Canadian Wolf (Paranormal Nocturne Romance)

by Linda O. Johnston

  He sidled up to Andrea, who was whipping up some additional batter in a bowl on the counter. “How about watching this for me? I need to take a short break, too.”

  “Sure,” she said and took his place at the stove.

  But before Owen got to the kitchen door, Patrick joined him. “We need to talk,” he said. The guy spoke with command, and Owen had a feeling that if he said no, Patrick would find a way to ensure that got changed to a yes, but he decided to try anyway.

  “About today’s exercise? Sounds like a good idea. Soon as I get back.”

  “No, now.”

  “Like I said, I need a break.” Owen kept his expression calm but put an edge into his voice.

  “You want to do an exercise today, then let’s talk now.”

  That convinced Owen all the more that not only was Selena checking out the elixir again, but her commanding officer was also well aware of it—and didn’t want anyone else there.

  Did that prove Selena was trustworthy...or that Patrick and the other Alpha Force members were not?

  No matter. Owen’s superiors had entered into the arrangement with Alpha Force trusting them fully. What reason would they have for turning it upside down? Because they were somehow affiliated with the kidnappers? Because the US wanted to sabotage what the RCMP needed to accomplish and allow the hostage to be murdered for some international purpose he couldn’t fathom?

  It was possible, but highly unlikely. And if Owen decided to dig in his heels, maybe his CAs would get no more access to the vital elixir.

  “Okay,” he finally said, holding up his hands in what he hoped appeared like surrender. “Let’s talk.”

  But surrender wasn’t really in Owen’s vocabulary. He had every intention of finding out where Selena had gone and why.

  * * *

  Selena came into the dining room a short while later, practically panting from being out of breath.

  She’d done what she needed to and had hurried as she had checked out each of the dozen vials of elixir one more time.

  All had still seemed fine. Even so, she would quietly advise the two shifting aides, Jonas and Rainey, to do a final check of each bottle they had their charges drink.

  She trusted them. Both had been members of Alpha Force for a while, both in the role of aides to shifters. They hadn’t been responsible for yesterday’s problem.

  And if it turned out there was a problem today? She second-guessed herself. Well, if so, it might be one of them despite her trust.

  Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she smiled as she walked toward the end of the large table, where Patrick sat beside Owen. There was an empty chair across from them. “Sorry for the delay,” she said without elaborating. She sat down, and soon pancakes and a bottle of syrup were passed to her.

  “Are you feeling okay?” Owen asked her. She looked into his face and found that his strong, dark eyebrows were raised over his intense blue eyes. He looked more amused than concerned, and she had a feeling he knew exactly what she had been up to.

  “Oh, yes. I wound up checking something on my phone and time got away from me.” She smiled brightly, knowing she wasn’t fooling him.

  But neither did he look worried. If he was guilty of something, his handsome face would surely be blank if he didn’t appear uneasy. That was a good thing.

  Just because she hadn’t found any problems, though, she couldn’t categorically dismiss him from her suspicions.

  “Mmm,” she soon said. “These pancakes are great. You made them?” She raised her own brows questioningly as she looked at him.

  “Yes,” he said, “mostly, although Andrea helped.”

  “Guess you’re a man of many talents.” Selena took another bite of pancake, knowing she was both teasing and goading him.

  Today was likely the last day they would get to see each other. She hoped that all went perfectly with the CAs’ last exercise, and she certainly intended to do all she could to guarantee it. But she also planned to enjoy as much as she could her last interplay with Owen. Especially knowing that getting close to him in any manner from now on would be impossible.

  * * *

  Owen hurried from the basement behind Jonas, who, in turn, was behind the three male wolves loping up the stairs ahead of them.

  He had just watched them shift. Once again, he could only marvel at their transformation.

  Sal, the last of this line of wolves, had seemed fine this time, fortunately. Because Selena had made sure all the elixir remained untainted? Owen was sure that hadn’t hurt. He hadn’t yet confirmed his assumption about what she had done this morning, but he felt fairly certain of it.

  Was that because he had begun to be able to sense things about her? Maybe, or maybe that was just his wish.

  He quickly reached the main floor, where Patrick and Marshall waited in the hallway. Their heads were turned to observe the wolves who’d passed them, heading toward the front door. When they turned back Owen saw the smiles on their faces.

  “Andrea’s already outside,” Patrick said. “Selena and Rainey, too, watching our falcon soar above this place. Marshall and I are just hanging around to see our wolves head out for the exercise, but we’ve got something we need to do, so we’ll be leaving in a few minutes.”

  “Fine,” Owen said, then realized, with Jonas and Rainey again heading into the woods to remain at a designated clearing in case they were needed, that would leave him alone here with Selena.

  Thoughts of what they could do alone together made his body start to react, but he tamped down those errant ideas. There was too much they still needed to do, no time to make those thoughts become reality.

  It was too bad, but he told himself it was better that way. They’d already said that kind of goodbye to one another.

  He was the last to go outside, but he was still able to see the wolves run through the paved area toward the woods, followed by Jonas and Rainey. Selena already stood near the path the wolves took, and she turned to watch as they disappeared among the trees.

