Page 59 of The Alpha and the Baker
Felicia
One Hell of a Hunch
Huh,so I’d guessed right.
I hadn’t really expected that outcome, and I didn’t know what had prompted me to drop the bomb like I did, but Cas’s reaction had proved my suspicions to be true. Part of me was in shock, because he’d ran out of here like his ass was on fire, but I was still so full of those amazing feelings he’d drawn out of me that I wasn’t all that bothered.
I figured he’d had to keep things a secret for a really long time, so it must have been pretty alarming when a random woman figured it out. It was perfectly natural for him to panic. Hopefully, he’d text me in a few days when he realized I wasn’t a danger to him. Sure, maybe I would be the first one to message him, but I knew enough to recognize that it was far too early for me to extend that bridge.
Despite his very abrupt exit, I still had hope. Perhaps that was why I picked his shirt up off the ground and decided to sleep with it. Despite the shock of everything, I was pretty exhausted and ready to sleep.
As I settled into bed, I wished his warm body was still next to me, that his warm breath was on my neck. Hopefully, with alittle time, a little patience, and a fewer life-changing revelations involving bar soap, we’d be able to do it again. Only time would tell.
I had a whole lot to think about in the meantime.
I wokeup with Cas’s shirt tangled up in my arms, defying my very first conscious thought, which was that last night’s craziness had been all a dream. Nope, it was real. The wonderful date. The best sex of my life. Cas pulling a runaway bride off into the night. I’d heard of “wham-bam thank you ma’am”, but he’d taken it to a new level.
I wanted to lie in bed and contemplate the fact that werewolves were real, but I had a bakery to run. After allowing myself ten minutes to come to terms with my new reality, I got up and started my morning routine.
And if I did spend what spare time I had looking up more things online… Well, that was my business. Maybe also the business of my printer since I had to spend twenty minutes unjamming it after trying to print out an article about a millennia-long conflict between ancient witch covens and fairy conclaves.
There was a surprising amount of information to be had, but half of it directly conflicted with the other half, and a truly incalculable percentage seemed convinced that the government was involved in the cover-up of magical beings as some sort of psy-op. I was sure that wasn’t the case. Cas didn’t really seem like a government man, but what did I know? I’d just found out that werewolves existed.
Unless… unless he was just freaked out because I’d suggested he was some sort of animal. Maybe he just had a deep and abiding fear of furries, and I’d triggered him. Stranger things had happened.
Like sleeping with a probable werewolf and not being that concerned about it.
I knew I should have been a lot more worried about our intermingling, but I wasn’t. I couldn’t really explain why, but something inside me refused to believe Cas would purposefully hurt me. If there were negative consequences to our coupling, I fully believed he wouldn’t have let it happen. He didn’t seem like the type who would let harm come to anyone just so he could get his rocks off—at least not without consent.
My mind immediately supplied a thought of his teeth sinking into my skin at very specific places, or his claws nicking me as he held me tightly, and I wasentirelyonboard. Which was kind of surprising. I’d never thought BDSM was my thing, but maybe I had a tiny streak of masochism in me, because thinking of Cas being a little rough had blood rushing to my cheeks and my underwear growing damp.
Not the right time, girl,I chided as I piped raspberry frosting between layers of the mini-cake. It was more of a summery flavor, but I figured the promise of warmth would be perfect if an adventurous customer came in.
“Focus, Felicia.”
I did. For a time, at least. But whenever I had a few minutes to myself, I was looking at my phone for more articles and message boards.
As confusing as it all was, by the time closing rolled around, I had come to a concrete conclusion: werewolves were not evil by nature. They were just like humans in the fact that there were lovely ones, horrible ones, and plenty of neutral ones.
I was certain of where the McCallisters fit.
Even with the full force of my creative imagination, I couldn’t imagine Penny or Polly being evil, bloodthirsty creatures who ripped innocent people limb from limb. Nor could I imagine the pile of young wolves I’d cuddled with hunting down a human.
No,ifthey were werewolves, they were lovely ones.
The real question was… did I even care?
I didn’t think so.
So what if they were mythical creatures? What did it matter? In fact, it was actually pretty cool. Other than wondering about the complications of being a shapeshifter in the modern age, the whole thing seemed pretty irrelevant to me.
I suppose I had my answer then. The guy I was interested in was likely a cryptid that had inspired many movies, stories, and scary stories. So what?
“That’s it then,” I said. Perhaps I’d come to my conclusion a little fast, but when I knew something, I justknewit. There was enough self-doubt in the world. “But now what?” Did I wait for him to calm down and realize I wasn’t an enemy? I didn’t know anything about the magical world, really, but it was probably a big no-no that I’d puzzled things out.
I went to my side door and peeked out the window that overlooked my narrow driveway. His car was still there. His keys were probably still on the floor in my bedroom, along with his belt. Would it be crazy if I returned his vehicle to him? Or just polite?
Eh, who cared? It wasn’t like my mother taught me how to broach the topic of apologizing for pre-emptively figuring out my date was a werewolf. I couldn’t help wondering what she would think of the entire situation. I could almost hear her voice in my ear, a bit incredulous but also with a hint of pride.
