Renee's Mates

by Shelley Munro

  More tour parties appeared in the dining room and took their seats. Renee spotted a few possibilities but soon rejected them. She pushed her plate away and finished her wine. What a bust. She might as well head for the bar and drink her usual ginger ale before heading home.

  As a last resort, she had several audio books. Mysteries and thrillers were her thing. Although it made little sense, something about immersing herself in other people’s dramas helped her to forget her problems.

  Renee paid for her meal in cash, left the waitress a tip and departed the dining room. Just as she exited the building, she noticed a local taxi pull up at the Tundra Inn. Four men climbed from the vehicle, all big with black hair. They were enough alike for her to assume they were family. Brothers. Although each wore jeans, coats, and boots—casual clothes—something about their manner screamed money and privilege. Men used to issuing orders and expecting instant obedience.

  Alpha males.

  A sigh escaped Renee. Not a man she wanted to tangle with. She’d met enough of those type of men during her years in the army. They were pretty but way too much trouble for a casual fling.

  Renee zipped up her jacket and after scanning the area behind and in front of her, she rushed away from temptation.

  What she needed was an uncomplicated tourist. No wedding rings. No cheaters. Several of the locals had asked her out, and while they were nice enough, they came with hitches. Sometimes she had nightmares and she woke herself up screaming. If it was a one-night thing, she could say she had a bad dream and most accepted her story. If she slept with the same man and they learned she suffered lots of nightmares, the questions started.

  Renee pushed through the door and spotted two of her fellow pilots sitting at the bar.

  The local hangout wasn’t much in the looks department—a rectangle room with worn gray carpet and battered wooden tables with mismatched chairs. Grimy black and white prints of Marilyn Monroe plastered the wall. The owner’s idea of classing up the place. But, with cold beer and tasty bar snacks, the locals called it home away from home.

  Renee lifted a hand in greeting and joined the closest friends she had in Churchill. “Hey, guys.”

  “Where have you been?” Tim asked. Another Australian, he had surfer-blond, messy hair and a grin that never stopped. His easy-going humor made him popular with everyone, local and tourist alike. Renee liked him because he reminded her of army friends, still on active duty.

  “I missed lunch. They had roast chicken at the restaurant, so I ate dinner there. The place is crammed with tourists. It was lucky I got there early. My usual, please,” she said to the barman.

  “The reason we came down here.” Charlie grimaced, or at least she suspected he did. He sported a bushy beard that, according to him, kept out the cold. Since most of the local men wore beards, Renee decided there must be truth in Charlie’s assertions.

  “What’s the new waitress like?” Tim asked. “I heard she’s from Queensland.”

  “Bubbly and friendly,” Renee replied. “I didn’t get her name, but I liked her.”

  The bar door opened, and Renee froze, her glass halfway to her mouth. The four men she’d seen earlier entered and sauntered to the bar. Customer chatter and banter ceased for a millisecond while locals sized up the new arrivals. Almost instantly, the din started again and a lanky man with a runner’s build put money in the jukebox. A Celine Dion ballad poured from the speakers a beat later, and Renee, along with Tim, Charlie and the barman, groaned.

  “Bother.” Renee rolled her eyes. “If I’d known Billy and Sarah had broken up again, I would’ve stayed home with my audiobook.”

  “Can’t you turn it off?” Charlie demanded the barman.

  “Unfortunately, no. Hello, gentlemen. What will it be?” the barman asked the new arrivals.

  “Four beers,” one of the men replied.

  Two men—brothers, Renee decided again—took possession of empty barstools while the other two who looked like mirror images seemed content to stand.

  “Draft or bottle?” the barman asked.

  “Draft is fine,” the man doing the drink ordering replied.

  Score points for the new arrivals. Most tourists were fussy and only drank beer with what Renee called designer labels.

  “You here for a polar bear tour?” the barman asked.

  The man hesitated. “Yes, but we’re also here in a different capacity. We’re thinking about building a new hotel in Churchill. Something that caters to the luxury market rather than the normal tourist.”

