I exhaled and rolled down the window.
“Hi,” Sean said, bright and friendly as ever. “You want to come in?”
I shook my head quickly. “Pretty sure Rafael would have a heart attack if he saw me hanging around too long,” I pointed out.
Sean laughed. “Don’t worry, I’ll tell him I invited you.”
“Another time,” I promised.
“You’re missing out. We’ve got a new bear claw. Cinnamon honey glaze with toasted almond. Rafael came up with the flavor,” Sean said.
Of course he did.
“Sounds dangerously good,” I said.
Sean waved goodbye and headed back toward the bakery. I let out a long breath and finally drove off, ignoring how my pulse still hadn’t settled.
Back at Wolf and Whisk, the day didn’t get any easier. I was halfway through icing a tray of croissants when my foot slipped on a rogue smear of custard on the tile.
My elbow slammed into the edge of the counter, and I yelped, sending the icing bag flying. A strong hand caught my arm just before I could crash to the ground.
“Careful,” Callum said, his voice calm but firm. “You okay?”
I muttered a curse and stood up straight, rubbing my ribs. “Yeah. Just... not my day.”
Callum tilted his head. “Want to tell me why?”
Before I could come up with a convincing lie, Cyrus piped up from the sink. “Probably has something to do with the bear earlier.”
“What bear?” Rowan asked, looking up from his dough like a prairie dog.
Cyrus grinned. “You know, the one James has a massive crush on since the day Bear and Bun opened? Big, broody, scowly. Built like a fridge. Rafael.”
I groaned and chucked a towel at him. “I do not have a massive crush.”
“Right. That’s why you look like someone ran over your dreams with a delivery truck.”
I stuck out my tongue and gave Callum my best innocent face. “I’m fine. Really.”
Callum didn’t look convinced, but he let it go for now.
I glanced around the kitchen. Flour dust hung in the air like mist. The scent of lemon and rosemary scones baking in the ovens helped soothe my nerves. This place always felt like home.
I hadn’t known what being in a pack truly meant until I landed in Sugarpaw Springs two years ago.
Until Callum gave me a job. Until Cyrus taught me how to make a tart that didn’t taste awful. Until Rowan slipped me extra pastries when I had rough days and didn’t ask why.
Before this, it had been me and my older brother. After our parents died in a car accident my junior year, he stepped in. Did his best. But he wasn’t a pack.
He was just one wolf trying to play both parents and protector. Here, though... I had a family.
Most days, I loved them. Every single one. But some days, like today, I wanted to strangle them all with a licorice twist.
Still, I smiled as I rolled up my sleeves and got back to work. Even if Rafael hated me for some mysterious reason, at least I had my pack.
Maybe, someday, my grumpy bear would come around.
* * *
