Fair Game

‘Charles?’ A

‘Sorry,’ he told her. ‘Thinking.’

‘Do you want some more bacon, or should I put it in the fridge for later?’

There were four pieces left. He took two and ate them. Then he took the other two and held them up to her mouth.‘You need more protein.’

She rolled her eyes, but ate them anyway.

‘I need to look something up on the Internet,’ he said. ‘Can you get the dishes?’

‘You cooked; I’ll clean,’ she said.

He took his laptop into the spare bedroom where there was a small writing desk. It was slower than his desktop at home and the screen was too small to let him pull up as many images at a time as he liked to– and the Internet co

He started out with the legitimate things he had access to– Goldstein had sent him a file on the case, as he had promised – and then dug deeper. These killers, these UNSUBS, they had money – had power. A

At some point A

‘You, Isaac, and I have been invited to a celebration for Lizzie’s safe return,’ she told him.

‘I’m waiting for two phone calls,’ Charles said.

‘This would be an excellent time for some PR with the Boston Police Department – which is important for the Olde Towne Pack. Isaac told me they’ve had some issues this year.’

He rolled his seat back from the desk and looked at his mate. She looked a little antsy and her brown eyes glowed slightly, highlighted with her wolf’s light blue.

It was dark outside, which meant she’d been cooped up in here for hours with nothing to do but watch TV. And it was close to the full moon. It wasn’t fair to make her sit around any longer.

‘This may be a wild goose chase, but I’m on to something and I’d like to finish it up,’ he told her. ‘Would you agree to letting Isaac be your escort?’ Brother Wolf didn’t like it, but Charles didn’t want to smother her. He might be finished in five minutes – or twelve hours. And Isaac was a good fighter; Charles had seen it last night. He’d been outmatched in sheer size and strength and hampered by not being able to see their opponent, but he’d fought smart.

‘I don’t need a bodyguard,’ said A

‘Humor me,’ said Charles.

She sighed heavily– then ruined it with a sly grin. ‘I told Isaac to come pick me up – and that you were going to make him responsible for my health and well-being.’

‘If you knew what I was going to say, why did you come in here and bother me?’ He growled with mock a

A

‘Let me know when you leave,’ he said, already caught up in his work again. Where had he been before she interrupted him?

When he next emerged, she was gone.

‘He lets you out alone?’ Isaac, without Charles to put him on edge, was more relaxed than A

‘I’m with you. Besides, werewolf here,’ she told him with a thumb to her chest. ‘Not exactly a frail princess in need of rescuing.’

‘That’s not what I heard about you,’ Isaac said. ‘I asked about you. Omega. I was informed by my second that we should be honored that you were visiting our city. We should bring you gifts and see if we can get you to abandon your pack and join ours. When I pointed out that that meant Charles would come, too – and displace me – I was told that the blessing of having an Omega in the pack would outweigh even putting up with Charles.’

A

‘And then he wonders why I don’t ask him more questions,’ Isaac agreed. ‘So do it.’

A

‘ “That voodoo that you do,” ’ Isaac said. At her expression he turned to walk backward so she could get the full effect of his eye roll and comic exaggeration. ‘What? You don’t know Adam Ant?’

‘ “A thrill a day keeps the chill away,” ’ she sang, then said dryly, ‘Not his best song. You want me to what? Zap you with my awesome cosmic super Omega powers?’

‘That’s what I said.’ Isaac turned so he was walking beside her once more. ‘Only my request sounded cool, and yours sounds like it belongs on Saturday morning cartoons.’

‘They are more of an anti-superpower,’ A

Isaac gri

A

‘So are you going to whammy me?’ Isaac asked again.

She waved and did something fluttery with her fingers in her best stage magician ma

They strode along companionably for a block.‘I don’t feel whammied,’ he said.

‘What do you feel?’ she asked.

Isaac took three more steps before he stiffened and stopped.‘I haven’t been drunk since I was Changed,’ he whispered. ‘What did you do to me?’

‘You aren’t drunk. Not impaired physically or mentally,’ A

He bowed his head, working his hands; then he turned and started walking backward again, facing her. A

‘I’m myself again,’ he said, his face almost slack with wonder. ‘It’s just me in here.’ He tapped his forehead. ‘One night before the full moon and I don’t want to hunt or sink my teeth into anything.’ He blinked rapidly and turned back around again so she couldn’t see his face anymore. After a moment he said, ‘It’s like the wolf is gone.’ There was a hint of worry in his voice.

‘No,’ A

at peace. You could start changing right now if you wanted to.’

‘Before God, it is no wonder my second was salivating at the thought of you,’ Isaac said. ‘Do you worry about being kidnapped?’ His voice altered just a little. ‘I heard that Charles rescued you from an abusive situation.’ He glanced over at her, his eyes glowing light yellow. The othereffect of being Omega was that dominant wolves tended to be overly protective of her.

She nodded her head.‘Charles saved me. My first pack turned me and kept me under their thumb. One of their old ones was crazy and her mate thought I could keep her sane. When Charles got through dealing with them, he taught me how to rescue myself.’ Charles had helped her regain confidence in herself. But no matter how competent she was at protecting herself, A