Page 364 of Warlords, Witches & Wolves

Chapter 5

She needed to wake Luna at eight thirty, giving her just fifteen minutes to eat and get ready. The Goddess knows how they did it, but Tabitha and Luna were both waiting when the paddy wagon pulled up to the house. Luna was nursing a freshly wrapped ankle, though anyone would have thought it broken by the performance she gave that morning.

“Cool!” breathed Luna, pain forgotten. “Can I ride in the back?”

“Only criminals ride in the back.”

Or drunks, Tabitha thought, but she kept that to herself. There may have been a time or two the paddy wagon in Carnarben had hauled her and Ryan home. The twins were hellions in their younger days.

“Wasn’t sure you ladies would be waiting for me this morning,” Jarrad said, opening the back door of the twin cab—not the rear door of the wagon, much to Luna’s disappointment. “Figured you’d probably sleep ‘til lunchtime at least.”

“Wish Mumwouldlet me sleep ‘til lunchtime,” Luna muttered under her breath, forgetting entirely about the sensitive hearing of wolves.

Jarrad barked a laugh.

“My mum never let me sleep in either on a school day,” he commiserated. “Didn’t get a chance to introduce myself yesterday, I’m Jarrad Forrester.” He held out his hand to Luna, and the little girl took it with absolute trust.

“I’m Luna,” she said, bouncing eagerly inside the vehicle. “Can we turn the sirens on?”

Tabitha shook her head. She definitely didn’t have a shy girl. Jarrad’s head was comically bobbing from left to right, hand at ninety degrees from his forehead.

“What are you looking for?” Luna asked, trying to follow his line of sight.

“Just looking for the bad guys.”

“Bad guys?”

“You asked me to put on the siren, so I thought there must have been some bad guys.”

It took her a moment to get it, then Luna rolled her eyes.

“That wasn’t funny,” she scowled at the man in uniform.

“I know,” he said, but he was still smiling.

It was infectious. Tabitha grinned, and so did Luna. The girl never could hold a grudge for more than a second.

“But we never play with the siren, or the lights. People know it means something important is happening and they need to get out of the way. Wouldn’t work as well if people thought we did it just for fun, don’t you think?”

“Yeah,” Luna nodded wisely. “Mum told me that wolf story. With the crying and stuff.”

“The boy who cried wolf?” Jarrad asked Tabitha, a twinkle in his eye.

“It’s a favourite,” she said wryly. “Though perhaps rather redundant in this town. I don’t think anyone would bat an eyelid if Luna raced up and down the street screaming wolf at the top of her lungs.”

Jarrad looked nervously at the little girl.

“It’s okay. She knew before yesterday, but yesterday just made her believe.”

“Yep,” Luna nodded. “Cole turns into a little wolf. He’s really cute and fluffy. Are you cute and fluffy too?”

Jarrad gave a pained wince and Tabitha struggled not to laugh.

“I wouldn’t tell any wolf they’re ‘cute and fluffy’, Luna, if I were you.”

He avoided the question so obviously that Tabitha didn’t bother holding back the guffaw. She’d bet hewascute and fluffy.

Their arrival at the school saved him from answering. Cole waited out the front, moving restlessly as he scanned each incoming car. She didn’t need three guesses to figure out who he waited for. Luna was bouncing in her seat, barely waiting for the car to stop before the seatbelt was off and she was at the boy’s side. She threw them a quick wave and then limped in theatrically with her new best friend, as though she hadn’t just grumbled about being woken too early.

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