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I wish we knew what Kroner s vehicle looked like, Charlene said to Ethan as they took off in her car in a different direction from Noah so that if Kroner or one of his cohorts was following them, he couldn t track them both.

I agree. But I kind of suspect he wouldn t have hung around after the police were all over the area. Still, we have to be cautious no matter what.

She was so tired that she just wanted to go to sleep. But she knew Ethan had to be too. Well, both he and Noah. She hoped Noah was all right.

They kept turning down into residential areas and back out again, and finally Ethan drove them to the hotel, sitting above a beach, all lit up, looking warm and welcoming.

They parked and went inside. Flames flickered in a fireplace in the lobby, and complimentary wine was being served.

Even house-baked goods and cordials were complimentary.

Wow, this was really nice.

Noah was already there checking into the hotel.

They smiled at him and joined him at the registration desk.

Then they got their key cards and went up to their rooms, not speaking to each other, just in case someone had seen them enter and thought they were with each other.

So far, they didn t believe anyone knew Noah was an undercover agent working with Ethan.

They didn t want anyone to realize that he was.

Well, Charlene said, this is like a honeymoon before the honeymoon.

Ethan laughed. I m glad you can see the positive side of this.

Always. It helps me get through the bumps in life.

He unlocked their door and walked inside with her.

The expansive room featured a king-size bed, ocean paintings on the walls, a gas fireplace ready to warm a cold night, and a soaking tub and shower for some sumptuous cuddling and more.

The curtains were open, revealing a patio showcasing a view of the ocean, the whitecapped waves rolling onto the sandy beach.

Binoculars rested on a table to use for bird-watching, along with lanterns to use while taking sunset walks on the beach.

Luxury at its best. Now this was super nice.

They quickly dumped their bags on the carpeted floor, stripped off their clothes, and slipped under the silky beige comforter, sinking into the supersoft mattress.

It was so late that they needed to sleep more than anything else.

But of course, they couldn t shut down their inquisitive minds right away.

What happened during your stakeout? Charlene asked.

No one was at Oakley s house and his great-aunt s home was quiet too, Ethan said.

I guess that s why you could come to my aid so quickly.

Even if they had been at one of the houses, we would have been on our way to rescue you.

Charlene ran her fingers over Ethan s chest in a light caress.

Okay, so I ve been thinking. What if Renault is truly the mole?

Even though he thought you were retired, Kroner still wants you out of the picture.

Renault said he sent me the roses because he thought we could start seeing each other and I might move back to Portland.

That seems pretty far-fetched to me. Renault didn t know where you were living because you were staying in a DEA safe house.

He learned where I lived, knew we were seeing each other, and came to my house.

I think he was trying to see me in the event he could connect with you, then tell you all about his stalker.

Being the good agent you are, you would have to protect his back.

If Renault was working for Kroner, the plan was probably that Thor would kill you, but instead you captured Thor.

What if Renault, not Thor, had told Kroner that you had been staying with me?

Kroner planned to eliminate you, and me too.

That didn t work out for him either. I might have the scenario all wrong, but what if I m right?

Then I need you to stay with Leidolf and Cassie until I take care of the threat, Ethan said.

She shook her head. I know these men mean business.

I ve dealt with their kind before. Sociopaths who kill for killing.

I ve got my rentals to manage, and I live here.

It could be months before we take these guys down.

I m not going to hide away at the pack leaders ranch for months until that happens.

He hated to admit that it could even be years. All right. This still changed Ethan s focus. Instead of searching for these guys and trying to bring them in, he was going to have to stay close to home to make sure they didn t take Charlene hostage or kill her to get back at him.

We need to let Noah know what your thoughts are on the matter. Ethan grabbed his phone off the bedside table and called Noah and put it on speakerphone.

Then Charlene explained what she thought might be the case again.

If that s the case, I ll kill Renault myself, Noah said.

Yeah, that s the way I was feeling, Ethan said.

I would rather he spend a long time in jail, and he would have to face the people he had helped put behind bars, Charlene said.

