Ryan lifted his arm with the loop of the dog leash over it and Piers slipped it off him. “You can put him in my room,” he told Piers. “I’ll be right there.” He then said to Maya, “I’ll walk you to your room, just in case.”
In case her new enemies were around, she assumed. She hadn’t seen any sign of them on the road and didn’t really need Ryan accompanying her—she hoped—and yet she didn’t object.
They soon were in her room, which was as charming as the rest of the inn. He even went inside, glancing around, walking past the bed with a fluffy, lace-trimmed coverlet.
She had a momentary urge to ask him to stay. Just to talk a little longer, of course. About wolves and other wildlife.
Not about a wild life. The guy was one delicious-looking man and had started to get her internal juices flowing when they were together. But he was mostly just a nice guy with similar interests to hers. And he’d given no indication he thought of her in any sexual or other way—a good thing.
That meant she didn’t have to worry about any interest on her part that could lead to disaster, as her recent relationship had.
Even so, she found herself asking, “So do you have any plans for this evening?”
She couldn’t quite read the odd look that quickly passed over his face, replaced by a smile that almost appeared pleased. “Sleeping,” he said. “I intend to order in pizza later for Piers and me. I brought food for Rocky. I’m already a bit tired and may do some hiking tomorrow, so I’ll go to bed early.” He looked her over. “No offense intended, but you appear a little sleepy, too. Maybe you should do the same thing.”
That had been what she was considering...unless they worked out a dinner date, which would undoubtedly be a bad idea.
She noticed that he didn’t suggest that she join them for pizza, either.
“I just might do that,” she said. As he walked to the door of her room she added, “Have a good evening. And thanks again for all your help.”
* * *
Rocky was well trained, but even so he wasn’t staying alone in Ryan’s room that night.
No, right now Piers drove all three of them, in the sedan they had rented at the Sea-Tac International Airport, along the remote, twisty roads outside Fritts Corner, beyond the park and beneath the forest’s overhanging trees to a clearing they had previously scouted out.
Near an area where wolves had been spotted over the past months.
The ride was bumpy, and Ryan was conscious of every jolt. It was getting close to twilight now.
It was nearly time.
And since this was the night of a full moon, Ryan would be shifting.
But thanks to that wonderful elixir that had been formulated and modified over time by Major Drew Connell, the founder of Alpha Force, and other members, Ryan would not only have some limited choice as to when the shifting started and a lot of choice about when he shifted back, but he would additionally retain his human cognition.
Unlike the other shifters he anticipated meeting on this night.
“Here we are,” Piers said, stopping the car. Rocky, in the backseat, let out a small woof, as if he understood where they were and what was about to happen.
This wasn’t his first time, after all, to be around when Ryan shifted—and it wouldn’t be his last.
Piers parked, and Ryan immediately exited the car. There was hardly any light in the sky, and the clearing was vast enough that Ryan knew the full moon would soon appear.
There were plenty of times in his past when that would have caused him to shift into a feral wolf as soon as darkness fell. But now—
Now, he couldn’t have been more delighted that Alpha Force had found and recruited him into its amazing military unit. He was starting to give back, including by being here. And he loved it.
If he was correct about the nature of at least some of the people here, he might even be able to give back more to his cherished organization by recruiting others who, in turn, could add to its very special mission.
He’d already done some of that while being trained and working directly with other shifters located by senior Alpha Force officers.
Piers pulled the large backpack out of the trunk and approached across the hard dirt of the clearing to the area several feet from the car where Ryan had stopped. Ryan began to remove his clothing, even as Piers extracted the cooler in the backpack and from it one of the vials of elixir that they had brought. He also pulled out the light that, turned on, resembled the light of the full moon, although, since it would not be necessary tonight, he returned it to the backpack.
“You doing okay?” Ryan’s efficient assistant now stood there with the vial in one of his large hands, assessing his superior officer.
“I’m fine, Piers. And how are you?” Ryan kept his tone light, even though he knew exactly what he was about to go through.
The elixir helped shifters in so many ways—but nothing could totally eliminate the discomfort of a shift from human to animal form—and back again.
“Okay, buddy. The moon’s a-rising. Let’s get this thing started, okay?” The stocky young guy grinned as if he couldn’t wait for his superior officer’s shift to start. And maybe he couldn’t.
Ryan was now nude. He felt the pulsing sensations inside him that presaged a natural shift.
It was definitely time for the elixir.
“Bring it on,” he told Piers, reaching out for the vial.
* * *
His initial shift was over. He was standing again, this time on four canine legs, the discomfort behind him.
Just in time, he thought—since he heard a howl in the distance. Followed by another, and some barks. They all sounded far away, but he would have heard them even without his enhanced hearing.
Shifters? Most likely. Natural wolves might howl and bark like that, of course. But why would they do so tonight? And not just one or two now, but several of them.
