Page 23 of Violet Moon
Parisa clapped her hands.“Then it’s decided.This is exactly what I was hoping for when I brought the three of us together like this.A pack in perfect harmony.A pack ready for anything.”
“Emmaline!”Sera flung open the back door to the bakery.“I’m ready to bake!”
“Now?”Emmaline replied with a chuckle.
“Well, no, not right now.I have work to do.But in general.I’m ready to try again.”
“Glad to hear it.We could always use another set of helping hands around here.And who knows?You might have a specialty like Parisa’s bread somewhere inside of you.”
“I highly doubt that, but thank you.”Sera rounded a counter and presented her book.“The recipes seemed easy enough.Any suggestions on where I should start?”
“I’d thumb through the pages myself, but I’ve got —” She held up sticky, dough-covered fingers before getting back to work.“Cookies are very forgiving.”
Sera flipped through the beginning of the book.“There’s a whole cookie section.”
“See?A great place to start, then.No matter how they come out, it’s easy to say you intended for them to be that way.Over-baked?You wanted them to hold up to milk.Under-baked?You wanted them to be soft and chewy.”
“I like it.And it’d be nice to move beyond the pre-made dough I buy and still manage to mess up from the store.”
“Do you want some help learning?My offer still stands.”
“I don’t want to bother you.”
Emmaline raised an eyebrow and leveled her stare at Sera.“My offer still stands.”
Sera puffed out a laugh.“Fine.I’d gladly welcome the help.Just not tonight.Tonight’s my night out with Parisa.”A shiver of anticipation rolled through her.It felt like ages since the last time they’d got to be around each other without talking about pack business for longer than a cup of tea by the fire.
“Y’all should really do that more than once a month or so.Lord knows Parisa needs it.And you, too, for that matter.”
“Pack business comes before Alpha and Beta bonding.”
“Your Alpha and Beta bond is the foundation of this pack.It deserves to be more of a priority.”
Downtown Hickorywood smelled like forests, patchouli, and hops.It was filled with hippies and werewolves, hipsters and vampires, and a little of everyone else.It was once a small mountain town with a different name, but the people there had dreams of becoming something bigger, so they renamed it Hickorywood — the Hollywood of the mountains.Over time it grew into a thriving small city with a booming arts scene, artisan shops, and more breweries than anyone could ever need.
Sera stepped into her favorite restaurant and searched for Parisa.She found her at their usual table in a deep navy dress with a matching bow at the collar and a subtle polka dot pattern in the full skirt, sipping a glass of red wine.
Parisa spotted her and raised her wine glass as she approached.“To Alpha and Beta bonding.”
Sera took her seat and reached for the glass that had already been poured for her.“To bonding.”
Parisa took a sip, then held it up again in a mock toast.“To talking about something other than pack business for a little while.”
Sera feigned surprise.“Wait.I wasn’t ready for that.You mean I had to prepare topics besides bakery schedules and the way the washing machine is acting up again?”
“There’s always catching up on the latest gossip.What’s Hugh heard recently?”
Sera sat down her glass and leaned forward, a gleeful smirk on her face.“So, you know that older vampire that’s not part of their coven?Well, you already know about how he and Clemente have butted heads for who knows how long, but do you know where that all started?”
“No, but I have a feeling you do.”
“Oh and it’s good.It’s got everything.”She tapped a finger for each point.“Past relationship.Broken promises.Feuds.Secret meetings of the salacious variety.Fights over prime real estate downtown.I probably shouldn’t have ended on that last one.It’s the least interesting.”
“I don’t know what you mean.Prime real estate is worth more than a secret, lustful affair with an enemy.”She shrugged with a grin.“And I always suspected something between them.”
“Really?I would have never.Hugh acted like I was silly for not seeing it either.”
“They’re so clearly attracted to one another.It’s why they’re at each other’s throats so much.”She puffed out a laugh.“The whole ‘I want you but you’re the actual worst’ feeling.’”
