Never Free: Project W.Olf Trilogy Book 2

By Eileen Schuh

He’s imbued with the wolfen sense of smell and she with a microchip.

Wildlife biologist, Peter Kane, would much rather be in the wilderness studying his wolves but he’s committed to his role as a research subject for the Wainwright University’s Olfactory Project.

The extension of the project has left him short of cash so although things haven’t worked out between him and Marie, when the police need his nose for their investigation into her past, he reluctantly agrees.

His acute sense of smell proves invaluable and the investigation leaps forward. He’s hailed as a hero but when Marie suggests he’s a mere pawn in a dangerous conspiracy, he listens. She does, after all, have analytical skills comparable to a super computer.

Absolutely nothing, though, can prepare them for the stark truth.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WolfSinger
• Release date: Nov 15, 2020
• ISBN: 9781942450757

Eileen Schuh

Eileen Schuh is excited to announce the release of Book 1 in her PROJECT W.Olf trilogy. The entire e-Series along with the paperback will be available before yearend. Wolfsinger Publications out of Colorado, U.S.A. is her SciFi publisher and has also previously released her two adult Science Fiction thrillers, SCHRÖDINGER’S CAT and DISPASSIONATE LIES.In addition to her sci-fi books, Schuh has released four novels in her ongoing BackTracker crime series that centers on biker gangs, drug dealing, murder, computer hackers, international espionage and the role of law enforcement. Books in the series include THE TRAZ, FATAL ERROR, FIREWALLS and OPERATION MAXTRACKER. Her adult crime thriller, SHADOW RIDERS, runs parallel to her BackTracker series and is partially set in an exotic South Korean locale.Her children's novel BETWEEN THE SUN AND THE RAINBOW, is a tribute to her ancestors and a gift to her grandchildren. Loosely based on her childhood growing up on a small prairie farm, the book seeks to provide a link between generations.Schuh writes psychological thrillers across genres but is perhaps best known for the surprising and satisfying endings. Whether it is travel to quantum physics’ alternate universes in SCHRÖDINGER’S CAT, a glimpse into the future of the computer in DISPASSIONATE LIES, or a look at the weird world of genetic manipulations in PROJECT W.Olf, Schuh is sure to entertain.Born Eileen Fairbrother in Tofield, Alberta, Schuh lives in Canada’s northern boreal forests and draws her inspiration from the wilderness, her grandchildren, family and friends, and her adopted community of St. Paul.All Schuh’s books are available in both eBook and paperback formats.

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What Others Have Said About

Project W.Olf

"With little time jump the story pretty much picks up where book one left off. This part of the story dives further into the natural skills the man has gained from his wolf genetic therapies and how the woman, Marie, would influence his behavior. Many times book two in a series is bland and stretching, getting you from part one to part three but Schuh has written such a mesmerizing story that you only feel the story and surely no stretching!

Book two does not disappoint with the roller coaster ride of emotions and twists of logics that make up this portion of the story! Suspense and betrayal ride side by side with logic and instinct. As the story unfolds many answers come to light but also leaves you wanting more."

~Cheryllynn Dyess, author of The Chronicles of Elizabeth Fairbairn series

This ends on another cliff-hanger, with Marie and Peter the Wolf teetering on the precipices of this wonderful thriller. Love, lust and deception create a murky atmosphere rank with smells of deceit, kidnapping and betrayal. I learned a lot about wolves and the wilderness, facts that only an author steeped in forest lore would know. Can hardly wait to read the conclusion.

~Kenna Mary McKinnon, author of "Blood Sister, The Insanity Machine, Benjamin and Rumblechum", and more.

NEVER FREE

Project W.Olf Trilogy Book 2

Trilogy

Eileen Schuh

WolfSinger Publications ~ Security Colorado

Copyright © 2020 by Eileen Schuh

Smashwords Edition

Published by WolfSinger Publications

www.wolfsingerpubs.com

All rights reserved.

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should visit your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy.

Thank you for respecting the rights of this author.

For permission requests, please contact

WolfSinger Publications at

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All characters and events in this book are fictitious.

Cover Art copyright 2020 © Lee Ann Barlow

Digital 978-1-942450-75-7

Print 978-1-942450-73-3

Chapter 1

The breeze shifted and the unmistakable greasy odor of death swept up his nostrils and coated the back of his throat, forcing a gag.

What’s the matter? Constable Renita asked in her usual tone, best described as frantic impatience gilded with a thin layer of genuine caring.

