Untamed Wolf

by Linda O. Johnston

  Hadn’t she said she’d come from the Midwest? That part of what she’d said, at least, wasn’t a lie—although she hadn’t been specific about the state with Sara.

  He described what they’d heard from Colleen about her childhood attempts to hide out from hunters and others who tried to kill them.

  “She said that her family had had to fight back, and that some of her relatives had actually become more feral, even attacking humans and claiming it was self-defense. She didn’t believe in what they were doing, so she fled as soon as she reached college age. We felt sorry for her.”

  She’d told Sara about her family and having to hide, not that they’d fought back—nor that she had supposedly run away from them because of their actions.

  “So what’s the truth?” General Yarrow demanded, which was exactly what Sara was wondering.

  Drew sighed. “Well, she’s admitted now that she remained part of that family. Close to them. Hated nonshifting humans and vowed revenge on them. So when she heard rumors of Alpha Force and its elixir...well, she made up a story that had us believing she was one of the good guys and deserved a chance. She’s been with Alpha Force for almost a year now, and we had no reason to doubt her, or consider her anything but what she claimed...till now.”

  The major looked ashen, his golden eyes, usually so much like Jason’s, haunted and flat.

  “That’ll teach you to try to help someone, cuz,” Jason interjected. Sara felt horrified at the criticism and prepared to chastise Jason, but then he continued, “Like me. I’ll blame it on my family that I became such a loser, like them. I mean, I even had a loser of a cousin who developed an elixir that helped all shifters choose when they change and keep their human awareness. What could be worse? And—”

  “That’s enough,” Drew snapped.

  “Nope, it’s not,” Jason said. “I want to hear more about dear Colleen, but you’ve got to stop blaming yourself, cuz. She’s the loser. Not you. Bad family or good, we make our own choices.”

  Drew stood suddenly and turned his back on the rest of them, looking out the window of the general’s antiques-filled office. “She could have killed General Yarrow,” he said, so low that Sara had to strain to hear him. Greg probably did, too, since neither had a shifter’s enhanced hearing.

  She rose and put a comforting hand on Drew’s camo-clad shoulder. “Did she admit that?”

  “Yeah. You know, she shoved stones into the road to slow the general’s car. Then she shot a wooden arrow that she’d set fire to, one she’d doused with an incendiary liquid that enhanced the flames but burned up so it was unidentifiable. She’d already checked out the general’s Jeep and figured it would work. Hopefully kill him, or at least warn him to stay away from Ft. Lukman.”

  “Why did she want that?” Sara felt confused.

  “She was angry that the general had brought the USFT unit here for exercises. She wanted the base to stay remote—so she could steal as much of the elixir as had already been formulated before running back to her family. But then she decided to use the USFT presence, frame its members, so she could get away with what she wanted.”

  “Which was?” Jason was now standing at his cousin’s other side. He was touching Drew’s other shoulder in sympathy, and Sara adored him for that.

  “Okay, let’s sit down again,” Drew said. “I’ll tell you what we know, or think we know, so far. Some Colleen has admitted, some is just speculation, but here goes.”

  They all resumed their seats. Drew explained that Colleen, instead of hating her family and its destructive attitude toward nonshifting humans, felt part of them. Wanted to help them.

  Her intent, in joining Alpha Force, was to steal both the formula for the elixir and as much of the brewed formulation as she could. She’d take it all home to her family—they’d already acquired some property in the Canadian wilderness—and they’d all learn how to make elixir. They planned to take turns drinking it then going places where they could attack people while shifted and kill as many as they could.

  “They surely didn’t think they’d be able to destroy all regular humans that way, did they?” Sara demanded.

  Drew’s face looked bleak. “No, but apparently they hated people enough to kill as many as they could possibly get away with.”

  “Strange. And damned nasty.” General Yarrow stood behind his desk, shaking his head. “Did she manage to steal the formula? Any of the elixir?”

