Loyal Wolf (11 page)

And maybe he would, depending on her reactions.

“We'll see you back at the cabins,” Jock told Ralf, meeting his aide's eyes in an attempt at reassurance that this was the best way. “If you could take care of Click first, that would be great. We'll wait for you in the other cabin before we have any major discussion.” That part was for Kathlene. Maybe he'd talk with her in the car and maybe he wouldn't, but the main part of their conversation would have to wait. “Although you both should know that I heard one small explosion this time—like the ones you described, Kathlene, that helped in the decision to send Alpha Force here.”

Both Kathlene and Ralf reacted to that. “Interesting timing,” Ralf said.

“Sure was,” Jock agreed. What neither said was that the information would need to be passed along to their Alpha Force superiors.

At least waiting to talk more about his shifting would also give him time to consider the best way to present the facts—and which ones he actually would tell her.

“I want to hear more about what you heard,” Kathlene said. But she was clearly distracted by his shifting, which was okay. He'd rather talk about that now. Give her an explanation that she—and he—could live with. “Although...well, was the dog you introduced me to in your cabin next door actually Click?” Kathlene had started walking with him toward the house's back door.

“Yes. He's my cover dog,” Jock explained.

“Yeah. That gives me two canines to take care of.” Ralf, always willing to joke to lighten a difficult situation, followed them. He'd picked up his backpack, and as they all exited the house he was the one to make sure the door was shut behind them.

“Interesting,” Kathlene said. She paused and looked up into Jock's face in the near total darkness outside. “That's why I was so confused—one reason, at least. I'd seen you, and I'd seen Click, and I thought there were even some differences in appearance between that dog and the one who saved me yesterday, but that didn't make sense to me...before. And I never even considered the possibility of your—do you call it shapeshifting?”

“That's right,” he said, then asked, “Where did you park your car?”

“Just down the road a little ways, in a small clearing in the woods.”

“Okay. We'll see you in a few, Ralf.” Jock picked up his pace a bit, taking Kathlene's hand. “So neither of us falls in the dark,” he explained to her. It was partially true. It was also true that he didn't want her to dash off and leave him here—although at this moment he doubted she would do that. And if she did, he had his phone along and could call Ralf to pick him up—and to chase her with him.

What he hadn't counted on, though, was what it did to him to have her firm, warm hand in his. It somehow seemed to irradiate a path of heat from their fingertips all the way inside him to his groin, where an unbidden erection started to grow once more.

Last time, as his shift ended, it had also been because of Kathlene, because he knew she was peeking, saw him naked.

This woman was going to drive him nuts in more ways than one.

They reached her car quickly and he did his usual thing of opening her door for her, then getting into the passenger's seat. She drove slowly at first, which gave him an opportunity to sense their surroundings by sight and scent as they reached the road.

Nothing out of the ordinary. That was a good thing.

Her next question wasn't such a good thing, though.

“Why, Jock? I mean, what causes you to shapeshift? Have you always done it? I thought werewolves changed under full moons, although that's not even true anymore sometimes in movies. But what's the reality? Do you like it? And—I think I'd better shut up.” Her gaze was straight out the windshield. She didn't even glance toward him, but he could smell a slight tangy scent that suggested she was afraid.

Of him?

Damn.

“I'm not going to hurt you, Kathlene,” he said softly, reaching over to stroke her warm, smooth cheek with the back of his hand. She tensed up, but only for a moment as he continued to touch her.

“I know,” she responded, but he heard the slight tremor in her voice.

Touching her like this, even just to be friendly, wasn't a good idea. It gave his body thoughts of touching her all over—and not just with his hand.

“Tell you what,” he said. “This isn't the kind of conversation to have in the car, and what I need to talk to you about with Ralf along isn't going to touch on what you asked, either. Once we've had that conversation, I intend to see you back to your home, anyway, since, even though I didn't hear anything threatening at the ranch compound before, after that county commission meeting today I don't trust anyone in this town. Especially around you, since you and your fellow officers were there representing local authority, and you've already made noises against the group in question. I'll answer your questions then, okay?”

She hesitated, but only for a moment. Was she still afraid of him?

Or of herself? For when she finally aimed a brief glance at him before turning from the small road onto the main highway, he saw something on her face and scented something other than fear and her underlying perfume.

Something that suggested that she might feel as turned on, and interested in touching and more, as he did.

But her ultimate response made him smile.

“Okay,” she agreed.

Chapter 11

T
hey were back in the motel cabin she had reserved for the two men from Alpha Force, once more sitting on one of the two chairs. Ralf was already inside with Click when they'd arrived. He had walked the dog briefly and had fed him a late dinner.

Kathlene studied Click as he now sat near the cabin's kitchenette. Yes, he looked similar to the wolf-dog she had seen earlier after Jock had shifted, but they were not identical. As she had noted but not understood before, his head was flatter, his legs longer, and the color and fullness of his coat, although similar, was less of a tawny-silver than Jock's.

Jock's. Jock, the shapeshifter, the human-wolf combo.

She liked dogs. A lot.

