6. Seth
SETH
Iusually liked slow evenings at the café.
They weren’t great for tips, and the quiet shifts always had a way of stretching time, but there was something comforting about the way the café settled after the dinner rush.
Soft music drifted through the nearly empty space while Janine and I moved between small, pointless tasks just to keep ourselves busy until closing.
Tonight should’ve been one of those easy nights, if I hadn’t made the mistake of mentioning the pack cookout to Janine.
“Okay, but what was it actually like?” Janine asked for what had to be the tenth time.
I didn’t even look up properly this time, just kept refilling the napkin dispenser as I answered. “It was exactly what it sounds like. A cookout.”
“Was it huge? Like, were there only shifters there? Was the food good? Were the people nice?”
“Yes,” I said, not bothering to clarify which question I was actually answering.
Her grin only widened. “Were there a lot of hot guys?”
The napkin dispenser clicked shut harder than I intended.
“Janine.”
“What?” she asked, all innocence that absolutely wasn’t innocent.
I let out a long sigh, hoping to end the conversation, but she was already leaning in closer.
“I couldn’t exactly spend the day checking out hot guys,” I muttered. “I was there with a date.”
Her eyes lit up instantly, like she’d been waiting for that exact crack in my resistance.
“Tell me everything.”
I dragged a hand down my face, already regretting how easily I’d been pulled into this. “There were a lot of trees, I guess.”
“A lot of trees,” Janine repeated slowly. “You’re the worst storyteller I’ve ever met.”
I huffed a laugh before I could stop myself.
“The place was beautiful, okay?” I said, leaning back slightly as I finally gave in a little.
The cookout had been crowded in that easy, familiar way.
Families had spread out at picnic tables, kids ran barefoot through the grass, and conversations spilled across one another in a constant, comfortable noise.
I had expected to feel like an outsider standing at the edge of it.
Instead, no one had looked at me like I didn’t belong, and no one had spoken to me with that careful hesitation like I needed to be handled differently just because I was human.
“Everyone was really nice,” I added after a moment, turning the napkin dispenser slowly in my hands. “I don’t know. It just… didn’t feel like I had to work for it.”
Janine frowned slightly. “Why would you have to in the first place?”
I gave a small shrug. “They’re shifters.”
Janine tilted her head. “And?”
“I mean, Dane brought me there,” I said more quietly, like that explained the part I couldn’t quite name. “A human, in their space. And nobody really reacted to it. It just… wasn’t something they focused on.”
That earned a brief pause from her.
“So they didn’t care he was with a human,” she said slowly.
“I guess not.”
I’d known shifters my whole life. Most of my friends were shifters. It wasn’t like there was some hard line between humans and wolves. But there was still a difference.
Shifters tended to end up with other shifters. Most built their lives inside the pack, something self-contained, already complete.
There were exceptions, of course.
Janine seemed to follow that same line of thought. “Some of them have human mates, don’t they?”
“I guess.” Human mates weren’t unheard of, just rare.
She waited, like she was giving me space to fill the silence if I wanted to. When I didn’t, she let the subject drop without pushing further.
A moment later, she wandered off to check on our only customer, an older woman who’d been nursing the same cup of coffee for the last hour.
I returned to my task, refilling the napkin dispensers one by one just to keep my hands busy. The bell over the front door chimed, and a couple of customers entered.
Normally, I would’ve greeted them right away, but I was still drained from Janine’s interrogation, and they didn’t seem in any hurry anyway.
The couple lingered a few feet from the counter, speaking quietly between themselves like they were still deciding what to order.
So I kept working, topping up the dispensers and straightening them into place.
A minute passed. Then another. I frowned, wondering how long it actually took to choose a drink, and looked up.
Two familiar faces were standing in the middle of the café, both wearing identical grins.
Faces I hadn’t seen in months. Faces I definitely wasn’t supposed to see for another couple of weeks.
“Seth!”
Before I could fully process what I was seeing, Lynn leaned across the counter and wrapped both arms around me.
The register dug into my hip as she tried to shake me from side to side.
“Lynn,” I managed.
Beside her, Glen folded his arms and grinned. “I was starting to wonder how long you planned on ignoring us.”
I opened my mouth. Nothing came out. My brain had apparently decided the situation was too much and quietly stopped working altogether.
Janine appeared beside me, thankfully picking up on my complete inability to function. She gave my shoulder a light pat as she passed, like she was gently restarting me.
