A SEAL in Wolf's Clothing hotw-9

by Terry Spear

  “Did you know that Cyn’s sister was one of the hostages that died during our last mission?”

  More silence, then Hunter asked, “Who told you that?”

  “Rourke, your resident reporter, newly turned.”

  Hunter let out his breath. “How the hell did he learn of it?”

  “He’s a reporter,” Finn said, guessing Rourke was used to doing investigations.

  “Hell. Then if Cyn is the one behind this, it’s damned personal.”

  “Yeah, that’s just what I thought,” Finn agreed, not liking the scenario one bit.

  “How’s Meara holding up?”

  “She’s doing fine. I’ll make sure she’s taken care of.”

  “I’m coming home,” Hunter abruptly said.

  At first, Finn thought Hunter didn’t trust him to protect her, maybe even thinking that the incident with Bjornolf at the inn proved that. But then Anna’s warning that she’d tell Hunter what Finn had been up to with Meara flashed through Finn’s mind. “Don’t believe everything Anna has to say.”

  A significant pause followed. Then Hunter said, “What has Anna got to do with anything?”

  Finn was totally thrown off kilter by Hunter’s question, certain that Anna had already talked to Hunter about Finn’s relationship with Meara. “Didn’t Anna call you?”

  “No,” Hunter said tersely.

  Finn rubbed the stubble on his chin. Shit.

  “What was Anna going to tell me?” Hunter asked in none too friendly a manner.

  “Nothing. Why are you coming home then?”

  Hunter said, “Bjornolf just called me.”

  “Hell.”

  Hunter waited for Finn to say something more, but when he didn’t, Hunter said, “So is there something you want to get off your chest with me?”

  “No. What the hell did he call you about?” Finn really hadn’t expected Bjornolf to stoop so low as to inform Hunter of Finn’s business with Meara, but well, hell. Finn knew the bastard was more than a little interested in Meara.

  “He thinks Meara is the focus of this operation. That she’s the one the assassins are targeting. And if this is true about Cyn’s sister dying during our mission, I believe Bjornolf is right. Which is why I’m coming home.”

  Finn’s mouth dropped open. Hell, chalk it up to feeling damned guilty about his handling of the situation between him and Meara when Hunter’s plan to return home didn’t have a thing to do with that.

  “Yeah, so what did you think Bjornolf was calling me about? The same thing you thought Anna might be reporting back to me about?” Hunter asked, his tone stony.

  “Hell, Hunter, she’s a grown woman.”

  “You’d damn well better be talking about Anna, Finn. Meara is my sister. And grown or not, the same rules don’t apply.”

  Finn wasn’t sure why, maybe because of the respect and admiration he’d always felt for Hunter, but at that moment, he felt like a schoolboy who was in serious shit and standing before a stern-faced, pissed-off principal.

  A prolonged silence lapsed between them. Then Hunter said, “I’m boarding the flight now. I take it you want to talk to me about joining the family. If not, just let this be a warning.”

  The phone clicked off and Finn found himself listening to dead air space.

  Damn it all. Finn would have taken Meara for a mate in a heartbeat if he’d been wired differently. She was fun and courageous and a treasure for any male who could win her hand. Even if she was very much like the Knight of Swords. Maybe that was what he liked so much about her.

  When he was all in the planning, considering every possible action and reaction like a chess player contemplating his next move, Meara would have lunged forward and played the move without regard to what could happen. In a way, he wished he was more impulsive like that. Actually, he had to admit he had been more spontaneous in dealing with Meara. He realized that she was rubbing off on him—which he found wasn’t a bad thing.

  But if they became mated, she’d throw a conniption as soon as he told her he was going on a dangerous mission. He didn’t need the aggravation, and he wasn’t willing to give up that lifestyle yet.

  He glanced up to see Paul watching him, looking like he knew just what had happened and truly sympathized with Finn. Paul threw up his hands and said, “I didn’t call Hunter, either. I wouldn’t have. Maybe threatened to a few more times to make you come to your senses. But I wouldn’t have actually done it, knowing how angry Hunter could get.” He tried to look like he felt Finn’s pain, but somehow the effect wasn’t quite sincere. “So what happens now?”

