The hallway on her floor was empty when Maya finally left her room the next morning to head downstairs and meet her breakfast companions.
She had taken her time getting ready so she was running a little late. She’d even considered calling Ryan to tell him she was going to skip the meal.
Mostly, she wanted to skip seeing him, thanks to her confusion over his reaction to their kiss the previous night. Only...well, the problem was that she did want to see him. Maybe look him straight in those deep brown eyes and attempt to figure out if her attraction to him was wholly one-sided.
She hadn’t thought so, but...
Well, it wasn’t like her to be so forward, either. Maybe he’d done her a favor.
She walked more briskly down the steps until she reached the lobby and looked around. Sure enough, the men and dog were waiting for her near the door.
Should she apologize for being late?
No. In a way, it was Ryan’s fault—although she couldn’t exactly explain it even to him, let alone to Piers.
She made her way through the small lobby crowd till she reached them—and neither man looked at her immediately. They were apparently engaged in conversation, something about what they should be looking for around here.
Here? In the lobby? In town?
Maybe they didn’t even realize she wasn’t on time. Of course, it was only five minutes past when they’d agreed to meet, which wasn’t particularly bad, but still—
“Hi,” she said, not looking at either of them but kneeling to give Rocky a big hug. She appreciated the fuzzy, warm feel of the dog, and the way he nuzzled her face. Too bad she couldn’t just opt to spend time with him this morning and not the others.
When she stood again and saw both men looking at her, she tried to read the expression on Ryan’s face. Maybe she was seeing what she hoped to, but she thought she saw a hint of regret, maybe sadness.
Yeah, and maybe she saw an expression like a scolded dog on his face, too.
“So, you guys ready to eat?” she asked.
“Sure,” Piers responded. “Same place as yesterday?”
“Fine with me.” Maya pivoted to head out the door. She assumed Ryan would follow.
Instead, he rushed slightly ahead and pushed open the door in front of her. Outside, he positioned himself beside her on the sidewalk as they headed in the direction of the restaurant.
“Good morning,” he finally said. “Did you sleep well?”
“Very well, thanks,” she responded, inserting a happy lilt into her voice as if their final contact last night had meant nothing to her. “How about you?”
“Well enough,” was all he said.
* * *
Which was a big, fat lie, Ryan thought as he slowed his pace to stay right beside Maya on the narrow but fortunately nearly empty sidewalk. So what else was new? He was used to lying for all sorts of reasons, especially to regular humans. Why should things be different now?
The thing was, his body told him for a long time into the night that he should have done more with Maya, since she seemed to be interested in him, too.
Yeah, your human body, he kept reminding himself—and also how she was likely to react if she ever learned who and what he really was.
They soon reached the restaurant. Once again there was a bit of a wait, and this morning eavesdropping was not likely to be especially productive. No strangers around here were likely to be discussing howls and wolves. Even so, they were soon seated.
They all ordered food similar to the prior morning’s. And once they’d told their server what they wanted, Ryan made a few additional suggestions about how Maya should address her talk that afternoon. Strong suggestions. Dictated it a bit more, whether or not she liked that. Heck, it was for her own benefit.
Not to mention his—and the other wolves around town, natural or shifters.
Once they had coffee and their server had left, Ryan was amused when Maya looked him straight in the eye and said, “I know why you wanted to spend some time with me this morning.”
Of course she would after that kiss last night...but that’s not what she meant. Her expression was neutral—at least if he ignored what looked like a minor combo of heat and irritation in her lovely hazel eyes. Or was he just reading into them what he expected to see?
“Tell me why.” He donned a mask of what he hoped looked like humor without much emotion—despite the inappropriate warmth he felt just being in her presence, especially here, at breakfast, with his aide and cover dog and a whole room full of diners around them.
“You want to try to figure out whether I intend to give the talk you want me to this afternoon. Well, it’s my decision—and here’s what I’m going to say.”
Maya began expounding again on the thrill of having wolves in the area, and speculations about what might have happened the other night—not mentioning her own meet-up with canines, he noticed—and the reports on a person having been injured by a wolf after possibly trying to find the source of the howls.
