Noah

Running the towel over his neck one last time to grab the last droplets of water, Noah sighed and glanced in the mirror. His reflection was partially obscured by the steam from the overly warm shower he’d taken upon his arrival back at the embassy.

“Time to get down to business,” he said, speaking to the other Noah. “Tonight we’re going to stay a little calmer, okay? No going overboard.”

Other Noah looked back at him calmly, as if taking his measure on the seriousness of his intentions. He glared.

Other Noah glared back.

“I mean it,” he snapped. “No screwing things up. It’s nice here. Let’s stay for a while.”

With that he turned, flinging the towel over the door as he went to let it dry. The motel room wasn’t overly large, but it did manage to give him three distinctly separate “zones,” such as they were. The bedroom and wardrobe area was at the back of the room, with a little hallway and the bathroom on the left before opening up into the sitting room with couch, television, and door out of the room.

He slipped on his “uniform,” such as it was. The black tactical pants and white T-shirt were the normal everyday outfit of the Green Bearets, the military arm of the bear shifters of Cadia. It seemed that even here in Cloud Lake, where he was constantly told they weren’t back at training camp, he was still expected to adhere to some aspects of military life, such as the dress code.

Not that Noah minded. In fact, he thought he pulled off the look fairly well. The shirt clung to his skin, emphasizing the muscles in his arms and chest. He would never consider himself vain, but it was nice to know that he was considered good-looking.

Angela certainly seemed to agree on that. She was looking at you more than once while you were at lunch earlier.

Stop it, he commanded himself, getting tired not only of the inner dialog, but also of the potential hope that he was injecting into himself. It certainly seemed that there was some interest going both ways between the two of them, but he had exactly zero clue as to how far that extended. Perhaps Angela just thought he was cute and wished to flirt a little more. Humans were odd in that sometimes they were perfectly okay with being flirtatious even when they had no intention of following through with it.

Shifters were a lot more straightforward. They either wanted one of two things, making it clear up front which one it was. The most common was sex. The second, however, was much rarer, and also the reason why he was determined not to start thinking about Angela that way until she made it clear she was truly interested in him.

The other thing shifters wanted was to proclaim another as their mate. Life partner. The one person and being that they would spend the rest of their lives with. When two shifters recognized their mate within another it was generally a two-way street. A simple gaze was often enough, and then they would know. There was no argument, no doubt, no second choice. It simply was.

But that was before Noah had come to Cloud Lake and realized that some of the shifters there were mated to humans. That, he presumed, would change a lot. He wasn’t sure just how much, but it seemed a sure bet that she would be unable to recognize him in the same instantaneous way that he’d been taught to expect.

You’re assuming that she’s your mate, he thought to himself as he did up his buckle and headed for the door to put on his boots.

The reaction within him upon his first meeting had been just as strong as his second, an instinctive reaction that he’d never before had to a woman. By all accounts that meant Angela was his mate, though of course Noah had never experienced finding his mate before. It would be simpler if she were a shifter and could have said she was feeling the same, but life never quite seemed to work so easily for Noah Landeau, that was for sure.

Give it time, Noah. Give it time. Don’t rush it.

The best thing to do was to see what else he could find out about her, in a roundabout way without being creepy about it.

His eyes narrowed at that thought. The best person for that, then, was Hector. Who he just so happened to be going on duty with in the next half hour or so. Energized by his decision, Noah finished doing up his black boots and emerged into the hallway, heading straight for the stairs and shimmying down them quickly.

To his satisfaction Hector was also in the lobby, though his back was to Noah and he was headed down the hallway toward the offices.

He thought about calling out after him, but instead just lengthened his strides and resolved to catch up. Hector disappeared around the corner and Noah went after him, but by the time he entered the hallway Hector was already closing the door to Andrew’s office behind him.

Noah slowed gradually until he came to a halt several paces away from the door. Obviously whatever was going on in the room wasn’t meant for his ears, or he would have been invited to attend. Gritting his teeth, he turned and prepared to go.

“Gray, Hector, thank you for coming.”

That was Andrew’s voice. He heard some rumbled voices, obviously the other two shifters expressing generic platitudes about it being fine.

“I found out some disturbing news that you both need to know.”

Noah paused, his attention riveted to the door now. What could they possibly have found out that they didn’t want to tell him? He stood in place, his ears straining to pick up anything and everything that was said in the room beyond.

“A trusted source sent me word that Cadian Intelligence had planted an agent amongst our newest guard detail…”

He jerked upright at that knowledge. How had Andrew managed to find out information like that?! So many thoughts raced through his head that he missed a chunk of what Andrew was saying. Eventually he managed to tune back in, but by then Andrew was almost done.

“…we’ll have to be extra careful until we know their motives and why they decided to send someone here. So, take precaution, and try to figure out who it is if you can, but no matter what, you mustn’t give away the fact that we’re aware of their presence.”

Noah knew the sound of a dismissal when he heard one, and so he very quietly beat a retreat down the hallway and back into the lobby. By the time Hector re-emerged he was busy staring at the map of Cloud Lake, memorizing some of the marked locations on it as he’d been told.

“Heya, Noah, ready to get down to work?”

“Only if we don’t have any other choice,” he replied, amazed at the way Hector could simply act as if everything was normal and that he wasn’t in the least suspicious of Noah now.

“Not today,” Hector replied.

Feet came thudding down the stairs. The sound resolved itself into the forms of Chase and Braden, his fellow newcomers. They all exchanged greetings and began to exchange stories on how their time in Cloud Lake was going. Up until that point they’d rarely seen each other, working on opposite schedules mostly. This was the perfect opportunity to catch up.

But in the back of his mind, the news that Andrew was aware of a spy amidst the trio kept coming back to him.

What is it that they need to be extra careful about?

He’d heard rumors about Cloud Lake, but for the most part he’d dismissed them as being wildly off base. There was no way that some shifters who had disappeared from Cadia had managed to make their way to Cloud Lake and take up a living without someone actually being aware of it.

Was there? The revelation that Cadian Intelligence, a mostly vague and unknown organization, was taking interest in Cloud Lake and the people living there seemed to suggest otherwise to him. Unless of course there was something else that they were being sent to investigate.

Questions upon questions formed in his mind and Noah found himself unable to concentrate on the conversation going on around him. At more than one junction either Braden or Chase waved a hand in front of him to get his attention.

“Sorry guys,” he said at last. “Obviously I have a lot on my mind today, if you haven’t figured it out. I’m not good for much in the way of conversation. We’ll have to try and plan a time to get a beer or something though, see if our schedules line up.”

“I doubt it will,” Chase said. “They’ve got us all shadowing someone different. The only time we’re going to link up is at times like this, at shift change.”

“Nah, there’ll be some free time,” Hector interjected. “Andrew has to head back to Cadia for a day or two, and we’ll all get some time off when that happens.”

“Sweeeeeet,” Braden said. “But, I’m finished now, so I’m going to bed.”

“Me too.”

Noah looked up as the guard who had been sitting at the lobby desk got up, gesturing toward Hector. He tried to remember the man’s name, but couldn’t. The two had never been introduced, and he had only seen him around rarely.

“Have a good one, Charles,” Hector said, exchanging a handshake before pointing at Noah. “Okay young apprentice, come learn the ways we really do the job around here.”

Scoffs were heard around the lobby at the pronouncement, but nobody bothered to tell Hector what they truly thought.

“Of course, Master,” he said sarcastically, saying his goodbyes once more and then heading over to Hector.

As he went, he put his game face on. Cadian Intelligence or not, he was on duty now, and he was determined not to screw it up. Again.

I’m never going to live that down.