Page 355 of Warlords, Witches & Wolves

Chapter 2

Afire. A fucking fire at the primary school.

Jarrad let the sirens wail as he hurtled down Main Street, pedal to the metal. He needed to be there, both as Police Superintendent and Alpha. Those were his people.

The black smoke from the building swallowed the skyline. He didn’t need to be told the gym wouldn’t survive this. He just hoped the children would.

Although school hours were over, the local kids often played in the gym before going home. Most of them were seriously athletic, their werewolf genes pushing them to run, even if they couldn’t change in public. Echo may have a ninety percent werewolf population, but that didn’t mean they publicised it. People still hunted shifters. Their only safety was with the pack.

As he pulled into the school zone he slowed, but not by much. The Firies got there first and had already laid out hoses and gone to work. The ambulance arrived a second behind Jarrad. Even if there weren’t any serious injuries, some may need to be treated for smoke inhalation.

Please, let there be nothing worse.

The principal, an old wolf named Gordon Cooper, loped up to him. “Two kids are inside, and the new teacher went in after them. One of the kids was hers.”

Jarrad sucked in a sharp breath. “Did you tell Kyle?” Kyle was the Superintendent of the local fire service, and Beta to Jarrad’s Alpha.

“Yep, but they can’t get in until they get the door under control. He said—”

Jarrad’s jaw dropped.

A whirlwind of water blasted through the flaming gym doors, depositing a woman with a young girl in her arms and a dripping wolf pup on the grass in front of them. She was stunning, a voluptuous blonde goddess in a black pencil skirt and conservative beige blouse, now dripping wet. Cameras launched into their staccato song, and the woman wavered on her bare feet.

“Fuck,” she said, then dropped to the ground, unconscious.

Launching into action, Jarrad bundled the pup into the back of the ambulance, followed quickly by the girl. The woman was another matter.

When he got closer, her scent wafted around him, the most intoxicating thing he’d ever smelled. The ocean, sun-drenched lakes and southerly storms. Warmth and wildness. And her body… The woman was made for him, soft curves and long limbs. It was all he could do to stop himself from claiming her that instant. His fingers traced the curve of her cheek, an impulse he couldn’t control. His cock was as hard as a rock, and he didn’t even know her name.

But Jarrad knew she was his.

His mate.

The cameras clicked again, bringing him back to himself. He pushed up and stormed towards the crowd.

“Clear off you lot. If you aren’t emergency services, go home. And delete any footage or photos you have of what happened here,” Jarrad growled, shooing the hoverers away. His eyes lingered on two men, obviously tourists judging by their overly shiny hiking boots and the factory-fresh scent wafting from their Kathmandu clothing. He put on his best don’t-fuck-with-me glower but wasn’t sure it would be enough. They still had their phones in hand as they walked to their car. And it didn’t look like they’d deleted anything.

“Kyle.” He grabbed his Beta, the man having the misfortune to walk past him on his way to the hydration station. “Get one of the enforcers on those two. I’ve got a feeling we’re about to be blown apart by this incident, and sure as shit they’ll have something to do with it.”

Was it unethical to sneak into their room and destroy those phones? Probably. He sighed. It was too late anyway.

Jarrad turned back to his mate, but his vision turned red when he saw one of the male paramedics place a hand on her neck. His growl rumbled, low and vicious. The man startled, looking directly at him. Geoffrey. Jarrad sighed. There was definitely nothing in the gay man’s touch other than professional concern, yet Jarrad’s wolf still demanded he challenge the man for touching what was his.

If she’d even have him.

He’d never thought much about taking a mate, beyond the initial coming of age fuck-fest where he’d explored just about every female he came across. He’d pretended to search for a mate even though they would have known their mate by scent alone. Matehood was one of those ‘maybe one day’ scenarios he’d pushed to the back of his head. But there she sat. And definitely not a wolf.

He strolled as casually as he could over to Geoffrey and his mate, who was now awake and talking quietly to the paramedic. Would she feel the pull as strongly as he did? As a wolf would? And dear God, what was hername? Jarrad almost reached them when a plaintive wail came from the back of the ambulance.

“Muuuuummmyyyy!”

The woman leaped up, but the movement was too fast for her, and she wobbled. Jarrad was there in an instant, sliding an arm under her before she fell.

“Thanks,” she muttered, before taking a few more careful steps towards the ambulance. She frowned at him when he didn’t let go, looking pointedly at the arm still wrapped around her waist.

He gave a sheepish smile. “You look like you could use the support.” Not to mention he didn’t think he’d be able to let her go. His wolf rumbled contentedly inside his chest. It could have been sickening, if her honeysuckle scent wasn’t weaving its spell on him too.

She stared silently at him for a moment, then leaned a little more heavily on him. Jarrad’s heart just about burst.

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