  “No, I do keep the formula well protected in a safe down in the lab area,” Drew said. “And the amount of elixir kept in the refrigerator at any time wouldn’t have let her succeed in her horrible plan, either. I think that’s one reason she was so frustrated. She’d stolen a little, whenever she could get her hands on it, but not much. But she did make good use of having the USFT group here.”

  “How?” Jason asked. Where he sat, at Drew’s other side, made it harder for Sara to see him. Just as well. She needed to wean herself away from what she now considered an addiction to him.

  “She started the rumor that the elixir, taken by nonshifters, would turn them into shapeshifters. She swore the few she told to secrecy, which of course meant they blabbed it to one another. She’d also ‘revealed’ it to her aide Rainey so she, too, would pass the lie around. The thing was, Rainey decided to try it herself.”

  “Oh, my,” Sara exclaimed. “Is that what gave her the stomach problems she’s been experiencing?”

  “Exactly,” Drew said.

  “But did it—” General Yarrow began.

  “Turn her into a shifter?” finished Drew. “Of course not.”

  Colleen had additionally planted the AK-47 aimed at General Yarrow’s car out of anger that things weren’t going exactly as she’d planned, and she blamed the Alpha Force CO.

  “She also resented your attempts to protect the general and chase down what was happening here,” Drew said to Sara.

  “So she was the one to deface my car, too,” Sara said.

  “Right,” Drew agreed.

  “Anyone contacted her family?” General Yarrow asked.

  “We’ve tried, but they’ve disappeared.”

  “Into the wilds of Canada?” Jason asked.

  “Maybe,” Drew said. “Just in case, we’ve notified the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. And we’re still trying to figure out how she finally got a copy of the card key that let her downstairs into the lab. Like all Alpha Forcers, she had a card key to get into the upstairs kennel area, but since she wasn’t working on the formula she didn’t have a way to open the door to the lab stairway. She’d been the one to scratch that door out of frustration that she couldn’t open it.”

  “I wonder...” Sara said. She told them about how she had helped Colleen shift that one night when Rainey was ill. “I don’t know how she did it, but there probably wasn’t anyone else around the lab building that night. Maybe she found a hidden card key then.”

  “She’s stopped talking,” Drew said, “so we may never know.”

  * * *

  Their meeting was finally over, but Jason wished that it had gone on all day, not just the morning.

  “You going to drop over to the area where the general’s car and Sara’s are finally being examined by the military investigating team?” Drew asked him.

  “Yeah,” Jason said. From the corner of his eye, he watched Sara as she conversed with her boss, the general. Drew had already said that a couple more exercises would be held here at Ft. Lukman with the USFT gang, and then both they and Alpha Force would be deployed to handle the overseas rescue of the kidnapped government civilians.

  The general was apparently heading back to the Pentagon.

  So, then, would Sara. Jason knew that, and it made him feel like someone had run over him with that big car-mover tow truck he’d rented. Or worse.

  Well, he’d already known that things couldn’t stay as they’d been. At least he’d been able to have mind-blowing sex with Sara. Twice.

  He’d have to be content with the memory.<
br />
  Yeah. Right.

  “I think I’ll head there now, in fact,” he told Drew. “Are the feds there yet?”

  “Yes, they arrived early this morning and I met them at the gate to the base then took them where they needed to go.”

  “Great. I’ll be interested to hear what they have to say.”

  “And you can do a little prompting, if you want. See if any of the detritus found in the ashes could be remains of the arrow or ignition stuff.”

  “Oh, and what the hell did that bitch Colleen use to mess up my breathing, make me cough when I found where she’d been hiding to shoot her arrow?”

  “That’s still an unknown, too,” Drew said. “She only grinned when we asked. But see if the feds can draw some samples from the earth and run tests.”

  Jason had become enough of a military peon to salute goodbye to General Yarrow and mention that Drew had given him the assignment of helping the fed investigation team. He nodded briefly toward Sara, whose stare, with those gorgeous blue-green eyes, remained unreadable.

