“I'm so sorry, Kathlene.”

His expression had turned full of compassion. And suddenly, she found herself in his embrace.

She closed her eyes. She couldn't allow herself to give in to her desire because this man—no, manwolf—was also a really nice and caring guy.

Only…as his mouth sought, then captured, hers, she realized for a fleeting moment that this was what she had been hoping for all day long.

No, from the moment she had first met Jock Larabey.

They were going to make love. She knew it. She also knew how foolish it was.

But for this moment, foolishness be damned. She opened her own lips, allowed her tongue to seek out his, even as her body pressed up against him.

LINDA O. JOHNSTON loves to write. While honing her writing skills, she worked in advertising and public relations, then became a lawyer…and enjoyed writing contracts. Linda's first published fiction appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and won a Robert L. Fish Memorial Award for Best First Mystery Short Story of the Year. Linda now spends most of her time creating memorable tales of paranormal romance, romantic suspense and mystery. Visit www.lindaojohnston.com.

Loyal Wolf

Linda O. Johnston

www.millsandboon.co.uk

MILLS & BOON

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Loyal Wolf is dedicated to shapeshifters and the readers who love them. And also to my husband, Fred, who, though not a writer, is an excellent sounding board for plot issues.

Contents

Cover

Introduction

About the Author

Title Page

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Extract

Copyright

Chapter 1

Deputy Sheriff Kathlene Baylor steered down the narrow, tree-lined lane toward the entrance to Clifford Cabins, a rustic motel a few miles out of town. She was driving her personal car, a silver SUV, rather than an official Clifford County, Montana, Sheriff’s Department vehicle, despite being in uniform. It was late afternoon, and she was off duty. If she’d had time to go home and change, she would have.

But she was too eager for the pending meeting to incur any further delay.

This outing was definitely not an official activity, though. In fact, it was just the opposite. Even though it should look, to anyone who might be paying attention to her, as if she was just dashing off to go meet up with an old friend.

Not quite.

Kathlene always considered herself a by-the-book, dedicated law-enforcement officer. But that was before.

Now she was too concerned about what was going on in Clifford County to do nothing, even though her boss, Sheriff Melton Frawley, was certain that she was wrong. That she was “worrying her pretty little head about nothing,” was the way he put it.

She sniffed at the very thought of the way the whole department was encouraged by Melton to return to old, antiquated ways, when women weren’t skilled and respected officers of the law, but handy cooks and cleaners who also entertained their men in bed.

She would have complained, claimed discrimination to the County Counsel, the City Attorney of Cliffordsville, or anyone else who would listen. Problem was, no one with any clout cared.

Well, maybe she had no clout, but she wasn’t about to just sit there and let her county be overrun by anarchists.

She slowed down when she saw a small deer darting through the underbrush toward the road. Good move, she thought as the animal stopped, then leaped back into the woods. She wasn’t a hunter but there were a lot of them around. Some legitimate.

The others were the ones who worried her.

At least their encampment was a few more miles down this road. And that deer—plus, much more important, the humans around here—might survive if what she believed was true, and the people she was going to see helped her do something about it.

There. She had reached the sign identifying the winding drive to the Clifford Cabins. She turned and headed toward them.

She’d received a call. Help had arrived.

She only hoped they would really figure out what was going on—and the situation was thereafter fixed appropriately.

* * *

A knock sounded on the cabin door. Right on time, Lieutenant Jock Larabey thought.

“Want me to get it?” His aide, Staff Sergeant Ralf Nunnoz, glanced toward Jock. Like his superior officer, he was dressed casually, with no indication that either one of them was in the military, let alone part of Alpha Force. Ralf had on well-worn jeans with a Seattle Seahawks T-shirt, since they were supposed to have driven from Washington State to drop in and see Jock’s supposed long-term friend Kathlene Baylor before heading for Yellowstone National Park. Ralf’s hair was short, of course, as was Jock’s, but there was no other indication of their background.

“You’re sure Click is hidden well?” Jock asked. He didn’t want his cover dog seen, particularly this early in the assignment.

All Alpha Force shapeshifting members had cover dogs that resembled them in their changed forms, and Click looked a lot like a wolf, which was ideal. Jock was a werewolf.

“He’s locked in the cabin next door with some beef jerky treats to keep him occupied for now.” Even though Kathlene had reserved this cabin on their behalf, Jock had Ralf book another one next door in case they needed additional space. And cover. Like now.

“Good. Then let her in.”

Ralf approached the wide wooden door attached to the cabin’s fake log walls and opened it. “Jock?” said a woman’s voice in a low, husky tone.

“You must be Jock’s friend Kathlene,” Ralf said more loudly, obviously in case there was anyone outside eavesdropping. “Come in. I’m his good friend Ralf Nunnoz.”

“Good to meet you, Ralf.” The female voice was louder now, too. Higher in tone, as well, in her apparent embarrassment.

The woman who had to be Kathlene Baylor, deputy sheriff of the local Montana county and seeker of Alpha Force help, walked in the door, looked around and approached Jock.

Not that she truly knew what Alpha Force was about. Jock was certain of that.

“Hi,” she said, sounding relieved now as Ralf shut the door behind her. “Jock? I’m Kathlene.”

“Good to see you, buddy,” he said, donning their cover as if it was who they all truly were. He strode over to the woman and, ignoring her unappealing law-enforcement uniform, gave her a big hug.

She was tall, though not as tall as he was. She was slender. And those curves—his body reacted immediately as if their cover was that they were long-separated lovers instead of friends.

Hell, if he had known her in the past they would have been more than friends. He’d have had sex with her as fast as he could have seduced her.

Then.

But not now. They had a joint mission to accomplish. One that, if she was correct about what was going on around here, definitely needed Alpha Force’s unique touch to straighten it out. And if Kathlene found out the truth about him, he felt sure that making love with him would be the last thing she would ever want.

Unless his seduction could convince her otherwise...

She backed up. Quickly. Her face was flushed. She was one good-looking woman, despite how severely her dark hair was pulled back from those reddened cheeks. That face didn’t need adornment. It was smooth, with sexy, full lips and sparkling eyes that peered out from beneath black brows that helped to frame them.

Her gray uniform wasn’t the sexiest thing he had ever seen a woman wear—and yet Kathlene filled it out in all the right places. A definitely appealing bustline—as he had felt pressed against him. A small waist.

Of course the holster she wore at her hip didn’t exactly turn him on, but it went with the rest of her gear. He wondered where her weapon was, figured she’d locked it up since she wasn’t currently on duty, or so he assumed.

But admiring her—or not—wasn’t why Ralf and he had come.

Right now he needed to get this woman’s description of what was going on here.

And then Alpha Force could get to work.

* * *

Jock Larabey. Her old college buddy. Or so the rest of the world should believe.

The guy did look military, muscles bulging from beneath his snug University of Montana T-shirt. It appeared that he had indeed come here prepared to play the cover-story role they had decided on. They were supposed to have gone to the U of M, Missoula campus, at the same time and become friends there.

That was, in fact, the part of the state where she had grown up. And then had her life turned utterly upside down, when her parents—

No. She wouldn’t think about that now. It was why she hadn’t actually remained friends with people she had known back then, but she didn’t tell anyone that.

And at the moment, she had something a lot more pressing to think about. But she hadn’t expected someone as hot-looking as this man, with his wide shoulders, chiseled face and sexy hint of pale brown facial hair. His piercing hazel eyes surveyed her as if assessing whether she, too, was all she was cracked up to be. She forced herself to smile and was rewarded with a grin that suggested he had been assessing more than that about her.

And that hug? Appropriate for the situation, sure, but it had set her insides very inappropriately on fire.

She had to back away from those kinds of thoughts. Cool off. Or at least try to.

“We need to talk, Kathlene,” Jock said.

She glanced toward the door. It was closed, and the other man, Ralf, stood nearby. They could, in fact, talk now.

“I know what the story is that you described to get Alpha Force’s interest,” Jock continued, “but I want to hear it directly from you.”

“Of course.”

This could take a while. She glanced around for someplace to sit. This cabin was as rustic in here as it was outside. Near one wall there were a couple of narrow beds with green plaid blankets, pale green sheets and pillows with matching covers.

Beds? Her mind again darted to that hug and the feel of his body against her. She quickly looked away.

In one corner was a kitchenette, and beside it a small table with two chairs. Should she sit there with Jock to go over the situation? Safer than anywhere near the beds, of course.

But what about Ralf?

Good thing he was still around. That also helped Kathlene focus on what was important, and not how her libido had been stoked.

Ralf stood near Jock, arms crossed, watching her. He was shorter than Jock and not quite as muscular, but he, too, looked strong. The gray in his black hair was surprising since he didn’t look older than mid-thirties, only a few years older than Kathlene. Ralf’s facial features were wide and suggested, like his last name, a Hispanic background. Like Jock, his casual outfit didn’t even hint that he was currently in the military and on assignment.

Jock must have caught her indecision. He gestured with one muscular arm toward the table. “You and I can sit there, and Ralf will hang out near us.”

Ralf strode toward the nearest wall and leaned against it, arms crossed over his chest. It appeared that he was used to taking orders from Jock. All Kathlene had been told about them was that they were members of a covert military unit called Alpha Force, her “friend” Jock was a lieutenant, and he would be accompanied by a noncommissioned officer.

She only hoped that the two of them could at least provide whatever juice was needed to bring in more help if needed.

And she expected it would be.

For now she, like Ralf, followed the sort-of instructions that Jock gave and sat at the table.

And decided how best to begin this conversation.

* * *

Jock sent Ralf to the kitchen area to grab bottles of water for all of them. Until he rejoined them, this would be a good time to learn Kathlene’s background.

Like, did she believe in shapeshifters?

He laughed internally at the thought. That was a question that would never get asked.

As she spoke, she told him she had always lived in Montana, moving from Missoula after college.

Despite their cover story, Jock had never been in Montana before. He had grown up in Wisconsin, another state where there were more rural areas than city life. Where wilderness was the primary topography.

That was where his family had settled long ago. The remoteness helped to hide what they were. But what he was had made him gravitate toward the U.S. Military as soon as he first heard of Alpha Force.