  “We keep Meara safe and catch the bad guys while we’re at it.” Finn’s personal life wasn’t the issue at the moment. Or shouldn’t be anyway.

  “What about you and Hunter?” Paul persisted. “What are you going to do when he gets here?”

  Finn let out his breath. “We’ll work out our differences. We always do.”

  “And Meara?”

  Finn didn’t have a ready answer for that. The problem was that he liked Meara too damned much. The thought that any other male would have her didn’t set well with him. But more than that? He just didn’t want to give her up.

  Paul stared at him in disbelief, and then the corners of his mouth rose. “My God, you’ve fallen for her. Hard.” He shook his head. “I don’t want to be you when Hunter returns. But I have to admit I’m glad it’s you that fell for her and not someone who wasn’t one of the team.”

  Now what was Finn supposed to do? Tell Meara that Hunter knew about them or suspected something had gone on between them? Or just drop the subject and keep this on a strictly professional basis for the rest of the mission like he should have done from the start? When this was over, Meara could shop for her perfect mate again. Finn would stay far away from the temptation that was Meara and the whole Oregon coast where he might run into her anytime and want to take up where they had left off. “Might” wasn’t the word for it. He knew if he saw her again after having a taste of her, he could never go back to the way they’d been.

  Anna shoved the back door open, her face red with annoyance, and fisted her hands on her hips. “Hunter just called me. He said you thought I’d phoned him about something that was going on between you and Meara. And he wanted to know what that was all about. Care to explain?”

  “I’m going to check the perimeter of the house for a while,” Paul said, smiling at Finn. He took off by way of the back deck, leaving Finn to dig himself out of the deepening quicksand he found himself in.

  “Yeah, well, it was a misunderstanding,” Finn said, hating to have to explain himself further to anyone else.

  “We both figured that, but I don’t like having to lie to Hunter to protect your ass, even though you and Meara are a big boy and girl. Hunter is still her brother.”

  “He reminded me of that. All right?”

  Anna shook her head. “Fine, but the game plans have been changed, and now Hunter’s setting the rules. I told you I should have stayed with Meara. Now that’s just what’s going to happen. And you get outdoor patrol.”

  Finn heard movement behind him and turned to see Meara walking down the hall toward them. Her eyes were wide, and her sexy mouth was parted in surprise, her cheeks lightly flushed. He wondered how much of the conversation she’d heard before she’d let them know she was joining them.

  “I have to hear what Meara has to say about the ‘date’ she nearly had with Cyn,” he said to Anna without taking his eyes off Meara.

  “A date with sin? That should be an interesting tale.” Anna shook her head. “Hunter said I should talk with her and pass the info along.”

  Finn stood firm. He was the one who’d come to warn Hunter and his sister about the danger, and Paul, too, and had arranged for Anna to be here to help watch their backs. He wasn’t giving up protecting Meara for anything or anyone.

  “Hunter learned about us, didn’t he?” Meara asked softly.

  As reluctant as Finn was to admit it, he did.
“Yeah.”

  She shot an accusing glance in Anna’s direction, but Finn quickly said, “By my admission, Meara. No one else told Hunter.”

  “Oh, well, terrific. So you went and told him all the sordid details?” Meara said, her tone of voice caustic.

  Anna’s eyes grew big.

  “Well, just fine. Do as Hunter ordered,” Meara snapped at Finn, her eyes fiery with indignation. “I’ll talk to Anna, and she can relay what little I know to whomever she’s working for.”

  “Hell, Meara, I…” Finn ran his hands over his head in frustration. “It was a mistake.”

  “A mistake?” she asked shrilly. “Oh yeah, how well I know. That’s how it always ends up—one big mistake. Do me a favor and don’t make it any worse than it already is, okay?” She strode past him, her delectable scent piquing his hormones, and he wondered how any woman could smell as mouthwatering as she did, making him want her as much as he did, when she was ready to bite his head off.

