Page 4 of Unwilling Queen (Kingdoms #1)

Chapter

Four

Colbie

O ver the next few days, the marshmallows prove to be a huge hit. We have twice as many customers coming in to get coffee, and all the tables in our café are full. I’m run off my feet and have doubled the batch of marshmallow creatures. I’ve added wolves and dragons after practicing late one night when the café was closed—not because that gorgeous watchman suggested it, but because it makes good business sense. I heard somewhere that shifters are all apex animals.

Thankfully we don’t serve an evening meal and close our doors at five. Even then, though, I’m running on very little sleep, but I feel so proud when I see all those mugs of coffee and hot chocolate with little floating animals on top.

Both shifters and humans alike seem to find them amusing, and I have had requests for a variety of creatures, so many in fact that we put a suggestion board in the front for people to write their requests.

Justin has been working longer hours and has been a huge help to me. Despite not being the friendliest of people, he is picking up baking skills remarkably fast. Tuesday, I hired a shifter college student who came in asking if any work was available. Once I gained her parents’ approval, I eagerly employed her to work the front counter with Olivia. Violet started off a little shy, but by the end of the week, she fit in like she’s always been here.

I’m busy back in the kitchen when a breathless Violet slams open the door separating the front from the kitchen, and she rushes in and leans against the door with her hand over her heart.

“Oh my goodness. Watch Team One just walked in, and they are delicious. I didn’t want them to smell my attraction,” she tells me when I arch a questioning eyebrow at her.

“That’s a thing?” I ask, scrunching my nose in surprise. “That must get old quickly if someone can smell your attraction.”

She shrugs her shoulders. “Kind of saves time too. No fumbling, awkward rejections,” she reasons.

“Huh, I guess it would.” Being a shifter is way more complicated than I ever knew, but it would save time. I could have avoided a whole heap of embarrassing dates if I had those kinds of clues.

“Yeah. Honestly, it’s not so bad unless you’re in a crowded room full of people attracted to one another, and then it gets a little overwhelming. They sat down, so it’s not going to take long before the café reeks. There are a lot of shifters in here today, all wanting to try the little marshmallows. You wouldn’t believe the sweet tooth shifters have,” she says, and I put down the cloth I was using to clean the prep bench.

“Do you want to stay back and finish doing those dishes while I serve? The smell isn’t going to bother me,” I suggest, not wanting to run my server off in her first week.

Violet is in her first year of college, but the schools are all on a two week holiday to celebrate the retirement and coronation.

She nibbles on her lip, her eyes sliding back to the door as she thinks about it. “Yeah, that would be great actually. I’m not one of those delusional females who thinks they have a chance with Watch Team One, even though they are gorgeous. I go to school with one of their brothers, and he’s just as gorgeous. I avoid him like the plague so he can’t scent how sexy I think he is.” Her cheeks turn pink, and I chuckle.

“Have you ever considered that he might think you’re just as gorgeous?” She’s tall, like most shifters, and has this refined elegance about her. She has long, curly blonde hair that she ties back while at work, striking silver eyes that sparkle when she laughs, and a dimple on each cheek. Hell, I’m half in love with her myself, and I see Justin watching her with a little too much interest for a human toward a shifter. I’ll keep an eye on him and warn him off if I think I need to.

Her mouth rounds, and she shakes her head. “No, of course not. I’m nowhere in his league. His family are all dragons, and his father is general to King Lucas. My family are all simple farmers. No, I know exactly where I sit in the pecking order, and I am fine with watching from afar.”

I frown at her words, wondering if shifter society really is that elitist. I guess it makes sense depending on your animal and level of power, but I hate that this girl doesn’t think she is worthy of more.

“Well then, he doesn’t know what he’s missing. You’re a catch, gorgeous and kind, and I’d wife you up in a heartbeat if I were a male shifter,” I tell her, and her giggles warm my heart as I check my apron to make sure I haven’t made too big of a mess before heading to the front to help.

