Canadian Wolf (Paranormal Nocturne Romance)

by Linda O. Johnston

  Although he believed—no, knew—they existed, he had major concerns about shapeshifters.

  But this one was also a gorgeous, sexy woman—even dressed in the sexless camouflage uniform of US soldiers.

  She was slender, moderately tall, with full lips and high cheekbones. Her light brown hair seemed most unusual, with highlights that shimmered in even the low artificial lights in this conference room. Her amber eyes flashed with emotion as she spoke—like now, as she conversed softly with the other woman, glancing occasionally toward the two men.

  Owen rose, too, as did Anthony. “Do you know of any suitable room?” his superior asked in a low voice.

  “Why not in here?” Owen asked. “We can leave.” As he spoke, he scanned the small chamber, furnished only with the table and chairs. They were two stories up, so their visitors couldn’t slip Selena out and a dog in—especially since the window overlooked the parking lot and the station’s inside guard post. Whoever was on duty would no doubt see any shenanigans.

  “I suppose that would work,” Anthony said, also looking around.

  As they spoke, Lieutenant Jennay speared them both with a sharp gaze that gave no quarter. Owen had no doubt that if her demeanor was typical of the US military’s Alpha Force, that explained how the covert group accomplished its sometimes impossible missions.

  He looked forward to this assignment.

  He’d been one of the very few members of his division within the RCMP’s general policing services who hadn’t immediately scoffed when Anthony asked in his interview whether he believed in shapeshifters. Owen knew they were real.

  He just didn’t happen to like them. Experience had taught him to mistrust them.

  And yet, it was in his country’s best interests for a group of shifters from the States to help the RCMP to form its own covert unit, similar to Alpha Force, but a police unit instead of a military one.

  Owen was all about helping his country. He would head the team. The fact that he’d previously worked with canines at the RCMP’s police-dog service training center wouldn’t hurt, either.

  “So what do you think?” Selena eventually asked, her hands on her hips and confrontation in her expression.

  “We’ll lock you right in here,” Owen said with no inflection, as if he had no interest in continuing the confrontation. “This is as good as any place. Maybe not the most comfortable location to get naked, but you won’t be aware of it for long anyway.”

  “Not true,” Selena snapped back. She clearly hadn’t lost her attitude. “You may believe in shapeshifters, but you don’t know anything about Alpha Force and our elixir if you think we lose awareness. For your information, the elixir developed by members of Alpha Force allows us to shift without a full moon and to keep our human awareness when the moon isn’t full, and neither is the case with other shifters.”

  “Sounds like a useful concoction.” Owen had understood there was something that made Alpha Force members different from other shapeshifters, but hadn’t known what it was.

  She seemed to relax a little after that. “But that’s okay for now. You’ll learn more as we help to train your RCMP shapeshifters.” She drew out those words as if to rub the concept back in his face.

  He realized that he was smiling—wryly perhaps, but genuinely. She wasn’t only lovely. She amused him.

  Even though she was a shapeshifter. Or so she said.

  She was right. He knew little about Alpha Force, its elixir or anything else related to the unit. But if she could genuinely shapeshift now, when the next full moon wasn’t due for a couple of weeks, it would tell him a lot.

  “There aren’t any security cameras in here, are there?” Selena asked. He watched as she scanned the walls.

  “No,” said Anthony Creay. “This room is usually used for secure and private meetings.”

  “Okay, then we’re on.” Selena looked around a little more as if she didn’t trust what he said, but there were no places that Owen saw, either, where equipment could be hidden.

  “Fine,” he said. “Now, what would you like us to do?”

  It was her turn to grin. “If you’d like, you can go ahead and get naked anyway.” She let her eyes scan Owen’s body up and down, and he felt himself start to respond. Not a good idea. Not here, and not ever.

  But since they were going to be working together, should he call her bluff after all? He gave it a second’s thought before he knew the answer. No sense in angering his commanding officer. “Nope,” he said. “I think this is your cue, not mine.”

