by Terry Spear
What did he mean by that? “Just a brother.”
“Well, that’s great news too. We’d love to meet him and the rest of your family. We need to stick together.”
No, no, no. This was so not what she wanted to hear. She and her family needed to stay far away from this guy.
“We’ll help any of you out anytime you or your family need it.”
Never, ever, ever. Though her mother had often said Never say never. Even so, as a wolf, Amelia was curious who was in Gavin’s pack. A single she-wolf maybe, someone her brother could date?
“You know London Lanier, that retired police detective you met in Alaska?” she asked.
“Yeah? He was a great help to me in solving the case.”
“He’s an Arctic wolf too. That’s why he went on a crusade about illegal hunting once he retired.”
“He’s working for the police again. Well, I’ll be. A wolf. No wonder he didn’t believe you were involved in trafficking dogs.”
“Nope. He’s my uncle.”
Gavin didn’t say anything about that for a moment. Then he frowned. “Your uncle.”
“Yep.”
Which meant her uncle knew she had tased Gavin.
“I knew there was something I liked about him.”
“He liked what you were doing. He asked me, after the police and you left, why I’d tased you. He knew I wouldn’t have unless I felt I had to.”
“You told him you were running through the house naked and feared for your life?”
“Of course not. I didn’t fear for my life. If you’d come into the bedroom, I would have tased you, or if I hadn’t had time, I would have shifted into the wolf. As for the rest, only you and I know about that.”
He studied her hard again. “I still say you look like someone I’ve seen in Seattle.”
That’s what she was afraid of.
Chapter 2
What were the odds that the woman Gavin had accused of stealing Samoyeds would be the one piloting the plane he had to take today? He recalled that was her occupation in Big Lake, and how he’d thought she could be smuggling stolen pets across the border.
He still felt like he’d met her in Seattle. Which was why he’d asked if she had a sister. Since wolves often had multiple births, maybe he’d seen her twin instead.
All decked out in a leather flight jacket and black, skintight pants and laced-up boots, her blond hair cut shoulder length and her green eyes fixed on him, the Arctic wolf was just as beautiful as when he’d met her in Alaska. He wondered how she’d feel if she knew he hated to fly. She’d looked highly annoyed that she had to fly him anywhere and probably wanted to kick him out somewhere over the Boundary Waters—until she’d discovered he was a wolf like her. Not just any kind of wolf. A white wolf too.
Even so, she was…prickly. Holding a grudge against him for entering her home and seeing her naked, maybe. He didn’t entirely blame her there. His cop training told him she was hiding something else. Something about having been in Seattle.
“Have you been flying for long?” he asked, stowing his gear in the seaplane and hoping to get her mind off how they’d met before, because he was certain she was thinking of that meeting between them in Alaska, like he was.
“Since I was sixteen. So for twelve years.” She motioned to a building. “I need you to fill out a couple of forms and make the payment.”
Inside the office, a huge dog greeted them. A brown-and-white Saint Bernard, amber eyes smiling as he hurried to nuzzle Amelia. He licked her hands and then crossed the floor to greet Gavin.
“Hey, fella.” Gavin loved dogs and scratched his head, making the dog’s long tail wag.
“That’s Winston. He’s going with us.”
“He must weigh about the same as a man,” Gavin said, filling out the forms. “He’ll burn more fuel.” He couldn’t imagine why she’d want to take the dog on a trip like that.
“Yeah, you’re right. He’s only a year old, but weighs a hundred and fifty pounds. I need to take him with me.” She didn’t offer a reason why, only gave Winston a hug, and then waited while Gavin filled out the paperwork.
“I take it Henry is your dad.”
“He is.”
“Well, your dad said he and your brother took a group out earlier.” Gavin was hoping he’d learn something about the company group before he and Amelia even took off. He’d managed to get here only an hour after they left. Perfect, so he could locate them without looking like he was following them.
“Yeah, a couple of hours ago. A greeting-card company team out of Seattle. Don’t tell me you missed your party and are trying to catch up with them!”
