by Terry Spear
Also by Terry Spear
SEAL Wolf
A SEAL in Wolf’s Clothing
A SEAL Wolf Christmas
SEAL Wolf Hunting
SEAL Wolf in Too Deep
SEAL Wolf Undercover
SEAL Wolf Surrender
Heart of the Shifter
You Had Me at Jaguar
Billionaire Wolf
Billionaire in Wolf’s Clothing
A Billionaire Wolf for Christmas
Silver Town Wolf
Destiny of the Wolf
Wolf Fever
Dreaming of the Wolf
Silence of the Wolf
A Silver Wolf Christmas
Alpha Wolf Need Not Apply
Between a Wolf and a Hard Place
All’s Fair in Love and Wolf
Silver Town Wolf: Home for the Holidays
Heart of the Jaguar
Savage Hunter
Jaguar Fever
Jaguar Hunt
Jaguar Pride
A Very Jaguar Christmas
Highland Wolf
Heart of the Highland Wolf
A Howl for a Highlander
A Highland Werewolf Wedding
Hero of a Highland Wolf
A Highland Wolf Christmas
White Wolf
Dreaming of a White Wolf Christmas
Flight of the White Wolf
Heart of the Wolf
Heart of the Wolf
To Tempt the Wolf
Legend of the White Wolf
Seduced by the Wolf
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Books. Change. Lives.
Copyright © 2020 by Terry Spear
Cover and internal design © 2020 by Sourcebooks
Cover art by Kris Keller
Sourcebooks and the colophon are registered trademarks of Sourcebooks.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from its publisher, Sourcebooks.
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
All brand names and product names used in this book are trademarks, registered trademarks, or trade names of their respective holders. Sourcebooks is not associated with any product or vendor in this book.
Published by Sourcebooks Casablanca, an imprint of Sourcebooks
P.O. Box 4410, Naperville, Illinois 60567-4410
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Contents
Front Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Epilogue
Excerpt from Wicked Cowboy Wolf
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Back Cover
To Angela Austin, thanks for being so dedicated to wanting a book, even when your own local store wouldn’t get it in stock. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for loving my books and helping to share them whenever you can!
Prologue
Fort Meade, Maryland
No one on Warrant Officer Nicole Grayson’s special agent team had a clue what she was—a gray wolf shifter, or lupus garou—or that she had a decided advantage in locating criminals: her sense of smell. Not that she could use that in a court of law, since humans didn’t know shifters existed. She loved that she could sniff out a perp but hated that she couldn’t use that scent match as evidence. An eyewitness account could be inaccurate. Her sense of smell was extremely accurate.
She had just started working as a special agent in the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, also known as the Criminal Investigation Division (CID), and was paired with a senior agent to learn the ropes in the field. Today, Nicole was on her own, interviewing a female second lieutenant who had alleged that a military police sergeant, wearing civilian clothes and a ski mask, had pulled a 9mm gun on her in an attempted armed robbery at her apartment off-post. Nicole was determined to learn if the case was legitimate.
When she arrived at the lieutenant’s apartment, a dark-haired woman answered the door, identifying herself as Roxie Wolff. She stood about five four, her hair in a bob. Her large, dark eyes widened when she took a deep breath. Nicole knew the lieutenant had smelled her scent and realized Nicole was a gray wolf, too, surprising the hell out of her. Nicole had never met another wolf while serving at Fort Meade.
“I’d say the man was six foot one, about the same height as my brothers. And muscular.” A finance officer, Roxie was pretty and petite, and she didn’t look like someone who could overpower an MP with criminal intent, especially one who was so much taller, a muscular male, and trained in taking down suspects. Because Roxie was a wolf, the sergeant could have worn any disguise, and the lieutenant would still know him by scent if she ran into him again. That would definitely help. A suspect’s appearance could change, but their scent wouldn’t.
“I’m glad you’re a wolf and can take care of this guy.” Roxie narrowed her eyes. “I expect you will find the MP and charge him with attempted armed robbery.”
“If I can prove he tried to rob you, yes.” Nicole couldn’t promise more than that. She knew that without any real proof, she couldn’t do anything. “If you would, tell me everything that happened that you can recall.”
“He was wearing a black ski mask and ski jacket, army boots, and camo pants. If I hadn’t been able to smell his scent, I wouldn’t have recognized him as the MP who had pulled me over on post for an expired safety-inspection sticker earlier in the day. He must have seen my coin books sitting on the seat beside me. I had just had them appraised and had a buyer for them. I had them for years, and I was tired of trying to safeguard them. Neither of my brothers nor my sister was interested in having them. Collecting coins was something my dad and I used to do when I was a kid.”
