Guardian Wolf

by Linda O. Johnston

  Fortunately, the men stationed in the building were expected to survive, but they would probably have headaches for days, thanks to the gas used to render them unconscious. From what Grace had learned, the guards in the earliest thefts had believed they had just fallen asleep. They, too, awoke with headaches. Any chemical, and its odor, had dissipated quickly, and no source remained. Even so, its presence was suspected, but the men didn’t even remember smelling anything. Later guards were told to stay alert for anything unusual, but somehow these guys were knocked out anyway.

  By something that only someone like Grace, and her acute senses, was aware of.

  Now Grace intended to shift as quickly as possible. She would need to remain on the periphery of the investigation, but she might be able to pick up on more evidence that the security team would never imagine was there.

  Even though their current location was remote and camouflaged by tall hedges, Grace directed Kristine to an area with similar characteristics even farther from where people milled around. That’s when she had Kristine take off the backpack. Grace removed the battery-operated light from it. Its beam had the intensity of the full moon when turned on.

  Next, she carefully took out the special Alpha Force elixir and measured a dose for herself. It was the amazing concoction that allowed shapeshifters to change whenever they wanted, not just under a full moon.

  “You ready?” Kristine asked.

  “In a sec.” Grace glanced around out of habit, despite having seen no other beings, human or otherwise, when she chose this secluded site between the two facilities. Then she removed her clothes. “Now,” she said.

  Kristine turned on the light and aimed it at her. In moments, Grace felt the usual discomfort as she started to shift.

  Caution.

  Despite having a plan for if she was spotted while shifted, her intent was to stay far from curious eyes.

  The substantial plantings here, watered by the military for privacy and security, were useful. On the soft pads of her canine feet, she crept on the sandy dirt from behind one hedge to the next, moving from the air-force base and onto the hospital property. Drawing closer to the building that was her target.

  Slowly. Listening for human voices and their locations.

  Pointing her nose into the air to scent for anything, anyone, she needed to avoid.

  There was less cover as she approached. Yuccas and palm trees provided little shelter.

  Cars in the parking lot provided more, but they also obscured the people she needed to avoid. And maybe those she wanted to see.

  She finally reached a place where she could watch the building. People in uniform still surrounded it despite the late hour. Could she wait them out?

  Sentries would likely remain there for this night—more protection for this area, but too late to prevent the theft.

  She would therefore prowl the periphery. Watching, listening, scenting the air and environs, just in case the thieves returned—an unlikely event.

  She crouched and crept from behind one car to the next. And then another. Then—

  Her nose suddenly pointed straight up as she inhaled the scent that had just assailed her.

  Another wolf? The same one she had sensed on the night of the full moon? The fur on her back bristled.

  Wild Mexican wolves could be found in Arizona—a fact that helped this Alpha Force mission. More than one could be hanging out in this area. Maybe even a pack.

  Or not.

  She crept forward slowly, all enhanced senses on alert.

  There. At the outer row of parked vehicles, she spotted movement near the ground. A flash of silver fur between cars.

  Had she been noticed by her apparent counterpart? Perhaps, for suddenly he was running. Beyond the cars, past the parking lot, through stands of cacti and other plants, toward a different portion of the air-force base.

  She was gaining no useful information here. The motion of the other wolf could call attention to her.

  Slowly, as if stalking the other creature, she followed, heedful that the humans behind her might not be kind to either animal if spotted here.

  Her quarry, too, might attack if she got close enough.

  Nearer to him, the scent was different. Wilder. One she recognized as dual and heated and agitated.

  The smell of a shifter during a change.

  She drew closer, even more cautious.

  She saw him then. Partly obscured by a row of bushes, he thrashed wildly. A wolf, yet not a wolf, as he shifted from canine to human form.

  The human form she had known she would see.

  In a minute, it had ended.

  Where the wolf had been stood Dr. Simon Parran.

  Damn! Simon scowled into the hot darkness.

  If he had remained in wolf form, he might have howled in rage and frustration. But that was the point. He had wanted to remain shifted longer, but the medication he had created to allow shifting anytime was as flawed in that respect as it was in keeping him from changing during a full moon.

  What had he scented before? Who had he scented? He had thought he had caught the odor of another wolf. Even seen traces in the distance of a canine form.

  If so, it had to be a true wolf. He could shift somewhat at will, thanks to the chemical formula he tested only on himself. Other shapeshifters would only change during a full moon.

  At least as far as he knew. Those of his kind, and other shifters, avoided forming communities except for families and small packs, even then assimilating into the usual human populations. They rarely sought out others even in these days of high-tech communication. Maybe especially so, thanks to the dangers of hacking and identity exposure. It was safer that way.

  He therefore didn’t know what skills or advantages others like him might have developed.

  Now, he hid behind a remote building on the hospital property until able to don his clothing. The only good thing this time was that he had been able to flee to the area where he had first shifted, where he had left his things.