  She entered the kitchen and started heating water in the teakettle.

  “Fine.” He hadn’t wanted a mate. He had told her he wasn’t into romance or anything of the sort. He wasn’t ready to give up his work.

  He stormed out of the house. This was the kind of job he knew how to do well. Going after the bad guys and protecting the innocents.

  Dealing with relationships? He totally sucked at that.

  “Hey, if it’s any consolation,” Paul said, joining him out front, “you’re the first SEAL on the team that Meara’s ever shown any real interest in. If you ever decide to settle down, I’m sure she’d go for you.”

  The way she’d looked at Finn in the house with that hurt expression once she’d learned he’d told Hunter what was going on between them—not in so many words, but Hunter had to have known what had happened—Finn imagined she’d just as soon feed this SEAL to the sharks than do anything as foolish as consider him for her mate.

  Yep, on the list of prospective mates back at her cabin, his name would definitely have been crossed off with big letters stating “NO WAY in hell!” written beside it.

  * * *

  “Are you all right?” Anna asked Meara as they sat down at the kitchen table over steaming mugs of mandarin-orange-flavored tea.

  Meara frowned. “Sure.”

  “Finn didn’t do it on purpose, by the way. He didn’t talk to Hunter about the two of you. I imagine it was more of a case of feeling guilty about your relationship and letting it slip with Hunter when Finn hadn’t meant to.”

  Meara still couldn’t help feeling perturbed about it. She’d thought they could keep what had happened between them secret from Hunter so he wouldn’t throw a fit. Deep down, she didn’t want Finn to lose his longtime friendship with Hunter over the situation. “I thought you wanted to talk about Cyn,” she said curtly, not mad at Anna, but she couldn’t quash her annoyance with Finn for letting the situation slip.

  Anna took a deep breath. “I’ve known Finn for six months now and worked really closely with him on a few missions, and I’ve never seen him so wrapped up in a woman. Kind of nice to see. I was beginning to think he was a eunuch.”

  “Finn?”

  Anna smiled. “Yeah, really. Because of the kind of work he does and not wanting to worry about a bad guy grabbing someone he cares for, Finn just hasn’t bothered with relationships. So when I saw him with you and the way he was acting all smitten, I figured something more was going on.”

  “A big mistake,” Meara said. “Sure.”

  Anna studied her for a moment, then said, “I wouldn’t let your brother come between you and Finn.”

  Meara let out her breath. “My brother has nothing to do with this.”

  “Oh yeah, he does. He means well. And he’s got your best interests at heart. But this is truly between you and Finn. For the first time, I believe he’s considering giving up this line of work.”

  Meara sipped some of her hot tea. “Don’t be absurd.”

  “No, really. I’m not very good at relationship issues, either. When I get mad at a man, I’m ready to use my whole arsenal of weapons on him.”

  Meara finally smiled. “I like you, Anna.”

  “The feeling’s mutual or I wouldn’t say any of this to you.” Anna reached over and patted Meara’s hand. “Give Finn a chance. Believe me, if I don’t let him in the house to watch over you tonight, he’ll be some wolf to deal with by morning. And I’m not about to put my ass on the line. Now, what do you know about… sin?”

  Chapter 14

  As a wolf, Finn concentrated on searching for any clues to the assassin’s whereabouts before he’d tackled Meara, and Finn had had to end his miserable life. He assumed the wolf had parked somewhere in the area, although considering how much territory they could cover as wolves, he might have traveled a long distance in that form without tiring.

  But with all the searching Finn had done, he hadn’t located a vehicle that the wolf might have driven. Finn also checked the area where the wolf had been before he attacked Meara and discovered his trail, but still no clothes. Looking out to sea, Finn wondered if the man had come from that direction. As a SEAL.

  It reminded him of earlier SEAL operations when he and his teammates had shifted into wolves to go in as a reconnaissance team, although no one else knew that Hunter’s team took on the form of wolves when conducting some missions. With their noses to the ground, they were able to sniff out mines, locate cadavers, and find the hostages much more quickly.