  Above soared the falcon who was Andrea.

  The exercise had begun.

  He watched as Selena talked briefly with Patrick and Marshall. Then the two men crossed the paved area and got into their car.

  As they drove off, Owen thought once more about how he was now, once again, here alone with Selena. But instead of considering how best to seduce her, he waited until she joined him near the front door of the meeting house and told her, “Looks like it’s just us to finish cleaning up after breakfast.”

  If anything was a turnoff, it had to be that. But Selena’s expression as she regarded him with a warm smile somehow still seemed to convey interest in him.

  All she said, though, was “Lucky us. Let’s get it over with.”

  As they walked inside, Selena asked once more what he’d thought about watching the men become wolves.

  “I doubt I’ll ever become blasé about it,” he said. “It seems incredible every time I watch, even though I know it’s real.”

  She was ahead of him and turned back, as if wanting to see his expression, to try to read his mind about what he really thought about it. “It’s definitely real,” she said. She preceded him past the living room door and into the kitchen.

  The morning’s plates and flatware had been stacked in the sink. He moved past her. “I’ll wash, you put them into the drainer, okay?”

  “Fine.”

  They seemed to coordinate well with no effort. He remained highly aware of Selena’s curvaceous form beside him, taking the soapy objects from him, rinsing them, then sticking them into the dish rack in a very organized manner. He wasn’t surprised about that. Selena seemed organized, logical, in all she did.

  Was she that way while shifted, too?

  He’d seen her as a wolf a couple of times, but only briefly. He would likely never see her again that way or learn more about her in her canine form.

  Too bad, especially now, when he really had become interested in shifters. His earl
ier distrust of them had been replaced by at least somewhat of an admiration. He was glad he was the officer in charge of the CAs—and he hoped he would continue to be after tomorrow.

  Would they succeed in their operation?

  Would they—

  His phone rang. He smiled as Selena handed him a towel and he dried his hands.

  When he pulled his phone from his pocket, he noticed immediately that it was Anthony Creay calling. “Hello, sir,” he said. “I was going to call you a little later. Our exercise of the day has begun, and—”

  “There’s been yet another message from the kidnappers,” Anthony interrupted. “It didn’t make much sense, but this is what it said—‘Grab on to today since things will go wrong and tomorrow will be worse.’”

  * * *

  Selena realized that Owen did not intend for her to hear his conversation with his boss, but with her enhanced hearing she couldn’t help it.

  Not that she tried to avoid eavesdropping.

  But what did that message mean?

  Was something off about what the shifters were planning today as practice for what would actually occur tomorrow?

  Would whatever it was lead to failure the next day?

  She had to do something to ensure all went well, no matter what that cryptic message meant.

  She knew how the mission at least had to begin, and so when Owen ended his conversation and hung up, his expression distant and grim, she said, “I know what I have to do, Owen, at least for now. And you need to help me.”

  Chapter 22

  Was she overreacting? Or was she using this new twist as a reason to do what she’d wanted to do for days, to learn Owen’s true feelings about shifters, about her?

  Maybe both. Or neither.

  “What are you up to?” Owen’s expression was both quizzical and amused.

  She feared the latter part would undoubtedly change quickly once he knew what was on her mind.

  “I want to learn what’s really going on,” she told him. “Do my own kind of observation today so we can feel comfortable everything will be as good as possible tomorrow. But as I said, I will need your help.”

  “Sure,” he said, sounding anything but sure. “What exactly do you want me to do?”

  “Act as my aide. I’m going to shift.”

  She watched his expression even more carefully, as if her human sense of vision was effective not only for viewing what was happening around her, but also for delving into someone’s mind. Owen’s mind. Too bad that wasn’t really true.

  He said nothing for a few seconds, and his expression was unreadable. Did he hate the idea? Would he find an excuse to say no or just come right out and object? She could conceivably handle a shift on her own—but the test part of this equation was important to her, too.

  “Good idea,” he said finally, half surprising her. “But you’re going to have to let me act as your aide not only for shifting, but also for helping to watch out for you during this exercise.”

  His reaction was interesting. Sure, she knew he was protective, a worthy member of the RCMP, but this went beyond his duty. She didn’t ask how he intended to watch out for her. In reality, if she didn’t want his help beyond her initial shifting, she would be able to outrun him and ensure he couldn’t catch up or be anywhere near her.

  She would have to determine what was the best course of action later.

  While she was shifted.

  * * *

  At last. He was finally going to get to watch this lovely, human woman go through the clearly uncomfortable—and incredible—process of shapeshifting.

  His wish—one of them, at least—was apparently about to come true.

  Be careful what you wish for. The old cautionary expression suddenly invaded his mind.

  He shooed it out just as quickly.

  It turned out that Selena had been particularly smart. Not that he was surprised, since he’d already been impressed by this woman and her knowledge and teaching capabilities and intellect.

  Not to mention her physical assets.

  But she had also been wise enough to camouflage what was the final vial of elixir that Rainey and she had had with them when they had first joined Anthony and him, before he had taken the women here to join his CAs.

