Chapter 8
NOT AGAIN
oh… that was the book that
mother doesn’t want anyone to use.
Whoopsie.
— gus
Thirty minutes later, we have enough cooling brownies to fill the display case and open the bakery.
I already whipped up another batch of batter in the industrial mixer—with Gus supervising the speed—and they’re in the oven by the time the door’s unlocked and the three customers waiting outside nearly fall over themselves to be the first at the counter.
If any of them are disappointed that the only treat to purchase is a slightly lopsided brownie, they have the decency not to let me know.
Especially not when I reward them with a firsthand description of what it was like to go searching for keys in the dumpster and landing on top of a not-dead body.
With Ash hovering a few inches away from my elbow, I’m very clear to emphasize the ‘not dead but really in a supernatural coma’ part.
That’s all I need to tell them, too. I’m sure they want more details, including how a body can be dead and not-dead at the same time, but when you lean in to the dumpster-diving like any respectable raccoon would, and point out that the ‘victim’ is an opossum with a tendency to play dead, they lose interest quickly—especially when I start grabbing a box and asking how many brownies did they want to buy.
Back in the bakery, Gus cozies himself up on the makeshift flour throne kept on the counter. Since he has nothing better to do, Ash hangs out back here with Gus and me. Most of the customers say ‘hello’ to me. They all greet Gus.
No one acknowledges Ash at all.
So, yup. Seems like it’s really only me and Gus who can see him, and I don’t know if I’m pleased or frustrated that he hasn’t figured it out yet, but since I’m not ready to confront the reality of our fated matehood, I let it go.
That’s easy when the customers keep coming, the brownies fly off the shelves, and I end up putting Gus in charge of sitting in the kitchen and coming back to get me when the oven timer goes off for a new batch.
And if that’s an excuse to be close to Ash without our furry chaperone… whoops.
About an hour after we open, Dale—a beaver shifter who is a contractor by day, and a longtime member of the Moonburrow town council—comes by to pick up treats for the Saturday afternoon social at the community center.
Anyone in town can stop by during the social, where foods and snacks and drinks are set up for those who do.
Dale cleans us out of the rest of the brownies we have. Since it was so easy to make them, I decide to lock up for the next forty-five minutes, make three more batches, and re-open when the display case is full again.
Ash floats over to me as I’m slicing up the brownies into large squares. His elbow bumps against my shoulder before that simple touch has him drifting downward so that he’s only a head taller than me instead of a few feet.
“I can’t believe you still don’t think you’re a baker. You already sold out once, and I bet these’ll fly out the door.”
I shrug off Ash’s compliment. “I followed a recipe. If Gus could read, I bet he could do it, too.”
Unless he can?
I look over at Gus. He has a dollop of chocolate batter on his nose that he’s trying to lick off with his tongue as he swishes his tail back and forth. Glancing at Ash, I notice he’s watching Gus with a curious look, too.
His gaze slides my way. His mouth twitches, and I bark out a laugh as my mate and I imagine Gus reading a book.
Once the brownies are back in the display case, I unlock the door and flip the ‘closed’ sign to ‘open’ again.
A few minutes later, a pair of wolf shifters stroll into Dough You Believe in Magic together.
I know them—well, I know of them. Tina, a brunette omega wolf, and Hudson, a blond beta, who are a couple of years younger than I am.
You never see one without the other, though they tell everyone in Moonburrow that they’re just really close friends.
For as long as I’ve been in town, they’ve been putting on the act that they’re not desperately in love with each other.
The reason for that is simple. Tina is supposed to mate the Alpha of a Georgia pack once he goes from Alpha-heir to the new ruler.
There are all sorts of ridiculous rules in a wolf pack for mating.
Alphas can only claim their mate after some convoluted ceremony, and after they get their goddess’s blessing.
In return, the Luna usually tells the Alpha who their fated mate is so that they can ‘promise’ to mate them when they have control of the pack.
So Tina and Hudson know they’re not fated mates. Unless Tina rejects the Georgia wolf, she can’t give in to her feelings for Hudson. And Hudson would never put her in a situation to have to choose if it meant sacrificing a chance to be with her fated mate.
Fuck that. As much as the idea of falling for a fated mate is kind of cool, I’ve always known that I’d prefer a chosen mate if it meant I loved him.
I never found one that I loved enough to want to commit to forever so it didn’t matter.
