“She’s a sales associate, I think. Well, believe me, it surprised me to see her here.” Amelia took a deep breath.
Probably as much as he’d surprised Amelia by being here.
“You can’t be a lone wolf, not if you’re with a pack. So why would you be here alone? Oh, you want to run in the wilderness as a wolf. Gotcha.”
“Right.” Gavin paid her and then headed out to the SUV to get his canoe. Though he was glad to meet the she-wolf, he really needed to hurry so he could reach Conrad and his group as soon as possible.
She was beautiful, sexy, and…hell, she was a wolf. Gavin was always mission first, but…he cast another glance her way. She caught his gaze, then quickly looked away.
She loaded Winston, a huge, brown dog bed, his leather leash, a bag of treats, and chew toys while Gavin carried the canoe.
“So, you’ve only been here for two months and are fairly new to the area.” Gavin helped her to secure the canoe on the plane.
“Yeah, we moved straight here from Alaska. We have to be careful about being seen in our wolf forms. We do much better in winter, though we have lots of wilderness out here too, so we’ve been enjoying the change.”
“Same with us as far as blending with the snow as Arctic wolves. Were you born that way? Since I wasn’t a wolf when I met you the first time, I didn’t have a clue if you were one before.” He retrieved his cooler and set it inside the plane.
“We were born that way. What happened to you?”
“We were turned by an Arctic wolf pack from Canada while we were in Maine. Long story. You wouldn’t have any Canadian kin, would you?” Gavin figured it would be a good idea not to insult any of her family members if some of them were from the pack that had turned him and his partners.
“Some. Are you newly turned? Or were you changed some time ago? The full moon won’t be a problem for you for a couple of weeks. Then the new moon means you won’t be able to shift at all.”
“We’re not real new. There are nine of us…four adult males, two of whom are mated; their mates; and one of the couples has six-year-old triplets, two boys and a girl, born lupus garous. I’ll be well out of the Boundary Waters and home before I have trouble with shifting.”
“You have another bachelor male in the pack? That’s why you asked if I had a sister.”
“Yeah. For the other guy.” And to know if she had a sister who was such a look-alike that he’d mistaken Amelia for the one he’d seen in Seattle. “Are you single?”
“I am, and so is my brother. You don’t have any single women in your pack?”
“No.” He wondered if she believed his pack being more newly turned could be a problem for them. Some wolves who were born that way—like the pack in Seattle—really didn’t like newly turned wolves. That made him think about the issue of Amelia being in Seattle. She wasn’t newly turned, but he suspected the gray pack there wouldn’t like any Arctic wolf encroaching on their territory.
The Seattle gray pack had figured the Arctic wolves would be nothing but trouble for their pack, too easily seen when running around Washington State as wolves, too much of a risk for the others.
Amelia finished tying stuff down. “Are you ready to go?”
“Yeah, sure.” Gavin didn’t sound sure at all, despite trying his darnedest to pretend otherwise. He looked at the plane for a moment, telling himself he wasn’t going to crash this time, no matter how much he felt that any flight he took would end up that way.
She frowned at him. “Don’t tell me you’re afraid I can’t fly you there.”
She’d put Winston in a dog life jacket and had harnessed him in, which Gavin knew was a safety precaution. It didn’t make him feel any less worried about it.
“It’s not you.” Gavin had no intention of telling her he hated to fly and ruin any chance he might have to date her.
* * *
Gavin seemed sincere that he wasn’t worried about Amelia’s ability to get him there in one piece. Then she wondered if he had a fear of flying, and she was the reason for it. She hated to think she might be. “You’re…you’re afraid of flying.” Not that she had any plans to date the wolf. She could see him turning her over to the police! Despite that trouble, if he hated what she loved to do most, that could cause issues—especially if she was the reason he hated to fly.