Ralf returned and placed a bottle of water on the smooth but unpolished wooden table before each of them.

“Here’s to our success in resolving the Clifford County situation,” Jock said, raising his bottle.

“I’ll drink to that,” Kathlene said. Ralf joined them in their alcohol-free toast. The look on Kathlene’s face nevertheless appeared strained, as if she doubted they in fact would be successful.

If so, he intended to surprise her. In many ways.

Right now it was time to really get down to business. And talk.

And make sure he ignored how much lust he felt for this lovely, obviously determined woman.

Kathlene started their conversation after downing a drink of water. “I chose this motel for you to stay in,” she said, “because the former ranch where the people I believe are anarchists are gathering isn’t far from here.”

“Yes, the anarchists,” Jock said. “Why we’re here. I’d like you to tell us why you think that’s who they are. I’ve looked at the file that was started on this matter before Alpha Force was called in, but as I said I want your version.”

“Of course.” She seemed to hesitate, but only for a second. And there was nothing at all hesitant in the strong, sure glare of her blue eyes. “I could be wrong about the whole thing but I don’t think so. The number of people at the apparent conclave, all men as far as I can tell, keep increasing. They stay mostly to themselves but when I’ve headed in the direction of the formerly abandoned ranch where they live, I’ve sometimes heard gunshots.”

“It’s late summer,” Ralf said from behind them. “Isn’t it hunting season for something?”

“The season for large game like elk, moose and all tends to start in late September. But when any members of this group have come into town, they seem to make it a point of saying they’ve been holding target practice to be ready when the season starts.”

“That target practice could also be with the intent of hunting more than wildlife,” Jock said.

Like people?

That was the crux of their involvement here. They would find out about what these hunters, or whatever they were, were up to.

And stop them if necessary.

Perhaps in the form of an animal they otherwise would hunt.

A wolf.

Jock glanced at Ralf, who nodded. He undoubtedly knew exactly what Jock was thinking.

* * *

The sudden glance between Jock and Ralf stoked Kathlene’s curiosity. This man wasn’t a fan of hunting? His look of displeasure actually pleased Kathlene. She might have gone into law enforcement, but her intent was to save as many lives as possible, human and animal.

Especially human. That was the reason she had become a deputy sheriff. She knew more than most people what it was like to lose loved ones to unanticipated and unnecessary violence.

“What about wolves?” Ralf asked. “Are they fair game?”

“Yes, sometimes,” Kathlene said. “I’m not sure what the season for them is this year.”

“Oh,” Jock said.

Kathlene couldn’t quite figure out what his tone meant—irony? Anger? A challenge of some kind?

But she had been saving her biggest concern for last. “It’s not only multiple rounds of gunshots I’ve heard near that old ranch area,” she said. “And I think this is what actually got the military’s attention. There have been explosions, too. Small ones, but more than just shots being fired.”

Her boss, the sheriff, had only shaken his head when she’d mentioned them. Told her she had one hell of a female imagination.

In essence, told her to bug off and maybe respond to some phone calls from senior citizens who called the cops claiming they heard things because they wanted some attention.

Like she supposedly was doing despite her lesser age.

“Interesting,” Jock said. He asked her questions—cogent ones that indicated he actually believed her, which made her feel a lot better than it should.

But she managed to explain her own patrol duties—both assigned by the department and assumed by herself because of her concern about the growing number of apparent hunters hanging out at the old ranch that had been unused for years but apparently had been purchased recently by a relative of one of the men now living there, according to public records. Or at least it had been purchased by someone with the last name Tisal, but not Nate Tisal, the guy who apparently was in charge of the group.

“If anything, they could be terrorists and not also anarchists,” she said, “but when I’ve spoken with any of them, which is rare, their comments suggest that they hate any kind of authority, not only local.”

“If they’re either,” Jock said, “we need to confirm it and shut them down before anyone’s hurt.”

“Definitely,” Kathlene said. “One thing I’m particularly concerned about is that there have been threats made against at least some of the Clifford County Commissioners. A friend of mine who’s a commissioner told me about some anonymous emails with sources that couldn’t be traced, as well as actual letters mailed to the County Administration Building from other parts of the country. They apparently tell the commission to back off from enacting some laws currently under consideration that would help enforce state regulations to protect wildlife and require the arrest of poachers. The sheriff said he’s got some officers looking into it but nothing’s been found so far. It’s not certain that the anarchists are to blame, of course—but with the timing and all, that’s my suspicion.”

“Got it,” Jock said. “We’ll look into that, too. Right now, though, let’s go over our cover story.”

“Yeah,” Ralf said. He’d been leaning against the cabin wall beside the table sipping water. “Jock’s your old buddy, and we’re both insurance salesmen from Seattle, which is where Jock supposedly lives these days, too. Don’t we look like insurance salesmen?” He mugged a little toward Kathlene and she laughed.

“’Course we do,” Jock said. “Risk and liability and all that kind of stuff, right?”

“Right,” Ralf responded. “And high premiums, too.”

Both men laughed this time. Great. They apparently had a good working relationship. But Kathlene hadn’t figured out what Alpha Force was and why it was considered a particularly special military team.

Good thing she had made friends in college with Bill Grantham, whose dad had been an army colonel then. Now he was a general working at the Pentagon. Kathlene, frustrated and not knowing what else to do, had wound up explaining her concerns to Bill about what was going on in Clifford County. General Grantham had listened, then suggested sending in help to scope out their validity. The result had been the deployment here of members of this covert unit. But why Alpha Force? What was Alpha Force all about? Kathlene had no idea...yet. But she would definitely learn.

“You’ll need to explain insurance to me one of these days,” she made herself joke. Then she got serious. “And also about what your special unit’s all about and how you’ll be dealing with the situation here.”

“Sure,” Jock responded. “Once we’ve done our recon and we see what we’re actually up against.”

But why was it that Kathlene had the sense that the last thing that hot, amusing, obviously determined Jock Larabey wanted to do was to let her know what Alpha Force was really about?

“I’ll give you my schedule,” she told them. “I’ll want to be with you as much as possible.”

“No need,” Jock said. “We’ll handle it.”

She glanced at him. He was sharing a look with Ralf that clearly excluded her. What weren’t they saying?

“My participation, helping out? That’s part of the plan,” she said coolly.

“Not exactly.”

“Yes, exactly.”

He just glared at her, but only for a moment before moving on as if she hadn’t spoken. “Now, as I started to say, we’re here from Seattle, which is where we ostensibly live. Right now we’re here visiting my old buddy Kathlene on our way to tour Yellowstone once we’ve done some sightseeing and real camping around here. We love this area, though, and will explore it for fun—or that’s what it’ll look like. But we’ll do some nosing around to find out more about it. That will include where you indicate your anarchists are living.”

“Fine,” she said. “I unfortunately don’t have vacation time I can take right now but I’ll visit you a lot here at the cabin, camp out with you on nights when I don’t have to report for duty early the next day. And—”

“No, not necessary. We’ll hang out in town with you some of the time, get together for lunch or dinner in public, that kind of thing. We’re the ones here undercover, and we’ll handle all the covert investigation stuff. No need for you to get involved.”

Kathlene felt herself rise to a half stand. Her shoulders were tense. Her whole body was stiff, in fact.

Was this man telling her, as her boss, the sheriff, did, that women had no place in down and dirty law-enforcement matters—maybe just pushing paper or bringing coffee?

If that was what he wasn’t saying—but meant—Jock Larabey was going to learn that exactly the opposite was true.

Especially with her.

Chapter 2

Kathlene decided not to push the point with this man. Not yet. Instead, she suggested that she give them a quick tour of Cliffordsville.

Even though they must have driven through the town to get here, she could give them a different perspective on it, both as a resident and a peace officer.

Not to mention being the person who thought the town—and possibly way beyond—needed help.

“Sounds like a good idea,” Jock said, and Ralf agreed.

They concurred that Kathlene should drive them. Her chauffeuring them around would help substantiate their cover of Jock being an old friend of hers.

“Kathlene and I are going to talk a little bit first,” Jock told Ralf as they reached her car. “Why don’t you meet us at the front gate to this place? You won’t mind stopping there for a minute, will you, Kathlene?”

The cabin-filled motel area was surrounded by a decorative wooden fence, with a gate near the office that was almost always open. “No, that’s fine,” Kathlene said, although she wondered what was really going on after the two men exchanged looks that appeared to hold a brief, silent conversation. Some Alpha Force business that they weren’t going to tell her about?

If so, that was okay—for now. But it made her even more determined to learn what they really were about.

She looked in the rearview mirror after backing her vehicle out of its space in front of the row of cabins where these men were staying. Only a few other cars were around, including a black, nondescript sedan which, considering its proximity to their cabin, was the one she assumed they had come in.

She glanced again into the mirror after aiming her SUV toward the entrance and saw that Ralf still stood there, apparently waiting for her to leave the area before doing whatever he and Jock had communicated about.

That only piqued her curiosity all the more.

“So how long have you lived in Cliffordsville?” Jock asked as she drove slowly toward the parking area near the entrance.

“About six years,” she said, glancing toward the hot-looking man who was getting her to think about sex a whole lot more than she had in ages. Well, she could think about it all she wanted. But the only action around here would be the impending demise of the anarchist group if it presented the kind of threat she believed it did.

“Did you live in Missoula before you went to college there?”

“Yes.” She knew her voice sounded curt with that answer, but he was now edging too close to topics she refused to discuss. Like her childhood and background. Sex? Hah. She was now being turned off by this man thanks to his chosen topic of conversation.

They passed three other rows of identical cabins before reaching the much larger one that served as the reception area and offices. She pulled into a space nearest the exit gate and parked.

To preclude Jock’s continuing her interrogation, she decided it was time for one of her own. “So tell me about Alpha Force,” she said.

His craggy, handsome face seemed to shutter, but only for an instant. Then he smiled. “I’m sure you’ve been told that we’re a covert military group, and we can’t discuss our methodology with anyone, either other military personnel or civilians.”

“But in a situation like this, where I know you’ve been picked out particularly because of whatever it is you do to look into what’s going on here—”

“So did you always know you wanted to go into law enforcement?” His tone was smooth, but his expression was both wry and warning.

