Page 9 of Violet Moon (Pitch Mountain Pack #1)

seven

“Hugh, I have had a breakthrough!” Sera announced. Pushing her second empty coffee cup to the side, she presented her stack of proof from the bookstore. “I’m going to be less of a mess and way more amazing.”

Earlier that day, she’d stopped by the fairy-owned bookstore downtown and gotten a baking book marketed towards beginners to help her take action, actually do something about how she felt about the whole Gamma situation and about not being a good enough Beta.

She’d also walked out with a new novel with a spicy cover to share with Edgar. She couldn’t leave without a treat.

“My dear, you’re already magnificent.”

“But I can be better.” She splayed her fingers across her new baking book, cover shining with promise.

“And that all starts with baking somehow?”

“We do run a bakery, Hugh.”

He took a sip of his espresso. “This doesn’t have anything to do with your new Gamma, does it?”

“Of course it does! I’m insecure and petty even when I adore the other person. Wil’s incredible and I am going to reach peak Seraphine and be amazing, too.”

“I think you’re selling yourself short.”

“How? I forget things all the time. Important things! I ruin everything I attempt to bake.”

“That’s all part of your charm.”

Sera gave him a deadpan stare. “Is it charming to be incompetent?”

“You’re charming when you’re you. And you’re not incompetent. Faults make us who we are.”

“And what if I want this Seraphine to be a better Seraphine?”

“I would say she’s already the best one.”

“I’ve been enjoying my lengthened life for decades now. A little change is to be expected.”

“Yes, but I would hope it would be theatrical and fun, maybe a bit salacious, not —” He gestured towards Sera’s book. “So wholesome.”

“I’m plenty dramatic,” she defended, laughing.

Hugh leaned back in his chair, his arm draped over the back of it. “You could stand to loosen up a little.”

“Says the man in a suit.”

“Says the woman who’s been in her exact same routines for at least two decades now.”

Sera opened her mouth to retort but found she had nothing. Hugh was right. When life stretched out in front of her without an ever-present threat of ending too soon, she tended to let the years pass by without thinking too much of them.

“Do you remember when we used to go out? Not just for coffee?” he asked.

Sera groaned. “Dancing? In front of people? Yeah, that’s too tiring now.”

“You’re much too young to be so old.”

“I like our coffee dates and our trips to the theater.”

“As do I. Just merely making a point that maybe, if you had to change something about your perfect little self, it’d be something daring.”

Sera pointed to her face. “Daring can wait for after I get the rest of all this put back together.”

Hugh smiled, a gleam in his eyes. “Maybe do something fun with that Alpha of yours.”

“We already go to dinner and get drinks together every now and then.”

“Oh, mon lou lou , you know I meant something far more exciting.”

“Never going to happen.”

“I shall eagerly but patiently await the moment you change your mind.”

“What about you?” Sera deflected, shifting in her seat. “Do you try to change anything about yourself every few years?”

“Why mess with perfection? But honestly, yes I do. Or I try to. Don’t you remember those few years when I tried to dress more casually?

” He said the last word while making a face, voice thick with disdain.

“I like staying the same, but Clemente and I are good for one another in that regard. We’re both very stuck in our ways, but we get annoyed with the other’s stubbornness so we can point out areas for improvement. ”

“And how does Lord Clemente think the perfect Hugh needs to improve?”

“He says I need to loosen up, too.”

“You?” Sera feigned a gasp. “Never.”

“That’s what I said. But by vampire standards, I suppose, I am a tad less adventurous.”

“Maybe that’s why we get along so well.”

“Maybe it is.”

Sera held up her new book. “But all that adventure can wait until after I learn how to bake.”

Sera walked out of the coffee shop feeling like she could actually be the competent Beta Parisa deserved. She decided all this positivity deserved more treats, so she headed towards the faun-run chocolate shop a few stores down.

It often had a line outside, but luckily for her, it wasn’t too busy and she strolled in ready to walk out with treats she’d hide in her room so no one else would eat them and Parisa wouldn't know about all her indulgences ahead of the full moon.

She scanned the chocolates behind the glass until she spotted Jo bent over, picking out more flavors than Sera would dare to in one visit. She considered walking right back out, but before she could turn, Jo turned around.

Their eyes opened wider as they recognized her. “Oh, hi Beta.”

Sera waited for the rest of Jo’s excitable rambling and, when it didn’t come, she waved. “Hey there. Picking out some treats?”

