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With another glare in his direction, Sheree closed the back doors of the ambulance before stalking to the front for the drive home. He turned back to his mate.

“Ms Bright?” Jarrad asked. “Have you got a first name to go with that surname?”

“Depends if you have a name to go with that badge,” she replied, a tired but cheeky smile on her face. Her fingers hovered over her daughter, as though debating snatching her back off him.

He turned away quickly, speaking over his shoulder. “I’m Jarrad Forrester, Superintendent in command of this area. And I’m sure you’ve guessed my other role.” He strode with long, easy strides to the police car. She followed, heaving a resigned sigh.

“I’m Tabitha, and that’s Luna, my daughter.”

Tabitha.The name rang bells in his soul. Finally, his mate had a name.

“Um…” She gestured to her left, the opposite direction from where he was going. “My car’s that way, mate.”

“I’ll take you home,” he said. “You’re in no condition to drive, and I’m sure you’d just like to hold your daughter in the back for a while. You’ve both been through a lot today.” Her expressive face moved to annoyed and back to resigned again. With his final words, her eyes softened.

“Much as I hate it when guys act the alpha arsehole and make decisions for me, you have a point.”

So, his mate wasn’t a fan of being told what to do. Good to know. Didn’t mean he wouldn’t try.

He opened the door with one hand, then slid the child inside. She followed, taking care not to brush against him on her way in.

“Besides, I think you’re the person I need to speak to anyway. At least, that’s what Reggie told me.”

As she closed the door, a frown crossed her face again. He’d give anything to have the right to smooth it with his lips.

He settled himself in the front. “I presume you mean you were going to come ask me for permission to be in my town, given you’re a supernatural. And a pretty powerful one if that incident is any indication.”

She snorted and he’d be damned if he didn’t find that endearing. What did it say about him that he enjoyed riling his mate?

“Okay then, Alpha.” She rolled her eyes. At least the frown was gone. “I’ll give it to you straight. I’m a witch. From Carnarben.”

“A safe community, isn’t it? Mostly your kind?” He saw her nod in the rear vision mirror as he turned onto Main.

“Yeah. Safe… and full of people and memories I’d rather not face every day.”

Her tone was wooden, hollow. Jarrad ached to soothe, but he knew she wouldn’t welcome a stranger’s arms in this moment. She didn’t know she was his.

Yet.

“I don’t even know why I’m having this conversation with you,” she said. “I should be running back there. After today, if anything makes it into the media, the Inquisition are going to be after me and even hiding in a town of wolves isn’t going to be enough to keep us safe.”

His wolf snarled at the thought of their mate in danger, and he nearly howled at the mention of her running away. No way that would happen. Not now, not ever. He needed to convince her of that.

“Don’t jump the gun,” he said as calmly as he could. He didn’t know if he was fooling her, because his wolf had crept into his voice. “You don’t know whether anything will get out, and I managed to browbeat the locals into getting rid of the footage.” He didn’t mention the two tourists. No point in worrying her. He’d just make sure he had guards outside her house in case the Inquisition showed up.

Dark circles framed Tabitha’s bright blue eyes, her eyelids straining to stay open. She yawned. “We’ll see in the morning. Turn here.” She pointed left. “It’s the garishly bright purple house on the next corner.”

He nodded to himself. The old hippie house. A seventy-year-old couple once owned it but moved on to greener pastures, buying a place in Nimbin close to a commune. Figured that the aura of the place would attract a witch. That and the fact it backed onto a nature reserve.

Jarrad pulled into the drive and she slid out, turning to get her child. Again, he beat her to it, gently sliding the sleeping girl through the other side. With a sigh, she motioned for him to follow her inside. She didn’t pause to unlock the door, but he sensed a change in air pressure when he went through.

“Wards,” she said to his raised eyebrow. “I wove them the day we arrived. It’ll keep anyone with evil intentions out of the house, as will the ones around the car, but it’s impossible to weave a permanent ward around a person.”

From the haunted look on her face, he guessed Tabitha would have covered Luna with them if she thought it would make a difference.

The house was a tiny two bedroom, little bigger than a shack, but the inside was homely. Tabitha had a large caramel-coloured leather lounge, covered in soft woollen throws and pillows in creams and whites. It looked warm and inviting, soothing after a hard day. Watercolour paintings hung on the walls, and family photos on the mantelpiece, but he walked straight past them to take the kid to her room. There’d be time to sticky-beak later.

By luck, the first room he stuck his head inside belonged to the little girl. Even though the bed sheets were pale blue, there were unicorns everywhere. And rainbows. Lots of rainbows. When he lay Luna down on her bed, she didn’t stir. His heart might have melted a little, particularly when Tabitha took her remaining shoe off, pulled the unicorn-covered doona over Luna and popped a kiss on her forehead.