He loped up, nipped my ear, then flopped onto his back and kicked his paws in the air. Gunner picked up on it right away. Even in wolf form, they had perfected the art of sarcasm.
If you didn’t know better, you’d think wolves weren’t supposed to laugh, but we did. We cackled and yipped and tumbled down the slope, three grown men reduced to overgrown pups. The run wasn’t about territory or dominance. It was about life, the reckless thrill of being alive after thinking you might not make it to next month.
We wrestled until my side hurt, and Gunner’s tongue was lolling. Then we collapsed in a heap, fur tangled, noses buried in the ground. This was a part of our brotherhood. We were bound by more than friendship. It was a bone-deep sense of belonging that we each shared. We had each other’s backs even if we didn’t understand or agree with every decision we made. We’d fight anybody who tried to stand in our way.
Chapter 7
Aspen
The sky over Dairyville was the color of crème brûlée, all golden swirl with a burnt sugar edge, and the chilly wind whipped through the naked trees lining the square. There was comfort in the rhythm I’d fallen into here—the bakery’s silence in the early hours broken up by conversations with Oscar before the first caffeine-deprived regular shuffled through the door. He popped in and out whenever the mood struck him.
“Do you think I should add eclairs to my menu?”
“An eclair made correctly creates a delightful burst of both flavor and texture on the palate. If you’re up for the challenge,I think you should.”He sounded like he was narrating a show on a cooking channel. I loved his enthusiasm.
“So your young man has come to see you quite often. He has a wolf living inside him you know. It’s my bet he’s chosen you as his mate.”He offered this little bit of information out of the blue.
The cannoli cream I was piping into the pastry exploded out the end. “WHAT? What does that even mean, Oscar?”
“It simply means that wolves mate for life my dear. And I believe the young man is in love with you and his wolf chose you as his mate for life.”
I’d seen Papa almost every day since he’d picked up the tasting cake, and I’d started to look forward to it. Whether it was his stopping in for coffee or just picking up pastries for the guys, I was happy anytime I got to be near him. I saw the ease with which he moved, like the world bent around him, and it fascinated me. He always made time to check in on me; never pushy, never too much, just… there.
What surprised me most was how much he’d cared when I told him about the way my coven used to treat me. Most people didn’t know what to do with that kind of truth, but Papa didn’t flinch. He just listened. And when he opened up about nearly losing his entire pack, about how closehecame to dying, it hit me like a gut punch. I hadn’t expected toachefor someone I barely knew. But I did.
And each time I saw him after that, something small shifted. A joke he cracked that actually made me laugh-snort. The way he looked at me like I wasreal, not some broken thing to pity, not some puzzle to solve, justme.Every day, I caught myself noticing something new. The rough rasp of his laugh. The warmth in his eyes when he talked about his brothers. The way he held space without needing to fill it.
I felt foolish, like some schoolgirl with a crush, but I’d never had this before. I was twenty-five and had never so much asbeen asked on a date. Maybe I was just starved for attention. But it didn’t feel like that. Men came into the bakery every day, handsome ones, even, but none of them made my blood hum the way Big Papa did.
He had this wicked, dry sense of humor that snuck up on me. And he actually liked the smart-ass side of me, the one my mama always said would get me in trouble one day. Hell, I thoughthewas trouble when I first met him. Big, broody, grumpy as all get out. I never would’ve guessed he’d turn out to be the man I feel safest with.
I was jolted out of my revelry when Maddie showed up, bursting through the bakery door like a confetti cannon. She wore a pair of black leggings with stars down the side, her hair pulled into a perfect ponytail that bounced like it had its own opinions.
She didn’t say hello, just barreled up to the counter and hollered, “You got cinnamon rolls yet, or am I too early?”
I laughed, wiping my hands on my apron. “You are right on time, Maddie. Hot out of the oven. You want frosting on top or on the side?”
She rolled her eyes. “On top, obviously. You gotta let it melt all the way in, otherwise what’s the point?” She leaned over the counter, chin in her hand, and watched me drizzle the icing. “So. You and Big Papa, huh?”
I nearly dropped the icing bag. “What?”
She grinned, teeth showing. “I heard you made him a sample cake the other day. That’s basically a Dairyville engagement.”
I wanted to argue but knew it would only dig me deeper. “He’s nice. And that cake was for everyone else to taste.”
She arched one eyebrow so high it nearly met her hairline. “Sure. Next thing I know, you’re running off to the courthouse together.” She reached across and stole a bit of icing with herfinger, popped it in her mouth, and made an obscene little moan. “God, that is so good. You are a wizard.”
“Lordy, don’t say that too loud,” I muttered, cutting the roll and sliding it onto a plate. “People will be accusin’ me of turning ‘em into toads or worse.”
Maddie picked up the roll and took a massive bite, then talked around the pastry. “You wanna go out tonight?”
I blinked. “Out…where?”
She swallowed and gave me a look. “The County Line. The bar. A pack member owns it, so it’s safe. Come on! It’s Saturday night. It’s there or at the clubhouse, and I don’t feel like hanging out with families and little kids.”
I hesitated. “I’ve never… I mean, I don’t even know what to wear to a bar. I’ve never drunk like that.”
She waved that away. “You don’t have to drink or you can try it if you want to. You just need to wear something cute, and if you want, I can get you an appointment at the salon next door so you can get a conditioning treatment on that gorgeous hair and get all waxed. Then I’ll come by and help you get ready. Whaddaya say? It’ll be fun, Aspen. Promise.”