He wasn’t going to tell her anything.

Well, she wasn’t going to tell him anything, either, unless she was sure it would help her cause.

Another car pulled through the gate and parked close to the office. Kathlene pretended to study it.

That was when she saw Ralf approaching on foot from the direction from which they’d driven.

Good. This conversation was clearly over.

* * *

Ralf was now ensconced in the backseat. Although Kathlene turned the car toward town as they exited the motel’s entrance driveway, she told Jock she would drive them farther along this road on their return—past the entry to the formerly abandoned ranch where the people she believed to be anarchists now lived and multiplied.

“That’s where we’ll do whatever recon we decide on later,” she said. “But I figured I’d get you started by showing you the town and innocently drive past the area on our return to your motel room.”

“Thanks,” Jock said. “That’ll work. And I’d like you to tell us everything you know and suspect so Ralf and I will be able to do our job here.”

She heard between the lines. They thought they were going to exclude her.

They weren’t.

Right now, as promised, she headed toward town.

As she drove down Main Street, she chatted about Cliffordsville, the shops they passed, the nature of the place before the anarchists had started appearing. They drove along a well-stocked commercial area, with stores ranging from name-brand casual clothes to a men’s suit outlet to a variety of restaurants from fast-food to nice, sit-down dining.

Main Street was pretty much a straight line, with a few traffic lights to allow drivers to pull onto it from the myriad side streets, some of which were also commercial, and others led to residential areas.

They didn’t drive far enough down it to reach the County Administration Building, City Hall and the Sheriff’s Department. The official part of town sat on the outskirts of the business area.

Kathlene liked Cliffordsville. A lot. She had made it her home.

Unlike Missoula, where she had grown up, it held only good memories for her—at least before.

Nothing controversial.

Not till recently, at least.

But her mind veered in different directions from all she was talking about. She was determining how she was going to take a stand and make it clear to Jock that she would participate in the investigation. Period.

“Where do you live?” Jock asked out of the blue. They had just turned down a side street so she could show them some of the closest residential areas—but she hadn’t intended to show them her house.

A jolt rocked through her body nonetheless. She knew he wasn’t asking to come home with her, yet the idea suddenly heated up her insides as if he had suggested they engage in some down and dirty sex.

Damn. She’d already convinced herself not to feel turned on by this man—hadn’t she? She wanted them to be comrades in arms, conspirators in figuring out what was really going on in that odd and growing encampment outside town.

She knew what would turn her off. Fast.

“I own a house in the same general direction we just turned,” she told him as casually as she could muster. “It’s in a small residential neighborhood within the city limits, though. The cabins where you’re staying are in an area considered to be outside town, although still within Clifford County, which means they’re within the sheriff’s department’s jurisdiction.” She paused. “As I said before, I’ll be spending time with you at your cabin. That’ll help us look like the old friends we’re supposed to be. I’ll also accompany you if you go camping. That way, I’ll be able to help in your surveillance.”

There. The gauntlet had been thrown down once more, but this time she had given a cursory reason why she should be with them at least part of the time as they worked.

Jock said nothing. But as Kathlene reached Main Street again and stopped for a traffic light, she looked over at him.

He seemed to be staring out the windshield, but his large hands were fisted in his lap. What was he thinking?

She had a feeling she wouldn’t like it. But she was dying to know.

* * *

The woman was trying to drive him nuts—and not just because she was so hot that he didn’t really want to keep his hands off her. But he would. Sex would only complicate things even further.

She had to keep her nose out of what Ralf and he were doing. Hell, Jock knew she had no idea about the facts.

First of all, when he did his surveillance of the supposed anarchists’ camp, he wouldn’t look like he did at the moment.

No. He would look a lot more like his cover dog, Click. The dog Ralf had gone to check on in the cabin next door before they left their motel.

Click must have been fine, or Ralf would have stayed behind. Or at least said something.

Jock glanced quickly into the backseat. Ralf remained there, of course. Looking all nice and neutral—and interested. But staying out of the conversation.

A good thing? Maybe. But it might be better if his aide participated. Even took over for him. Ralf was good at being discreet, keeping things calm.

Keeping Jock in line, both in human and in wolf form.

At the moment, Jock knew he had to make his position clear with Kathlene. Not give her all the facts. But even though she had been the one to trigger Alpha Force’s involvement by taking her concerns to the right government contacts, now she had to stay back and let him do what was necessary—and only with Ralf’s help, not hers.

He thought more about Ralf and what he should do. What he should say.

And how their commanding officer, Major Drew Connell—the man who had approved Jock’s enlistment into the military and into Alpha Force, the man who had first created the very special elixir that gave Alpha Force’s shifting members such an edge over other shapeshifters, other people—would handle this.

Discretion is the key, he reminded himself.

He let himself respond to Kathlene’s challenge at last.

“I appreciate your offer to help out,” he lied, but he did manage to keep his tone calm and level. “The thing is, you may not know it, but Alpha Force’s position is that, once we accept a mission, we work alone, without outside help.” Another lie, but it made sense, especially now.

“That may work sometimes,” Kathlene said, her tone as flat as his, “but not here. Not now. I need to stay involved because I am involved.”

“But you could get hurt!” Damn. He hadn’t meant to blast that out that way. It was what was on his mind, though.

Always. Especially in a situation like this.

“I won’t,” she countered, her voice raised as much as his. He wanted to grab her and shake some sense into her. But he couldn’t. Not with her driving.

Besides, he found Deputy Kathlene Baylor so attractive, so sexy, that touching her again for any reason would be a huge mistake. All he would want to do, despite all his common sense, would be to get her under the covers.

And then what would happen to the mission she had gotten him into?

His attraction to her was a huge part of the problem, though. He couldn’t help comparing this lovely, determined woman with Jill, his high school sweetheart.

Jill, a shapeshifter like him.

Jill, who had gone into law enforcement like Kathlene.

And who had been killed during her first year on the job, not while shifted but while in human form on a dangerous assignment.

Would Jill have survived if she’d been a man? If she had been in wolf form? Unlikely, of course, and he knew that even wondering about it allowed him no closure, especially after all this time.

But one thing Jock was sure of. He didn’t like it at all when women he felt attracted to got into perilous circumstances. If he happened to be there, he’d save them.

There was no way of his being certain he could be with them at the crucial time, though. He knew what a dinosaur he might be—yet, thanks to what had happened to Jill, he couldn’t help thinking it was a lot more foolish of women, even trained ones, to put themselves into hazardous situations than it was for men.

Because they were not physically as strong, they were more likely to get killed.

“Jock?” Her challenging tone shrieked irritation. She was waiting for his further response.

He still said nothing. He wasn’t about to explain his beliefs to her—or his rationale for them.

“Jock, tell you what. I appreciate your protective attitude.” She sounded anything but appreciative, yet she continued. “But I’ll prove to you that I can take care of myself. I’m a skilled law-enforcement officer. I’ve been trained in everything from accuracy in shooting guns of nearly all types to hand-to-hand combat. I’m challenging you, Jock. We’ll start when we get back to the cabin. If I can pin you to the floor in a hand-to-hand fight, then you’ll let me be there when you do your surveillance and more.”

* * *

Silly? Foolish? Absurd to the max? All of the above. But the challenge had been impulsive, a way to show him who she was and what she really was made of.

And now? Well, she had no choice. She could do it. She would do it.

Notwithstanding her inability to fully read Jock’s expression when he looked at her so incredulously.

There seemed to be an angry set to his brow.

A heated look in his blue eyes that suggested her words had turned him on.

Since it was now early evening, she went through a fast-food drive-in lane and they all got their meals, which they ate in the car. Fine with her. She was on a mission of sorts and didn’t want any further interruptions just now.

Next, she did as she had planned from the moment they had set out on this drive. She made a left turn at one of the traffic lights, then drove them onto the narrowing lane they had come from before.

This time, though, she went beyond where the cabin motel lay, heading down the road even farther.

There was a sparse number of homes along it, some tiny, others large, mostly in good condition, but a few were run-down cottages that had been there forever. All were set in the midst of large stands of trees, some with branches carved back to avoid blocking the road and others somewhat in the way.

Eventually, she reached the turnoff she had been looking for, a very narrow, nondescript driveway. No one could tell from this better-traveled drag what lay beyond.

She knew. She had visited it, several times. And had seen the huge chain-link fence that had been built in the middle of nowhere.

Farther down the drive, the guard at the gate had not let her through, claiming that it was private property and everything was fine there. No need for law enforcement’s interference...er, help.

“That’s the way to the enclave in question.” She slowed and pointed in that direction.

“All the way out here?” Ralf leaned forward so his head was between the front seats. “Guess that could make someone suspicious in itself.”

Was he questioning her thought processes? Kathlene would have expected that more from Jock—although she really didn’t know Ralf any better than she knew her supposed friend from the past.

“But it looks innocent enough,” Jock observed.

Okay. No surprise. He was questioning her, too.

“From here, yes,” she acknowledged. “Farther along...well, I’m sure you’ll see for yourselves soon.” With me along, she thought, but didn’t voice it just then.

Now, though, it was time to go back.

She found the turnoff she was looking for a mile down the road, then maneuvered her SUV to return in the direction from which they’d come.

Once again, they drove along the narrow road with conifers looming overhead—lodgepole pines, junipers, cedars, firs. Every once in a while the blue sky showed through, but the roadway was mostly shaded.

Kathlene knew it would be unpleasant to come here at night, and she hadn’t done so...yet. But she suspected she would. Maybe with these Alpha Force men.

Soon they again reached the area where the motel cabins lay. Kathlene smiled grimly to herself, wondering what awaited her here this time.

Was she really going to fight Jock?

Hell, yes, if that was the only way to get him to cooperate.

She had done extremely well as a rookie, training to become a deputy sheriff. She had outfought all of the other would-be deputies, male and female.

Sheriff Frawley had yet to acknowledge her skills—even though she still engaged in training exercises with other deputies more experienced than she was.

Would surprising Jock, toppling him, be enough to convince him?

Even if it didn’t, it would certainly improve her frustrated state of mind.