A couple of hours ago? They must have left ahead of schedule. “No, I’m not with them. I just wondered where they’ll be staying, hoping I can find more solitude.” Gavin wanted to tell her the truth, but he couldn’t. Work ethics prevented it. “Did they show up early then?”
“Yeah. Dad and Slade were glad because they had to take two planes to carry them there. They took them earlier than planned so Slade could return and take another group up. Since you said you helped the police take down Asher and Mindy Michaels, I wondered if you were here concerning Mindy.”
“What do you mean?” Gavin asked, not following her.
“She was one of the passengers that my brother took to the drop-off point in the Boundary Waters.”
Gavin rubbed his smooth chin. That was a new wrinkle in the situation. Was Mindy Michaels involved in criminal activities again, or had she cleaned up her act? “No, I didn’t have any idea she was here. She’s with the greeting-card company now?”
“She’s a sales associate, I think. Well, believe me, it surprised me to see her here.” Amelia took a deep breath.
Probably as much as he’d surprised Amelia by being here.
“You can’t be a lone wolf, not if you’re with a pack. So, why would you be here alone? Oh, you want to run in the wilderness as a wolf. Gotcha.”
“Right.” Gavin paid her and then headed out to the SUV to get his canoe. Though he was glad to meet the she-wolf, he really needed to hurry so he could reach Conrad and his group as soon as possible.
She was beautiful, sexy, and…hell, she was a wolf. Gavin was always mission first, but…he cast another glance her way. She caught his gaze, then quickly looked away.
She loaded Winston, a huge, brown dog bed, his leather leash, a bag of treats, and chew toys while Gavin carried the canoe.
“So, you’ve only been here for two months and are fairly new to the area.” Gavin helped her to secure the canoe on the plane.
“Yeah, we moved straight here from Alaska. We have to be careful about being seen in our wolf forms. We do much better in winter, though we have lots of wilderness out here too, so we’ve been enjoying the change.”
“Same with us as far as blending with the snow as Arctic wolves. Were you born that way? Since I wasn’t a wolf when I met you the first time, I didn’t have a clue if you were one before.” He retrieved his cooler and set it inside the plane.
“We were born that way. What happened to you?”
“We were turned by an Arctic wolf pack from Canada while we were in Maine. Long story. You wouldn’t have any Canadian kin, would you?” Gavin figured it would be a good idea not to insult any of her family members if some of them were from the pack that had turned him and his partners.
“Some. Are you newly turned? Or were you changed some time ago? The full moon won’t be a problem for you for a couple of weeks. Then the new moon means you won’t be able to shift at all.”
“We’re not real new. There are nine of us…four adult males, two of whom are mated, their mates, and one of the couples has six-year-old triplets, two boys and a girl, born lupus garous. I’ll be well out of the Boundary Waters and home before I have trouble with shifting.”
“You have another bachelor male in the pack? That’s why you asked if I had a sister.”
“Yeah. For the other guy.” And to know if she had a sister who was such a look-alike that he’d mistaken Amelia for the one he’d seen in Seattle. “Are you single?”
“I am, and so is my brother. You don’t have any single women in your pack?”
“No.” He wondered if she believed his pack being more newly turned could be a problem for them. Some wolves who were born that way—like the pack in Seattle—really didn’t like newly turned wolves. That made him think about the issue of Amelia being in Seattle. She wasn’t newly turned, but he suspected the gray pack there wouldn’t like any Arctic wolf encroaching on their territory.
The Seattle gray pack had figured the Arctic wolves would be nothing but trouble for their pack, too easily seen when running around Washington State as wolves, too much of a risk for the others.
Amelia finished tying stuff down. “Are you ready to go?”
“Yeah, sure.” Gavin didn’t sound sure at all, despite trying his darnedest to pretend otherwise. He looked at the plane for a moment, telling himself he wasn’t going to crash this time, no matter how much he felt that any flight he took would end up that way.
She frowned at him. “Don’t tell me you’re afraid I can’t fly you there.”
