Page 32

CHAPTER 32

C hristophe

“Knock, knock,” Ms. Elsie chimes as she pokes her head in the door.

I turn away from the set up I’ve spread on the counter to face her with a smile on my face. As soon as she enters the door and takes a look at the counter behind me, her smile drops to a frown.

“What?” I spin and count the number of eggs, the flour, sugar, and other baking ingredients I’ve gathered. Even the food dye.

“Is this not enough? I asked Mike to stop at the store for me. He was kind enough to get everything you had on the list, but I don’t have money to pay him. He said it was fine since I’ve been fixing all of the cell phones and laptops he’s brought over the past couple of months without complaint.

“Honestly, it’s no big deal because I actually enjoy tinkering with that stuff …”

I trail off as I look back at Ms. Elsie. She’s standing on just the other side of the dining table, arms folded with a little smirk on her face.

“My, my. Someone certainly has become the chatty Cathy.”

My eyebrows raise on their own as I think about the semi-incoherent way I just rambled.

Unconsciously, I run my sweaty hands down the length of my blue jeans. “I’m nervous,” I admit.

She chuckles and moves around the table.

Ms. Elsie surprises me when she grabs a hold of my hand. Her grip is surprisingly strong for an elder, but then again, she is a wolf so it checks out.

“The ingredients are fine,” she says, although she’s tugging me in the opposite direction of the kitchen. “But you won’t be using them. Not today.”

“But I thought …”

She waves me off. “We’re not baking here. We’re heading to the Big House.”

I stop in my tracks so fast that she jerks a little as she turns to look up at me.

“I’m not going there,” I say. “I mean, I can’t. The whole pack is there.” I know none of them will want me around, especially not to bake a cake as if that’s a completely normal occurrence.

“First of all,” Ms. Elsie starts, “it’s just after four. Everyone’s still at work or taking care of the kids. That sort of thing. Alpha Chael and Alpha Queen won’t be returning until much later tonight. We have plenty of time. Second,” she says with authority, “you’re a welcomed guest because I say you are. The oven at Alpha’s house is much larger than your oven, and the cake we’re making will come out much better if we use that one.”

“This doesn’t feel right. What if?—”

“What if nothing,” she cuts me off, her voice becoming stern. “We have a cake to make. No,” she pauses, “ you have a cake to make, and I’m not about to allow your fear to get in the way of this surprise you have planned. Let’s go.”

She actually moves behind me and pushes me so hard my feet take a couple of steps forward.

I peer over my shoulder at Mike who hasn’t said anything until now.

“I’ll bring up the rear,” he says with a nod and a smirk, as if he’s going along with this plan of hers.

“This shouldn’t be happening,” I grumble as Ms. Elsie wraps her arm around mine. I allow her to pull me along until my feet begin to voluntarily follow in the direction she’s walking.

The walk from my home to the main house, better known as Chael’s house, is only about ten minutes. The entire time my heart pounds in my chest. A few pack members pass us on the way, to which Ms. Elsie responds by smiling and waving.

Most look at me with an odd curiosity.

“Now.” Ms. Elsie pushes out a satisfied sigh as she pushes down the front of her long dress, her gaze moving around Chael’s large kitchen.

I examine the kitchen as well. As she said, it’s currently empty, save for the two of us since Mike opted to remain outside of the front door. The long wooden table meant to accommodate as many pack members at one time as possible looks the same. The large refrigerators next to the sink and counter tops remain unchanged.

Everything looks and smells familiar.

“Let’s bake a cake,” Ms. Elsie says, breaking the silence.

I’m still not sure about this but I know she’s not going to let it go. Aside from that, I remind myself who this is for.

Ashley.

My wolf whimpers at just the thought of her. It’s as if my nostrils fill with the sweet, honey natural scent of hers. A flash of her soft brown skin sparks in my mind. My own skin lights up as I flex my fingers as if recalling the feel of her skin against mine.

Mine.

I can’t decide if my human or my wolf makes that declaration. Most likely, it’s both of us. The human and the animal claiming her.

