Page 5 of Paws and Claws

"Maybe he likes you," Luna teased, stirring her purple cocktail with her finger. Sparks danced across the surface.

"Yeah, right." Tabitha pulled out the ticket, grimacing at the amount. "This is going to eat up my art supply budget for themonth. Guess I'll be painting with coffee grounds and my own tears."

"We could always hex his cruiser," Mira suggested.

"Don't tempt me." Tabitha sighed, watching the ice cubes in her glass dance without touching them. "I just wish he'd loosen up a little, you know? Life's too short to spend it being so uptight."

Tabitha soon twirled a dart between her fingers, her magic crackling along her skin like static electricity. The familiar warmth spread through her arm as she aimed at the board across the room. Her wild magic responded instantly, wrapping around the dart in swirls of purple energy.

"Watch this." She released the dart with a flick of her wrist. It curved impossibly through the air, looping around Luna's head before striking the bullseye with a satisfying thunk.

Luna gasped, patting her hair. "Show off! You nearly gave me a heart attack."

"Please, like I'd ever really hit you." Tabitha grinned, the rush of successfully controlling her magic flooding her system better than any drink. "Your turn, Mira."

Mira's green magic lifted three darts at once, sending them in a perfect formation toward the board. They landed in a neat triangle.

"Amateur hour." Tabitha wiggled her fingers, and her wild magic responded eagerly. The darts pulled themselves from the board and began dancing through the air like fireflies, weaving between the fairy lights overhead.

"That's not even how you play darts," Luna protested, but she was laughing.

"Rules are boring." Tabitha guided the darts in an intricate pattern. "Besides, what's the point of having magic if you can't have fun with it?"

Her magic surged, stronger than she'd intended, and one of the darts shot toward the bar. Jake ducked just in time, the dart embedding itself in the wall behind him.

"Sorry!" Tabitha called out, but she couldn't stop grinning. The raw power thrumming through her veins made her feel alive. Sure, her wild magic could be unpredictable at times, but that's what made it exciting. It was about embracing the chaos and making it beautiful.

3

DOMINIC

Dominic rubbed his temples as he read through last night's reports. The morning sun filtered through his office blinds, casting stripes across the scattered papers on his desk. His coffee had gone cold, forgotten amid the growing pile of bizarre reports.

"Ghouls. In downtown Saltwater Grove." He shuffled through the statements again. "Eight witnesses all describing the same thing. Mysterious figures appearing out of nowhere, surrounding them outside Mario's."

The victims' descriptions matched - translucent figures materializing from thin air, creating mass confusion while personal items vanished. The magic residue readings were off the charts. Definitely wild magic. His lion stirred restlessly beneath his skin.

"Sheriff!" Connor burst through his office door, the handle banging against the wall. His deputy's usually neat uniform was disheveled.

Dominic's shoulders tensed. "What happened?"

"You need to see this. Right now." Connor's chest heaved as he caught his breath. "Two blocks from Mario's. It's... different from the others."

"Different how?" Dominic stood, his chair scraping against the floor. The lion inside him stirred, sensing trouble.

"I can't even explain it. But it's definitely magical." Connor ran his hand through his hair. "The witnesses are still there, and they're pretty shaken up."

"Give me something to work with here." Dominic quickly grabbed the keys to his squad car. "Was anyone hurt?"

"No injuries, but..." Connor shook his head. "Boss, I've been on the force ten years, and I've never seen anything like this. Same area as the crash two days ago and the ghost robbery last night."

Dominic's jaw clenched. Three magical incidents in two days, all within a few blocks of each other. The pattern was there, but the motive escaped him.

A low growl rumbled in his chest. "This is escalating. First the car crash, then the ghost robbery, now this."

"What do you think it means, boss?"

"It means someone's wild magic is running loose in my town." His eyes flashed with determination. "And they either can't control it, or they're doing this on purpose."

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