  She shrugged one shoulder, as if she had no interest in whether he kept his clothes on or not. Too bad, he thought. But it was better that way.

  “So what would you like us to do?” he asked her.

  “Leave.” She began walking around the table, holding out the leash attached to her dog’s collar. “Just watch out for Lupe. She’s a great dog—but like me, she’s got quite a bite if you rile her.”

  He assumed she was still just teasing. Even so, he gingerly grabbed hold of the leash’s looped handle. It was his responsibility, not his superior officer’s. The furry wolf-dog looked up at him with eyes that did indeed appear a similar amber shade to Selena’s. Her cover dog. The way she would appear while shifted, she’d indicated.

  A fine representative of the wolf species, albeit with some traces of other canine stock, like, perhaps, Siberian husky.

  “I bite, too, Lupe,” he said, although the way he petted her furry head belied his words—justifiably. He liked dogs. A lot.

  It was their shapeshifting counterparts that he didn’t trust.

  Was Selena different? He’d see, as time went on.

  “Well, don’t bite my dog,” Selena said.

  She turned around, waving her hand. “Right now is a good time for you gentlemen to leave.” She glanced over her shoulder. “After you lock the door you can stand in the hall to make sure we don’t slip out and play the games that you apparently expect. Rainey will knock for you to open the door when my shift is complete.”

  “Fine.” Owen waited until Anthony had cleared the doorway, then followed.

  He turned back for an instant, just long enough to notice that Selena was already preparing for what would occur after he locked the door. Her head was bent as she started unbuttoning her shirt.

  Too bad he really couldn’t stay and watch. Maybe some other time.

  The other woman, Rainey, had crossed the room and picked up the large backpack she’d carried inside before. She studied its insides, and before Owen left, he saw her extract some kind of bottle. Was that the elixir Selena had mentioned?

  He figured he would find out, if not today, then in the days to come, when he was with the Alpha Force members who had promised to help instruct the new RCMP members he had assisted in recruiting.

  Those new members were also shapeshifters—or so they’d claimed—and had their claims confirmed by reputable friends and family, including others within the RCMP. He hadn’t yet had a chance to watch them shift, either, since they did so only under a full moon—so far.

  “Hey, haven’t you left yet?” That was Rainey, who’d looked toward the door after handing the bottle to Selena.

  Selena had stopped moving and was also watching him suspiciously.

  “On my way.” He gave a small yank on Lupe’s leash. The dog obeyed and preceded him out the door.

  Owen shut the door behind him and took the key from Anthony’s hand. He turned it in the lock.

  “So,” he said, “I guess now we just wait.”

  * * *

  Moving her erect ears, inhaling deeply to further stimulate her sense of smell, Selena stared at the door.

  Her shifting had finally ended. As always, there had been discomfort.

  Also as always, she had finished taking off her human clothes before imbibing the elixir and waited while Rainey shone the special battery-operated light on her that resembled the glow of a full moon. But this time she had also turned to stare at that close
d door.

  Maybe the distraction had helped, since the discomfort hadn’t seemed as bad as usual. Even now, shifted, she couldn’t help wondering what it would have been like if Owen Dewirter had actually removed his clothes, too.

  “You okay?” Rainey asked as she always did.

  In her wolfen form Selena couldn’t shrug and say, “Of course.” Instead, she just gave a soft growl and lowered her head.

  “So, you ready to show off to those doubting Thomases?” Rainey asked next. “Why would they even invite Alpha Force to help save their Mountie butts if they didn’t believe that our abilities—your abilities—were real?”

  That wasn’t something Selena could respond to, either. Not now, in any event. And in fact she had no answer.

  But she’d definitely gotten the sense that the smart-alecky Owen Dewirter believed in, but did not appreciate, shifters.

  She would find out why. Eventually.

  For now, she padded over to the door and listened. Even as a human, her hearing surpassed that of normal people, but it was particularly enhanced after her shift, as were her senses of smell and taste.