  It was in the refrigerator in the basement of the house in which the Alpha Force members were staying, hidden in what appeared to be a brand-new carton of orange juice.

  He found that out after she told him to follow her back to the other home. There, after unlocking the door, she first knelt and gave Lupe, who had been with them, a big hug, then secured her in the bedroom. Afterward they trekked down to the basement fridge for the precious vial.

  Now, in the kitchen, he watched as she peeled the cardboard of the orange-juice container away from the glass vial inside. She stood leaning against the counter near the sink, studying the liquid it contained.

  “It looks clear, no contamination.” She unscrewed the cap and held it to her nose. “No indication of anything but the usual citrusy scent, nothing like ipecac. Of course, I doubt anyone but Rainey and me knew this was here. But even so, there’s no guarantee no one else got into this place to do some damage.”

  “You still think that’s what happened with the contaminated bottle Sal drank.” He made it a statement, not a question, because that was his belief, too.

  “What else could it be?”

  He didn’t want to get into the other possibilities again, like some kind of problem at the source or en route. No, it was better to assume the trouble originated here and remain cautious.

  Like Patrick was doing by retrieving the new supply of elixir that had been shipped here. The stuff that would be used tomorrow. It was a good idea, and Selena had just informed him that was what Patrick and Marshall were up to.

  “Okay,” she said. “Time to go back to the other house. I want to shift there, in the basement.” She opened up a cabinet and withdrew a plastic shopping bag. “This will be strictly an observational detail on my part, and nothing else should be necessary today. I just figure that by watching who’s doing what, I’ll be able to give some advice to your CAs about how to act tomorrow during the real rescue operation.”

  That was probably true, but only in part. He knew that her need to do this had been precipitated by his phone call from Anthony Creay and the additional threat it seemed to contain.

  He hoped that the techie team set on tracking down the call’s source was successful this time. But since it hadn’t been before, he remained dubious.

  Having someone who knew what she was doing—Selena—provide the kind of advice she was clearly intending to give could be essential to the success of the CAs tomorrow.

  They definitely had to be successful on this first attempt. It might very well be their last.

  He watched her seal the bottle again and place it in the yellow plastic bag with a supermarket logo on it. If anyone happened to notice her carrying it, she would simply seem to be moving food from one of the houses to the other.

  Another smart move on her part, he thought. But when had she done anything other than act smart?

  On their way back to the other house, he wished he had some of her enhanced senses. Would he hear anything beyond the normal breeze in the treetops, an occasional car engine from below the driveway, additional chirps from local birds? Would he smell anything more than the slightly sweet aroma of the surrounding fir trees?

  They didn’t talk. He had a lot of questions about what she would be looking for...and what her shift really would feel like. But he assumed she was using those enhanced senses of hers to ensure their safety on their hurried walk and did not want to interrupt her.

  Once they’d reentered the other house and locked its doors again behind them, Owen followed Selena down the steps to the basement.

  He knew the drill. He’d seen it several times now when Jonas had acted as aide to the wolf-shifting CAs. Without Selena having to say anything, he crossed the large, concrete-
encased room to the refrigerator. Beside it, on the floor, sat a wooden crate. It contained the special battery-operated lantern that created the light resembling that of the full moon.

  That would now be his responsibility: aiming it on Selena’s naked body to cause her to shift once she had drunk the elixir.

  Did he want this to happen? Yes. Maybe. Would he think differently about her once he actually saw her shift?

  No. Maybe. But he was more than aware that she was a shifter. Had seen her already shifted.

  And between then and now, he had also had the real pleasure of seeing her naked.

  “Okay,” she finally said, her tone bright and her face beaming. She was clearly looking forward to this.

  Was he? He wasn’t sure, but he hoped to make her think so.

  “This is great,” he said, pumping enthusiasm into his voice. “I’ll finally get to see you shift.” He held the light but did not turn it on yet. No need until she was ready—meaning naked.

  He was sorry to see her expression falter, but for only a moment. “Yep,” she said. “So you know, once I’m in wolf form my intention is to follow the same path as the wolfen CAs did. I’m sure I’ll be able to use my senses to figure out where they went, and if I have any difficulties I’m sure I’ll see Andrea flying above them. At this point, I only intend to observe them, make sure all’s okay despite what that call Anthony described to you said. I’ll also make mental notes about any suggestions I have for tomorrow. This is simply a way of assuring myself, my fellow Alpha Forcers and you that whatever was claimed in that call was a bunch of horse pucky.” She grinned. But then she added, “And in case it’s not, I’ll do what I can to fix it. That may mean my showing up where Rainey and Jonas are, so it wouldn’t hurt for you to head there, too, if you can determine where it is. That would be a good way for you to follow up on your intent to not just observe my shift, but to keep an eye on what’s going on.”

  “I’m sure I’ll find them,” Owen said. In fact, he was certain, since they’d described their rendezvous location to his CAs yesterday and repeated the information earlier that day. The clearing they described was partway up the mountain, along their initial path—the one Selena would follow.