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Charlene and Ethan had to go to Noah s house for dinner in a couple of hours, but they still wanted to run as wolves.

They finally got out of bed and kissed each other.

Since they were already naked after making love to each other, they just shifted into their wolves and ran through the house.

They soon pushed through the wolf door, her first and then him.

Once they were in the forest, they played with each other, licking and nuzzling each other s muzzles.

Then they began racing each other through the woods, off the human trail, though they didn t hear anyone on the human trails winding through the forest. They were having a ball running through the woods as mated wolves.

He realized it felt differently while running with her now that they were mated, no longer courting, but one.

Though he still couldn t anticipate her moves.

That would come later when he d been with her for longer.

And that made it all the more fun to get to know all her quirky wolf moves and her human ones too.

They were side by side or chasing each other, barking, woofing, and then they paused to howl their joy of being mated, proud, thrilled, sharing the news with all the critters of the woods.

After their fun romp in the forest, they finally returned to the house, shifted, showered, and dressed. Hey, let s make dessert to take to dinner. Do you like brownies? she asked.

I love them.

Great. So does Noah and I do too.

She and Ethan made brownies together, filled with chocolate chips and pecans, and spread chocolate frosting on top.

When they were done, they drove to Noah s house for dinner. They were a little worried Noah might be upset that they had ended up mating since she had been his girlfriend before this.

I think he ll be all right with it, Charlene said, sounding like she was trying to reassure Ethan.

Ethan smiled. I sure hope so. I still have to work with him.

Charlene smiled. He probably knew where this was going anyway. I kind of let the cat out of the bag when I mentioned we had bought the other house.

True. I m sure he would have caught on before long anyway.

They soon arrived at the DEA rented house and left the car.

Hey, come in, Noah said, welcoming them inside. Grainger called and said that I was to remain undercover. Renault wouldn t know about it, just in case he is the mole, and we have this all figured wrong. Oh, the brownies look good.

Thanks. I know you like them, just like we do, Charlene said. The steaks smell great.

Yeah, I just started them. They re about done. Do you like medium rare too, Ethan? Noah asked.

Yeah, you know us wolves.

Yep. You can open the bottle of champagne. So two down, two more to go. We re getting them behind bars for sure, Noah said, going back out on the patio to flip the steaks.

They joined him while Charlene carried the champagne glasses and Ethan popped the cork, then poured some champagne for them.

We would only have one more big boss to capture if it hadn t been for the clerk releasing him. Believe me, they have her up on charges, Ethan said.

Noah dished out the grilled corn and steaks. I wish we could take down the mole or moles too. That could make all our lives easier.

That s for certain, Ethan agreed.

They all went inside to eat because they didn t want the cold night air to chill their food before they could enjoy their meal. With the big ocean-view window, they could see the full moon and stars glittering across the black night, suspended over the whitecapped waves on the ocean.

The steaks are delicious and cooked to perfection, by the way, Charlene said.

They are, Ethan agreed.

Thanks. I m glad we could do this. Congratulations are in order for you buying another rental house, Noah said.

About that. Charlene took a sip of her champagne before she spoke further. Ethan and I decided to buy that house for ourselves to live there, and the home we re now living in will be a rental. The new home is bigger, perfect for a family.

You re going to mate each other. Noah sounded surprised that they were doing it so quickly.

We mated each other, Charlene said. I didn t want to spoil our dinner in case you were upset by it, but you know when you meet a wolf that s the right one for you, there s no sense in delaying a union.

Yeah. I agree. And I m glad for both of you. Congratulations. Noah smiled, but he still appeared as though he couldn t believe it.

***

Charlene believed Noah was okay with learning that she and Ethan had mated, and she was glad about it. Okay, so what is your next mission? Charlene might not be involved exactly as a paid DEA agent, but she could be involved if the men came to her place.

I want to watch both Oakley s home and his great-aunt s place, Ethan said. We need to stick together in case we have to take these men down though.

Can I help? Charlene asked.

No thanks. We ve got this, Ethan said, serious as could be.

Okay, then I ll go forward with getting the rental houses fitted with wolf doors as soon as the units are vacated.

I have one that will be empty tomorrow, and then it s booked for two weeks after that.

I ll contact someone to install a wolf door.

Or, as far as the contractor is concerned, a large dog door.

Are you going to rent to people with pets? Ethan asked.

Yes, but they can t just let their pets out through the wolf doors because there are no fences around the properties. They could lose their pets.

True. Humans will wonder why you have them then, Noah said.

Nah. They were formerly owned by other people who actually lived there. I ll give that excuse if anyone asks, Charlene said. But I doubt anyone will inquire about it.

Ethan got a call from Tori then. Yeah, Tori? I m having dinner with Noah and Charlene. Charlene and I mated each other.

Woo-hoo! Tori said. Who all knows? No one said a thing about it to me.

You and Noah and that s it, Ethan said.

Well, I m honored. I called about the two men I thought might have to do with being the mole.

In the DEA?

In the bureau.

Hell, Ethan said. I m putting this on speaker so Charlene and Noah can hear the news.

Sure. The police officers are Lawrence Baker and Elias Davis, Tori said.

They ve been under investigation for a couple of shady situations.

A woman and her teenaged son had witnessed the officers shaking down a drug dealer and pocketing his drugs.

The officers had been too busy chasing off the drug dealer to notice the witnesses.

They never turned in the drugs, never wrote a report about the confrontation, and for several hours, the woman and her son were afraid to tell the police.

Which makes sense because they wouldn t have known who else might be crooked on the force.

Then they finally did, and the two officers have been under investigation ever since.

Our boss has kept it a closely guarded secret until Adam and I talked to him about a possible mole with regard to your cases.

