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Loyal Wolf
Linda O. Johnston
The alpha male meets his match…When fearless deputy sheriff Kathlene Baylor detects suspicious behaviour occurring on the outskirts of her Montana town, she takes action into her own hands and calls in the military. But the team assigned to her isn’t your average task force! Part of the top secret Alpha Force is shapeshifter Jock Larabey – the sexiest man Kathlene has ever laid eyes on. Even when she catches him shifting, she finds herself more aroused than scared.Jock feels the same way, but can’t control it for much longer. As the danger escalates, so does their desire…
“I'm so sorry, Kathlene.”
His expression had turned full of compassion. And suddenly, she found herself in his embrace.
She closed her eyes. She couldn't allow herself to give in to her desire because this man—no, manwolf—was also a really nice and caring guy.
Only…as his mouth sought, then captured, hers, she realized for a fleeting moment that this was what she had been hoping for all day long.
No, from the moment she had first met Jock Larabey.
They were going to make love. She knew it. She also knew how foolish it was.
But for this moment, foolishness be damned. She opened her own lips, allowed her tongue to seek out his, even as her body pressed up against him.
LINDA O. JOHNSTON loves to write. While honing her writing skills, she worked in advertising and public relations, then became a lawyer…and enjoyed writing contracts. Linda's first published fiction appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and won a Robert L. Fish Memorial Award for Best First Mystery Short Story of the Year. Linda now spends most of her time creating memorable tales of paranormal romance, romantic suspense and mystery. Visit www.lindaojohnston.com (http://www.lindaojohnston.com).
Loyal Wolf
Linda O. Johnston
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Loyal Wolf is dedicated to shapeshifters and the readers who love them. And also to my husband, Fred, who, though not a writer, is an excellent sounding board for plot issues.
Contents
Cover (#udcec9372-f812-5f75-96d8-3e2e4ed558f3)
Introduction (#uaa10fe19-34cd-5e23-96c2-db4c1f8ffe65)
About the Author (#ub5d8b651-3d49-5155-857f-305831136e4d)
Title Page (#u8bd8e50c-f6cd-5bc4-b3d8-69dc9a92bdeb)
Dedication (#u2d26ac6f-9451-5910-9b6a-6fb1944d1a71)
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 1 (#u46b4df12-b0b8-53bd-9229-8bd1f547b295)
Deputy Sheriff Kathlene Baylor steered down the narrow, tree-lined lane toward the entrance to Clifford Cabins, a rustic motel a few miles out of town. She was driving her personal car, a silver SUV, rather than an official Clifford County, Montana, Sheriff’s Department vehicle, despite being in uniform. It was late afternoon, and she was off duty. If she’d had time to go home and change, she would have.
But she was too eager for the pending meeting to incur any further delay.
This outing was definitely not an official activity, though. In fact, it was just the opposite. Even though it should look, to anyone who might be paying attention to her, as if she was just dashing off to go meet up with an old friend.
Not quite.
Kathlene always considered herself a by-the-book, dedicated law-enforcement officer. But that was before.
Now she was too concerned about what was going on in Clifford County to do nothing, even though her boss, Sheriff Melton Frawley, was certain that she was wrong. That she was “worrying her pretty little head about nothing,” was the way he put it.
She sniffed at the very thought of the way the whole department was encouraged by Melton to return to old, antiquated ways, when women weren’t skilled and respected officers of the law, but handy cooks and cleaners who also entertained their men in bed.
She would have complained, claimed discrimination to the County Counsel, the City Attorney of Cliffordsville, or anyone else who would listen. Problem was, no one with any clout cared.
Well, maybe she had no clout, but she wasn’t about to just sit there and let her county be overrun by anarchists.
She slowed down when she saw a small deer darting through the underbrush toward the road. Good move, she thought as the animal stopped, then leaped back into the woods. She wasn’t a hunter but there were a lot of them around. Some legitimate.
The others were the ones who worried her.
At least their encampment was a few more miles down this road. And that deer—plus, much more important, the humans around here—might survive if what she believed was true, and the people she was going to see helped her do something about it.
There. She had reached the sign identifying the winding drive to the Clifford Cabins. She turned and headed toward them.
She’d received a call. Help had arrived.
She only hoped they would really figure out what was going on—and the situation was thereafter fixed appropriately.
* * *
A knock sounded on the cabin door. Right on time, Lieutenant Jock Larabey thought.
