Cinnamon, Chocolate, and Him

 

"Pass the ketchup! You've been hogging the entire supply for the last half hour!" Leona complained, rolling off the sofa to make a grab for the sachets in Kobi's hand.

Another thing I'd learned about Kobi: the man is borderline obsessed with ketchup. We'd been camped out in the main living room for over an hour now, working through pizza, fries, garlic bread, and enough soda to sink a ship, boxes and cans scattered across the coffee table like the aftermath of a small war.

So far, so good, I thought. Only the first day, and I'd already found people I actually liked being around. If this trip went half as well as it had started, all I'd need to do was win the fight and head home happy.

"So — can you tell us anything about this pack?" Jay asked, piling fries onto a slice of pizza before shoving the whole thing in his mouth. Leona visibly cringed at the sight. Yeah, I feel you.

Julian tensed slightly. "Why do you ask?"

"We don't know much about this place," I said, stepping in. "Figured it'd help to understand the pack we're staying with."

Kobi nodded and picked up the thread. "You probably already know our last Alpha passed two years ago."

Ah. The Mad Alpha. Hard to forget.

"He had one child — a son. When he died, the position passed to him, naturally." Kobi continued.

"Alpha Kade Voss, right? I heard he's around Jay's age — twenty-one?" I asked, unsure.

All three nodded in confirmation.

"What about his mom? The former Luna? No one's really mentioned her," I asked, pausing mid-bite.

I was genuinely curious — this pack was such a mystery to me. I could name nearly every Alpha and Luna, past and present, in the country. Except this one.

The three of them traded a wary look before Julian finally answered. "She passed seven years ago. Natural causes," he said, brief and final.

Something in his tone told me not to push further, so I let it go and went back to my fries — though the curiosity didn't fully fade. I noticed, not for the first time, how quickly the mood in a room here could shift the second certain topics came up. It had happened at the landing earlier too, with that maid and the North Wing.

"Sorry — could you pass the Cola?" I asked, pointing behind Leona.

No response. I looked up, confused, to find all three of them wearing the same distant expression — like they were focused on something only they could hear.

My pack members and I exchanged a knowing look. Mind link, clearly — with each other, or someone else.

I popped another fry in my mouth and waited it out.

"Oh shit!" Julian suddenly shouted, already scrambling to gather the empty pizza boxes.

Leona killed the TV and nearly tripped trying to help him. Kobi sat frozen mid-bite, ketchup-soaked fry in hand, visibly torn between loyalty to his friends and loyalty to his food.

"Whoa — why the sudden cleanup?" Jay asked, getting to his feet. I stood too, helping despite my confusion.

"Alpha Kade just said he's in town, on his way here. Must've changed his plans," Julian explained quickly, nearly done clearing the mess.

"And we're cleaning because...?" I asked, already suspecting the answer.

"He hates mess. And junk food," Leona said, wiping crumbs off her face before handing out wet wipes — "faster than trekking to the kitchen," she reasoned.

We all pitched in, working fast, and no one commented on the fact that three grown adults had abandoned a meal mid-bite purely to meet their Alpha's standards. I found myself wondering if this happened every time they wanted takeout.

Once the room was spotless, Leona went a step further and sprayed rose-scented air freshener through the space, the mist catching the light from the window for a second before settling.

If only it were strong enough to cover the cinnamon and chocolate. I'd been silently hoping that scent would just disappear, ever since everyone insisted they couldn't smell it. Except it hadn't faded — if anything, it had doubled in the last hour, thick enough now that I could almost taste it, and it was starting to drive me a little insane.

Just as we settled back onto the sofa, the front gates opened — a low mechanical groan I felt more than heard, vibrating faintly through the floor.

"He's here," Kobi announced, standing.

Finally. Maybe now I could ask Alpha Kade how long we'd actually be staying. Julian and Leona were out of the room before I could blink. I shot Kobi a look that hopefully translated to where are they going?

He got it. "They're greeting him at the door, filling him in on today. Basically letting him know you've arrived and you're in here."

Jay, our four pack members, and I lined up, ready to meet him. Call it wishful thinking, but part of me hoped Kade and Jay might actually get along — same age, both raised into the Alpha role, plenty to relate to.

