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Cal’s eyes soften. “Definitely. From what Ethan has told me, your challenge is being able to use what you know under pressure. With enough training, repeating a sequence of spells can become muscle memory, just like any physical defensive or offensive moves. We can prepare you for a range of scenarios and practice until you can do them without thinking.”

I didn’t actually warn Cal that this is what we’d be doing, but we’ve done it over and over for every member of the team, especially Kit and Skye, whose core skills lie in different areas. I’m pleased Cal is already willing to work with Ayo for more than just tonight.

Ayo shakes his hands out, then nods. “Okay. Right. That actually sounds good. Wait. What are you going to be doing?”

I meet his questioning look with a smirk and strip off my T-shirt. “I’m going to be your attacker.”

His eyes widen as I kick off my trainers and shove down the joggers I changed into before coming down here. There’s a definite scent of arousal that Cal has the good sense not to comment on before I shift into my wolf.

There’s never any pain as bones crack and reform and joints realign. I land on four massive paws, my head almost at the same height as Ayo’s.

Alphas are the biggest of all wolf shifters, and I’m larger than any other wolf I’ve ever met. I have white and grey fur in this form, and although my eyes remain the same colour my vision and hearing are even sharper. My muscles bunch as I prepare for Ayo’s reaction.

Ayo’s scent fills with delight as he rushes over and proceeds to hug me, burying his face in my fur. “Holy wowser, you’re so fucking cute.”

I growl as Cal’s mouth twitches again, the traitor.

Ayo pulls back, wincing. “I mean, you’re so fierce and terrifying?”

Better, although it would be more effective if he hadn’t turned it into a question. I huff at him, then lick a long stripe up one side of his face, making him laugh and back away.

“Okay, kid, get over here and let’s talk strategy.” Cal beckons Ayo over. He goes, grumbling about not being a kid.

Cal raises an eyebrow. “I was born in 1755. You’re all children to me.

Right, since we know you can shield, even if that needs some practice, let’s leave that for now.

Ethan won’t hurt you if he gets to you, so assume you’ve been attacked and your shield is down or failing.

The shifter is about to leap at you again. What do you do?”

Ayo’s scent holds a flicker of fear, but then he straightens his shoulders and looks right at me. “Last time, I made the ground ripple and knocked the wolves off their feet.”

“Awesome, but it didn’t work on the cat or vamp, I’m guessing?

They’re too light on their feet, and it would do nothing against a shifter of Ethan’s calibre either.

Since we’re trying to save your life, let’s think more offensively.

” Cal gets a wicked gleam in his eye. “How do you feel about fireballs?”

“Shit!” Ayo rushes over to me as I roll to put out the flames licking over my fur.

It hurts, not going to lie, but I’m so fucking proud of him.

We’ve been at this for hours, despite him being jumped earlier this evening, but every time we’ve suggested calling it a day, he’s insisted we keep going.

Since I’m in favour of anything that keeps him safer and potentially helps with the nightmares he’s been having since he was attacked behind the club, I haven’t insisted we stop.

This is the first time he’s actually gotten me though, so it seems like a good time to end. I really hate the smell of singed fur.

I shift back and catch him as he barrels into me. He immediately pulls away and tries to turn me to look at my back.

“Shit, I’m sorry. Fuck, are you hurt? Of course you’re hurt; what a stupid question. Let me see. I can?—”

“Take a breath, sweet thing. I have shifter healing, remember? I’m fine.” I will be soon enough, anyway. He doesn’t need to be worrying about me after what he went through today.

Cal saunters over and tosses my joggers to me. “You did well, kid. We’ll keep practising that, but next time we’ll work on adding in something else as well. Think up some ideas; the more painful, the better.”

I’d object, since I’ve volunteered as tribute, but I’d go through a lot worse than a bit of pain and some singed fur to have Ayo be able to save his own life. Of course, I’m hoping it’ll never be necessary, but if life has taught me anything, it’s to expect the unexpected—and be prepared for it.

Ayo doesn’t look convinced, so after I pull on my joggers, I grab his hips. “He’s right. Supes heal fast. You can’t worry about injuring someone who’s coming at you. You need to take them down long enough to get away or call for backup.”

“That’s us, by the way.” Cal nudges Ayo, and my heart melts a little. Cal doesn’t really like people and it takes a lot for him to accept someone, yet he’s considering Ayo one of us even though we’ve only known him a couple of weeks.

I slip my trainers and T-shirt on as Ayo works on completely removing the ward. I can tell the moment it’s down because his phone starts ringing.

He frowns, probably because it’s seriously late at this point, then his scent ripples with worry when he sees the name on the screen. “It’s Irving’s mum. Mrs McEwan, is everything okay?”

I’m close enough that with my enhanced hearing I can listen to both sides of the conversation.

