Her Wild Hero

Loughlin motioned toward the tower. “Perhaps we could sit down and talk about this inside? It’s rather complicated and might take a while.”


Declan didn’t like the sound of that. But he led the guy inside the tight area that served as both an observation tower and living space. He grabbed a bottle of water from the small camping fridge that ran off rechargeable batteries tied to the solar panels on the roof and held it out to the man.

“Okay, so talk,” he said. “Who are you, how did you get into my personnel records, and what do you want with me?”

John took a deep drink of water, then saluted Declan with the bottle and sat down in one of the room’s two chairs. “As I said, my name is John Loughlin. And I didn’t look at your Forest Service records. The organization I’m with has its own folder on you already. To put it simply, I’m here to offer you a job.”

Declan leaned back against the wall and folded his arms. He had a feeling this conversation wasn’t going to take nearly as long as Loughlin thought. “Someone sent a headhunter all the way out here to scoop up a ranger from the Forest Service? I didn’t realize we were in such high demand.”

He didn’t bother to hide the sarcasm.

John laughed and took another swallow of water. “I’m sure you’re a very good forest ranger, Mr. MacBride, but those skills aren’t the ones my organization is interested in—as I’m sure you know.”

Declan swore under his breath. He should have known. The guy had “corporate manager” written all over him.

“Sorry you wasted your time coming all the way out here, Mr. Loughlin, but if you’d dug a little deeper, you would have learned I never finished that engineering program I started—or the design from my thesis you’re so interested in.” Damn, he hadn’t thought about that part of his life in a long time. “Besides, I’m not involved in that kind of work anymore. I’m a forest ranger. If you leave now, you can probably get back to your car before dark. Feel free to take another bottle of water with you when you go.”

Declan started for the door when Loughlin’s voice stopped him cold.

“Your engineering acumen—even if garnered at MIT—isn’t the skill set my organization is interested in.”

Declan wasn’t sure why, but alarm bells went off in his head. He eyed the door. There was nothing between him and that exit. And for someone his size, he could be damn fast when he wanted to be.

But he didn’t run. Instead, he turned to face Loughlin. Clearly, the man was more dangerous than he appeared. “What other skills do you think I have?”

Loughlin slowly put the cap back on the plastic bottle. “My organization is very interested in your talents as a shifter.”

Declan had never heard the word shifter, but it wasn’t hard to connect the term with the monster he had inside him. The only confusing part was how the man—and his organization—had learned about his secret. And what they wanted from him.

He glanced at the door again. It didn’t sound like there was anyone else nearby, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t anyone out there—just that they were being careful. Declan might be a fast runner when he wanted to be, but he couldn’t outrun a gun.

Declan swung his gaze back to Loughlin, looking for a distinctive bulge that told him the man was carrying a weapon. He didn’t see anything, but…

“I’m not carrying a weapon, Mr. MacBride, if that’s what you’re concerned about,” he said as if reading Declan’s mind. Loughlin motioned his head toward the door. “And there’s no one waiting below with a weapon, either. I’m not here to harass you, hurt you, or try to force you into anything you don’t want to do. I simply want to talk to you about a job that can put your unique abilities to good use—in a place where you won’t have to feel like you have to hide who you are. If you’re not interested in my offer by the time I’m done, I’ll walk out of here and forget I ever saw you. I’m just asking for a chance to talk to you.”

Declan didn’t answer. He hated that Loughlin had walked out of the woods and screwed up the carefully constructed facade that was his so-called life, but curiosity kept him from telling the man to get the hell out. Declan needed to ascertain just how much Loughlin and his organization knew about him. He’d likely have to leave Oregon as soon as Loughlin hiked out of here anyway, of course. Which really sucked because he liked it here.

He sat down on the stool by the map table. “How did you find out about me? Was it Marissa?”

“Your former fiancée?” Loughlin shook his head. “No, we’ve never talked to her. We didn’t think you’d appreciate that.”

That was true. Declan didn’t want to think she’d rat out his secret to strangers, but then again, things hadn’t ended well with his former fiancée—hence the former. If the organization Loughlin represented hoped to employ him, using the woman who had ripped out his heart probably wasn’t a smart way to gather information on him.