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I nodded and opened my car door. If he and Mulan worked out, I think he would mean those words more, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up. The two of them were like oil and water. A relationship wouldn’t be easy no matter how much they wanted each other.

I walked around the car and sniffed the air. “Is that them I’m smelling?”

Chuckling, Conn nodded. “Technically, you’re smelling the alpha-grade version of wolf urine.”

My nose wrinkled. “Good Goddess, I should have worn a mask.”

I locked the car and we traipsed into the woods. We followed the stench trail to the hill where it suddenly ended. Afterward, we climbed the bare hillside with no trail to follow.

On top of the hill, there was a flat area where multiple tents were pitched around a tiny cabin.

The man rising from his seat on one of the porch steps made me sigh with admiration. He was easily seven feet tall. He tied his hair back the way Rasmus had. His wide shoulders reminded me of the absent guardian too, as did the guy’s muscles pushing his white t-shirt to its limit.

I forgot about the werewolf stench as I took in his appearance. I felt sure he wielded that power over every female that crossed his path.

“Can I help you?” he asked when we stopped in front of him.

AS he closed the book he’d been reading, I read the title. It didn’t surprise me he was a romance fan. Many men secretly read them. It was the context of the story that had me grinning. I was suspicious, but I’d get to that later.

“I have that book myself, but I’m surprised to find ya reading about werewolves and humans.”

“You’re a witch,” he said, lifting an eyebrow at me. Then he turned to Conn. “You are not a witch. My hackles rose when I saw you. I would say you’re a demon, though I haven’t met many.”

“I am a demon,” Conn admitted.

The werewolf stuck out his hand for Conn to shake. “I will not challenge you.”

“Same here,” Conn said, shaking the man’s hand.

“Neither of us means ya any harm,” I said, butting into their predator male to predator male conversation. “I’m a hereditary witch and a child of The Dagda. Conn is my familiar. We’re partners.”

He turned back to me. “You look like siblings.”

“It makes the partner thing more believable.” I stuck out my hand. “My name is Aran O’Malley.”

“Isaiah Mont.”

He took my hand, but instead of shaking it, Isaiah simply held it. His power was light and barely there. I didn’t react by meeting it with my own. I wanted this alpha to trust us, so I let him learn what he could. His eyes changed, flashed golden, and then returned to normal.

“Aran is a fitting name for a powerful woman.”

“It’s an Irish name. I was named after the Aran Cliffs where I was born.”

He lifted the book and grinned. “I’m engaged to a human. This book is hers. I sent everyone else to hunt so I could have some time to read it in private. She doesn’t know what I am yet, so I thought this might clue me in about what she’s going to think of my true self.”

I smiled at him. “The author sticks with the standard tropes about werewolves and the fiction of an in-between shape. She allows the man’s humanity to be the controlling factor for his character. I found it reassuring that someone was getting it right. Like ya, I read fiction to research what people think. I do it for witches as well.”

“Have you ever dated a werewolf?”

“No. Until recently, I was married to a demon hunter. I’m taking a bit of a sabbatical from men until the reality of my divorce kicks in completely.”

“You smell of a man.”

“Seriously?” I raised my arm and sniffed.

Isaiah chuckled. “I’m only guessing that the strange smell is because of a male. I honestly don’t know if that’s true or not. You’d have to ask him.”

Snorting at being on the end of yet another man’s teasing, I glanced over at Conn who was all but laughing. “If Rasmus marked me, I’m going to roast him like a giant turkey.”