But she liked Jock in human form even better. He was gorgeous. Even more, he was hot. Maybe the sexiest guy she had ever met.

Shouldn't the fact that he was so...different...turn her off?

Maybe so, but it didn't. How weird was that?

He'd sat beside her briefly but had stood to confer with Ralf and pat the dog that looked so much like him—sometimes. Were they discussing the sounds he had heard? She hoped so.

She finally felt more vindicated. She'd want to talk more about them, too, later.

But for this moment, she wanted to know more about Alpha Force—and Jock.

He returned and handed Kathlene a glass of soda with ice in it. “Now,” he said, “let's talk.”

That sounded ominous. But she knew what he was going to say.

“Okay,” she said, and waited for his orders.

As she'd anticipated, they were, in fact, directives. Jock leaned toward her, his hands clasped near her knees as if he would grab and shake her if she dared to argue with what he said. Kathlene glanced toward Ralf, not expecting any support from the other military man. Ralf sat beside Click, who had lain down on the cabin's polished wooden floor. Everyone's eyes seemed to be on her, waiting for her reaction.

Even Click's.

“I know you have questions,” Jock began, “and we'll go over them later, the way we discussed. But right now I need to be sure that you understand the circumstances. Alpha Force is a highly covert military unit, and I'm a member.”

When he paused, she nodded to signify she understood and didn't disagree. At least not yet.

“You saw me shapeshift. That's fine, since we've already established that we're on the same team. But you can't mention, can't even hint about it, to anyone. Do you understand?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

“And do you agree?”

“Of course. But—well, I know you said we could talk later about what shapeshifting is and all that, but I'd love to understand why Alpha Force was sent here to help in this situation.”

Jock looked a little irritated that she had dared to interrupt what he intended to say, but his expression softened immediately. “Because things here, if they're as you represented, could get pretty dangerous if the only undercover personnel deployed here happened to be all human.”

Kathlene laughed and was a little surprised that both men did, too.

“We have a general idea how you asked for help,” Jock continued, “but why don't you describe that to us now and maybe it'll help us explain.”

She ran through the facts. She had seen—and heard—what appeared to be going on at the old ranch, and more men with guns appeared to arrive daily. When no one here, especially not Sheriff Melton Frawley or even town mayor Laurence Davonne, had paid attention to her, she knew she needed help.

She told them now how she'd stayed in touch with her friend from college, Bill Grantham, whose father had been an army colonel then but was now a general working at the Pentagon. Bill had listened to her, and so had the general.

Despite asking, Kathlene had never been told why he'd decided to call in Alpha Force. All she knew was that he'd contacted her and discussed the cover that the military men to be deployed to Cliffordsville would undertake. She'd been glad that they'd taken her seriously, at least.

“Got it,” Jock said. “I know of General Grantham. He's a friend of the general who oversees Alpha Force, General Greg Yarrow. Guess that's why we were called in to help. General Yarrow knows all about us, who we are and what we can do.”

“Yeah,” Ralf said. “If they'd brought in the usual kind of military or other guys to go undercover, they might have been able to infiltrate that group as fellow sportsmen to see what's going on, and Jock and I still might resort to doing that, depending. But we have the choice of what'll work best, unlike anyone else.”

“You sound proud of Alpha Force,” Kathlene noted.

“Damn straight!” Ralf responded.

“Then it sounds like I did the right thing.” Kathlene sure hoped so.

But the ultimate success of the team consisting of Jock, Ralf, Click and her still remained to be seen.

They talked a little longer about Alpha Force without going into detail about how many there were in the unit or what kinds of missions they'd undertaken before.

But the upshot was that Kathlene was definitely a temporary member of their team now—since she knew what she knew.

And if she blew their trust, she would be sorry.

Eventually, she found herself stifling a yawn.

“Guess it's time to get you back safely to your place,” Jock said. He told Ralf that he would follow Kathlene to assure her safety.

She wanted to tell Jock that she'd be fine. She could head home alone.

And yet she could hardly wait for the private conversation Jock had promised her.

She wanted to know more about shapeshifting and shapeshifters and what they thought and how they felt.

“Sounds good,” she said. “Good night, Ralf.” She headed toward Click, then bent and hugged the wolflike dog, whose tail was wagging fiercely. “Good night, Click. See you tomorrow—although Jock and I need to discuss tomorrow's plan of action.”

She looked at the man who waited near the door for her. His mouth had thinned as if he didn't like what he'd heard, but then his stance relaxed.

“I guess we do,” he said.

* * *

Once again, Jock followed Kathlene as she drove. This time, at least, he would get to see where she lived.

He had the address, of course. He'd contacted the military computer geeks who unearthed all private information when necessary for Alpha Force. So far, he hadn't felt a need to go there.

Tonight would have been different even if she hadn't agreed for him to follow her.

Before he had left, he told Ralf to call Drew Connell. He was sure that the major would be very interested in the report of his hearing that explosion, though not particularly strong—this time—at the old ranch, as well as getting the small, yet distinct, scent of explosives.

He wasn't surprised to see Kathlene pull off the main Cliffordsville streets into a nice residential neighborhood. After a few turns, she pulled into the driveway of a small but pretty redbrick home on a block of other similar, well-maintained houses.