Although, considering how sexy she found the muscular guy staring at the narrow, barely paved road in front of them, it was bound to cause her another kind of frustration.

Jock hadn’t actually responded to her dare. But the moment they reached the large cabin at the front of the development that contained the offices, he jumped out.

After one cold stare and shake of his head, he turned away from Kathlene.

Fine with her. She waited until Ralf got out of the backseat. Would he try to talk her out of her challenge?

She’d gathered, from the way the two men interacted, that Jock was probably the superior-ranking military officer, with Ralf perhaps reporting to him.

That was something else she wanted to know, in addition to what Alpha Force was really about.

How could these men, members of this particular unit, help to figure out what was going on here better than other cops or military members?

Well, if she won their fight, Jock would owe her. He’d have to let her help in their investigation.

And he’d also have to tell her more, including about Alpha Force.

But would he?

He damn well better.

* * *

They’d gone back to the cabin. All three of them.

“So...thanks for showing us around, Kathlene,” Jock said, finally glancing at her. She’d been helpful, but now it was time for her to go. “We’ll get more of the lay of the land tomorrow morning on our own. What’s your schedule? Can we meet you for lunch? That’ll fit with our cover story.”

“Yes,” she said curtly. “It will. And I’ll be glad to meet you then. But my next day off is Friday, the day after tomorrow. We’ll get together in between, too, when I can. You’ll keep me apprised in between by phone or meeting, let me know what you learn. I’ll join up with you as much as I can.”

She looked so attractive as she snarled at him, her hair still pulled back from that gorgeous face.

But she was still trying to take control of a situation that he controlled.

Wasn’t going to happen.

“We’ll keep you apprised,” he agreed mildly. “Let us know what time you can take off for lunch tomorrow. And we’ll let you know every step we’ve taken.” After we take it. But he didn’t say that aloud.

She obviously figured it out, though. “No, like I said, I’m going to be part of this. You remember my challenge?”

“Now look, Kathlene,” Ralf said. “We know you were joking, but—”

“I wasn’t,” she responded curtly, still staring at Jock.

“Of course I remember it,” he retorted. “But Ralf’s right. It was—”

“Then let’s get started,” she interrupted. “You win and I’ll comply with what you’ve said. I win, and I’m dead center in the middle of the operation. Got it?”

“Yes, but—”

He was shocked. Amused. And taken by surprise as the lovely, slim woman removed her sheriff’s department jacket, belt with its holster and radio, and dropped them on the floor.

And then she approached him fast, hands out, and grabbed him by the arms.

Chapter 3

Jock Larabey’s body felt just as muscular as it looked. Kathlene wasn’t surprised by that. In fact, she’d felt it before, when they’d hugged.

She’d only hoped to take him by surprise, here in the middle of the cabin’s main room on its polished wood floor, between the beds and sitting area she had checked out previously. She had to get him to take her seriously, and defeating him like one of the guys should help.

“Hey!” Ralf shouted, and out of the corner of her eye Kathlene saw him approaching, his hands out, too, as if he intended to pull her away.

She wouldn’t let him. But fighting two muscular men at once?

That could be a problem.

She was gratified, therefore, to hear Jock snap out, “Stay back, Ralf. In fact, get out of here. I’ve got this covered.”

He didn’t, of course, but fortunately Ralf backed off and stormed out of the cabin. Good.

But why had Jock done that? So Ralf wouldn’t see his humiliation? Doubtful. He had to believe he would win.

She’d inhaled as she moved and, now even more aware of her breathing and what was around her, she smelled the sweet combo of aromas of whatever had been used to clean this space for the next occupants.

But she quickly threw all of that out of her consciousness. She had to focus on what she was doing.

At the same time as she had grabbed Jock, she’d twisted her body, her legs around his, to trip him and take him down.

It was like trying to pull down a sturdy steel pipe.

“Hey!” he yelled, but he didn’t fall. That was okay. She’d conducted a lot of hand-to-hand combat training with men as well as women, and some were not only muscular but big-bellied, too, unlike Jock. She’d always managed to defeat even them.

She knew her best moves.

She turned and rose at once, putting herself out of Jock’s arms’ reach temporarily. Or so she thought.

One of his hands was suddenly on her middle, the other grasping for her neck. Was he going to strangle her? Maybe the military was trained to do their worst, act harshly as if prepared to kill even its own, presuming that the other guy was as well trained and could get out of it.

Well, she could, too.

“No!” she yelled, another kind of distraction as she twisted away from him, then quickly turned and attempted to swing her arm and aim at his face while her leg again moved around his.

This time, he apparently let her. No resistance. At first. But before she could trip him, he moved once more and had one of his arms about her chest while the other moved farther below.

Interesting, to have him touching her there. All over. Apparently, he thought so, too, since she heard a whoosh from him that sounded like what she had heard sometimes in her training sessions with men—surprise, maybe. And interest.

His hand on her breasts moved. Squeezing just a little. Damn, but it felt good. She couldn’t allow it to distract her, though—even if it distracted him.

She pretended to start going limp, then straightened, leaped back and turned, facing him again.

And noticing the thick bulge in his jeans as he, too, faced her once more, bent slightly forward, his arms at his sides, clenching and unclenching his fists.

This was definitely more heated, in many ways, than the hug they had previously shared.

Why did that position look so sexy? Or was it just her touching him—and seeing how his body appeared to be reacting?

“Enough?” he asked. He was breathing hard, even though what they’d done so far wasn’t especially active.

“Not unless you give in and agree I’m part of your team.”

She anticipated his rush forward. She turned sideways to make it harder for him to grab her in crucially vulnerable spots to bring her down.

That ended with her hip pressed right against that bulge she had noticed before. She drew in her breath.

Lord, how she wanted him just then. Which was crazy. She didn’t know him. And she needed him to do a job here that could protect her friends, her fellow Clifford County residents and maybe even more citizens of the United States.

Would her seducing Jock cause him to do a better job? Hardly.

Even if it did, that didn’t mean he would let her help.

And she was going to help, no matter what he thought.

“Okay, then, yes,” he said. “You’re part of the team.” Was it over that quickly? “The part of it that I say you are. And that means staying out of danger.” As if he believed he had distracted her, he rushed forward, upper part of his body bent, and attempted to tackle her.

She quickly moved away, grabbing at his head and smelling his musky scent as she let herself fall, pulling him down with her.

Amazingly, he fell, too. Onto the floor. Beside where she now knelt. She flipped over, heaving her entire being on top of him. Using every ounce of her weight to press him down.

Feeling his thick muscles everywhere tense beneath her. His chest. His legs.

And the protrusion at his core that thrust up at her as she refused to move.

“You’re busted!” she exclaimed triumphantly. “I win. I’m a part of your team—the way I say I am.”

He didn’t move. Didn’t say anything. Not for several heartbeats—and she believed hers was somehow synced with his.

His hips moved, and his erection was thrust up against her gut, making her own insides heat and churn and ache with a desire that would not, could not, be fulfilled. Not now or ever. Not with this man.

She continued to watch his face, which, as handsome as it was, somehow remained blank, as if all thoughts, all emotions, all desires, had been erased from within him by her victory.

Even if he rocked her off him now, she still had won, so his pretending to ignore her wouldn’t work. Or at least it wouldn’t gain him a win over her.

And then a horrible thought struck her. “Did you let me win, Larabey?” she demanded. Well, even if he had, she was still on top—in more ways than one.

She couldn’t quite read the expression that passed quickly over his face before disappearing. Smugness? Anger?

“You think I want you to join us in danger? Forget it.” The movement of his chest as he spoke bumped against her, causing her breasts to tense along his muscular body. Oh, that heat within her. She’d better get off. Quickly.

“You don’t need to worry about me,” she said. “I can take care of myself.”

“So I’ve just learned.” She appreciated the irony in his tone. “In this kind of situation. But even so, Kathlene, you have to realize that what we’re likely to be up against, if you’re right about those guys being anarchists, is—”

She had to shut him up. She bent her head forward—and covered those still-moving lips of his with her own.

He responded. Oh, did he ever. His voice stopped immediately, but the movement of his lips didn’t. He fastened them on her as he thrust his tongue into her mouth, hot and moving as enticingly as his body below suggested by its pressure against her, imitating the dance of sensuality that she had already imagined going on between them.

“Kathlene,” he murmured against her. She responded by drawing his tongue even farther into her mouth, teasing it with hers as suggestively as he played with her.

She couldn’t think. Couldn’t react with the sanity of a deputy sheriff in danger. For this was danger, maybe even a kind Jock had been warning her about.

Danger that would be magnified by her joining his team. Working with him. Seeing him often while he was here, till they had accomplished—

“Hell.” A familiar male voice from the doorway interrupted her thoughts that were already disjointed, thanks to Jock’s continuing to drive her nuts with the movement of his body. She turned her head to see Ralf standing there. He’d come back. “Didn’t mean to interrupt anything like...I’ll go take another walk.”

Jock’s body heaved slightly from beneath her. He grabbed her with his hands and lowered her gently to the floor as he stood. “Not what it looks like,” he told his fellow Alpha Force member. “We were just demonstrating some fighting moves we’d each learned.”

“Right,” Ralf said. His deep complexion had grown ruddy with embarrassment.

“It’s true.” Jock was standing now. He bent to offer his hand to help her to her feet.

She accepted, still looking at the floor. Kathlene didn’t dare glance toward Ralf. Not just yet.

“Kathlene and I have reached an agreement of sorts,” Jock said. “She wants to work with us. Be part of our team as we investigate those potential anarchists. She’d wanted to show me some of her fighting skills to prove that she could hold her own, and I now agree with her. Kathlene is now definitely a part of our team.”

* * *

Had he let her win? Jock didn’t think so, but he had allowed her to distract him enough with her so-sexy body in motion that the result had been inevitable.

Besides, he’d felt reluctant to fight a female at all. Could that have been his wolf side reacting? Unlikely. That part of him illustrated his wildness, not holding back when it was in his best interests. Even so...well, it was over now.

She had stayed for just a short while as they planned their next meet-up—lunch the next day. Meantime, Ralf and he would do a little recon on their own before getting together with her, studying the layout of Cliffordsville and its environs even more, maybe even doing an initial check of the area containing the anarchists’ habitat tonight.

