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CHAPTER ONE

Griff

“Ma’am, is it your son or your cat who’s stuck up the tree?”

The words snagged Griffin MacCor e his headset off his ears, he cocked an eyebrow at his colleague at the opposite desk Kevin caught his eye, and rolled his own,“time waster” as he pointed at his own headset

“Let me see if I understand you, ma’am,” Kevin said to the caller, his tone leaden with jaded weariness “Your cat, who is like a son to you, is stuck up a tree And you would like the fire services to send a very expensive eencies, to attend to your…pussy”

Having just spent an heart-pounding thirty minutes on the phone with a traumatized caller as pinned under two tons of sue’s irritation with the nuisance call, if not his unprofessionalis sarcasm seep into his tone The East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service was stretched thin just handling the ht not be particularly large—especially not compared to London—but it was one of themillions of visitors with its quirky, alternative culture And lots of drunk, excited tourists looking for a wild night out meant a lot of work for fire dispatchers like Griff

Especially when quite a few of those drunk, excited tourists were dragons

Not that Kevin, or indeed any of Griff’s other colleagues in the control room, knew that little secret about their city

Kevin raised his eyes to the heavens—or at least, to the control rooth to deal with the idiot in his earpiece “I’ to tell me that your son turned into a cat and shot up a tree?”

Now that got Griff’s full attention Bringing up the office chat utility on his PC, he typed to Kevin, Want me to take over?

Kevin shook his head at hiot rid of her

“Yes, ma’am, that does sound unbelievable,” Kevin said into his headset “I see Yes, ma’am, this was a bad idea You do that In future, please don’t call the fire depart his headset down around his neck, he stretched with a groan “Goddah on her kid’s ”

“Sounded like an interesting call,” Griff observed mildly

“Nah, just another time waster” With a push of one foot, Kevin propelled his office chair backwards to the whiteboard in the corner, where the dispatch tea up the blue pen, he added another tick to his roith a sarcastic flourish “At this rate, I may beat even your record for prank callers this week I swear you’re sonet for the weirdos”

Griff smiled, privately amused You have no idea

“Hey, as your call just now? Another crazy?” Kevin waved the blue pen “Or a real one?”

“Big traffic pile-up,” Griff said “I sent Alpha Teaot it under control”

“Alpha Teaht?” Kevin said idly, swapping the blue pen for a red one in order to put a tick next to Griff’s nahter, I mean”

All Griff’s

“Yes,” he said, in a flat tone that he hoped made it clear he didn’t want to discuss his previous profession

Unfortunately, Kevin’s career as a dispatcher had given hi Is Alpha Teaood as people say they are?”

“No” The corner of Griff’s mouth twisted wryly “They’re better”

A little pang went through his chest as he thought of how Alpha Tea lives with their unique combination of shifter skills Fire Co the flames while John Doe called down the rain to quench the where victi into the blaze to pull people out to where Hugh would be waiting to heal them…

Griff shook his head, forcibly dispelling the memories I did ot them there, told them what to expect I’m still part of the team