Visionary Wolf. Linda O. Johnston
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That wasn’t unusual.
But claims of damage, destruction—and injuries to real people? The extent of what was described on so many sites was horrific.
And did not bode well at all for Liam’s vision of shifters’ acceptance someday by other people. Those lies were more of the reality now, though.
“I need to let the others know.” Liam was barely aware he was talking aloud. He picked up his phone, then realized this was critical enough that he wanted to tell his superiors in person. One in particular—Major Drew Connell, their commanding officer who had begun Alpha Force and remained in charge.
Drew’s office was on the opposite side of this floor, past the lab areas, and Liam immediately headed there. If he hadn’t had this important assignment, that was where he would have gone first, since nearly all Alpha Force members present on the base attended informal meetings in Drew’s office the morning after a night of a full moon. Liam would have headed there eventually anyway to let the others know what he found.
But with these horrible allegations... Liam had to let his unit members know right away. Then he had to dig further online to learn their truth—or, hopefully, not.
If not, though, how had so many unheard of references and accusations been put out there?
He put his computer to sleep, then hurried out his office door, down the halls whose plainness would never suggest the amazing things that went on in the laboratories beyond them, to another hall lined with closed doors. The last one was to Drew’s office.
Without knocking, Liam burst in, expecting to see Drew there holding court with the other shifters and their aides.
But though the room looked busy, he didn’t see that officer in charge. Nor did he see Captain Jonas Truro, Drew’s close friend and aide, a medical doctor like Drew, but, unlike him, not a shifter.
That was strange for a post–full moon meeting in Drew’s office. Did they know what Liam had learned online? Were they trying to deal with it themselves?
But Liam might just be allowing his own angst over what he’d seen on the computer to lead him to false conclusions. Drew and Jonas could be down the hall in the restroom. Or checking something in the lab. Or—
“Oh, there you are, Liam.” Denny, in a folding chair near the doorway of the small, crowded office, stood and looked at him. “I’m glad you read my text.” Which Liam didn’t always do quickly, and he wasn’t about to tell his aide he hadn’t this time, either. Denny was younger and shorter than Liam, and he had a slight growth of facial hair. Liam kept his own dark hair closely shaved—when he was in human form.
He wondered what Denny had said in that text, but he wasn’t about to check now.
“Come in, Liam,” Captain Patrick Worley said, also standing. He was tall, dressed in camos like the rest, and the expression on his face looked grim. Had he heard about what the Alpha Force shifters were alleged to have done?
Had Alpha Force shifters actually done any of it? Any of them in this room?
“Glad you’re here,” Patrick continued. “Have you checked out any online references to shifters yet?”
“Yes, and—”
But Patrick didn’t let him finish. “Good. We’ll want to hear about it. But first there’s something you need to know that we’ve been discussing. Something bad.”
Liam swallowed hard. “I definitely want to hear about it.” Hopefully, none of it was true and he could find a way to calm all the comments that had shown up online. Or—
“It’s about Major Connell,” Patrick said. “Something went wrong with Drew’s shift. Really wrong. He hasn’t shifted back from wolf form yet, and he’s not doing well. Right now, Jonas is with him at the veterinary clinic in Mary Glen. Drew is being cared for by Melanie.”
Drew’s wife, a veterinarian. Not a medical doctor.
This was definitely bad. Very bad. Certainly more important than the false claims Liam had seen online.
What was Alpha Force going to do?
“How is Drew now?” demanded Dr. Melanie Harding Connell. Dr. Rosa Jontay’s boss faced her at the back of the Mary Glen Veterinary Clinic’s main hallway, arms crossed, head tilted.
Rosa understood her concern, of course. Major Drew Connell wasn’t just the head of that highly special military unit known as Alpha Force. He was also Melanie’s husband. Father of her adorable four-year-old daughter, Emily, and two-year-old son, Andy.
“He seems tired,” Rosa said softly, looking into Melanie’s sad but pretty blue eyes. “I just came out of the room for a short break and to get coffee, but I’ll be heading back in there soon. Jonas is still with him.”
That was Captain Jonas Truro, also part of Alpha Force, and from what Rosa understood Jonas was additionally a medical doctor—and Drew’s aide when he shifted. She had seen him a few times in the year or so she had been here, but, as with most of the Alpha Force members, she didn’t know him well. Jonas had apparently been hanging out with his superior officer earlier that night—and later.
“Thank you. And thank Jonas.” Melanie also seemed tired. Stressed. But that wasn’t surprising.
As the only veterinarians at the clinic, they both wore white lab coats. Rosa was the taller one. They both had brown hair pulled up in back by clips, with Melanie’s darker than hers.
Not that she was comparing herself to Melanie, Rosa thought. She considered them both exceptional vets, and that was what really mattered.
But she did wonder what it was like to have as strange a relationship as the one between Melanie and Drew. Committed and deeply caring—but yes, strange, since Drew was a shapeshifter.
“Everything okay with the rest of the clinic?” she asked Melanie. “Do you need me for anything else?”
“Fortunately, we’re not very busy today. What I need you to do is—”
“I’m going back into that examination room right now,” Rosa finished. “But with this kind of situation...it’s so different, and other than to keep an eye on him I’m not sure what to do.”
“That’s all I want you to do. Having Jonas there helps, but the kind of medical assistance Drew might need now—”
“Is veterinary. Right. I understand.”
The door to the reception area down the hall opened, and the senior receptionist, Susie Damon, came out and looked toward them. “Our eleven o’clock Yorkie appointment is here for an exam and shots,” she called. “Okay to bring him in?”
“Fine,” Melanie responded. “I’ll be right there.”
Melanie was handling all the cases that came in, for now at least. She was clearly upset, and Rosa assumed she feared breaking down if she was the vet to spend time with Drew.
And that might make things worse with him.
Melanie looked back toward Rosa. “Just so you know, I did get a call a few minutes ago. So far...well, I gather there are no more answers from Ft. Lukman yet, but one of the Alpha Force members is on his way to relieve Jonas. Maybe whoever that is can shed some more light on what’s going on there, and when...”
She didn’t have to finish. Especially not with the newest look of pain that flashed across her face.
“That’s fine,” Rosa said. “I’ll still hang out with Drew, but I’ll also see what I can learn from whoever that is and report to you if it...if there’s any indication of what they’re doing and how long it will take.”
“Great. And maybe Jonas can help more by doing something at the base. I’ll check back with you soon.” Melanie headed down the hall toward the reception area as Susie led the tiny Yorkshire terrier and his not-so-tiny owner toward one of the closest exam