Nicole understood how Roxie felt about that. Moving with the service made it difficult to safeguard valuables and everything else a service member needed to “hand-carry” with them to each new assignment.
“Do you think the MP learned where you lived after seeing your driver’s license?”
“That’s what I assume. He could also have looked it up from my license tag. He was professional, very pleasant, and obviously clean-cut, being in the military. He gave me a warning to have the inspection done within the week and told me to have a nice day. I didn’t have any negative feelings about him when we talked.”
“Then he came to your apartment and…?”
“No longer in uniform and wearing a ski mask, he told me to hand over the coin collection. He had intense blue eyes that reminded me of the MP I’d met earlier in the day, but his scent was what really confirmed it. I was horrified to think one of our own military personnel, who is supposed to uphold the law, was breaking it. I couldn’t recall his name. I never can remember names when I hear them, so that wasn’t surprising. He might not have even given it to me. I was kind of rattled when I learned I had an expired safety-inspection sticker and thought I was going to be fined. Not to mention, any trouble with the military police could end with a call to the commander’s office and a stern lecture from my commander.”
“That’s so true.”
“He had dark-brown hair, military cut, and was clean shaven.”
Nicole wrote everything down.
“He needs to be stopped. If he can get away with trying to rob me, what will he do next?”
“But he didn’t get the coins from you?” That concerned Nicole, because the sergeant might try to break into Roxie’s apartment or accost her at some other time.
“No. I slammed the door in his face and locked it.”
Nicole’s lips parted. The lieutenant had spunk, which Nicole admired.
“Don’t tell me I should have just handed the coins over. They were in the apartment, and if I’d let him inside, it could have been far worse for me. When I slammed the door in his face, it automatically locked and he didn’t have time to react. I think I really surprised him with my reaction. They were my damn coins, and I’d safeguarded them since I was a kid. He couldn’t very well have kicked in the door or shot at it, or he would have caused a scene and left evidence behind. I think he had assumed it would be a quick grab-and-run scenario.
“Actually, I don’t think he thought it out all that well. He didn’t go to any of the cars parked where I could see them from my windows though. He must have parked out of sight of the apartment. I called the local civilian police, but they said they couldn’t do anything about it because nothing had been stolen and there were no witnesses who had seen the alleged crime. They had nothing to go on. I knew he was the MP I’d seen, but I didn’t want to tell the people at his workplace, or he’d learn I knew he’d been the one who tried to rob me. Without proof, it would be my word against an MP. I couldn’t do anything. I called your office instead, hoping someone there could help.”
“I see your dilemma but also the civilian police’s problem with the case. Are the coins in a safe place?”
“I had a buyer for them, and he came and picked them up right after the MP pulled his attempted burglary. The coins are gone, but the MP won’t know that. What are you going to do about him?”
“You don’t know his name?”
“No. Um, come inside. He had ahold of my driver’s license when he was checking me out. You can smell his scent from that. I did capture a picture of him on my cell phone, but it’s just a bit of a blur because he was moving so fast, and it only shows his profile.”
“Okay, thanks.” Unfortunately, learning the guy’s scent wouldn’t help Nicole bring him to justice. Roxie was right though. He needed to be held accountable for his actions.
What if this was just the beginning of his life of crime? Or what if it wasn’t the first time he’d committed an offense? He knew military police procedures, which would give him an edge. Nicole looked at the photo, and other than the clothes he was wearing—the same as the description Roxie had given her—she couldn’t tell anything about him except that he appeared to be tall like the lieutenant had said. He was still wearing the hoodie with the hood up so Nicole couldn’t see his face.
“Did you notice if he took off the ski mask when he was headed away from your apartment?”
“I think he must have, or he would have looked suspicious. I thought his right pocket was bulging a bit when I didn’t think it had been before. Since he still had his hoodie up, I couldn’t see for sure.” Roxie pointed to the hood. “But I didn’t actually see him remove the ski mask. I ran for my phone to capture a shot of him, but when I returned to the window, he was nearly out of sight.”
“Okay, I’ll talk to your neighbors and check the security cameras monitoring the apartment complex.” Nicole took a whiff of the driver’s license and had Roxie send her the photo she’d taken of the man. After that, Nicole left and talked to as many of Roxie’s neighbors as she could. She also checked for video surveillance around the complex but found nothing that could corroborate Roxie’s story. Nicole believed every word the lieutenant had told her, but without any hard evidence, she couldn’t prove anything.