  Renee drank her ginger ale and eavesdropped as did her two friends. A fancy hotel might work up here if they targeted the correct market. The Hallsten brothers had built a luxury lodge out on the tundra that took limited guests. For their first season, which would be next year, they’d already invited a select number of guests and photographers wanting a shot of a polar bear mother and her cubs leaving the den. She’d flown out there several times a week during the summer, taking out the Hallsten brothers and different supplies. Yet Churchill was missing the high-class component in the town.

  A second ballad started, the singer crooning about broken hearts and torment. Renee pulled a face and drank the last of her soda. She sighed and set her glass on the bar. No warm body to cuddle tonight. “I can’t stand any more of these they-done-me-wrong songs. I’m going home to listen to my audiobook.”

  “You got an early shift?” Tim asked.

  “No, usual start time.”

  Charlie drank his last mouthful of beer. “I’ve had enough of the music too. I’ll walk you to the dorm.”

  When they left the bar, Renee did her usual scan of her surroundings.

  “It will snow,” Charlie said.

  Charlie had spent the last three years working in Churchill, so Renee didn’t doubt his weather forecasting abilities.

  “Hard enough to halt flying?”

  “No, I think we’ll be right. I heard they placed another bear in jail this morning. That’s two in jail plus a cub.”

  Renee nodded, her mind on the four new arrivals. Tall and muscular, all but one with short black hair, they gave off a military vibe. Watchful. Aware of their surroundings. Leaders and confident of their abilities. Even though the men hadn’t stared at her, something about them bothered her, and she’d learned to trust her instincts.

  So far, they’d kept her alive.

  * * * * *

  “I’ll shift along the bar so you can have a seat,” a blond guy with an Australian accent offered.

  “Thanks.” Calian held out his hand. He approved of the Australian man’s handshake. Firm and brisk without issuing a challenge. “I’m Calian. My brothers Matto, Kansas and Dakota.”

  “Ah, I figured you must be brothers. You’re alike, but I guess you get that a lot. My name is Tim.”

  “We do,” Matto said. “Most of them say I’m the handsome one.”

  Tim guffawed as both Kansas and Dakota elbowed their youngest brother.

  “How long are you up here for?” Tim asked.

  “We’re not sure yet,” Calian said. “We’re not pressed for time and thought we’d do the tourist thing and have a good look around the town to learn what’s available for the visitor.”

  “You’ll want to take a helicopter flight then. I work for the local company and we fly a lot of tourists around the area.”

  Ah! The perfect opening to ask nosy questions.

  “We’d hoped to do that while we’re in Churchill. How many helicopters does the company fly?”

  “We have six,” Tim said. “The man and the woman who were drinking with me are pilots too.”

  Calian and his brothers had recognized the woman earlier when she’d left the dining room after eating a meal. They’d decided to follow her later. Easy for a wolf once he or she caught the scent. Super easy in Churchill with the limited population.

  “How far ahead do we need to book a sightseeing flight?” Dakota asked.

  “Check with the office. We’re wea
ther dependent, so prepare for a cancelation if we get a storm coming through.”

  “How many passengers per helicopter?” Matto asked.

  “We take five. That gives every passenger a window seat and a good view.” Tim scowled when another song started—something sweet and sappy with a country flavor. He downed the last of his beer. “Pop into the office and the receptionist will take care of you. We’re on Kelsey Boulevard.”

  “We appreciate the info,” Calian said. “Can we buy you a drink?”

  “Thanks for the offer, but I can’t take much more of this music. Billy broke up with his girlfriend. No doubt someone will take bets as to how many days pass before they get together again.” Tim jerked his head in the direction of the beanpole of a man making a beeline for the jukebox. He stood. “I’ll probably see you around. It’s a small town.”

  The brothers issued their farewells and drank without speaking until Tim had left.

  With an eye on the barman, Kansas murmured, “I didn’t expect to find her so fast.”

