Page 33 of Witchblood
Liam snarled then. “You were dying.Youwere my priority.” He sucked in a deep breath and let a few long moments pass. The tension faded as his shoulders loosened. “My wolf went a little wild, seeing you hurt, dying,again.I don’t remember much of the fight or the wolves. Dylan was with me, but he was still recovering when I fought Warren in the challenge. Carl never met Warren either.”
Liam’s wolf had been in control. Revealing that little secret could get Liam killed. The Volkov killed weres who let their wolves take control.A wolf in control kills not like an animal, but like a raving beast. Not for food or protection, but simply because it craves the taste of blood.If that were true in all cases, Liam would have killed Dylan, Carl, and me as well. Did true mates supersede that logic? Had his wolf’s need for me held him back? Or wasApajust wrong?
“You think Warren and his bunch attacked you to get to me?” Liam asked.
“How long have you been talking about me coming to be your mate?”
He let out a long sigh. “This is my fault.”
“I didn’t say that. Do you know why he was displaced?”
“There were rumors,” Liam said. “Nothing I could confirm.”
“Of?” I pushed.
“Him eating people.”
Yeah, that happened sometimes when weres went rogue. With the strength of the inner beast, some decided they were the dominant species and everything,everyoneelse was just food. “Apafelt there was enough of a reason to give you his territory, to ask you to clean up the problem.”
“No proof. None of his wolves could confirm it. I fought him. He yielded. I’ve never cared to kill a man begging for his life.” Liam’s voice had grown soft, almost as if he were ashamed that he’d let the other wolf go.
“My only point in this is that as a wolf, mercy makes other wolves think you are weak.Apareminded me of that often. It’s why the rules are strict, punishment almost always death, and decisions are made by alphas.”
“An alpha takes on all the errors of his pack. It’s his duty to protect and guide them. If they fail, it’s his failing. His weakness is their weakness,” Liam recited as though it were some werewolf mantra. And it sort of was. Just another thing ingrained in all wolves as they learned to live as human beings again, rather than just raving animals. “My compassion is a weakness.”
It was. But it also wasn’t a bad quality to have, if he hadn’t been a werewolf alpha. “I like your compassion. It’s what drove you to save Toby, even when everyone else has turned their back on him. But it may not be this Warren guy anyway. It could be unrelated. It could just be Felix fucking with me.”
He nodded, but looked buried in thought. “You have good perspective. Let me think. I’ll call around and see if anyone has seen Warren lately. Perhaps the Volkov knows where he is.”
“If I got close enough, I could tell if he was the one who attacked me by smell alone.” Another part of mywitchborncurse. Hyper senses looked cool in the comic books. In real life it just meant I could smell when the guy three rooms down farted or not.
“Not a chance,” Liam said. “If it’s Warren, it’s my battle to deal with.”
“And if it’s Felix, then it’s mine,” I pointed out.
Liam growled again as he pulled into the lot for the bakery.
“It’s okay to be irritated with me for making sense.Apawas all the time too. Sometimes it takes an outside view to see common sense when we’re too close to something.” I flashed him a smile. “Now show me the dough. I need to bake off some of these nerves.”
Chapter 15
The Sweet Tooth was a quiet little place this early in the morning. I’d expected a handful of cars, employees to create the flurry of pastries that people would line up for the next day, but only two other cars were in the lot. Liam parked the SUV and got out. I followed, tired, but a million questions and thoughts running through my mind. I also couldn’t help that the taste of him still lingered on my lips.
Inside already smelled like sugar and yeast. I sucked in a deep breath. All we needed now was some tea and lavender scones. Liam disappeared into another room for a minute, only to return in different clothes, a hairnet, and an apron. He held an apron and net out for me too.
“Racks or mixer?” Liam called out, apparently not talking to me, but the two other wolves I could smell moving about the bakery.
“Mixer,” said one voice.
“Three racks ready,” said another.
Liam pointed me toward the back. The mixer was a monster of a bowl. There were laminated cards with recipes on them. “Just tell me what’s up next and I can start mixing,” I told them.
“Orange raspberry scones,” said a voice from the back again. I thumbed through the recipe cards until I found that one and took stock of my ingredients. Everything was clearly marked and organized. I read through the card twice more, just to be sure, before starting. The first giant bowl of mix was ready before I realized Liam had vanished only to reappear moving carts of trays around. I found a tray to let the dough rise, moving it to a shelf and on to the next.
The scent of sugar, flour, and yeast filled the air. I finished the second and third mixes of different scones, setting them to rise before taking the first to be rolled out and cut. Liam reappeared and took charge of the rolling, going so far as to roll and cut them into triangles fast enough that I was in awe.
“Can you mix some muffins? All the bread is in the oven or resting, we do those the night before so they have time to rise. Sour dough is done every two days. Scones are huge in the morning. Muffins for midday, and bread all day. Adair is working on the pastries.” Liam told me as I filled the baking trays with his cut scones. He rolled and cut, rolled and cut. First batch was done and then I handed him the next.