11. Cherry
Cherry
The second we enter the bakery, the smell of pastry, chocolate, and sugar invades my senses. It’s the best thing I’ve ever smelled—second to my guys, of course.
Hunter strokes his fingers through my fur as we move toward the display case, filled with the most delicious-looking desserts I’ve ever seen.
Bain steps up behind me, and I quickly glance at him.
His eyes meet mine, and I feel something there, like an understanding.
As if at that moment, we are both remembering what happened last night.
He nods, and I turn back to the display case as an excited Chase moves to my right and starts pointing out all the ones he wants to try. Which is literally every one.
“Hi, I haven’t seen you folks before,” the man behind the counter says.
I can tell he’s supernatural, but he doesn’t feel like a shifter.
I take in his appearance. He’s covered with little splatters of flour all over his red apron, suggesting he helps to bake the goods here.
He’s about Maddox’s height with short brown hair and black-rimmed glasses.
“Are you new to town?” Another man asks as he steps up to his side. He’s wearing a matching apron in blue and is about an inch taller. He leans on the counter and tilts his head at us, a small smile on his lips as he looks at each of my guys.
“Yeah, we just arrived two days ago,” Maddox answers. “We were told we had to check this place out.”
“Well, we’re honored this was one of your first stops! Are you visiting or moving here?”
“Moving,” Gage answers.
“We actually get to move into our new home today,” Chase says with a grin. I can’t help but dance on my feet, shuffling my weight back and forth with excitement. That house we visited yesterday was beyond amazing, and I am more than ready to get out of that hotel room.
“Wow, that's fast! You must really like what you’ve seen so far,” the man with the red apron says.
“Definitely better than living with our old pack, or living with humans,” Hunter says, and the man nods.
“Are you wolves?” The blue apron man asks, making Chase laugh.
“What gave it away?” he says, leaning down to pet my head. Both men's gazes follow Chase’s arm down to me, then their eyebrows lift in surprise.
“Oh! I didn’t even see her there!” The red apron man says in surprise.
“What’s your name, beautiful?” the other man says, immediately making Chase and Bain growl.
He stands up tall and takes a step back, holding his palms out toward us as he quickly shakes his head. “I didn’t mean anything by it. I just meant that she is a pretty wolf. I have my own mate!” he blurts out.
“Are you flirting with our customers again, Philip?” a woman says teasingly as she pushes through the door from the back and steps between the two guys. She crosses her arms and stares at the blue apron man, Philip, as if waiting for an answer.
He gestures toward me as he tries to explain. “Erica, love bug! I just said that she’s a pretty wolf!” he says in defense, and she glances over at me, a little surprised. Is it because I’m red? Or because there’s a wolf standing in her bakery? Does that break some sort of health code?
“Will you ever forgive me?” he asks, sticking his lower lip out in a pout.
She presses her lips together and narrows her eyes at him before she drops her displeasure altogether and smiles at him. “You know I can’t stay mad at you.” She steps toward him, and he immediately kisses her. It’s brief, and when they pull apart, they’re both smiling.
“Sorry about that,” she tells us. “Now, what can we help you with?”
That’s a loaded question. Of course I want every pastry in here, just like Chase said. But we actually came here because Peggy had made it seem like it was important that we check this place out. She just hadn’t told us why.
“Our realtor, Peggy, told us to come here,” Maddox says, clearly hoping that will clue them in on something.
It doesn’t.
“That’s so sweet of her!” Erica says as she moves behind the display case. “Her favorite is the lemon tart, if you wanted to try that?”
Maddox glances at Gage then asks, “Is there any sort of… new resident special or something?”
Erica frowns, then looks at the pastries before she shrugs. “Well, I could give you twenty percent off your order today. A welcome to town special, we’ll call it.”
“No, that’s fine, we can pay full price,” Gage says as Chase and Hunter start pointing out pastries for Philip and the other man to box up for us.
Gage leans on the counter as he says a little quieter, “Peggy just made it seem like it was important to come here.”
The man in the red apron places a box filled with pastries on the counter and closes it as he shakes his head and laughs. “That woman bleeds Starfall Haven. I’m surprised she didn’t give you a list a mile long of must-visit places.”
“We’ll see her shortly when we close on the house, so maybe she still will,” Gage tells him.
The man throws his arm around Erica’s shoulder and kisses her cheek before asking, “You want me to ring them up?”
“Yes, please, honey.”
She smiles at him fondly, then turns back to Gage, and her smile drops as she pulls back from him a little. “What’s wrong?” she asks before glancing at my other guys. I take a second to look at them and see they all look… confused.
“I thought he’s your mate,” Gage says, gesturing to Philip.
“He is,” she confirms. “But so is Zack.” She gestures to the man who just kissed her cheek.
“And Jon,” Zach adds with a grin as he starts ringing up our order.
She has multiple mates, too?
“We’ve never heard of a woman having multiple mates before,” Gage tells them, clearly looking for information.
“Is that a witch thing?” Hunter adds. Oh, so she’s a witch, that’s what the supernatural smell is.
“Women with multiple mates are rare, that’s for sure,” she says, looking a little nervous as her eyes quickly dart to her husband.
“Are there more like you?” Hunter asks, pressing against my side.
“Just one other in town, that we know of anyway,” she says carefully as her eyes bounce between my guys. Then her eyes land on me, and the way I’m pressed against Hunter’s leg.
“You seem awfully interested in this topic,” she says carefully.
The guys are silent for a minute, and I have a feeling they’re talking through the bond again.
Bain kneels down behind me and draws me into his chest, his arms wrapping around my body as if to protect me from something, as Maddox finally speaks.
“Cherry,” he says, gesturing to me, “is fated to the five of us.”
Her eyebrows slowly rise as her mouth makes an “O” shape of surprise.
“How much do you know about someone having multiple mate bonds?” Philip asks carefully after a moment of silence.
“Nothing, and I’ve done a lot of research,” Gage answers.
He nods, like he expected this. “I suggest you check out the library,” he tells us as he stacks our boxes up. “Especially the section on supernatural origins.”
Gage's brows pinch together, clearly trying to figure out what might be there, but he just nods as Zack gives us the total. Gage pulls out his credit card and pays as the twins grab the boxes of treats. It’s clear they don’t want to tell us any more, so we head toward the door.
“Thanks for all your help,” Maddox says as he pulls the door open and the rest of us start filing out.
“Come back anytime!” Erica says with a small wave as we exit into the street.
As soon as the door is shut, Gage glances at the time on his phone. “We have an hour before we are to meet Peggy at the house. I want to check out the library.”
“How about Hunter goes with you, and the rest of us will take Cherry for a run? We will meet you at the property, you guys take the rental car, and we’ll go in our wolf form,” Maddox suggests.
Everyone agrees as we make our way back to the vehicle. Bain, Maddox, and Chase strip down and toss their clothes inside, along with the treats, and shift. It’s strange for them all to be shifted in the middle of town, but nobody gives us a second glance.
Maddox leads the way to the forest that seems to surround the entire town, and I try to remind myself of the magical barrier keeping us safe from humans.
One question that’s been repeatedly begging for an answer is what is Blaze? Human or supernatural? Will he be able to find me here? He followed me all the way to Westgrove. What’s stopping him from finding me here?
I can only hope that since I took a plane here, he won’t be able to follow my scent.