Little did she know how he would check it.

And that was one of the biggest problems of her working with them as a team. That, and the potential danger.

He could protect her. Would protect her.

But what would she think if she knew what he was, and why he, rather than a member of any other military unit, had been sent here?

Now, after their brief discussion inside the cabin, he walked her to her car. She said goodbye to them—for now. It was getting late, darkness was falling and she said she was heading home.

She used her key to unlock the driver’s door of her SUV, and he opened it for her.

“Sorry I embarrassed you in front of your partner,” she said as she faced him before getting inside. Her lovely face was flushed a bit, too. Her smile seemed ironic, drawing her full lips up just a bit at the corners.

He couldn’t help it. He bent and gave her another kiss.

Oh, not as sensual as last time. It was, in comparison, just a peck. But it still managed to evoke the feelings he had captured before—feelings of her firm but curvaceous body against him.

She pulled away first. “Bye, Jock. I’ll be thinking about you tonight.” Before he could react, she said, “About our team. And how best to investigate the anarchists together.” She ducked into the car and pulled the door shut. She turned the key in the ignition and waved to him as she drove off.

“You’ve got an interesting way of sealing the deal, making her part of the team.” Ralf and Click had come up to Jock as Kathlene’s car vanished around a curve. “And I thought the last thing you wanted was for her to help us—and potentially learn what Alpha Force is all about.”

Jock turned and motioned for Ralf to follow him back toward the cabin. “I don’t know yet what kind of help she might be, but she does know people around here as well as locations. Plus, she was the one who revealed that there was a potential issue here and was credible enough for those in charge to follow up. Maybe she can help, and maybe not. But as far as her learning about Alpha Force—and me—we’ll just have to make sure she doesn’t. At least not unless we decide it’s to our advantage for her to know—which I doubt. Speaking of which, now that she’s gone, I think it’ll be time soon for some very special reconnaissance.”

* * *

The drive back to her home was a short distance along narrow streets now illuminated by artificial light, but Kathlene considered it a huge way from where she had left Jock. What had she been thinking?

Apparently, she hadn’t been thinking. A hand-to-hand combat battle to convince him to let her help in finding out what was up with those anarchists?

Well, he was military, she was in law enforcement, and engaging in that kind of confrontation may have made sense...may being the operative word.

At least it had worked out. He had acknowledged that she would be part of his team.

Kathlene reached the cottage-style redbrick house on the residential street that she called home. She pulled into the driveway and pushed the button for the garage door to open.

She knew she wouldn’t sleep much that night. She would be thinking too much about Jock Larabey, their workout together...and the feel of his body, and lips, against hers.

She made herself rehash their final conversation—and realized it felt too easy. They were going to look around. Preliminarily check out the town and the anarchists’ site that she had pointed out to them. Tomorrow morning?

Maybe. But she had a feeling that these men would not wait. She turned the key in the ignition, closed her garage door and backed out of her driveway again.

They might be checking out the anarchists’ location that night. If not, she’d just return here, no harm, no foul.

But if they were checking it out—well, she’d be checking them out.

* * *

“This should do it.” Jock had allowed Ralf to drive him back along the route they had taken when Kathlene pointed out the turnoff toward where she’d indicated the possible anarchists were living. Then they had cruised a bit longer until they had found what appeared to be a nearby solitary and abandoned home, at least from what they could tell in the near absolute darkness of this forested area. The place had been built of wood in a style that looked like some bygone era’s, and that wood was rotting.

Its emptiness made it a good place to conduct what they now needed to do.

Ralf had pulled behind the structure, just in case. They didn’t want their car to be seen from the road if any of the people they wanted to surveil happened to drive by.

Plus, what they now needed to do could not be done with any normal, non–Alpha Force human around.

It was a secret from all other eyes. It was the heart of their supercovert military unit.

They both were out of the car. Click had remained locked in the rented cabin next door to theirs. He was vital to this part of their assignment—but only because he closely resembled the wolf into which Jock was about to change. If anyone happened to see Jock, Ralf and he would laugh it off. Show off the dog later and say it had always been Click.

“You ready, sir?” Ralf asked. He had pulled his large backpack out of the rear seat of the car and was holding out a vial of the very special Alpha Force shifting elixir.

That elixir alone was enough to entice shapeshifters to join Alpha Force. It had been developed by some of the unit’s members, starting with its commanding officer, Major Drew Connell, and enhanced by formulas that other members had created independently that provided additional qualities.

“‘Sir’? You’re too military, bro.” Ralf was a staff sergeant. Jock, as a lieutenant, was, in fact, his superior officer. But Alpha Forcers worked together too closely to stand much on military protocol. “But yeah, I’m ready.”

They had decided, to save time, to have Jock shift outside the house, at least for this change. Then, when he was off performing his recon, Ralf would find a way to get inside and check the place out.

Now the only illumination was from the penlight that Ralf had taken from his sack and turned on, plus a bit of natural light from the starlit sky, visible now and then through the canopy of trees and over the road where they had been cleared. No full moon, not for another couple of weeks. Jock took the bottle of elixir and downed it slowly. It tasted somewhat minty and a bit like citrus fruit. Drinkable, but that didn’t matter.

When he had finished it, he handed back the empty vial, took a deep breath and said, “Now.”

Ralf aimed the other light he had taken from the backpack toward Jock, the one that, turned on, resembled the illumination of a full moon.

Jock immediately felt the stretching and pulling sensations begin. He smiled, then growled, as his body began morphing into the form of a wolf.

* * *

He prowled through the forest, in the direction of the distant sounds and scents of a large human habitat.

The one that was his target. The target of Alpha Force.

Tonight would be an overview by a wolf seeking information—one with the perception of a human, thanks to the elixir—to see what was there, to help plan what would come next.

He smelled the aromas of the woodlands—the trees. Small creatures whose sounds he heard in the underbrush, fleeing from him. Larger animals—a bobcat. A bear. Perhaps a wolverine. He scented them all, but none was near him.

A good thing. He wanted neither to flee nor to fight.

Not this night.

He soon arrived at his destination. He smelled a legion of humans. Saw the compound surrounded by a tall chain-link fence.

He slowly began circling it, careful to stay far enough away in the trees not to be spotted by curious human eyes.

He smelled fire and approached the wooded area closest to where it seemed to originate. Yes. Beyond the fence, a group of humans sat around a large campfire, apparently talking and drinking. He could smell beer and some harder stuff. Despite his keen hearing, he could only make out a hum of conversation, not specifically what they were saying.

Was it true? Were these men bent on evading—or toppling—authority and harming other humans? Or were they just a group of hunters banding together in a bond of yearning to kill wildlife?

As much as he despised that, it would not be something that merited Alpha Force intervention.

Killing or even threatening other humans did.

He needed to learn more. But he had done most of what he had intended for this night.

Observing, using his other senses that were much keener than those of a human, he nevertheless waited for another twenty minutes, but that yielded little further useful information except for the scent of gunpowder, which fit with who these people were. Explosives? Maybe, but if so they had been set off a while back.

But what he sought could still be on the property, hidden, perhaps being stored without being utilized, for now. This was not the time to check—but he would in the near future.

He had determined where the gates to this property were, including the one staffed by a guard. Other areas where the fencing was not rooted as well. Ways he could enter if he had to.

Still others where the trees and bushes and undergrowth did not end at the fence line but extended onto the property—and could hide a wolf who happened to stalk into them and hide.

He would return here.

Soon.

And then, as he began to leave, he inhaled a scent. A familiar human scent, one that trumped all he had smelled previously.

He had to be wrong. And yet his special senses were never wrong about things like that.

A woman with the anarchists?

No. Near them.

Kathlene.

* * *

What was going on?

Kathlene had headed back to the area of the cabins and arrived just in time to see the car driven by Ralf exit through the motel’s gates and head in the direction of the anarchists’ area. She’d had to stay far back, even drive without using her headlights, to ensure that she wouldn’t be seen.

She’d watched as their car pulled into the driveway of what appeared to be an abandoned house along the road. She had decided she’d better park along a nearby turnout and walk, rather than drive, to keep an eye on them.

And, potentially, protect them. She had taken her weapon from where she had locked it in her glove compartment and now wore it at her hip.

The night was dark, especially with the canopy of trees looming overhead, obliterating the light from the half moon and the stars that, in as remote and unlighted an area as this, usually lit up the sky in identifiable constellations. And she had been right. It was unpleasant to come to this area at night, especially alone. But she had little choice.

She had carefully stayed on the road, walking slower than she would have liked but trying to make as little noise as possible, staying off the cover of dry leaves on the ground yet trying to remain invisible at the edge of the road. Making her way in the darkness. Staying careful, and as aware of her surroundings, and her solitude, as she possibly could.

That way, it took her a long time to catch up.

She had finally reached the house, looked inside a window, saw Ralf there in the faint illumination of a flashlight—but not Jock.

Had he tried to get inside the compound alone?

Bad move, she’d thought. What if he were seen?

Maybe he’d only intended to walk the perimeter outside the fence, just to take an initial look in the dark when he was less likely to be noticed. That made sense to her.

She’d decided to go check, just in case.

Still careful to walk as silently as possible, she had left the house with Ralf inside and hurried toward the road to the compound.

She’d wished she could use a flashlight, but at least her eyes had acclimated to the darkness. She had soon seen the light from the guardhouse and slipped behind the nearest trees, still carefully drawing closer to the area.

Then she’d started to slowly walk the perimeter. But then she had stopped. What was that?

Some kind of canine. It looked, from where she’d stood, like a German shepherd mix of some kind—but tawnier. Furrier. Like a wolf. A wild dog, maybe, that was part wolf.

As she’d watched, it seemed to smell the air in her direction. And then it moved on.

Moving cautiously, she tried to watch it but got only occasional glimpses of it. It appeared to stalk the compound outside the fence, like her—staying in the cover of the trees. It walked slowly, staring inside the enclosed area as if consciously observing what was there.

And then it disappeared. Even so, she continued to watch the area of the old ranch from her cover.

Now she had returned to an area not far from the driveway, hoping to see Jock, assuming he had come on foot to check the place out.

