AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Happy birthday, Erica,” he says with a smile, reaching to shake my hand.
I get up and hug him, feeling like he’s an unofficial brother-in-law. Riley growls and Lincoln takes a step back and laughs nervously, giving Riley a look as if to say it wasn’t his fault.
“No more hugging boys,” I remark when I sit back down on Riley’s lap. “Got it.” I smooth my skirt out and dare to look at his face. His eyes are fiery, and his hand grips my hip with purpose.
“I’m kind of a hugger,” I explain.
“Oh yeah? Well I’m kind of a spanker,” he volleys.
“Save ‘em up for later. You owe me two, right? One for Mitch and one for Linc? Poppa Ace doesn’t count since he’s your dad.”
He eyes me with a dangerous look that I find frankly thrilling.
“Hey, happy birthday, Erica.”
I look back to the line. Mason’s mom Skye is standing in front of us holding a big basket of goodies.
“That basket is from me and several other women. There’s a card with all our names. You’d have gotten it anyway as a welcome to our pack, so we packed extra goodies in here since it’s also your birthday.”
“How sweet!” I exclaim. “I can’t wait to dig into it. Is there more of that honey wine in there?” I take the basket from her and set it on the table.
“Sure is,” she remarks.
“Happy birthday, Erica,” Mason’s father Andrew says.
“Hi.” I say and as I’m reaching to shake Andrew’s hand, he pulls me into a hug and lifts me off the floor.
“Uh oh,” I whisper.
He sets me on my feet.
I can see the mischief in his eyes.
“Oh, aren’t you a pot-stirrer,” I observe while laughing.
Skye rolls her eyes. “Like you wouldn’t believe.”
I look over my shoulder at Riley. “That’s three!”
“Not your fault, little witch, I’ll let you off the hook,” he grumbles, looking aggravated.
“No, no. Three it is. Let’s see how high we can go.”
He leans forward in his seat. “Don’t push it, woman, or you’ll find yourself pleading for me to stop.”
“Hugs for everyone,” I tease.
And people are laughing.
“Sorry. Don’t mind me. Saved it for Riley all my life so feeling like I’ve got a new toy and I’m not likely to ever get bored with it.”
I hear a lot of laughter. And my man’s eyes are lit with so much light I want to cry happy tears. I lean over and kiss him. “I love you,” I whisper.
My joke was for the people up close, which were Mason’s parents and my man. And Amie, Mason, Tyson, and Ivy who are directly behind them. But when I turn back to the crowd I realize my voice either carried much further than that or the vast majority of these people all have extra-sharp hearing.
Duh. Shifter hearing.
I cover my face with embarrassment. “Shit.”
“Around these parts, we have really, really good hearing in case you haven’t figured it out, little lady,” An older man calls from way at the back.
“I’ll try to remember that,” I reply, blushing. “Who’s that?” I ask Riley.
“That’s my grandfather.”
“Oh shit. I’m gonna crawl under this gift table and hide,” I say.
There’s more laughter and then I meet more people, get more gifts, and the whole “meeting the pack” thing is absolutely amazing.
***
There’s been food, music, booze, and laughter. I’ve met so many people I know it’ll take forever to remember names. And I got so many nice gifts. At least as many gifts as I am years old. Cards. Gift cards. A big, homemade card from the kids of the pack. None of them have come to the party, but I’m told I’ll meet them all at the next pack event and Lucy-Mom told me to be prepared for a barrage of questions about being a witch.
I’ve eaten a slice of a giant coffee cake like the one Riley’s aunt made for our time together in Tyson’s cabin.
But it’s layered, about two feet high and is frosted with baby pink cream cheese frosting – my favorite. Riley told me he asked his aunt to make it since I made a request that the coffee cake be my birthday cake every year from now on. And I’m all squishy because he remembered despite that being not long after he got trapped in his wolf’s mind.
He also told me because it was short notice and lots had to be done, his aunt actually got several women to each bake two and it was several cakes that went into the building of it.
Riley and I took turns feeding cake to one another and I’ve whispered in his ear that we should take some home and reenact that original coffee cake scene for breakfast tomorrow… that I might be on his lap now, but I’d rather be connected when we eat some more.
“Better get that coffee cake recipe from my aunt, mate. I think we’ll be eating it often,” he says.