She’d put Winston in a dog life jacket and had harnessed him in, which Gavin knew was a safety precaution. It didn’t make him feel any less worried about it.
“It’s not you.” Gavin had no intention of telling her he hated to fly and ruin any chance he might have to date her.
* * *
Gavin seemed sincere that he wasn’t worried about Amelia’s ability to get him there in one piece. Then she wondered if he had a fear of flying, and she was the reason for it. She hated to think she might be. “You’re…you’re afraid of flying.” Not that she had any plans to date the wolf. She could see him turning her over to the police! Despite that trouble, if he hated what she loved to do most, that could cause issues—especially if she was the reason he hated to fly.
That was one thing she’d liked about her former boyfriend Heaton Compton, who lived in the area. He was a gray wolf, and he was also a pilot. If he hadn’t been drinking bourbon while flying, they might have had a real start to a relationship. As it was, they didn’t last long.
She handed Gavin an inflatable personal flotation device, a PFD, their hands touching, and their gazes caught for an instant. “Put that on. We’ll be there in no time. Just climb aboard, strap yourself in, and close your eyes.” Sometimes, she had to transport someone who was so terrified of flying that the passenger would have to take pills to relax.
“A life preserver.” He got in and strapped himself in, but didn’t confirm his fear of flying. Which was a typical response from an alpha wolf who didn’t want to appear weak.
“Yeah, we’re not going to crash. If we did, everyone who is seat belted in and wearing a life preserver has a better chance at survival.”
“Uh, yeah. My seat belt is on. I’m a good swimmer though. We didn’t know any other Arctic wolf shifters were in the area, living only about two hours from us.”
“Same here. You must run in different woods and have no need to come up to our area.” She taxied out onto the runway, then took off. They were flying now, headed for the Boundary Waters, and Gavin sat back in his seat, seeming more at ease.
It appeared he wasn’t going to talk about his flying phobia, which was probably best.
“We came because my mom wanted to be closer to civilization, as if we’re at the center of any hot spot once we moved to this location. We’re happy doing our business out here though. I was afraid there weren’t any Arctic wolves in the area. What made you choose this area?”
“We’re from Seattle originally, born and raised. Once we were turned, we couldn’t return there. A gray pack had claimed the territory and threatened to kill us. Being newly turned, we didn’t really have any recourse. We sold our business office and our homes, and we kept searching for a place that wasn’t populated by wolf shifters. We needed to be up north so we had snow at least part of the year and found this place.”
“That’s awful that you had trouble with another pack! We’ve been lucky. We haven’t had problems with any gray wolf packs. I guess none live in the area. Have you ever seen a guy by the name of Heaton Compton? He’s a gray wolf. A loner. I dated him a couple of times. When I realized you were a wolf, I thought you might know him.”
“No. Never heard of him. He probably has never traveled through our area.” Gavin glanced back at Winston. He was peering out the window. “Your dog appears to love flying.”
“Winston? First trip up. Yeah, he does seem to enjoy it. He’s not my dog through. He was dropped off at a shelter because the owner got laid off and couldn’t afford to feed him.”
“That’s a shame. I can’t imagine anything harder than having to give up your dog.”
“I agree.”
“You’re still fostering pets, like you were with the Samoyeds when I first saw you.”
She felt her face heat. “I took him in. He’s way too big for my duplex and its small yard for me to keep him. I was fostering him, while looking for a home for him. With such a lightly populated area, I couldn’t find anyone who wanted him. I fly pets to other shelters sometimes through a nonprofit volunteer service. I’m taking him to a bigger shelter in Saint Paul, where a couple want to adopt him for their ten-year-old boy’s birthday. The caveat is that they need him by late this afternoon. The birthday party is tomorrow morning. If I don’t get him there in time, they’ll find another pet locally. That’s why I’m flying him out. I’ll have plenty of time to get him there, well before the deadline after I drop you off.”
“Sounds like a good cause. Do you think he’ll work out for the family?”
