Chapter 4
Cecily yawned as she walked down into the commercial kitchen to make the donuts for the day. Although her first day had been an utter bust, once she’d spoken to the alpha about her suspicions of his son’s behavior, the next day had been amazing, and so had every other day after that. Jerris never showed up again, but she was pretty sure he was watching her anyway. She often couldn’t shake the feeling that he was somewhere just out of sight.
With a shiver, she pushed thoughts of him to the back of her mind where he belonged, and got the ingredients for her first batch of donuts ready. Her first week in business was going well and she was thankful for the alpha’s intervention. Calling him had been the right advice.
The front door unlocked, and Andrea called out, “This getting up early is for the birds, C.”
Cecily laughed. “Nah, it’s why the coffee gods graced us with their magical beans.”
Andrea walked into the kitchen. “That sounds perverted.”
“There isn’t anything perverted about coffee.”
Andrea hummed and walked to the coffee pot. “Is this normal coffee or the flavored stuff?”
“Normal.”
She poured a cup and joined Andrea at the counter. “Anything new today?”
“I’m doing a stuffed black and white donut.”
“Huh?”
Cecily chuckled and gestured to a tray of donuts on the counter. She’d fried vanilla cake and chocolate cake donuts, cut each in half, and sandwiched the two different flavors together with buttercream frosting. The tops were decorated with vanilla and chocolate drizzle.
“Adorable!” Andrea lifted one from the tray and took a bite. “Oh yum. Where did you get the idea?”
“Online.”
“Thank goodness for the internet.”
Andrea finished her donut and refilled her coffee, and then went to turn on the sign and open the door. Cecily turned her attention back to the donuts, when she felt a strange presence in the kitchen. The hair on the back of her neck stood up and something within her was sending out a warning.
She spun with the frosting bag in her hand and let out a scream when she saw Jerris slink out of the shadows. He snarled at her, flashing his fangs.
“I was punished,” he said, growling the words. “I offered to help, and you got me in trouble.”
Cecily would have backed up if she wasn’t already pressed against the counter. Andrea rushed into the kitchen and skidded to a halt. Then she moved to stand between Cecily and Jerris.
“What the hell?” Andrea shouted, pulling her phone from her pocket. “Alpha Irvine told you to stay away from here.”
“You’re both bitches,” he spat. Then his demeanor changed from menacing to smiling so swiftly that Cecily wasn’t sure she hadn’t stroked out. “My wolf has chosen you, Cecily. Why do you insist on this distance between us? You need me.”
Cecily shuddered. “I’m not your mate, you loon! I don’t need anything from you but for you to get gone. Now! And don’t come back!”
“Alpha, it’s Andrea. Jerris broke into the donut shop’s kitchen and is threatening Cecily.”
Jerris growled and melted back into the shadows. Cecily’s heart pounded as she moved toward the darkness, using her phone’s flashlight to illuminate the area. The short hallway led to a storage room and a back door that Cecily kept locked. It stood open now. She shone the light on the deadbolt and saw scratch marks, which told her he used a pick to open it. She had no idea when he opened the door, or how long he’d been standing in the darkness, but the hopeful part of her was sure that he’d only just walked in. He could have had her alone if he’d come in any earlier. Slamming and locking the door, she returned to the kitchen.
“The alpha’s sending some of the males to stand watch for the day,” Andrea said as she pushed her phone back into her pocket. “He said he’ll deal with him.”
“He said that last time,” Cecily pointed out.
Now that the danger was gone, her whole body trembled, and Andrea had to lead her to a chair to sit down before she passed out.
She sipped at a bottle of water and tried to wrap her head around what had happened. “Why won’t he leave me alone?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never heard of a male saying a female is his mate without there being a mutual attraction. A wolf shouldn’t want to tie himself to someone who isn’t interested in him.”
“Shouldn’t, but he clearly does.”
“Hopefully whatever the alpha does will get it through Jerris’s thick head that he needs to move the hell on from you and find his real mate. In the meantime, I’m going to come to work with you.”
She shook her head. “It’s too early for you.”
“Well, yeah, but I really can’t complain. I work from 5:45 in the morning until 1 p.m. I can be here an hour earlier. Plus, maybe you can teach me how to make some things, so I can be more useful.”
“You’re already useful.”
“Useful-er.”
She smiled. “If you’re sure. I don’t want one whack-a-doodle making me change my whole life.”
“I promise it’s no hardship. We’re best friends. I don’t think he will try anything again – first because of the alpha, but also if there’s a witness here, which will be me. And maybe you should think about getting some kind of security, too.”
“I would if I had the funds.”
“We’ll add that to the list of things we need.”
“And lottery tickets. That would be helpful.”
“You got it.” The bell over the front door rang and Andrea said, “First customers of the day. Put the bad stuff away and focus on the donuts. It’s going to be a good day.”
She smiled at Andrea’s positivity, but didn’t really share it. Jerris was an ass, and he was delusional and aggressive to boot. She wasn’t sure if having Andrea there earlier in the mornings would make a difference, but she hoped that she’d never see Jerris’s face again.
* * *
The day passed quickly, and Cecily finished the dishes and got the recipes ready for the next day. Andrea packed up the unsold donuts to drop off at the mini-mart to sell at half-price.
“What should we do about the door?” Andrea asked as she stood in the kitchen and stared down the hallway.
“I’m going to the hardware store and I’ll install a padlock.”
“Can you do that?”
She shrugged. “I have a cordless drill, it shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Okay. We had a good day today, right?”
“It was definitely better once that creep was gone.”
“For damn sure.” Andrea took off her apron and hung it on the peg. “See you tomorrow at 4:45.”
“You do know I get here at 4:30, right?”
“Damn it. I was counting on that extra fifteen minutes. Okay, I promise to be here, before the crack of dawn.”
“You’re the best.”
“You know it. Feel free to give me a raise to show your appreciation.”
Cecily laughed and said goodbye to Andrea. She finished cleaning and prepping for the next day, and then locked the front door and got in her car. The nearest home improvement store was forty-five minutes away, and she decided to see what kinds of security items they carried so she could gauge how much she needed to save up to equip the shop. A padlock was something, at least. If Jerris did return and try to get in the back door, she’d definitely hear him break the door down, and she and Andrea could get to safety and call for help.
But what she really hoped was that he’d turn his attention to someone else and forget all about her.
It would have been nice if her Mr. Right was the one paying so much attention to her, but her luck was not that good. Instead of finding the guy of her dreams, she was stuck with a lunatic wolf who thought breaking into her shop was romantic.