Canadian Wolf (Paranormal Nocturne Romance)

by Linda O. Johnston

  “That was just a visit to a bar for a couple of drinks,” Andrea said. “I’m up for a real party.”

  “Especially if it’ll be our last for a while,” said Tim.

  Owen mulled over the idea quickly. That might actually work well to maintain their cover in this town, where they were just supposed to be tourists hanging out for now until deciding to move here.

  “Sure,” he said. “Let’s party.”

  * * *

  Selena was glad to plan on partying, too. That meant she would be around the entire group and unlikely to be alone at all with Owen. That was good.

  Even though she was dying to ask him what he thought of the shift he had watched.

  “Let’s start out early evening,” Patrick said. “I don’t want the party to last too late. We should all get up early tomorrow morning.”

  “Fine with me,” Owen agreed.

  It was also fine with Selena. With all the discussion and shifting, it was now midafternoon, so the party wouldn’t start for a few hours.

  Except for Rainey, this would be the first night that the other Alpha Force members slept in the house in this small compound. They would all be upstairs except for her, but she would be well aware of them. She needed a good rest to prepare for all that would happen tomorrow.

  She’d done some teaching today, but what she and the others would provide as instruction tomorrow was likely to be pretty taxing. As well as a lot of fun. These shifters had much to learn about the Alpha Force elixir and what it could do for them.

  And how it could allow them to help their country.

  Facing Owen, Jonas asked, “Do you want to watch Marshall shift back?”

  “Yeah,” he said. “Definitely.”

  What was his mind-set? Selena wondered, not looking him straight in face. Did he find it fascinating or horrifying? Was he trying to get used to the terrible reality he would need to deal with as the commanding officer of the CAs, or was he actually drawn to it?

  She couldn’t help hoping for the latter, but suspected the former was the truth.

  “Great,” she said. “In the meantime, I’ll go check out some things on my computer and change clothes. Rainey, you going to town later, too?”

  “Absolutely. Looking forward to it. Last night was fun. Are those friends going to join us again?” Rainey’s gaze was on the CAs, who’d taken seats on the living room sofas and chairs.

  “Friends?” Owen, who hadn’t yet left the room, asked.

  “Just Craig’s girlfriend and my sister,” Sal said. “We knew our cover was to be like tourists, so we invited them to come to town for a little while. They joined us last night for drinks but left early.”

  Worry shot through Selena. Had the CAs’ cover been broken? Had Alpha Force’s?

  “Who gave you permission to ask them?” Owen’s voice wasn’t loud, but it was strong enough to make his recruits blanch or look down or both.

  “Really, sir, it’s okay,” Craig responded, meeting Owen’s gaze briefly before tearing his away again. “My girlfriend, Holly, knows I’m a shifter, even though she isn’t. She also knows I’m joining the RCMP but thinks I’ve found a way to hide what I am, not use it, and that I’ve met some friends who’re doing the same thing. I just told her that the group of us had taken a short leave and were meeting up for a vacation here, and she asked if she could come.”

  “Same goes for my sister, Yvanne,” Sal said. “I told her not to mention to anyone that we’re RCMP, and she promised not to. And I figured her being here would only help with our cover here as vacationers. She’s rooming with Holly in the same hotel as we are and only staying for a few days.”

  Owen looked as dubious about the situation as Selena felt. Patrick’s expression suggested he, too, didn’t like it.

  “Well, what’s done is done,” Owen said. “And yes, you’d better make sure they both party with us tonight so I can check them out. If they’re as you say, no harm, no foul. But you both might have compromised the entire mission.”

  “It’s not like that at all, sir,” Craig said, his face drawn into a worried frown. “Holly’s been my girl for a long time. She’s trustworthy. She’d never do anything that could hurt me.”

  “Same with my sister,” Sal said. “I promise.”

  Selena could only hope that they both knew the women well enough to know that trust was merited.

