He turned and walked away, hands in his pockets, head down. Not yet. But soon.
Sean wouldn’t know what hit him.
Chapter 15
Sean/ Beau
SEAN
The morning started out normal. Or at least, as normal as mornings could be in Sugarpaw Springs these days. There was a hum in the air, excitement I could practically feel in my skin.
The bears were in high spirits, buzzing with anticipation for the upcoming baking competition this weekend.
Rafael had already put up a schedule on the back wall of the kitchen and was barking cheerful orders at Cassian and Leo, who were pretending to groan about the prep work but clearly loving it.
Even the town felt different. There were more tourists each day, slipping in with the regulars.
Humans with cameras, families dragging their kids to try the famous “bear claws,” and couples from the city looking for a slice of small-town magic.
Sugarpaw Springs was gaining attention. And so was Bear & Bun.
That should’ve made me happy. Part of me was.
But the other part, the deeper, more frightened part, couldn’t stop thinking about how attention was the last thing I needed.
Not when Orin was still out there. I’d checked the forums again this morning. Still nothing. No new posts. No new burner accounts.
Maybe… just maybe, he’d finally given up?
But the thought didn’t comfort me for long. My brain kept circling back to that night. That look in Orin’s eyes when he saw me.
Cold, seething rage behind a smile. Not like fire, no, it was quieter than that. More dangerous. A man like that didn’t just forget. He didn’t write people off as losses. He hunted. He waited.
He finished what he started.
And then there was that other piece of the puzzle, the one I hadn’t even told Beau yet.
The rumors.
Back when I was still a student, before everything went to hell, there were whispers that Orin had ties to a shifter crime family in the city.
That he’d done "dirty work" for them. Enforcement. Debt collection. Maybe even worse. He'd cleaned up well, became a respected chef, a mentor, but the stories never faded.
I didn’t know if they were true. Or if they were just the kind of tales people spun about scary men in kitchens to makethemselves feel braver. But ever since I saw him again, the possibility haunted me.
“Sean,” a voice said, jolting me back.
I blinked and turned. Leo stood beside me, holding a tray of jam-stuffed croissants.
“Huh?” I asked dumbly.
“I said your name like three times. You okay?” Leo asked, looking concerned.
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine,” I said, forcing a smile. “Just spacing out.”
He gave me a look like he wasn’t convinced but didn’t push it. I turned back to my station, rolling out the dough for another round of bear claws.
The scent of cinnamon and butter filled the air, usually comforting. Today it felt far away. Get a grip, I told myself.
