“Turn the light on, Mia. I’m sure you’ll scare whatever it is away.”

Mia didn’t budge.

Emma lifted the covers, and Mia crawled in with her ice-cold feet.

It was nice to have someone next to her, even if Mia’s feet were colder than the arctic tundra outside. She missed Sean, which was a horrible thing to say because, thinking back on their relationship, she didn’t even like him. No, she missed having someone. And that was worse. That wasn’t who she wanted to be. Daphne had come down hard on her the last time she’d said that to her. Things had been strained between them for a while, and then one day Daphne invited her for lunch and things had been good ever since.

Mia was asleep almost instantly, but Emma was awake, a good three hours before she needed to get up. Scrolling ShifterChat didn’t make her any more tired. Twenty minutes later, she heard a repetitive thud. It stopped for a while and then started back up.

She tossed the covers off, put on her slippers, and grabbed her robe. The thumping continued. She stumbled through the living room without turning on any lights. In the kitchen, she squeezed herself into the corner next to the slider to see the patio wall without opening the door. The sunrise wasn’t far off, but the moon had set. The little light came from the reflected snow. Under her kitchen windows was dark fur peppered with a coat of white snow. She glared at the beast.

A lot of unknowns crossed her mind. She lived in a town full of wolf shifters. The fleabag on her patio was more than likely Rocky, but the question that tumbled through her mind was who was Rocky? Flint or one of the other firefighters? And even if it was, that didn’t mean anything. But unlike yesterday, she needed all her power for work today. If the wolf chose violence today, she would drain all her power and it would take longer to get something that Carter’s analysts could use. Plus, today she had Mia sleeping upstairs. While the snow had stopped, she didn’t want to sit out on the patio in the cold.

She put the baseball bat she kept as a doorstop back into the slider. It was early, but she wasn’t going to get any more sleep, and she could be early for once. She showered and reached for a dress. She’d never worn a dress to work before. Plus, there was snow out there.

She glanced out the bathroom window, and if she stood on her tiptoes, she could see the wolf’s tail. Moving as silently around the room as possible, she put the dress back and grabbed her normal leggings and sweater. If he didn’t want her as she was, she wasn’t going to play that game anymore. Sean had wanted something she wasn’t, and breaking the promise of expecting no more than who she was from herself wasn’t going to happen. Flint hadn’t wanted her when she was being herself, so too bad for him. His loss. A light layer of make-up and she was done.

She opened the fridge and out the kitchen window saw snow flying from the wolf as he shook his head. His nose pressed against her slider. She put the eggs on the counter and went over and stood at the door, hands on hips, staring at the wolf.

“Rocky, this isn’t a diner, you know,” she said through the glass.

He sat down on his haunches and stared back. His brown eyes searched her. If that wasn’t Flint Larsen, she would turn in her nonexistent wand. She moved the bat and slid the door open. “Well, you might as well come in. I’m not going to sit out in the cold. Shake the snow off before you come in, you freeloader.”

The wolf stared at her before stepping back. He wasn’t going to come in. But then he shook, the snow flying everywhere but into her kitchen. He moved in, so gracefully she wanted to watch him move more. Run with him. It was a weird feeling.

“I don’t suppose you want to shift before I feed you?”

The wolf sat down next to her table and blinked at her.

“I’ll take that as a no.” She took the frying pan Mia had washed last night, put it on the stove, and started cracking eggs until there were none left. “I have a guest, so you can’t have all of these.”

The wolf stepped forward, like it might dart through her home and upstairs. Instead, he lifted his head and smelled the air. He relaxed.

Emma pursed her lips at the confounded wolf. She was certain who it was now. But she wasn’t going to let on. At least part of him wanted her. Fine. Eggs were cheap. Even organic, free-range, roadside stand eggs weren’t too pricey.

She put a plate on the floor and sat at the table next to him. He looked at her and back at the eggs. “What? I need to go to the store. I’m out of bacon.”

He glared at her. That wasn’t what he was trying to say.

“Whatever, you’re welcome.” She ate her eggs, missing her toast.

