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Ethan ordered coconut shrimp to go along with his and Charlene s champagne for starters.

They couldn t have had a more perfect table for watching the sun set over the ocean.

Charlene was sipping her champagne and seemed to be enjoying herself, smiling, happy, not like she d been when he d first met her.

He was glad he had chosen this place to have their dinner, and he had plans for taking her all over Oyster Bay and the surrounding coastal communities to sightsee, if she wanted to.

So do you have any siblings? Charlene asked.

I had a brother who died in Hawaii due to a surfing accident. I always figured I would be the one to bite the dust first in the line of work I do.

I m so sorry.

Thanks. It was a tragedy. What about you? Do you have any siblings? Parents? Other relatives? he asked.

She took a deep breath and let it out. No. I had a twin sister and parents, but they were caught in a hurricane in the Florida Keys and didn t make it. Her eyes filled with tears and she swallowed hard.

He immediately reached out and took her hand and caressed it, trying to do what he could to show he was there for her.

I–I haven t spoken with anyone about it since it happened, except for Noah, and that didn t go well.

You re different. I just feel…well, that you would be more sympathetic.

I had stayed home to manage the rental properties while my family went to the Florida Keys, my choice.

I was devastated. It happened three months ago, and I still feel bad about it.

I m so sorry. I totally understand. He assumed she had survivor s guilt and he wanted to help her navigate through those feelings any way that he could.

He was glad she felt secure in speaking to him about it.

He wanted to be there for her. My dad and mother were both DEA special agents and died in a shootout with a drug gang—the same group I was trying to take down.

First, my mom, and then my dad went after them with a vengeance.

He hadn t been working the case. He wasn t allowed to because he had a personal stake in it.

I was still working on becoming an agent with the DEA at the time.

I knew how he felt, but I couldn t stop him even though I tried.

Oh, how awful. But you went after the drug gang once you became a special agent, even though it would have been personal for you too, Charlene said.

Yeah. My boss, Grainger, had a similar circumstance with his father being a police officer and dying on the job.

When he became a police officer, he found the man responsible and put him away.

So he knew just what I was going through and backed me all the way.

He also knew I wouldn t just go in shooting and ask questions later.

You know the house we hit—the correct house—was where we captured two of the men who were part of the gang who killed my parents.

But there are still two others that we know of who are living the free life.

I m glad you got two of them anyway.

Yeah. I wish I could have gotten all of them.

If he had, he wouldn t be doing this undercover work next.

But he wanted to locate the rest of the men and coordinate with his boss to send his former team to apprehend them.

He wasn t supposed to try to take them down by himself at any cost. He was fine with that.

Ethan didn t care who did it as long as it got done.

He didn t like that he couldn t tell Charlene what he was doing either—that he was still after the men who had ambushed first his mom and then his dad, but he didn t want to blow his cover. Yet she was a red wolf, and he felt it was kind of a betrayal if he didn t tell her.

Oh, wow, look at the sunset over the water. She lit up with happiness.

He loved seeing her like that. The sky was filled with clouds and the sky, beach, and water were all colored different shades of lavenders, oranges, and yellows. Just beautiful.

Then the server brought Charlene s wild Northwest salmon, garlic mashed potatoes, and brussels sprouts and Ethan s plate of flame-broiled halibut, baked potato, and green beans to the table.

Enjoy, the server said with a smile. She bounced off to see to another table.

Oh, this is so good, Charlene said after eating a bite of the salmon. Have you ever been here before?

No. I haven t. I have to tell you I m so glad I can enjoy this with you and explore the beaches with you too, if you would like to.

Yeah, sure. I would love that. It s more fun doing it with someone else.

Which made him wonder again why she had left Destin and come to a place where she knew nobody. Which he blamed on always overthinking situations as a detective. She probably was thinking the same thing about him being here.

After dinner, they ordered dessert. He had planned to go the full course with her, perfect for a first date if she was hungry enough. She was and they both got a slice of white chocolate cheesecake since neither of them had eaten it before.

