I smooth my hands down the front of my apron as I step into the commercial kitchen Walker once allowed me to use out of the goodness of his heart. It’s become my bakery’s kitchen, and my boots echoing softly against the polished floor. The clean stainless steel counters gleam under the overhead lights. The new walk-in fridge hums. The scent of sugar and butter lingers in the air like it belongs here.
Like I belong here.
Above the doorway behind me, carved into dark wood and mounted with care, is the crest Walker had commissioned months ago for our pack. The crest itself is carved into a traditional framework, with a rounded top and a pointedbottom. All of our first initials—W, K, E, and L—are intertwined and decorated with grape vines and blossoms. And beneath it, etched in elegant script, is the name of my bakery:
Milk & Honey Pastries
My throat tightens every time I see it.
“Mama Lia!”
Amber’s voice cuts through the quiet like a spark of sunlight, and I turn just in time to see her zip through the doorway with a basket clutched carefully in her hands.
“Slow down!” Eli calls after her from somewhere down the hall.
“I am going slow!” she shouts back, which is a blatant lie.
I laugh under my breath, stepping farther into the kitchen as she skids to a stop just inside the doorway.
“Careful with those,” I say, nodding toward the basket.
“I got it,” she insists, lifting it slightly to show me the neat rows of sample cupcakes inside. “These are for the trolley people today, right?”
“They are,” I confirm. “And if you drop them, the Alphas are going to cry.”
She clicks her tongue. “No, they won’t.”
“They absolutely will,” I say solemnly. “Knox might faint.”
“Hey!” Knox’s voice calls from somewhere above us. “I don’t faint!”
I glance up just in time to see him perched on a ladder near the far wall, one arm braced against the ladder itself while his free hand adjusts a light fixture by what looks like the smallest possible margin. Walker stands below him, one hand steadying the ladder.
Eli comes rushing into the kitchen behind Amber, panting for air like he’s just run a marathon.
“Looks good,” he says breathlessly to Knox.
Knox grumbles. “It’s off-center by, like, an inch.”
“It’s not,” Walker replies calmly.
“It is,” Knox insists. “I measured.”
Walker sighs. “If you fall and break your neck over one inch, I’m not explaining that to Lia.”
“You’d better not fall,” I say, crossing my arms. “I just opened this kitchen. I don’t have time for a hospital visit today.”
Knox glances down at me with a grin. “You know you love me.”
“I do,” I shoot back. “Which is why I’m telling you not to die.”
Amber giggles beside me before darting back out into the hallway with her basket. “I’m taking these out front now! By!”
“Careful!” my Alphas call after her in unison.
Eli looks over at me. “Should I go after her?”
“Depends,” I say as I head over to the walk-in fridge. “You want to sweat more today? Or do you want to stand in the walk-in and cool down?”