  In forested regions, they’d take out the lookouts before anyone realized a pack of wolves was upon them. And in one case when the guard called out about wolves attacking when they didn’t exist in the region, the enemy thought the guard was drunk on duty, which worked well when another man was sent to relieve him of his job.

  Exasperated, Finn loped back to the house where Paul waited for him on the porch, maintaining an outside vigil. It had been several hours since Finn had started on his run on the wild side. Bjornolf was conducting his deeper cover surveillance and hadn’t been seen in all that time.

  Finn quickly shifted, then grabbed his pants and tugged them on. He pulled out his phone, saw that he hadn’t missed any messages, and frowned. It was time he spoke with Meara about this Cyn person, since Anna hadn’t bothered to contact him with any word about the man, which irritated Finn no end. He was not going to be relegated to outside guard duty for the duration of this mission.

  Paul nodded at him in greeting at the front of the house.

  “Did Anna talk to you about this Cyn character while I was running as a wolf?” Finn asked, his tone of voice couched in annoyance.

  “Nope. She was waiting for you to return, figuring there wasn’t much news anyway, and I wouldn’t be able to do anything with the information. Hunter’s still on the plane, so we can’t call him and give him any update.”

  Finn finished dressing and looked back at the house.

  “No word from either of them,” Paul offered. “It’s been real quiet.”

  “They’re all right, aren’t they?” Finn didn’t wait for Paul’s answer as he suddenly feared the worse. Heart thundering, Finn realized that while Paul had been watching the front of the house and Bjornolf was who knew where, someone could have sneaked in the back, taken the women by surprise and…

  He slammed the front door open and rushed into the living room. Spying Meara curled up on the couch under a yellow quilt, he stopped abruptly. Paul ran into his back and quickly retreated a couple of steps.

  Meara’s eyes were shut tight in sleep. A book rested on her lap, featuring a Highlander in kilt, his chest bare, wolf eyes glowing above. Heart of the Highland Wolf?

  Finn stared at Meara in surprise, his heart nearly beating out of his chest, while his mind was still unable to reconcile what he thought might have happened with the serene scene.

  Anna frowned at him as she sat on a recliner, sipping a cup of tea. “You wore her out,” she whispered, one brow arched. “All those late-night activities.�
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  Not wanting to go there, he asked quietly, “What did she say about Cyn?”

  Anna smiled.

  He gave her a disgruntled look and motioned for her to go with him to the privacy of the back deck. Paul had remained standing where he was, but seeing there wasn’t any trouble, he quietly closed the door and returned to his guard duty out front.

  When Finn and Anna were settled on lounge chairs on the deck with the back door closed, Finn asked again, “What did she say about Cyn?”

  “He was a SEAL, although she didn’t know that when she first met him. Hunter confirmed that with me. Cyn wanted to use her to get on Hunter’s team. Hunter didn’t like him for that reason alone, but something else bothered him about that man. He wasn’t as highly trained as the rest of you guys. And something else, maybe just some bad vibes. Hunter figured that was the end of it when Meara agreed, albeit reluctantly, not to see the man any further.”

  An attack of possessiveness grabbed hold of Finn again. “Had she been seeing him?”

  “According to Meara, she had met him at a bookstore in Sacramento. She recognized he was a wolf right away. He seemed real interested in her, and she liked his attention. She said Hunter kept her under his thumb so much that men were often afraid to approach her.”

  Finn snorted. “Good thing, too.”

  Anna rolled her eyes, definitely seeing the situation from a woman’s perspective.

  “That weekend, she’d gone to Sacramento to shop, and while a couple of the pack members got sidetracked in a video-game shop, she met Cyn in the bookstore.”

  Finn interrupted Anna before she got any further. “I’d think Hunter would have ensured that only his most reliable wolves stayed with her.”

  “Chris Tarleton was in charge. He’s one of Hunter’s sub-leaders.”

  “I met him at the morgue. He’s the one who is mentoring Rourke. And I imagine if she got away from Chris to see another man, he was pretty ticked off. Hunter would have chewed his ass also.”