Linda O. Johnston - Loyal Wolf

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.