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I didn’t waste any time. Hiking up my skirt, and thanking my lucky stars that I wasn’t wearing heels, I took off after her. Whoever she was – werewolf or otherwise – she was in trouble. I pelted down the street, ignoring the wide-eyed stares I received from passers-by.

Even though she was barefoot, she was moving faster than me. I forced myself to move as quickly as I could, air whipping at my short, bobbed hair as I ran. ‘Police!’ I shouted. ‘Stop!’

Either she didn’t hear me, or she was too scared to slow down. Within seconds, she’d disappeared round the corner at the far end of the street. I cursed and followed her, past rows of expensive parked cars and well-kept houses.

I knew that I should have waited for Tony. The last thing trainees were supposed to do was to go after crime-related matters on their own. But there hadn’t been time to fetch him. I had to find the woman and help her in any way that I could before something worse happened to her.

Reaching the end of the street I spun to my right, my eyes searching for her fleeing, blood-streaked figure. There wasn’t a single living soul to be seen.

With my stomach tightening, I slowed to a jog. My head swung from side to side as I scanned for a sign of her. A lone crow cawed overhead, its black body silhouetted against the weak blue sky.

Then I heard a shout. And another. I tried to pinpoint the source. Somewhere up ahead – I was sure of it. I held my breath and kept going. Where was she? Where had she gone? I pushed aside my anxiety in favour of professionalism. I’d trained for this. I had it in me to help her. I just had to find her first.

The cobbles beneath my feet were uneven; in my haste, my toe caught the edge of one that was jutting out, and I almost went flying. I staggered but kept my balance, more through luck than cat-like footwork. My arms flailed and stretched out – and that was when I spotted the splash of red. Blood. The woman had left a trail of blood.

With a renewed surge of adrenaline, I focused on the ground. There were more droplets forming a faint path from where I was standing up to the scarlet door of one of the houses that lined the street. I had no choice but to follow it.

The door was slightly open and I paused briefly. There was a strange, huffing sound from within, followed by a guttural snarl. Obviously, even if I were a fully-trained detective, I couldn’t wander into random houses to have a poke around. But I didn’t need a warrant if there was a genuine expectation of immediate harm to life – and a half-naked woman covered in blood fit that expectation perfectly.

I gulped in air and kicked the door all the way open. ‘Police! What is…?’ My words died in my mouth. Standing in the hallway, facing each other with hackles raised and gleaming white teeth bared, were two enormous werewolves.

Neither of them paid me any attention. The one closest to me, whose hindquarters reached virtually to my midriff, was growling, its entire body quivering. The yellow eyes of the werewolf opposite were fixed on it. Their muzzles were less than an inch apart.

I might not have been an expert on the supernatural, but I knew aggression and intimidation when I saw them. Whatever was going on here was about to escalate into a full-blown battle.

I wasn’t armed – I didn’t have a Taser or a baton or so much as a bloody pen. And I was only carrying a trainee’s warrant card. I reminded myself that I wasn’t without power; I’d trained for this sort of situation.

I stepped forward. ‘You will stand down.’ My voice rang out across the hallway, clear as a bell.

Neither werewolf moved, but I knew they’d heard me from the visible twitches in their fur-covered bodies. The tail of the yellow-eyed werewolf started to drop – and that was when the other one made its move. It leapt upwards, massive paws outstretched. I caught a brief glimpse of unsheathed claws. I just had time to register how lethally sharp they looked before they descended onto the body of its adversary and chaos ensued.

The vicious snarls emanating from both creatures would have been enough to make most sensible people run. That’s exactly what I should have done, especially with the scraps of fur flying in all directions and the very real risk that I’d end up in the crossfire between two painfully sharp sets of teeth.

Neither wolf was holding back. As they collided, they crashed against the wall making the plaster crack and a picture frame fall. When the yellow-eyed wolf, who I could now see was the smaller of the two, howled in pain, I stopped thinking about my own safety. Enough was enough.

‘I said,’ I yelled, as I reached forward and grabbed the nearest wolf by the scruff of its neck, ‘stand down! I am the police and you will stop this immediately!’

I’d acted without thinking. Even so, no one was more surprised than me when the pair of them immediately subsided. I could feel the vibrations from the growls of the wolf I was holding, but at least it had pulled away from the fight. I shuffled round its body until I was between the pair of them, noting that the smaller wolf’s fur was matted with blood.

‘Change,’ I ordered. Nothing happened. I gritted my teeth and hardened my tone. ‘Change!’

It happened quickly. One moment I was holding the scruff of a wolf’s neck, its wiry fur tickling my skin; the next moment I was pinching the smooth skin of a woman – the same woman I’d seen running down the street. I immediately let go of her, wondering if I’d been wrong and she was the attacker rather than the victim.

I turned to the second wolf. He’d also transformed and was standing in front of me with his hands by his sides. His body was covered in cuts and gashes. Between the pair of them, he’d definitely come off worst.

If I felt strange standing between a naked couple who were glaring at each other with ferocious, simmering hatred, it didn’t seem to bother them.