  And then he left.

  * * *

  Sara sat in the general’s office for a long time after Drew and Jason walked out.

  Greg and she had talked. About the situation with Colleen Hodell and Alpha Force. And the harm the angry shapeshifter had inflicted on the unit.

  As well as relief it hadn’t been any worse.

  They also discussed Sara. And her future in the military. As Greg’s aide.

  So much depended on things that weren’t entirely within her control. Like shapeshifters.

  And yet....

  Afterward, she walked into the part of the base garage where the general’s Jeep, and her car, were still being stored.

  “Hi,” she said to Kerry, the sentry. Sweet, young guy, he flushed and saluted and waved her into the secured area.

  Four guys in suits were there, wandering around the site and apparently poking here and there into the remains of General Yarrow’s car. They wore rubber gloves and carried a bunch of plastic bags with ashes and more potential evidence inside them.

  And there was Jason, with them. Scowling.

  “How are they doing?” Sara said after reaching Jason’s side.

  “Fine. Probably confirming all the stuff we already know now.”

  “Well, that should be a good thing.” She paused. “When you’re done here, would you call me? There are a few things I’d like to discuss with you.”

  “Sure.” He looked at her then. Was that a shred of hope she saw in his gold-flecked eyes? If so, it disappeared almost immediately.

  “Promise you’ll call,” she added.

  “Sure,” he said again, and only then did she leave the suits to their work.

  * * *

  Jason watched Sara depart. How could she look so sexy in the same old shirt and pants with camo print and work shoes as everyone else around here?

  Everyone but these guys he was watching. Listening to their chatter. Finding them exceedingly annoying.

  So far, he had not heard anything that he hadn’t suspected before.

  He’d told them about the bow-and-arrow scenario. The flame accelerant. The stuff that had sickened him outside—of which they still needed to collect samples.

  They’d taken pictures of these ruins and the damage to Sara’s car.

  Nothing new.

  Now he wished they’d hurry.

  He had a phone call to make.

  Would he hear anything good from Sara? Maybe she just wanted to talk over more about Colleen Hodell and her treachery around here.

  Sara had seemed excited. Maybe even eager to talk to him.

  More debriefing about what had happened around here could excite her that way. But not him.

  So could her obtaining orders from the general to return to D.C. and their usual posting. Maybe she just wanted to say goodbye.

  Hell, all this speculation was doing him no good. But as much as he tried, he couldn’t keep his mind off Sara.

  * * *

  Sara was in the cafeteria, drinking coffee with Rainey Jessop when her smartphone rang.

  Poor Rainey was distraught. The pretty, young brunette with the curly hair said she’d loved being a shapeshifter’s aide.

  She hated that the shapeshifter she’d been assigned to was a liar and a potential killer.

  She hated that she had been a fool.

  “I really believed her,” she had wailed a while ago. “I thought it would be so cool to drink something and turn into a shifter. Instead—” She’d groaned and clutched her stomach. “It still hurts just thinking about it.”

  “I’m sorry,” Sara had lied. Oh, she felt bad that the young woman had suffered, but she had brought it on herself.

  Not that the truth about shapeshifters was easily available on the internet. But if Rainey had just asked someone around here—someone other than the bitch whose aide she had been—she’d have had it verified that shapeshifting was strictly hereditary. Not something she could just opt into by swigging a drink.

  Now she was delighted that her phone rang, a good excuse to say bye to Rainey.

  And she was even more delighted to see who it was: Jason.

  “Hey,” she said. “Those guys through?”

  “Yes,” he said.

  “Great. Then please meet me outside the BOQ in five minutes. There’s something inside my apartment I’d like you to see.”

  “Aren’t you afraid that’ll look like fraternizing?” His tone over the phone sounded jaded and skeptical.

  “No. Come on over and let me explain.”

  Five minutes later she was outside the BOQ door she preferred as an entrance, where she could open the door and walk up the stairs to the floor where her unit was.