Squeezing my eyes tightly, I shake my head, reminding myself that she’s not even here right now.

“The cake,” I mutter. That’s what we’re here for.

Minutes later, my hands are washed, and Ms. Elsie compliments me as I crack another egg into the batter before stirring. The type of cake we’re making is a little complicated, requiring a number of different batters in separate mixing bowls.

And since I made it clear that I wanted to do a homemade icing, that requires even more mixing bowls, eggs, sugar, and other baking needs.

At one point, Ms. Elsie asks Mike to head back to my house to pick up a few of the ingredients and bowls I had on hand in order to finish our cake.

“Oh, she’s going to love this.” Ms. Elsie smiles as I place the final layer of the cake on top.

My lips drop into a frown. “Are you certain?” I push out a concerned breath.

“We still need to put the icing on it to make it look even better. Oh, and the sprinkles,” I add.

“But we haven’t tasted it, aside from the batter. What if I baked it too long and the insides burned? Or worse, what if it’s raw? We’re wolves, and raw eggs probably won’t bother her physically, but what if she doesn’t like it? How can we be certain that it’s baked well? What if …”

I trail off when I glance over at a smirking Ms. Elsie.

She just chuckles as she looks at me and then back at the cake.

“I was just asking,” I mumble while turning back to what we created.

“She’ll love it,” Ms. Elsie assures. “Now, you can help me get dinner started while that cools off. You won’t be able to put the icing on for a while.”

It feels natural to fall in line with her as we clean up the mixing bowls and other dishes used for the cake and move into preparing dinner for the evening.

I get so lost in what we’re doing that I forget that we’re not in my tiny home preparing a meal for just Ms. Elsie and I. It’s not until an hour later when the first of the pack members start piling into the kitchen that I remember.

* * *

“What in Mother Moon is he doing here?” Steve, one of the pack males, asks from his position in front of the door.

Ms. Elsie continues humming and putting out placemats along the dining room table.

“I … We’re making dinner,” I tell him, not knowing what else to say.

He looks me up and down, assessing me. Steve starts to say something, but the door opens behind him and more pack members pile in.

“Ms. Elsie, it smells great in here,” Marsha says. Trailing behind her are her two young kids.

All of them stop and look at me with wide eyes. “Christophe,” Marsha says, with an actual smile on her face.

Frozen, I look over at Ms. Elsie who’s still humming and setting out bowls for the chili we prepared on the placemats.

She clearly had no intention of clearing anything up or even making a big deal out of my presence. Not knowing what else to do, I move to the kitchen with the huge pot of chili.

“Supper’s done, along with the biscuits Ms. Elsie and I prepared,” I tell them while ladling the first bowl.

“Thank you,” Stacey, one of Marsha’s daughters, says in the sweetest voice that wraps around my heart like a fist, squeezing it.

“You’re welcome,” I almost whisper.

“Here you go,” I tell another younger pack member, handing them a bowl of the tangy, savory smelling chili.

One by one, different pack members pile in for dinner. Most blink and pause for a beat upon first seeing me, but eventually follow along with the rest, allowing me to ladle up their chili before they head to the table to eat.

“Wait,” Steve finally says after about fifteen minutes of this.

The entire room goes quiet as everyone turns in his direction.

“Alpha’s not here, and Beta Chance is out doing a surveillance run.” He turns to me, eyes narrowing, and moves closer to me, boots scratching against the wooden beams of the floor.

“How do we know the food you’ve prepared isn’t poisoned or something?” His eyes narrow. “Wouldn’t be the first time you tried to kill us.”

Someone behind him gasps out loud.

Shame washes over me.

My heart contracts inside of my chest. As much as I want to scream out at him that I’m not like that, that I would never do such a thing, I can’t.

The truth is, he’s right.

“I—”

“He wouldn’t do such a thing.”

All heads swivel in the direction of the door. Mike stands there, his broad body filling up the doorway as he glares at Steve.

“Mike—”

He holds up his hand, cutting me off.

“How do you know such a thing?” Steve challenges. “The last we heard of him is that he tried to kill all of us.”

