Alpha Omega 03 - Fair Game

even share a last name. How delightful.”
    “Her last name really is Smith,” Isaac told him.
    “Convenient,” said Anna. “People will think you’re lying even when you aren’t.”
    “But not you,” said the witch, and Charles fought the desire to grab his mate and set her behind him where he could protect her better. “You and your kind can tell if I’m lying.”
    “Only if you aren’t a good liar,” said Anna, half apologetically and half honestly. Being a good liar might keep a young wolf like Anna from discovering a lie, but an old wolf like Charles could almost always tell.
    Anna continued to clarify matters. “If you believe your own lies or if telling lies doesn’t bother you, we can be deceived. In fact, we’re even easier to fool because so many of us assume we’re infallible. I, personally, am always careful not to underestimate how well people lie.”
    “I’ll keep that in mind.” Hally smiled and accepted a life jacket from Isaac, then handed him her satchel, a waterproof canvas backpack, to hold while she put it on. There was an unspoken arrogance about the act that set Brother Wolf on edge: Isaac was neither her mate nor her servant whose service was to be taken for granted. She snapped the vest on over her serviceable wool sweater.
    “Are you planning on lying?” asked Leslie Fisher with interest. Anna gave her a quick look and then glanced up at Charles. He let her see that it didn’t bother him, and she relaxed.
    Hally’s smile deepened. “I don’t know yet. Isaac said you’d have some of Jacob’s body for me?”
    Goldstein took the seat next to Leslie’s with his back next to the stern of the boat. He pulled out a Baggie from his life jacket pocket that contained a two-inch square of skin and a pinch of dark hair and handed it to Hally, who took it with the enthusiasm of a child being given a lollipop.
    “Splendid,” she said. “It would probably be best to wait until we areout in the harbor before I start to do magic. All I will get is distance and a direction, not the closest route there. It won’t last forever, so I’d rather wait until we’re somewhere it will do us the most good. Isaac filled me in”—she looked at Charles—”and promised me recompense.”
    She hadn’t been cheap. If it weren’t for the time factor, he could have had Moira and Tom fly out from Seattle for considerably less expense.
    “Ten thousand,” Charles agreed.
    Leslie whistled. “No wonder we don’t consult with witches much.”
    “You pay for the best,” said Hally smugly. “Shall we set sail?”
    “Motor,” Anna said, pointing at the stern. “No sails.”

CHAPTER

8
    Charles kept a close watch from the bow as Malcolm threaded the
Daciana
around boats and other assorted obstacles with all the sailing skill of a pirate and a cheery rendition of “The Mary Ellen Carter,” a song about men reclaiming a sunken ship, whistled off-key. If Bran had been with them, doubtless he’d have joined in the song. Charles’s da loved impromptu concerts, especially with people who sang—or whistled—Stan Rogers songs, though considering the boat’s passengers, “The Witch of the Westmoreland” might have been more appropriate.
    The rise and fall of the ocean made Charles’s stomach roil—another reason he didn’t like boats. Anna was kneeling on the bow as far forward as she could, with her face in the wind and a peaceful expression that made Brother Wolf want to kiss her feet and other places—if only he wouldn’t have thrown up the moment he bent over.
    “Gets me, too,” said Isaac, coming up from the rear of the boat. He braced himself on the wall of the console and talked in a voice nicely calculated to carry just over the noise of the engine, but not so loudlythat anyone else was likely to hear. “Once I throw up, I’m okay.” Then he raised his voice. “But I’m the Alpha of the Olde Towne Pack, damn it, and I can’t afford to upchuck in front of a bunch of strangers. They might find bits of that annoying salesman I ate last night.”
    Charles scowled at him. “Thanks for the visual.”
    Isaac threw his head back and laughed. “You’re all right, man. Malcolm says he’s headed to a spot that he thinks is pretty much a clear shot to most of the islands. There are also lots of abandoned warehouses along the shoreline, thanks to the crumbling of the fisheries around here. Lots of places to hold and torture people without anyone hearing. You really see