Ryan could tell—thanks to that enhanced hearing—not only the direction from which the sounds came, but he had a sense of distance, too.
The others were likely in the hillsides here, beneath the trees, farther from town, perhaps farther along the road where Piers had driven them only a short while earlier.
Rocky remained in the car. Piers had returned to it to sleep, to wait for Ryan’s return early in the morning, when he would naturally shift back on this night of the full moon.
He also had some choice about when to change back, even under the full moon. But if he did not choose when, it would occur once the sun started to rise.
Another set of excited howls. They caused more excitement in Ryan, as well.
Time for him to run through these woods, let his wolfen side loose. Revel in his very special gift, his talent, the other, only partly human feature of his life.
His shifting ability.
He felt his mouth move as he allowed himself to express his emotion in what would have been a smile had he not been shifted.
He aimed one glance toward the car where his companions now sat and waited for him.
And then he ran into the woods.
* * *
Maya hadn’t been sleeping deeply, though she had been in bed for a while, reading at first, then nodding off.
But her mind had been tossing around all that had happened to her that day.
Her talk. The confrontations with those wild animal–haters.
The support she had received from Ryan, backed up by some of the other people in this small town near which wolves had begun to appear again.
And—
Hey. What was that? Was she imagining things because she was thinking about the local sightings of wolves?
Maybe, but she thought she’d heard not only some canine barking but also a howl. Yes! She had. It was followed by another.
And now there were even more of them, somewhere way in the distance. But close enough to be heard here, right in the downtown area of Fritts Corner.
She froze. If she heard them, so did those wolf-haters. She wasn’t in any kind of law enforcement. She had no weapons.
But might the US Fish and Wildlife Service be able to help?
She hadn’t gotten Ryan’s phone number, not even his room number, but she felt stressed enough to use the hotel’s phone to try to call his room even now, in the middle of the night. She did reach a hotel operator—after waiting several minutes. And then, when she was connected to his room, no one answered.
She tried the same with his friend Piers, but again no answer.
He’d said he was going to bed early—but maybe the sounds had awakened him, and now she couldn’t join up with him to check things out.
Heck. Maybe there was nothing she could do. Maybe the wolves wouldn’t really be in danger.
But if nothing else, she could bring her camera—just in case.
She’d already risen from her bed.
Now, she threw her clothes on, grabbed her purse and camera, and rushed out the door.
Chapter 4
He loved it, reveled in it, this unleashed, unfettered ability to run on four powerful legs, beyond the park, up hillsides and within woods that were entirely new to him, in darkness lit only by the full moon.
To chase in the direction where he would soon see others who were like him in one way or the other: wolves that were born as canines, or that were humans in shifted form.
Those whose howls he still heard—
But he nearly stopped running as he heard something else. Voices that weren’t wolfen but human.
Male and female voices in the distance, low but audible to him, with his highly enhanced keen hearing while in wolf form.
And that wasn’t all. He knew who was talking. He slowed his pace and inhaled and smelled, from the same direction, those humans with scents he had first sensed that day but not as intense as he could inhale now, as a wolf.
The smells included those of the two people named Fritts. And more. Another human scent emanated from that same area.
But they weren’t the only ones.
A different scent, but no sound, came from near them, as well. An aroma that was entirely familiar—now—to the wolf who was Ryan.
The scent belonging to Maya.
None of the humans should be here, not with wolves of any origin around, here in the woods in near darkness—except for that brilliant moon.
Most especially not Maya.
Was she not aware of the potential danger from the wolves she also revered and wanted to protect? She had sounded so wise, so knowledgeable before, when she had spoken to an audience and talked with individuals. But did she ignore her own wisdom when wolves were around?
And if they were shifters, without having access to his special Alpha Force elixir they would not have human cognition. They could be just as dangerous as wild wolves to mere people.
And what about those other people? Would they present a danger to the wolves—and, perhaps, to Maya, too? Or were they themselves in danger?
He turned to move more purposefully in the direction from which he scented Maya.
If Maya wasn’t cautious, he would have to be so on her behalf.
He wanted to protect them all, the wolves and the woman, and perhaps the other people, as well. If the wolves harmed them, then other humans might hurt those wolves.
But there was only one of him. And if he had to choose who to protect, he knew which it had to be.
* * *
Maya had arrived at the edge of the woods, and now debated what to do.
She had known from the moment she had heard the distant howls and barks, while still inside the hotel, the direction in which she had to go, and she had hurriedly driven that way. When she parked her car and got onto the sidewalk at the park where she had given her presentation, she’d stopped to listen even more.
The sounds now came from somewhere to her right, in the woods beyond the park. She had hurried in that direction.