  As they left the room a little while later, Rainey apologized not only to Selena but also to the other Alpha Force members. “Sorry,” she said as they stood in the hallway. “They all told me that Owen and the RCMP knew they were coming and were okay with it, or I’d have mentioned those women first thing.”

  “It should be fine,” Patrick said, “since we’re all meeting with them tonight. We’ll make it clear that it’s in their loved ones’ best interests not to talk about them, or even visit here, at all.”

  Selena just hoped they’d understand that lack of discretion could result in nasty consequences for those loved ones—and possibly the rest of them, too.

  * * *

  They had all been in the Yukon’s main bar area for nearly an hour now. Owen had helped, on their arrival, to push three tables together for this somewhat sizable party: the five members of Alpha Force, the five CAs including him...and the two outsiders.

  Or sort-of outsiders, he reminded himself while taking a long sip of the second bottle of his imported US beer.

  The place was crowded and noisy, every table taken. The TV hanging above the bar was muted but showed a football game being broadcast from the UK—soccer in the US. One of the teams was Manchester United, a huge and global fan favorite.

  Owen hadn’t paid much attention to the screen or the rival team, though. Instead, he listened to what was happening with this group. His group.

  The group he had to ensure remained in sync with one another while one part taught the other what was necessary for its members to fulfill their assignment. Their very critical assignment.

  Then there were the other two people who, despite being outside his control, had the potential to blow their whole mission. But he wouldn’t panic. For now all he had to do was listen.

  Selena, bless her, was doing all the rest.

  “So on a scale of one to ten, what’s your skill at keeping secrets?” she had just asked Yvanne. Selena’s voice was a bit slurred, her head tilted so her light brown hair hung lower on her left side than her right. Owen was rather surprised that the highlights in her hair shone even in the bar’s low light—but that was probably a result of its unusual nature. Her unusual nature. Her amber eyes, too, gleamed despite the lack of illumination around them.

  Of course, most of the man-wolf shifters at the extended table also had similar characteristics, but Selena’s intriguing feminine features trumped them all.

  And her apparent high brought on by too much alcohol? A pretense. He was sure of it. He had observed what she had actually had to drink, and it hadn’t been that much. No doubt she wanted the others to think she’d overimbibed so they’d lower their guard around her.

  “I’m quite good at keeping secrets,” Yvanne responded. She was apparently Sal’s older sister, maybe in her midtwenties to his nineteen years. She was slender, too, and her hair was longer and blonder than his. It, like Selena’s, sparkled now and then in the scant light in the bar. “On the scale you mentioned, I’m at least a ten. Maybe higher.”

  “That’s my sister,” Sal said. He reached over from where he sat next to her and rubbed her hair in obvious fondness. She responded by making a fist and giving him a brief Dutch rub that made her bro laugh and stand as if he wanted to tackle her. That lasted for only a second, though, before he again sat down and took a swig of beer.

  Good show, Owen thought. And since Yvanne, too, was apparently a shifter, he believed what she said—at least with respect to some things. Would she keep silent about her brother having joined the RCMP, and the nature of the unit he was now part of if she happened to figure it out? They’d
been told that these two women thought their men were hiding their special abilities from the RCMP, but they might suspect otherwise. In fact, Owen felt fairly sure Yvanne knew the truth, and perhaps the other woman did, too.

  He hoped, in any event, they would remain discreet, but he would keep his eyes and ears open.

  Selena had already turned toward the other complete stranger in their midst, Craig Neverts’s girlfriend, Holly Alverton. Holly was petite in stature but curvaceous. She seemed attached to Craig’s left side and was either holding his arm or rubbing up against him. Her eyes were huge and blue, her smile nonstop except when she took a sip of her white wine.

  “How ’bout you, Holly?” Selena said, still slurring her words. “You know your boyfriend’s...special, don’t you?”

  Owen knew just what Selena’s slight hesitation meant. Did Holly?

  “Oh, yes,” Holly said, her voice ringing out despite the noisiness of their surroundings. “There’s a whole lot that’s special about Craig.” She snuggled even closer to him, if that was possible.