He trotted over to the door and looked back at her.

“You’ve got thumbs. You should use them.”

He sat down and waited.

She lifted her eyebrows at him. Take that, Flint Larsen. I’m not opening that door for you. “I’ve got to get to work, but first I have to shovel my driveway.” Without magic, which she would have said, but she wasn’t a hundred percent sure that it was Flint, more like ninety-nine percent. “Mia,” she yelled, stepping out of the kitchen. “There’s a wolf in the kitchen, but don’t pay him any mind. When he gets bored, he’ll let himself out.”

Mia was on the top landing of the stairs, and she glared at Emma in the living room. “What?”

The slider moved, and before she could get back to the kitchen, the door was closed, the licked-clean plate was in the kitchen sink, and his black wolf bum was bolting for the tree line. She watched him go. “What game are you playing, Mr. Larsen?”

“Who are you talking to, and where is this wolf?” Mia had come in behind her. “Oh, eggs—are these for me?”

“Yes.”

Mia took a big bite and pointed to the pan and the dozen and a half egg shells. “You were really hungry.”

“I’m still really hungry.” Emma stared out the window to where the wolf had disappeared.

“Are you on one of those high-protein diets where you only eat meat?”

“You could say that. I’m going to see if I can find where the shovel ended up.” That was the downside of having her magic clean up for her. Sometimes things ended up in places where she couldn’t find them. Boots, gloves, and hat on, she put on her biggest coat and prepared for battle with the snow, a battle she always lost without magic.

She pulled open the front door. The last storm they’d had, the wind had blown a deeper pile onto her porch. Snow was lightly falling on her shoveled porch, driveway, and walkway. Both her red hunk of junk and Mia’s little pink car didn’t have snow on them. Someone had cleaned them off and shoveled the whole driveway.

Emma stared at the driveway. “Mia, did you get up in the middle of the night and shovel?”

Mia laughed behind her. “I’m going to shower. I’ll be back soon.”

Emma stared at her car and checked the time. Even new and improved Emma had a hard time being on time. It drove everyone around her crazy. Especially Shiori. If you can continually be twenty minutes late, you can be on time, she’d say. And logically, that made sense, but not to Emma. There was always time for one more thing. Like now—she could get that load of laundry in.

Emma held Flint’s shirt above the washing machine. It was stupid, really. The thing had been dirty before she’d stolen it, and she’d worn it too. It had to be washed. She dropped it in and started the machine as Mia came down the stairs.

“I’m ready when you are,” the feisty administrative assistant said.

Emma rode with Mia, as her tires weren’t the best in the snow. When they pulled into the parking lot, it shocked her not to see Jack’s truck in the lot, or any of his new workers.

Mia pulled into the spot next to the front door. “You don’t know what to do with yourself because you’re early, do you?” She laughed.

“No, not at all.” Emma swung her oversized purse over her shoulder. A plow truck had taken care of the lot, but fresh snow covered the sidewalk. The snow wasn’t deep, but a blustery wind created deeper pockets, and every few steps, she sank in up to her knee.

Emma unlocked the front door and held it for Mia, but at the last moment, she stopped her. “Don’t go in there.” The protective spell she’d cast was gone.

“What?” Mia turned at the edge of the door frame.

Emma yanked Mia back into the snow with her and hoped her wards would protect them both.

A fireball rushed down the corridor and out at the two of them. Emma covered Mia, but her wards held. Emma’s insides shook, but she managed to cast an additional protection spell as a mini comet attacked them with relentless flames. The flames roared like lava on her back.

16

The side of the firehouse shook. “What was that?” Flint looked up from his second breakfast.

“Probably a plow truck,” Hudson said. Hudson had seen Flint shifting into skin from the firehouse kitchen window and lured him in for a chat with a plate of bacon. Flint had grabbed some spare clothes from his locker. But he didn’t bother with shoes.

Chief Ledger thudded out of his office. “What the hell was that?” He stood in the kitchen, elbows bent, fists at his waist. “Did one of you clowns run the engine into the front garage wall again?”