Page 82 of Magic and Muffins

When I arched a brow at her, I noticed that Cross wasn’t in the living room anymore and hoped he had slipped into the study with Shepard.

Losing the ring the way Shepard had was bad enough, but having to face challenges for his alpha spot because of it was worse. Would he need to face more guys like MC, who played dirty?

The title he held in the pack didn’t matter to me. I loved him for who he was, not his position of power. Yet, I knew that losing it would be a crushing blow to him, and I hated that I was so…human.

Grabbing my whisk, I beat eggs.

Vena watched me. “Ah. It’s your frustrated egg-beating technique.” She smiled at Anchor. “You’re about to have the best, fluffiest eggs of your life.”

What could I do to support Shepard? Make his meals? Have his babies? That was hardly very?—

I froze, my mind going back to all the unprotected sex at Effora’s. My panicked gaze went to Vena as I counted back in my head.

“You’re freaking out,” she said, standing. “Why are you freaking out?”

Realizing I was out of the danger window, I sagged with relief even as I picked up my phone to send her a text.

“Don’t read this,” I said to Anchor as I typed. “And I don’t care if he’s your other half or not. You keep this to yourself, Vena. Sisters before misters.”

I hit send, and her phone pinged.

“Sorry, babe,” she said to Anchor. “Close your eyes.”

Me: Order condoms.

Vena: You gave me a heart attack for nothing!

Vena: But I was wondering how long it would take you to think of that. Ordered you a case yesterday.

Vena: It’ll be here tomorrow. Multi color, flavor, and texture because I love you.

Vena: The box in the order that says “beast buddy” is mine. You can open it if you want to broaden your horizons.

Me: You have issues.

She grinned at me like a lunatic.

Ignoring her, I went back to cooking. By the time I had the frittatas ready, the study door opened.

We all looked expectantly at Shepard and Cross as they sat at the island.

“Well?” Vena asked. “What’s going on?”

“No challenges yet,” Shepard said. “But there are plenty of people threatening to.”

I slid a plate in front of him.

“Thank you, Everly.”

I rubbed his shoulder consolingly before making another plate.

“Do you need to get back to the pack?” Vena asked.

“I will, eventually. There will be a lot of questions that I’ll have to answer.”

“Blame it on Effora,” Vena said. “It’s her fault.”

“Unfortunately, that’s just an excuse that wouldn’t buy me sympathy points. My duty is to protect the ring, and I failed it. Any pack member has the right to challenge me, and I don’t begrudge them their anger. My failure rests on my shoulders alone.”

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