Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 121871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
I say goodbye and go into the bakery, grabbing a basket and loading it up. Another perk of being shifter owned is that they provide baskets for us to carry back in our mouths so we can go home in any form we choose. They think of everything.
I greet Ruby politely, being respectful of her mate Dominic and not getting too close. Even a faint trace of another male would make him angry, and she is clearly marked. I stand on the other side of the counter, ten feet from her, and there is no mistaking his claim.
I see a carrot cake and my stomach grumbles. I ask Ruby to give me the whole thing, along with the individual slices next to it. I don’t know why, because I’ve never really thought much about carrot cake before, but suddenly I’m ravenous for it. My mouth waters as she loads them up, and I can’t think of anything else besides the sweet cinnamon and cream cheese. A growl forms low in my chest, and when Ruby pauses to look at me, I clear my throat, embarrassed.
“Just hungry,” I mumble.
She smiles brightly at me, offering more cookies to take, but my basket is overflowing, and this should last us at least a day.
I slip out the back as Dom and his family are coming inside. I make the mistake of looking back to see him go to his mate and rub his body against hers. Envious pain creeps into my rib cage, and I hurry outside so I don’t have to witness it anyone.
I place the dirty clothes in the second box that’s used for discarded items so they can be cleaned and reused. When I shift back, I grab the basket and head home. Hopefully this can put a smile on someone’s face. Even if it’s not my own.
Chapter 4
Flint
When Forest comes back home, he’s carrying treats from Red’s Goodie Basket. We meet him outside on the porch, and though there is still a little sadness in his eyes, he does look somewhat happy giving us the desserts.
When he opens the carrot cake, the three of us growl at the same time. Shocked, I look to Forest and then to Finn, and they both have the same look on their faces. It’s strange, because I don’t know that I’ve ever eaten carrot cake, but suddenly I want to fight them for it.
“I got all Ruby had. There’s enough to share,” Forest says, and I calm down.
After a second, Finn laughs and shakes his head as he takes a piece. “Who would have thought we’d be this protective over a piece of cake?”
He pauses before he takes a bite, then moans at the flavor. We all do the same, and I have to admit that the sheriff in town is a lucky man. His mate knows how to bake.
After I polish off four pieces, I notice the paperwork sitting on the kitchen table. “Was Dominic at the bakery when you were there?”
“Yes, Ruby was working, so of course he was with her.”
“I need to get these to him. I should have taken them by his office earlier, but I got sidetracked with chores.”
Winter is almost here and we need to be prepared. Being shifters, we can survive the coldest snow storms, but we can’t stay in our animal form all the time. We had a tree go down after a bad rain storm last week, and I decided to be the one to restock the woodshed.
“I think it’s great you’re going to go through with it,” Finn says, and as much as I hate to admit it, I like his approval.
I’d told him that I wanted to apply for the open positon at the sheriff’s department. They need a part-time patrol, and I thought it would be a good way to contribute to the town while giving myself purpose. I can only focus so much time on my brothers and if I’ll find a mate or not before I go crazy. I have to do something with my free time.
“I think I’ll take them up there real quick before they close.”
I walk out front and get in my truck, thinking it will be quicker if I drive. The road from our cabin is private, but it’s nice to be tucked away. Although we aren’t far from town, sometimes it feels more isolated than it really is. Which can be a good thing for shifters in their own small pack.
My brothers and I have banded tighter over the years, and we like living together. Our cabin is a good size, with room for all of us, and more if we grow. We never talked about what would happen if one of us got a mate first and how that would work. I think we’ve all been avoiding the subject so that we could pretend it wasn’t going to be a problem. But as I look at the cabin in the rearview mirror. I can’t help but think, I don’t ever want to leave it.