But after half an hour, she didn’t see him. She was tired. Disappointed. Maybe she had been wrong about what the Alpha Force members intended to do this night besides exclude her.

She still didn’t know what Ralf had been doing at that house. Where was Jock? Did it matter?

That wolf had most likely been hunting for food and had nothing to do with what else was going on around here.

Right?

But why was it she couldn’t quite accept that?

Still careful, she headed back to where she had parked her car.

Maybe she would get some answers tomorrow.

Chapter 4

“She was there.”

While still a wolf, Jock had loped through the woods back to the house near which he’d previously shifted. As planned, Ralf had gotten inside and had opened the door for him when he’d returned.

Jock had just morphed back to his human form. He’d grabbed the clothes that Ralf had folded neatly and left on a cleaned spot on the floor, then threw them on.

Now, inside the dismal and filthy hovel, he was dressed and angry and wanted to slam something. Except for spotting a few flaws in their security and some possible entry points, his initial observation had been totally inconclusive. He still had no sense of the extent of the likelihood for peril looming around the former ranch, but he definitely hadn’t ruled out the conceivability of those now staying there being at least skilled and dedicated terrorists and possible anarchists, as well.

He needed to get inside, though, to check for the extent of their weaponry.

Now he knew all his frustration was evident as he spoke to Ralf.

“Who? Kathlene? Where was she?” Ralf had placed his equipment on the floor and was now stowing it in his backpack again. He stopped, though, facing Jock in the dim glow of the flashlight he had left on for illumination.

“Near the old ranch, outside the fence like I was, also hiding in the woods. But I scented and heard her, then saw her. Damn the woman. She must have been following us. Does she like throwing herself into potential danger?”

“I think you know the answer to that,” Ralf said drily. Which only made Jock want to slam something all the more, like the wall. Not Ralf, and certainly not Kathlene—although, had she been nearby, it wouldn’t have been outside the realm of possibility for him to grab and shake her.

And he knew what a bad idea that would be...touching her again at all. He’d want to kiss those defiant lips, and more.

Well, he would have time to cool down before seeing her at lunch again tomorrow.

By then he would have thought of a brilliant way to convince her to back off and let Ralf and him do their jobs.

At least he hoped so.

“Did she know it was you?” Ralf asked, interrupting his thoughts.

“Of course not.” But Jock wondered nevertheless. Had she just shown up there because that was what she did—keeping an eye on the place where she thought a lot of dangerous people were gathering? That was a viable theory, of course. But unlikely for this evening.

Had she instead followed them—him?

That was something else he would have to check into tomorrow.

* * *

Kathlene was tired when she reported to work the next morning.

That wasn’t surprising. She hadn’t slept much.

Her mind kept buzzing around thoughts of her new Alpha Force best friends. Especially the so very sexy Jock Larabey, her supposed old buddy.

And their attempts to exclude her from the investigation.

Plus that strange visit of hers to the anarchists’ enclave last night, thinking she would see Jock hanging around outside, near where she was, after leaving Ralf at that old house...but instead seeing only a wolf.

A particularly strange-acting wolf...

Now, inside the sheriff’s station, in the assembly room waiting for the day’s instructions, she kept herself from yawning by sheer willpower.

The dozens of other deputies taking their seats on folding chairs around her would only rib her about it if they saw.

The noise around her was growing—loud male voices hailing each other, chairs being dragged around the wooden floor, shrill feedback from a microphone that Sheriff Melton Frawley’s top assistant, Undersheriff George Kerringston, was testing from the row of chairs up front that faced the rest.

Hardly any sound of female voices. Oh, yes, there were a couple of other deputies toughing it out like Kathlene. Or, actually, not like Kathlene. Deputy Betsy Alvers and Deputy Alberta Sheyne were perfectly happy being obedient underlings who did as Melton said, filling out paperwork at the station and bringing coffee to the big, brave men in the department.

The other couple of female deputies had resigned and moved away. There wasn’t even a local police department for them to join, since the county sheriff’s department was the only law enforcement in this area other than the state highway patrol on the major nearby roads. Only Kathlene attempted to keep up the job as they had once all known it.

That had become a daily fight. But she was no quitter.

And now, with her concerns about the apparent anarchists, she felt she owed it to the town, to the many people who remained her friends, to see this through.

“Hey, good lookin’.”

A thin man dressed just like her sat down on the empty chair beside her, sliding over so their hips met.

“Hey, ugly guy,” she said back, turning to smile up into the face of Senior Deputy Tommy Xavier Jones, the man who appeared to be her only supporter in the higher ranks of the department.

Tommy X had been a deputy for nearly twenty years. He had short gray hair, a long, almost equine face, and a lot of wrinkles. He was the tallest member of the department, was great friends with the town’s ranking politicians and dated a county commissioner, who also happened to be Kathlene’s friend.

He could get away with bucking the current regime within the Sheriff’s Department—and did.

And fortunately, he remained Kathlene’s champion, too.

“So—do you anticipate anything exciting today?” he asked, nodding toward the front of the room where Sheriff Frawley was about to take the microphone.

“Here? Nope. But I’m having lunch with my old college friend Jock, the one I told you about. I saw him briefly yesterday. He’s here with a friend on the way to Yellowstone and I’ll spend as much time as I can with them before they leave.”

Even with someone as close to her as Tommy X, Kathlene had decided to maintain the cover story—partly because she’d been instructed to if she wanted continuing help from the elite and covert Alpha Force, whatever it was, and partly because she didn’t dare allow her personal investigation of the anarchists become the knowledge of anyone here, not even Tommy X. Tommy X was a nice guy, trustworthy—but if he let even a hint of what was going on drop in front of anyone here who wanted to curry favor with Sheriff Frawley, she’d be toast.

“Attention, please.” That was Kerringston, shouting into the microphone although he didn’t have to. He knew that. He’d been told nearly daily since his promotion to undersheriff six months earlier, when the former sheriff had retired and Melton Frawley was promoted into his position.

Before the good old days had ended, Kathlene thought. Unlike today.

Kerringston gave his greeting and handed the mike to his boss. Melton did his usual song and dance of thanking his people, telling them to do a good job, going over the stuff that had been investigated yesterday—which amounted to nearly nothing unless one was impressed with local traffic stops.

And then the sheriff finished. He didn’t look toward Kathlene. He didn’t have to.

But she knew exactly whom he spoke to next, since he did so often.

“Now, we’ve had a few more local applications for hunting licenses. Like always. Nice for the economy since the licenses aren’t cheap, plus some of the sportsmen—that’s what they consider themselves, you know—are joining the others already here who’re practicing their shooting skills and all. I’ve talked to them. They talk to me. No one’s been hurt as they do their target practice—still. And no one will be hurt.”

He stopped, looking over the heads of nearly all the deputies quietly facing him, some jabbing each other in the sides with their elbows as they nodded toward Kathlene and laughed.

“So...today’s a new day. Anyone want to ruin our meeting by objecting to our visitors?” This time, he shot a look right at Kathlene, challenging her, even as he guffawed aloud.

She said nothing. Just looked down as if there was something loose on her utility belt that she had to check.

Same as every day. Even as she felt her face flush, her insides churn.

His discussions with the sportsmen suggested they didn’t mind authority, so they couldn’t be anarchists, could they? Or was he being wooed by them so he’d leave them alone?

Melton obviously wanted her to quit and run. She knew it. And she was tempted daily. Like now. After he had humiliated her—again.

“You okay?” Tommy X whispered without looking at her. He’d already told her that his standing up and arguing in her favor would only garner more reaction from the sheriff and nearly all his minions.

“Fine,” she said. As always.

This time, though, she had something to add. For once.

“But I’m really looking forward to having lunch today with my dear old college friend,” she told Tommy X.

* * *

In the late morning gloom, Kathlene had walked briskly down the busy Cliffordsville sidewalk from the sheriff’s station toward the Clifford Café, the place she had chosen to meet Jock and Ralf. She’d called to let them know the address.

She had gotten there first and grabbed a table in a corner. Now she looked around. She knew maybe a half dozen patrons there, some waiting for their meals and others eating already. As she caught the eyes of a few, she smiled and lifted her hand in a wave of greeting. She remained in uniform since she would return to duty in a little less than an hour, so they clearly knew who, or at least what, she was.

This wasn’t usually where she spent her lunchtime, but it seemed an appropriate place for today.

The place smelled delicious, with the aroma of grilled meats and baking bread in the air. The sound of voices was mostly a low hum. She couldn’t make out what was said in any conversations, but that was fine with her.

Even so, none of the tables in this busy joint was completely immune from eavesdropping by the nosy locals who frequented it. In a way, that was a good thing. Word would get out that Kathlene had publicly dined with those friends she’d been talking about. Nothing sneaky about that. Not worth anyone spending any time puzzling over or talking about.

Unless, of course, those friends of hers were successful in outing, and taking federal custody of, some or all of the sportsmen. If word got out, that might be something worth more than some lunchtime gossip.

In any event, this wasn’t Kathlene’s usual midday meal. Her favorite lunch on days she was on duty was to grab a sandwich to go at one of the chains where she could choose everything from the bread to the meat and all other ingredients. That way, she could stuff it with all the salad makings she could want.

It was too hard to eat salads in patrol cars. And fortunately, the guy who was usually her partner, chosen especially for that role by her buddy Sheriff Frawley, could also get all the unhealthy menu items he wanted, too.

That way, Deputy Jimmy Korling didn’t gripe at her. At least no more than usual.

Today he had griped, though, since she was actually taking an hour to have lunch by herself. Well, not exactly by herself. With her old college buddy Jock and his traveling companion, Ralf.

“Can I bring you a drink to start with, Deputy Baylor?” The server had obviously read Kathlene’s name tag. She wore a dress with a short skirt covered by a dainty apron—the kind of woman, Kathlene was sure, that Sheriff Frawley expected all his female deputies to be. Not that she had anything but complete respect for this server, who also wore a name tag. Hers said she was Addie. But Addie had chosen to take on this kind of job.

Kathlene hadn’t.

“Just a cup of coffee,” Kathlene said, smiling. “And a recommendation for what I should order after my friends arrive.”