“After that, I’ll get into what WHaM is about again—keeping track of wildlife and appreciating it, and hopefully getting other people to appreciate it, too. Plus, maintaining as good a census as possible.”
She paused as their server reappeared with food and more coffee. Beside Ryan, Rocky stood up and all but put his nose on the table, so both he and Piers gave the beggar a little of their own breakfasts.
As he did so, Ryan said to Maya, “Sounds exactly like what I’d suggest so far, but I assume there’s more.”
* * *
“Of course there’s more,” Maya asserted. A lot more, she thought—but she’d get into only part of it here. “That’s when I’ll again stress how wonderful our country is,” she continued, “with its wildlife free in a lot of areas to exist and thrive and be there for us, sometimes, to see. But the threatened and endangered animals need to be kept safe. And for that to happen, people who are interested in them have to use their supposedly more intelligent human brains and remember not to get too close. After all, we call them wildlife for a reason.” She gave a sharp nod as she stressed that first syllable. And then she opened her mouth to continue with her approach, what she wanted to say, how she wanted to convince people—
But Ryan interrupted. “I like it all. I know you’ll do a great job.” His eyes met hers, and despite her mouth still being open and her slight irritation at having been stopped, she felt warm inside. Appreciated.
“Thank you,” she said softly, swallowing the rest of her ideas. “And—”
“And we’ll be there, of course, to cheer you on,” Piers added. Maya dragged her gaze away from Ryan to look at him.
“Thanks,” she said again.
“Plus, we may contribute to what you say,” Ryan added. “And help keep the audience under control as they cheer you.”
Which made Maya feel even warmer. She hoped all would go well that afternoon.
Maybe with Ryan and Piers there, and Rocky, too, it would.
* * *
Breakfast was over soon, though the guys hadn’t seemed to be in a particular hurry. Even so, after Maya had taken the time to let everyone in the restaurant know about her next upcoming talk, they all soon left. At least this time she didn’t have to fight very hard to ensure she could pay her own bill, although they didn’t allow her to treat them.
Well, maybe next time.
She felt rather sad when they said goodbye to her outside the door. “We’ll see you at your talk this afternoon,” Ryan said, and then the men and Rocky started down the sidewalk without asking where she was heading or inviting her to join them.
Oh, well. She had a goal of sorts in mind, although she wasn’t sure how to fulfill it.
It wasn’t enough just to let this morning’s restaurant patrons know about her talk. She had to at least go visit the people in town who’d seemed interested in what she’d said before. Interested in wildlife protection.
Too bad she didn’t know where that Trev was staying. She’d like to let him know, too. He’d at least stood up for her and WHaM before.
For the next half hour, she walked the streets of Fritts Corner, stopping in the Corner Grocery Store and other establishments, letting the owners know and inviting them to come to her talk.
When she figured it was almost time to head for the park, she saw Trev across the street, alone this time and not with the girl she’d seen him with the other day.
She waited till the street was empty of moving cars, then crossed.
“Hey, Trev,” she called but didn’t really have to since he had apparently seen her, too, and was waiting for her. Today his button-down shirt was blue, his light, short hair was messy, and he grinned geekily at her once more. “I hope you have some time this afternoon,” she told him, and quickly explained why.
* * *
“Keeping the audience under control will be the big thing,” Ryan said to Piers later as they stood beside the aging podium. Maya was already at it, getting her presentation together and preparing to show slides again on the screen behind her.
Right now, that part of the park was filling up with a lot of people, and Ryan recognized quite a few.
Any media folks? He wasn’t sure but didn’t think he saw any who’d admitted to it at Maya’s last presentation, and no one appeared to be preparing to take notes and pictures.
Some of those present had been in the restaurant that morning, though. He’d been somewhat amused when, after they’d finished eating, Maya had insisted on circling the tables and inviting the patrons to come hear a talk this afternoon all about the wonders of wildlife—and how to protect oneself, too.
In fact, Piers and he had joined in, and Rocky’s presence had garnered a lot of attention that indicated the people they spoke with actually had an interest in attending.
Some had mentioned coming back since they enjoyed Maya’s last presentation.
But when they were done, Ryan had gotten Piers and Rocky headed back to their hotel. He’d have liked to stay with Maya but they had some Alpha Force business to attend to.
