Damn it. If this really was the legendary Hal Sigurdsson, then he'd be able to sense right away if she tried to lie to him.
She had to stick to the truth, as much as possible, without telling him everything.
"I was hiking and decided it might be easier to do on four feet," she said defensively.
"And you just decided to ignore the No Trespassing signs posted everywhere?" drawled Yummy Cowboy. "You know what I think? I think WSS sent you here. Are you one of the Beast Warriors?"
Ouch. Catrina glared at him, trying to hide her fear.
"Shut up, Brett," Hal snapped, looking irritated now. "You really think she’s part of Jaguar Team? A woman?" He gave her an incredulous look.
Catrina fought the urge to roll her eyes. Why was that so hard to believe?
"Of course she doesn't work for Colonel Perry!" said Shannon unexpectedly. "You know what he is. Why on earth would any woman ever want to work for him?"
She spoke Perry’s name with such loathing that Catrina stared at her.
Colonel Perry might not be the nicest guy in the world, despite the charming façade, but he didn't seem any worse than your average asshole commanding officer.
So what had he done to Shannon?
Catrina's glance fell to the healer's waist, and she noticed the bulge of pregnancy under the long white coat.
Her heart sank. Oh no.
"Why have you come here?" demanded Hal. "And why did you run from Brett when he tried to question you?"
Catrina had been braced for these questions and was thinking furiously about how to answer them without lying…or being arrested and executed as a spy.
"Have you fled WSS, then? Are you asking for sanctuary, like I did?" asked Shannon.
Catrina decided to answer Hal's second question first. "I didn't know who those guys were, and when they shapeshifted, I decided to get the hell out of there, because they sure looked like they were going to bite first and ask questions later."
"You led us on quite a chase," Brett commented, grinning sardonically. "I haven't had that much fun in months."
Catrina took a deep breath. Time to gamble everything on the hint that Shannon had given her.
"And, yes, I work for WSS, and I would like to ask for sanctuary."
It was true. She needed a safe base of operations while she recouped from the failure of her original plan and tried to figure out what to do next.
Hal folded his arms across his impressive chest and scowled down at her. "What's your role at WSS?"
"I report to Captain Hector Marin, and I'm with Jaguar Team," Catrina answered.
Her heart was pounding as she made this admission, and she desperately hoped that sanctuary meant what she thought it meant.
Brett whistled. "So you are a Beast Warrior! Impressive."
Hal grunted. "I don't know any Hector Marin. But I've been gone a long time." His eyes narrowed, as if he were trying to look into Catrina's soul. "So why did you come here? And how did you find out about Elysia?"
"And what did Colonel Perry do to you?" Shannon interjected, ignoring Hal's irritated glare.
Catrina realized she had to reveal just enough of the truth to appear credible, but not so much that she would betray her mission.
Because if Shannon Joyce was here in Elysia, then perhaps Dr. Liam Donlon was, too.
And maybe her mission wasn’t quite as torpedoed as it had seemed a few minutes ago.
Assuming I manage to survive this interview, of course.
"It wasn't that working for WSS is so bad on a day-to-day level," Catrina told them, truthfully. "I was in the military…before. It's something I know how to do. And the pay is good—better than good, actually. It's just…" She hesitated, searching for something truthful to say. "I'm getting burned out on all the missions, and as far as I can tell, no one ever retires from the Beast Warriors."
"Room temperature is the only way out," Brett agreed grimly, giving her a brief flash of hope that her ploy was working.
He dashed that hope immediately by saying to Hal, "But there's gotta be more to this story."
Hal made a brief gesture of acknowledgment, his gaze never leaving Catrina. "Go on," he said to her, his tone cool.
Catrina swallowed. What else could she possibly say that wouldn't get her caught in a lie?
Then it came to her.