“Hi,” she said brightly. “Are you Seth’s friends?”
The question seemed to kick something back into place.
I cleared my throat. “This is Glen.”
I almost said my ex’s brother. The words had almost reached the edge of my tongue before I caught myself.
I continued, “He’s the groom’s brother. And this is Lynn. Their cousin. We all went to college together.”
“Nice to meet you,” Janine said easily.
“You too,” Lynn replied with a bright smile.
Janine’s attention drifted toward the espresso machine. “Can I get either of you something? Coffee? Tea? Seth’s buying. It’s on the house.”
I shot her a quick warning glance. Please don’t extend this conversation longer than necessary.
Lynn laughed. “Oh, we already like you.”
“Most people do,” Janine said cheerfully.
I stared at her, but Janine didn’t even look my way.
With no help coming from that direction, I dragged my attention back to Lynn and Glen, both of whom still looked entirely too comfortable standing in my café like they hadn’t just completely derailed my evening.
“So,” I said carefully. “What are you guys doing here?”
I tried to sound pleasantly surprised instead of what I was actually thinking, which was what the hell are you guys even doing here.
Neither of them seemed offended, which I took as a small victory.
“We’re on our way to Seabrook Estate,” Lynn said.
The name alone made my stomach tighten.
“We figured we’d head up early and help out,” she continued. “Auntie Gabby’s already there doing a final walkthrough with the event planner, going over table setups, flowers, guest rooms, all of that. You know how she gets.”
“We had a couple hours to kill,” Glen added easily. “And since a certain someone hasn’t been answering most of our calls, we decided to come find him ourselves.”
Despite everything, I found myself smiling a little. Some things really didn’t change.
“We figured we’d steal you for dinner,” Lynn continued. “Assuming you’re not stuck here all night.”
Before I could answer, Janine cut in smoothly. “Oh, he can leave.”
“It’s a slow night anyway,” she added, far too brightly. “We’re closing soon, and I’ve got everything covered.”
The glare I sent her would have meant more if I wasn’t still trying to recover from the shock of seeing Lynn and Glen standing in front of me.
Janine didn’t so much as blink. If anything, she looked pleased with herself.
Across from us, Lynn and Glen exchanged an excited look that made my stomach drop in the most helpless way.
“So that’s a yes!” Lynn exclaimed.
I exhaled slowly as I watched the evening slip completely out of my control, realizing there was no version of this where I stayed behind.
A few minutes later, I found myself stepping out onto the sidewalk, the evening air cooler against my skin than I expected.
Before I could even gather my thoughts, Lynn pulled me into another hug. It hit harder than the first one, enough that it knocked the breath clean out of me.
I stiffened on instinct, then let it go and hugged her back properly, really holding on this time. Something in my chest loosened at that.
I’d told myself I was fine. That I was busy. That I’d see them all at the wedding anyway.
But standing there with Lynn holding on like she had no intention of letting go, and Glen watching with that familiar crooked grin, I realized I’d missed them more than I’d let myself admit.
“I hate you,” Lynn said into my shoulder. “Why don’t you ever call?”
“I did call.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“I talked to Glen.”
She pulled back just enough to jab a finger lightly against my chest. “You only talk to Glen.”
Beside us, Glen looked unbearably pleased with himself. “He just likes me better.”
Lynn smacked him hard on the shoulder. The laugh that came out of me surprised me, slipping out before I could stop it.
It felt easy. Too easy, and it caught me off guard. It had been a long time since anything had felt like that.
Maybe because it reminded me of a version of my life I’d spent years quietly moving away from.
Or maybe because, despite everything, being with them still felt familiar in a way I hadn’t fully realized I’d missed.
“Seth?”
Every muscle in my body locked at the familiar voice behind me.
In the chaos of Lynn and Glen showing up, I’d completely lost track of the time.
It was Tuesday, and on Tuesdays, almost without fail, Dane came in about an hour before closing, usually for discounted pastries and a coffee before heading home.
Slowly, I turned around.
Dane stood a few feet away on the sidewalk, one hand shoved into the pocket of his jacket. Dane frowned as his gaze moved between me and the two strangers standing nearby.
Unfortunately, Glen and Lynn had already turned to look at him, curiosity already written across their faces.
Before either of them could say anything, I crossed the distance between us.
“Hey,” I said, trying for casual and knowing I’d missed it by a mile.