Page 50 of The Alpha and the Baker

Felicia

Party Animals

“Turn right in thirty feet.”

I did what the GPS said, surprised by how close to the city I was.

After my drive to the McCallisters’ reunion, I’d expected the Ramirez pack to be equidistant from any urban area, but no.

The address I was pulling into was maybe only ten minutes past the suburbs, which was great considering they hadn’t paid a hundred-dollar delivery fee like Cas had.

Whenever I had to make a delivery, I always worried that I’d accidentally show up at the wrong residence, and then it would be spectacularly awkward. But in this instance, I didn’t have to be concerned about that at all since I could see the decorations from all the way down the road.

Balloon arches, streamers, those waving inflatable men from car dealerships, and even a massive bounce house.

I knew quinceaneras were a big deal. It was to celebrate when a young girl officially became a woman on her fifteenth birthday, but that was the extent of my knowledge.

A bounce house seemed a little young for teenagers, but perhaps it was to occupy the unruly little kids, which I was sure the pack had plenty of.

If the McCallisters were anything to go by, shifters sure did like to have big families.

I supposed it helped not to have to worry about money.

Cas had briefly mentioned something about a pack fund, which seemed to be comprised of much of the wealth of generations before.

It was all in a special bank account that the fairies controlled, or something like that.

Those magical-contract lovers invested it in various ventures, with all the profits being deposited into the account except the ten-percent tax they charged.

It seemed like a sweet deal, but given everything Cas had told me about the fairies, I was pretty skeptical.

Not too skeptical, though. I was sure both packs had used the fund for the celebrations they’d hired me to cater.

I found myself in a somewhat similar situation as I had at the McCallister reunion, where I was arriving at a large piece of land with several residences on it instead of just one house.

I supposed I should stop comparing the two—it was a bit gauche to assume all shifters were alike—but to me it just went to show how much artificial conflict the fairies were causing.

I was an outsider, yeah, but I could call a spade a spade. So far, the Ramirez pack didn’t seem all that different from the McCallisters.

Maybe the fairies were afraid of all the shifters uniting. Both packs seemed pretty huge to me, so maybe if they combined, they’d have enough might to overthrow the fairies.

Or maybe I’d watched too many fantasy shows and was sticking my nose where it didn’t belong.

Hard to say.

I parked behind a bunch of other cars and got out of my van. This time I didn’t even bother to circle around the back for the cakes. One of them was heavy enough that I knew I’d need some help to haul it to wherever they needed with confidence.

“Hey, you the baker lady?” someone asked.

I turned and saw one of the young men who had visited my bakery with Salvador.

“That’s me,” I answered with a grin. “Need some help with the cakes. Think you can get a friend and help me haul them to where they need to be?”

“Sure, but you’re gonna wanna continue down this road for about another two minutes, then take a right turn and drive right up to the big red building.

Ain’t no quinceanera being held out on the grass.

Aiyana’s been planning this since she turned ten, and you don’t wanna know how much thought she put into that dress. ”

Right! That was the other thing I knew about the celebration. The dresses were always beautiful and elaborate. How could I have forgotten?

“Thanks. I guess I’ll see you there then?”

“ Si. I’ll get there faster than you, probably.”

I was about to ask if he had a bike when he suddenly lurched forward and was completely enveloped in a massive cloud of steam. I back-peddled, completely in shock, only for a truly giant wolf to spring out of the mass of hot air and sprint away.

Sure, I’d seen some of it when Arietty had shifted, going from a giant dog to a preteen girl, but that was nothing compared to the wall of moisture that billowed out from the young man.

Holy shit, had I just watched a full-grown shifter transformation?

It wasn’t at all how I expected it to go.

First of all, the insane amount of steam had been a huge fucking surprise, but once I thought about it, it made a lot of sense.

The amount of energy it had to take to convert an entire body from one form to another had to be insanely immense.

Like power-an-entire-city immense. No wonder they needed so many calories.