“Pilots for Pets is an excellent cause. I hope Winston will be good with the family. He’s a real sweetheart. This breed loves families, other dogs, and strangers. They’re intelligent. That means they need a lot of mental stimulation. And they love to play. The family has a large fenced-in yard. Hopefully, they’ll give him plenty of exercise and teach him all kinds of things.”
Air turbulence caused the plane to drop, and Gavin grabbed his seat.
“Sorry,” she said.
“It’s not you. I was in a plane crash once. I was a police officer in Seattle at the time. I was the first to arrive at the scene of a jewelry-store robbery and offered to take the place of a woman they were holding hostage. She appeared to be around eight or nine months pregnant. They readily agreed.”
Amelia hadn’t known Gavin had taken the place of a pregnant store clerk. Had he done so as a good cop, or had he been in on the crime?
“I thought my fellow officers would rescue me. Instead, the robbers made off with the jewelry and me. What I hadn’t expected was to end up at a small airfield and then be forced onto a plane that took off for Canada. Except we didn’t make it. Wind shear probably caused the plane to hit the tops of the trees, and we ended up crashing. I was given a commendation for taking the jewelry-store clerk’s place as a hostage. We all assumed she wouldn’t have survived, had she been forced to go with them, between the plane crash and being left to fend for herself in the wilderness. I was out there four days before rescuers found me. I was lucky.”
Amelia’s heart was thundering, and she was glad he wouldn’t be able to hear it over the engine noise. He hadn’t mentioned a woman flying the plane, or shown any indication he knew she’d been the one flying it. Which she was grateful for. The men hadn’t blindfolded Gavin, and most of the robbers had worn masks only part of the time, so she’d suspected Gavin might have been in on the heist. Or, they’d planned to kill him.
“That’s awful. I’m so sorry to hear it. At least you survived.”
“Uh, yeah, with two cracked ribs,
a broken leg, and a concussion. And the trepidation of getting onto another plane after that.”
“I’m so sorry,” she said again. “You are a true hero.” If he hadn’t been in cahoots with her dead boyfriend. “What about the men who committed the heist?” What about Clayton? Had Gavin known him? They must have known each other if they were on the same police force.
“One of the robbers, the guy who seemed to be in charge—at least he was giving all the orders—died in the accident. Two of the other three were caught a few days later, one with a broken wrist, the other with cracked ribs. One got away scot-free. The robbers had been trying to make their way to the Canadian border, lugging the bags of jewelry. Some of it was never found. Either the one that got away had all the rest, or speculation was that the guy in charge had hidden his share before he died, knowing he couldn’t hike it out of there like the other men thought they could.
“He must have convinced them to move on, or why wouldn’t they have taken his share? We speculated that he hid it, thinking he’d retrieve it when he was feeling better, only he never got any better. He was armed with a gun, which is probably why the other robbers didn’t take the jewelry from him. They wanted to get out of there before anyone located them. Unless the other man had the lion’s share, and that seems unlikely.”
Her jaw dropped. Clayton had hidden some of the jewels nearby? He must have done it when she was unconscious. She didn’t know how long she’d been out of it. Once she was aware of her surroundings, she’d chosen to stay quiet, half hidden in brush, cautious, wanting to know what was going on before she made a move. She’d planned to take them out as a wolf, if anyone had discovered she was still alive. It was the only protection she’d had against them. All the men had been armed with guns, and she hadn’t wanted to risk getting shot.
The woods had been filled with woodland noises—birds singing, bugs chirping—no human sounds at all. Either everyone had perished, was unconscious, or had left the area. She’d finally decided she had to see who had survived and noticed Clayton on his knees, readying his gun to shoot Gavin. She’d grabbed a sturdy branch lying on the ground, rushed forth, and swung it at Clayton, thanking God he hadn’t smelled her first. He’d heard her footfalls though and had turned to shoot her. She had gotten close to him and swung at him, connecting with him just as he’d fired a round. Thankfully, that had ruined his aim, the bullet missing her and hitting a tree behind her.