Page 7 of Howl You Doin'

"Ah." Fiona nodded, a knowing glint in her eye. "Politics."

"Something like that."

"Well then." She smoothed her skirt again, the gesture oddly calming to watch. "What resources do I have available?"

The question caught him off guard. Thompson had never asked about resources - he'd just complained about what he didn't have. "There's cleaning supplies, my second Wade is already out there, and you've got full authority to make decisions about the center's operations."

"Any other parameters I should know about?" she said, leaning forward slightly.

The scent of cinnamon intensified as she leaned forward, and Caleb's wolf perked up again. He pushed the reaction aside. "Keep everyone safe, keep the peace, and don't burn down the building."

"That last one was oddly specific."

"You're a fire witch. I can smell the magic on you."

"Fair enough." She stood, smoothing her skirt one final time. "Though I'll have you know, I haven't accidentally set anything on fire since college."

"That's... reassuring?"

"It should be. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a crowd to organize."

Caleb leaned against the doorframe of his office, arms crossed as he watched Fiona work. She'd transformed the chaos into something resembling order in less than an hour, setting up impromptu stations for different concerns. His wolf paced restlessly, unsure whether to be impressed or suspicious.

"Mrs. Henderson, your pottery class starts at four on Tuesdays, correct?" Fiona's voice carried across the room as she typed into a laptop she'd produced from somewhere.

"Are you sure about letting her reorganize the entire schedule?" Caleb muttered to Wade, who'd materialized beside him with a fresh coffee.

"You mean instead of your 'write everything on Post-its and hope for the best' system?"

"That system worked fine."

"Sure it did, boss." Wade took a sip of coffee.

Caleb pushed off the doorframe, prowling closer to where Fiona directed a small team of volunteers in cleaning the walls.

"The cleaning solution needs to be diluted more," he said, pointing to a patch of fading brick.

Fiona's shoulders tensed. "I adjusted the ratio based on the brick's age and porosity."

"And I'm tellingyou it's too strong."

She turned, green eyes flashing. "Do you want to do this yourself?"

"I'm just saying-"

"No." She jabbed a finger at his chest. "You're micromanaging. Either trust me to do the job or send me home but stop hovering."

The volunteers pretended to be very interested in their cleaning supplies while Wade's poorly disguised snort echoed across the room.

Caleb's wolf bristled at being challenged, but something else stirred too - respect, maybe. Or attraction. He shoved both feelings aside.

"Fine." He held up his hands in surrender. "Do it your way."

"Thank you." She turned back to her clipboard, red hair swishing. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to convince the book club they can't meet in the same room as martial arts training."

As she walked away, Wade appeared at his side again. "I like her."

"Shut up."

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