“That’s not the last you heard of him and you fucking know it,” Mike nearly snarls.

More gasps go off around the room. At this point, the weight of their eyes on me makes me want to run.

But I won’t do that.

I spent too many years running away from my pack. They deserve answers.

“You were here the morning Ashley told us all what they endured in that prison. You also know he took that bullet to stop Rufus from completing his plan to kill us all,” Mike tells them.

“And for the past three months, he’s been here helping to track down the fuckers who ran that prison and tortured him and at least a hundred other wolves. The same guys who’re still out there, maybe doing the same to someone else.”

“How do we know he’s not doing that for himself?” Steve shoots me a wary look.

“In addition,” Mike continues, “he’s spent the past three months fixing all of your broken or faulty gadgets and computers and shit.”

It’s my turn to lift my eyebrows in surprise.

“I thought those were yours,” I blurt out.

Mike looks at me with a small smile on his face.

He shrugs.

“Some were. But that tablet you fixed last week?” He points to one of the women seated at the table. “That was Angela’s. She’d taken it to the shop in town, but they weren’t able to fix it. Isn’t that right, Angela?”

She nods. “That’s right. I was ready to spend a few hundred bucks to buy a new one, but Mike said he could fix it. Came back a few days later with it working almost as good as when I first got it. Didn’t know it was you that fixed it up.” She smiles brightly. “Thank you.”

Instantly, my head starts shaking. Her thanking me feels like too much for so little.

“It just needed some special updates, better virus protection installed, and I had to delete some old files that had viruses that snuck through the old protection, and that led to needing to download the new software, which then?—”

“We get the point,” Mike interrupts. “And, Steve, even that digital watch you love so much. Remember when it stopped taking your steps accurately when you would go out on a run?” Mike turns to me, smiling and pointing with his thumb. “Fixed it.”

Steve’s arms fall to his side. “You said you took it into town.”

Mike shrugs. “I lied.” He turns to me. “Christophe’s been cooped up inside most days with little to do when Alpha Chael or Beta Chance aren’t around helping him hunt down the guys responsible for that prison.

“So, I did my best to help keep him busy. And helped you all along the way.”

I look at everyone in the room. Their eyes are all on me, as if seeing something new. Typically, I loathe being the center of attention. That’s even more so true at this moment.

But I know I need to speak up and say something I’ve been needing to tell them for months now. No, maybe even longer than that.

Ever since the moment I betrayed them.

I know it won’t change anything, but I need to say it before I run out of time. I doubt I’ll have many more opportunities to do this before I’m sent back to prison.

“I’m sorry,” I blurt out. The words come out awkward, per usual, and everything inside of me wants to retreat but I hold firm.

I force myself to look around the room, meeting everyone’s eyes as I do.

“I did betray our pack in the most horrible way. It’s because of me …” I pause to stop the shaking in my voice, before I continue speaking. “It’s my fault you were almost killed that day. A day I’ve relived every moment since it happened. I hate myself for ever letting it get that far.

“I hate that I blamed any of you for the loneliness I felt. And worst still, I loathe the person I am for allowing Rufus to use me in his plot for vengeance against such a noble, kind,” I stop and meet Ms. Elsie’s soft gaze, “and loving pack.

“I’m sorry it took me until the last moment to realize what I had. That I allowed my alienation from the pack to take such an ugly turn. None of you deserved that.” I look back at Mike.

“I know it’s too little too late, but I would’ve died that day, taking that bullet from Rufus if it meant not allowing him to hurt any of you. I’m beyond glad that he failed … that we failed. And even once I’m sent back to prison to live out my life sentence, I will go happily, knowing that you all are safe.”

I meet Steve’s gaze again. “I swear on Mother Moon, I did not do anything to the food. It is safe to eat.”

Then I move to the kitchen, scoop a spoonful of chili, and eat it myself in front of everyone just to prove my point.

“I’ll let you all have your dinner now. Enjoy your evening.”

I start for the door only to stop short when I see a fuming Chael standing in the doorway.

His eyes are glowing as he glares at me down.