Page 1 of Candy & Her Saints

CHAPTER ONE

Dough Knot Bakery, Haven

Candy

“Do you think that a dating app can truly find your Alpha scent match?” My brother, Vito, frowns down at the profile on my phone.

His straight, black hair falls over his handsome face.

I smile, however, as hope surges through me. “It claims to have already found me the match. I’ve been talking to them through the app for the last couple of weeks to get to know them. He’s a good Alpha. He’s called Seven.”

Vito’s concerned ocean blue eyes, which are the same shade as mine, narrow. “Wait, Seven…? That’s your lucky number. Hmm, it seems a bit of a coincidence.”

“Must be fated, right?” I chuckle. “You worry too much.”

I focus on boxing up the leftover glazed donuts, giant chocolate chip muffins, and frosted cupcakes on the counter in the kitchen of the bakery that my brother and I run together.

The giant mixers and bread ovens are silent in the shadows of the evening, but the room is warm.

THE DOUGH KNOT is lit in pink writing underneath our donut logo, which is emblazoned along the back wall.

CANDY & VITO are scrawled underneath in our signatures.

The walls are a bright violet, and the floor is a sparkling purple. It makes me happy just to look at them.

Vito and I aren’t twins but we look alike: olive skin, raven hair, and snake tattoos inked on the backs of our hands.

Our tattoos mark us as belonging to the Snake pack. They also connect us in love.

We’re fiercely protective of each other.

It’s why Vito’s hand with his neon blue nails is clutched tightly enough around the phone that he’s threatening to crack the casing, as if he’s imagining that it’s Seven’s neck.

I wince.

I can imagine him interrogating Seven already, probably making sure that he has the right views on the truly crucial questions like whether pineapple should be used as a pizza topping and whether he swears to make me smile at least three times a day, laugh a minimum of twice, and dance once.

Vito will make an awesome Alpha for someone one day.

Vito and I would die for each other.

Dad, Cesare, is Head Alpha of the pack…and a mafia boss.

Vito suffered brutal beatings from him and risked being killed in order to take me away from that life.

Since I’m an Omega, Vito wanted to save me from being forced into a bond against my will. He’s determined to give me a chance at living my own life, where I’m in charge of my own decisions.

He taught me about strength, and every day, I work to show him that Omegas can be as strong as any other dynamic.

Dad allowed us to leave the Snakes’ family home and criminal business, but only if we can pay him enough money every month. We must make up the loss to the pack, which they took from us working and living outside it.

Dad steals so much from us that we’re surrounded by luxury food but struggle along in poverty and constant fear of financial ruin.

We’re always one bill away from our dream business collapsing.

And that’s without our enemy, the tyrannical Mayor of Haven and his cruelly beautiful deputy son, trying to shut us down because we’re Snakes.

Nobody wants disreputable people like us with their fangs close to their elite chests.

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