“Just because I hooked up with one of your SEAL team members some years ago, pretending to be his mate… that was different.”
“How?” Hunter waved his hand, dismissing her concern. “It’s no different. Bjornolf is just as dedicated to the mission.”
She felt her face, her whole body, flush with annoying heat. Paul had been the other SEAL and had been completely professional with her. Nothing physical had ever come between them. Twin beds, even. Except for pretending to be together, everything had been… separate.
Working with Bjornolf would be an entirely different story.
“If you’re concerned that wolves like us have been murdered, Nathan shouldn’t be involved,” Anna said.
“He is involved. He’s the one who discovered the dead bodies’ scents. He’s got his foot in the door already.”
Hunter pulled into the crowded mall parking lot. He cut the engine and looked over his shoulder at her. “You can do it,” Hunter said. “You don’t give yourself enough credit.”
She realized what she was feeling was total panic. “All right.”
“You’re undercover, Anna. Just like always. You can fake being Bjornolf’s wife.”
She glanced at Bjornolf.
His teeth shown in a wolfish grin. “We can practice nearly lethal sparring whenever we’re not celebrating the holidays or investigating the trouble at the Christmas tree farm.”
He had the most devilish gleam in his eye, making her think he could be more dangerous than any other part of the mission.
Chapter 7
While Tessa helped Anna pick out clothes at one of the department stores, Hunter went with Bjornolf while he found what he needed.
Grabbing up briefs, three pair of jeans, some shirts, and sweaters, Bjornolf listened to Hunter telling him some of the details he needed to know about the cottage and other important information. But what Bjornolf really wanted to hear was why Anna was so against Christmas. As soon as he had started talking to Anna on the plane about it, Hunter had given him the universal kill order, slicing his hand across his throat.
“About Anna and Christmas…” Bjornolf needed to know because it could be important to the mission. Not only that, but he wanted to help her get through it in the worst way. If he knew what her basis was for not liking the holiday, he’d be better able to cope with her feelings.
Hunter shook his head.
“You know, though.”
“I know. I learned about her during the thorough investigation I do on anyone I want to recruit to work with us.”
Bjornolf seized several pair of socks. “Does Tessa know?”
“No,” Hunter said a little more vehemently than Bjornolf thought necessary. The message was clear: leave Tessa out of this.
“The rest of the team?”
Hunter folded his arms and said nothing.
“What if it impacts the mission? I should know the details.”
“It happened long ago. It’s never affected anything she’s done with the team.”
“With others, then? Has she ever worked an operation like this? During Christmas?”
“Drop it, Bjornolf. If she wants to tell you about it, she will. Otherwise, it’s a closed topic.”
It wasn’t closed for him.
Hunter paid for Bjornolf’s purchases, then they went to locate the ladies. He saw Tessa looking red-faced, as if she were on the verge of shifting so she could take care of a customer she was fighting with over a sweater.
“Does Tessa have issues with Christmas, too?” Bjornolf asked, smiling.
Anna wished she’d brought her own clothes with her. Anything to avoid the worst shopping experience ever.
The only thing that made it better was that poor Tessa, who had to be horribly uncomfortable with twins due soon, was such an angel in helping Anna to choose the right clothes. Anna couldn’t remember a time when she had ever shopped with another woman. She had certainly never been with one who was excited about helping her look her best.
Bjornolf had been carrying his own purchases, but he stepped in to carry several of Anna’s bags. Hunter ended up having to carry a few of Anna’s also. It was Tessa’s fault, really.
Anna wouldn’t have bought more than a couple of things, and she didn’t mind washing them out for the next day. But Hunter didn’t seem to mind the expense. In fact, he almost seemed in high spirits over the whole business.
Which made her suspicious.
When they arrived in the pack’s territory, they picked up a rental Land Rover. Anna insisted on getting a second vehicle, though she fully intended to pay for it herself, but Hunter shook his head and used his credit card on the second car, too.
“Nathan’s working at the farm until closing tonight,” Hunter said.
“Okay, we’ll leave our stuff at our new home. After we get settled in, we’ll drop by the farm and pick out a Christmas tree,” Bjornolf said.
“We don’t have to get a tree.” Anna grabbed the keys for her rental car and headed to the vehicle. No wonder Hunter had been so secretive about what she was to do on this mission.
“If you two need anything at all, just call me or Tessa,” Hunter said, smiling just a little.
“Will do.” Bjornolf followed after her. “We can use the Christmas tree for our cover. We’re not going to be the only couple without a tree for the open-house tour of homes scheduled in a couple of days.”
“Open house? When did this happen?”
“While you and Tessa were shopping, and I was picking out a few things, Hunter filled me in on some of the details.”
“Fine,” Anna said, but her tone of voice said other-wise. “You pick out a tree, and I’ll search the farm for the odor of dead bodies and any other clues.” She glanced back at Bjornolf as she reached her car. “What do you know about it, anyway?”
“The men hadn’t been dead for long. Only a wolf could have smelled how long it had been.”
“What about the owners of the tree farm? Are they wolf?”
“Human—husband, wife, teenaged daughter.”
Anna rested her hand on the car door handle. “Teen… girl? Human? And Nathan is working there because?”
“He needed a job to occupy his thoughts after his parents died, to keep him from running away. He loves the forest, so the tree farm is the next best thing for now. He cuts the trees for customers, loads them up, and delivers them when they need him to. We’ll pick one out. He’ll bring it home tonight. It’s part of our cover.”
After getting directions to the beach home, Anna drove the fifteen miles up the road, then pulled into the driveway. Bjornolf parked beside her. Like the other cottages Hunter and Tessa owned, this one was nestled among pine trees, a long way from the next cottage, and sat overlooking a rocky beach below. The setting was perfect for a wolf. Plenty of woods to run in, the Pacific Ocean to swim in, and a private beach.
A wraparound porch furnished with a porch swing and four rocking chairs made the place appear homey. The house was a pretty pale blue with the shutters and trim all painted white, making it appear like a recreational retreat for a family reunion.
Right now, the cottage was dark, just like she liked it. No Christmas lights. No warm fire glowing in the fireplace. Perfect for someone undercover and not wanting to pretend to be newly married or to celebrate the holidays in any fashion. A single someone not raising a teen boy.
The wind whipped through the evergreen-needled tree branches with a whooshing noise, and the waves crashed along the rocky beach below the cliffs as sea birds squawked out at sea, the fragrance of salt, fish, and pine filling the air.
Even though the assignment wasn’t what she wanted, she couldn’t help but take another deep breath of the chilly air that was all woods, water, and wilderness—a wolf’s ideal home.