  He finished pulling on his jeans, then slipped a black T-shirt over his head. He checked his pants pocket. The small bottle where he kept his pills was still there—empty now, since he only brought the dosage needed each time he shifted in case someone found his paraphernalia. An empty pill bottle would generate fewer questions than one with a tablet that someone could try to analyze.

  Taking a few deep breaths, he let his mind evaluate his body. Except for his usual slight haziness, everything had returned to human normalcy. The physical discomfort he felt while shifting had ended.

  He was back.

  He was also shouting inside with even greater frustration as he began walking slowly along a path toward the front of the hospital, far from where security forces now concentrated their investigation.

  He had decided to shift once he’d heard the news broadcast on the hospital security system—a radio transmission he hacked into for his own purposes. Biohazard wastes had been stolen…again. The guards had been taken down first but had not been killed.

  Since the official security staff had been so ineffectual, Simon had jumped in to look for information to pass along to authorities. It was a good rehearsal for using his shifting pill.

  More important, it was a good attempt to use his special resources to potentially help save lives, even prevent a catastrophe. What if the thieves used the hazardous waste to create biological weapons that could sicken, and kill, an incalculable number of people? The missing samples, if cultured and expanded, might be capable of being turned into something quite dangerous.

  The only people likely to steal biohazards besides terrorists were those hoping to sell the materials for some horrendous purposes—or to extort the government, demanding money for their return.

  This time, he had not succeeded in stopping the incident, or even observing it in progress. If there was a next time, he would be better prepared—although maybe it was already too late.

  As he walked along the side of the parki
ng lot, his gaze drifted to the air-force base next door and the hedge-covered fence separating the two facilities.

  He had heard that Grace and her aide, a nurse, had discovered the guards down and the biohazards missing. A logical assumption would be that they had stolen the stuff. They were there at the operative time. But Simon hated even to think something like that about Grace.

  He snorted aloud at his stupid, gullible attitude. Was the fact she was as beautiful as ever the reason he couldn’t imagine she had any evil inside her?

  He hadn’t trusted her years ago. Why start now?

  He stopped outside the front door to the hospital, ignoring the people standing on the steps talking on cell phones. He inhaled the sweet scent wafting outside after the cleaning staff had passed through the lobby, masking the usual ugly hospital stenches of chemicals and sickness.

  He had smelled and possibly seen that wolf earlier, while shifted. Grace had, long ago, hinted that she could be a shapeshifter, but he had assumed that was only because she was teasing him. Pretending to be like the jerks who had harmed his family, once he had told her a watered-down version of the tale—one in which no one had, of course, been a woo-woo character.

  But what if Grace hadn’t been pretending back then?

  It seemed way out of whack, a coincidence of tremendous proportions, for the first wolf he had sensed around here to appear not long after she arrived. And also to be hanging out where the thefts had occurred—substances Grace was well aware of as an infectious-disease specialist.

  Could he believe it? Should he believe it?

  She hadn’t been around for the earlier thefts. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t colluding with someone who was.

  Maybe he had better spend a little more time around Grace to find out if she was involved. While protecting his own interests. Being with the woman he had been in lust with all those years ago might not be smart.

  But, if he was careful, it just might be fun.

  “Did you learn anything helpful?” Kristine asked as she handed Grace her clothes.

  They were still outside, behind some hedges, since there was always a risk going inside a building that they would run into someone.

  Grace slipped her panties and bra on quickly, then reached for her T-shirt. She would have to watch what she said, even to her trusted aide.

  “I’m still digesting what happened,” she responded. “So far, I’ve found no answers.”

  Which was true. She had no answers about the stolen biohazards—or anything else, at least not yet. Even with her ability to retain human cognition while shifted, thanks to the special Alpha Force elixir, she needed time to think, with her full-sized human brain, while deciding what to do with her newly confirmed knowledge about Dr. Simon Parran.

  How had he shifted without a full moon?

  When had he shifted—after the gassing and thefts had occurred? Could he have had anything to do with that, or had he, like her, wanted to use his enhanced wolfen senses to look for the thieves and any evidence they might have left behind?

  She had gotten an eyeful, even from a distance, of the wonderful, hard body she remembered. If anything, he had gotten better with age. Sexier.

  Too bad she wouldn’t be able to indulge in her renewed desire for him. The complications would be even vaster than simply knowing what he was—and, if she determined it was useful, confronting him with her knowledge.

  Grace donned the sandals Kristine handed to her, and they started walking back toward their quarters.

  “I assume you’ll call Major Connell about what happened. He’ll need to know, especially since I’m guessing that Colonel Otis will get in touch with him to complain.”

  “Gleefully so, I’d imagine,” Grace said. “Though he’s frustrated about the thefts and wants them to stop, he didn’t seem pleased that Alpha Force was designated to help out—a group so covert that he wasn’t told what its special strengths are. Yes, I’ll call the major. I’d like you with me.”

  “Sure.”

  Despite the time—very early in the morning—a couple of air-force pilots whom Grace had recently met were exiting their building when Kristine and she arrived. Kristine turned slightly to watch as the two men hurried away from the building.

  “Are you watching their backs or their butts?” Grace asked wryly.

