part0007

My alarm jerked me from sleep. I turned it off, before I glanced at my phone. No texts.

It was silent in the house. No bustling noises from the kitchen, which was strange. Billy was usually doing something in there in the mornings.

Rubbing my face, I sat up. Oh man. I needed to talk to someone. First though, I needed to get dressed and head out to work.

When I stopped in the kitchen, my thermos of tea sat in the middle of the countertop with a note from Billy.

Cider, emergency at a client's house. I’ll see you this evening. We need to talk.

That wasn’t ominous at all. I crushed the note in my hand, balling it up before throwing it in the trash.

Leaving early for once, I started the walk to the rink. My fox was uncharacteristically quiet, her silence filling me as we went to work.

I didn’t have to wait long for a reply.

I snorted. That hurt a little but wasn’t surprising. So, he didn’t tell you that a mate bond happened between us?

“What do you mean you two are mates?” Maya’s voice had a note of excitement in it.

I hopped over a crack in the sidewalk before moving toward the woods as a shortcut to the rink. “It’s a little more complicated than that.” I sighed. “Maya, yesterday was a whirlwind. I have two mates.”

“Well, shit.” She gave a short laugh. “You lucky fox. I’m going to need the full story.”

The rink was around the corner as I hiked up the hill. I wasn’t puffing yet, but I was going to need to sit down once I got to the store.

“When I have the full story, I promise to give it to you. Just don’t say anything to Billy yet.”

“Why don’t you come over in a few days for a session? I know the kids would love to see you. You could even bring your frenemy and brother for some bonding time.”

Maya ran a yoga studio out of her house. But with a twist. All her kids were goat shifters too. She taught yoga with goats. The kids loved it and so did her clients.

What can I say? She and her brother used their shifting abilities to make money. It was impressive. The humans loved it.

“Actually, that’s not a bad idea. I know Quinten won’t be able to say no. He loves Nico and all the others. Text me the details when you want this and I’ll have Igor watch the shop for me.”

Igor was my part time worker. She still worked for Iris’ flower shop, but when we became friends, she’d been bored, so I’d offered her the part time gig. She was also a Venus Fly Trap. She used to have an illusion spell from Iris’ mom, but thanks to a few experiments, her mom created a spell that allowed Igor to actually shift.

I’d have to call her later to set it up once Maya texted me the information. Then I would have to talk to Eirlys and my brother. That would be a fun conversation. Quinten was still a little peeved at me for the glitter catastrophe.

Not to mention that other vampire was probably there as well. My vampire mate.

I just couldn’t stop thinking about that.

“Sure thing, foxy lady. I’ll text you. Have a good day at work! Dang it, Asher, stop trying to head butt your brother!” Maya hung up.

A chuckle slipped out. Asher was an ornery little dude. He’d be a heartbreaker when he grew up.

My fox stirred, her tail brushed against me. She chittered. Well, whatever was bugging her was no longer an issue. At least until her stubborn butt decided it did again.

The rink was in the center of all the shops. The castle on the hill was up on the mountain and easily seen anywhere anyone went.

As I passed Bitchin’ Baubles that was owned by Thora, I noticed a crowd around one of the empty spaces further out from the rest of the stores, a large truck was outside of it with a logo that had me cursing. They were building another shop outside of the ring of stores? It would mess up the aesthetic for sure, not to mention who was building it.

Darcorp was a nationally recognized restaurant. If they were setting up a store here, I was in trouble. So was everyone else. The people around the truck were unfamiliar. A short balding man with a stringy looking mustache was giving orders while looking at a clipboard.

My fox’s hair stood up and she gave a low growl. That made two of us. I flipped the open sign on the door as I unlocked it. One issue at a time. There was only so much I could do at once.

The door to the shop opened and Gray strutted inside. Like her name, her hair was gray and long. She’d been hinting at me when she’d visit sometimes that I needed to come down to her tattoo place, Lady Blue Tattoo, and get one done. I was still trying to decide if I wanted one or not.