The front door opened. I tuned my hearing toward the hallway without meaning to.

"Good afternoon, Alpha," Julian and Leona said together.

"Afternoon." Short. Clipped.

His voice. Something about it sent a shiver straight through me. One word, and I was already eager to see his face. Why? How is that even possible? I forced a slow breath, trying to rein myself in.

"Have the Imperial Pride members arrived?" That voice again, deep enough to leave me unsteady.

I felt Jay's confused glance beside me, but I was too locked into the conversation to respond.

"Can't you smell them, Alpha?" Julian asked, clearly puzzled.

I was confused too — an Alpha's sense of smell is supposed to be near-flawless.

"If you didn't have this whole place smelling like vanilla and strawberries, maybe I could," Kade growled, irritation clear.

Vanilla and strawberries? I don't smell that at all.

"I caught the scent the second I entered town," he continued, clearly annoyed his senses had been questioned. "Buy more of whatever that is — I want it in my wing too."

"But, Alpha, I didn't—"

"Your candle choices are usually mediocre. This time you actually outdid yourself," he said, cutting Leona off with what almost passed for a compliment.

"Sounds like their Alpha has a broken nose too, just like you," Jay teased through the mind link. I shook my head, refocusing on the conversation happening down the hall.

"They're in the living room, ready to meet you," Julian said. I straightened instantly at that, catching the sound of footsteps — steady, deliberate — growing closer, the floor seeming to hum faintly under the weight of them.

I kept my eyes on the door, doing my best to ignore how much stronger the cinnamon-and-chocolate scent had gotten. I felt his presence before I even saw him — that unmistakable weight an Alpha carries.

Then he stepped in. Tall, built, dressed in a flawless black suit. I couldn't tear my eyes off him — calling him good-looking would be a serious understatement. He looked sculpted.

I had to physically bite back a gasp, pressing my lips together to keep my mouth from falling open. I let myself keep looking anyway.

Jet-black hair, styled to perfection, framing sharp dark-blue eyes. Cut jaw, cheekbones you could set a compass by. Full lips that I made myself look away from before I embarrassed myself further. His suit fit like it had been made for his exact frame — and it did nothing to hide the lean, powerful build underneath.

Realizing I'd been staring for way too long, I shut my eyes, just for a second, before I lost the ability to stop.

When I opened them, his gaze was already locked on mine — intense, unreadable. Heat crept up my neck, and I looked away first. My wolf had been clawing at the edge of my mind this entire time, desperate to say something. Guilty for shutting her out, I finally let her through.

MATE. MATE. MATE.

She repeated it, over and over, hard enough that I actually stumbled. First — she'd never been this loud, ever. Second — mate?

This Alpha. My mate?

No. That didn't track. He's an Alpha — the highest rank there is. I'm a Chief Warrior. A Gamma, sure, maybe even a Beta, I could see. But an Alpha? My wolf growled at the doubt.

HE IS OUR MATE. Smell him.

I listened, breathing in deep, letting every scent in the room settle over me. Only one stood out — cinnamon and chocolate.

Oh. It had been him this whole time. That explained why it had gotten stronger the closer he got. But why had I been smelling it since the moment I arrived?

"Because we're in his house, genius," my wolf deadpanned, and I flushed at her bluntness before cutting the connection. She wanted to throw herself into his arms and never leave. I needed to think clearly — this wasn't just my mate. This was the Alpha of the BlackShadowed Pack.

I tuned back in as Jay introduced himself, hand extended. They shook, to everyone's visible relief. My apparent mate made his way down the line, greeting each person with a curt nod and absolutely no smile.

My heart was pounding, painfully aware of how drawn I felt to this man.

Then he reached me — last in line. Somehow, up close, he was even more striking. His expression gave nothing away, almost enough to convince me he had no idea I was his mate. For a fraction of a second, something moved behind his eyes — quick, gone almost before I caught it, like a door cracked open and shut again before I could see what was on the other side.

But he had to know. It's not a subtle feeling. And even if his human side somehow missed it, his wolf wouldn't have. Not to mention the scent — tailored specifically to me, meant to draw me in before I even saw him.