  “We have time,” Dakota said. “We know where she works, and I bet she’s contracted for the season. She won’t disappear without warning like she did from the job in California. Besides, it won’t be easy for her to leave. Most of the flights are full, and the train is still out of commission.”

  Calian lifted his beer bottle in salute. “All true. Anyone up for a run tonight? It’s the ideal time to check out the place.”

  Dakota wrinkled his nose. “I suppose. Now that we’ve got the rental, we can drive farther out of town. What will we say if someone sees us nosing around and asks questions?”

  “You don’t have to come.” Calian had to handle this with care. His younger brothers were too comfortable in their human bodies. If they wanted to preserve their heritage, they needed to shift on a more regular basis. Something that their chosen career as hotel tycoons made difficult. He shrugged and lowered his voice even further. “My wolf is restless, and it’s driving me crazy. I need this.”

  “I’m in,” Matto said abruptly. “It’s the ideal way to check out the town and learn where the woman lives.”

  “Is it my imagination or can you smell shifters?” Kansas murmured.

  “Something,” Dakota agreed. “Not sure what. Bear or cat?”

  “We should find out.” Calian leaned back so his gaze could sweep the patrons remaining in the bar. “If we can sense them, they’ll know we’re here too. We don’t want trouble.”

  “The thought of shifters never occurred to me,” Matto said. “Calian is right. We should reconnoiter sooner rather than later.”

  “Let’s go.” Kansas shoved away his empty bottle.

  Jubilant, but trying to keep this hidden, Calian drank the last of his beer and stood. He and his brothers left the bar.

  “I checked the map of the area during the flight from Winnipeg. If we head out toward the airport and keep going, we’ll get to the Wapusk National Park. If we go the other way, we’ll hit Hudson Bay and the beach area,” Matto said. “Not much of a beach. It’s rocky.”

  The main road, broad and straight, ran from one end of town to the other with smaller roads breaking off. Their boots crunched over ice as they sauntered toward their accommodation at the Tundra Inn.

  “I have her scent.” Matto’s voice sounded strange, almost confused. “I think it’s her.”

  Calian sucked in a deep breath and worked his way through the layer of scents. The road. Vehicles. The slightly gamey aroma he’d got at the bar. Gas and oil. Food from the café to their right. And lastly, a light floral note along with another muskier one.

  “She smells good,” Dakota’s tone emerged close to grudging.

  Calian agreed and more astonishing, his wolf stirred within him—a flutter of another presence.

  Kansas shook himself. “She’s irritating my wolf.”

  “You too?” Matto asked. “It’s like my wolf has woken from a long sleep.”

  Interesting. Calian didn’t comment, but that described his wolf’s ultra-awareness. To his knowledge, a wolf only reacted this way if he sensed a mate. None of them had responded in the bar, but she hadn’t been there for long. The gamey fragrance of other shifters had overlaid her lighter one, suppressing it from their wolves.

  “She left with the bearded man. Do you think they’re together?” Dakota asked.

  Kansas growled, the sound so wolflike they all gaped at him. “What?” he demanded irritably. “She has upset my wolf when I was fitting in with the human side and becoming comfortable.”

  Calian bit his tongue. Luckily, their parents lived in Arizona and didn’t realize the damage their sons had done to their wolves by suppressing them long-term.

  “Okay,” Calian said. “This is the plan. Let’s follow the trail and discover where she’s living. There aren’t many people about this evening. I think we can risk shifting near the vehicle. The last one to shift can toss the clothes into the rental.”

  “I haven’t shifted for almost a year,” Kansas confessed. “It’s gonna hurt like a bitch.”

  “I’ll transform last,” Calian volunteered since he tried to run in wolf form most weeks. His mind and body worked better if he embraced his wolf side, turning him into a formidable force. At least that’s what he told himself. He grinned in an acknowledgment of his arrogance. A weakness and a strength.

  In silence, they glided through the darkness, instinct making them stick to the shadows rather than the areas illuminated by streetlamps.

  The floral perfume trail took them past the Tundra Inn and down a side street. The scent led to a boxy gray house.

