CHAPTER THREE
eryne
The first few days of having the wolf in my house had felt… precarious. Like at any moment, I might lose him, succumbing to his wounds. I couldn’t explainwhyI cared so much that he survived. Only that he was connected to me in a way I didn’t understand. How he seemed to understand me, and those strange eyes that almost felt like I was looking back at a person, and not a wolf.
As much as I would have liked to stay home all day, fretting over my newfound animal companion, I had to work. Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay away from the bakery for more than a day or two. Luckily, the wolf seemed to sleep most of the time anyway, so I let him be.
Not even a perfectly cooked apple pastry could distract me right now.
Well, maybe. It was worth a shot, wasn’t it?
It was getting harder and harder to only refer to him asthe wolfin my mind, but naming him felt… strange. He wasn’t my pet. And maybe he could understand me, but I knew he was a wild thing.
Once he was healed, he would be gone.
The bell chimed as the door opened, and I looked up, surprised to find Willow Clarke slipping inside, wearing a pumpkin orange sweater dress and a black hat. It looked cozy, and adorably complimented her pregnant belly.
I couldn’t help but grin. “Willow!”
“Hi, Eryne.” She gave me a small smile as she padded towards the counter to meet me.
“What’s up? Is everything okay with the shop?” I asked her.
She was a few years older than me—I was a year younger than her sister, Luna—and had always been nice to me growing up. Working under her had been a dream. Now, I had the most hands-off bosses I could have asked for. They practically let me run the shop however I wanted, only popping in to check on the books and how things were going every so often.
Willow laughed. “I should be askingyouthat. You’ve taken over so many of our responsibilities.”
“I don’t mind,” I said. The shop had never been Willow’s passion, though she’d helped her sister open it, but I loved working here. “Besides, you’ve got more important things going on.” She was due in December, so she still had a few months to go.
She snorted, rubbing her belly. “Yes, and one very overprotective mate. He’s hardly let me out of his sight ever since we found out I was pregnant.” It sounded sweet to me, though from what I knew about Damien, it probably drove Willow absolutely crazy. Still, it was obvious they were deeply in love with each other.
“How’d you get him to let you come here?” I asked, leaning against the counter as she flitted about, using the coffee maker to brew something that smelled heavenly.
She winked, a mischievous smile curling on her lips as she handed me a cup, and then took a sip of her own. “It’s decaf,” shesaid, with a shrug. “And… I didn’t. Thought I’d sneak out while he thought I was napping. I’ve been craving a pumpkin chocolate chip scone so badly.”
Luna used to make them all the time, though she’d just given birth to twins last month. Her and her husband hadn’t made it back to Pleasant Grove yet, and I wasn’t expecting her anytime soon. Luckily, we had a stack of her recipe cards, and our new baker had been experimenting with some twists of her own.
“Those always sell out so fast, but I stashed a few in the back.” I’d had a feeling we might need them. Good to know my witchy intuition was still correct. “Come on.”
I waved to the witch running the counter, letting her know we were going into the back.
“Gladly.” She followed me into the kitchen, taking a deep inhale. It always smelled delicious back here—even when nothing was in the oven—like baked goods and sweet sugar.Sometimes I wondered if we had the scent pumped in, it smelled that good. “This baby is always wanting sweets. It drives Damien mad. You know I had to force him to try candy corn last year? I’m pretty sure he only puts up with my obsession because he knows it makes me happy.” Willow smiled, like she was thinking about the demon she now called her own. “And it makes the baby kick.” She grabbed a scone from the box, plopping it in her mouth and letting out a moan as she chewed the first bite. “So good. I swear, I could eat these all day.”
I took another sip of the coffee she had made me. While I wasn’t a bad barista in any sense of the word, nothing compared to Willow’s coffee. Mostly because of her affinity with making potions, and what was a cup of coffee but a brew of caffeine? They were like magic, pepping you right up.
“I don’t know how you and Luna do it all, honestly,” I admitted.
“Pregnancy?” She asked, raising an eyebrow.
I shrugged. “Everything. Mates and relationships and…” I waved my hand.
Somehow, even though it wasn’t an answer, Willow seemed to know exactly what I meant. “It’s easier when you have someone you love. I mean, we weren’t exactly expecting to get pregnant this soon. Damien and I have only been together a year now, after all. But I’m almost thirty, and I’m looking forward to meeting our little one and starting our family. It feels like the rest of our lives are just beginning, you know?”
Did I know? Not really. I’d never experienced that for myself. My life felt a little stagnant. I gave her a hesitant smile. “I guess I’ve just never met the right person.”
“You will,” she promised. “They’re going to come into the coffee shop and sweep you off your feet, and you won’t even know what hit you.”
I finished the cup of coffee as she scarfed down another scone. “Maybe.”