As she said that, she glanced past the server’s shoulder toward the front entrance. There they were—Jock and Ralf were just entering the restaurant. As they looked around, Kathlene half stood and waved.

“Are your friends here now?” Addie asked.

“Yes. I’m sure we’ll be ready to order soon. Your suggestions?”

Addie described the specials—a turkey club sandwich, a meat-loaf platter, the soups of the day. By the time she was through, she went over them again as Jock and Ralf pulled their chairs from beneath the table and took their seats. “I’ll give you a few minutes to decide,” she said after taking their drink orders.

Kathlene noticed how the pretty brunette server’s eyes skimmed approvingly over Jock, who smiled back. Oh, yeah, the server had noticed how sexy he was. How could she help it? But that didn’t matter to Kathlene. Couldn’t matter.

So why did she want to shake the waitress and tell her to go get their drinks? Fast.

“Do you have any other recommendations?” Ralf asked. This time his T-shirt was blue with a circular logo representing the Montana flag in the middle, along with the state motto “Oro Y Plata”—gold and silver. He’d definitely done his homework before coming here, probably ordered his shirt online. His toothy grin was friendly, not suggesting at all that he was anything but what he pretended to be: a visitor who’d come here along with a friend on a road trip.

Jock, on the other hand, was also in jeans but with a snug black T-shirt on top. It hugged his ample muscles and emphasized the tightness of his hot body. He wasn’t smiling at Kathlene, though. Instead, his hazel eyes regarded her with an expression she couldn’t quite read. Curiosity? Irritation? Challenge? Maybe all of the above—but she was entitled to feel each of those emotions even more than he did.

Although she had no doubt that he believed otherwise.

She turned back to Ralf. “I don’t eat here often, but when I do I usually order one of the specials. I’ve never had a bad meal at this place, though, so just pick whatever sounds best to you.”

At least here, sitting at a table, she could order a salad. The Cobb salad at this café was one of the best she had ever tasted, so she knew that would be her selection.

The server returned. Ralf ordered the meat-loaf special, Jock the sandwich and Kathlene her salad.

Then it was time for them to put on their act, pretend for those surrounding them to be longtime friends.

But Kathlene needed to give these men a reminder. They’d apparently tried to do something without her last night. Today, to maintain cordiality in their relationship, she could understand and agree with it, but only on a limited basis. And she would first make it clear that they hadn’t gotten rid of her for this evening.

“So did you sleep well last night?” she began, aiming an enormous, friendly smile toward Jock.

His return grin was wry—an utterly sexy look on his craggy face. “Sure did. How about you?”

“Eventually, sure. But you know, I remembered something I wanted to tell you after I left and decided to go back rather than to just call you. Imagine my surprise when I saw you driving away down the road.” She kept her smile large but her voice was very low. “I knew you didn’t intend to check on that...place I’d told you about, since you’d have let me know and invited me to come along, as we agreed. Sure enough, I noticed that you’d stopped not there but farther down the road, only...” She wasn’t quite sure how to continue. Things had become murky after that, and she hadn’t really been able to observe either of these men or what they’d been up to. She’d essentially lost them in darkness, and neither had shown up in the area she expected they would.

Addie returned to their table and placed their food in front of them. “Enjoy,” she said, “and let me know if there’s anything else you need.”

Oh, there was something else Kathlene needed, all right, but the server wasn’t the one who could help her. Addie lingered a bit more than necessary, refilling their water glasses and making a point of joking a little with Jock, who responded as if he enjoyed it. As if flirting with their waitress was the best thing that had happened to him that day.

Which only annoyed Kathlene all the more.

Ignoring Jock, she turned to Ralf after Addie had left. “I admire the way you discovered that old, abandoned house down the road, but I wasn’t sure what you were up to.” Once again, she kept her voice muted even as she all but batted her eyelashes at him so anyone observing them would think she was having a grand old time flirting with her buddy’s friend. “Just looking for a closer venue to use as headquarters for the investigation we’ll be conducting at the ranch?”

Ralf’s features seemed to grow even darker. He glanced at the man who was evidently his commanding officer.

“You could say that.” Jock’s smile was rigid now, his voice low but sharp. “And we will include you when it makes sense. But it didn’t last night during our preliminary recon.” He paused, and his hazel eyes grew icy. “You have no business following us. For all you know, there could have been some major danger there and we might not have known you were around to help protect you.”

That again. He seemed determined to keep her out of danger, out of trouble. The idea should have warmed her, but instead it made her chill. Had they made no progress at all after her demonstration that she could protect herself, at least in hand-to-hand combat?

But this wasn’t the place to encourage a major argument with Jock Larabey. Not with so many people around who might overhear them, especially if they raised their voices.

“I get it,” she said as neutrally as she could. “But look, I really need to be able to trust you both. At least tell me what you’re going to do, where you’re going to go.” She hesitated. “And it frustrated me last night when I lost track of you. I didn’t see you anywhere near the ranch when I got there. I only saw a...well, it looked like a wolf. It seemed to be stalking the outside of the compound. Were you around? Did you see it—and me—too?”

There was no immediate response from either man. They glanced at each other, though, as if their silence spoke volumes between them.

What was going on?

“Those guys purport to be hunters,” she went on when they still said nothing. “I had the sense that the wolf had some purpose to be there. Isn’t that silly? But I’d have hated to see one of them shoot the animal. There is no license for killing wolves this early in the year, but I wouldn’t have been surprised if they used the poor thing for target practice, anyway.”

She’d been watching their expressions as she talked. Once again Jock’s look appeared to say lots that she couldn’t read. But he finally spoke. “You’re right, Kathlene,” he said, amazing her—only she wasn’t sure what she was right about. “There’s something we’ll show you and explain after lunch. Will you have a few minutes?”

Not really, but she wasn’t about to tell him that. She’d just have to face the wrath of her partner, Jimmy, after calling him to tell him she’d be late.

And dealing with his anger wouldn’t be pleasant.

But she had a feeling it would be worth it...to learn whatever Jock Larabey was now willing to tell her.

Chapter 5

She had seen him. Just as he had suspected.

And she might wind up seeing him again as their investigation progressed.

Therefore, Jock figured it was already time to nip any suspicions she might have in the bud.

Not that she was likely to assume that the canine she saw was anything but a genuine wolf or dog or whatever.

He took a sip of water from the glass in front of him. He’d already told Ralf his opinion by his glance.

Jock hadn’t been a member of the military and Alpha Force for very long so far, but Ralf had enlisted in the army years ago. He was an astute soldier and a smart aide to a shifting Alpha Force member—him.

Ralf knew by Jock’s glance what he was saying. Jock felt certain of it.

It was time, after lunch, to go introduce Kathlene to Click.

* * *

She had insisted on driving her own vehicle since she had to return to duty soon.

Jock sent Ralf back with the car they had driven here as part of their cover—a nice but slightly beat-up black sedan that was owned by Uncle Sam, but with plates registered to Mr. Jock Larabey of Seattle, Washington.

He rode in the passenger’s seat of Kathlene’s SUV. She’d indicated that her partner was in current possession of her sheriff’s department cruiser.

They had been relatively silent on the drive from town, with Ralf staying right behind them. Jock had insisted on paying for their lunch, and she’d thanked him. He didn’t need to tell her it was part of his government expense account.

He wondered what she was thinking as they drove along the lane that would take them to the driveway to the Clifford Cabins—that also, eventually, would pass by the area that was the object of their investigation.

But they weren’t going that far. Not this afternoon.

“So tell me what made you decide to move to Cliffordsville for your law-enforcement career,” he finally said. It was similar to what they’d talked about yesterday, noncontroversial—although she had grown quiet when he had asked about her early background.

“I’d just heard that Clifford County was looking for new deputies here,” she said, glancing toward him.

Lord, was she gorgeous, even decked out in that uniform with her hair pulled back. Or maybe having her face barely adorned like that added to how beautiful she was, with nothing artificial making her look like anything but herself. Oh, she did wear some lip gloss. Maybe she had a little makeup on, too.

But mostly, she looked like one lovely lady. One lovely, hot, enticing lady.

“Did they hire you right away?”

She nodded. “But that was Sheriff Chrissoula. Before our current sheriff, Melton Frawley, took over after Chrissoula retired six months ago.”

“And was that around when the anarchist group started to move in?”

She again shot him a glance. “How did you know? Or did you just guess? Yes, it’s my belief that Sheriff Frawley may have rolled out the welcome mat. Or even if he didn’t, he also didn’t tell the group to get lost.”

“Do you think he’s one of them?”

She shrugged her shoulders that still somehow managed to look slim and sexy despite her uniform. “I hope not, but I can’t say for sure. Now—” she turned her car onto the driveway toward the cabins “—what is it you want to show me here?”

“You’ll see. I think it’ll explain a lot to you, at least about last night.”

She parked, and Ralf pulled in beside her. The parking lot had a few more cars in it now, but no other people were visible around the row of rustic cabins surrounding the parking area.

Kathlene didn’t wait for Jock to open the door for her, but he hadn’t really expected her to. She clearly didn’t want to rely on anyone behaving in a gentlemanly manner.

And somehow her independence only added to her attractiveness to him. To a point. Ignoring politeness was fine.

Ignoring danger was not.

She began walking along the paved path toward the cabin where Ralf and he were staying. “No,” Jock called. “This way.” He gestured toward the cabin next door. “Got the key, Ralf?”

“Sure do.”

His aide moved to the front of the group, holding the key card in his hand.

“You’ve rented this cabin, too?” Kathlene looked confused.

Why did he want to kiss that puzzled frown away...?

“I’d like you to meet Click,” Jock said, and nodded to Ralf.

Ralf pushed the door open and was nearly bowled over as Click leaped out, eagerly wagging his tail and greeting one of the humans who was his closest friend.

“You brought a dog?” Kathlene asked. She shook her head, then smiled. “The dog I saw last night? He’s not a wolf, then? He’s a pet?”

Instead of waiting for his answers, she dashed off toward where Click and Ralf were now roughhousing.

She obviously liked canines.

Couldn’t he find anything to dislike about this woman—except for her carelessness in the face of danger?