That was one thing she’d liked about her former boyfriend Heaton Compton, who lived in the area. He was a gray wolf, and he was also a pilot. If he hadn’t been drinking bourbon while flying, they might have had a real start to a relationship. As it was, they didn’t last long.
She handed Gavin an inflatable personal flotation device, a PFD, their hands touching, and their gazes caught for an instant. “Put that on. We’ll be there in no time. Just climb aboard, strap yourself in, and close your eyes.” Sometimes, she had to transport someone who was so terrified of flying that the passenger would have to take pills to relax.
“A life preserver.” He got in and strapped himself in but didn’t confirm his fear of flying. Which was a typical response from an alpha wolf who didn’t want to appear weak.
“Yeah, we’re not going to crash. If we did, everyone who is seat belted in and wearing a life preserver has a better chance at survival.”
“Uh, yeah. My seat belt is on. I’m a good swimmer though. We didn’t know any other Arctic wolf shifters were in the area, living only about two hours from us.”
“Same here. You must run in different woods and have no need to come up to our area.” She taxied out onto the runway, then took off. They were flying now, headed for the Boundary Waters, and Gavin sat back in his seat, seeming more at ease.
It appeared he wasn’t going to talk about his flying phobia, which was probably best.
“We came because my mom wanted to be closer to civilization, as if we’re at the center of any hot spot once we moved to this location. We’re happy doing our business out here though. I was afraid there weren’t any Arctic wolves in the area. What made you choose this area?”
“We’re from Seattle originally, born and raised. Once we were turned, we couldn’t return there. A gray pack had claimed the territory and threatened to kill us. Being newly turned, we didn’t really have any recourse. We sold our business office and our homes, and we kept searching for a place that wasn’t populated by wolf shifters. We needed to be up north so we had snow at least part of the year and found this place.”
“That’s awful that you had trouble with another pack! We’ve been lucky. We haven’t had problems with any gray wolf packs. I guess none live in the area. Have you ever seen a guy by the name of Heaton Compton? He’s a gray wolf. A loner. I dated him a couple of times. When I realized you were a wolf, I thought you might know him.”
“No. Never heard of him. He probably has never traveled through our area.” Gavin glanced back at Winston. He was peering out the window. “Your dog appears to love flying.”
“Winston? First trip up. Yeah, he does seem to enjoy it. He’s not my dog though. He was dropped off at a shelter because the owner got laid off and couldn’t afford to feed him.”
“That’s a shame. I can’t imagine anything harder than having to give up your dog.”
“I agree.”
“You’re still fostering pets, like you were with the Samoyeds when I first saw you.”
She felt her face heat. “I took him in. He’s way too big for my duplex and its small yard for me to keep him. I was fostering him while looking for a home for him. With such a lightly populated area, I couldn’t find anyone who wanted him. I fly pets to other shelters sometimes through a nonprofit volunteer service. I’m taking him to a bigger shelter in Saint Paul, where a couple want to adopt him for their ten-year-old boy’s birthday. The caveat is that they need him by late this afternoon. The birthday party is tomorrow morning. If I don’t get him there in time, they’ll find another pet locally. T
hat’s why I’m flying him out. I’ll have plenty of time to get him there, well before the deadline after I drop you off.”
“Sounds like a good cause. Do you think he’ll work out for the family?”
“Pilots for Pets is an excellent cause. I hope Winston will be good with the family. He’s a real sweetheart. This breed loves families, other dogs, and strangers. They’re intelligent. That means they need a lot of mental stimulation. And they love to play. The family has a large fenced-in yard. Hopefully, they’ll give him plenty of exercise and teach him all kinds of things.”
Air turbulence caused the plane to drop, and Gavin grabbed his seat.
“Sorry,” she said.
“It’s not you. I was in a plane crash once. I was a police officer in Seattle at the time. I was the first to arrive at the scene of a jewelry-store robbery and offered to take the place of a woman they were holding hostage. She appeared to be around eight or nine months pregnant. They readily agreed.”