  She saw Jason strolling down the sidewalk toward her.

  She tried not to smile but didn’t succeed.

  Nor did she succeed in keeping herself from melting down below from the heat she couldn’t suppress at just seeing him.

  “Hi,” she said as he reached her side. She looked up into his eyes, watching his gaze heat up as he observed her, too.

  He was the one to pull away. “What’s up?”

  “Come to my apartment and I’ll explain.”

  She could hardly keep herself from grasping his hand and pulling him up the stairs at twice his pace. No one was around in the hall to observe their entry. Probably a good thing. But at this point...

  He walked behind her into her small apartment. She shut the door behind him—then reached up and pulled him down for one torrid kiss.

  “Hey,” he said against her mouth. “This feels like fraternizing to me. Not my problem, but you’re the officer.”

  “Yeah, I am. But my next assignment...well, that’s what I want to discuss with you.”

  She adjourned into the kitchenette, where she pulled a high-end beer from the fridge—a bottle for each of them. Then she led him into her living room and pointed to the small sofa.

  “Please, sit down.”

  When he complied, she joined him, putting her beer bottle onto the coffee table.

  “So...what’s up?” The remote expression on his gorgeous masculine face nearly made her cry. But she understood where it came from. He probably thought she’d invited him here to beg him to fix her car.

  She might do that—but not now.

  “Well, I have a decision to make, and I wanted your input.” She felt her throat close with emotion and took a quick swig of beer to open it again.

  “Yeah?” He still sounded skeptical. Where was that teasing bad boy that she had fallen in love with?

  Love? Was she willing to admit that even to herself?

  Hell, yes. Wasn’t that why she had brought him here?

  She held her beer bottle toward her lap and watched it, not his face, as she said, “General Yarrow told me he’s leaving for the Pentagon in a few days, after another exercise is held here between the two units. Both groups should be deployed for their joint mission ne
xt week, if all goes well, as it should.”

  She looked up to see Jason nodding. “Yeah, without the shenanigans of Colleen Hodell getting in the way.” She opened her mouth to continue, but he beat her to it. “So...does that mean you’re leaving, too?” There was a choking note in his voice. Dared she hope that he wanted her to stay?

  “That depends,” she said quietly. “Jason, do you know Lieutenant Quinn Parran and Staff Sergeant Kristine Norwood?”

  “Sure. They’re Alpha Force, stationed here. They’re off on vacation now, but they helped to save Simon and Grace—Quinn’s brother and sister-in-law—from some pretty bad stuff that happened on their honeymoon.”

  “That’s right.” Sara nodded. “They’re on vacation...together. A lieutenant and a staff sergeant.”

  “Guess they’re fraternizing,” Jason said.

  “Guess they are—but since they’re members of Alpha Force, and things around here aren’t as formal as the rest of the military, it’s okay.”

  At that, Jason’s tight expression seemed to change into something else. That hint of hope was back. So was his cocky attitude, the way he gave a half grin. “So I’ve heard.”

  “General Yarrow said he needs eyes and ears right here. Oh, he thinks your cousin and the others are doing a fine job running Alpha Force, but he suggested that I stay here on a long-term assignment and observe what’s going on. Report to him often. Even offer suggestions for keeping Alpha Force running well and interacting with other units like the USFT.”

  “So you might stay here?”

  “Yes, but that depends on you. If you think—”

  She didn’t get a chance to finish. Suddenly, both bottles of beer were on the table, and she was on her back on the narrow sofa, Jason on top of her. His lips were on hers. His hands were exploring her body, first on top of her uniform, then beneath it.

  “Hey, Lieutenant,” Jason whispered against her mouth. “I’m all for informality around here. Aren’t you?”

  “Yes,” she said breathlessly. “But Jason, for how long—”

  She didn’t get to finish before he pulled back. “If you’re asking how long I’d like to fraternize, how about forever? I love you, Sara.”