Page 2 of The Alpha and the Baker
I turned to see Madison and Avery, two teens from my pack, standing a few feet away. “Bug stuff?”
“Uh, yeah. We found a wasp nest in a tree and wanna take care of it.”
Oh, good Lord! For a moment, my mind flashed with an image of a horde of wasps besetting the pack reunion. Not that any of our pack traveled or moved away. Really, the “reunion” was an excuse to cook great food and enjoy each other’s company.
“No, no, that’s all right. Go grab Uncle Chris for me and have him meet me at the west storage shed.”
“Aww, are you sure? We just wanna help.”
“I ’preciate that, but if you wanna help, why don’t y’all head to Mama’s kitchen and see if anyone needs extra hands hauling stuff out after you show me where this nest is?”
“All right…”
They sounded disappointed, but considering neither of them had gone through their first shift yet, they would thank me later. Because while I had accelerated healing thanks to my inner wolf, they very much did not.
I was grateful that they’d come to me, however, because when they led me to the nest, it was definitely close enough that it was at risk of getting trampled during our happy event. And sure, while it would only be an annoyance to the majority of the adults, the youngest and oldest of the pack could have a very hard time.
Thankfully, it didn’t take long for Chris and me to handle the nest, and finally, it was looking like I’d get a chance to go take a shower. I’d gone for a run in the woods beyond our pack’s land just before the sun had risen, expecting I’d be able to wash up and eat a hearty breakfast before I needed to help start setting up for the reunion, but that hadn’t happened. Pretty much as soonas I’d run up to my cabin, someone had been waiting there to ask for my help.
“Been a day already, hasn’t it?” Chris mused as we put the gasoline and blowtorch away. Not exactly the safest method of wasp removal, but with our accelerated healing, we could afford to take a few risks. “First party of spring is always a bit rowdier than the rest of the year.”
“You’re right about that,” I said with a chuckle. And sure, I supposed we could justnothave the massive cookout for the whole pack—it would save a whole lot of time and money—but sometimes a shifter needed to throw down and have a grand ol’ time with their pack. For bonding’s sake. Or at least that was my belief. And as the alpha of our pack, I was dedicated to making sure everyone had a blast. “We’ll have earned our plates once we get them.”
“From your mouth to Fenrir’s ears. What have you got the biggest hankering for?”
I paused, giving serious thought to his question. There was so much to look forward to—devilled eggs, smoked meats, the ribs smothered in BBQ sauce, the pies, cobbler, and jams. And did I mention the smoked meats?
Our packlovedsmoked meats.
“I’d have to say the cake,” I said with a nod. The cakes made for our parties weren’t those specialty cakes with edible glitter and immaculate sculptures made out of fondant, but they were light and fluffy, and usually had a jam or cream filling. Personally, I was looking forward to the vanilla cake with cream cheese frosting, and a layer of tart rhubarb jam and sweet cream.Dee-licious!
“Hah! You’ve always had a sweet tooth, haven’t ya? I swear, if you weren’t the alpha, Auntie Letitia would have you fully recruited to the kitchens.”
“You think so?”
“Oh yeah, I know so.”
I smiled at the thought. Although I was proud to uphold the lineage my father had established, it was nice to daydream about what my life might have been like if I weren’t destined to lead our mid-sized pack.
Auntie Letitia was in charge of the cakes, and my two nieces, Melodie and Saoirse, were helping her. She had been in charge of it for at least fifteen years, ever since Great-Auntie Beverly and her husband Jeb had handed the responsibility over to her after they’d handled it for fifty years. She’d taken on Melodie when the girl was five and showed an interest in baking, always demanding to help whoever was making desserts—even when her head didn’t quite reach the counter. Melodie was fifteen now and would be going off to college in two years, so the slightly younger Saoirse had been recruited when she started hanging around the kitchen.
It was one of the many things I loved about our pack. Despite everything we’d been through—especially with Alpha Barris gambling away so much of our land—we kept our tradition of passing down knowledge from generation to generation without compelling anyone to do anything they didn’t want to do. We were lucky to have enough young ones that some could focus on hunting, some on farming, some on being warriors, and some on more traditional skills. Then there were those who went off to pursue more schooling or even just traveled the world. I’d never really gotten a chance to do that, what with being alpha and all, so I cherished it deeply for all those coming up after me. While we weren’t the wealthiest by far, it certainly made me feel so very rich.
“Itoldyou, I had it first!”
“Yeah, and I called cap!”
The angry shouts drifted over the field to Chris and me, interrupting our first calm moment of the day. Chris was mybeta and right-hand man, which meant he cleaned up all the messes I was too busy to get to. He was my consultant and my confidant. Unlike me, he was a father, which gave me a vital perspective that I didn’t naturally have. Sure, I loved all the kids in our pack, but it didn’t beat Chris’s lived experience.
“I’ll go handle that.” I sighed. While our pack generally got along, there were bound to be little spats here and there due to the general coexistence amongst shifters. I did my best to resolve them without much drama. “You go check in with Bethany to see if she needs anything.”
“Ach, you’re crazy if you don’t think Bethany’s not already setting up all the tables, the tent, and the play areas for the kids,” Chris said with a wide smile. “She’s been counting down the days to this since the last frost of the year.”
I couldn’t help but grin. Unlike my relationship with my high-school girlfriend, Chris and Bethany had gone the distance. They got married a year after graduating, then had my niece Arietty. At thirteen, she was a precocious kid, and in a couple of years when she went through her first shift, she was guaranteed to be even more of a handful. I adored her, naturally, and was looking forward to taking her on her first run in her wolf form.
“Dude, you’re in your twenties! Don’t use words likecap!It’s cringe!”
“Yeah, well, you saying ‘cringe’ is hella cringe!”