Amelia hadn’t known Gavin had taken the place of a pregnant store clerk. Had he done so as a good cop, or had he been in on the crime?
“I thought my fellow officers would rescue me. Instead, the robbers made off with the jewelry and me. What I hadn’t expected was to end up at a small airfield and then be forced onto a plane that took off for Canada. Except we didn’t make it. Wind shear probably caused the plane to hit the tops of the trees, and we ended up crashing. I was given a commendation for taking the jewelry-store clerk’s place as a hostage. We all assumed she wouldn’t have survived, had she been forced to go with them, between the plane crash and being left to fend for herself in the wilderness. I was out there four days before rescuers found me. I was lucky.”
Amelia’s heart was thundering, and she was glad he wouldn’t be able to hear it over the engine noise. He hadn’t mentioned a woman flying the plane or shown any indication he knew she’d been the one flying it. Which she was grateful for. The men hadn’t blindfolded Gavin, and most of the robbers had worn masks only part of the time, so she’d suspected Gavin might have been in on the heist. Or, they’d planned to kill him.
“That’s awful. I’m so sorry to hear it. At least you survived.”
“Uh, yeah, with two cracked ribs, a broken leg, and a concussion. And the trepidation of getting onto another plane after that.”
“I’m so sorry,” she said again. “You are a true hero.” If he hadn’t been in cahoots with her dead boyfriend. “What about the men who committed the heist?” What about Clayton? Had Gavin known him? They must have known each other if they were on the same police force.
“One of the robbers, the guy who seemed to be in charge—at least he was giving all the orders—died in the accident. Two of the other three were caught a few days later, one with a broken wrist, the other with cracked ribs. One got away scot-free. The robbers had been trying to make their way to the Canadian border, lugging the bags of jewelry. Some of it was never found. Either the one that got away had all the rest, or speculation was that the guy in charge had hidden his share before he died, knowing he couldn’t hike it out of there like the other men thought they could.
“He must have convinced them to move on, or why wouldn’t they have taken his share? We speculated that he hid it, thinking he’d retrieve it when he was feeling better, only he never got any better. He was armed with a gun, which is probably why the other robbers didn’t take the jewelry from him. They wanted to get out of there before anyone located them. Unless the other man had the lion’s share, and that seems unlikely.”
Her jaw dropped. Clayton had hidden some of the jewels nearby? He must have done it when she was unconscious. She didn’t know how long she’d been out of it. Once she was aware of her surroundings, she’d chosen to stay quiet, half hidden in brush, cautious, wanting to know what was going on before she made a move. She’d planned to take them out as a wolf, if anyone had discovered she was still alive. It was the only protection she’d had against them. All the men had been armed with guns, and she hadn’t wanted to risk getting shot.
The woods had been filled with woodland noises—birds singing, bugs chirping—but no human sounds at all. Either everyone had perished, was unconscious, or had left the area. She’d finally decided she had to see who had survived and noticed Clayton on his knees, readying his gun to shoot Gavin. She’d grabbed a sturdy branch lying on the ground, rushed forth, and swung it at Clayton, thanking God he hadn’t smelled her first. He’d heard her footfalls though and had turned to shoot her. She had gotten close to him and swung at him, connecting with him just as he’d fired a round. Thankfully, that had ruined his aim, the bullet missing her and hitting a tree behind her.
Gavin looked at her. “Oh, I forgot to mention the pilot.”
Chills raced up her spine.
“The pilot got away,” Gavin said.
“Out in the wilderness?” she asked, trying to feign real surprise, despite knowing that one of the robbers had made it out alive. But maybe not. Just because they hadn’t captured him didn’t mean he’d actually survived.
“Yeah. It was odd too. Searchers found her clothes buried some distance from the plane wreckage. The bloodhounds lost her trail. They easily tracked down two of the robbers’ trails. The other guy must have had some wilderness savvy. The police figured the pilot must have dressed in a change of clothes—something more suitable for the weather and terrain—and torn off. Maybe she even took the loot. She would have been getting a cut, unless they’d paid her a set amount to fly the plane.”
