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When Ethan texted Charlene that they had found the men that they were looking for, she was both thrilled and apprehensive. She hoped they got all the bad guys, and no one was injured in the process.

She wasn t sleeping in any event until this was all over. Then she heard someone walking on the deck. The four men staying with her immediately rose from the couches as soon as they heard the deck creak. Then they heard some rustling in the shrubs near the master bedroom window.

How many were there? This wasn t good. Maybe Josh Wilding should have stayed with them instead of going with Noah!

Maverick stripped off his clothes and shifted into his wolf, then rushed through the wolf door and around the house to see what he could see. Charlene wanted to go with him. She didn t like being locked up in the house where she couldn t observe what was going on.

She said to Brad, I m going with Maverick.

She stripped off her clothes and turned into her wolf and raced out the door.

She smelled Maverick s scent going around the back way.

She figured it was better to stay together as part of a team and hurried to join him.

When he heard her come up quietly behind him, he looked back and inclined his head, telling her he was glad to see her.

He probably would rather that she was with him instead of going it alone and having no one watching out for her.

In the meantime, Brad had his gun readied, and he slipped out through the front door to make his way around to the deck where they d heard someone walking.

But then the shooting began out front, and Maverick and Charlene ran around the front of the house to help Brad.

When they came around the side of the house, they saw a tall, muscular man hiding behind the shrubs next to it.

Maverick jumped at the man, startling her.

He leapt onto the gunman s back, knocking him over.

But she recognized the man s scent right away.

He was Agent Pete Cohen! The agent who had bullied her at the convenience store.

Agent Cohen cried out in terror as Quincy and Pierre ran out of the house and grabbed his gun. Both Maverick and Charlene growled at the man, telling him in no uncertain terms to not even think of trying to get away.

As soon as Quincy tied Agent Cohen s wrists, Quincy and Pierce ran off to check for any more intruders. Charlene woofed at Maverick to go with them. She had Agent Cohen under her paw. She couldn t bite him, but she would keep him pinned down.

Then she heard movement in the woods. It sounded like someone was trying to flee.

A shot was fired, and then she heard a thud.

Agent Cohen tried to roll over onto his back, but she put her mouth on his neck, warning him that she would bite him and end his life if he so much as thought about trying to get up and run.

Yet she couldn t really bite him, not without dire consequences.

She could end up turning him, and he would be a danger to their kind.

She smelled him pee his pants and knew he was terrified of her and rightly so. Thankfully, he stayed put after that.

After a few minutes, Quincy and Pierre were hauling two men up to the house through the woods, both of their hands zip-tied behind their backs.

Luckily, no one had been injured during the shootout.

Charlene figured the shooters couldn t see what they were shooting at all that well in the dark woods.

She still couldn t believe one of Ethan s own coworkers would come here to kill him, or her.

Then again, money meant more than anything to some people.

And anyone who got in their way would be dead.

Maverick and Charlene went in through the wolf door while Brad got on his phone and called Ethan.

Hey, we got one of your DEA buddies, Pete Cohen.

He glanced at Charlene still wearing her fur coat and he smiled.

Yeah, she s safe. We also have two other men, no ID, both armed, both firing shots at us. They ll go down big time.

She noted Brad didn t tell Ethan she d been outside in her fur coat, helping to take down one of the men. Which she appreciated. She would tell Ethan all about it herself later.

Charlene went outside and listened for a few minutes.

Then she went around the house and didn t smell any other men in the vicinity that would indicate someone else had been there and gotten away.

With her homicide detective training, she wondered how the men had gotten there.

They had to have a vehicle out here somewhere nearby.

She wanted to disable it before anyone could come for it and take it away.

She started tracking their scents to learn where they d come from, and a half mile away, she saw a black car sitting on the shoulder of the road next to the woods.

Like a wolf on the prowl, she slipped behind the car and saw a blond-haired man sitting in the driver s seat.

It had to be the getaway vehicle! They had to take this guy down too.

She just hoped she wasn t making a mistake, and he was just some innocent driver, taking a break from driving, lost, or something.

First, she bit the right two passenger side tires and then she went around to the rear passenger tire and bit it.

She did it so quickly that the driver didn t have time to see what was going on or react.

She dashed into the dark woods and howled to let the others know they needed to grab this guy too.

The car door opened, and the guy got out, looked the car over, and cursed up a storm. He got on his phone and tried to call someone, but no one was picking up the call. And then he tried again, or maybe he called someone else. The guys who were zip-tied up in the house maybe?

She heard someone coming through the woods, headed straight for her. It was Maverick and he was coming to take this guy down. Drop your gun and put your hands up, Maverick shouted, pointing his gun at the driver.