Wow, she wasn’t wrong. The front is very busy, but Olivia and Justin seem to have a handle on preparation, so I take over Violet’s job of waitressing. I pick up the tablet we use and look around the room. Most tables already seem to have their orders, but there is a large booth in the back full of men who can only be shifters. Each and every one of them is taller and broader than the average human male, and I recognize two of the men as the watchmen who came and got the tiger cub at the beginning of the week. I head in their direction. I can feel the gazes of the two familiar men on me, but I don’t let it fluster me. Their intensity is heavy, but I’ve lived in the neutral zone my whole life, so shifter intensity is nothing new.

I get a good look at them myself. Unlike at the beginning of the week, none of them are in night watch uniforms. All wear a version of jeans and a T-shirt, and I almost want to reach up and make sure none of the drool pooling in my mouth has escaped. Holy shit, they can wear casual clothes like a dream. From what I can see under the table, their jeans mold to their legs like they were painted on, and their T-shirts do nothing to hide the fact that these guys work out a lot.

I plaster on a neutral smile—my customer service face—and stop beside the booth. “Hey, welcome to Glazed and Glorious. What can I get you today?” There are some amused smirks and childish snickers at the name. Yeah, I wasn’t thinking with a teenage boy’s mind when I named my bakery, but I feel like changing it now would just draw attention to the dirty connotations.

“This is her?” one of the men grumbles, and I turn my attention to him, raising an eyebrow at his tone. He has a shock of pure white hair that is longer on top but shaved close to his scalp around the sides. He pushes back his long white bangs and studies me with eyes so dark it’s like looking in a mirror. The stubble on his face matches the color on his head, so I’m guessing it’s natural, which is a little unusual. He has a punk vibe with a piercing in his eyebrow and through one of his lush lips which are pressed tightly together, and I can practically fell his disapproval.

“Yeah, this is Colbie.” Huh, Archie must have told them my name. I wasn’t even sure if he understood what I said when he was in animal form, but I guess he did. “She’s the woman who found Archie when he went missing and rescued him,” the blue-eyed hottie says before smiling at me. “I’m sorry we didn’t introduce ourselves the other day. Seeing Archie in your kitchen was both a shock and a relief. I’m Brodie, and you know Hunter.” He waves at the blond mountain man sitting next to him. His green eyes study me, but I don’t feel any anger or aggression in his gaze, just curiosity. He nods his head in greeting. I turn up the customer service face slightly and give him a more genuine smile. I could tell he really cared about the cub.

“These are our other teammates, Liam and Jeremy, but we call him Gem.” Liam is the grumbly one who stares at me with unblinking eyes, but I ignore the intimidation tactics and turn my attention to the final man in the booth. My breath hitches in surprise. His whiskey brown eyes have flames in them, and unlike the others who are all large, muscular men, this one, although just as tall, is leaner, like a runner or a swimmer, and has a head of unruly dark red curls. His features are slightly more feminine than the others, but they look good on him. His plush lips turn up in a smile as he reaches for my hand. I don’t stop him as he leans over and places a kiss on the back of it. His lips are shockingly hot, and I tear my hand away then frown down at the spot he kissed. It stays warm for a moment before fading.

He smirks and winks. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Colbie, and we can’t thank you enough for looking after Archie like you did,” Gem says, and his voice has a musical quality to it.

Brodie chuckles. “Yes, you certainly made an impression. He went home and told his parents that he is going to marry you.”

I chuckle at his words. “He was definitely a little cutie and very brave. I could do worse,” I joke, shrugging my shoulders and smiling. “And seriously, it’s what anyone would do if they found a lost child.”

“No, actually, it isn’t, though I find it suspicious that he wound up in your alley. It’s a long way for a small cub to run. Are you sure that’s where you found him?” Liam demands aggressively, and I step backwards as Brodie glares at his friend.

