Linda O. Johnston - Visionary Wolf

Still, Denny had used one of his own fake identities to make fun of the stupid stuff. That needed to be started even before they attempted to figure out the sources of those posts.

“Good job,” Liam had told him, making his short, young helper grin widely.

“Thanks. You want to take over?”

“Soon,” Liam assured him. “Meantime, keep up the good work.”

He returned to Drew’s office, where some of his fellow Alpha Forcers remained. Could he text Rosa to see how much longer she’d be? He felt a duty to do as he’d promised her.

He also felt eager to see her again, and not entirely to get her update on what the others were doing to assess Drew’s weird blood.

He was delighted when she came back almost immediately after his reappearance. “They’re working on it now,” she told Liam and the others in the room. “Not much I can do to help, so do you think...” She looked at Liam, who just nodded, reading the question in her eyes.

“Yep,” he said. “I’ll take you back to the clinic now. Right?”

“Thanks.” She smiled at him.

He got a promise from the clearly worried Jason that he’d keep Liam informed about anything the doctors found and revealed about his cousin Drew’s bad blood. Then he told Rosa, “I’ve a stop to make before we leave.”

“Oh. Okay.” The way she looked at him, he assumed she thought he meant the restroom.

“Pit stop first is fine,” he agreed, “but that’s not what I meant.”

In a few minutes, he met her to go upstairs. Instead of heading for the door out of the building, he turned and said, “Time for some cover dog attention.”

“Really?” She sounded delighted. “Then you’re going to get yours?”

“Yep, that’s my Chase.”

“Is Spike there, too?”

He knew that was Seth’s dog. “Sure. That’s right—you took care of his wound, didn’t you? I’ve heard a lot about it.”

“He’s still okay, isn’t he?”

“He sure is.”

They’d reached the door to the large room where the cover dogs were in enclosures. For fun, Liam let out a brief howl as if he was shifted, and several of those inside responded in kind. He grinned at Rosa’s pleased smile.

“Gee, these guys sound a lot like wolves,” she said, “and so do you.”

“I wonder why.”

He asked her to wait outside while he went in for Chase. She agreed, but asked to peek in the door and see all the canines hanging out there behind the low fences.

When he returned with Chase, her smile was even broader.

“So this is how you look when you shift?” she asked.

“Yep, that’s me—or close enough to me for now.” He asked what she knew about cover animals. From what she told him, Rosa had already learned from Melanie that the shifters in Alpha Force all had cover animals who resembled them when they were shifted. That way, if a non-shifter happened to see them while they were in shifted form and claim they must be werewolves or whatever, they could later bring out their cover animal—mostly wolves here at Ft. Lukman these days—show the non-shifter, and tell them they’d simply seen the Alpha Force member’s pet. That seemed to work well, Liam thought, since Alpha Force members didn’t need to wait till a full moon to shift.

Now Rosa and Liam walked outside toward his car, then into the warmth of the midday air, and he soon tethered Chase in the back seat. His look-alike cover dog-wolf sat up and looked around expectantly. Chase always enjoyed attention and was probably eager to see what the rest of the day held in store for him.

There’d be one stop he might enjoy. After they dropped Rosa off at the vet clinic, Liam had promised a visit to his family in town—his brother, Chuck, and sister-in-law, Carleen. They had moved from Minnesota to Mary Glen just a few months ago and bought an existing restaurant that was a franchise for the Fastest Foods chain, planning to stay here a while.

That was the result of Liam learning about a possible experiment that would involve allowing limited individuals related to Alpha Force team members to occasionally use the elixir on nights of a full moon, with results to be examined by the unit. Those people had to be shifters, close in both relationship and distance, although if all went well, the program might be expanded.

Liam’s family were shifters like him, and were eager to have more access to the elixir. That’s why they had considered their move here worth it, even if they wound up only being closer to Liam. But of course they hoped things went better than that—and they had, at least somewhat. His family members had been allowed to use the elixir once now, during this most recent full moon, as part of the experiment. And more? That remained to be seen, but the ongoing experiment might help.

Liam had received a text message from Chuck a short while ago, as he waited for Rosa. He hadn’t seen his family since their shift last night, nor had he had a chance to speak with the Alpha Force member who’d acted as their temporary aide for the occasion, Sergeant Kristine Parran. Though he’d talked to them briefly on his way downtown before, and they’d sounded thrilled, he wanted to know more about how it all went, and apparently they wanted to talk to him, too. But he couldn’t stay long at the restaurant.

So first he’d take Rosa back to the veterinary hospital and dash in with her to see how Drew was doing. Then he’d stop to see family—quickly.

And finally, he would fulfill his obligation—and do what he really wanted to. He’d hurry back here to get on the computer at last.

As Liam pulled his car past the base’s front gate and onto the road secluded by trees, Rosa took her phone from her purse and looked at it. “I was hoping to get a call right away saying they’d figured out how to help Drew.”

“That would be a nice thing.” He looked at her briefly and nodded. And had an idea.

He could easily drive past the restaurant on the way to the clinic. That would give him a great excuse to keep his visit quick. He trusted Denny, but the aide was too new at this to fully accomplish what Liam needed to do. If he stopped with Rosa to buy a fast-food burger and coffee—and ask in more detail how his family had enjoyed last night—he could leave quickly to return Rosa to her clinic.

Besides, he would get to stay in her presence just a little longer. That wasn’t important, of course—no matter how much he knew he’d enjoy it. But the idea seemed to work well in all ways.

“I’d like to stop to pick up a meal to go, from the Fastest Foods shop,” he told Rosa. “My treat, if you’d like anything.”

The look she shot at him was one of surprise. “Good idea,” she said. “You don’t have to treat, but I’ll pick up a few things for the clinic staff...and also get Drew a burger to help keep his spirits up.”

“Good idea,” he said in turn. “We’ll be there soon.” Then he had to ask. “Did you get a sense that my superior officers knew what they were doing when it came to analyzing Drew’s blood and determining if that had anything to do with his non-shifting?”

“I liked those guys,” she hedged. “And I’m hopeful...but not sure. I just wish there was more I could do.”

He hated to hear the sad tone in her voice, and to see the dejection in her expression when he managed another glance toward her.

“I’ve got a feeling,” he said to cheer her up, “that there is more you can do, and you’ll figure it out.”

He looked at her again briefly as she shifted in her seat. “Really? I can’t make any promises, but I sure hope you’re right.”

Me, too , he thought, then made the turn from the woodsy road into town.

And if she figured it out—well, that would give him a good excuse to kiss those now happily smiling lips of hers in thanks.