Chapter 1
Sable
The October wind carried the scent of pine and approaching winter as I stood in the middle of the Hollow Haven Community Center parking lot, clipboard in one hand and radio in the other. Fifteen emergency responders clustered in front of me, a mix of fire, medical, and security personnel who looked various degrees of alert at seven in the morning.
“All right, listen up.” My voice cut through the low conversations without needing to be raised. Years of coordinating disaster responses had taught me that authority came from certainty, not volume. “This is a multi-agency mass casualty drill. We have a simulated structural collapse with twenty civilian actors playing injured parties. Your objectives are triage, extraction, and transport coordination. Questions?”
A young beta firefighter raised his hand. “Rules of engagement, ma’am?”
“Treat it like the real thing. Your decisions will be evaluated, but more importantly, they’ll be teaching moments for areas weneed to improve.” I glanced down at my tablet, pulling up the scenario parameters. “You have wounded ranging from green tag to black tag. Resource allocation matters. Time matters. Communication between agencies matters most.”
I caught sight of three alphas standing slightly apart from the main group, and something in my chest tightened uncomfortably. The suppressant patch on my arm suddenly felt too warm against my skin.
The first was broad-shouldered with short-cropped dark blond hair, his turnout gear identifying him as fire crew. He stood with the kind of stillness that spoke of complete focus, his attention fixed on me with an intensity that made my omega instincts flutter awake despite the medication keeping them muted.
The second was younger, maybe thirty, with tousled chestnut hair and a paramedic uniform that looked slightly rumpled even though I suspected he’d just put it on. He was watching me too, but there was something different in his gaze. Almost analytical, like he was reading more than what I was saying.
The third stood at the back, arms crossed over a tactical vest, all black clothing and military bearing. His dark eyes tracked every person in the lot with methodical precision before settling back on me. When our gazes met for half a second, I felt it like a physical touch.
I looked away, focusing on my tablet with more attention than the simple diagram required.
Five years in Hollow Haven, and I’d successfully avoided this exact situation. Small mountain towns meant limited dating pools, and I’d been perfectly content with that. My job kept me busy. My apartment was comfortable. I had everything I needed.
I did not need to notice three alphas who were definitely noticing me back.
“Fire team, you’re on extraction and structural safety,” I continued, forcing my voice to remain level and professional.“Medical handles triage and transport prep. Security manages crowd control and scene safety. You have thirty minutes to complete primary objectives. Radio channels are preset to your assigned frequencies. Command post will be here with me.”
The briefing continued for another ten minutes, covering communication protocols, resource allocation procedures, and performance evaluation criteria. I’d run variations of this drill in four different counties, and the structure was second nature now. What wasn’t second nature was the way my skin felt too tight, or how I kept catching cedar smoke and vanilla and leather on the wind, distinct scents that shouldn’t have penetrated my suppressants this clearly.
“Move to your starting positions,” I called out. “Drill begins in five.”
The group dispersed with the efficient chaos of professionals who knew their roles. I pulled up the evaluation matrix on my tablet and tried to ignore the fact that the broad-shouldered firefighter was still looking at me.
His captain, a beta woman in her fifties, noticed. “Calder, you planning to participate, or you gonna stand there all morning?”
The alpha, Calder, turned away without responding, but not before I caught the back of his neck going slightly red.
Interesting.
The drill went better than expected. Fire team coordinated well with medical, security maintained clean perimeter control, and only two minor communication breakdowns occurred that I’d need to address in the debrief. I watched the feeds from multiple points, making notes on my tablet while monitoring radio chatter on four different channels simultaneously.
This was where I belonged. In control. Coordinating. Making sure all the pieces moved together so that when real disaster struck, Hollow Haven would be ready.
Not standing at an altar in a white dress while an alpha I’d trusted looked at me with something like disgust and said the words that had broken something fundamental inside me.
I shook my head sharply, pushing the memory back into the locked box where it belonged. That was five years ago. Different state. Different life. I’d moved to Hollow Haven specifically because no one here knew about the humiliation of being rejected mid-ceremony in front of two hundred guests. No one knew that Nathan had decided, right there at the altar, that I was too difficult, too independent, too much work for any pack to want.
“Command, this is Medical One.” The radio crackled with the paramedic’s voice, the one with the tousled hair and bright hazel eyes. “We’ve got a green tag becoming yellow. Requesting fire assist for extraction.”
“Fire Two, respond to Medical One’s location,” I said into the radio, tracking positions on my tablet. “Medical One, what changed your assessment?”
“Patient reports increasing chest pain and difficulty breathing. Could be developing pneumothorax from rib fracture.”
Good catch. The civilian actor was supposed to deteriorate at the fifteen-minute mark to test continuous triage protocols. Medical One had identified it early.
“Noted,” I responded. “Continue protocol.”
The drill continued, and I continued evaluating, right up until the thirty-minute mark when I called scene complete. The actors climbed to their feet, brushing off dirt and comparing notes on how realistic their injuries had been portrayed. The emergency responders gathered for the immediate hot wash, that first debrief while everything was still fresh.