‘Back up,’ I said. ‘Both of you, three paces each.’

They did as I asked, although it was clear from the woman’s shuffling gait that she was none too happy about it. Tough.

‘Now tell me what is going on here.’ I pointed at the man. ‘You. Explain.’

‘That bitch fucking attacked me for no reason!’

‘No reason? Are you kidding me? My sister—’

‘I haven’t done anything to your fucking sister that she didn’t want me to do!’

The woman put her hands on her hips. ‘Then where is she? Eh? Why hasn’t she come home?’ Her voice shook. From the fire spitting in her eyes, I knew that if I didn’t get these two away from each other she was liable to attack the man again.

I scanned her up and down, realising what I hadn’t been able to tell from a distance: the blood on her body wasn’t hers. She wasn’t the one who needed medical attention.

‘This is your house?’ I asked the man. He nodded, his skin pale. ‘Right,’ I said. ‘Then here’s what we’re going to do. You’ll put on some clothes while the two of us—’

‘Yield.’

My head jerked up at the cold female voice that interrupted the proceedings. The two naked wolves dropped to the floor, while I stared at the face of an older woman framed in the doorway beyond them. She had steel-grey hair and iron-hard eyes. She was immaculately dressed in expensive, designer-label clothes. Even if she’d been wearing a sack, she’d still have had the sort of aura that demanded attention. She was standing perfectly still, but it felt that her very presence was sucking the oxygen from the atmosphere.

Behind her, I briefly registered Tony staring at me with a mixture of horror and grim admonishment.

‘I am Lady Sullivan, Alpha of the Sullivan clan. I will deal with this.’ The woman’s tone brooked no argument.

I raised my eyes to Tony, who glared at me and bit out a nod. My mouth tightened, but I wasn’t in a position to disagree. I was a trainee, it was my first day in this department and Tony had already made it clear that our role wasn’t to interfere with supe business. It rankled so much that it was almost painful, but I wasn’t hot headed enough to argue – especially when I knew that I wouldn’t win.

I nodded in mute agreement and shuffled out of the house. Lady Sullivan moved aside an inch to let me past. I didn’t need to glance at Tony’s bunched fists to know that he was furious with me. As for the two wolves who’d been fighting, all they’d done was cower since she’d appeared. That was some hold she had over them.

The female wolf glanced in Tony’s direction, her eyes meeting his. He cleared his throat and addressed me. ‘Come on, let’s get out of here before you start a damn war.’

‘Wait.’ Lady Sullivan’s voice rang out again. ‘Why did they stop?’

I stared at her, uncomprehending.

‘Why did they stop fighting?’ She asked the question casually, as if it were a trifling matter, but there was something about the look in her eye that made me answer.

‘Er, because I told them to,’ I said, baffled. ‘I’m with the police.’

Lady Sullivan gave me a tiny frown then turned away. It appeared our conversation was over.

‘Come on,’ Tony hissed again, and marched away at considerable speed.

I did as he said, although my shorter legs struggled to keep up with his brisk stride. He didn’t say a word until we’d passed under the intricate arch. I felt numerous pairs of eyes burning into the back of neck as we departed.

‘What the fuck was that?’ he said, as soon as we were out of the werewolves’ quarter. ‘What idiotic thoughts were going through your head that made you think you could confront a pair of brawling werewolves? I told you,’ he ground out, ‘I told you that we didn’t get involved in supe matters.’

‘I…’ Shit. I dropped my head. ‘The woman was running down the street covered in blood. I thought she was in trouble.’

‘Why didn’t you check with me first?’

‘There wasn’t time!’ I protested.

He stopped in his tracks and glared at me, his blistering anger searing into me. ‘The balance between us and the supes is incredibly delicate! We’re here on their sufferance. The wrong action or word from us and Supernatural Squad will be shut down. We’re hanging on by a thread as it is. No wonder you were sent here. You obviously don’t have it in you to follow the simplest of instructions!’

I lifted my chin. I’d started to warm to the gruff old detective, and I’d thought the feeling was mutual. Now I’d undone all of that, but I wasn’t ready to back down. ‘If you’re expecting me to apologise, I’m not sure that I can. If the same thing happened again, I don’t think I’d react any differently. I saw someone in trouble and I went to help her. I don’t see what’s wrong with that!’

‘There’s nothing right with it, either!’ His cheeks were mottled red. He cursed and spat on the ground. ‘Go home. You’ve done enough for today. I’ll leave it for a few hours then contact Lady Sullivan and smooth things over. But never – and I mean never – try anything like that again.’ He glowered. ‘Got that?’

‘Yes.’ I paused. Then, ‘Yes, sir.’

If my acquiescence calmed him down, there wasn’t any evidence of it. He stormed off, his spine straight and his arms swinging, the brown-paper bag containing our sandwiches thumping against his leg as he strode away. ‘Tomorrow,’ he snapped out over his shoulder.

I bit my lip. This had not been a good day. I twisted away and looked for a taxi to take me home.