  Craig turned toward her and kissed her cheek, then rubbed his own, with its dark beard shadow, against it. “Holly’s pretty special, too,” he said.

  “But not as special as you,” Selena persisted. “Not the same way, at least.”

  “That’s right,” Holly said. “I know how very special Craig is.” She turned and kissed him back on his rough cheek.

  “Then I’d love to hear, on my scale of one to ten, where you fit, Holly,” Selena said. “Keeping secrets or not? What’s your score?”

  “She’s great at it, aren’t you, love?” Craig said. His glare at Selena was nasty enough that Owen considered intervening.

  He must have moved a bit on his chair, since Selena glanced at him, gave an almost imperceptible shake of her head, then returned her attention to Holly, even as she took another sip of beer.

  “It depends on the secret,” Holly said, her voice more muted now. “There are certain ones, one in particular, that really have to be kept to myself. On that one I’m a ten.” The gaze she turned toward Selena appeared almost defiant, as if daring her to guess which one she was talking about.

  But Owen knew which she meant. Obviously Selena did, too. Craig certainly did. This time the kiss he gave his girlfriend was right on the lips. A long one that appeared deep and hot and a bit too sexy while in the company of other people.

  It made Owen think of Selena. He looked toward her...and found that she was looking at him, too. That made a certain part of him tense up and thicken—good thing he was sitting down. Selena’s expression suggested she could see his reaction anyway, or at least anticipate what he was going through.

  Did that mean she felt a similar heat, similar attraction, similar...desire? That only made Owen’s erection thicken even more.

  She took a much longer swig of beer this time—one he believed might actually lead to the intoxication she’d been feigning if she followed it up with many more. When she put her bottle down, she pulled her gaze quickly away from Owen and looked again toward Holly.

  “Excellent,” Selena said. “Secrets can be a lot of fun, can’t they?”

  “Definitely,” Holly responded, then started to kiss Craig once more.

  This time Selena smiled at Owen before reaching again for her beer.

  Chapter 9

  If only she were as inebriated as she pretended, Selena thought, taking another small sip of her beer while making it appear as though she was swallowing a lot.

  Maybe then she’d simply be having a good time without trying so hard to read the thoughts behind every expression Owen leveled at her.

  She saw lust in his intense blue eyes beneath lowered brows, or so she believed. Was it true? A touch of amusement and admiration, too. She could understand his appreciation of her attempts to get usable impressions of the two visiting women, a feel for whether either or both were trustworthy with the very important secrets hovering around this group.

  That knowledge was critical to the success of their mission. Not to mention Alpha Force’s need to remain covert.

  The CAs also had reason to keep silent about their nature and Alpha Force’s. But outsiders, even with relationships?

  She knew better than to believe either woman’s assertion of her ability to keep confidences. But at least this way both Yvanne and Holly had to be aware that secrecy was expected of them—as if they hadn’t known it before.

  “So who’d like another round?” Selena waved her half-full bottle in the air as if it was empty.

  “I think we’ve all had enough,” Owen said. He looked not at her but toward Patrick, who was in charge of the US contingent here.

  Patrick clearly got the message. He took what appeared to be a final swig from the bottle in front of him. “Agreed,” he said. “We have a big day tomorrow.”

  “We sure do.” Sal looked at his sister and grinned. Was he going to talk with her about what was planned for the CAs? Selena figured Yvanne probably knew, at least in general, despite claiming otherwise. From what she’d gathered, Yvanne was a shifter like her brother. Would she be jealous of his upcoming ability to shift at will and keep his human sensibilities?

  Maybe. But if all went as hoped, the CAs might even recruit other shifters into their ranks.

  Later. If this mission was successful.

  Which it had to be. A life was at stake—and maybe more lives in the future.

  Selena shot a glance toward Owen. “Well, then,” she said, “let’s all go back to our quarters for the night so we can get up early.”