“Want me to get it?” His aide, Staff Sergeant Ralf Nunnoz, glanced toward Jock. Like his superior officer, he was dressed casually, with no indication that either one of them was in the military, let alone part of Alpha Force. Ralf had on well-worn jeans with a Seattle Seahawks T-shirt, since they were supposed to have driven from Washington State to drop in and see Jock’s supposed long-term friend Kathlene Baylor before heading for Yellowstone National Park. Ralf’s hair was short, of course, as was Jock’s, but there was no other indication of their background.
“You’re sure Click is hidden well?” Jock asked. He didn’t want his cover dog seen, particularly this early in the assignment.
All Alpha Force shapeshifting members had cover dogs that resembled them in their changed forms, and Click looked a lot like a wolf, which was ideal. Jock was a werewolf.
“He’s locked in the cabin next door with some beef jerky treats to keep him occupied for now.” Even though Kathlene had reserved this cabin on their behalf, Jock had Ralf book another one next door in case they needed additional space. And cover. Like now.
“Good. Then let her in.”
Ralf approached the wide wooden door attached to the cabin’s fake log walls and opened it. “Jock?” said a woman’s voice in a low, husky tone.
“You must be Jock’s friend Kathlene,” Ralf said more loudly, obviously in case there was anyone outside eavesdropping. “Come in. I’m his good friend Ralf Nunnoz.”
“Good to meet you, Ralf.” The female voice was louder now, too. Higher in tone, as well, in her apparent embarrassment.
The woman who had to be Kathlene Baylor, deputy sheriff of the local Montana county and seeker of Alpha Force help, walked in the door, looked around and approached Jock.
Not that she truly knew what Alpha Force was about. Jock was certain of that.
“Hi,” she said, sounding relieved now as Ralf shut the door behind her. “Jock? I’m Kathlene.”
“Good to see you, buddy,” he said, donning their cover as if it was who they all truly were. He strode over to the woman and, ignoring her unappealing law-enforcement uniform, gave her a big hug.
She was tall, though not as tall as he was. She was slender. And those curves—his body reacted immediately as if their cover was that they were long-separated lovers instead of friends.
Hell, if he had known her in the past they would have been more than friends. He’d have had sex with her as fast as he could have seduced her.
Then.
But not now. They had a joint mission to accomplish. One that, if she was correct about what was going on around here, definitely needed Alpha Force’s unique touch to straighten it out. And if Kathlene found out the truth about him, he felt sure that making love with him would be the last thing she would ever want.
Unless his seduction could convince her otherwise...
She backed up. Quickly. Her face was flushed. She was one good-looking woman, despite how severely her dark hair was pulled back from those reddened cheeks. That face didn’t need adornment. It was smooth, with sexy, full lips and sparkling eyes that peered out from beneath black brows that helped to frame them.
Her gray uniform wasn’t the sexiest thing he had ever seen a woman wear—and yet Kathlene filled it out in all the right places. A definitely appealing bustline—as he had felt pressed against him. A small waist.
Of course the holster she wore at her hip didn’t exactly turn him on, but it went with the rest of her gear. He wondered where her weapon was, figured she’d locked it up since she wasn’t currently on duty, or so he assumed.
But admiring her—or not—wasn’t why Ralf and he had come.
Right now he needed to get this woman’s description of what was going on here.
And then Alpha Force could get to work.
* * *
Jock Larabey. Her old college buddy. Or so the rest of the world should believe.
The guy did look military, muscles bulging from beneath his snug University of Montana T-shirt. It appeared that he had indeed come here prepared to play the cover-story role they had decided on. They were supposed to have gone to the U of M, Missoula campus, at the same time and become friends there.
That was, in fact, the part of the state where she had grown up. And then had her life turned utterly upside down, when her parents—
No. She wouldn’t think about that now. It was why she hadn’t actually remained friends with people she had known back then, but she didn’t tell anyone that.
And at the moment, she had something a lot more pressing to think about. But she hadn’t expected someone as hot-looking as this man, with his wide shoulders, chiseled face and sexy hint of pale brown facial hair. His piercing hazel eyes surveyed her as if assessing whether she, too, was all she was cracked up to be. She forced herself to smile and was rewarded with a grin that suggested he had been assessing more than that about her.
And that hug? Appropriate for the situation, sure, but it had set her insides very inappropriately on fire.
She had to back away from those kinds of thoughts. Cool off. Or at least try to.
“We need to talk, Kathlene,” Jock said.
She glanced toward the door. It was closed, and the other man, Ralf, stood nearby. They could, in fact, talk now.
“I know what the story is that you described to get Alpha Force’s interest,” Jock continued, “but I want to hear it directly from you.”
“Of course.”
This could take a while. She glanced around for someplace to sit. This cabin was as rustic in here as it was outside. Near one wall there were a couple of narrow beds with green plaid blankets, pale green sheets and pillows with matching covers.