And now that I’m spending all of my time around Ash, I can see why Fate picked him for me.
But looking at Tina and Hudson? I can’t imagine her ever loving some random Alpha more than the beta who looks at her like he probably does the moon.
Like he worships her…
Shit. He even steps in front of her and orders three brownies—and two are for Tina because “she has a sweet tooth and loves chocolate.”
He doesn’t mind it either, I guess, because those brownies don’t even make it out of the bakery before they’re both taking bites.
I was wiping the back counter off of any stray brownie crumbs when I hear Ash murmur my name.
My head jerks up. When we first got to Dough You Believe in Magic, I tried not to talk to him when anyone was around. That lasted maybe ten minutes. Based on the rep I have in town, me talking to the air wouldn’t even rank in the top ten weirdo habits that Roxy Kane has.
“Yeah?” I ask.
He points, and I look just in time to see the brownie fall from Tina’s suddenly lax hand.
Her gold-colored eyes are glossy, her nostrils flaring as she grabs Hudson’s shirt with her claws, tugging him close so she can bury her nose against his neck. She shoves him back so she can look at his dazed face before she breathes out, “Fuck, Hud. You smell incredible.”
Hudson finishes chewing. He swallows, and an instant later, his face flushes. “Tina…”
“I want to kiss you. Is that crazy? I’ve never kissed anyone before, but I feel like if I don’t kiss you right now, I’m gonna die.”
Hudson surges toward her. His hands lands on her ass cheeks, and the way she yips, he probably has his claws out, too. “I’ve practiced kissing my pillow, pretending it’s you.”
Tina grabs Hudson by the jaw, jerking his head down so that she can kiss him. It’s wet and messy and frantic, and maybe I should turn away, but it’s like watching a fucking train wreck. I just can’t.
She breaks the kiss. “You need more practice,” she says breathlessly.
“I just need to kiss you more.”
“Okay.”
And… they’re kissing again.
Oh. And groping.
Oh. And—
Ash clears his throat. “I think perhaps you should stop them or they might just start mating in the middle of the bakery.”
Shit!
I rush around the counter, hurrying toward them. Gus hops up on the display case, chittering a warning to the two wolves.
Grabbing each by a shoulder, I wrench them apart. It takes all the strength I have—plus the element of surprise—to rip them away from each other.
“That’s enough,” I bark. “You want to get freaky, go home. This is a bakery, not a brothel.”
Tina blinks. Some of the shine leaves her gaze, though she lashes out a hand, grabbing on to Hudson’s arm. “You’re right. Thanks. Oh… by the way? Those brownies are fucking fantastic. Right, Hudson?”
The poor wolf looks like he doesn’t know what hit him. He lays his paw over Tina’s. “Sure. Whatever. Um… do you have a backroom where we can talk?”
And let them fuck on Honey’s counters?
I point at the door. “Out!”
Hudson pauses only long enough to grab the hunk of brownie Tina dropped. She opens her mouth, he slips it between her teeth before I can tell them that I haven’t had the chance to mop out here yet, and they’re gone.
Bewildered and disturbed, I turn around to find Gus slinking away and Ash laughing so hard, he tried to lean against the back counter for support and has disappeared halfway through it.
“What?” I demand. “What’s so funny?”
“I should’ve… oh Alpha… I should’ve known. When Grandma Jean names her recipes, she’s not getting creative. She’s being honest.”
And the recipe we baked was…
‘Make You Love Me’ Dark Chocolate Brownies.
Fuck!
“I made them love each other? With a brownie?”
“No.” He chokes over his laughter, hurriedly composing himself when he sees the horror on my face.
“Not really. But if they have feelings for each other, the charm would probably help them confess them to each other. I remember she even had a spell that helped supes find their mates, and make it so they recognized them, too. But, mainly, it was about not hiding how you feel.”
“Just like the Can’t Resist Cupcakes,” I mutter, suddenly grateful that I didn’t have a chance to sneak a brownie.
Ash furrows his brow in confusion.
“Honey,” I say by way of explanation. “It was the first and only time she used your grandmother’s recipe book.”
And she’s gonna never let me live this down if she finds out my brownies had Tina and Hudson finally admitting they need each other.
But… wait. They’re not the only ones who bought the brownies today. We sold so many… and there’s Dale at the community center who is probably putting them out for snacks right this very second.
Damn it!