Page 5 of Tracking the Alpha (Project Therianthrope #1)

Chapter Three

The garden had nothing left to harvest, leaving Tanis with the back-breaking task of tilling the soil to ready it for the spring planting.

A lot of time and effort just to have some vegetables, but she didn’t mind.

It beat buying the overpriced and pesticide-laden produce found in stores.

Not to mention, the surplus she grew allowed her to barter for other things, like getting Benny to fix the leak in her roof and having Rosemary trim her hair.

As she pushed her electrical tiller—and prayed the battery wouldn’t die before she’d finished—she heard the distinctive whup whup whup of a helicopter.

Uncommon for her area but not unheard of.

It could be for Alberta Wildfire. Their crews kept an almost constant aerial watch on the thousands of hectares of forest, especially when the season ended up dryer than usual—not a problem this year with the record rainfall.

Search and rescue also often sent out choppers to retrieve hikers and climbers who’d miscalculated their adventure, although that usually was more west of the reserve.

Medical emergencies often relied on STARS—Alberta’s Shock Trauma Air Rescue Service—to get people to hospitals rapidly, seeing as how it could take hours by road.

Tanis lived in what most Canadians would label the boonies. She preferred to call it paradise.

The tiller jolted as it stuck on something, and Tanis gritted her teeth as she dug in her steel-toed boots and shoved to get it past the difficult hump.

Despite her hair being tied back, wisps of it escaped due to the whipping wind.

She cast a frown at the low-flying helicopter, which hovered overhead.

Wait, was it descending? Unusual, seeing as how the reservation had a marked landing spot less than a kilometer away from her dwelling.

She squinted and shielded her eyes as the large chopper dropped to the ground, right on top of the garden she’d finished working on the day before, compacting the damp dirt.

Her lips pursed in annoyance and her arms crossed as she waited for the passengers to disembark.

The lack of markings on the chopper had her wondering who to expect.

Most likely some government types, although why they’d be bothering her, she didn’t know.

Usually, they showed up to try and convince the chief to let them run a pipeline through their lands.

Clarence Trottier, the man currently in charge of their tribe, kept telling them no, not because he cared about the environment but more because he knew if he held out long enough, the feds would pony up more money.

The rotors on the machine slowed and stopped before the door to the cabin opened.

To her surprise, military personnel exited the unmarked chopper.

Three men and one woman, their name and rank patches embroidered white, making them army, and one dude with a crown for a rank who had a decade at least on all of them.

The older soldier hit the ground and adjusted his beret before strutting in her direction.

“Are you Tanis Rivard?” he asked in a booming voice.

“Yeah.” Why would the military be looking for her? She’d done nothing that would have merited their attention.

“You need to come with me,” the man stated, his voice lowering as he neared Tanis.

The imperious command arched her brow. “Excuse me? I don’t think so.”

“Did I say you had a choice? This is a matter of national security.”

She snorted. “Still not happening. You have no jurisdiction here.” The Cree had fought for and won the right to govern themselves, which meant this ass could take his order and shove it.

“Don’t you want to help your country?”

“Don’t you mean help the colonizers who stole it from my people?

” Tanis repeated the words often bandied about by activists, even as she didn’t actually have a problem with the Europeans who’d settled here.

Unlike some folks, she didn’t have a nostalgic and warped historical recollection of her ancestors.

The Cree might have had some peaceful times, but they’d also had much violence, especially with their rivals, the Blackfoot.

“I don’t have time to argue the latest social trend. I’m here on a task of utmost importance,” he snapped.

“Exactly how is it my help is crucial to the military and my country? In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m a farmer, not a fighter.” She gestured to the tilled soil.

“You’re also a hunter.” Stated, not asked.

Her brow knitted. “Yeah, but I’m not sure why that matters. I hunt animals, not people. Or are you saying there’s some kind of beast posing a threat to national security?” She couldn’t help a mocking note.

He didn’t sound amused at all as he replied. “That is exactly the problem. The file we have on you claims you are especially skilled in tracking wolves.”

Okay, this conversation had taken a turn she’d not expected. “I am. How do you know that, though? I don’t advertise my services.”

