All Chapters of The Alpha And The Baker: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Oh boy, did I. Bethany had gotten her first shift at fifteen, when we were all in high school together. From that point on, she’d had to be pulled from school once a week every month because her bloodlust was so intense. Now that she was an adult, she could contain herself, but it was a known joke how much protein she could consume in five short days.“I’m guessing your daughter is going to be much the same. I can put a double ration into the books.”“Would you? That would be awesome.” But then he grimaced, and I sent him a curious look. We’d been friends for so long, however, that I didn’t even have to ask out loud. “My little girl is growing up. Today, she’s gotten her wolf. Soon she’ll get her period. And then she’ll be in high school, and the next thing you know, she’ll be dating. Maybe fall in love.” His voice tightened ever so slightly. “Maybe marrying into another pack.”Although I’d never gone through it myself, I understood the intensity of emotion in my friend’s voice. Chris

They were risking a lot to show support for one of their kids. I liked to think that if I was in the same situation, I’d do the same.“Looks like she’s doing a good job,” I said, relaxing my posture. In response, the four echoed my body language. While I wasn’t their alpha, they all recognized that I was an alpha, and with that came a certain level of respect, even if they hated my pack.“Of course, she is,” the biggest one said proudly. “She’s the top of her class and may even skip a grade next year.”I grinned at that. Although the guy could probably rip my head off, he reminded me so much of Chris when he was bragging about his daughter.“I believe it,” I said with a firm nod before putting my free hand on Chris’s shoulder. “Considering the occasion, I don’t think there’s any reason to draw attention to this. After all, it’s for a good cause, right?” “Right,” two of the four agreed, although I could hear suspicion in their tones.I couldn’t really call them out on that. Alpha Barri

“By the way, I wanted to apologize for being so unprofessional yesterday. I want to assure you, commissioning baked goods from me is not an open invitation to crash the party I’m catering.”Another laugh from him. God, was I getting addicted to the sound. It was just so easy-going and rumbly in a way that tickled the back of my brain in just the right way. “No worries. I feel like we should be the ones apologizing for giving you an alcoholic drink and not telling you. It’s not quite the same as spiking the punchbowl at prom, but it feels pretty analogous.” “Analogous?” I repeated. “That’s one hell of a word to use so early in the morning.” “It is pretty early, isn’t it?”“Yeah, it is, that’s why I was surprised that you were up and about, let alone in the city.”His smile turned a bit bashful, and although I didn’t know why, I still found it pretty cute. It was both weird and welcome that a guy who was so drop-dead hot could also be pretty adorable. I liked the juxtaposition of it all

Or it was, until high school ended and we had to make it work while she went off to college and I began to fully step into my alpha duties. Before, we could ignore that country life had never really been for her and that she’d always had greater dreams. It had been hard to let her go, but our breakup in her sophomore year was amicable. Well, as amicable as a broken heart could be. There was no bad blood between us, and I’d even attended her wedding to a very beautiful witch who was a part of the Velka coven in NYC. The two of them lived in the city, which struck me as particularly uncomfortable for a wolf, but she seemed happy enough, and that was what was important.“BY PUTTING THE HOT COALS UNDER THIS RAISED FRAME, IT CAN KEEP ME WARM ALL NIGHT.”IT WASN’T LIKE I’D BEEN CELIBATE SINCE HER. BACK IN MY TWENTIES, I’D HAD A SHORT RELATIONSHIP WITH ANOTHER WOLF shifter who moved to our area. Mara was a strong, independent wolf I’d really admired. Again, no messy breakup there. Neither of

As much as I was trying to stay calm, my nerves increased as I noticed we were growing closer to the city. While the three were small enough that they wouldn’t cause a city-wide panic if they were spotted, they still looked like a trio of very large, feral dogs on the prowl.This wasn’t my first time herding youngsters, but it was rocketing toward being the most stressful. And that feeling only intensified as we drew closer, and closer, and closer to the city.Crap, they were definitely in the park, weren’t they?I cursed internally and ran faster, about to use the full effect of my alpha voice as I exited the tree line of the woods and could see the edge of the city just ahead. We were on the side that only had about maybe five minutes of suburbia, unlike the northern and eastern sides, where the subdivisions sprawled for at least fifteen minutes.Shit, shit, shit. I needed to find them, and fast. Their scents were so strong that I knew they could only be a bit farther ahead of me, b