Free A SEAL Wolf Christmas by Terry Spear Page A

if it impacts the mission? I should know the details.”
    “It happened long ago. It’s never affected anything she’s done with the team.”
    “With others, then? Has she ever worked an operation like this? During Christmas?”
    “Drop it, Bjornolf. If she wants to tell you about it, she will. Otherwise, it’s a closed topic.”
    It wasn’t closed for him.
    Hunter paid for Bjornolf’s purchases, then they went to locate the ladies. He saw Tessa looking red-faced, as if she were on the verge of shifting so she could take care of a customer she was fighting with over a sweater.
    “Does Tessa have issues with Christmas, too?” Bjornolf asked, smiling.
    Anna wished she’d brought her own clothes with her. Anything to avoid the worst shopping experience ever.
    The only thing that made it better was that poor Tessa, who had to be horribly uncomfortable with twins due soon, was such an angel in helping Anna to choose the right clothes. Anna couldn’t remember a time when she had ever shopped with another woman. She had certainly never been with one who was excited about helping her look her best.
    Bjornolf had been carrying his own purchases, but he stepped in to carry several of Anna’s bags. Hunter ended up having to carry a few of Anna’s also. It was Tessa’s fault, really.
    Anna wouldn’t have bought more than a couple of things, and she didn’t mind washing them out for the next day. But Hunter didn’t seem to mind the expense. In fact, he almost seemed in high spirits over the whole business.
    Which made her suspicious.
    When they arrived in the pack’s territory, they picked up a rental Land Rover. Anna insisted on getting a second vehicle, though she fully intended to pay for it herself, but Hunter shook his head and used his credit card on the second car, too.
    “Nathan’s working at the farm until closing tonight,” Hunter said.
    “Okay, we’ll leave our stuff at our new home. After we get settled in, we’ll drop by the farm and pick out a Christmas tree,” Bjornolf said.
    “We don’t have to get a tree.” Anna grabbed the keys for her rental car and headed to the vehicle. No wonder Hunter had been so secretive about what she was to do on this mission.
    “If you two need anything at all, just call me or Tessa,” Hunter said, smiling just a little.
    “Will do.” Bjornolf followed after her. “We can use the Christmas tree for our cover. We’re not going to be the only couple without a tree for the open-house tour of homes scheduled in a couple of days.”
    “Open house? When did this happen?”
    “While you and Tessa were shopping, and I was picking out a few things, Hunter filled me in on some of the details.”
    “Fine,” Anna said, but her tone of voice said other-wise. “You pick out a tree, and I’ll search the farm for the odor of dead bodies and any other clues.” She glanced back at Bjornolf as she reached her car. “What do you know about it, anyway?”
    “The men hadn’t been dead for long. Only a wolf could have smelled how long it had been.”
    “What about the owners of the tree farm? Are they wolf?”
    “Human—husband, wife, teenaged daughter.”
    Anna rested her hand on the car door handle. “Teen… girl? Human? And Nathan is working there because?”
    “He needed a job to occupy his thoughts after his parents died, to keep him from running away. He loves the forest, so the tree farm is the next best thing for now. He cuts the trees for customers, loads them up, and delivers them when they need him to. We’ll pick one out. He’ll bring it home tonight. It’s part of our cover.”
    After getting directions to the beach home, Anna drove the fifteen miles up the road, then pulled into the driveway. Bjornolf parked beside her. Like the other cottages Hunter and Tessa owned, this one was nestled among pine trees, a long way from the next cottage, and sat overlooking a rocky beach below. The setting was perfect for a wolf. Plenty of woods to run in, the