At the time, she had felt somewhat surprised to find herself alone here. Surely other people heard the sounds and could figure out where they came from. And some of the people who’d attended her talk had seemed fascinated, too, by the reappearance of wolves in this area.
Plus some had claimed to be part of the media. Were they interested in wolves or not?
Was she the only one who hoped to actually see them? Or was everyone afraid?
Well, no matter. Although...well, she wouldn’t have minded some company.
Too bad she hadn’t reached Ryan. She couldn’t help assuming he was already outside, also trying to get a glimpse of the wolves. If so, they could have joined up, banded together, safety in numbers. And being with him in the middle of the night would be practical, nothing to do with the fact she found the man attractive.
No matter. For now, all she really hoped for was to see those wolves herself.
The air was cool, and the intermittent sound of the soft wind, plus occasional cars in the distance, were the only sounds she heard at this moment as she stood there.
Still at the edge of the park, she looked beyond the streetlights behind her into the near darkness of what lay ahead. The only light came from above, the brilliance of the full moon.
She carried a special flashlight that she could make as bright or dim as she wanted, as well as a state-of-the-art small camera that took still photos and videos. Mostly what she wanted was to observe and film the wolves from a distance, without them getting too interested in her.
Another howl sounded, followed by some yips and a couple of additional howls. How many wolves were out there?
She would have to be very cautious. Those wolves would sense her before she could get close. And there was no way she could communicate to them that she loved wildlife, only wanted to see and photograph them.
This was probably a bad idea—but it might be her best opportunity to see them.
Here, at the end of the park, the grass gave way to low foliage at first that soon rose to become mountainous woodlands, with trees relatively close together and dry underbrush below. The area was fairly dark, since the treetops erased the light from the moon above.
Maya gave herself one more chance to stop, to back off. But only for a minute. Then, she pulled her flashlight out of her purse, set it for its dimmest setting and started out.
And heard another wolf howl.
She smiled and carefully started forward. She heard her own footsteps on the dried underbrush but not much more. Was she still heading in the right direction?
At least she went in a straight line, so she would be able to find her way back. Even run back, if she had to...
She reached a clearing. Was that a human voice she heard somewhere ahead, off to the side?
Maybe she should go back...
But that was when she heard the crackling sound of dried growth being stomped on by feet—canine feet?
Was she really going to get to see a wolf? Yes!
And in fact, there one was. She upped the intensity of her flashlight as she aimed her camera at it, just as another wolf joined it.
They were both running toward her. Still filming, she looked around. Fortunately, she stood beside a nice, wide tree trunk. Maybe she should get behind it—
But the wolf at the front growled, ran even faster toward her.
Was it going to attack?
“I just wanted to see you,” she cried aloud, knowing how ridiculous that was. As if the creature could understand she was on its side, doing her job, learning about it. Quickly, she moved so the tree was between the wolf and her. But where was the other one?
She heard some barks then that sounded angry. Feral growls, just as another wolf emerged from the woods and attacked the wolf that approached her. The third wolf, behind that one, leaped into the fray, as well.
“No. Please. Don’t hurt each other,” Maya cried out, but she wasn’t stupid. Not entirely, she thought. She used the opportunity to light her flashlight beam to the fullest and run back through the woods in the direction from which she’d come.
She glanced back once, though. The fight had wound down, at least somewhat. One wolf—the attacker?—was facing the other two, crouched as if ready to leap onto them again and growling deeply.
The others stood warily but did not appear as if they were ready to attack again.
Which made Maya smile, at least a little, as she turned again and hurried toward the edge of the park.
Yes, she’d been foolish. But she’d seen wolves. Three wolves. And she’d gotten videos of them.
She wasn’t hurt, and the canines appeared to be okay, too.
This was definitely a memorable night.
* * *
He remained in a crouch, growling and teaching the others he faced who was alpha, at least for now.
Their scents were strong, and not entirely wolfen.
Then they, too, were shifters. That didn’t make them less feral, less likely to attack him.
And it wouldn’t have prevented them from attacking that foolish human woman.
But at least he had been able to save her from harm.
And soon, tomorrow, when he had shifted back and was in human form, he would find an opportunity to chide her, and more.
To warn her never to put herself in such a situation again.
He was unlikely to be there the next time.
The other wolves had apparently had enough. They both issued loud warning growls back to him, then turned and loped back into the darkness of the forest behind them.
Good. He, too, returned to the darkness but in a different direction.
He wanted to get a better sense of these surroundings and where the wolves by blood might be—and whether these shifters might be in any danger.
Only later, when morning started to arrive, would he shift back.
* * *
She was out of the woods, so to speak, and onto the lawn constituting the park. Maya smiled, stopped walking and turned to look back at the dark woodlands she had just left.
The wolves were still there, somewhere. Hopefully, none of them had been injured by the others.
She had seen them, photographed them, and she was fine. More than fine.
