Protector Wolf. Linda O. Johnston
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in the sedan they had rented at the Sea-Tac International Airport, along the remote, twisty roads outside Fritts Corner, beyond the park and beneath the forest’s overhanging trees to a clearing they had previously scouted out.
Near an area where wolves had been spotted over the past months.
The ride was bumpy, and Ryan was conscious of every jolt. It was getting close to twilight now.
It was nearly time.
And since this was the night of a full moon, Ryan would be shifting.
But thanks to that wonderful elixir that had been formulated and modified over time by Major Drew Connell, the founder of Alpha Force, and other members, Ryan would not only have some limited choice as to when the shifting started and a lot of choice about when he shifted back, but he would additionally retain his human cognition.
Unlike the other shifters he anticipated meeting on this night.
“Here we are,” Piers said, stopping the car. Rocky, in the backseat, let out a small woof, as if he understood where they were and what was about to happen.
This wasn’t his first time, after all, to be around when Ryan shifted—and it wouldn’t be his last.
Piers parked, and Ryan immediately exited the car. There was hardly any light in the sky, and the clearing was vast enough that Ryan knew the full moon would soon appear.
There were plenty of times in his past when that would have caused him to shift into a feral wolf as soon as darkness fell. But now—
Now, he couldn’t have been more delighted that Alpha Force had found and recruited him into its amazing military unit. He was starting to give back, including by being here. And he loved it.
If he was correct about the nature of at least some of the people here, he might even be able to give back more to his cherished organization by recruiting others who, in turn, could add to its very special mission.
He’d already done some of that while being trained and working directly with other shifters located by senior Alpha Force officers.
Piers pulled the large backpack out of the trunk and approached across the hard dirt of the clearing to the area several feet from the car where Ryan had stopped. Ryan began to remove his clothing, even as Piers extracted the cooler in the backpack and from it one of the vials of elixir that they had brought. He also pulled out the light that, turned on, resembled the light of the full moon, although, since it would not be necessary tonight, he returned it to the backpack.
“You doing okay?” Ryan’s efficient assistant now stood there with the vial in one of his large hands, assessing his superior officer.
“I’m fine, Piers. And how are you?” Ryan kept his tone light, even though he knew exactly what he was about to go through.
The elixir helped shifters in so many ways—but nothing could totally eliminate the discomfort of a shift from human to animal form—and back again.
“Okay, buddy. The moon’s a-rising. Let’s get this thing started, okay?” The stocky young guy grinned as if he couldn’t wait for his superior officer’s shift to start. And maybe he couldn’t.
Ryan was now nude. He felt the pulsing sensations inside him that presaged a natural shift.
It was definitely time for the elixir.
“Bring it on,” he told Piers, reaching out for the vial.
* * *
His initial shift was over. He was standing again, this time on four canine legs, the discomfort behind him.
Just in time, he thought—since he heard a howl in the distance. Followed by another, and some barks. They all sounded far away, but he would have heard them even without his enhanced hearing.
Shifters? Most likely. Natural wolves might howl and bark like that, of course. But why would they do so tonight? And not just one or two now, but several of them.
Ryan could tell—thanks to that enhanced hearing—not only the direction from which the sounds came, but he had a sense of distance, too.
The others were likely in the hillsides here, beneath the trees, farther from town, perhaps farther along the road where Piers had driven them only a short while earlier.
Rocky remained in the car. Piers had returned to it to sleep, to wait for Ryan’s return early in the morning, when he would naturally shift back on this night of the full moon.
He also had some choice about when to change back, even under the full moon. But if he did not choose when, it would occur once the sun started to rise.
Another set of excited howls. They caused more excitement in Ryan, as well.
Time for him to run through these woods, let his wolfen side loose. Revel in his very special gift, his talent, the other, only partly human feature of his life.
His shifting ability.
He felt his mouth move as he allowed himself to express his emotion in what would have been a smile had he not been shifted.
He aimed one glance toward the car where his companions now sat and waited for him.
And then he ran into the woods.
* * *
Maya hadn’t been sleeping deeply, though she had been in bed for a while, reading at first, then nodding off.
But her mind had been tossing around all that had happened to her that day.
Her talk. The confrontations with those wild animal–haters.
The support she had received from Ryan, backed up by some of the other people in this small town near which wolves had begun to appear again.
And—
Hey. What was that? Was she imagining things because she was thinking about the local sightings of wolves?
Maybe, but she thought she’d heard not only some canine barking but also a howl. Yes! She had. It was followed by another.
And now there were even more of them, somewhere way in the distance. But close enough to be heard here, right in the downtown area of Fritts Corner.
She froze. If she heard them, so did those wolf-haters. She wasn’t in any kind of law enforcement. She had no weapons.
But might the US Fish and Wildlife Service be able to help?
She hadn’t gotten Ryan’s phone number, not even his room number, but she felt stressed enough to use the hotel’s phone to try to call his room even now, in the middle of the night. She did reach a hotel operator—after waiting several minutes. And then, when she was connected to his room, no one answered.
She tried the same with his friend Piers, but again no answer.
He’d said he was going to bed early—but maybe the sounds had awakened him, and now she couldn’t join up with him to check things out.
Heck. Maybe there was nothing she could do. Maybe the wolves wouldn’t really be in danger.
But if nothing else, she could bring her camera—just in case.
She’d already risen from her bed.
Now, she threw her clothes on, grabbed her purse and camera, and rushed out the door.
He loved it, reveled in it, this unleashed, unfettered ability to run on four powerful legs, beyond the park, up hillsides and within woods that were entirely new to him, in darkness lit only by the full moon.
To chase in the direction where he would soon see others who were like him in one way or the other: wolves that were born as canines, or that were humans in shifted form.
Those whose howls he still