“It has been a long night, but thankfully a successful one. Want a ride back?” he offers, and I consider whether to shift and run and decide I’m too tired.
“Yeah, that would be great. The sooner I can get back, the sooner I can hit the hay.”
He shifts, and I climb up. We soar across shifter land back toward the neutral zone. I am hoping soon, I can make my way back to the bakery to get coffee and take another look at the pretty human girl, but I keep that thought to myself. I haveno business wanting a second look at her, but there was just something about her that piqued both my and my wolf’s interest.
Chapter
Four
Colbie
Over the next few days, the marshmallows prove to be a huge hit. We have twice as many customers coming in to get coffee, and all the tables in our café are full. I’m run off my feet and have doubled the batch of marshmallow creatures. I’ve added wolves and dragons after practicing late one night when the café was closed—not because that gorgeous watchman suggested it, but because it makes good business sense. I heard somewhere that shifters are all apex animals.
Thankfully we don’t serve an evening meal and close our doors at five. Even then, though, I’m running on very little sleep, but I feel so proud when I see all those mugs of coffee and hot chocolate with little floating animals on top.
Both shifters and humans alike seem to find them amusing, and I have had requests for a variety of creatures, so many in fact that we put a suggestion board in the front for people to write their requests.
Justin has been working longer hours and has been a huge help to me. Despite not being the friendliest of people, heis picking up baking skills remarkably fast. Tuesday, I hired a shifter college student who came in asking if any work was available. Once I gained her parents’ approval, I eagerly employed her to work the front counter with Olivia. Violet started off a little shy, but by the end of the week, she fit in like she’s always been here.
I’m busy back in the kitchen when a breathless Violet slams open the door separating the front from the kitchen, and she rushes in and leans against the door with her hand over her heart.
“Oh my goodness. Watch Team One just walked in, and they are delicious. I didn’t want them to smell my attraction,” she tells me when I arch a questioning eyebrow at her.
“That’s a thing?” I ask, scrunching my nose in surprise. “That must get old quickly if someone can smell your attraction.”
She shrugs her shoulders. “Kind of saves time too. No fumbling, awkward rejections,” she reasons.
“Huh, I guess it would.” Being a shifter is way more complicated than I ever knew, but it would save time. I could have avoided a whole heap of embarrassing dates if I had those kinds of clues.
“Yeah. Honestly, it’s not so bad unless you’re in a crowded room full of people attracted to one another, and then it gets a little overwhelming. They sat down, so it’s not going to take long before the café reeks. There are a lot of shifters in here today, all wanting to try the little marshmallows. You wouldn’t believe the sweet tooth shifters have,” she says, and I put down the cloth I was using to clean the prep bench.
“Do you want to stay back and finish doing those dishes while I serve? The smell isn’t going to bother me,” I suggest, not wanting to run my server off in her first week.
Violet is in her first year of college, but the schools are all on a two week holiday to celebrate the retirement and coronation.
She nibbles on her lip, her eyes sliding back to the door as she thinks about it. “Yeah, that would be great actually. I’m not one of those delusional females who thinks they have a chance with Watch Team One, even though they are gorgeous. I go to school with one of their brothers, and he’s just as gorgeous. I avoid him like the plague so he can’t scent how sexy I think he is.” Her cheeks turn pink, and I chuckle.
“Have you ever considered that he might think you’re just as gorgeous?” She’s tall, like most shifters, and has this refined elegance about her. She has long, curly blonde hair that she ties back while at work, striking silver eyes that sparkle when she laughs, and a dimple on each cheek. Hell, I’m half in love with her myself, and I see Justin watching her with a little too much interest for a human toward a shifter. I’ll keep an eye on him and warn him off if I think I need to.
Her mouth rounds, and she shakes her head. “No, of course not. I’m nowhere in his league. His family are all dragons, and his father is general to King Lucas. My family are all simple farmers. No, I know exactly where I sit in the pecking order, and I am fine with watching from afar.”
I frown at her words, wondering if shifter society really is that elitist. I guess it makes sense depending on your animal and level of power, but I hate that this girl doesn’t think she is worthy of more.
“Well then, he doesn’t know what he’s missing. You’re a catch, gorgeous and kind, and I’d wife you up in a heartbeat if I were a male shifter,” I tell her, and her giggles warm my heart as I check my apron to make sure I haven’t made too big of a mess before heading to the front to help.
Wow, she wasn’t wrong. The front is very busy, but Olivia and Justin seem to have a handle on preparation, so I take over Violet’s job of waitressing. I pick up the tablet we use and look around the room. Most tables already seem to have their orders,but there is a large booth in the back full of men who can only be shifters. Each and every one of them is taller and broader than the average human male, and I recognize two of the men as the watchmen who came and got the tiger cub at the beginning of the week. I head in their direction. I can feel the gazes of the two familiar men on me, but I don’t let it fluster me. Their intensity is heavy, but I’ve lived in the neutral zone my whole life, so shifter intensity is nothing new.
I get a good look at them myself. Unlike at the beginning of the week, none of them are in night watch uniforms. All wear a version of jeans and a T-shirt, and I almost want to reach up and make sure none of the drool pooling in my mouth has escaped. Holy shit, they can wear casual clothes like a dream. From what I can see under the table, their jeans mold to their legs like they were painted on, and their T-shirts do nothing to hide the fact that these guys work out a lot.
I plaster on a neutral smile—my customer service face—and stop beside the booth. “Hey, welcome to Glazed and Glorious. What can I get you today?” There are some amused smirks and childish snickers at the name. Yeah, I wasn’t thinking with a teenage boy’s mind when I named my bakery, but I feel like changing it now would just draw attention to the dirty connotations.
“This is her?” one of the men grumbles, and I turn my attention to him, raising an eyebrow at his tone. He has a shock of pure white hair that is longer on top but shaved close to his scalp around the sides. He pushes back his long white bangs and studies me with eyes so dark it’s like looking in a mirror. The stubble on his face matches the color on his head, so I’m guessing it’s natural, which is a little unusual. He has a punk vibe with a piercing in his eyebrow and through one of his lush lips which are pressed tightly together, and I can practically fell his disapproval.
“Yeah, this is Colbie.” Huh, Archie must have told them my name. I wasn’t even sure if he understood what I said when he was in animal form, but I guess he did. “She’s the woman who found Archie when he went missing and rescued him,” the blue-eyed hottie says before smiling at me. “I’m sorry we didn’t introduce ourselves the other day. Seeing Archie in your kitchen was both a shock and a relief. I’m Brodie, and you know Hunter.” He waves at the blond mountain man sitting next to him. His green eyes study me, but I don’t feel any anger or aggression in his gaze, just curiosity. He nods his head in greeting. I turn up the customer service face slightly and give him a more genuine smile. I could tell he really cared about the cub.
“These are our other teammates, Liam and Jeremy, but we call him Gem.” Liam is the grumbly one who stares at me with unblinking eyes, but I ignore the intimidation tactics and turn my attention to the final man in the booth. My breath hitches in surprise. His whiskey brown eyes have flames in them, and unlike the others who are all large, muscular men, this one, although just as tall, is leaner, like a runner or a swimmer, and has a head of unruly dark red curls. His features are slightly more feminine than the others, but they look good on him. His plush lips turn up in a smile as he reaches for my hand. I don’t stop him as he leans over and places a kiss on the back of it. His lips are shockingly hot, and I tear my hand away then frown down at the spot he kissed. It stays warm for a moment before fading.
He smirks and winks. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Colbie, and we can’t thank you enough for looking after Archie like you did,” Gem says, and his voice has a musical quality to it.