Catrina took a deep breath. "All right. Here's the thing that really bothers me. I can't remember why I joined WSS. And I can't remember anyone I used to know. No one. Not even my family. I've seen my records, of course, so it's not like I don't know the important details about my life, but it felt like I was reading about another person. There was no, uh, emotional connection. Something about this whole thing never felt right…"
Her voice trailed off as she struggled to define what felt so wrong about it. It had been niggling at her sporadically for years.
She thought, but did not say, I can't understand why I'd ever agree to do this kind of work for a private company.
"Go on," Yummy Cowboy said. He wasn't smiling now.
"Dr. Bell—he's the head of Shifter Medical Services—he said—"
"We know who Dr. Bell is," Hal interrupted grimly.
"Right," said Catrina. "Well, he told me that my amnesia was the result of being badly injured in the line of duty when I was still with the navy. And it's true—I nearly died back then. But this doesn't feel like anything I know about trauma-induced amnesia. The memory loss feels selective, somehow. Like someone cherry-picked which parts I got to keep. I'm hoping that maybe now that I'm away from WSS, I can find out who I really am. Or who I really was, because Perry told me that he made sure the military thinks I was killed in action."
Catrina was astonished at the rush of bitter feelings that accompanied her words. Over the past few years, she had avoided introspection.
But now that she was back in the United States, surrounded by things that felt familiar and strange at the same time, it was impossible to avoid thinking about how much she didn't remember about her life before WSS.
Hal still looked skeptical, but Yummy Cowboy Brett's face had softened a little.
"You're not alone," he told her. "Most of us have lost our most important memories, and we think it was deliberate."
"It was deliberate," Hal said gravely.
Shannon nodded. "Rafe and Granda both told me that dragon shifters have the ability to wipe people's memories. And Colonel Perry does it if there's any doubt about an employee remaining loyal." She paused. "That was one of the reasons Granda left, even though most scientists would kill for the funding and equipment he received from WSS. He found himself questioning Colonel Perry's motives, and he knew what would happen to him, sooner or later."
Catrina stared at the other woman, feeling shock pouring over her like a bucket of icy water.
Colonel Perry did this to me? And he's done it to other shifters?
She didn't want to believe it…but somehow, it laid to rest the persistent niggle of doubt she'd felt since joining WSS.
"Who is Rafe?" she asked, trying to buy time while she digested this new information.
"My husband," answered Shannon. "He's another of the Beast Warriors in exile here."
"Oh," Catrina said, relieved that her first bad thought about Shannon's pregnancy probably wasn't true. "So you think Perry messed with my memories? When he recruited me?"
Yummy Cowboy gave her a slow nod, his expression still serious. "Probably. If he really wanted you to work for him, and you weren't interested…" He shrugged.
She felt like throwing up at the news that her amnesia wasn't really a result of her near-death experience with a bomb.
Damn it, I don't want it to be true!
By expressing her doubts, she'd hoped to throw her interrogators off the scent of her real mission here.
Instead, her world had just been turned upside down.
Gorgeous, charismatic Colonel Perry…Catrina had known that he was flawed, but she hadn't thought he m
ight actually be evil.
Because if he had lied to her about erasing her memories, then what else had he lied to her about?
And now she had an important decision to make.
Shannon looked over at Hal. "Come on, Hal. Grant her sanctuary already."
Hal didn't look convinced.
Neither did Yummy Cowboy. "Something doesn't feel right about this whole thing," he said. "We catch a Beast Warrior sneaking around Elysia, and now she's suddenly willing to desert the cause?"
"Please don't send me back to WSS and that lying son of a bitch," Catrina said, and now she was telling the unvarnished truth.
Fuck the mission, she thought.
Colonel Perry had probably lied to her about Dr. Donlon, too.
And she had always hated the assignments that involved assassinations or abductions.
Hal fixed Catrina with an icy stare. "I want to test you. See if you're really one of Perry’s Jaguar Team."
"Absolutely not!" Shannon put her hands on her hips and glared up at Hal. "I just finished healing her. She'll need at least a day or two to recover!"
Catrina wanted to agree with the Irish healer. Right now, she was hungry and exhausted, and her headache had only grown worse while being questioned.