  Soon everyone was standing, their bar tabs were paid and they headed toward the Yukon Bar’s exit.

  Outside, beneath the glow of the bar’s bright neon signage that lit the darkness well into the adjoining street, Selena wasn’t surprised to find Owen beside her. He leaned down and said softly into her ear, “Good job.”

  She ignored the warmth that flowed through her at his approval. “What time are we having breakfast?” she asked. She half hoped he would offer her a ride back to the CAs headquarters, but Patrick had driven one of the vehicles rented by Alpha Force here, so she didn’t actually need other transportation.

  “Seven o’clock sharp,” Owen said. “As soon as we’re done we’ll do a quick recap, then begin our exercises.” His eyes glistened in the light for a moment before he looked toward his group of RCMP members. They all stood together watching him, with the two outsider females behind them. Selena could read the excitement in the expressions of each of them.

  “We’ll be there right on time,” Craig said, his smile huge.

  His girlfriend behind him smiled, too, but her expression seemed a bit puzzled, as if she didn’t really know why he was so eager to leave her early the next day.

  Whether that was real or feigned didn’t matter. Tomorrow was going to be a thoroughly enlightening day to the CAs—and possibly to the Alpha Force members, too, as they did their first training of the outsiders.

  “Good night, everyone,” Rainey said. Her aide slipped beside Selena and faced the others. “Sleep well.”

  Selena glanced toward Owen again. Did he actually wink at her, or was that just an illusion under the light?

  “Yeah,” he said, his gaze still on her. “Sleep well.” Was that a challenge? Did he assume she’d stay awake all night thinking of him?

  Or was that just her own assumption?

  He looked away from her then and again faced the CAs. “You’ll all need a good night’s sleep.” With that, he headed down the street while the recruits started off in the other direction.

  Where was Owen staying while here in West Columbia?

  And why did Selena suddenly want to visit his quarters?

  She tamped down her absurd yearning and followed the other Alpha Force members as they crossed the street toward where their car was.

  * * *

  After Selena walked Lupe for the last time that evening, she stepped into her room. She couldn’t help the images that
bombarded her mind. Images of the first time she’d entered this room, with Owen. Even then she’d sensed something between them.

  Shaking off the memories, she plugged her phone’s charger into the wall. Just as she did, it rang.

  It was Owen. She had programmed his number into her caller ID. “Hello,” she said, wondering if he was going to do something to keep her wide-awake after all.

  Like saying things that were suggestive and hot and—

  “Hi, Selena,” he said. “I just wanted to let you know that I’ve spoken with both Craig and Sal independently this evening. I called each of them to once again underscore the importance of their making sure that Holly and Yvanne keep their mouths shut about whatever they happen to know, even if it isn’t much. As it turned out, and unsurprisingly, Yvanne knows it all.”

  Selena sat down on top of the bed. Lupe came over and laid her muzzle on top of Selena’s knee, and she petted the dog’s head distractedly.

  “And as a shifter she’s jealous?” Selena made it a question despite being fairly sure of the answer.

  “Yes, but according to Sal, she’s concerned for his safety and won’t say anything. Plus, she’s hoping to join the CAs in the future.”

  Exactly as Selena had figured. “So she’ll keep her mouth shut for that as much as anything else.”

  “Right.”

  “And Holly?” Selena asked. She was a little more of an enigma, but since she apparently knew that Craig was a shifter, she was unlikely to do anything that would harm him.

  Unless they were arguing, and that certainly didn’t appear to be the situation. Not the way they’d had their hands all over one another at the Yukon Bar.

  “From what Craig said, she’s fascinated by the fact he’s a shifter. Can’t wait until they’re married and have shifter kids. He vouches for her unequivocally.”

  “Still...well, even if those two women are perfect, we should nevertheless remain cautious about all the CAs and what they do and who they tell.” She didn’t say so, but in her mind that included Owen.

  She was an Alpha Force member and a shifter. He wasn’t—no matter that he was the RCMP member in charge of his newly formed group.