Page 19 of Delivered to My Fury

“Hi,” I said, not at all like I wanted to. I couldn’t help it. I was in awe of her beauty. The pictures she had on her profile did her zero justice. Her long blonde hair was golden in the fading sunlight. She stepped out of the car, and the three of us stopped in our tracks.

The wind picked up as it did when day bowed out to the evening and carried her scent toward us. There was nothing like it in the world. I inhaled deeply, taking in the smell of sunshine, spring flowers, and lavender. I’d never thought of sunshine as a scent but there it was, lighting up my life.

“Hi, Shay.” Her gaze ticked to the others. Oh yeah, there were other people around. I’d forgotten for a second. “Hi, Zyon and Eero. It’s nice to finally meet you in person.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” Eero approached her first. Zyon and I gave a low, rumbling growl, but we both remembered that he wasn’t a rival alpha male. He was part of our fury.

Part of her harem.

We would always be animals deep down inside.

I tried again. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Opal. Welcome to the Furious Brewery and Tavern.”

“Ah, the infamous place you three spend all your time. It’s fantastic. Right off the highway. I stopped in another town over to grab an iced tea on the way and I saw some of your brew in the beverage case. I feel like I’m meeting celebrities.”

She was chatty and my bear was eating up every word. I loved it.

“We are no celebrities.”

Gosh, the four of us were a bumbling mess. If someone passed by, they might think we were teenagers blushing and stuttering over a first date. But Opal was no date. She was our mate. One hit of her scent, and I knew.

“Sorry to make you go out of your way.” Zyon finally regained his composure enough to speak. “Come inside. We made a late lunch for all of us. It’s very nice to meet you. I’m Zyon.”

I snorted. Our big, bad, green friend was in no way immune to our mate either.

“Thank you so much. I’m starving.”

My bear roared inside in pleasure and honor. She was hungry and we were prepared to feed our mate. Right here in our place of business. Our den for all intents and purposes.

“Come in, please. We have a table set for you.”

We made a quick introduction to Mabel who was manning the tasting room for the afternoon. The tavern wasn’t open yet, so we would have a peaceful afternoon to get to know Opal.

“Take a seat. We’ll bring the food out.” Eero pulled the chair out for her while I lit a few candles in the center of the table. We questioned the candles, considering that it was too romantic and also early in the day but decided it was fine. The low lighting in the tavern was conducive to candlelight. We’d done that with a lot of details. Fussed over everything to the point where I questioned my own existence.

We brought the roasted chicken and vegetables out. Zyon had made a garlic-and-cheddar focaccia, and Eero baked a banana upside-down cake. Mabel scoffed at us, saying she was surprised we had cooked.

I wasn’t. We cooked because it was our mate.

Feeding her was part of the deal. A deal I looked forward to wholeheartedly.

“Everything looks and smells incredible,” she said, blushing. How I wanted to reach out and touch her perfect pinked cheeks. “But I was hoping to sample some of your beer as well.”

All three of the males at the table groaned at the same time. Eero went so far as to knock his palm against his forehead. “You have to forgive us, Opal,” he said, getting up. “We have apparently lost our wits since meeting you. I’m going to serve you a bit of everything, if that’s all right. I’d love to see what your favorites are.”

Opal smiled and nodded. Zyon and I filled the plates, and Opal took a piece of focaccia and put it in her mouth. I was glad she wasn’t one of those females who was shy about eating. We were not in the least. “Oh, this is so good. Which chef do I need to thank for the meal?”

“We all cooked something.”

She nodded. “Thank you all, then.”

Eero came back in a short time later with a sampling of all our finest brews. We walked her through each one, explaining the flavors and undertones.

She didn’t choose a favorite, but she seemed to like them all.

I’d dreamed about this. About our female, our mate, coming here where we could enjoy a meal together. When we built the tavern kitchen, we’d dreamed of such a time.

No one was talking. I had to do something. “How was your drive?” I asked.

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