But something about the look in Hal's eye told her that this was part of his pass/fail test.
"No, it's fair," Catrina said immediately. "It's not like we ever got a break when we got hurt on a mission. Just get me some clothes, and I'll be happy to play." She paused and added warily, "Unless this is a naked shifter thing?"
Chapter 3 – Tested
Whoever she really is, Catrina Hunter is magnificent, Brettthought grudgingly as he watched Hal at his most intimidating try and fail to cow her.
Over the decades, Brett had seen his former commander run roughshod over even the toughest of opponents.
WSS spy or not—and Hal was right, there was a real mystery surrounding her—the beautiful stranger had a spine of pure steel and the heart of a true Beast Warrior.
Too bad he didn't believe her story, even though he hadn't been able to scent a lie.
And the strange attraction he felt for her bothered him even more. Even with her battered from her accident, he hadn't been able to take his eyes off her since capturing her by the side of the highway.
She was exactly his type: tall and statuesque, with ample curves despite her obvious physical fitness. Her hair was the color of the midnight sky, and her eyes were like forest pools, brown and clear, with mysterious depths.
Despite Brett's reservations about her, his bear felt oddly protective towards her, and he found that both odd and extremely unsettling.
Beautiful or not, she was a cat…and a Beast Warrior. He wasn't willing to trust her right away.
He could tell that Hal also remained suspicious of their prisoner, despite his chuckle at Catrina's naked shifter question.
"While you were still unconscious," Hal told her, “Leif and Svein came by to bring Brett his clothing. I asked the two of them to put together a care package for you."
Brett's phone vibrated. He pulled it from the back pocket of his jeans. Well, speak of the devil, he thought, glancing at the text message.
"It's from Leif. They're on their way back over here with the clothes for Ms. Hunter."
"Good," said Catrina, tugging at the sheet that she had wound around herself. "Because 'toga' isn't really my look."
Leif and Svein arrived shortly thereafter, looking wet and grumpy.
The nods they gave Hal were respectful enough.
Brett was amused to see how they deliberately tried to leave as much space as possible between them and Shannon.
All of the wolf shifters feared and disliked the Irish healer and avoided her whenever possible. He had never heard of one voluntarily permitting her to treat them.
They had tried to abduct her and take her to Colonel Perry by force shortly after her arrival in Elysia last summer. Defending herself, she had used her healer's powers to kill one of their number in a horrific and memorable way.
Shannon might be short, sweetly curved, and pretty, but she was definitely capable of taking care of herself…no matter what her overprotective husband might think.
She had certainly made an impression on Erik Redclaw's unruly Wolf Team.
And if Rafe was overprotective now, thought Brett, he hated to think what would happen when the baby was born.
Whatever they thought of Shannon, Leif and Svein seemed only too eager to linger and catch an eyeful of Catrina as she opened the bundle of clothing they'd brought.
"Everyone out," Shannon ordered them curtly. She glanced up at Hal. "You, too, sir. Let a lady dress in privacy."
"But she's probably a spy," protested Leif.
"Yeah," agreed Svein, smirking. "We need to keep her under surveillance. Close surveillance."
Despite their wariness of Shannon, both of the wolf shifters crossed their arms and clearly intended to stay put in the clinic's examining room.
Brett saw their expectant leers and felt himself bristle.
"Out," he said curtly.
He pushed himself away from the wall and walked over to stand between them and Catrina.
He continued in Norse, "Or do I have to pick you two up and toss you out into the parking lot?"
Svein bristled, his face flushing. With his brown hair and bristling beard, he looked like a wild boar.
"I don't take orders from you, berserkir," he replied, also in Norse.
"Right," agreed Leif. "And we want to stay." He glared defiantly at Brett.
All right, then. I offered them the easy way out. Now let's do this the hard way. Brett prepared to shift into his warrior shape, which combined the bear and the man.
He had never liked those two, anyway, with their incessant bellyaching and their lewd harassment of any unaccompanied women in Elysia.