“Contrary to common belief, CSIS is not useless.” The Canadian Security Intelligence Service being the Canadian version of the CIA often mocked by comedians with her favorite skit being the claim her country only had one agent.

“Why the heck would CSIS have a file on me?”

“They didn’t until we asked them to find us the best wolf hunters in Canada.”

Kind of flattering to realize her name came up, but at the same time, something about this conversation felt off. “I’m not currently for hire.”

“Who said anything about hiring. You’re being conscripted,” the fellow snapped.

“Like fuck I am.” A rare expletive slipped from her lips. “I have protected Cree status. You can’t order me to do shit.”

“Agree or not, doesn’t matter. You’re coming with me,” the man in uniform stated. He waved his hand to the other soldiers. “Take her.”

Wait, he couldn’t be serious. Judging by the way the uniformed posse advanced, apparently, he was. Tanis didn’t stand there like a doe in the crosshairs. She bolted, legs pumping as she raced for the village and the elders who would tell this pompous buffoon to take a hike.

She whipped past a mishmash of housing, some of it clapboard-siding style like her bungalow, settled alongside actual tipis for the more traditionally inclined.

The lodging the chief ruled from was the biggest of the tents set in the center of the village.

Before she could race inside, Chief Clarence Trottier stepped out, and she barely managed to halt her momentum.

“Chief,” she huffed. “I need your help. I’ve got some military guy trying to kidnap me back at my place.”

“Hardly kidnap,” the chief chided. “You’ve been conscripted to help our fine nation.”

“You knew about this?” she exclaimed.

“Of course. Who do you think negotiated the terms of your employment?”

She stared at the chief with open-mouthed disbelief. “You sold me to the military?”

“Bargained,” he corrected, as if that made it better. “I don’t see why you’re being so difficult about it. In return for a reasonable sum that will enhance our village, you will do a task for Major Stevens.”

“Did it never occur to you to ask me?” she blurted out, not entirely surprised by the chief’s actions but nonetheless annoyed.

“No. I’m chief, and what I say goes.” He looked past her and smiled. “Major, how nice to see you in person. I wasn’t expecting you until tomorrow, hence why you found Tanis unprepared for your arrival.”

“My plans changed. I trust the deal is still on?”

“Of course,” the chief replied without even looking at Tanis.

“Standing right here,” she muttered.

The major smirked as he dropped his gaze to her. “Now that everything’s been cleared up, we should get going. Time is of essence.”

Tanis might not like being forced, but she knew when to give in. However, she didn’t have to be graceful about it. “I’ll need to pack a bag,” she groused.

“Of course, but first, to ensure there’s no further mishaps or misunderstandings…” The major inclined his head, and before she knew what to expect, she found her arm gripped and zip-tied to a soldier.

Her eyes widened as she yanked to no avail. “What the hell?”

“I don’t have time to be chasing you down. The plane is waiting for us to leave.”

Plane? “Where are you taking me?”

“You’ll find out when we’re in the air. National security and all that,” the major stated as he began walking away.

The urge to drag her feet proved strong, but Tanis refused to sulk like a child.

Yes, her own chief had betrayed her. Yes, she would be forced to help the pompous ass.

But… she couldn’t deny a bit of curiosity.

Why the strong-arming to get her to help them hunt what she assumed had to be wolves, given the hints dropped earlier by the major?

Surely if the military needed some professionals to cull the packs, they could have simply put out a call or offered a bounty.

Plenty of folks would volunteer to hunt wolves for a chance to earn some cash.

The major’s phone rang, and he took a call that had him looking stony-faced as the soldier she was tied to kept marching in the direction of her bungalow.

“Where are we going?” she asked as she trotted to keep pace.

The soldier didn’t reply.

“Do you know how many wolves I’m supposed to track down?”

Still no answer.

“Gonna give me any details?” she snarked as her home came into view.

“It’s up to the major to brief you,” was the stiff reply.

“It can talk!” she crowed.

“I can’t speak about classified missions,” the guy said as they reached her place.

Getting inside proved awkward, seeing as how her wrist remained tethered to the soldier, meaning she went in sideways.

“I’m gonna need details if I’m expected to hunt down and handle the problem,” she grumbled as she dragged the soldier into her bedroom—the first guy to be in there in over a year—and began opening drawers.

“The major will?—”