Linda Johnston - Untamed Wolf

She met his amused golden eyes only briefly, then turned back to the major.

The family relationship was apparent between the two men. Major Connell also had gold eyes and flecks of silver running through his dark hair. He was nice-looking, too. Maybe a little older than Jason. But not nearly as handsome.

More quietly than her earlier pronouncement, she said to him, “Major Connell, you know I’m here representing General Yarrow. He even gave me his card keys to get into this building and the lab area on his behalf. If this is an Alpha Force meeting, I should have been invited.”

“I know your assignment, Lieutenant. You’ll be invited to all meetings necessary to what the general, and you, are here to accomplish. This was a recap of some prior exercises and I didn’t think it appropriate for you to waste your time.”

“I’ll let the general decide what’s appropriate for me.” She kept her expression neutral, though her words weren’t.

“I understand.” The major turned back to the group. “I think we’re through here,” he said. “Everyone is dismissed.”

Especially me, Sara thought. But she didn’t complain. Not yet. Nor did she ask any questions.

She had contacted the general, though, and she was really glad that he would arrive in only a couple of hours.

She would be there waiting for him.

For now, she scanned the group until her eyes lit again on Jason Connell, who was approaching the major.

Did Major Connell know what Sara had seen last night? Had Jason told him what he had done?

Surely the major knew who, or what, his own cousin was...assuming Sara hadn’t imagined it all.

Should she simply ask the major? Maybe, but she wanted to talk to General Yarrow first.

And preferably to Jason even before that, to gauge his position about the incident.

Not now, though. He was engaged in a conversation with the major. Time for Sara to leave, along with the rest of the group.

Outside the door she feigned answering her cell phone but hung up as Jason came through.

“I’d like to talk with you, Sergeant,” she said, inserting her most formal military quality to her voice.

“I’ll bet you would, Lieutenant.” There was humor in his tone and a suggestive smile on his face. “Would you like to go someplace where we could...talk alone?”

She felt her face flush. “No, thank you. But I would like for you to give me an official tour of this facility.”

“I can only do that on the major’s orders, Lieutenant.” This time, he sounded serious.

Which suggested further to Sara that she was being kept outside the Alpha Force loop for now. She was a superior officer, yet he was refusing to obey her while giving a good excuse. That would surely change when the general got here and ordered everyone to cooperate with her as well as him.

“Then come with me, please. There’s something I’d like to show you.” Not really, but she decided to lead him back to the area where he had shown her...a lot.

“Yes, ma’am.” His tone again suggested he was thinking about exactly what she was.

He didn’t comment as they walked up the stairs to the main floor of the building. There, she stopped in the kennel area to look at the dogs she had been told were there.

They were all of moderate size, and most resembled the animals she had seen last night: wolves.

“I like dogs,” she said casually. “Do you, Sergeant?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he responded, smiling. “Especially those guys. My favorite is Shadow.”

He reached inside the chain-link fencing of a nearby kennel and stroked the head of the closest dog inside, whom he introduced as Shadow. Sara couldn’t help thinking that this dog in particular bore a strong resemblance to Jason in wolf form. Could he somehow have pulled a prank on her after all? But how?

“Any kinds of dogs you like better than others?” Jason asked.

He probably wanted her to say something like the kind she’d seen last night—and especially that morning. But that wasn’t something she intended to admit.

“Small ones,” she said. “These guys are cute, but they look difficult to walk and control. I like dogs that I can train and manage.” Oh, Lord. She knew she was stepping into a nasty mess that had nothing to do with dog excrement. He could read a lot into her words if he chose. Maybe that was a good thing, if he really was what she suspected. But there was no way she would ever admit to him that what she had seen had touched her libido, gotten her most intimate parts simmering.

“Sounds like a very interesting way to treat your...dogs,” he said. “I’d be glad to teach you how to work with these guys—or any others.”

She’d had enough. They were outside the building on a walkway that led toward the woods in one direction, or toward the BOQ in the other. “I’ve got someplace I need to go now,” she said. “See you later, Sergeant.” She stood straight, looking at him, until he saluted her. She saluted back.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said so officially that it sounded facetious, then he whirled on his heels and strutted off.

Sara headed back toward her quarters. She would find something productive to do until it was time to go meet the general.

* * *

At around nine-thirty, Sara realized she had actually gotten something accomplished in a short time, although not what she had intended.

For one thing, she had thoroughly searched Google on her laptop to see if she could find any information to suggest that shapeshifters could be real.

Of course there was. The authors could all have been credulous fools who wanted to believe, so they did. Nothing stood out to her as proof.

There were also a lot of websites ridiculing the whole idea.

She logged off the computer and left it on the small table in the kitchenette in her quarters. Then she checked herself in the mirror. Almost time to go wait for the general.

She’d decided to meet him right away, before he had time to talk with anyone else.

Soon she headed down the stairs in the BOQ and out the door. She walked toward the front gate.

And got waylaid by Jason. What was he doing out here?

He soon told her. “Hello, Lieutenant. I’m the general’s unofficial greeter from Alpha Force. Is that why you’re out here? I’m supposed to call Drew—er, Major Connell—and let him know when the general arrives.”

“Won’t the security guys notify the major?” Sara asked.

“Probably. But those were my orders.”

“Okay. We’ll both wait for him, then.” She didn’t want to wait with Jason. He would be a big distraction. He would keep her from asking the general questions right away, too. But she nevertheless walked with Jason toward the base’s front gate.

She saw a few other soldiers walking around and some cars cruising the nearby roads. But she was extremely aware of Jason’s tall, masculine presence beside her.

Especially when he said in a voice tinged with suggestiveness, “How are you enjoying Ft. Lukman so far, Lieutenant?”

“It’s fine, Sergeant. I intend to get a lot accomplished here. Learn a lot, too.”

“About Alpha Force?”

“That’s right,” she said. “I have some ideas already about how it can be improved, and I intend to let the general know.”

She sensed Jason’s hesitation beside her, but she wiped the grin off her face before she turned to him. His expression now was grim, not suggestive of anything but worry.

Good.

She looked again toward the guard gate, just in time to see the general’s old, classic Jeep stopping. His ID was apparently approved right away, since the large gate opened inward and the general drove through.

Continuing to drive slowly, he approached the area where Sara and Jason stood.