Page 116 of The Alpha and the Baker
“You and I both know there’s no way on God’s green earth that I’m gonna never mind,” I said with a rumble, leaning down to rest my chin atop her head.
Felicia let out a sigh, but I understood that it wasn’t actually negative. “Let’s finish dancing first.”
“That’s fine with me,” I said, having no intention of letting her leave my arms just yet. “But don’t think I’ll forget.”
“I wouldn’t count on it.”
And as eager as I was to find out what Felicia’s request was, I was in no hurry to shorten our time slowly moving together to the music.
Maybe she wasn’t human at all, and she was actually a muse, because now I wanted to espouse poetry to her. To tell her exactly what she meant to me and how she inspired me every day. But that kind of wordsmithing wasn’t really my thing, so I contented myself with holding her until the three ballads they played in a row transitioned to the electric slide.
I was actually surprised they’d played so many romantic songs back-to-back, but as I glanced over, I saw Chris was manning the music, looking quite satisfied with Bethany in his lap.
Yeah, he really was the best beta.
Felicia still wasn’t done dancing, so we continued to cut a metaphorical rug for another hour or so, with both of us taking breaks to get water or do silly TikTok trends with the young ones. Not well, of course, but our attempts were genuine.
However, the thought was always floating in the back of my mind as I waited for us to wrap up. I didn’t want to be impatient, because every moment with her was a gift, but I was eager to know what she could possibly want. As much as I loved doting on Felicia, she was fiercely independent, so she didn’t ask for much. All she wanted was to be loved and cherished and occasionally have heavy flour bags moved for her.
So, when we finally sat down and helped ourselves to some drinks—a sports drink for her and shifter punch for me—I broached the subject.
“Your request?” I asked, trying to act nonchalant about it.
“You sure you’re not an elephant shifter?” she teased back, but when I steadily held her gaze, she gave the tiniest of sighs. “I know I shouldn’t be, but I’m a… a bit embarrassed almost.”
“Embarrassed?” I repeated. That was just about the last thing I expected. What could she possibly want that had herembarrassed? “You don’t have to share if you’re not ready.”
“No, no, this would be a great night for it.” She fiddled with her hands and looked down on the ground. What could it possibly be? “It’s just… I realized right before the bake-off that I’ve… that I’ve…”
That shewhat?
“That I’ve never seen you shift.” She gripped the hem of her dress like she was making an illicit confession to me. “So I’d really, really love to see your wolf. If that’s okay?”
It was so rare to see Felicia nervous that there was a bit of a delay on my answer. But when I did gather myself enough to do so, I put my hand on hers.
“Felicia, I’d love to show you my wolf.”
It was almost hard for me to believe that she had never seen it, but when I thought back to all of our interactions, I realized I had been in my human form for every single one of them. Even when I had fled from her apartment, I had waited till I was far enough away before shifting into my animal form.
I was so used to everyone in my pack being well acquainted with my alpha wolf that I hadn’t even thought about introducing my girlfriend to that side of me. An oversight on my part, but one I was happy to fix immediately.
“Really? It’s not too invasive of me to ask?”
Sometimes, it was so easy to forget that Felicia hadn’t grown up in the pack. She fit in so well. But every now and then, she asked something that reminded me that she had essentially immigrated into the shifter world very recently.
“It’s not too much to ask at all, and I’m sorry I made you wait this long.” Draining the rest of my drink, I stood, and this time I offered her my arm. “How about we go on a walk?”
She was beaming ear to ear as she took my arm and stood. “There’s nothing I’d like more.”
The two of us walked toward the tree line together, and maybe I was a little too much in my feelings, but I couldn’t help but think that we were walking into our future together as well.
Felicia
Better Together
I couldn’t believe it,I was about to see Cas’s wolf form after weeks of waiting. I’d been so hesitant to ask, worried that I was somehow committing a faux pas or that he wasn’t ready to show me that side of him yet, but, as usual, I had been overthinking things. It turned out that all I needed to do was ask.
I was still getting used to doing that. Just asking. I had gotten so used to doing things on my own that it felt strange to rely on others for anything. But Cas had proven to me time and time again that it was okay for me to want and need help.
