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Visionary Wolf
Linda O. Johnston
Can she love the wolf…within the man?Lt. Liam Cortland is the newest member of an elite military unit for shapeshifters. A tech expert, his task is to counter reports of Alpha Force’s existence spreading online.When the rumours take a dark turn, his mission grows more urgent. His greatest ally is Dr Rosa Jontay—the woman who’s seen him at his most vulnerable, the woman he knows he can never have. The woman he can't possibly live without…
Can she love the wolf...
Inside the man?
Lieutenant Liam Corland is the newest member of an elite military unit for shapeshifters. A tech expert, his task is to counter reports of Alpha Force’s existence spreading online. When the rumors take a dark turn, his mission grows more urgent. His greatest ally is Dr. Rosa Jontay—the woman who’s seen him at his most vulnerable, the woman he knows he can never have. The woman he can’t possibly live without...
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 her on the web at www.lindaojohnston.com (http://www.lindaojohnston.com).
Also by Linda O. Johnston (#ub6ef44f9-2381-5259-ac8c-d2684b9e78b3)
Guardian Wolf
Undercover Wolf
Loyal Wolf
Canadian Wolf
Protector Wolf
Back to Life
K-9 Ranch Rescue
Second Chance Soldier
Trained to Protect
Undercover Soldier
Covert Attraction
Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Visionary Wolf
Linda O. Johnston
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ISBN: 978-1-474-08218-1
VISIONARY WOLF
© 2018 Linda O. Johnston
Published in Great Britain 2018
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.
By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.
® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Visionary Wolf is dedicated to all Mills & Boon
Supernatural readers, especially those who have
enjoyed my stories about Alpha Force.
And yes, as always, my thanks to my fantastic agent,
Paige Wheeler of Creative Media Agency, and to my
wonderful editor, Allison Lyons. There may be no
further Alpha Force stories, but I look forward
to more Heroes.
Also, as always, I thank my dear husband,
Fred, for being there, and for inspiring me.
Contents
Cover (#u174d6e38-c894-5db5-8067-85c8986e5db6)
Back Cover Text (#u241960ae-26fb-5cd3-ab43-95203a90c294)
About the Author (#u4aed2d9a-da1c-5282-93a3-490c7770d7dd)
Booklist (#ue6171748-3918-5617-9fdf-5a54e8820c8f)
Title Page (#ue8570cd4-89eb-54e0-a176-32a922a9cdd0)
Copyright (#u87db3e01-d0f0-5b8c-a09c-f18d425f3f6a)
Dedication (#udd0942ce-58a0-5efb-b2e3-ef412744f273)
Chapter 1 (#ud2ca727a-9c97-5776-bf51-fd6fdb2693fe)
Chapter 2 (#ud2106c76-bd91-5107-9b13-4405af55ed63)
Chapter 3 (#u9e716156-6f09-5528-9f70-fb8eb845f20f)
Chapter 4 (#u9700c551-925f-5eb3-935c-d78ac36e6535)
Chapter 5 (#ufe3fc89f-45ef-5f8e-b73d-a4363a898aa3)
Chapter 6 (#ubd441009-70e1-5aae-8f55-ef00a677bd88)
Chapter 7 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 8 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 9 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 10 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 11 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 12 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 13 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 14 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 15 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 16 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 17 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 18 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 19 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 20 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 21 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 22 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 23 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 24 (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 1 (#ub6ef44f9-2381-5259-ac8c-d2684b9e78b3)
Good thing he was at Ft. Lukman, Lieutenant Liam Corland thought. At any other military facility, he would never feel comfortable walking calmly with his dog, Chase, across the nearly empty grounds, in his casual camo uniform, later in the morning than he should be reporting for duty. In fact, he wouldn’t feel comfortable working at any other military facility, period.
But this was where Alpha Force was stationed. He had just left his apartment in the bachelor officers’ quarters. Now he headed toward the building across the compound that contained so many important functions—mainly laboratory, cover dog kennel and offices, including his own.
Sure, he should have started his important assignment of this day an hour ago, so he didn’t want to make his lateness too obvious. He avoided the most used pathways, hustling along behind buildings occupied by units other than Alpha Force. Chase and he would be picked up on security cameras when they sneaked in through a back door of the appropriate building, but no one would do anything about it, since they belonged there. Besides, he had a good excuse, and he probably wasn’t the only one who slept in a bit. Not that he had gotten much sleep anyway.
There had been a full moon last night. He had shifted, of course—pretty much on his own terms, thanks to Alpha Force.
And thanks also to the help of his aide, Sergeant Denny Orringer, who now waited for him in the kennel and lab building. Covering for him, if necessary.
He’d talked to Denny earlier, and—
There. Chase and he had reached the back of that building, near the doors leading into the kennel area. The shapeshifters’ cover dogs like Chase were kept there frequently, along with other dogs that helped this military base look like it had a lot of well-trained canines living here all the time.
Of course Alpha Force members who had cover dogs also kept them with them a lot as well, both at Ft. Lukman and when they were traveling—as long as there were some living here, too, to keep up appearances.
Liam, a tech expert, used the key card he had programmed himself to open the back door. He slipped in and enclosed Chase in one of several fenced areas, joining three dogs that resembled him.
Of course, Chase looked wolfen, resembling Liam himself while he was shifted...
“See you later, guy,” Liam whispered to his canine companion, who was already being greeted by his fellows.
Heading for the stairway down to the most important floor of the building, which contained offices and the laboratories where the very special Alpha Force elixir was brewed, Liam walked slowly, figuring he was likely to run into someone else dressed like him.
But fortunately, he saw no one—so no one saw him, either, as he again used a key card to open a door, this time to the stairs.
He heard raised voices from down the hall when he slipped carefully into his own office. They sounded excited. With his special senses, even when he was in human form, he could easily have eavesdropped had he wanted to.
But what he wanted was to get to work.
First, though, he shot a quick text message to Denny to let him know where he was. Then he booted up his computer, a highly sophisticated desktop that was the epitome of today’s technology.
A good thing, since it was used for such a critical purpose.
His phone made a text ping. Denny was probably just acknowledging what Liam had sent. He’d check it later.
A sudden urge for a cup of coffee shot through Liam but he ignored it. He’d get one later when he went to the meeting, but right now he needed to check his usual social media and other sources.
His job at the moment? Look for any and all mentions online of people claiming to have seen shapeshifters last night, in this area first of all, then other locales in this country and the world where Alpha Force members were stationed. And, finally, everywhere else.
He’d undoubtedly find some mentions. Perhaps a lot. He always did, and most appeared to come from people who loved what they considered paranormal—fiction lovers who wanted to see if others, unlike them, had spotted shifters during a night of a full moon. They were easy to deal with.
But Liam needed to deal with the reality of those who didn’t have the kinds of backgrounds to have been introduced to Alpha Force and what it did, but had caught glimpses of possible Alpha Force shifters on that night of the full moon—or claimed to.
Liam had to find their posts, then kid around online. Make them look foolish to the rest of the world, and maybe even to themselves.
