Visionary Wolf

Rosa looked around the hallway once more, but it was empty. Then she slipped into the room.

It was a fairly ordinary exam room for a veterinary clinic, with the back wall covered by a cabinet containing shelves for supplies like bandages, exam gloves and disinfectant, and a sink in the middle for washing hands and more. There was a closed trash can nearby, and a couple chairs sat along the outer wall. In the middle was a substantial metal table.

One of the chairs was occupied by Jonas, who stood when she entered. He was a large guy, dark-complected and dressed in a camouflage uniform. He was around her own age of thirty, she figured.

“Here’s some coffee.” Rosa handed him one of the cups.

“Thanks,” he said as he accepted it.

Rosa turned then. On the table with legs adjusted to keep it close to the floor lay a large canine that resembled a wolf. And he was a wolf—of sorts.

That canine was Major Drew Connell of nearby Alpha Force, its lead officer, from what Rosa had heard.

She had also heard that Alpha Force was a highly covert military unit of shapeshifters, which was fascinating to her. There had been a full moon last night, and Drew had shifted into his wolf form. But he hadn’t shifted back at dawn or beyond.

He’d been home when the sun rose, and the Connells’ home was next door to the vet clinic. Melanie had brought him here after taking their daughter to preschool and making sure the sitter was there for their son. Rosa could only guess what Mommy had said to their kids about where Daddy was, and about the wolf in their house.

Or maybe the kids were shifters, too...

Melanie had also called Jonas, who had arrived at the clinic even before Drew and had stayed with him, along with Rosa, from early morning. It was around ten o’clock now.

Rosa realized she had been standing in the doorway after closing the door behind her. The wolf on the table hadn’t moved—before. Now, he made a soft growling sound and, moving slowly, carefully along the towels that had been secured around the metal top, repositioned himself into a canine sit. His fur was long, an almost silvery brown, with patches of darker coloration. His eyes were amber, and he seemed to stare at her over his long, pointed muzzle.

“It’s okay, Drew,” Jonas said. “It’s just Rosa.”

In his current situation, Drew looked a lot like Grunge, a wolflike shepherd-malamute combination that Rosa had been informed was his cover dog. That meant, she’d been told, that Grunge could be pointed out to people as Drew’s pet, the canine they supposedly saw when he was changed, not him. She assumed Grunge was hidden at home at the moment, or maybe at the base.

“Hi, Drew,” she said. “How are you feeling now?”

He couldn’t answer by speaking to her, of course. But from what Melanie had told her, the members of Alpha Force took some kind of medicine—an elixir, they called it—before they shifted that helped them keep their human cognition. He most likely understood what she said.

But they also were supposed to turn back into human form once daylight began after a night of a full moon, unless they had drunk that elixir and chose not to shift back then. She gathered that Drew hadn’t chosen to stay a wolf when daylight arrived that morning, but still hadn’t regained his human form. And judging by the reactions of Melanie and Jonas, that wasn’t good.

He apparently did understand her, though. Maybe. But he aimed his gaze down at the table and shook his head slowly, as if communicating to her that he wasn’t feeling well.

“I’m so sorry,” she said.

And she was. The fact that she had known about shapeshifters, and had, in fact, helped to treat some shifted wolves and other creatures at her home in Michigan, had been the main reason Melanie had hired her here. Apparently the shifter community kept in touch with each other, or at least some did, and Melanie had been hunting for someone like her. And Rosa had been thrilled by the offer of this kind of job.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” she asked, not for the first time, looking from Drew to Jonas and back again. She had sat in here with the two of them pretty much since she had arrived at work that day. Melanie had tearfully explained the situation, including her request that Rosa stay with Drew and make sure he wasn’t suffering.

Or, even better, report to Melanie when he finally started to shift back to human form.

But that hadn’t happened. Not yet, at least.

Right now, Drew didn’t even look at her, let alone attempt to communicate something he wanted her to do. Jonas didn’t offer any suggestions, either.

“Would you like some water?” she asked Drew.

He looked at her and nodded, so she removed a clean metal bowl from the sink, filled it partway and placed it on the table in front of him. He lapped up maybe half of it.

A knock sounded on the exam room door.

Rosa glanced at Drew, who was once more lying on the towel-covered table, head between his paws in a fully canine position, the bowl off to his side.

“Come in,” she called.

The door opened and Susie popped her head in. “There’s a guy here from Ft. Lukman who says he’s come to help out.”

To take over for Jonas, Rosa assumed, from what Melanie had said before.

She figured that Susie and the others who worked here had some knowledge of the ties Melanie and her husband had to Ft. Lukman, and probably even knew there were shapeshifters there—and possibly that Drew was one of them.

But they’d also been instructed to remain totally discreet, even among themselves. To Rosa’s knowledge, they never talked about it—or at least they’d never done so around her.

“Thanks, Susie. Let him in.”

In a moment, a tall guy dressed in a camouflage shirt and slacks like Jonas entered the room, and Susie shut the door behind him.

Jonas rose again. “Liam,” he said. “Glad you’re here.” He turned to Rosa. “This is Dr. Jontay, one of the vets here. Rosa, that’s Lieutenant Liam Corland.”

“Hi, Dr. Jontay,” the guy said in a deep, masculine voice. He held out his hand and gave hers a quick, substantial shake. The contact made her feel fully aware of this man’s presence. He was wide shouldered, and his face was angular—and gorgeous. His hair was black and military short. Dark brown eyes looked straight into hers, but only for a moment.

“Hello, Lieutenant Corland,” she said as matter-of-factly as she could manage, considering how oddly her mind was reacting to this guy.

“Liam,” he gently corrected, making Rosa regret she hadn’t done the same. He turned to Jonas. “I’m assigned to relieve you here.”

“Got it. Thanks. I’ll run now, and keep you informed about how things go at the base.” Jonas bent toward Drew, who was sitting up once more on the table, and said something into his ear, which twitched canine style. Then he exited the room.

“Well,” Rosa said, not exactly sure how to handle this. What was this Liam going to do here?

As if she had spoken aloud, he looked her directly in the eyes once more. “Do you know and understand the full situation?” His tone was demanding. She didn’t like it, but she did understand.

“Yes, I think so,” she said. Then, more brazenly, “Do you?”

“Of course. I’m a member of Alpha Force, too. One of its...special members.” Again, he caught her gaze, as if attempting to ensure she knew what that meant.

“Then you’re like...” She tilted her head toward the table, where the canine Drew remained seated, clearly watching them and presumably understanding. “Like Drew,” she finished.

“That’s right. I’m here to help Drew out as much as possible from the...from the military angle. Watch over him while members of our unit try to figure out how to help him in their way.” Something to do with that elixir that helped shifters? Something else? Maybe she would find out more. “And discuss if you think there’s any veterinary way to help him...help him get over his current condition.”

“I see.” This seemed so odd—and yet, since Rosa had grown up with both real wolves and shifters in her area, she could deal with it. Right?

Of course. But the part of all this that made her somehow feel worse at this moment was that she couldn’t help focusing on how this Liam had admitted to her right away what he was.

And she felt terrible to think that this gorgeous hunk of a military man was also a shapeshifter.

Chapter 2 (#ub6ef44f9-2381-5259-ac8c-d2684b9e78b3)