He wasn’t sure he wanted to find out.

* * *

At first all Kathlene wanted to do was hug the obviously excited dog. He looked familiar—moderate sized, with shining, light brown eyes, pert ears and lots of tawny fur that looked almost silvery in the light. He clearly loved people, since he bounded from Ralf to her and back again in this cabin that looked nearly identical inside to the one where the men were staying. Click basked in the attention they both gave him and snugged his head against her for multiple pats.

“He’s so sweet!” she exclaimed, kneeling with one hand on the floor to keep her balance as the dog pushed at her for attention and made snuffling noises. She loved dogs. Meant to adopt a rescue someday when her work schedule was less crazy and more predictable. If it ever was. “Is Click yours, Ralf? Or Jock’s?”

Why did the men exchange glances about that? It was an easy question.

Wasn’t it? And if not...

“He’s mine,” Jock said, and he joined the excited doggy love fest, too.

But the hesitation before he knelt and roughhoused with Click had reminded Kathlene of all the mystery surrounding this dog. Why hadn’t they mentioned they had brought a pet along?

She asked them. “I can understand your wanting to have a dog with you. Is Click a trained search dog?” Or was there some other reason he’d been brought here—then hidden?

And why hide him from her?

“That’s right.” Jock stepped back. “He’s trained to do other things, too, like sniff out particular subjects we need to find and follow.”

“Is that why he was wandering around the ranch compound last night?”

Of course it had been Click. And yet there was something about the shape of his head, the length of his legs, the fullness of his coat, that didn’t look exactly the way Kathlene remembered. But she’d been stressed then. Her recollections might not be entirely accurate. Plus, she hadn’t been that close to the dog.

“Yes, that’s right,” Jock said. “He’s got some other skills we’re working on, too. He’s not fully trained, so we weren’t sure at first about bringing him, and when we decided to we just figured we’d keep him hidden, at least initially, until we decided how best to use him.”

Kathlene supposed that made sense—but she wasn’t fully convinced.

And yet why would they lie to her about that?

She stood, leaned down and stroked the soft fur around Click’s shoulders as she looked straight into Jock’s eyes.

The guy looked the picture of innocence, as if all he had told her was the absolute truth, even if it sounded somewhat contrived.

He clearly wasn’t going to give her any explanation of why he might be prevaricating.

“You look like a good friend of Click’s, too,” Kathlene said to Ralf. “Are either of you skilled trainers, or does someone else do that?”

“A little of both,” Ralf said. “I like to work with canines, tell them what to do, that kind of thing.” He gave a big grin that he aimed at Jock, whose return smile looked almost nasty.

What was the gist of their unspoken conversation?

They obviously weren’t going to tell her, any more than they’d explained Alpha Force or included her in their planning.

“Can we take him for a walk now?” she asked the men.

Another hesitation before Jock said, “Sure. There aren’t likely to be a lot of people around now, in the middle of the day when they’re off doing whatever they’re here to do.”

Which again didn’t make sense to Kathlene. They apparently didn’t want Click to be seen by many people. When did they walk him, then?

After dark, at least. That was the one obvious time. Early morning, before many people were up and about? That still wouldn’t allow Click to relieve himself in the middle of the day as well as other times, which might be hard on the poor dog.

She knew she wasn’t going to get answers now, so she didn’t bother asking.

“Great,” she said. “I’ll bet you’re glad to go for a walk now, aren’t you, Click?”

Hearing his name, the dog looked up at her expectantly. Did he understand the word walk? Probably. She had the sense that, as playful as he was, he was also a smart pooch.

“So are we all going?” Kathlene said after Ralf brought over Click’s leash.

“Just you, me and Click,” Jock said. Ralf just nodded, not appearing particularly unhappy about being left out.

It bothered Kathlene, though. She’d be more or less alone with the man who was driving her a bit nuts. His sexiness didn’t let her state of mind settle down in his presence. His secretiveness drove her nuts in other ways.

Well, she couldn’t—wouldn’t—do anything about the former. The latter she could get around. She could be sweet or professional or just darned pushy.

But one way or another she would find out what these men had planned to do to start their investigation.

* * *

“Here we go, boy.” Jock spoke to Click as he attached his leash inside the cabin. “You ready to join us?” he asked Kathlene.

“Definitely.” She smiled, although it faded quickly. “I can only stay here for another few minutes, though. I need to get back on duty.”

“We’ll make it short, then.” Jock gave a gentle tug on the leash and let Click lead them out of the cabin.

Jock was glad to have an opportunity to walk Click. Mostly, it was Ralf who figured out the best times to go out with the dog, when they were least likely to be seen.

On the other hand, he and his aide had talked often about potential timing for Jock to be the one to walk his cover dog. People seeing them together was generally a good thing. They would know there were two entities, Jock and the dog. They wouldn’t think Jock even slightly resembled the pet he had brought here. Or that he was, sometimes, a canine himself.

Not that most regular humans would even imagine the possibility.

And of those that might...well, there weren’t any people they needed to demonstrate anything to here, in this motel area.

Maybe not anywhere in this town. At least not yet.

Except for Kathlene.

He was both glad and sorry for the opportunity to take a walk with her. The best thing for his cover would be for them to stay as alone as possible here.

But that would be worst for his sense of self-control. He wanted this woman. He knew it, and being in her presence only kept his desires at the forefront of his thoughts.

As well as his physical reactions—which were uncomfortable at times, but definitely stimulating.

She was a bundle of contradictions, and that attracted him. A lot.

Maybe because he, too, wasn’t all that he appeared to be.

“Let’s take Click into the woods,” he told Kathlene once they were outside. He held Click’s leash. “He loves the scents there.”

“I noticed,” she said, then shrugged. “Fine with me.”

He chose to say nothing about the woods in this motel area being any different from what surrounded the compound that was the target of their observation. In many ways, it was the same.

Although he himself had detected a lot of differences in the smells around there from what was here.

Gunpowder and explosives, for example. If Click had really been there, Jock had no doubt he’d have scented them, too, despite how they seemed to be muted by distance or age. He’d also have some sense of urgency about them, since he was a trained military K9. But he’d have waited for orders to determine what to do about them.

Jock would need to figure that out for himself, although he would discuss it, if necessary, with his commanding officers, as well as Ralf.

The closest part of the woods began only a few feet away, behind the row of cabins. Jock pulled Click’s leash slightly to aim him between the rustic structures toward that direction.

“So tell me,” said Kathlene once they had gone beyond the narrow lawn area and beneath the trees. “What is our next plan of action? Did you learn anything by sending Click to the encampment of those supposed sportsmen last night?”

“Click’s presence there did give us some ideas,” Jock said. Rather, it was his own presence. And it certainly had triggered what he intended to be their next course of action.

In wolf form, he had looked for—and found—some portions of the surrounding chain-link fence that were less secure and more penetrable by a canine observer than the rest of it.

He intended to return tonight under cover of darkness, and in his wolfen form.

He’d not seen or heard enough to understand what was really going on there, let alone how best to deal with it.

“What do you smell, boy?” Kathlene was talking to Click, whose nose was all but buried in a stack of dead leaves.

Jock scented it, too, of course. His sense of smell was much more acute than any person’s besides other shifters, even when in human form. But he was hardly going to tell Kathlene that the dog was fascinated by the odor of a pile of pheasant droppings.

“Must be something interesting,” Jock said mildly. “But we’d better keep on the move.”

He nevertheless waited until Click lifted his leg to imbue the area with his own canine smell. And then they continued on.

“So what are those ideas you came up with?” Kathlene asked, walking directly behind him as they made their way through the towering trees that had a sweet, piney aroma.

Unfortunately, she hadn’t been fully distracted by Click and his reaction to the odors of the woods.

“We need more information about what’s going on inside the compound,” Jock said. “For one thing, we’ll want to know where the sportsmen hang out when they’re in town. If possible, we’ll act like we’re of the same hunting mind-set and also want to engage in target practice and have the fun of killing whatever game is in season.”

Even though that was contrary to his way of thinking. There were plenty of farm animals raised to be meat. He might feel sorry for them, but he was definitely carnivorous. He was a wolf in human form.

But in his opinion creatures that were wild, like wolves, should be permitted to stay that way. Survival of the fittest would allow them to feed on their own kinds of prey.

Humans did not need to kill or eat them.

“I can give you some information about that,” Kathlene said. “There are a couple of bars in town where the sheriff’s department has been called in because of some altercations between our townsfolk and some nonresidents. One’s a sports bar near our headquarters—Arnie’s. At least some of those who’ve gotten out of control came to town from that ranch.”

“Good. We’ll work that out soon, then.”

“But not tonight?” She sounded curious. Too curious.

He knew what was coming next.

“No, not tonight.”

“Then what are we doing tonight?” she asked.

We. Of course she would assume it would be we.

Which it was. But that we included only Ralf and him. Not her. Not for what he had planned tonight.

Click stopped to circle slightly before defecating. Good. That gave Jock an opportunity to stop, too, and turn and face Kathlene.

He drew himself up as much as possible and looked down on her slim, yet official-looking form in her deputy sheriff’s uniform.

But for this purpose, he was in charge, her job notwithstanding.

“Ralf and Click and I are going to do pretty much as we did last night,” he told her. “Observation and reconnaissance at the perimeter of the target facility. Just us.” He raised his hand to stop her as she opened her mouth to protest. “I know you’re part of our team. You won that right. But we can’t spend our time worrying about where you are and if you’re okay, especially when we’re just doing our preliminary examinations. You can work with us, participate in other aspects of what we’re doing—but only if you listen to what I’m telling you now.” And obey me, but he knew better than to say that.

She glared up at him. Damn, but that firm chin, that angry scowl on such a beautiful face...it turned him on. Even more than her presence already generated reactions inside—and outside—him that he’d never have imagined would occur with a woman in uniform, especially when that uniform was not one associated with Alpha Force.

“Then you promise that this will be the only time you’ll not include me in your plans from now on.” It wasn’t a question but a statement. Her voice was chilly, but not even that forced his body to lose interest.

“Yes,” he lied as he stooped to clean up after Click. “I promise—as long as you promise not to interfere with what we’re doing tonight.”

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