LITMIR.BIZ

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yes—she was a shifter.

      The good thing was that Anthony now believed—which meant their operation could move forward.

      Plus, Owen hadn’t had to strip to get the dispute resolved. It had been a dumb offer on his part. He knew that. He’d recognized it even as he’d suggested it, Anthony’s attitude notwithstanding. Worst thing now was that it might negatively affect his professional relationship with Selena. He’d have to be careful and treat her with total respect from now on.

      And keep his clothes on.

      Before they’d adjourned last night he’d called this hotel and made reservations for them and himself for the night. His current home was in Ottawa, since he’d been most recently stationed at the RCMP main headquarters there—until now. But he would become a resident of West Columbia as soon as they got there.

      He scanned the front of the hotel and saw the trio emerge. He got out of the car to open the doors for them.

      The women rolled suitcases behind them and carried bags over their shoulders. Rainey seemed in charge of the dog.

      As they got closer, Selena blatantly looked him up and down. Interesting. Did she approve of what she saw?

      “You’re not wearing your Mounties uniform,” she said. “Not even the casual kind you had on last night—although someday soon we’re going to insist on seeing you in one of those classic and formal red jackets and rounded hats.”

      She had a smile on her face. She looked well rested and seemed clearly in teasing mode. Good. Maybe things weren’t as bad as he thought.

      “Only if you earn the right to see me that way,” he said, keeping his face expressionless. “I have to admit that I like you in the civilian clothes you’re wearing today a lot better than the camo uniform.” The jeans and T-shirt she wore hugged her curves.

      Why was he noticing such things? Especially after cautioning himself to resist any sexual attraction to her.

      He quickly opened the rear hatch and helped them load their suitcases and backpacks, then watched as Rainey ushered Lupe into the backseat and followed the dog inside. Lupe was obviously a well-trained dog, one he’d enjoy working with, given the opportunity.

      He doubted that the humans, while shifted, would be as well behaved.

      By the time he closed the door after the woman and dog, Selena was already buckled in the front seat. He hurried to the driver’s side and got in.

      “So where, exactly, is our destination?” Selena said as he turned the key in the ignition.

      “West Columbia.”

      “How far is it?”

      Owen maneuvered the car away from the curb. It was his own vehicle. Even though this was an official mission, the whole operation was to be done undercover. Plus, he was moving to this area to be in charge of the new covert team. He would not drive his prior on-the-job vehicle, an RCMP sedan, around here.

      “About an hour from here,” he finally answered as he pulled into traffic. “It’s a somewhat remote, moderate-sized town where tourists come and go, so we won’t stick out as being intruders. It abuts some forested mountains and seems like a good location for our new detachment, but we’ll see. The location is also part of our experiment. The new RCMP members who are part of my team are already located there, and to everyone they talk to they’re on vacation but considering moving there. That’s what all of us are to say, if anyone asks.”

      Owen drove north toward Highways 1 and 99, the Trans-Canada Highway nearest to where they started out, although it would turn into the Upper Levels Highway and Sea-to-Sky Highway before they reached their destination.

      “Sounds good,” Selena said. “Since you’re national police and not military, you shouldn’t need something like Ft. Lukman, which is Alpha Force’s headquarters. It’s an actual military facility in Maryland and has units stationed there besides ours. We’ll tell you more about it, if you’d like, as we undertake our training sessions. By the way, what’s your new team to be called?”

      “It’s the Covert Special Services Group. Our nickname for the group, at least for now, is the Canada Alphas, or CAs.”

      “That works,” Selena said. “At least it’s somewhat compatible with Alpha Force.”

      He glanced at her yet again and saw that she was smiling, and that lovely expression was aimed toward him.

      “Now all we need to do is to get your shapeshifting team whipped into shape,” she said.

      * * *

      Staring out the window at the lovely, forested Canadian countryside with vast mountains in the background, Selena couldn’t help wondering how hard their assignment would be. From the little she’d learned when ordered to hurry to this area, the shifters Alpha Force was going to assist in training had only just been recruited into the RCMP. They probably had no experience in law enforcement or the military. Their shapeshifting backgrounds probably hadn’t even allowed them to consider the possibility of shifting outside of full moons, let alone keeping human cognition while in shifted form.

      Bless you, Alpha Force elixir, she thought.

      Yet she had a sense that this man, who’d be in charge of the RCMP contingent, could make her job even harder.

      She needed to figure him out.

      What did he really think about shapeshifters?

      And the idea of his offering to get naked...? Stop thinking about that, Jennay, she ordered herself silently.

      She glanced into the backseat. Lupe lay down with her ears up but her eyes closed, and Rainey watched the view out the window, as Selena had been doing.

      Yesterday, they’d been in a car most of the day—a rental vehicle they’d picked up hurriedly in Seattle and dropped off in Vancouver.

      Good thing they’d had adequate ID with them to get into Canada—their passports and military identification. But Alpha Force members were always prepared for anything. It was part of the job.

      She hoped she was prepared for the man beside her.

      Turning to Owen, she asked, “I gathered that you believed in shapeshifters even before you got the assignment of working with them, right?”

      “That’s right.”

      Along with his bland acknowledgment, she watched Owen’s physical reaction. There was none. At least none that she could see. He didn’t look at her, and his handsome blue eyes didn’t blink as they stared at the road ahead of him. His strong chin remained at the same level as before. He continued to drive at a speed compatible with the flow of traffic, watch the road and not say or do anything that would indicate his attitude toward shifters.

      But she was curious. She wasn’t sure why it mattered, but she hoped he not only believed in shifters, but also liked them, at least a little. Might even be interested in them as more than strange aberrations in the world of human beings. Maybe one of them in particular.

      Not that she would encourage anything between them but a good professional working relationship. He might be attractive and hunky, and her human hormones might be tweaked just by looking at Owen Dewirter, but she knew far better than to get involved with a nonshifter. She had learned her lesson, and learned it well.

      Besides, this nonshifter seemed to have an opinion, one she couldn’t interpret.

      But with him, or despite him, she intended to do all she could to make sure that the Alpha Force mission here was a complete success for both the US military and the Canadian Mounties.

      Of course, she’d have help when the rest of the Alpha Force contingent arrived.

      When Owen didn’t follow up his acknowledgment with anything else, Selena decided to push him for more. “Most people don’t believe in shapeshifters. Why do you? Have you met any? Seen any shifts?”

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