“Hey, Cider.” Gray moved with easy grace around the tables to end up at the counter, sitting at one of the stools. “I heard a little fox was seen running off the rink last night. Was that you?” She shrugged out of her jacket, her wolf tattoo with blue eyes vivid in the light.

I cursed. “Really? It’s already all over that I freaked out?” I pulled out my box of loose leaf tea for her to look through to choose. “You look like shit, by the way.”

Flipping me off with her left hand, she pointed to the chamomile tea with her right. “That’s good for a hangover, right?”

“It sure is. With some lemon juice and honey, you’ll be right as rain in a little bit.” I snickered as I started putting the drink together.

“Rumor is that you met Eirlys' dad last night and he scared you so bad for the prank war, you shifted and ran away.”

Almost dropping the kettle that was already hot, I whirled around. “Her dad?”

Gray held her hands up. “It’s true? Do I need to go kick her ass?”

I shook my head, quickly finishing her tea, and handed it to her. “No, he wasn’t mean to me. I barely even said two words. It’s just, er, he, um.” How was I going to admit this?

“He? Stop stuttering.” She blew on the hot beverage before taking a sip with a sigh. “Oh, that’s good.”

“He’s my mate.” My hands went flat on top of the counter as I looked down. He was her dad? Oh, that is so going to make this even more awkward than it already was.

“Your mate?” Gray blinked as she sipped more of her tea. “Well, that sucks.”

“Tell me about it.” If I could bang my head on the counter without risking damaging it, I would.

Once Gray left, I went through the scene from yesterday in my head. Every time I remembered shifting like a child, I groaned. How embarrassing. What must my new mate think of me?

A few customers came in, interrupting my inner battle. Right after them, Candela, the owner of Candela’s Cupcake Shop walked in with her husky, who was always at her side, Jasper.

Looked like my shop was popular today.

She waited while I served the others in front of her.

“Hey, Candela. How are you? How’s it going?” I offered a grin. “I am in love with those vanilla cupcakes with lavender frosting you did the other day.”

“A little stressed. I’m sure you saw that building going up and who it belongs to?” Candela reached down, most likely unconsciously, and rubbed Jasper’s ears. “I’m glad you like the cupcakes!”

Leaning over the counter, I tossed a puppy treat to Jasper. I kept the treats near the cash register. He caught it in mid air and happily munched it.

“Yeah, on my way in this morning. It gives me the heebee jeebees.” I poured a quick iced tea for her in a to-go cup.

“I'm wondering if we have the option to ask the rink owner not to let them in?” I rubbed the back of my neck. “It’d be great if we actually knew who the owner was.

She sipped her drink before shrugging. “It can’t hurt to try to find out. Otherwise, we’re all going to have to band together.” She tried to hand me some cash, but I shook my head. “Thank you for the drink. I’ve got to go.” She paused. “Oh, I almost forgot one of the reasons I wanted to see you. You know Jack?”

“The guy who drives the zamboni?” I knew the Jack she was talking about, but I didn’t want to give away that I oogled him.

Candela grinned. “He mentioned earlier that he needed to talk to you. Something about skates and clothes on the ice?”

I groaned. I forgot about that. My clothes. The rented skates. Now, the zamboni driver had my clothes.

“I see that’s a story you’ll have to share later.” Candela laughed as she left. “Good luck!”

I thumped my head on the counter.

The rest of the day was just as busy. Wednesday’s usually included field trips from the schools in the afternoon skate time. Kids were everywhere. They usually had pocket money from their parents and loved the sweet drinks and popcorn.

It also was the worst day for clean up. That’s why I didn’t see him at first. I was busy scrubbing a table where a kid had left their chewed gum.

“Care for an extra hand?” His voice was deep and from behind me.

My body froze where I was leaning over the table. My fox’s hair moved as she puffed up her chest. I straightened slowly before turning.

He stood right in front of me. There was barely any room between us. His teal eyes darkened as our gazes collided. He was tall, almost as tall as Billy. He wasn’t nearly as muscular, but his body made my mouth water as I moved my eyes down and back up briefly.