And he’d known he would see her soon. Here. In the park.
In fact, they’d already met up with her, right where they expected she would be.
“Wow!” she said. “There are a lot of people here already and I don’t start for another ten minutes.”
Ryan looked up at the podium to see that Maya had stopped fussing with the materials in front of her and began looking at the grounds. Her eyes looked huge, as if she was a bit nervous, but then she smiled.
“Guess I’d better do a good job,” she added.
“Guess you’d better.” Ryan made his tone sound stern, but when she caught his eye he grinned. “And I’m sure you will.”
She seemed to relax a little as she got back to organizing her stuff. And Ryan looked around.
“She’s right,” Piers said. “And so are you.” He stood near Ryan, with Rocky sitting on the lawn beside him looking interested and alert.
“Of course I am,” Ryan responded. “You should know that.”
He was teasing, of course, but that was a sort of reminder that, in their real life and job, Piers was his aide. Not that Piers ever needed a reminder. He had even taken charge of typing on his computer the list of to-do thoughts Ryan had dictated to him back at their hotel before—mundane stuff in addition to the way he assisted in Ryan’s shifts. Now, he just raised his eyebrows at his superior officer, who smiled and looked down toward Rocky.
“Good boy,” Ryan said soothingly to his cover dog, who remained still but tense as he sat there. Did Rocky capture the smell of shifters in this group? At least for now, Ryan didn’t.
But as he had hoped, the whole Sharan family was there—Burt and Kathie and their son, Pete. At the moment, they all stood off toward the edge of the crowd, with some other folks Ryan recognized from the earlier presentation and otherwise, including bar owner Buck Lesterman. They were too far away from him to catch their scents unless he’d been in wolf form.
There were aromas around him, though: the freshness of the grass, some forest smells from the hills rising beyond them, too many perfumes and aftershaves worn by the growing crowd—and canine scents, since some of those people had also brought their dogs to the park for this talk.
A couple of the larger dogs—maybe a Great Dane mix and a Doberman—seemed interested in getting close to Rocky and tugged at their leashes, but their owners kept them well enough under control that they didn’t approach. Rocky was aware of them, though, looking in their direction and keeping his nose working.
Good wolf-dog that he was, he didn’t pull at his own leash and remained sitting between the two men who were his pack. Ryan kept his hand gently on Rocky’s head to reward him.
As they stood there, Ryan noted that guy who’d been at Maya’s last presentation and seemed too interested in her afterward now making his way through the crowd. What was his name? Oh, yeah, Trev. But Ryan didn’t want to sound as if he cared if some other fellow flirted with her.
Even though, despite how dumb it was, he did care.
The September day was warm and a little humid but not particularly uncomfortable. It seemed a good day for an outdoor presentation.
And Ryan settled in to listen as Maya started to speak. The microphone worked well, and her voice resonated loudly enough so that Ryan believed everyone here could hear her. It seemed quite loud to his own enhanced hearing, and yet he welcomed it.
Welcomed her, and her attitude, and—
He forced himself to stop that train of thought and listen to the wonderful ideas emanating from her.
He’d already become attracted to her aroma, slightly floral and all woman...
“So who here heard the wolves the other night?” she was asking. Her arms seemed to hug the podium’s stand as she leaned forward against it and scanned the crowd.
Ryan had a sudden recollection of her hugging him last night but shrugged it off as he, too, looked over the small sea of people. A lot had hands raised, including the Sharans and Lesterman and Trev, and a few called out replies like “Me!” and “I did.”
“That’s so great!” Maya said. She launched into some of the talk she had presented the other day, about how wolves had disappeared from this area ages ago and were only now reappearing in small numbers. They remained particularly rare in this part of Washington, and all were protected under the law.
The audience seemed interested, even though what Maya was saying now wasn’t anything new. What she was showing on the screen behind her, though, included some shots of the area Ryan recognized as where she had gone in the middle of the night after hearing the wolves.
And showed first the two wolves that seemed ready to attack her, then joined by a third wolf.
Him.
Ryan attempted not to react. He should have anticipated that, since he’d seen her wielding her camera and knew she had taken video clips. If she knew what she was doing, it was easy enough to pull still shots out. And she clearly knew what she was doing.