With the exception of Erik Redclaw himself, most of the wolf shifters were unpopular with Elysia's residents. But Svein and Leif were actively disliked and had garnered at least a dozen complaints against them, which Redclaw had seemingly ignored up until now.
"But you've agreed to take orders from me," Hal said softly, which was always a dangerous sign.
He showed no signs of beginning the shift to either his bear form or warrior form. Hal didn't need it to enforce his authority.
Leif and Svein looked at each other uncertainly. Brett waiting to see if they'd be stupid enough to defy Hal outright.
"Yes, sir," Leif said, promptly if unhappily.
Svein, however, wasn't willing to back down so easily. "But sir, we need to ask her something!" he blurted.
Hal raised his fair brows. "So, ask. Then leave."
The two wolf shifters glanced at each other again.
"Can we speak with her privately?" Svein's tone was hopeful.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Catrina come alert at the request. She froze in the act of shaking out a wrinkled T-shirt.
"No," Brett said, flatly, obeying his bear's conviction that leaving her alone with these two would be a very bad thing.
Apparently Hal felt the same way. "You can speak with Ms. Hunter with all of us here," he said.
Leif scowled, but Svein put a hand on his friend's shoulder.
"We want to know what Colonel Perry thinks of Wolf Team's disappearance," Svein said to her.
"Is he angry with us? Does he think we deserted him?" added Leif, sounding anxious. He had light brown hair, worn in a buzz cut, and a drooping brown mustache.
"You mean you didn't desert?" asked Catrina, with obvious astonishment. Brett saw her tense. Her tone turned wary. "What are you doing here, then?"
Svein bristled. "We couldn't return. We failed our mission." His tone was defensive.
"Oh."
Brett saw Catrina relax, and it only added to his suspicions. Is Erik Redclaw trying to double-cross us? Has he found a way to communicate with WSS behind our backs?
"Uh, no,
I never heard Colonel Perry say anything about the wolf shifters, one way or another," she continued, “I mean, we all heard when Captain Redclaw and his men disappeared, but we figured you'd either been killed on a mission or were doing an extended covert op somewhere."
"So we're not disgraced?" Leif asked eagerly.
Catrina shrugged. "I don't think so, but you know the colonel…he only tells us stuff on a 'need to know' basis."
Svein and Leif exchanged another set of looks, but Brett couldn't tell if they were dismayed or relieved at the news.
"All right, you've asked your question," Hal interjected. "You may leave."
"And tell Rafe that we may be late for dinner," Brett added.
Svein and Leif left without protest this time.
A few moments later, Brett heard their battered old Nissan pickup wheeze to life, and the crunch of gravel as they drove away.
He and Hal went into the clinic's waiting room to wait while Catrina dressed under Shannon's watchful eye in the examining room.
"Are you sure you are feeling well enough for this? Hal won't go easy on you," he heard Shannon whisper.
Either no one had told Rafe's mate about the keenness of shapeshifter hearing, or she wanted them to overhear.
Probably the latter, thought Brett.
"I didn't think he would," Catrina replied in a normal voice, though somewhat muffled by fabric as she pulled something over her head. "I'm used to it. I was the first female Beast Warrior. I got hazed pretty relentlessly until I proved myself."
"Good," Hal said, refusing to pretend that he hadn't overheard. "And now you can prove yourself once more."
Catrina came into the waiting room, now fully dressed in a pair of loose camouflage pants and a plain black long-sleeved T-shirt. She wore a pair of sturdy lace-up combat boots that must have come from the military surplus store in town.
"Thanks for the clothes. My car is parked a few miles away, and all my stuff is in the trunk," she said. "Maybe I can go get it later?"
Brett noticed that she was moving a little stiffly. He saw her roll her shoulders to loosen them as she approached Hal.
"Maybe," Hal said noncommittally, and Brett saw her mouth tighten.
Hunter: A Werebear + BBW Paranormal Romance (Beast Warriors Book 2) Page 4
