When Ryenne got to her mother’s office building, she texted her mom that she was outside.

MOM: Be right down

While waiting for her mom, Ryenne looked around, scanned people’s faces, peered in the dark corners all around to make sure no Fangs were hiding and ready to pounce. She tried sniffing the air, but there were too many different scents, especially on a hot summer day. Sweaty bodies, myriad food smells, perfumes, and rotting garbage mixed with the heavy smell of heat rising off the pavement.

She caught a whiff of Tess’s earthy, grassy scent, now forever burned in her memory thanks to their fight last night. Looking around more closely for the fox shifter, Ryenne spotted her red hair through the windows of a shop. Tess lounged on a side street, only visible through the windows.

Ryenne darted across the street and around the corner, surprising Tess. The fox shifter’s eyes grew wide and she turned and fled down the side street with Ryenne following. With the age difference and Ryenne being in great shape, she should have been able to easily catch up to Tess. But somehow, the wily fox shifter stayed just ahead of Ryenne’s grasp. At the next avenue, Tess was able to cross without encountering traffic but Ryenne got hung up by an aggressive cab.

At the next corner, Tess paused for traffic and Ryenne was sure she’d catch up to her this time, when a black van screeched to a halt, its rear door opening, and Tess jumped in.

“Shit!” Ryenne stomped her foot like a spoiled child. Catching her breath, hands on her knees and bending over at the waist, she remembered her mom. “Shit,” she muttered again.

Ryenne dashed back the couple of blocks, adding a little bit of supernatural speed, not enough to be noticed by anyone. She reached the avenue and saw her mom waiting across the street in front of her building, looking concerned. Ryenne caught her mom’s eye and waved as she waited for the light to change.

A gray, nondescript car careened around the corner, tires squealing, and pulling Ryenne’s attention away from her mother. She narrowed her eyes and watched its progress. It had tinted windows so she couldn’t see the driver, but she had the impression of a man behind the dark glass.

The car jumped the curb in front of her mother’s building.

“Mom!” Ryenne screamed, otherwise frozen in fear.

The car hit her mother, knocking Mom into the concrete wall of the building, and backed up into traffic.

People screamed, jumping out of the way.

The car screeched around the next corner and out of sight.

Ryenne flew across the street, heedless of the honking horns and the shouts of other people who witnessed the accident. Knocking her hip into an SUV, she kept running as if nothing had happened. She didn’t feel the pain. All she saw was her mom lying on the sidewalk, and her eyes blurred with tears.

She reached her mom and dropped down to her knees next to her mother’s unmoving and battered body. Her mom’s beige linen jacket was torn and streaked with grease. The silk blouse underneath, however, was intact. Taking her mom’s hand, she fought back the tears. “Oh my god, Mom.”

“I’m calling 9-1-1,” a man said.

One of the security guards from inside Mom’s building came out.

“Did you see what happened?” Ryenne asked him, her voice unnaturally high-pitched.

He nodded, his double chins flapping.

“Did you get the license plate number?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, can you write it down for me and also give it to the cops when they get here?” she asked.

The guy dashed back inside and wrote something on a piece of paper.

While holding Mom’s hand, she checked her pulse at the wrist. Thank goodness, she was still alive. The only thing Ryenne knew for sure was that it wasn’t Tess, but it could just as easily have been one of the other O’Briens or any other Fang. Or anyone, really. It could have been purely accidental or someone could have targeted her mother.

People kept crowding around and Ryenne didn’t know what else to do except focus on her mom. A faint but insistent siren came from far away. Her mom’s eyes fluttered.

“Mom? Mom? I’m here.”

Her mom’s legs twitched. Ryenne didn’t know if the twitches were involuntary or if she was trying to stand.

“Just stay still, Mom. An ambulance is on the way. I’m here with you.” Her voice caught in her throat. She wished Lucien and Gavin were here, too. The three most important people in the whole world to her.

Not only would the guys have made her feel better, but Lucien could’ve chased after the car that hit her mom. She tried to take stock of her mom’s injuries but she didn’t have a medical background. She would guess broken bones, possibly internal bleeding, maybe a concussion if her head had hit the building behind her on impact.

Ryenne stared at her mother’s beautiful face, a splotch of dirt on her left cheek, and listened to the insistent siren getting louder and louder. “Hang on, Mom, they’re coming. Just hang on. Don’t leave me. Please, Mom.”

The security guard came back out and handed her a slip of paper with the license plate number. Still holding her mom’s hand, she fumbled her phone out of her jeans pocket and called Gavin. She explained what happened.

“Oh crap, where are you?” he asked.

“We’re in front of her office but the ambulance is almost here. As soon as I know where they’re taking her, I’ll let you know. But, Gavin, I’ve got the license plate number of the car that did this.” She read it off to him.

“While I’m waiting to hear from you, I’ll check DMV records.”

“Thanks, Gav.”

“Don’t worry, Ry. She’ll be okay. She has to.”

Then the ambulance was there, and a man and a woman in uniform jumped out with a stretcher and forced Ryenne out of the way. She gave them a brief description of what happened and explained she was the victim’s daughter.

“Where are you taking her?” Ryenne asked.

“St. Luke’s,” the man answered.

She climbed into the back of the ambulance. Once they stabilized Mom, Ryenne was able to hold her hand again. Even in the crazy rush hour traffic of Midtown Manhattan, the ambulance made good time to the hospital.

With her free hand, Ryenne texted their destination to Gavin and asked if he’d found anything.

GAVIN: Not yet.

At the hospital, she was separated from her mom and had to wait in the waiting room on a hard plastic seat for Gavin and for any news.

Before long, Gavin came rushing up to her and wrapped her in a hug. “Is she okay? Are you okay?”

“I don’t know anything yet. What about Lucien?” she asked in a small voice.

“I texted him but haven’t heard back yet. I sent him the license plate number, too, in case he has another way to track them. And to Scotty. I figured the more eyes on this the better.”

“Thanks for letting them both know, Gavin. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” She leaned her head on his shoulder.

“I know,” he said, rubbing her hair.

At least her best friend was here, the man who knew her best. But, damn, she wished the man she loved was here, too. Could he put aside his anger to comfort her?