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Lark

Mate acquired.

Our female was in the back seat of our car and all of a sudden nothing seemed good enough. The room we had set up for her. Our home. Our car.

Me.

Reality and my brains kicked in halfway home, and I remembered I had a whole life that called for my attention. My wolf disregarded my thoughts since all of his were on our mate. Nothing but our mate.

And the things he was thinking about, well, he needed to calm the fuck down.

“I need to stop by the bakery on the way home, if that’s okay. I don’t leave it with Jess very often, and I want to make sure she’s not overwhelmed on a weekend.”

“Is that okay?” Rain looked up to meet Evren’s gaze in the rearview mirror.

I turned around. “Just a few minutes. If I need to stay, you can go home, and I’ll come back later.”

“You work at a bakery? I’m sorry. I didn’t see that on the profile. Did I miss it?”

She hadn’t. I’d just stated that I was a small business owner. Didn’t mention what kind.

“No,” I answered. “I didn’t put it. I own the bakery.”

Her lips tilted up in a big smile. “Wow. That’s amazing. I know zero about baking. In the pack, we were encouraged to stick to our own chores. We had bakers, but they didn’t teach anyone.”

We arrived a few minutes later and what she’d described wasn’t how I pictured packs at all. People should share knowledge and skills. That was kind of the beauty of them. And wouldn’t a pack be stronger if people had different talents and were able to explore them?

This was why I didn’t want to be in a big pack. Our pack of three…maybe four was just fine with me.

“Do you want to come in? See the place?”

Evren practically bounced in her seat. “I would love that. Are you sure? I’m not going to get in your way?”

“Not at all.”

We all traipsed inside. Our female stood there, mouth agape, saying nothing. Honestly, I couldn’t tell if she was impressed or weirded out.

“He makes the best of everything,” Rain praised me. “He does have a mild obsession with cornbread, but usually he makes that at home.”

Evren giggled. “I once had a honey cornbread cookie in our local town. It was incredible. I tried to bake at home when I was younger, but we didn’t always have all the things I needed. I can’t believe you get to work here every day.”

Seeing this place through her eyes, what I did, took the mundane out of it. “Maybe you can come with me, and we can bake together sometime. Or at home. We have everything under the sun in our pantry.”

“Really? That would be great. I have all kinds of recipes saved on my social media.”

“Of course. Let me check the front and then we’ll be on our way. I’m sure you’re hungry and need some rest after your trip. Rain? Warren? Can you show Evren around a bit?”

They agreed and I left them in the kitchen while I went to speak with Jess. She ran the place better than I did, but the weekend crowds had been overwhelming lately. Only meeting our mate had kept me away from the bakery today.

When I returned, reassured that things were under control, Warren and Rain had her laughing about something and each of them had a harvest muffins in their hand. They were one of my favorites, and every year, I couldn’t wait for the fall season to come so I could bake them. All the flavors of autumn —pumpkin, pecan, cranberry, the first early kumquats —packed into a muffin with cinnamon-cream-cheese icing. Everyone loved them. In fact, I was surprised there were extra in the back.

“These are amazing, Lark,” Evren said. “I’ve never had anything so good.

My wolf growled in approval. Our mate was in my bakery, eating something I made with my own hands. Our pack surrounded her. Her scent was laced with calm and happiness, quite an improvement.

What a sight.

“I’m glad you like them. They can be the first thing you bake if you want. We sell a ton of them. Some people buy them by the dozen.”