True, Ethan agreed. So we need to know what Renault s motive would be if he is involved in this business. Money issues? Drug habit? Blackmail of some sort? There has got to be a reason he would make a deal with these thugs, if he has.

***

Ethan was damn glad that Charlene had been okay when he and Noah came to her rescue, but if Renault was the mole, Ethan had to do a lot of rethinking the situation. But Renault gave me Agents Manx and Ryerson s names as possible moles in the DEA.

Yeah. I was wondering about that too, Noah said.

Right. I had a case like that. A neighbor told us he was passing by a house where the murdered woman lived while he was walking his dog.

He gave a description of the vehicle parked nearby that didn t belong there and then subsequently left.

It wasn t until later in the investigation that I realized he was the one who had committed the murder, Charlene said.

But he had sent you on a wild-goose chase looking for a mystery car, Ethan guessed.

Exactly. What if Renault knew Cohen and Ryerson were taking drug deals but they didn t know that Renault was involved with Kroner too? The other thing I keep thinking about was Renault knew Noah was coming to Portland, and he would realize Noah wouldn t like it if he sent flowers to me.

You re damn right, Noah said. Only another wolf beat me to it.

Ethan smiled. He was damn glad he had. But Renault s a beta and he also understood Kroner wanted to find me and he had to get that information no matter what.

Right. That would mean Renault was more afraid of Kroner than he was of Noah. Which would make sense. Noah might have ended his friendship but— Charlene said.

Kroner would have ended Renault s life if he didn t do what he had tasked him to do, Ethan said.

Right, Charlene said.

Hey, Noah, I need to get hold of Tori and see if she can look into Renault s financial situation. We ll talk to you when we get up in the morning, Ethan said.

All right. Talk to you later.

Then they ended the conversation.

Ethan called Tori, who promised to have her resource guy look into Renault s financial records.

Then he answered a call from Leidolf, who promised to send some wolves to watch over Charlene s house.

Both Tori and Leidolf wanted Charlene at the pack s ranch, but Ethan assured them Charlene wanted to stay in Oyster Bay for now.

Charlene snuggled with Ethan. Why do you always call Tori so late? Why not Adam?

Ethan smiled and kissed Charlene on the forehead. She s much easier to talk to about a case when it s late now that Adam and Sierra are mated. I ve been known to interrupt them at inappropriate times.

They finally fell asleep, but at seven, Ethan got a text and he groaned. Then he checked the text. It s the guys. They re in the lobby.

Charlene laughed. I guess we need to get up and dress so we can meet with them.

Or you could wait for me in bed.

No way. I want to go with the guys to the house and then we can leave them there.

They need to go there on their own so they can set up surveillance. If we go with them—

Right. If Kroner or his men are watching the place, he will see us return and he could follow us back to the hotel. She let out her breath. All right. But I m hungry and want breakfast. So let s eat.

He smiled. Okay, that works for me.

They both dressed and Ethan called Noah. We ve got reinforcements from the pack. We re meeting them in the lobby. If you want to join us, we can have breakfast together. They re going to house-sit for the time being.

Oh, great. Be right down.

They met up with their reinforcements, Ethan introducing them to Charlene and Noah since neither of them knew any of the guys.

Brad Redding, a former Navy SEAL, is a subleader and works at the ranch, mostly in security, but as a subleader, he does a variety of other missions also.

Josh Wilding, a retired homicide detective, has worked with me on missions before while he was at the bureau.

Maverick Wilding, Josh s twin brother, owns and operates the reindeer ranch.

And twin brothers Quincy and Pierce Nelson are both in security details at the pack leaders ranch.

Hey, good being here, Brad said, giving Ethan a hug and then Charlene. He shook Noah s hand.

Welcome to the pack, Josh said to Noah and Charlene.

I m so glad to be with the pack, Charlene said.

And congratulations are in order, Maverick said.

The dark-haired twins, Quincy and Pierce, total charmers with any new she-wolves they met, stepped up to welcome them to the pack and congratulate the new couple.

Notice how Ethan never once brought Charlene to the ranch so she could see any of the other bachelor wolves out there?

Quincy said. All just as fit, strapping, heroic, and eager to make your acquaintance.

