Canadian Wolf. Linda O. Johnston
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in here, are there?” Selena asked. He watched as she scanned the walls.
“No,” said Anthony Creay. “This room is usually used for secure and private meetings.”
“Okay, then we’re on.” Selena looked around a little more as if she didn’t trust what he said, but there were no places that Owen saw, either, where equipment could be hidden.
“Fine,” he said. “Now, what would you like us to do?”
It was her turn to grin. “If you’d like, you can go ahead and get naked anyway.” She let her eyes scan Owen’s body up and down, and he felt himself start to respond. Not a good idea. Not here, and not ever.
But since they were going to be working together, should he call her bluff after all? He gave it a second’s thought before he knew the answer. No sense in angering his commanding officer. “Nope,” he said. “I think this is your cue, not mine.”
She shrugged one shoulder, as if she had no interest in whether he kept his clothes on or not. Too bad, he thought. But it was better that way.
“So what would you like us to do?” he asked her.
“Leave.” She began walking around the table, holding out the leash attached to her dog’s collar. “Just watch out for Lupe. She’s a great dog—but like me, she’s got quite a bite if you rile her.”
He assumed she was still just teasing. Even so, he gingerly grabbed hold of the leash’s looped handle. It was his responsibility, not his superior officer’s. The furry wolf-dog looked up at him with eyes that did indeed appear a similar amber shade to Selena’s. Her cover dog. The way she would appear while shifted, she’d indicated.
A fine representative of the wolf species, albeit with some traces of other canine stock, like, perhaps, Siberian husky.
“I bite, too, Lupe,” he said, although the way he petted her furry head belied his words—justifiably. He liked dogs. A lot.
It was their shapeshifting counterparts that he didn’t trust.
Was Selena different? He’d see, as time went on.
“Well, don’t bite my dog,” Selena said.
She turned around, waving her hand. “Right now is a good time for you gentlemen to leave.” She glanced over her shoulder. “After you lock the door you can stand in the hall to make sure we don’t slip out and play the games that you apparently expect. Rainey will knock for you to open the door when my shift is complete.”
“Fine.” Owen waited until Anthony had cleared the doorway, then followed.
He turned back for an instant, just long enough to notice that Selena was already preparing for what would occur after he locked the door. Her head was bent as she started unbuttoning her shirt.
Too bad he really couldn’t stay and watch. Maybe some other time.
The other woman, Rainey, had crossed the room and picked up the large backpack she’d carried inside before. She studied its insides, and before Owen left, he saw her extract some kind of bottle. Was that the elixir Selena had mentioned?
He figured he would find out, if not today, then in the days to come, when he was with the Alpha Force members who had promised to help instruct the new RCMP members he had assisted in recruiting.
Those new members were also shapeshifters—or so they’d claimed—and had their claims confirmed by reputable friends and family, including others within the RCMP. He hadn’t yet had a chance to watch them shift, either, since they did so only under a full moon—so far.
“Hey, haven’t you left yet?” That was Rainey, who’d looked toward the door after handing the bottle to Selena.
Selena had stopped moving and was also watching him suspiciously.
“On my way.” He gave a small yank on Lupe’s leash. The dog obeyed and preceded him out the door.
Owen shut the door behind him and took the key from Anthony’s hand. He turned it in the lock.
“So,” he said, “I guess now we just wait.”
* * *
Moving her erect ears, inhaling deeply to further stimulate her sense of smell, Selena stared at the door.
Her shifting had finally ended. As always, there had been discomfort.
Also as always, she had finished taking off her human clothes before imbibing the elixir and waited while Rainey shone the special battery-operated light on her that resembled the glow of a full moon. But this time she had also turned to stare at that closed door.
Maybe the distraction had helped, since the discomfort hadn’t seemed as bad as usual. Even now, shifted, she couldn’t help wondering what it would have been like if Owen Dewirter had actually removed his clothes, too.
“You okay?” Rainey asked as she always did.
In her wolfen form Selena couldn’t shrug and say, “Of course.” Instead, she just gave a soft growl and lowered her head.
“So, you ready to show off to those doubting Thomases?” Rainey asked next. “Why would they even invite Alpha Force to help save their Mountie butts if they didn’t believe that our abilities—your abilities—were real?”
That wasn’t something Selena could respond to, either. Not now, in any event. And in fact she had no answer.
But she’d definitely gotten the sense that the smart-alecky Owen Dewirter believed in, but did not appreciate, shifters.
She would find out why. Eventually.
For now, she padded over to the door and listened. Even as a human, her hearing surpassed that of normal people, but it was particularly enhanced after her shift, as were her senses of smell and taste.
She sensed that Lupe was still outside. The men were talking, perhaps joking a little.
The older man clearly did not know what to expect.
She lifted her paw and touched the door frame, which cued Rainey, who knocked to summon the two Mounties.
Selena heard footsteps on the hallway floor. In seconds, she heard the sound of the key in the lock. The door was pulled open, and Owen stood there, looking in.
On one side of him was Anthony Creay. On the other was Lupe, who pulled on her leash.
Selena walked forward and traded nose sniffs with her cover dog.
“Care to come in and look around, gentlemen?” Rainey sounded smug.
“Yes,” said Anthony, and he strode through the open entry.
Owen just stood there, looking into the room and down at her. She could not read his expression. It wasn’t admiring, but neither was it full of scorn.
“It is real,” she finally heard the older man say. “No Selena here, just the dog. The wolf. Whatever.”
“Yeah,” Owen agreed. “It’s real. And that’s a good thing, since our guys have a lot to learn to accomplish our underlying mission.”
She might help to teach them a lot—but she needed to know exactly what that mission was. And soon.
It was morning, the day after the three Alpha Force members, including the dog, had arrived in northwest Vancouver.
Now