“Easy, Liam. Archie corroborated her story. You’re just looking for trouble where it doesn’t exist,” Hunter cautions him, and Brodie rolls his eyes.

“What the fuck is wrong with you, man?”

Gem wears that ever-present smirk as he watches his friends argue. “He’s pissed because Gianna lost her job for cutting off the call when Colbie called the watch. No more after-work booty calls for him. She’s been asked to move out of the watch apartments.” Gem looks like the turmoil amongst his friends is amusing him.

Hunter’s mouth drops open in shock, and it’s the first time he hasn’t looked formidable. “You’ve been fucking Gianna?” He sounds surprised, like it’s the first time he’s hearing about it.

“What the fuck, man? Why would you do that? Our bond is supposed to agree on who we want to be with!” Brodie’s blue eyes blaze with fury, and I step back a little.

“How about I give you all a few more moments to decide? I’ll come back.” I turn and flee, but I don’t even think the shifters notice, so caught up in their own drama. There are a few coffees at the counter, so I take them to the tables they belong to before returning to the counter. They seem to have things under control, so I decide to check on Violet. That scene with the shifters was way too intense, and my stomach feels funny. It’s weird, kind of like I feel jealous about a woman I’ve never even met having sex with a shifter I only literally met and who was kind of an asshole. How ridiculous. Maybe I’m just nervous to be in the presence of four huge shifters.

“How’s it going?” I ask her, slightly breathless, and she looks up from the bowl she is drying and tilts her head to the side quizzically.

“Are you okay? Your heart is racing.”

I wave a hand, trying to make light of the situation. “I’m fine. It’s been a long week. As good as this whole retirement and coronation stuff has been for business, I won’t be sad to see it go back to normal. I’m exhausted.”

“Yeah, it’s ridiculous. All the shifters are edgy too, and a lot more fights have been occurring. I’m almost done here, though, since you just about finished everything yourself anyway.”

“Yeah, I want to go see my mom this afternoon, so I was super organized today. I haven’t seen her for about a week, and we live in the same building.”

Her eyes light up. “Olivia was telling me your mom is Malina Karridge. She’s my hero. She designs such beautiful clothes. I hope I have half the amount of her talent after I finish design school.”

“You want to be a designer?” I ask, surprised. I don’t think she mentioned that before, or maybe she did, and I’ve been so busy this week it kind of just slipped past me. She puts down the pot she was drying and folds the towel over the rail on the oven, nodding enthusiastically.

“Yeah, my family isn’t poor, but we don’t have extra money for designer clothes, so when I saw something I liked and couldn’t afford it, I taught myself to sew. I got a scholarship to Aramis University, and I’m studying both business and design classes. I read somewhere that’s where your mom went.”

Aramis University is located in the neutral zone and is attended by both humans and shifters. I attended some business classes there while I was doing my apprenticeship with a human baker in the human zone.

“Yeah, she did, and how she tells it, it was some of the most exciting times of her life. I’ll have to introduce you to her when she’s not so busy. She’s fully booked at the moment because of all the shifter celebrations,” I tell my new friend who squeals and jumps up and down, clapping. It makes me wonder what kind of shifter she is, but I’m not going to be rude and ask. She will tell me if she wants to, and it really doesn’t matter to me. I hope she doesn’t regret meeting my mom though. You know that saying, never meet your idols? My mom is a lot, and to be honest, she could probably do as much to destroy Violet’s self-esteem as she could to boost it. She’s not callous and mean, but she can be selfish and thoughtless.

“Oh, I wonder whom she’s making dresses for. I read somewhere that she used to regularly outfit the queens. Does she still do that?”

I frown, thinking back to when I was little and spent time hanging out in my mom’s studio on the weekends.

“Um, I don’t know, to be honest. I don’t remember her outfitting queens, but I was a child and didn’t really pay attention.”