Pierce smiled. Yeah. If she had known about us, things might have been different.

Ethan laughed. In your dreams.

Charlene smiled. Thanks to all of you. While you re at Ethan and my house, feel free to eat or drink anything we have there and make yourself at home.

Thanks. We ll take shifts watching the place and let you know if we have any contact with anyone, Brad said.

Great. Ethan was thankful Leidolf had sent so many men to help them.

He suspected Leidolf was only going to send Quincy or Pierce, because he said he was sending four men not five, but Ethan swore the Nelson brothers came as a set.

Then again, maybe it was Maverick who insisted on coming with his twin brother, Josh.

Leidolf told us the whole situation. If anyone is armed and enters the house, we ll try to use nonlethal force, Josh said.

But if we have to, we won t hesitate to use lethal force, Brad said.

They needed to take these guys down one way or another. Hopefully nonlethally, but no matter what, they had to stop these guys.

Could you join us for breakfast? Charlene asked.

No, we really need to get to your place. We can park in the garage, right? We don t want Kroner or his associates to know you ve got more company, Brad said.

Yeah. My car is here at the hotel. Ethan s Bronco is in the garage, but you ll have room to park your vehicle.

Okay, then we re off, Brad said, and the men left.

Then Noah, Charlene, and Ethan went into the restaurant to have breakfast. What are we going to do now that the guys are house-sitting? Noah asked.

We re going to stay here for the day. And then tonight, we can do surveillance, Ethan said.

When you do surveillance, I m going to the house, Charlene said. I ll join the guys there. If Kroner or his cronies come to the house after me, they ll never know what hit them.

Noah and Ethan exchanged glances.

Ethan took a settling breath. All right. Sounds like a good plan. It was better, he figured, than leaving Charlene on her own at the hotel when he and Noah left to do surveillance.

He leaned over and kissed her and then they ordered their breakfasts. The server soon brought them coffee and tea.

Noah drank some of his black coffee. Now I can really see what this is all about as far as belonging to a good wolf pack.

Absolutely. When we were doing just our mission, it was up to us to do it. Ethan added cream and sugar to his coffee. But when Charlene became a civilian target for these ruthless criminals, all bets were off as far as the pack is concerned.

See, I told you they were a great group to join, Charlene said.

I agree. Though how will we explain this to Grainger if they capture one of the guys? Noah asked.

They are friends of mine who are law-enforcement trained and who can protect Charlene while you and I are on stakeouts. Grainger will understand. It will be like hiring bodyguards for her. Woe to anyone who might break into the house and try to harm her. Ethan drank some of his coffee.

Yeah, I like these odds better, Charlene said. Then the two of you won t have to worry about me.

We ll worry about you, but we ll feel better about you having protection, Ethan said.

They finished their breakfast and then they had to figure out the car situation.

If I drive home, I ll have to park in the driveway, she said.

And if one of the men is watching your place, they ll know your vehicle, Ethan warned.

So I ll get a taxi to drop me off.

All right. We ll follow the taxi to make sure you get home all right, Ethan said.

That sounds good.

But for now? Ethan asked.

Let s take a walk on the beach. Do you want to come with us, Noah? Charlene asked.

I hate to bow out but since Ethan and I are going to do surveillance tonight, I need to get some more sleep.

They would need to also, but walking with his mate on the beach first? That totally appealed to Ethan.

They headed to the beach while Noah returned to his room to sleep. Ethan strolled with Charlene along the beach on the chilly, foggy morning. It was beautiful as the sun was coming up and pinks, purples, and yellows were bathing the rocks and water in a wash of brilliant light.

I love you, Ethan said, leaning down to kiss Charlene, so glad that he was the one saying that to her and not Noah.

As if she knew that s what he was thinking, she said, If I had been with Noah, you know what he would have done?

Walked with you on the beach.

Nope. Gone to bed so he would be ready for his mission tonight.

Ethan laughed. He definitely wasn t the right wolf for you.

I agree. But after our beach walk, I wouldn t mind going to bed.

Not just to sleep though, right?

She smiled and kissed him. That too, but more also.