The second thing that struck me was the sheer size that young man’s wolf had been. And that was when I realized the only shifters I’d seen were all either prepubescent or newly pubescent teenagers. As big as they were, they had been straight-up babies .

How big was Cas’s wolf? He was an alpha, and from what I read on the internet, they were huge. Alphas were the biggest in the pack!

I really, really wanted to see what Cas’s wolf form looked like. I’d never really given it much thought. Like, I knew he was a shifter—that was the crux of the only conflict we’d ever had—and yet I’d never put two and two together in my mind.

Was I dumb? Because I was starting to feel dumb.

Matter for another time. For now, quinceanera.

Right. I needed to get my van over to the official building.

Shaking my head, I got back into my vehicle and followed the directions I’d been given.

Sure enough, there was indeed a building right where he said there was, with even more cars parked around it.

The first area I’d ended up in must be the overflow lot.

I was beginning to think that the two massive cakes I’d baked wouldn’t be nearly enough.

When I pulled up, two young men were waiting for me. I was glad to see them there, and I noticed I felt completely safe. Surely, if the Ramirezes had so much hatred toward the McCallisters, they wouldn’t even be able to tolerate my presence.

Together, the three of us got the two cakes and the surprise two-dozen churro cupcakes I’d thrown in to a table inside. I gawked at the wonderful spectacle I saw.

There were no little kids around, and I put together that they must all be out at the area with the bounce house, tent, and other activities that were more appropriate for their age.

What a good idea. It kept them out of everyone’s hair long enough for them to tire themselves out so they could come eat at the main event, then pass out after. Probably saved a lot of stress.

It was the most elaborate setup I’d ever seen.

Practically everything glittered in shining golds and sparkling diamonds.

The overhead lighting was nowhere to be seen, completely obscured by a ceiling that was completely covered with thick, dangling artificial flowers.

At least, I assumed they were artificial.

If they were real, either a very prolific garden had been raided, or a local florist had just made enough to put their kid through college.

Either way, it was truly magnificent, complete with dangling vines and boughs of wisteria.

The party looked like it had everything.

There was a dance floor, a photo area complete with a photographer, the massive food section, and even an area with a whole bunch of couches and recliners where people could take a break from the festivities in more comfortable seating.

Six older people were seated there, and one of the ladies was knitting.

“Y’all really know how to throw a shindig,” I remarked as I took in the garlands of sparkling material, more balloon arches and decorations, and the centerpieces on the table.

And that wasn’t even counting the food. Even from where I was standing by the dessert table, I could pick up the scent of fresh empanadas, tamales, cornbread, collards, oxtail, and all the fixings to make an excellent burrito—authentic and Tex-Mex style.

I needed to get my invoice signed by Sal before I started drooling all over the place.

“Do you know where your alpha is?” I asked the young men who were still examining the cakes.

They didn’t seem critical of my creations, rather more excited than anything else.

I hoped that was a sign that I had done a pretty good job.

Even after all these years and all of my professional experience, I still got nervous upon delivery.

“Uh, no. But I can go look for him.”

“Would you, please?” I asked. I kind of wanted to just stand in place for a bit and take everything in.

It was funny how different but so similar the party was to the McCallisters’ family reunion.

While this was for a singular person, Cas’s had been an excuse to get together after a long, miserable winter.

While the reunion was more informal, this event was clearly done up to the nines.

Even all the attendees were dressed up with women in nice dresses and every man was wearing a tux or suit.

And yet, at their hearts, they were both celebrations of pack. Of the community they had together.

The more I learned about the two packs, the more their rivalry seemed so senseless.

I understood how it started, and I did think the Ramirezes had every right to feel disgruntled about the way they and their ancestors had been treated, but there had to be some way to fix everything.

There had to be a way for peace. I would put money down that Arietty would get along something fierce with Aiyana.

And I knew without a doubt that Gammy McCallister would no doubt love to sit in one of the recliners and knit away while regaling the others with tales of the olden days.

“Hey, you thirsty?”