Page 31 of Claimed

Hunter strokes his fingers through my fur as we move toward the display case, filled with the most delicious-looking desserts I’ve ever seen.

Bain steps up behind me, and I quickly glance at him. His eyes meet mine, and I feel something there, like an understanding. As if at that moment, we are both remembering what happened last night. He nods, and I turn back to the display case as an excited Chase moves to my right and starts pointing out all the ones he wants to try. Which is literally every one.

“Hi, I haven’t seen you folks before,” the man behind the counter says. I can tell he’s supernatural, but he doesn’t feel like a shifter. I take in his appearance. He’s covered with little splatters of flour all over his red apron, suggesting he helps to bake the goods here. He’s about Maddox’s height with short brown hair and black-rimmed glasses.

“Are you new to town?” Another man asks as he steps up to his side. He’s wearing a matching apron in blue and is about an inch taller. He leans on the counter and tilts his head at us, a small smile on his lips as he looks at each of my guys.

“Yeah, we just arrived two days ago,” Maddox answers. “We were told we had to check this place out.”

“Well, we’re honored this was one of your first stops! Are you visiting or moving here?”

“Moving,” Gage answers.

“We actually get to move into our new home today,” Chase says with a grin. I can’t help but dance on my feet, shuffling my weight back and forth with excitement. That house we visited yesterday was beyond amazing, and I am more than ready to get out of that hotel room.

“Wow, that's fast! You must really like what you’ve seen so far,” the man with the red apron says.

“Definitely better than living with our old pack, or living with humans,” Hunter says, and the man nods.

“Are you wolves?” The blue apron man asks, making Chase laugh.

“What gave it away?” he says, leaning down to pet my head. Both men's gazes follow Chase’s arm down to me, then their eyebrows lift in surprise.

“Oh! I didn’t even see her there!” The red apron man says in surprise.

“What’s your name, beautiful?” the other man says, immediately making Chase and Bain growl.

He stands up tall and takes a step back, holding his palms out toward us as he quickly shakes his head. “I didn’t mean anything by it. I just meant that she is a pretty wolf. I have my own mate!” he blurts out.

“Are you flirting with our customers again, Philip?” a woman says teasingly as she pushes through the door from the back and steps between the two guys. She crosses her arms and stares at the blue apron man, Philip, as if waiting for an answer.

He gestures toward me as he tries to explain. “Erica, love bug! I just said that she’s a pretty wolf!” he says in defense, and she glances over at me, a little surprised. Is it because I’m red? Or because there’s a wolf standing in her bakery? Does that break some sort of health code?

“Will you ever forgive me?” he asks, sticking his lower lip out in a pout.

She presses her lips together and narrows her eyes at him before she drops her displeasure altogether and smiles at him. “You know I can’t stay mad at you.” She steps toward him, and he immediately kisses her. It’s brief, and when they pull apart, they’re both smiling.

“Sorry about that,” she tells us. “Now, what can we help you with?”

That’s a loaded question. Of course I want every pastry in here, just like Chase said. But we actually came here because Peggy had made it seem like it was important that we check this place out. She just hadn’t told us why.

“Our realtor, Peggy, told us to come here,” Maddox says, clearly hoping that will clue them in on something.

It doesn’t.

“That’s so sweet of her!” Erica says as she moves behind the display case. “Her favorite is the lemon tart, if you wanted to try that?”

Maddox glances at Gage then asks, “Is there any sort of… new resident special or something?”

Erica frowns, then looks at the pastries before she shrugs. “Well, I could give you twenty percent off your order today. A welcome to town special, we’ll call it.”

“No, that’s fine, we can pay full price,” Gage says as Chase and Hunter start pointing out pastries for Philip and the other man to box up for us.

Gage leans on the counter as he says a little quieter, “Peggy just made it seem like it was important to come here.”

The man in the red apron places a box filled with pastries on the counter and closes it as he shakes his head and laughs. “That woman bleeds Starfall Haven. I’m surprised she didn’t give you a list a mile long of must-visit places.”

“We’ll see her shortly when we close on the house, so maybe she still will,” Gage tells him.