  She sensed that Lupe was still outside. The men were talking, perhaps joking a little.

  The older man clearly did not know what to expect.

  She lifted her paw and touched the door frame, which cued Rainey, who knocked to summon the two Mounties.

  Selena heard footsteps on the hallway floor. In seconds, she heard the sound of the key in the lock. The door was pulled open, and Owen stood there, looking in.

  On one side of him was Anthony Creay. On the other was Lupe, who pulled on her leash.

  Selena walked forward and traded nose sniffs with her cover dog.

  “Care to come in and look around, gentlemen?” Rainey sounded smug.

  “Yes,” said Anthony, and he strode through the open entry.

  Owen just stood there, looking into the room and down at her. She could not read his expression. It wasn’t admiring, but neither was it full of scorn.

  “It is real,” she finally heard the older man say. “No Selena here, just the dog. The wolf. Whatever.”

  “Yeah,” Owen agreed. “It’s real. And that’s a good thing, since our guys have a lot to learn to accomplish our underlying mission.”

  She might help to teach them a lot—but she needed to know exactly what that mission was. And soon.

  Chapter 2

  It was morning, the day after the three Alpha Force members, including the dog, had arrived in northwest Vancouver.

  Now Owen was ready to drive them up to their new headquarters, where he—and they—could get to work.

  For the moment, he had parked his SUV in front of the hotel where both he and the visitors had spent the night. He settled back in the driver’s seat, waiting for them.

  Last night, when their sort-of demonstration had ended, it had been too late to head out. Besides, Selena had looked tired after what she had been through. Once Anthony acknowledged that she must indeed be a shifter—Owen hadn’t doubted it by then—she, her aide and her dog had remained in that conference room while Anthony and he went back into the hall.

  Owen hadn’t locked the door that time. He’d figured Selena, changing back from a wolf-dog into a human—a naked human—might have wanted that option, but she hadn’t asked for it before shifting back, and neither had her aide.

  Of course neither he nor Anthony had attempted to peek. Even so, Owen, who never considered himself to have much of an imagination, had still somehow visualized what her slim but curvaceous body might have looked like without any clothes on...

  Well, he could imagine anything he wanted, including sexual attraction to a female shapeshifter in human form. That fantasy would remain far from reality, for a whole lot of reasons, not the least of which was that she was a professional colleague...and—oh, yes—she was a shifter.

  The good thing was that Anthony now believed—which meant their operation could move forward.

  Plus, Owen hadn’t had to strip to get the dispute resolved. It had been a dumb offer on his part. He knew that. He’d recognized it even as he’d suggested it, Anthony’s attitude notwithstanding. Worst thing now was that it might negatively affect his professional relationship with Selena. He’d have to be careful and treat her with total respect from now on.

  And keep his clothes on.

  Before they’d adjourned last night he’d called this hotel and made reservations for them and himself for the night. His current home was in Ottawa, since he’d been most recently stationed at the RCMP main headquarters there—until now. But he would become a resident of West Columbia as soon as they got there.

  He scanned the front of the hotel and saw the trio emerge. He got out of the car to open the doors for them.

  The women rolled suitcases behind them and carried bags over their shoulders. Rainey seemed in charge of the dog.

  As they got closer, Selena blatantly looked him up and down. Interesting. Did she approve of what she saw?

  “You’re not wearing your Mounties uniform,” she said. “Not even the casual kind you had on last night—although someday soon we’re going to insist on seeing you in one of those classic and formal red jackets and rounded hats.”

  She had a smile on her face. She looked well rested and seemed clearly in teasing mode. Good. Maybe things weren’t as bad as he thought.

  “Only if you earn the right to see me that way,” he said, keeping his face expressionless. “I have to admit that I like you in the civilian clothes you’re wearing today a lot better than the camo uniform.” The jeans and T-shirt she wore hugged her curves.