“ Ayo, oh thank the goddess. I’ve been trying to call you for hours. ”

Ayo looks up at me with concern. “I didn’t have reception. What’s happened?”

“ It’s Irving. He’s gone missing. ” Shit. We all rush for the door as Mrs McEwan keeps talking. “ He set off yesterday to visit you. Had something he wanted to talk to you about. What time did he leave you? The task force are searching for him now, but you’re the last person to have seen him. ”

She doesn’t say ‘alive,’ but it’s clear from the way her voice cracks that she’s thinking it.

Cal takes out his phone and calls Skye, and I message the others.

I’ll call them as soon as Ayo hangs up, but I don’t want to miss anything, especially because Ayo and I spent most of yesterday in bed, and I know for sure he didn’t see or hear from Irving.

Ayo’s scent turns to a mixture of fear and determination. “Mrs McEwan, I’m sorry, but I didn’t see Irving yesterday. He didn’t contact me.”

Mrs McEwan chokes on a sob. “ Oh goddess. Not my boy. ”

“Mrs McEwan—” Ayo clears his throat. “—I work for Soldati Security now. We’ll look for Irving. I know the task force is on it as well, but the more people who are searching, the better.”

I’m really fucking glad Ayo said that without even checking with me. To know he trusts that our priority is protecting people matters to me.

There’s a shaky sigh from the other end of the phone as we reach the street. “ I’m as wary of shifters as the next witch, but we’ll take any help we can get. Ask your new friends to find him, Ayo. Please. ”

“We’re searching now. We’ll do everything we can.” Ayo says goodbye and hangs up, and I call Kit immediately. As soon as they pick up, I start talking.

“Irving McEwan has been missing since yesterday. Hack his phone, find out his last known location. Then move on to the CCTV and traffic cameras. Update me as soon as you have anything.”

Kit, efficient as ever, is already typing. “ Copy that, boss. ”

I hang up and mobilise Raj and Jet. Thankfully, the crisis they were dealing with earlier is resolved, and they’ve managed to not actually kill each other. Right now I’ll take any win I can get.

As soon as Raj, Jet, and Skye have joined us in the office, I divide us up.

“Kit will remain at their flat for the digital searches and to coordinate us as required. Ayo and I are taking West Green. Cal and Skye, I want you to search the Southern Quarter, and Jet and Raj, Riverside. We’ll venture into the supe territories after that. ”

I get grim nods of confirmation before we split up and start searching. I make sure to keep Ayo in sight at all times. No way is he wandering off alone right now.

“How will the task force be looking for him?” I ask as we rush down another narrow, deserted back alley about half an hour later. None of the bodies have been found on main roads so far, so we’re sticking to the smaller routes.

Fortunately, it’s late enough at night that even the homeless population have found places to bed down, so we don’t have to worry about being overheard by a human.

Ayo glances at me, the worry in his scent growing the longer we search.

“Their first port of call would have been to go to known haunts to see if he’s there or if anyone has seen him, but they’ll likely use a seeking spell now that it’s been confirmed he’s been missing for more than twenty-four hours. ”

I’m an idiot. In my defence, I’m not used to having a magic-user on the team. It didn’t occur to me to factor Ayo’s magical abilities into the search, despite us literally just doing magical training.

My panic over him being attacked again has clearly addled my brain.

I stop in my tracks and catch Ayo before he can collide with me. “We should be doing that.”

Ayo blinks up at me. “A seeking spell?”

“Precisely.” He seems to go completely still, which is unusual for him. “What, not possible?”

He exhales noisily and seems to stare right through me. “Whenever I’ve seen a seeking spell performed, it required DNA, a spell circle with a bunch of runes, and three mages working together. It’s a huge drain on the mages, which is why it’s not the first thing they do.”

I wait and let him work through this. It’s clear Ayo’s magical training is woefully lacking, perhaps because the only people in his coven who did magic in the same manner were his parents.

“I have the power required. That’s not an issue,” he says thoughtfully.

“Even after the attack and our training session?”

He waves me off. “Don’t worry about it.”

That’s not as reassuring as he probably intends it to be. Magical burnout isn’t pretty, and he’s done a lot today. Still, I have to trust him to know his own limits.

It does make me question the stupidity of the coven, or perhaps just Nyoka, for not making use of Ayo’s talents, though. Who the hell uses a sorcerer as an admin?

I scent Ayo’s neck, unable to help myself. “You can channel any spell, so do we just need the DNA? I can have Skye fly to the McEwans’ house if you call them and warn them.”

“I don’t know the spell. Or the sorcerer’s equivalent, anyway.” Ayo’s head shoots up and his scent fills with hope. “But if anyone did, it will have been my mum. She had a knack for finding lost things.”

“How…?”

“Her grimoire. It’s at your flat.”

We turn and rush back the way we came.