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“I’m a literature teacher at Salem State.”

I smiled and nodded because it suited him so well. “If ya don’t mind the question, how did ya get dubbed the alpha of this pack?”

“I’m the biggest wolf in our group and also the best tracker when hunting. Are you less impressed now that you know I didn’t fight to the death for the position?”

“No, I’m the opposite. If ya decide ya want some part-time tracking work in wolf form, let me know. I know someone who might be willing to occasionally borrow yer nose for the right fee.”

“If I decide I want to live a dangerous life, I’ll keep that in mind,” Isaiah said and chuckled as we headed back the way we’d come.

ChapterSeven

Imet Ben in person to explain what I’d learned. Plus, it gave me an excuse to stall a bit longer before getting involved in the case. I saw no need to text my handler a thousand details when spending a few minutes in his presence would be more effective.

To avoid parking blocks away, I’d called for a ride downtown.

Conn had traveled magickly to go help Lilith with a task. I wasn’t in the mood for portal jumping into some alleyway. I didn’t create portals unless it was a matter of life and death. Witches with my level of power used portals, but they cost a lot of energy. If I had to choose between creating a portal and fighting, I nearly always fought because it hurt less.

My first hurdle with Ben would be to convince the full human military man werewolves could not turn humans into one of them. I’d already told him once, but Ben hadn’t believed me. He was still getting used to discovering the magickal world was as real as he was.

The second challenge would be to convince Ben those two werewolf guys Isaiah mentioned probably weren’t covering anything up with their story. Conn and I talked about it all the way down the hill. We both felt they would have come up with something more believable or simply said nothing to Isaiah. People lied to make themselves seem better than they were, not worse.

The one concession I could make—and likely would make—was that I had proven nothing yet.

We agreed to meet at the coffee shop close to Mulan’s business. Meeting there was my idea because it was the proverbial two-birds-with-one-stone situation. I figured I could get my business done and then check to see if the Wu Shaman had returned. If she hadn’t, I could at least report to her staff that I’d found her, that she was fine, and that she would eventually return.

I was halfway through my first cup of coffee when Ben joined me. His smile was wide. He seemed even happier than when he spoke to me at my house. Too bad I was about to change his mood.

“Tell the barista what ya want, Ben. They started a tab for me earlier.”

Ben chuckled, put in his order, and then sat across from me. “Who keeps an open tab at a coffee shop? I’ve had one at the bar before. Does it work the same way?”

I stared hard at him without smiling. “Yes, it works the same, and I heard the unspoken insult in yer tone.”

Ben shrugged. “You’ll have to forgive my ignorance of how these places work. I don’t drink fancy coffee.”

“I don’t either, but I drink a lot of it, so I appreciate quality. Do ya take anything in yer drink other than caffeine?”

“Just plain coffee. It keeps life simple,” he said.

“Then ya shouldn’t have picked me to work with ya. I go for the truth no matter how complicated.”

“Yes. I’ve seen that for myself. Did you leave your partner at home?”

I smiled at his term. He still wouldn’t refer to Conn by his name. Did that mean he feared sounding too friendly? Or that he didn’t see Conn as anything but a demon?

“Conn is helping a demon friend of his with something.”

“I see,” he said.

But he didn’t. Since Ben needed to learn, I spelled it out. “As the penultimate king of all demonkind, Conn has royal duties that take him away from me now and again. We work around our schedules the same as most partners do.”

“So he’s their king?”

I smiled and shook my head. “Let’s shelve yer questions about Conn for a bit. I’ll bring ya up to speed about demonkind later. Today, I want to educate ya about werewolves.”

Ben blew across his cup and sipped. “This is excellent coffee.”

“It is. Plus, my friend’s hair shop is a couple of doors down the street. I’ve been here a lot since I got out of prison.”