“Oh right. When most of the men couldn’t survive out there on their own or get away without a trace, a woman had no trouble? Sounds like a stretch to me.”
“She might have hooked up with the guy who disappeared. The men they caught would never tell investigators the whole story…who he was, who she was. We figure someday someone will find her and the other guy’s remains. They suspect she didn’t survive. Unless she was a rugged mountain woman or had friends who were able to pick them both up somewhere. As many days as it took rescuers to come for me that far out in the wilderness, that would be an unlikely scenario.”
It was way past time to change the subject. “Why did you leave the force?”
“We just needed a change of pace.”
Or he was on the take and he had to leave before the police found out about it? “Are you still a PI?”
“Yeah. My buddies and I grew up together, and after we did our time on the police force, we went into the PI business together. Which was a good thing, considering what happened to us. As newly turned wolves, we had a really hard time keeping our shifting under control for quite a while.”
“I can only imagine. My family are royals, pure lupus garous for many generations, so we’re fortunate that we can shift anytime we want.”
Gavin glanced out the window at the view of the Boundary Waters. “It must be nice having control over your shifting at all times. I’d sure love to have that ability.”
“It is. I guess you’re planning to get a ride back to our hangar later to pick up your vehicle. You weren’t going to get a flight back?”
“I’ll be paddling to Ely. The guys were all on jobs, or I would have asked one of them to drive me there. Cameron’s mate is minding the shop and the triplets so she couldn’t drive me either. And Owen’s mate is much more newly turned than us, so she sticks closer to the cabin.”
“How did that happen?”
“One of Cameron’s pups bit her when she fed him at a campsite near where we live.”
“Oh no, that’s not good.”
“In the end, it all worked out great for Owen.” A breeze was beginning to pick up, and Gavin frowned, feeling anxious. “We’re not going to have trouble landing, are we?”
“The bay where I land should be sheltered enough if the wind doesn’t pick up any more than this. It can be dangerous landing when the water is glassy too. Um
, I guess I shouldn’t have mentioned that part.”
“I didn’t think you’d have to worry about water that’s too smooth.” Gavin noticed she was frowning, and he smelled her anxiousness too, which didn’t bode well. The smell of electrical charges and the rain in the air warned of an impending storm. It wasn’t supposed to storm until tomorrow and then continue for a couple of days.
“Yeah, it’s hard to tell you’re close to the water when it looks like glass. I hate to mention this. Can you smell and feel the electrical charges in the air?” Amelia asked.
“Yeah. Are we going to make it?” He hoped they didn’t have to return. He’d have to wait a couple of days to come back out here. He wanted every day to count during his investigation.
“If the bay’s too choppy, no. I can’t risk the plane or us. I’ll have to take us back.”
“Wouldn’t that be risky for us too?” And if she managed to drop him off in the Boundary Waters, then tried to fly in the storm, she would continue to be at risk. He didn’t want that.
“I’ll take you with me to Saint Paul. That’s saying the weather is better there. You can help me take Winston to the new shelter. We’d be ahead of the storm and just leave the plane there for the night.”
He glanced at her. “And stay the night there together somewhere?”
“Let’s just see what happens here. Hopefully, I can drop you off, no problem, and continue on my way.”
“How far is it to the bay?” He hoped they would be there soon.
“Another twenty minutes. Just enjoy the view. Think of yourself as a wolf with wings, soaring high above two thousand lakes connected by rivers, all that beautiful forested land, islands, pristine. Pine, spruce, and fir make up the forests, along with birch, aspen, and maple. One million acres of woodlands and waterways. Couldn’t be more perfect for a paddler. Or a wolf.”
They suddenly heard a loud popping sound over the noise of the single-engine plane.