Peter stopped walking, and hoping to quell the need to vomit, turned from the wind. He caught sight of Marie, halted a few meters behind them, apprehensively staring into his eyes. Losing his cookies on the forest floor would not impress either woman. He swallowed hard.

Constable Renita touched his arm. Do you smell something? Before he could nod, she shouted, Oh my God, you smell a body! Where is it?

She was looking at him innocently, expecting an answer. How the hell does she know I smell a corpse before I say it?

A body? Marie cried. They both swiveled in time to see Marie take a quick step backwards, her blue eyes wide with horror. Near here?

Peter shrugged. I can’t tell exactly…

Marie rushed forward and grabbed his hand. She was twenty-five but often inappropriate. He’d tried to accept her adolescent nature was not her fault, but it grated on him.

I didn’t say I smelled a body. Peter vigorously shook his fingers free.

She was now looking at her hand as if he’d shit on it. Did she not realize the three of them were on an evidence search for the police and handholding was just…well, just not done under such circumstances? Whether in the presence of a body or not?

Marie eventually wiped her hand on her jeans and stuck it in her jacket pocket. If it’s not a body, then what is it?

Peter sidled up to a large spruce tree and pressed his cheek to the trunk, hoping its tangy aroma would mask the corpse smell and lessen his revulsion. He pulled a small branch of spruce needles toward his face, inhaled their terpene molecules and then turned slightly to re-catch the death scent. His strategy worked. He sniffed again. The message he deciphered from the odorous molecules sent goosebumps chasing up his spine. He inhaled again to confirm. Marie, he asked hesitantly. Do you have a brother?

Not that I remember. She pulled out her smart phone, as if to check. Her rare form of amnesia, not able to remember her life before the point when she first opened her eyes each morning, was what had set his feet on this path, crunching through the snowy remnants of an early March melt.

Marie’s an only child, Constable Renita confirmed.

Tracking those who’d robbed Marie of her memory had become his mission, although his passion still rested with field research on wolves, a line of work definitely more to his liking and more in line with his education and experience.

However, there was something about the girl that had driven him to accept this job…and something about the money, too. He had committed to another year with the Wainwright Olfactory Project (lovingly dubbed the W.Olf Project), and laboratory test subjects such as himself were notoriously underpaid. The entire project was underfunded—potential backers, whether from government or commerce, tended to believe man should not tinker with genes.

He inhaled again. There was no doubt, the body he smelled was male and a close DNA match to Marie. Father? Uncle? A few months ago he wouldn’t even have known it was DNA his wolfen olfactory abilities were sensing, let alone been able to discern the sex of the body and the similarity to Maria’s biology. However, he’d become a pro at identifying such things. Through a genetic implant, the W.Olf Project had endowed him with the olfactory abilities of the Canis lupus occidentalis and he’d subsequently spent a good part of the winter sniffing, recording, classifying and comparing odorant molecules in the Wainwright University research lab.

It was now up to him to prove to those opposed to genetic engineering, especially those with full wallets, that the results of this experiment, done in a reputable lab with ethical oversight, would be a boon to mankind. The project definitely needed a boost to offset the bad press surrounding Marie, even though her misfortunes arose from elsewhere.

As a civilian contracted by the police for his special olfactory abilities, Peter was given limited information about Marie’s case. About all he knew was a file with her name on it had been found in an illicit lab financed by a criminal gang. Suspicions were, genetic experiments with ageing and memory had gone terribly wrong.

Peter pressed his nose into a branch of needles to clear the odors and then tried again to decipher the corpse’s secrets. No, it wasn’t the body of Marie’s father or uncle lying in the bush ahead. It was unmistakably that of a full-blood brother, same mother, same father.

She should go back to the Command Centre, shouldn’t she? Constable Renita said, as if reading his mind. Perhaps Marie was right that the Constable had telepathic powers.

It would be best, Peter agreed.

I’ll radio for someone to come and get her.

I don’t want to leave, Marie protested. I’ve never seen a body. At least not that I can remember.

I didn’t say it was a body! Peter protested.

But it is, isn’t it?

We won’t know until we see it. Constable Renita forcefully guided Marie down the trail the way they’d come. And even if it is, bodies aren’t things we let civilians view. She released Marie’s shoulder and turned to Peter. Marie and I will start back and I’ll radio someone to meet us halfway. You can either stay put until I return or come with us. Your choice.

I’ll stay, Peter said, glad for the respite from the girl.

Constable Renita pulled out her radio and began chatting intensely. In moments she and Marie disappeared around a bend in the trail.

He’d hardly had a chance to take a breath, though, before he spotted them rushing back. Constable Renita had her