Page 64 of The Alpha and the Baker
Too bad I didn’t have an heir.
My wolf sharply reminded me that I could have an heir, since a wonderful woman was standing right beside me, but I shut those thoughts down. Felicia was an independent woman and a human. Just because we’d had one incredible night together didn’t mean she was down to churn out pups.
Wolf and human pairings were rare, but I had heard that when they did happen, shifter genetics tended to be pretty dominant, and most of the children ended up as shifters themselves.
Focus. Not what we’re thinking about right now.
My wolf responded with a sentiment that felt a lot like he was telling me he certainly was thinking about it right now, and that he would continue thinking about it.
“Please, we’ve put our guest on the spot long enough. Here, you two can sit next to me.” Siobhan gestured to the seats beside her, and the two of us made our way over. I could smell some of Felicia’s nerves, but most of it was covered up by the heavenly, savory smells surrounding us. Sure, it wasn’t a huge spread like we’d had at the reunion, but it was still impressive.
“Feel free to help yourself,” Siobhan continued to Felicia as we settled. “Trust me, you won’t be able to keep up with our appetites, so you can stuff yourself silly and not so much as put a dent in things.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
“Oh please, you know our secret. Call me Auntie Siobhan.”
“Thank you then, Auntie Siobhan.”
“Isn’t that so cute when you say it?” The corners of the older woman’s eyes crinkled. “You don’t have much of a city accent, but when it comes out, it’s quite sweet, isn’t it, Valerie?”
“I’d say it is. Much better than that man at the car dealership who tried to upcharge me for having a uterus. I told him I’ve been drivin’ my husband for four decades and didn’t appreciate him treatin’ me like some sort of Sunday driver just cause I’m an old biddy now.”
“You’re not old,” Felicia objected as she took the plate handed to her.
Valerie just smiled. “I’ll have you know I’m ninety-seven years old. If I ain’t old, I don’t wanna know what is.”
“Ninety-seven?” Felicia echoed.
I hadn’t really gotten the chance to explain that shifters aged slowly. Yet another reason why wolf-human relationships tended not to work.
Felicia recovered less than a beat later. “Well, I don’t think you look a day over seventy!”
Valerie and the older women all laughed at that, and Felicia’s nerves faded. Good. I wanted her to have a good time, and I couldn’t just wave my hand and make everything go smoothly for her.
Thankfully, it seemed a good time was exactly what was had, with laughter, good food, and plenty of exaggerated storytelling. I didn’t burst any of the elders’ bubbles by calling them on it. That was supposed to be one of the perks of getting old, right?Getting to spin wild yarns that were perhaps a hair or two more epic than reality.
And it wasn’t like Felicia didn’t give in turn. Between a truly nightmarish tale about a graduation party from hell, as well as her first fraudulent-refund Karen, there were multiple times she had folks around her eating out of the palm of her hand. It was impressive, honestly, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d have assumed she’d always been a part of the pack.
Maybe because she was meant to be.
Another thought to purposefullynotconcentrate on. I tucked it away, although it was difficult not to at least give it alittlethought on its journey to the dark, dusty closet in the back of my mind where I put things I didn’t want to deal with.
At least I knew Felicia was definitely having a good time because once the meal wrapped up, I gave her at least two opportunities for us to duck out, but both times she declined with literally zero hesitancy. The first time, she returned to the animated conversation with Jason, David, and Valerie. The second time, after we’d moved to the living room, she’d delighted in the four teens who were in some sort of competition to show her how long they could grow their teeth without shifting.
Yeah, I hadn’t exactly gotten the notification that being a baker was cool now, but it definitely seemed so with how the teens crowded around Felicia. Or maybe that was just her. Granted, I figured a lot of the little ones were just enjoying getting to showboat in front of a non-shifter.
“Wanna see how high I can jump?”
“Whoa, whoa there now,” I cut in quickly. “Why don’t we wait for a nice sunny day to do that? I don’t think Auntie Siobhan would take too kindly to any of us breaking her fine china.”
A collective groan rippled through the kids, but no one tried to do any sneak-jumping behind my back, so I took it as a win.
Eventually, Felicia’s eyelids fluttered a little, and her head started doing that sleepy bob. I checked my phone for the time. Nearly ten p.m.! No wonder she was nodding off.
“I think we’re going to have to call this a night,” I said to the small group we were sitting with. We’d made it all the way to the kitchen in Valerie’s attempt to make Felicia a plate for the next day but hadn’t progressed much farther than that.
“But it’s so early!”
