Page 3 of Summertime Secret
Most of us have a pack who accepts us. Others like us, some of the same bloodlines often going back centuries. There are others like me, of course—ones who never had a pack and were forced to figure life out on their own. I could have created a pack or found one to join, but I figured I spent long enough on my own, I didn’t need a pack.
“Can’t find a mate or have cubs without a pack, Edon,” I mutter to myself as I circle the meadow again.
Once I say the words out loud, my wolf whines inside of me. He is a little dramatic. He wants his mate, and he wants hernow. I am almost thirty, alone without a prospective mate, and he doesn’t like this fate. Not that I like being alone either. I’ve never found a connection with a woman, even other shifters.
Somewhere out there is the other half of me, my fated mate, and I will wait however long it takes to find her. Maybe I never find her at all. I would be alone forever, but I’ve been alone most of my life. My work, as a caterer to the locals’ celebrations, fulfills my time and my heart. I love being able to celebrate with them, even as an outsider.
“No. No. Weneedher.” my wolf barks at me.
Jerking my head up as my senses go off like a siren, I am hit with a wave of something I have never felt before. Recognition. I can hear a thumping heartbeat that is not my own. I can smell her. A sweet, sugary scent that makes both myself and my wolf hungry.
“She is here,” my wolf preens inside of me, bouncing on his feet. “She found us. She came to us. Go, go, please. Need to protect her.”
A snarl rips out of my jaws as my eyes circle the meadow. There are several shifters there, setting up camp, oblivious to this creature coming so close. I snap at her without meaning to. I bark that she should not be here. It does not scare her. I do not scare her at all.
“Yes,” I hiss back as I find my way in the darkness. “Itisher. Shehas come to us. Must protect her.”
Stomping through the thick undergrowth, I head straight for her. I cannot see her yet, but I can feel her. Smell her. Sense her. I would find my way to her with my eyes closed. I move fast, faster, almost running now, my heavy boots pounding against the earth beneath me.
Suddenly a small, sweet-smelling shadow falls out of the woods. I lunge to catch her before I think touching her might be a bad idea. I might not be able to contain my shift. My wolf is so pleased to see her, so excited he feels this connection with her. I am not sure I feel it yet.
Until she lands at my feet, staring up at me with huge, green eyes. “Oh. Oh...uh....hi,” she mutters in the sweetest voice I have ever heard. My heart stops beating. My wolf prances with joy inside me.
Then I feel it. I feeleverythingat once. The warm breeze on my skin, the same breeze that carries her scent to me. The dark skies overhead casting us in a shadow lit by the glowing moon. Those eyes, as they stare up at me, they see right into my heart. And there is no fear, no hesitation, no doubt in those beautiful eyes.
As I move to go to her, I sense one of the cat shifters prowling too close. He does not mean her or I any harm, but I cannot let him get close to her. No one can get close to her but me. I take a few steps towards her, cautiously, watching her eyes as they watch me.
For so long I wondered if I was broken. If there was something wrong with me or my wolf. Is it why my mother didn’t want me? Why no pack ever wanted me? Is it the reason I could never find a mate?
Now as I stand here before this beautiful creature, I have my answer. There is nothing wrong with me or my wolf. We were just waiting. Waiting for her to stumble upon us just the way she has.
“You must go,” I whisper to her, even as I want to beg her to stay. I will find you, my wolf tells her. We will find you again.
Barely holding it together as I stare down at her, I hold my breath. Ineedher to listen to me. To understand I am trying to protect her. Now is not the time to explain what we’re both feeling. Why my wolf howls for her, making my heart thunder as my pulse skitters. I will tell her once it is time, but now she must go.
Understanding shines in her bright eyes as they stare up at me. Pushing to her feet, she stares at me for a moment before she turns to head out of the thickest part of the forest. I catch my breath as she slides past me, the air between us vibrating. I want to reach out, grab her, haul her against me and take her home. But I can’t. Not yet.
Whispering a promise, I let her go. “I will come for you, sunshine.”
There is no other choice—she is my fated mate.
Chapter Three
Bessi
Baking is what sets me at ease. What calms my racing thoughts. It is how I bonded with my mother, and how I remember her since we lost her. Today I am baking muffins because I need an excuse to go back out to the woods.
Going on zero sleep, I am zooming around the kitchen, a woman on a mission. I am dusted in flour, sugar, and my fingers are sticky with chocolate. My cat Fuzzball weaves through my feet, doing her damndest to trip me up so I give her treats out of guilt. This tactic has worked no less than four times today.
“Go on, Fuzz, stop making mama give you goodies. These were not made for us. They were made for.... for him.”
Him. The steel gray eyed, hulking, beautiful piece of man I have not been able to get out of my head. Last night my dreams were filled with thoughts of him. Him coming through my window in the dark, telling me he had to have me, that I was his other half.
I was up most of the night trying to shake those dreams. I opened my bakery a half hour late, not that anyone noticed. It’s still new here in Moon Haven so I am finding my niche as it were. Still, I love to bake and create sweet treats, so I don’t mind slow sales.
“Hope he likes his sweets,” I murmur as I fill a basket with several different types of muffins.
It is almost dark out and I am exhausted from lack of sleep and spending the entire day baking. Once I step outside with my basket of treats, I am alert, excited. Who needs sleep? I march back towards the meadow I found last night, my heart galloping in my chest.