“Oh well, it’s still exciting. Now tell me, is Watch Team One yummy or what?” she asks me, abruptly changing the subject, and it takes me a moment to get my thoughts into order. I don’t want to admit that they are the reason I’m feeling slightly off-kilter.

“Yeah, they are gorgeous, but I already met two of them at the beginning of the week. I found a lost cub in the alley, and they eventually came and returned him to his family.”

I didn’t think her face could hold any more expression, but her eyes widen even further, and she waves her hands around in agitation. “You’re the human who found Prince Archie? Holy crap, how did I not know this? There are so many rumors about what happened, but nobody knows the truth, and the royal family has been tight-lipped. I’m sure they tried to keep the fact that he was missing quiet too, but one of the night watch operators has a big mouth, and when she got fired, she blabbed it everywhere.” Her brow creases in a frown.

My mind goes back to the conversation the men at the booth were having. “Are you talking about Gianna?”

Violet’s nose scrunches up, and she purses her lips like she tasted something sour. “Yes, you know her? Ugh, I go to school with her sister Liana, and she’s a witch.”

“Like a real witch?” I ask, and Violet chuckles, shaking her head.

“No, just a regular shifter bitch witch, but she’s awful. She thinks she’s better than anyone else and is going to find herself a powerful bond.”

We fall silent as I work up the courage to ask what I desperately want to know. “Violet, do you mind if I ask a question?”

She shakes her head, smiling at me. “Normally you probably shouldn’t if it’s a shifter thing, but I want you to trust me as a friend and worker, so ask away.”

“What’s a bond?”

“Ah, yeah, okay. So a bond is a group of shifters who have been brought together by the goddess Aramis to share a mate. They are all marked with a matching tattoo above their heart on their seventeenth birthday. They then move into one of the parents’ houses and learn to work as a team. It doesn’t happen to all shifters, and there are some one-on-one matings, but for some reason, there aren’t as many female children born as males, and bond mates sharing a mate makes it so no one misses out. I’d love to be fated to a bond, but I don’t think I’ll be so lucky.” I can hear the disappointment in her tone, even as my eyes widen at the thought of having a relationship with more than one man. Hell, I can’t even keep the attention of one, let alone multiple.

“The females don’t get a tattoo?” I ask.

“Only when the goddess thinks she and her fated bond are ready. It can happen at any time for females, which is why Gianna keeps hoping she will be blessed with Watch Team One’s symbol. It hasn’t happened yet, though, and now that she’s been reprimanded by the king, she’s certainly not going to be welcome at any royal functions for a while.”

“Thank you for sharing. I won’t tell anyone,” I promise her, and she smiles at me.

“I know you won’t. You’re a good person, Colbie Karridge, I can feel it.”

“Listen, do you think you could take that team’s order? They were arguing, so I gave them a few more moments, but I really want to go visit my mom.” I pull the apron over my head and pray that Violet doesn’t notice how nervous and unsettled I feel after seeing those shifters. It’s weird, they are all gorgeous and most of them have been nothing but cordial, but there’s still something that puts me on edge. I really don’t want to go back and have the black-eyed growly man grill me about my involvement with Archie. Nope, it will be better if I steer clear. I do feel a little guilty knowing they are going to smell Violet’s attraction, but if it’s a shifter thing, then I’m sure they are used to it.

She swallows nervously but nods her agreement as I hang up my apron and grab my bag. “Yeah, okay, but you owe me. If Talon ever comes in, you’re going to have to serve him for me.” I’m assuming that’s the brother she spoke of earlier.

“Agreed,” I promise. “Please tell Olivia and Justin where I went. I’ll probably be back later to do some prep, but tell them to lock up when you all leave.”

Tomorrow is the day of the retirement party. There will be a parade through the streets of the shifter zone that is being televised, as is the party, so I’m hoping it might be quieter tomorrow. Then, at the point when the full moon is high in the sky, the next shifter king or queen will be chosen by magic. I will be well and truly tucked up in my bed by then, but I wish the human who gets chosen much luck.