Protector Wolf. Linda O. Johnston
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News had apparently spread about Morton Fritts. Not that it was likely to be hushed up for any reason—not even by shifters, if they were the source of the problem. They could discuss it while in human form, but would they know who did it—shifters or not? And if shifters, which ones were involved?
But with all the various conversations, many of which seemed to be on that subject, and the fact that there was a curious woman at his side so he couldn’t simply sit there listening, Ryan gave up on the possibility of learning much that was useful right away.
Nor did he get any sense, via scent or conversation, that anyone here was a shifter—not that his belief was conclusive.
He decided to order eggs with sausage and toast. Good thing he figured that out fairly quickly since their server, a thirtysomething woman who looked like she’d been at this for a while, came right over to their table for their orders.
Maya asked for only toast and decaf. When the server was gone, she looked toward Ryan. “Did you go outside, too, after you heard the howls?”
Ryan knew he had to be cautious about how he responded. But he’d already hinted that he was aware she hadn’t stayed in her room.
Not that she’d recognized him. Sure, he had chased the other wolves away from her, but he didn’t think she had a clue that any of them were shifters.
Before he responded, though, he glanced toward Piers and grinned, knowing his aide would take his cue and keep any answers on his part consistent with Ryan’s.
“Yes, we did hear those howls and all and went out for a little while,” Ryan said. “As representatives of US Fish and Wildlife, we wanted to gather as much information as we could. We wanted to listen, to try to determine how many animals, presumably wolves, were howling and from what direction. We left Rocky in our car since he wouldn’t necessarily follow a safety protocol and stay with us rather than pulling away to chase whatever was making those sounds.” He glanced down at the dog, who once more was lying on the patio.
Ryan then shot a glance toward Maya, just as the server came with her decaf and his high-octane coffee. She also refilled Piers’s cup. “Your food will be up shortly,” she said, then left.
“Did you hear any more when you were out there?” Maya asked. “See anything?”
“A few more distant howls and barks, but that was all—and we didn’t see any wolves or other wildlife.” He didn’t need to tell the truth, of course. In fact, nearly everything he said was a lie. He happened to be one of those wolves. “How about you? Did you go outside to check things out, too?”
He needed to tread somewhat lightly here, but he’d already suggested he knew that answer.
“Yes,” she said. “I wanted to see the wolves, so I followed the sounds as best I could.”
“I gathered they were on the hillsides beyond the park. Was that what you determined?”
“Yes,” Maya said. She sucked in her lips slightly as if in worry, and if Ryan read her expression correctly she was recalling all that had happened.
“And did you see any?” Her response would be what determined how he followed up.
“Yes,” she said almost curtly. He gathered she didn’t want to continue after that.
But Piers, great aide that he was, was the one to ask, “Really? What did you see?”
Her eyes narrowed, and then she looked down at the table. “They were beautiful,” she said almost reverently.
Ryan shouldn’t feel so happy to hear her words, her attitude. Maya might be one gorgeous woman with a laudable attitude toward wolves—but she had no idea who and what he was, along with the probability that there were at least a few others in this area.
She might not be so pleased about the proximity of wolves if she did.
“How many wolves did you see?” Piers continued. “Where were they? I assume you didn’t get near any of them, right?”
Piers hadn’t been close enough to see the encounter among Ryan and the two other wolves he believed to be shifters, but Ryan had filled him in once he had shifted back to human form—including how he had kept the wolves from attacking the lovely and foolish human who’d tracked them down.
“Well...” Maya looked toward Ryan as if attempting to judge how much he knew. He’d already suggested that she might have done something as foolish as Morton Fritts and was therefore lucky she’d not been hurt.
But he wasn’t about to tell her why he believed that to be true.
He looked straight back into her soft hazel eyes. “Why don’t you tell us what you did and what you saw?”
“Because I’m both happy and embarrassed about it.”
Their food arrived then, and Maya looked pleased at the interruption. But a short while later, when they’d all taken their first bites of food—and Ryan had given Rocky a taste of his sausage—he said, “Okay, tell us about your night.”
She took a deep breath and raised her light brown eyebrows as if she actually did feel discomfited about her anticipated response. But she described having followed the howls and other canine sounds into the woods, using her flashlight and camera—and being confronted by a couple of wolves.
“But then there was a third one,” she said, “who distracted the two that seemed as if they might attack me. I ran away then.”
“I hope you sent thoughts of thanks to the wolf that helped you,” Piers said, taking another sip of his coffee before glancing toward Ryan.
Ryan couldn’t help a small smile although he aimed it at his own cup rather than toward his aide.
“I definitely did,” Maya said. “He might have saved me from...from being mauled like Morton Fritts.”
“Quite possibly,” Ryan agreed. “You need to be careful. In fact, once we find out the details of the attack on Fritts, I’d suggest you give another presentation on behalf of WHaM, or just in general if that’s better for you. You should emphasize to people to stay far, far away from wild animals, because they are wild. They don’t know even to stay away and not hurt wonderful people like you who give a damn about them.” Unless they happen to be shifters with access to the Alpha Force elixir, he thought, but of course he wasn’t going to mention that.
“That sounds like a good idea.” She looked him straight in the eyes again.
Damn, but she was one beautiful woman. He was attracted to her. Very attracted. Would like to do more, a lot more, than just have breakfast with her...and save her from other wolves.
But any thoughts beyond encouraging her to be a wildlife proponent were inappropriate.
And so, after exchanging gazes with her, he gave a goofy grin and dug back into his breakfast.
* * *
Oh, that look on Ryan’s face. It was as if he forgave her foolishness in seeking out the wolves—yet he cared about her, was glad she was okay.
Or was she reading too much into it?
Maya reached over and picked up her last piece of toast, slathering a little apricot jam on it. That gave her an excuse not to look directly at Ryan, at least for this moment.
But she remained fully aware of his closeness. And how she felt glad about that.
But only because the guy also liked wildlife. And maybe he seemed a little attracted to her just because he was glad she was out there promoting the return of wolves to this area and championing all creatures.
“I like the idea, too,” said Piers, sort of interrupting the mood, but that was a good thing.
Maya took a decisive bite of her toast. She had no intention of getting interested in any man, let alone one who lived outside