He was so angry. Not with us, but to think these men had betrayed DEA missions and could have gotten some of your agents or our officers killed.

How much more corruption have they been involved in? Noah asked.

Lawrence Baker s fingerprints were found on the scene of the recently murdered man that we re investigating—a drug dealer who was in competition with Kroner.

Baker wasn t at the scene of the crime when the victim was found by a man walking his dog in a park, Tori said.

So why were his fingerprints on the man? That s really suspicious.

So, he could have been hired by Kroner to kill the other drug dealer? Ethan asked.

That s what we think. We re keeping the evidence of Baker s fingerprints on the victim secret because we need further evidence to prove that he actually had something to do with the murder.

Plus, of course, Adam and I smelled Baker s scent there.

Kroner s too. But we can t use that as evidence in a court of law.

Baker could say he d talked to the drug dealer before and must have touched him, not even remembering that he had.

He wouldn t have any corroboration with having made a police report of talking to the victim at some point though.

Still, it would make it unlikely that we could prove he had murdered the victim without eyewitnesses or his own confession.

I can get it out of him, Noah said.

Ethan smiled at him. What about Elias Davis? Was there any evidence that could point to his being involved in the homicide?

No, Tori said. But we re still looking into it.

We didn t smell his scent there at all. The victim had been encroaching on Kroner s drug territory, and witnesses revealed to us that the two men had words several times where Kroner had threatened to kill him.

So Kroner had motivation for sure. Kroner had killed his drug competition before—when he was a teen.

His record was sealed in Medford, Oregon, but we were able to learn of it while we were investigating him further, Tori said.

With regard to the current murder case, Kroner was released from the jail and, an hour later, the dog walker found our victim.

So timeline wise, Kroner could have been involved.

Also, Baker had taken off to run some errands.

He could have been at the crime scene and killed the drug dealer before the dog walker found the body.

What about a financial trail for Baker? What would he get out of the deal if he did indeed kill the drug dealer competition? Ethan asked.

Yeah, that s just what I was going to ask, Noah said. Financial trails can really help to pinpoint a crime.

We just got some financial data back on both Davis and Baker. They both have been receiving some large amounts of money—payoffs? They re not working anywhere else other than their regular police jobs, Tori said. So they re not getting any extra income from moonlighting.

So Davis is involved also, Ethan said.

Yeah, in some criminal ventures, but not sure if he was involved in the murder of this latest guy. My boss held a news conference to see if we could get any new leads. We ve had a ton of calls in on the murder, but nothing has panned out yet, Tori said.

Sometimes media coverage can really help, Charlene said.

Yeah, everyone s shaken by the death. It was in a park that families frequent. I ve got to go. But when I learn anything more, I ll call you.

Thanks, Tori, Ethan said.

Yeah, thanks, Noah said.

If you want, you, Adam, and Sierra could come to the coast for a visit and we could talk about all this, Charlene said.

Ethan smiled at her.

I ve got plenty of room at the DEA rental house. You all could stay with me, Noah said.

Okay, let me talk to the others and we ll let you know. If we learn that Davis, Baker, or Kroner are in your area, our boss will most likely approve it, Tori said.

Or in Shelby Bay since it s just down the road. We can set up a sting operation, Ethan said.

But they re out of your jurisdiction, Tori, Noah said.

We ll call the local police if we find any of the men involved in a crime in either Shelby Bay or Oyster Bay, Ethan said.

Charlene mentioned having to deal with Agent Cohen at the convenience store and how she was pulled over by Officer Baker for a traffic violation that she hadn t committed right after that.

Ohmigod, so Baker could be in cahoots with Agent Cohen too, Tori said.

It certainly looks like that could be the case, Ethan agreed.

They finally ended the call so they could finish their meal, then ate the rest of their dinner, enjoyed the brownies, and thanked Noah for dinner while he thanked them for the dessert.

Surveillance at two in the morning? Ethan asked Noah.

Yeah. I ll pick you up, Noah said.

Then Ethan and Charlene returned home, and he said, I need to call Adam and Sierra and our pack leaders to tell them we re mated.

Charlene smiled. I never thought when I found a mate, I would be sharing the news with a whole pack of wolves, and I love it.

Ethan laughed. Yeah, you re now part of a much bigger family. They walked into the house, and he called Cassie and Leidolf first. He figured Tori would tell Adam and Sierra that they were mated right away. Hey, Cassie, Charlene and I have some news.

Let me get Leidolf on the phone. Is this about your case?

Ethan smiled. Something more of a personal nature.

Ooh, Cassie said.

Charlene laughed.

Leidolf! Ethan and Charlene are calling.

Coming! Leidolf joined her and asked, Yeah, what s up?

We re mated, Ethan said, so happy to be telling them the news.

Charlene smiled at him. Yeah, I had to think of some way to keep him in Oyster Bay after he finishes his mission here.

Congratulations! Leidolf said. It looks like we re going to have a whole pack in Oyster Bay eventually. Our territory is expanding.

They laughed.

As soon as you can get away for it, we ll have a pack celebration to honor your union, Cassie said.

Oh, that would be lovely, Charlene said.

Yeah, as soon as this case permits, we ll plan to do that. We ll let you know, Ethan said. Then they finally ended the call.

Ethan gathered Charlene in his arms. Man, here I thought I wasn t going to find anyone following Renault, that he was just spooked. Then I was worried that I had sounded annoyed with you that you were out looking for a house and Noah wasn t watching out for you.

And that I knew what he was doing.

Yeah, that too. But I was only concerned about you.

Which I totally understood. And you know what? I loved you for it.

It s a damn good thing.

She laughed. She cuddled against his solid warmth, so glad she had moved to Oregon to live her dream and ended up with her dream hero and, one day, a chance to start a family with him.