Jo nodded, taking the bag of chocolates they’d picked out from the person behind the counter. “Felt like I could use a pick-me-up.”

Sera searched Jo’s features for a sign of what might be making them less animated than usual. “Me, too. Sometimes we all deserve a little something.” She smiled, expecting one of Jo’s bright grins in return, but Jo just nodded again.

“Alright, well, I’m heading back to the house, so —”

They weren’t acting like themselves. Sera had her own feelings to protect and didn’t want to be in their company for long, but Jo needed someone. “Want to walk back together?”

Jo took a beat to respond. “Sure. I’ll go wait outside until you’re done.”

Sera watched them walk out of the store, then turned her attention back to the chocolates behind the glass.

She took her time picking out some of her favorites, including some seasonal maple bonbons, and purposefully struck up a conversation with the cashier, glancing out the window to see if Jo was still there.

She regretted her offer to walk home together.

She fought the wave of memories that threatened to overtake her and was left with shaky hands, a quickened heartbeat, but only flashes of faces she didn’t want to see in that moment.

Before she stepped out, she popped a mint chocolate into her mouth as a way to bolster her spirits before talking to Jo.

It didn’t do much, but it did taste amazing as it melted on her tongue.

“You ready to go?”

Jo nodded. They had chocolate at the corner of their mouth.

The sight tugged at the lock Sera kept on her more vivid memories, but she started talking to distract herself. “It’s warmer today.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty nice.”

They fell in step together on the sidewalk, dodging tourists who were likely in Hickorywood for all the hiking and breweries.

“Not as chilly as yesterday. Though I kind of like when I need a coat and a scarf. Makes me feel cozy.”

Jo ate another chocolate, but walked along in silence.

Sera waited before asking, “Hey, is everything alright?”

Jo shrugged. “I get like this sometimes. It’s fine.”

“What do you mean? Did something happen?”

They glanced over at Sera. “Nothing happened. This is just how my brain works. Or doesn’t work, I guess. My meds do a pretty good job of managing everything, but they don’t, like, magically take all the bad parts away.”

Sera realized how little she knew about Jo. In trying to avoid them, she’d neglected to learn about the newest member of their family. Guilt settled in alongside the hurt in her chest. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It is what it is.” Jo smiled, a weak, small thing. They raised their bag. “Chocolate helps. It doesn’t actually, but for the brief moments I’m ingesting way too much chocolate, I do feel a little better.”

“Does it happen a lot?”

“It comes and goes. Sometimes it’s not so bad, but this episode is really hitting hard. It’s weird ‘cause so far only Wilma has seen me like this. I tend to hide when I feel bad so people don’t see, but I guess now you’re seeing all this mess.” Jo scrunched up their face. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be! We’re a pack, right?” Sera consoled, knowing she hadn’t been the best Beta for Jo lately.

As she thought of her current family, memories slipped free and she tried to remain in the present and not travel back in time to a warm, happy kitchen that made her heart ache.

“And I don’t mind your mess because I’m a mess, too,” Sera continued, puffing out a laugh to cover up what was happening inside. “That’s what packs do. We share everything, the good and the bad.”

“I needed that reminder. Thanks.” Jo smiled, brighter this time.

Sera saw the face of her younger brother, his smile so wide his eyes crinkled in the corners. Waves crashed behind him and he started to run away from her, looking back to make sure she followed.

“You remind me of someone,” she said each word slowly, as though speaking it out loud would break the wall between her past and her present.

“Someone good, I hope.”

“Someone very good.”

Sera fell silent as they approached the bakery.

Jo was speaking, but she was miles away, somewhere in a town she’d forgotten seeing faces she couldn’t keep locked away no matter how hard she tried.

“Beta?”

Sera’s vision tunneled as she came back into herself. “Sorry, my mind was wandering.”

Jo cracked a grin. “I get that. Thanks for walking with me. I feel a little less like a pile of burning garbage.” They laughed and gestured towards Violet Moon as they got closer. “I’m going to go say hey to Wil. You want to come?”

“Sure,” she replied, welcoming the distraction. “I’d like that. I wanted to ask her about the new piece I saw in the bakery today. It’s gorgeous.”

Talking to her pack wasn’t a distraction. It was a tether. Being around the other members of her pack family was what kept her grounded. Even with Jo around, that connection was what she needed more than anything.

She opened her bag and popped another chocolate into her mouth.

She was going to learn to bake. She was going to be a better Beta. Getting to know Jo was going to have to be a part of that, but Sera decided she could take as much time as she needed.