  Why was he noticing such things? Especially after cautioning himself to resist any sexual attraction to her.

  He quickly opened the rear hatch and helped them load their suitcases and backpacks, then watched as Rainey ushered Lupe into the backseat and followed the dog inside. Lupe was obviously a well-trained dog, one he’d enjoy working with, given the opportunity.

  He doubted that the humans, while shifted, would be as well behaved.

  By the time he closed the door after the woman and dog, Selena was already buckled in the front seat. He hurried to the driver’s side and got in.

  “So where, exactly, is our destination?” Selena said as he turned the key in the ignition.

  “West Columbia.”

  “How far is it?”

  Owen maneuvered the car away from the curb. It was his own vehicle. Even though this was an official mission, the whole operation was to be done undercover. Plus, he was moving to this area to be in charge of the new covert team. He would not drive his prior on-the-job vehicle, an RCMP sedan, around here.

  “About an hour from here,” he finally answered as he pulled into traffic. “It’s a somewhat remote, moderate-sized town where tourists come and go, so we won’t stick out as being intruders. It abuts some forested mountains and seems like a good location for our new detachment, but we’ll see. The location is also part of our experiment. The new RCMP members who are part of my team are already located there, and to everyone they talk to they’re on vacation but considering moving there. That’s what all of us are to say, if anyone asks.”

  Owen drove north toward Highways 1 and 99, the Trans-Canada Highway nearest to where they started out, although it would turn into the Upper Levels Highway and Sea-to-Sky Highway before they reached their destination.

  “Sounds good,” Selena said. “Since you’re national police and not military, you shouldn’t need something like Ft. Lukman, which is Alpha Force’s headquarters. It’s an actual military facility in Maryland and has units stationed there besides ours. We’ll tell you more about it, if you’d like, as we undertake our training sessions. By the way, what’s your new team to be called?”

  “It’s the Covert Special Services Group. Our nickname for the group, at least for now, is the Canada Alphas, or CAs.”

  “That works,” Selena said. “At least it’s somewhat compatible with Alpha Forc
e.”

  He glanced at her yet again and saw that she was smiling, and that lovely expression was aimed toward him.

  “Now all we need to do is to get your shapeshifting team whipped into shape,” she said.

  * * *

  Staring out the window at the lovely, forested Canadian countryside with vast mountains in the background, Selena couldn’t help wondering how hard their assignment would be. From the little she’d learned when ordered to hurry to this area, the shifters Alpha Force was going to assist in training had only just been recruited into the RCMP. They probably had no experience in law enforcement or the military. Their shapeshifting backgrounds probably hadn’t even allowed them to consider the possibility of shifting outside of full moons, let alone keeping human cognition while in shifted form.

  Bless you, Alpha Force elixir, she thought.

  Yet she had a sense that this man, who’d be in charge of the RCMP contingent, could make her job even harder.

  She needed to figure him out.

  What did he really think about shapeshifters?

  And the idea of his offering to get naked...? Stop thinking about that, Jennay, she ordered herself silently.

  She glanced into the backseat. Lupe lay down with her ears up but her eyes closed, and Rainey watched the view out the window, as Selena had been doing.

  Yesterday, they’d been in a car most of the day—a rental vehicle they’d picked up hurriedly in Seattle and dropped off in Vancouver.

  Good thing they’d had adequate ID with them to get into Canada—their passports and military identification. But Alpha Force members were always prepared for anything. It was part of the job.

  She hoped she was prepared for the man beside her.

  Turning to Owen, she asked, “I gathered that you believed in shapeshifters even before you got the assignment of working with them, right?”

  “That’s right.”

  Along with his bland acknowledgment, she watched Owen’s physical reaction. There was none. At least none that she could see. He didn’t look at her, and his handsome blue eyes didn’t blink as they stared at the road ahead of him. His strong chin remained at the same level as before. He continued to drive at a speed compatible with the flow of traffic, watch the road and not say or do anything that would indicate his attitude toward shifters.