The guy couldn t see Maverick for the dark woods, but Maverick could see him perfectly well.

Maverick immediately moved from the spot he d called out from.

When the guy raised his gun to shoot Maverick or at least in the direction his voice had been, Maverick shot the gun right out of his hand. The driver screamed out in shock.

The next one goes through your head. It ll be self-defense. I have other men here with me who will testify to it, Maverick said.

She knew Maverick was trying to make out like there were more men with him to scare the driver into giving up peaceably. The others were watching the men incarcerated at the house. She would definitely be his witness—minus her fur coat—in a court of law if it came to that.

Put your hands on the roof of your car, Maverick said.

The guy reluctantly did so, and then Maverick approached him with his gun pointed at him just in case the driver tried something.

Charlene came running around the other side of the car and growled at the driver, a man of about thirty, wearing a scraggly beard, his eyes heavily hooded, his hair black as coal. He glowered at her, and she knew if he d still had his gun, he would have shot her.

She was so mad that these men would come to take Ethan and her down that she really wanted to bite him for it. But she was there in case the guy ran. She d knock him down before he could get very far and act as a deterrent in case he attacked Maverick or did anything else that was rash.

Maverick got hold of one of the driver s wrists, but as soon as he did, the driver tried to get to Maverick s gun.

Not hesitating to protect Maverick, Charlene leapt at the driver and, with her full wolf s force, knocked the man onto the ground on his back.

She immediately went for his throat. Don t bite him, don t draw blood , she told herself.

Maverick said, You brought this on yourself. If I gave her the order, she would rip out your throat and I would give her a big hug and she would wag her tail for the praise.

She wanted to laugh at Maverick.

Okay, you can release him now, Maverick said to Charlene. As soon as the wolf releases you, you will flip over onto your stomach and put your hands behind your back, nice and cooperative-like. If not, we can go right back to doing this.

The man was sweating like crazy, and he looked like he was scared to death. It was dark out here and all he could probably make out was a big animal with glowing eyes, and the menacing growl she was making as she slobbered on his exposed throat.

Okay, the driver said, sounding like he was trying to be tough, but he croaked out the words, his heart pounding furiously.

So was Charlene s. She had taken down several criminals over the years, but never in her wolf coat.

She hadn t exactly been trained for this, though she supposed no wolf shifter would be.

She didn t want to accidentally cut him with her teeth and mix her saliva with his blood.

She would have to kill him, or they would have to take him into the pack.

They wouldn t want a criminal in their ranks.

Maybe he would turn out okay, with the right guidance.

But what if he was a bad wolf too? Then they would have to terminate him, and it would be all her fault.

Not to mention he could have a family and that would be double the trouble.

You can let go of him now, Maverick said in a way that sounded like he appreciated her help, not that he was ordering her about like a master to a dog.

She was surprised Maverick had called her a wolf and not a police dog or wolf dog even.

Maybe to put the fear into the guy, but she could smell how scared he was.

Then she growled again, held on, not letting go immediately.

She wanted the driver to know that she was a little…

wild at heart and that she had to decide this for herself.

Then she released him. Before the driver could roll over on his stomach like Maverick had told him to do, Maverick was flipping him over and getting the ties on his wrists.

Then he pulled him off the ground and headed for the house.

Good job, Maverick said to Charlene.

She howled for good measure, letting the driver know she was a wolf, or part wolf, if he was inclined to believe it.

Then she saw the blue flashing lights of police cars coming to put these guys in jail.

She stayed behind the driver, stepping on his heels a couple of times so he knew she was right there, making sure he didn t try to run off.

As soon as they got closer to the house, she melted into the woods. Maverick handed the driver over to the police and gave them the driver s gun, explained who he was, and joined the others in the house.

You run the reindeer ranch with your brother, one of the officers said, smiling. My kids love how you have them displayed at Christmastime at different locations. We would never have gotten to see them where your ranch is located. They loved the red wolves you brought too. Sweetest wolves ever.

The driver looked at Maverick with a scowl on his face. If he hadn t believed Charlene was a wolf, he did now. That wolf threatened to rip my throat out.

What wolf? the officer asked.

That one! The getaway driver motioned with his head to behind him, but Charlene was well hidden in the woods, listening to the conversation, amused.

Yeah, tell another story. You ll go to prison with the rest of the men who are involved in this.

The rest of the men? the driver asked, sounding surprised.

What did he think? That his boss would get him out on bail?

Your boss? The rest of his henchmen? They re all going down as we speak, Maverick said.

At least they hoped they were, Charlene thought, but she was glad they caught this guy and the others too at least.