"I am." I squeezed his hand. "For the first time in a long time."
We walked to the woods, the same ones where we'd marked each other and bonded. It looked peaceful now instead of wild and threatening when my heart was breaking.
“I’m glad you came after me and didn’t give up." He turned to face me, his blue eyes serious. "I was about to leave town and I would have lost you."
"I couldn't not follow." I cupped his face with both hands. "My wolf wouldn't let me. I wouldn't let me. You're mine, Zale. I was always going to come after you."
TWELVE
ZALE
I woke up at 1:45 a.m. and climbed out of bed. Hawthorn was still asleep because he could get ready in five minutes whereas I took longer.
But my mind wasn’t on bread or croissants or danish pastry, but cookies, specifically teddy bear cookies. Ihadto make a batch or twenty. And I had to slather them with frosting and give them cute round faces with button noses and sweet smiles, and maybe a hat. And it wasn’t as though Iwantedto bake them. Ineededto.
Huh? They weren’t part of our regular routine but Hawthorn had made them for parties when customers requested them. But this wasn't for an order. We didn't have any children's birthday parties coming up.
Still in my PJs, I padded downstairs and flipped on the lights. I gatheredflour, butter, sugar and eggs. My hands moved quickly as I formed the dough. I wasn’t following any recipe but my hands seemed to know what to do.
By the time Hawthorn came down, I had three dozen teddy bear cookies cooling on racks.
"Morning." He stopped in the doorway, taking in the scene. "What are you making?"
"Teddy bears." I was already mixing another batch. "Aren't they cute?"
"They're great." He moved closer.
Scenting him first thing in the morning framed how the day would be and since we’d mated, each twenty-four hours had been blissful. But today I was focused on teddy bears and not my mate.
"Do we have an order for these?"
"No."
“Okay, so why are you making them?"
"I just wanted to." My tone was defensive but I didn’t want my mate to think I was bulldozing him into accepting what I was doing. "Is that okay?"
He held up his hands and backed away. "Of course. You’re a partner in the business so make whatever you want."
He began his usual morning routine prepping the sourdough starter and measuring the flour for the morning's bread. I could sense his confusion and concern but I wasn’t dancing naked in the streets or quaffing bottles of whisky so whatever the reason for my compulsion, it was harmless.
Unless the cookies came alive at night and took over the town.
My wolf, like Hawthorn, couldn’t understand why I insisted on making bears. He thought wolves were more appropriate for a wolf shifter.
Okay that was my mind leaping ahead and cutting corners. Maybe I’d been reading too much romantasy, so I ignored my mate because I had more cookies to bake.
By six a.m., I had over a hundred teddy bear cookies. They covered cooling racks, baking sheets, and the bakery counter, and I’d carried some batches up to our apartment to cool. Istudied their rounded tummies and stroked them while sniffing away tears. They were so adorable.
But they weren't decorated. They needed faces and sweet expressions that would make people smile.
"Zale." Hawthorn appeared at my elbow as I was mixing royal icing. "Maybe you should take a break."
"I can't. They need to be decorated."
"They can wait."
"No, they can't." My voice cracked. Why didn't he understand? These cookies were important and they had to be just right. "They need noses, eyes and smiles."