  “A little of both. A good Alpha Force aide needs a little distraction now and then, especially after an incident like that theft today.”

  “You’re right.” Grace preceded Kristine inside and up the steps to her quarters. “Go get Bailey. We’ll take Tilly and him for a walk before we wake up the captain. He’ll understand.”

  Grace looked around as she headed into her apartment. Nobody around, so with luck no one would know that Tilly had been here all night—in case a strange dog that resembled her had been sighted wandering around.

  As soon as Kristine arrived with Bailey, Grace called Ruby, putting her smart phone in speaker mode. “Yes,” the sergeant said. “Autumn’s right here.”

  “Did you see anything helpful?” Grace demanded when Autumn got on the phone.

  “No, damn it. The guards had pizza delivered, and when the delivery guy left with a larger container than he’d gone in with, I followed. There was enough traffic that I had a hard time keeping an eye on the right car while flying at a discreet distance. When he stopped and parked at the pizza joint, I landed in a tree and watched. He removed the suspicious package from the car, all right—and pulled a few six-packs of beer out of it. And if you’re going to ask me why he was receiving, and not delivering, beer, don’t bother. I have no idea.”

  A dead end. But Grace understood why Autumn hadn’t stayed to watch the building. The shapeshifted hawk could have believed, with her human perception, that she was witnessing exactly what she had been sent to observe.

  “I’m really sorry,” Autumn continued. “I know I blew it, but—”

  “But you could have saved the day, if things had been as they appeared to you. Don’t sweat it.”

  Grace cut the connection and told Kristine it was time to take the dogs for their walk.

  “What a fiasco,” Kristine said.

  “Wait till Drew Connell hears,” Grace agreed.

  Fifteen minutes later, they returned to Grace’s unit. It was nearly 0400, a decent hour to call the major in Maryland. Grace was tired but still buzzing on adrenaline. As before, Kristine and she sat in the small living room while they called on her high-tech satellite phone, the dogs at their feet.

  Major Connell answered the phone immediately. “You’re up early.”

  “Never went to bed, sir.” Grace filled him in on last night’s events.

  “So, even shifted, you didn’t get any answers?” He didn’t sound pleased. “Neither Autumn nor you.”

  “No, sir. Not yet, at least. But we will.”

  “You do that. But be careful. I’m not as concerned about someone seeing a hawk flying around, but were there any problems with your cover?”

  “Not so far. I’m just like any other infectious-disease specialist at the hospital, and Sgt. Norwood is a wonderful nurse and aide.”

  “And last night—any possibility you were seen while shifted?”

  “I don’t think so, but we were prepared to have Kristine claim she was looking for Tilly.” Grace reached down and patted her dog. “As if my good girl would run away like that.”

  “All right. I’ll expect to hear from Colonel Otis later, but I’ll be prepared. I trust he’s been your only contact so far on security matters.”

  “That’s right,” Grace said, “though I’m considering meeting soon with Major Louis Dryson of Air Force Security Forces, in charge of security at the air-force base. Despite bringing in Alpha Force, Colonel Otis is insisting that they step up their involvement even more, too. I heard that from some of the investigators, and I’d like his take on what happened.”

  “As long as you stay discreet, that’s fine, Grace. If you do talk to him, be s
ure to report how it goes. Anything else noteworthy I need to know?”

  The sight of Simon changing from wolf form back to human flashed into Grace’s mind—literally, as she recalled his gorgeous masculine form. But she still needed time to consider what to do about her new knowledge. She was much too tired to figure it out just then.

  “No, sir,” she said.

  Chapter 5

  Fortunately, Grace was not scheduled to report for duty at the hospital until early afternoon, and neither was Kristine. That gave them both time to catch some sleep.

  Grace wondered about Simon’s schedule. When would she next bump into him? How would she play it—confront him, pretend she didn’t know what he was, or something in between?

  She supposed she would just wing it, unless something brilliant came to her in the meantime.

  She fell asleep immediately. When she woke, Tilly was pawing at the bedclothes beside her. It was close to 1030 hours. The sweet dog undoubtedly needed to go for a walk.

  Grace quickly dressed in the clothes she had worn the night before, grabbed the key to her unit and her personal cell phone, and went outside with Tilly on a leash. They walked along a paved path in the residential area, between cacti, heading away from the runways.

  While Tilly sniffed the sandy dirt and decided where to accomplish her morning goals, Grace called Autumn. “Any more insight about last night?” she asked quietly, though there was no one else visible in the area.

  “Nothing certain. I’ve been thinking about it all night. Except for that delivery fiasco, I didn’t see any indication of someone fleeing the scene of a crime, even on my way back. Not that everyone stuck to the speed limits on the nearby roads or interstate, you understand. But pretty much everyone stayed with the flow of traffic. How about you? See anything interesting?”

  Yes, Grace’s mind responded, her thoughts again latching onto Simon. To Autumn she just said, “Nothing helpful in figuring out the theft, or who did it. But stay tuned. I let Major Connell know already, and the four of us here need to work out a new plan. This can’t happen again. Not on our watch.”