Jock parked on the street and followed her to the front door.

For her safety and security, he reminded himself. That was all.

“Nice place,” he said.

“Thanks.” She opened the front door with a key she had taken from the large bag she carried—which he felt sure hid her weapon. And then she walked inside, with him close behind her.

They entered into a living room with textured beige walls, floral-patterned and fluffy sofa and chairs and a huge wide-screen TV along one wall. It smelled of tangy cleaning fluids and unlit jasmine-scented candles on the end tables.

The woman was a bundle of contrasts. A peace officer with feminine furniture and aromas in her home.

But the ability to watch the news in high definition.

He told himself yet again that he wasn't here because he found her attractive—and so sexy that he wanted to take her into his arms and undress her, seduce her and make love till she screamed.

He'd never considered getting close to anyone outside of his old home neighborhood or Alpha Force.

He'd certainly never thought about getting close to a deputy sheriff.

But that was before he had met Kathlene Baylor.

Still, making love with her, a supposed team member with whom he would have to continue to work until this assignment was complete? Bad idea.

He would just have to keep his thoughts, and body, in check.

* * *

“It's a little late for coffee,” Kathlene said. “Would you like a glass of wine? A bottle of beer?”

“Just water will be fine,” Jock told her. He was looking closely at her TV.

“I can turn that on for you, if you'd like.” She figured, though, that he could do it easily by himself.

“No. I don't think it would make good background noise for our talk.”

“Right.” She went through the doorway in the far wall and entered her kitchen, glad to be out of Jock's presence for even just a minute.

What had she been thinking, inviting him to her house?

Even though what they'd said they would talk about fascinated her.

Good thing he hadn't taken her up on her offer of alcohol. She didn't want any, either. She needed her wits about her.

Otherwise—well, she might just jump Jock Larabey's bones here, knowing they were alone.

Knowing he was the sexiest man she had ever laid eyes—and lips—on.

As long as he was in the form of a man.

She quickly brought him a glass of water and carried one for herself as she joined him on the sofa.

“Now,” she said, “tell me all about what it's like to be a—do you call yourself a shapeshifter? A werewolf? What?”

“Either is fine. And I love who and what I am.”

He described growing up in the less-populated areas of Wisconsin with his family and other shifters around. “I don't know whether the regular humans around had any idea of who we really were, but if they did they were still friendly and pretty much left us alone.”

“Amazing,” she said. What would she have done as a kid if she'd known there were actually such things as shapeshifters, and some lived near her? She'd have been fascinated.

She'd always loved to watch sci-fi shows on TV and in movies.

But that's what they were. Science
fiction
.

Or so she had always believed...until now.

“And Alpha Force?” she asked. “How did you learn about it?”

“They found me,” he said. “The unit is always on the lookout for shifters who would fit a specialized career in the military. And Alpha Force—well, I can't really talk much about it, but one of the perks is the special elixir we use that gives us a lot of benefits that regular shifters don't have.”

“Like not having to wait until a full moon?” she asked. “I always thought the original legends said that werewolves only changed then.”

“And it's true,” he said. “Except for Alpha Force members and others who've found a way to get around it. Plus, we can keep a lot more of our human awareness and intelligence with Alpha Force's elixir. But like the other information you now have about Alpha Force, that's something you can't talk about.” His hazel eyes bored into hers as if attempting to see inside her brain for her thoughts about whether to blab all to the world.

“I get it,” she said. “And, yes, I'll keep it to myself.”

Those eyes stayed on her, but their expression changed from icy inquisitiveness to something warmer. A whole lot warmer.

Which made her smile even as her insides turned molten.

Oh, yes, it was a bad idea to have Jock here alone with her in her home.

“Would you like some more water?” she asked quickly, needing a reason to stand up and run away, even by just a few feet.

But his glass wasn't empty.

“No, thanks. So, your turn now. Tell me, Kathlene. Why did you decide to go into law enforcement?”

She didn't have to tell him. It wasn't something she talked about much, if at all.

But he had been honest with her. She supposed it was her turn.

“I wanted to fight for justice,” she said with an ironic grin. “As if there really was any out there.”

“Because...?” he prompted, his gaze still not leaving hers.

For this moment, at least, her body stiffened and had no interest in doing anything but leaving the room, leaving the topic.

Instead, she said as nonchalantly as she could, “My parents owned a convenience store in Missoula. One day, a couple of thugs came in to steal their cash and wound up murdering them. My folks' killers were caught and prosecuted and went to prison—for all of a year. But they appealed their conviction and got off on a technicality. Now they're free. Maybe even robbing and killing other people, but maybe not. I keep track of them as best I can. Justice? Maybe I can't create it, but I sure as hell can seek it and try to make sure it sticks.”

“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, man-wolf—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.

Her breasts became the epitome of sensitivity...especially when, as they stood, she felt his hard erection pushing against her. She sighed, even as she maneuvered herself closer.

“Jock,” she whispered against his hot, searching mouth.

“Yes,” he responded without missing a moment of their increasingly sensual kiss.