at his stupid, gullible attitude. Was the fact she was as beautiful as ever the reason he couldn’t imagine she had any evil inside her?
He hadn’t trusted her years ago. Why start now?
He stopped outside the front door to the hospital, ignoring the people standing on the steps talking on cell phones. He inhaled the sweet scent wafting outside after the cleaning staff had passed through the lobby, masking the usual ugly hospital stenches of chemicals and sickness.
He had smelled and possibly seen that wolf earlier, while shifted. Grace had, long ago, hinted that she could be a shapeshifter, but he had assumed that was only because she was teasing him. Pretending to be like the jerks who had harmed his family, once he had told her a watered-down version of the tale—one in which no one had, of course, been a woo-woo character.
But what if Grace hadn’t been pretending back then?
It seemed way out of whack, a coincidence of tremendous proportions, for the first wolf he had sensed around here to appear not long after she arrived. And also to be hanging out where the thefts had occurred—substances Grace was well aware of as an infectious-disease specialist.
Could he believe it? Should he believe it?
She hadn’t been around for the earlier thefts. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t colluding with someone who was.
Maybe he had better spend a little more time around Grace to find out if she was involved. While protecting his own interests. Being with the woman he had been in lust with all those years ago might not be smart.
But, if he was careful, it just might be fun.
“Did you learn anything helpful?” Kristine asked as she handed Grace her clothes.
They were still outside, behind some hedges, since there was always a risk going inside a building that they would run into someone.
Grace slipped her panties and bra on quickly, then reached for her T-shirt. She would have to watch what she said, even to her trusted aide.
“I’m still digesting what happened,” she responded. “So far, I’ve found no answers.”
Which was true. She had no answers about the stolen biohazards—or anything else, at least not yet. Even with her ability to retain human cognition while shifted, thanks to the special Alpha Force elixir, she needed time to think, with her full-sized human brain, while deciding what to do with her newly confirmed knowledge about Dr. Simon Parran.
How had he shifted without a full moon?
When had he shifted—after the gassing and thefts had occurred? Could he have had anything to do with that, or had he, like her, wanted to use his enhanced wolfen senses to look for the thieves and any evidence they might have left behind?
She had gotten an eyeful, even from a distance, of the wonderful, hard body she remembered. If anything, he had gotten better with age. Sexier.
Too bad she wouldn’t be able to indulge in her renewed desire for him. The complications would be even vaster than simply knowing what he was—and, if she determined it was useful, confronting him with her knowledge.
Grace donned the sandals Kristine handed to her, and they started walking back toward their quarters.
“I assume you’ll call Major Connell about what happened. He’ll need to know, especially since I’m guessing that Colonel Otis will get in touch with him to complain.”
“Gleefully so, I’d imagine,” Grace said. “Though he’s frustrated about the thefts and wants them to stop, he didn’t seem pleased that Alpha Force was designated to help out—a group so covert that he wasn’t told what its special strengths are. Yes, I’ll call the major. I’d like you with me.”
“Sure.”
Despite the time—very early in the morning—a couple of air-force pilots whom Grace had recently met were exiting their building when Kristine and she arrived. Kristine turned slightly to watch as the two men hurried away from the building.
“Are you watching their backs or their butts?” Grace asked wryly.
“A little of both. A good Alpha Force aide needs a little distraction now and then, especially after an incident like that theft today.”
“You’re right.” Grace preceded Kristine inside and up the steps to her quarters. “Go get Bailey. We’ll take Tilly and him for a walk before we wake up the captain. He’ll understand.”
Grace looked around as she headed into her apartment. Nobody around, so with luck no one would know that Tilly had been here all night—in case a strange dog that resembled her had been sighted wandering around.
As soon as Kristine arrived with Bailey, Grace called Ruby, putting