  “They must have limited paint colors up here,” Kansas muttered, still sounding snappish.

  True. The town didn’t have much of a personality, giving off a real frontier vibe.

  “We’ve discovered where she lives. What now?” Matto asked.

  “We do a perimeter check,” Calian said.

  “The guy went inside with her,” Kansas telegraphed his disapproval.

  An answering growl formed in Calian’s throat, echoing his brother’s displeasure as he stared at the gray door. This woman had problem written all over her. He and his wolf sensed this with every particle of their being.

  As they slunk into the shadows cast by the building and checked the scents and sounds, a feminine scream rang out.

  Calian froze, the hair at the back of his neck bristling.

  “Noisy during sex?” Matto asked.

  Kansas and Dakota stilled near the closed window of the room where the scream had come from. Both cocked their ears and concentrated. As Calian joined his brothers, he caught a whimper. It wasn’t sexual. Instead, he gained an impression of a scared child. Silence reigned for two tense minutes. He knew because he timed it with his designer watch. The light inside the room flicked on, and Calian and his brothers retreated to watch from the shadows.

  “That wasn’t sex,” Kansas said. “If I were to guess, I’d say bad dream. She must’ve fallen asleep fast. She wasn’t much ahead of us.”

  “Nightmare. That’s my reading,” Calian agreed. “It should be easy enough to learn more about the living situation.”

  In the distance, a group of people exited a restaurant, their exuberant shouting and laughter floating on the night air.

  “We’d better go in case some of them head in this direction,” Matto said. “Back to the inn?”

  “Yeah,” Dakota agreed. “The more I learn about this woman, the more interesting she becomes.”

  3 – Breakfast Flirtation With Renee

  Renee dragged herself out of bed the next morning, her eyes heavy, her mind dull and thumping at her temples. A quick glance at her phone confirmed the earliness of the hour. Fallen army buddies and the enemy had stalked her sleep last night. As was normal with dreams, memories scrambled and the foe became the murderer from Miami, his contorted face hideous as he tried to shove a knife in her ribs. Then, his knife had morphed to a big-ass sword.

  “Off wit
h her head!” he’d roared. “Kill the traitor.”

  Her reality had transformed into a full-on medieval battle. Heck, she’d staggered under the chainmail dragging on her shoulders. That would teach her to fall asleep listening to Game of Thrones. Next time, a cozy mystery or a boring autobiography might blunt her imagination.

  And blast those men turning up last night. Something about them, something she couldn’t explain, had set her on edge.

  She grabbed her dressing gown and drew it around her body, thrust her feet in flip-flops and gathered a change of clothes. When she exited her room, the communal part of the dormitory held a silence and an emptiness that echoed through her heart.

  Once she’d showered and dressed, she checked the communal fridge and muttered under her breath. Someone had used the last of the milk and a quick search of the pantry showed no further long-life cartons.

  Renee stomped back to her room to grab outerwear to combat the cold plus her billfold. If she hoped to be alert for flying, she needed a hot drink.

  Customers packed the Lanky Moose when Renee arrived. She joined the line at the counter and perused the offerings in the cabinet. After checking her money, she decided she could afford a muffin today but that would be it for the week.

  “Hey, Emily,” she greeted the redhead behind the counter.

  Emily’s apron bore a splotch of what looked like blood. Renee shivered. She suspected tomato sauce but averted her gaze before her stomach churned.

  She focused on Emily’s face—her wide, welcoming smile and kitchen-frizz hair. “I’d like a large coffee and a blueberry muffin to have here—if I can find a table.”

  Emily accepted her money and handed over change. “The one in the corner is freeing up. Grab it and I’ll come by to clear the dishes once I’ve taken these orders.”

  Renee retreated to the corner and stacked the plates to make Emily’s job easier. She’d done a stint or two as a waitress before joining the army.

  Emily bustled over to remove the tray and wipe the table surface. “You shouldn’t have a long wait. I’ll bring the muffin with your coffee.”