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“Difference is a good thing,” she hedged.

“You smell different yourself,” Reggie said, bold, now that Tabitha understood her subtext.

“Yes,” she said, deciding to take a risk. “That’s something I have to talk to your Alpha about, though I still haven’t worked out who he is.”

It was out there. Tabitha knew Reggie was a wolf, and Reggie knew she was… different. And that she wouldn’t talk about it. At least, not until after she’d seen the Alpha.

The woman smirked. “I’d love to be a fly on the wall for that meeting. You’ve got your work cut out for you. Jarrad Forrester is the superintendent of the local police force and is an overprotective S.O.B. of anything he considers his—which is this whole town. He’ll interrogate you, and boss you around a bit, and try to lay down the law, but as long as you don’t stir any trouble, you should be fine.”

“Thanks.” She should have figured it out sooner.Of coursean Alpha would be in a position of authority. They wouldn’t be able to help themselves. “I’ll head down there this afternoon. Better get the munchkin first, though.”

“See you tomorrow,” Reggie said with a little wave. “Maybe then you can put me out of my misery and tell me what you are.”

Tabitha laughed. “Maybe.” She picked up her box and trotted off to collect her daughter.

Then she smelled the smoke.

Tabitha dropped the box and bolted outside, intuition already telling her it was the gym. A thick column of black rose above the building, flames already licking at the windows. The door was open, alarm wailing, and children swarmed around out the front.

Frantically she searched the crowd for the blonde curls of her little girl, but she was nowhere to be seen. Neither was Cole.

“Have you seen Cole Fleet? Or the little girl with him?” she asked the nearest kid, who shook her head. Turned out the girl was another wolf, wild-eyed and panicking. The kid’s skin seemed to roll in waves, on the cusp of a shift. Tabitha’s stomach almost revolted. Taking a breath, she pulled the girl closer to her. “Don’t change,” she whispered. “Close your eyes, take deep breaths and count to one thousand. Get it under control.”

“Miss Bright!”

It was another boy from her class, but she couldn’t remember his name.

“They haven’t come out.”

Tabitha’s heart froze in her chest. All she could see was flames.

“Cole and your girl haven’t come out.”

“Where were they?” She was already kicking her heels off and moving towards the building. There wasn’t time to wait for the firemen to show up.

“In the office near the toilets. She hurt herself and Cole was getting her fixed up.”

Of course she did. Her girl was as accident prone as her father. Tabitha ran into the gym, despite people trying to grab her and keep her out of harm’s way.

She wasn’t in danger. But those two kids certainly were.

As soon as she slipped inside, out of sight of the crowd, she summoned a wall of wind and water around herself, channelling the moisture from the air outside. She could put the fire out entirely, but that would bring too much attention. Attention she couldn’t afford.

With air she formed a tunnel towards the back office, curling the smoke out of her path, desperate to reach her daughter. “Luna? Cole?” she yelled.

No response.

The fire cracked and snapped at the wood, her water barrier hissing and steaming.

“Luna!” she screamed again, and a bark answered.

She rushed towards the office to find it wreathed in flames, but another bark came from the locker room opposite. The flames hadn’t made it in there, and Luna cowered in a shower stall, Cole in his wolf form hovering protectively over her.

“Mummy?” she whimpered, tears dribbling down her face. “There’s a fire, and I can’t walk, and Cole turned into a dog after he brought me in here.”

Smart boy. But now wasn’t the time to get into that. Tabitha dropped the water to gather Luna into her arms, using air to take most of her weight.

“Come on, Cole.”