yet another communication from the kidnappers. They made vague references that suggested that they knew we were about to take action against them. They didn’t mention shapeshifters but indicated something was going to go wrong with whatever was planned. So Selena decided to shift and come up here to
check on the CA shifters. Have you heard anything from them?”

  “No,” Rainey said, “and that probably means all’s well.”

  “Maybe,” Owen said slowly. “But...you know, maybe I should just have called to let you know Selena is here on the mountain, too, so you can watch out for her as well as the others. But right now I think I need to get back to our headquarters and wait for everyone there.”

  It had just occurred to Owen that it was a vital location that was currently unguarded by either CAs or Alpha Force members. It was probably fine, but he couldn’t shake the unease. The kidnappers’ threats continued to ring through his mind.

  With the shifters up here on the mountain rehearsing what they would do tomorrow, these aides here to be their backup and Patrick and Marshall away from the headquarters picking up new elixir, the enclave was left particularly vulnerable—if the kidnappers had learned of its existence and it was the target of whatever they’d threatened to do.

  Someone needed to be there to make sure it stayed secure.

  That someone, Owen decided, had to be him.

  With some help, perhaps. He would move Lupe to the main meeting house. She could bark if anyone appeared who shouldn’t be there—and could act as Selena’s cover if she happened to show up.

  He headed to the Alpha Force house to get her.

  Chapter 23

  Enough. Selena had been there, with the other shifters, for a while. In this form she had the same sense of time as she did in human form, and it felt like an hour. More than an hour. Too long, especially since all seemed fine in their exercise. Nothing appeared amiss in their rehearsal of how they would best fulfill their assignment tomorrow to observe, to learn, to save a life.

  She would not be there with them. Would not need to be. And as it had turned out, she did not need to be with them now to confirm all was going well despite her concerns.

  Only, had she not come, she would not be certain of that, especially not this soon.

  Now Sal sat with her in the clearing while Craig and Tim prowled nearby, continuing to assess this mock situation. She stood and edged toward Sal, then nudged his side with her muzzle to ensure he knew she intended to communicate with him. When he looked at her and made a noise deep in his throat, she nodded sideways toward the path down the hill.

  Then, without waiting for him to acknowledge what she had conveyed, she began walking in that direction.

  Toward that other clearing, where the aides waited.

  Where Owen waited.

  Only, when she arrived there, just Rainey and Jonas were present. She stood at the edge of that clearing for a while, observing, expecting to see Owen emerge from the trees on one side or another, but he did not.

  Rainey spotted her, though. That was part of her job as an aide, being available as assistance for the shifted CAs—remaining aware of all around her and prepared to act as cover or backup or protection or whatever a shifter might need.

  Now Selena needed to know where Owen was. She could not ask that question and in fact preferred that the aides, Rainey in particular, did not even recognize her desire to know.

  But Rainey was ever aware. “Selena? Everything okay?” She rushed toward her.

  Selena nodded her head. There were times when she was in wolf form that she wanted more than anything the ability to truly communicate with humans. Times like now.

  But with Rainey, she did not necessarily need to speak. Her aide knew her well. Perhaps too well.

  “I figure you checked on the CAs, right?” Rainey asked her now. “That’s what Owen said. Are you looking for him? He headed back to the meeting house to wait.”

  Now Selena was glad she could not speak. She did not need to acknowledge she was seeking Owen. She merely turned and began loping along the path toward the enclave.

  As she neared it, apprehension and concern seemed to speed her up, as if turning her legs to limbs that were even more fleet than a normal, swift wolf’s.

  Where did the concern come from? She did not know.

  She only knew it was there.

  * * *

  As soon as Owen exited the path from the trees he saw an unfamiliar car on the pavement at the top of the hill along with the known rentals. He froze and immediately reached for his service weapon—which he did not have with him.

  As a police officer on regular duty he was often armed. But his latest assignment was far from regular duty.

  He would have to be cautious checking out who was there, but just because someone had come to the enclave did not mean there was a problem.

  Looking around from the edge of the path, where he could duck behind the trees and call for backup if necessary, he observed movement. A person stood at the front door of the meeting house.

  He recognized the man who was holding what appeared to be pizza boxes. He was one of the servers from the Yukon Bar. What was his name?

  Oh, yeah... Boyd.

  He didn’t look threatening, especially not if he had brought dinner. But who had ordered it? No one had mentioned it to Owen.