Once they d finished their dessert, he wanted to go to her place to shift before they ran as wolves because she had a wolf door to go in and out of.

Do you want to shift at your place? he asked.

Uh, yeah, sure.

I don t have a wolf door, he said.

She smiled. You ll have to be risqué then when you want to shift at your place.

He laughed. Yeah.

Well, everything, including the cheesecake, was delicious. Thanks.

You re most welcome. He paid for the bill, and then they headed out to his car. You don t have any clue who might have sent you the vase of flowers?

No.

The manager of your rental unit wouldn t have, would he? Ethan asked as he drove to her place.

No. I mean, if she had, she would have signed it. Wait. That guy who was working with you—the DEA agent named Renault?

Yeah, I was just going to ask you about him. He said he knew you from when you were dating his friend in Destin, Florida. Was this friend a wolf?

Charlene rolled her eyes at Ethan. Yes, he was a wolf—with a bad temper, I might add.

And he s the ex-boyfriend?

Noah Westmoreland? He and I broke up about a month before I moved out here. Then she changed the subject. Do you think you ll miss your job? The excitement? Taking down the bad guys? Making it safer for the innocents?

Maybe to some extent. But it s time for me to start a new phase of my life. I needed to retire before I started just shooting these guys and asking questions later. They re bad news and rarely give up without them shooting at us. We located three hundred weapons in one guy s house.

Who would need that many weapons for any reason?

Exactly.

What did you like about your old job?

I liked helping victims, getting the bad guys behind bars, and providing some closure to families. Though in my own experience, you never really find closure.

I imagine so.

Then he finally pulled into her driveway, and they got out of the car and went inside the house. Back to Renault… Would he have sent you the flowers?

Maybe. He was always nice to me when he came to see Noah so they could get together to shoot pool or something. Noah didn t seem to notice or care.

Noah would have noticed, Ethan assured her. As wolves, they smelled the interest people had in each other and if Renault was showing Charlene that he liked her, he was smelling like it too.

You re probably right. She locked her door and unlocked the wolf door. Feel free to take any of the rooms to shift in.

He began stripping right then and there. He was a wolf after all, and he was interested in Charlene. He wasn t shy about stripping and shifting in front of any wolves and he wanted her to know that.

She gave him a crooked little smile and then stripped off her clothes nearby, laying them on a chair, then shifting into her beautiful red-wolf form.

Since she had done that earlier and bitten him, he already knew what she looked like as a wolf.

For shifters, it was just as important to like the appearance of their wild animal form as it was to like their human physique.

Then he shifted into his wolf, and she smiled.

It appeared he d passed the test. She poked her head out the door to the back patio, making sure the coast was clear, and then pushed the rest of the way through.

She waited for him to follow her out of the house, and then she preceded him into the woods.

***

Douglas fir and hemlock trees filled the forest, making a canopy that was catching a light rain.

Charlene had smelled rain in the air, and now a misty fog covered the ground.

Sword ferns, vine maple, and wild rhododendrons covered the forest floor.

It was perfect for wolves to disappear into the vegetation if anyone was on a nearby hiking trail.

But this late at night, no one was out there anyway.

They listened for sounds of anyone, just in case.

Frogs were croaking, bugs singing to each other, the waves coming in, splashing against the rocks down below, an owl hooting in a tree off in the distance and another returning the conversation, but the place was devoid of any human dialogue.

She was glad that they could run as wolves like this without fear of being shot at.

Dinner had been grand, and she was so glad that Ethan and she had connected in this way.

She knew if he was still working for the DEA in Portland, they would have had the obstacle of living too far away from each other. But here? Who knew?

Her undercoat of fur was keeping her dry, in addition to the canopy overhead, but she was surprised to see it raining.

She hadn t thought they would get any for another couple of days.

The fog rising from the ground really made it seem like a mystical, fairy woodland, something from out of the medieval past. Running as wolves made her feel more connected to the land and that past.