Too bad she had no way of rewarding that one wolf who’d confronted the others and allowed her to get away. He surely had an agenda of his own that had nothing to do with her, but she still appreciated it.
With a sigh, she turned and started walking briskly back to where she’d parked. Good night, wolves, she thought as she got into her car.
There were some other cars on the road now. She even saw a few people exit a bar on the far side of the street, though not the one she’d visited before.
Had anyone else heard the wolves?
Did anyone else in this town really care?
Surely the answer was yes, at least those who’d come to her presentation or commented on it afterward, like that bartender she had met. What was his name? Lesterman?
Or maybe the other people who’d been there, the Sharans, and that lady, Ivy, who had seen a couple of wolves. They’d at least seemed interested.
And her new buddy Trev. He’d at least expressed some interest in wildlife at her talk. Had he heard the wolves from wherever he was? Did he give a damn?
Then there had been Ryan, and his friend Piers. They’d surely have been interested.
She’d thought she heard some human voices. Could it have been theirs? Were they also out here checking out those howls?
If so they’d surely left Rocky in one of their rooms. The dog might have been particularly at risk when wolves were around.
She parked behind the hotel and went inside.
She felt so happy and excited that she wished she could shout about her amazing evening to the world.
Or at least to people who might give a damn.
But it was way too late to call Ryan in case she had guessed wrong and he was in bed at this late hour. Nor could she call any of her colleagues at WHaM, since this area was on Pacific time and everyone else would be an hour or more later.
With a sigh, Maya made her way through the empty, dimly lit lobby and headed up to her room for the night.
And figured she wouldn’t sleep at all.
* * *
But she did sleep, though not at first.
Once she’d gotten into the antique-style bed in her hotel room, Maya had visualized those wolves once more. All three of them.
Were there more in the area? The return of wolves to various parts of the state of Washington had been slow and sparse, especially around here. Even so...
How many? Despite her duty to take census, she didn’t intentionally begin to count wolves, like sheep, but she knew there were more than three.
Finally, smiling to herself, she actually relaxed. And slept.
Still, when she woke, the same visions and questions captivated her mind.
Well, somehow she would find a way to use it all, to continue to inform locals who were otherwise unaware that wolves had returned to the area—and how wonderful it was. First thing, she would check her video to see how it looked, since she would show her results to as many people as she could.
And expound even more about wildlife—probably without revealing she’d put herself in danger.
But wouldn’t it be fun to let the world know she’d been saved by one of those wolves? Sure, but then she’d have to let everyone know that she’d felt threatened by the others.
Somehow, she finished showering and dressing and prepared to visit the local world again today.
She looked at her video, thrilled at what she’d captured, yet a bit uneasy that it did show the wild and potentially dangerous nature of those feral canines. But, heck, that was who and what they were. People could admire them as wildlife, stressing the wild part. She certainly did.
She didn’t exactly have a plan, but first thing would be to find somewhere to grab breakfast, hopefully someplace busy. Maybe she could start expounding on her latest lesson about the visiting wolves there.
She pulled on a nice blue shirt over jeans, then looked out her hotel room window. Sun shone between an irregular blanket of clouds. She looked down through the partial brightness toward the street, trying to recall what restaurants she’d seen in the area—and noticed that Ryan and Piers were out there walking Rocky on the Washington Inn’s narrow lawn next to the sidewalk.
Hey, no matter that she hadn’t reached them before. Now, they would be good targets for starting to tell her story about the night before. They’d at least be interested.
She put her camera into her purse and headed out the door. Not wanting to wait for the elevator, she walked the couple of flights of stairs down to the decorative lobby and hurried through it to the door, then outside and down the walkway to the sidewalk. She looked around and saw the men and dog still on the lawn but near the end of the block. She headed briskly in their direction, noting that a few other people milled around outside the charming structure, probably additional tourists who were staying there.
Now wasn’t a good time to stop and be friendly and talk up wildlife to strangers, she realized—despite how strongly the urge shoved at her.
Before she could get to Ryan, though, Trev exited a car parked at the curb and hurried up to her. “Good morning,” he said. “How are you today?” He aimed his geeky grin at her again, and she briefly smiled back at him. He was dressed in a white button-down shirt tucked into blue jeans.
“Okay,” she said. “Have a good day.” She turned away, ready to hurry off toward her goal.
“You, too. You know, I heard about your organization WHaM before. I saw online, on the WHaM website, that you were going to give a talk here, and that’s why I came to town.”
She stopped for a moment. “Then you don’t live in Fritts Corner?”
“No, but I wanted to hear you.”
“That’s very nice,” she said, meaning it. She’d have to tell her coworkers that the small mention they’d put up on the website was achieving what they wanted, at least a little—attracting people to learn more about them, and wildlife. “Then you care about wildlife?”