Nicole did go to the military police department to see if she could locate the police sergeant by scent. She was working on another case, an attempted rape, and she needed to see the officer who had been called to the scene first, which gave her a good excuse to drop by. That was when she got a good look at the blue-eyed cop, sitting back at his desk, drinking coffee and joking with another MP. She was careful not to be seen, and when he left the station, she noted the nameplate on the sergeant’s desk. Oscar Kovac. Human and bad news, if Roxie’s story was all true.
For an entire year, Nicole kept trying to prove Roxie’s story was true, but she had no concrete evidence, and the MP didn’t commit any other crime that she was aware of.
Roxie soon left the service, and Nicole was dismayed that her first case involving a wolf victim could never be put to rest.
Chapter 1
Silver Town, Colorado
Nicole paused to watch a man dressed in a gray ski jacket, hat, pants, and snow boots struggling to start a snowblower to clear a walkway to the parking lot from the Timberline Ski Lodge. She was conducting surveillance for her investigation into a fraudulent life insurance claim, but that was less interesting than the man before her.
What intrigued her was that he was the same hunky guy who’d been walking a Saint Bernard in the snow earlier this morning. The dog had taken chase after a rabbit and dragged the man off on a wild jaunt, with him hollering, “Rosco, heel!” Which hadn’t had any effect whatsoever. Rosco had been hell-bent on catching the rabbit, and nothing would keep him from his mission. That was the last she’d seen of the dog and the man, who had disappeared from sight through the snow-laden trees. She wondered if the guy had ever reined the dog in or if the dog had finally given up on his own.
Now the lupus garou seemed to be having trouble with his snowblower. She could relate to both instances, having raised a yellow Labrador retriever who had a mind of her own when Nicole took her on walks or runs. The dog moved much faster than Nicole could manage. Unless, of course, she had been in her wolf form. But she hadn’t taken the dog for runs while she was. No telling where Dusty would have ended up.
As to machines, Nicole had a bark mulcher that she’d always had to ask her neighbor to start for her. She knew all about uncooperative outdoor equipment.
She shouldn’t watch the guy. But since he was also a hunky wolf, he really had her attention.
Nicole knew she should have continued on her way, but she was mesmerized by his antics. He poked at the push-button start with a gloved finger. Nothing happened. After three more pokes, he stared at the pull cord and finally pulled it out. Voilà, the snowblower started. He smiled.
She smiled. He must have been new on the job. Maybe a handyman at the lodge. She would have offered to help him, but she didn’t know a thing about snowblowers.
The snow blades were throwing the snow up into his face, and he was frantically attempting to adjust the
blades by pushing buttons and levers on both the right and left sides of the snowblower. Nicole stifled the urge to chuckle. She glanced around to see if anyone else was watching him, but everyone was hurrying to the ski slopes, eager to ski, and taking a different stomped-on path that also needed to be cleared of fresh snow .
Finally, the guy was blowing the snow off the path, creating an even higher snowbank than had been there. Once he finished, it would be like walking down a narrow path with castle walls of snow on either side. Nicole was about to continue on her way, the show over, when the wind switched and the snow blew straight into his face, covering him from his hat to his boots. This time, she couldn’t help but chuckle. He was so busy fighting with the snowblower—and the equipment was so noisy—that he didn’t notice her. Thankfully.
He unzipped his parka and shook out the snow. Not once did he curse, and he kept going, despite all the trouble he was having. She admired him for it. He zipped his parka back up and began to move the snowblower again. His boots must have hit a patch of ice and he slipped on it, landing on his backside.
Nicole laughed. Scolding herself for not being nicer, she headed in his direction to help him up. Before she could get close, he was back on his feet and clearing the path without any trouble. She chuckled again, imagining herself in his boots, and headed down the other path of trampled snow.
She entered the warm, toasty lodge, where a fire was crackling in the double-sided gas fireplace in the lobby. The mischievous Saint Bernard she’d seen running off earlier was sound asleep next to it on a big, soft dog bed covered in blue velvet-like material and little black dog paw prints, no doubt dreaming of chasing rabbits. Her thoughts again shifted to Larry Thornton, the human working as her partner on this case. Larry was suffering from high-altitude sickness, and Nicole thought he needed to go to the medical clinic in Silver Town to get checked out.
When she reached their room, she set his bag aside and pulled her ski boots out of the closet. She planned to wear them to make it look like she was skiing while she observed her suspects. Larry made his way out of the bathroom wearing gray pajamas. Nicole studied her sick partner. Even his skin looked gray as he stumbled back to bed. He insisted he was fine, though he had a major headache, was short of breath, and had thrown up in the bathroom twice already this morning. He said he would be up and out of bed in no time. According to him, he just needed to rest a little more while adjusting to the lower oxygen pressure at the higher altitude.