  In case it was some kind of ploy, he would continue to be vigilant.

  “Hey,” he called out as he strode from the trees, “what’s going on?”

  “Pizza.” The guy raised the boxes in his hand. His light brown hair was blowing in the breeze, revealing how his ears stuck out. As Owen drew closer, he noticed that Boyd was frowning, but he wasn’t acting at all threatening.

  “I don’t think anyone here ordered pizza.” Owen figured that acting negative would get Boyd to reveal his mental state faster than simply okaying and paying for the pies.

  “Yeah. It was called in some time ago. Whoever called said to deliver it now—around three o’clock.” Boyd repositioned the boxes so he could balance them on one arm, then reached for his pocket. Owen froze, waiting for a weapon to appear, but instead the guy pulled out a phone and looked at it, probably checking the time.

  “Do you know who made the call?” And who, therefore, had neglected to reveal it to Owen and possibly anyone else.

  “Craig, I think. He’s one of the guys I met at the Yukon. But this stuff was ordered from the pizza shop next door where I work during the day. I don’t know if he’s staying here, but I was told he hangs out here.”

  Craig. Why would he have ordered food when he was out for training, especially without telling anyone?

  “And did Craig pay for it?” Owen asked.

  “No, he didn’t.” Boyd’s voice was suddenly chilly and he stared straight at Owen in the fading daylight. “Is he here? Let me talk to him.”

  “I’m not sure where he is.” That wasn’t a lie. Owen had a general idea of where the shifter might be, but he wasn’t sure of his exact location. “I’ll pay you for it.”

  “Okay.” Boyd seemed to relax. Maybe this was legitimate. But Owen didn’t like it.

  He’d have to have a talk with Craig later about being responsible, particularly on days when an exercise was scheduled, especially a shifting exercise.

  Owen reached into his trousers, pulled out his wallet and drew several bills from it. “Keep the change,” he said, then exchanged the money for the boxes.

  He didn’t go into the house but stood there watching as the guy got into his car and drove off.

  Only then, shaking his head, did Owen enter the Alpha Force house.

  * * *

  No! Something was terribly wrong. Selena had had an inkling of it before, but now she was certain of it as she watched the exchange between Owen and the server—Boyd—from the edge of the woods.

  She smelled the spicy scent of the food Owen now carried into the house.

  If that had been all she smelled, she would not feel so worried.

  But the scent of ipecac assaulted her nostrils. Not as strong as the tomato, onions, oregano, garlic and a whole lot of red peppers. Much more subtle, but it hung in the air and nearly made her feel ill.

  Or was that her concern, her fear for Owen?

  Was the ipecac
in the pizza? But the odor did not seem to entirely disappear into the house with Owen.

  Then Boyd had some on his body? Maybe. But with his departure, shouldn’t the scent have left, too?

  Would it help for Selena to go into the house and find a way to warn Owen that all might not be well? That he should not eat that pizza? That he should perhaps call for backup, get her Alpha Force aides back down the hill and into action here, to protect their location...and Owen, too?

  She had heard a dog woof when Owen went in. It sounded like Lupe. Owen must have moved her into this house after Selena had run off in wolf form. That familiar woof was her normal reaction to a person entering someplace where she was located, but she was trained well enough not to react as a watchdog unless confused or specifically given an order to react that way.

  But now, suddenly, Lupe barked loudly but briefly.

  What was happening? Selena had to find out.

  And she had to reassure herself that Owen was unharmed...or so she hoped.

  * * *

  Odd, Owen thought. Maybe it was nothing, but it just didn’t feel right. He went straight to the kitchen, not only to put down the food, but also to let Lupe loose.

  He was quite surprised to see Yvanne there, kneeling on the floor and petting the now-quiet wolflike dog. She was rather dressed up, in a silvery scarf over her charcoal-colored shirt that matched her slacks and low-topped boots, and seemed to be getting along famously with Lupe—two wolves communicating? Yvanne was a shifter, of course.

  Despite being in human form, she did not look prepared to communicate with Owen. In fact, she appeared a bit startled to see him. She stood up immediately and faced him.

  What was going on?

  “Hi,” Owen said, assuming as casual a demeanor as he could despite being on high alert. “What brings you here?”

  “A late lunch,” she said. “I was told the exercise being held today would be over but only those who’d shifted would be around.” Which meant she knew too much, but he was already aware of that. “Where’s Sal?”