His earlier comment came back to me, and heat rose in my cheeks. Do I smell like vanilla and strawberries to him?

Finding your mate is supposed to be a gift — every part of them, physical, emotional, mental, pulling you in like gravity. The attraction comes free. The rest — the love, the understanding — that's something you build.

"I'm Kyra Ashwood. I'll be the one fighting Irene," I said, holding his eyes. The confidence in my own voice surprised me — probably born out of how little reaction I was getting from him. I'd heard so many stories about mates meeting for the first time, how beautiful that moment was supposed to be. I knew better than to measure my own experience against everyone else's, but he hadn't acknowledged me at all, and it stung more than I wanted to admit. Stupid bond. I hope he can't feel how disappointed I am.

Wait — the bond doesn't even activate until skin contact.

"I know," he said, flat and cold, before turning back toward the door he'd come from.

That's it? "I know"? No good luck, nothing?

Nothing.

And I hadn't missed that he was the only one who hadn't shaken my hand.

Great, I thought, bitter. Well — at least I knew he knew.

~~

Later that day

"This looks amazing!" I said, genuinely impressed, watching Julian work over the stove, steam curling up around him and fogging the window above the sink.

We were all gathered in the kitchen, waiting on dinner. Ever since Kade had all but ignored me as his mate, I hadn't been able to shake the sting of it. I tried to hide it, but Jay saw right through my act and asked what was wrong. I couldn't bring myself to explain, so I blamed it on the junk food from earlier.

"Thanks. Do me a favor and set the table — I want us eating the second this is ready," Julian said, focused on his spices.

We scrambled to get everything set. Julian and Leona brought the food out in a parade of pots and pans, the smell of garlic and roasted something-or-other briefly cutting through even the cinnamon and chocolate.

Just as we were about to dig in, footsteps sounded on the stairs. My stomach dropped. Please don't be who I think it is.

Part of me — a small part — was glad he was joining us. But the way he'd brushed past me earlier had left me feeling small, and more than a little humiliated. So I decided to give as good as I got.

"Oh — slipped my mind we had guests. Just came down out of habit," Kade said, walking in wearing a plain grey tee and black joggers. His arms — okay, wow. His dark-blue eyes swept the room and lingered on me half a second longer than everyone else before moving on.

"No, it's fine — we were expecting you," I said.

We were?

"We saved your seat. Come sit."

He has an assigned seat?

Kobi, Julian, and Leona all turned to stare at me. I stared back, equally lost.

Why is everyone looking at me?

"I mean — we did save it," Leona said with a nervous laugh. It took me a beat to realize I was currently sitting in it. I shot up immediately, scrambling to explain.

"Sorry, I thought I heard 'Kyra, sit there,' so I did. Must've misheard." I reached to move my plate, but Kade cut in.

"Don't bother. I'm not joining you tonight," he said, eyes flicking toward me for just a second.

Irritation flared in my chest.

"Why not?" I asked, standing, arms crossed.

I held his blank stare for a moment before continuing. "Julian made enough food to feed ten people. Seems like a waste, don't you think?"

Leona choked on air as the room went thick with tension.

Well. I guess I just challenged their terrifying Alpha.

His lack of reaction frustrated me right up until I caught the faint tick of his jaw. There it was — proof the man actually had feelings buried in there somewhere. That small win almost made me smile.

"Fine. Wasting food would be a shame — especially Julian's," Kade said, stepping further into the room.

That's it? He's just... agreeing?

I'd braced for more resistance than that. I stayed where I was, watching him pull out the chair across from me. For a moment, before he sat, his eyes drifted past me to where Julian and Leona were bumping shoulders over the serving spoons, laughing about something only they'd heard — and something in his face went quiet and still, almost hollow, there and gone so fast I almost convinced myself I'd imagined it.

"I'll stay for dinner. Think you can handle that?" His voice carried a faint edge of amusement, gaze settling on me as he said it — the question clearly meant for me alone.

Everyone else, oblivious to the exchange, nodded and dug in. Kade did too — not before shooting me a smug, knowing smirk.

Oh, I can handle it. Don't you worry.