As long as she didn’t confront any more wolves...
And hopefully she wouldn’t. She now began talking about how wonderful it was as an officer of WHaM to be able to potentially see and count wolves around here.
She didn’t admit she’d already seen any or where she had gotten those pictures.
“But the thing is, even those of us who are real wildlife advocates have to understand, and remember, that wildlife is wild. I say that often, and I mean it. The animals, especially these wolves, are wonderful, and we all love seeing them, but we nevertheless have to be careful. If we get too close, they don’t understand that we appreciate them, want to see them and get to know them better and all. They could get frightened, consider us enemies and attack. That means we should never get too near them. Appreciate them, yes. Approach them, no.”
She had the grace to look away from the audience and down toward Ryan, as if looking for his reaction—and approval.
He smiled a bit grimly as a reminder to her that what she was saying worked for her, too, and nodded.
“Okay, then. I’m going to start describing a few scenarios that could happen under present circumstances, where potentially dangerous but oh, so wonderful wildlife is present in an area and what you should do to protect yourselves. First of all, did any of you see those wolves that were howling and barking the other night?”
No one raised their hands, not even the Sharans. Smart to lie about that, though, if they did happen to be shifters.
Or maybe he was all wrong and they weren’t, in fact, shifters—although he doubted that. As a shifter himself, even before he had heard of Alpha Force and joined it and gotten access to the elixir, he and his family had been well aware of others, some who mixed with them in the remote area of Wyoming where he had grown up, and others who had stayed to themselves.
The old-timers knew who they were, in any case—even when they had just moved to the area. And Ryan’s own parents and grandparents had given him pointers on how to figure that out, such as recognizing the special scents that shifters might give off even when in human form.
It didn’t really matter what the Sharans admitted—or didn’t. One way or another, whether he remained here or returned, Ryan would be here during the time of the next full moon and hang around them enough to see for himself if they were shifters.
Since sighting of wolves was fairly new to this area, any shifters were newcomers, too. They might already know how to protect themselves, but if Ryan, and Alpha Force, could help them, all the better.
But for now, he would hang around at least long enough to—
Hey. Maya was still talking, asking the audience to respond to various scenarios she was creating in which wolves might become too close to people, but the crowd was parting close to the podium.
Coming closer was someone who had apparently not just been in some fictional scenario, but had actually been attacked.
At the forefront was Morton Fritts, followed by his wife, Vinnie and by their wolf-hating friend, Carlo Silling.
They were stealing attention away from Maya, which wasn’t surprising in this crowd that mostly consisted of locals who would know who Morton was—and what had happened to him. And Morton wasn’t walking fast but appeared to be limping.
Rocky seemed to sense the tension in the crowd and stood. Piers had a good hold on his leash and looked at Ryan, who shook his head slightly to express his concern but tell his aide to stand down for now.
Maya finally saw what was happening and stopped talking. She seemed to hesitate for a minute, and Ryan quickly weighed whether he could help her better by joining her or staying where he was.
She sort of removed the choice from him when she began talking. “Oh, my goodness. I’m afraid we have an example of what can happen to people who meet a wolf under bad circumstances. Morton, I’m so glad to see you here and hope you’re okay.”
That was appropriate and sympathetic, yet it sounded sort of like an invitation for him to talk, Ryan figured. And apparently so did Morton.
He reached the far side of the podium from where Ryan stood, and Carlo helped him climb the couple of steps. Ryan got closer to the steps on the other side but didn’t go up them—yet.
Morton wore a long-sleeved T-shirt and jeans that hid any of his injuries beneath. But his face was injured, too. The damage could have been bites or claw marks; Ryan wasn’t certain.
Maya started talking again into her microphone but Morton grabbed it from her. “What the hell are you doing here again?” he shouted into it, glaring at Maya. “And saying things about how people should be welcoming wolves back to this area? I could have been killed by the one that attacked me. I was just trying to find it, see where one of the animals that was making noise that night was hiding out, and it leaped out at me. And there were more around, too. Wolves back here? That’s dangerous. Horrible. And I’m going to do my damnedest to make sure the local laws are changed and we can kill them the way that one tried to kill me.”