The Alpha Wants Everything Book 2 The Devil's Baker
Chapter 25: Surgical Scissors!

Rounding the corner she saw Adam standing there, he was throwing a fit at the desk.

“The fuck do you mean the doctor is busy? Look at me, I need attention now!” He was screaming at Nurse Rogers. One eye was swollen shut, his nose appeared to be broken and his upper lip was split. His cheeks were swollen, he looked like someone took a bat to his face and he whistled when he spoke due to his missing front tooth. Blood seeped through a poorly done bandage on his hand, he was unstable on his feet and he was clutching the ribs on his left side. He oozed anger and Kenzi’s immediate reaction was to back away. Her fear flooded the area and she began to shake her head, praying he wouldn’t or couldn’t notice her.

“KENZI!” He screamed, hatred pooled in his only semi open eye when he saw her standing there. Flinching at his tone she backed away further.

“This is your fucking fault.” She shook her head vigorously, but never took her eyes off him.

“Yes it is! Get over here….NOW!” She shook her head more and continued to back away from him. Doctor Martin put himself in between Kenzi and the barely standing man. He had no idea what was going on, but judging by the fear he felt coming off of his Luna, this man terrified her and could possibly be responsible for her current condition.

Adam made one small movement towards her and she moved faster to get away till her back slammed into a wall. She released an audible gasp at the pain that ripped through her and fell to the floor. Fighting through it she scrambled to her feet and took off down the hall to hide. Her only thought was to get to safety. She wanted Adonis.

“Alright sir that is far enough” Dr. Martin stepped in,

“That bitch did this to me!” Adam snapped at him,

“I can assure you she did not” Dr. Martin replied, he did a quick assessment of his injuries. No, Luna did not do that to him. This was the work of two demon brothers.

“She’s the reason this happened to me” He snapped again,

“I don’t believe she is. You need to settle down, I can not have you in here disrupting or scaring my patients.” Dr. Martin returned,

“I am a patient!” Adam gritted through clenched teeth,

“Not one of mine!” Dr. Martin growled back,

“You’re a doctor aren’t you, then you need to treat me” Adam barked at him, looking over his shoulder to see that his Luna was gone, he thought briefly about just throwing him out of the clinic. There was a walkin down the block, but that would put him right in her path.

“I will treat you this one time, but then I don’t ever want to see you back in my office again. The walk-in clinic will be better suited to you.” Dr. Martin ushered him down the hall in the opposite direction Kenzi ran and put him in a room. Stepping out into the hallway he called his Alpha.

“Dr. Martin….what’s wrong?”

“Someone came in, pretty badly beaten. Saying Luna was responsible for what was done to him”

“Elijah go with him, where is she now?”

“I don’t know somewhere in the clinic, her flight response kicked in and she’s hiding somewhere”

“Can’t you smell her?”

“That’s the interesting part, no I can not. I only smell cookies”

“What?”

“My thoughts exactly! I don’t understand it either, but she has no scent other than cookies not even when she was afraid”

“Where is it now?”

“In a room, I thought it better to attend to it then leave it out there with Luna”

“Tyler and Elijah are on their way”

“Will he stay in line?”

“Elijah will make sure of it”

Tyler hit the door for the clinic ten minutes later, Elijah was right behind him.

“Where he at?” Tyler snarled. “I’ma rip him limb from limb”

“Tyler stop!” Elijah yelled, they had drawn the attention of the nurse behind the desk. Elijah pushed him down the hall away from the nurse’s desk.

“You can’t go back there” She yelled following them down the hall,

“SIT DOWN!” Elijah glared back at her, his eyes narrowing on her. The nurse swallowed hard and backed up to retake her seat at the desk.

“I smell him, I’ma kill him this time” Tyler moved towards the door he caught Adam’s scent from.

“TYLER!” Elijah yelled, using his authority. Freezing in place, Tyler turned to face Elijah, eyes wide in disbelief.

“What is your job?” He asked him,

“Protect Luna!” Tyler replied,

“Where is she?” Elijah asked,

“Don’t know!” Tyler replied,

“Then do your job and replace her” liquid gold swirling in his eyes, Tyler bared his teeth at Elijah.

“Don’t you pull rank on me again Eli” Tyler warned him, but did as he was told. The only one that ever pulled rank was Adonis, it was something that rarely happened amongst the others.

“The fuck happen?” Jackson asked,

“That son of a bitch showed up, blamed her for what happened. Now they can’t replace her, she’s hiding somewhere in the doctor’s office and Dr. Martin can only smell cookies.” Adonis said, looking at Jackson. Jackson’s eyes widened, then he glanced over at Maggie then glanced back at him.

“She knows!” Adonis said, running his hand through his hair,

“Wait! What?” Jackson arched an eyebrow, confusion crossing his face.

“Long story! But a handful of people know” Adonis replied,

“Joe know don’t he? That why he never stop us that night” Jackson said, looking at Maggie.

“It doesn’t matter what you are, he didn’t stop you because that son of bitch deserved what he got. If you ask me, you should have killed him that night.” Adonis looked at her eyes widening,

“I like her!” Jackson replied laughing, only to stop abruptly, as a growl escaped him. ….grrRrRrRrRRRrRrRrRrrr…. His eyes swirling liquid gold.

“Reign him in Jackson” Adonis growled,

“.....grrrr…..I can’t…..grrrr…..Ko’s pissed…..grrrr…..he feelin Bal’s anger” Jackson growled out,

“Get in the back” Adonis ordered, pushing Jackson towards the kitchen pulling his phone out at the same time.

“The fuck Elijah!” He barked when the line connected.

“Bal’s pissed. I won’t let him rip Adam to pieces. I had to pull rank. I’m already hearing it from Asmodeus. And we can’t replace her” Elijah spoke back trying to suppress his own growl,

“What?....How does she not have a scent?....Cookies?....Tyler smell for….cookies….don’t look at me like that!” Elijah said to him.

“We’ll replace her, hopefully before Tyler sees Adam.” Elijah said, then the line disconnected.

They searched the rooms again, this time at least they had a scent to use. Cookies, it was the last thing she was making before she got kicked out for her appointment. One door opened, one room sniffed, one door closed. One after the other Elijah and Tyler opened doors and sniffed for cookies. Coming to the last door at the end of the hallway, Elijah opened it, took a smell. A scent hit him, something he hasn’t smelt since he was a young pup. An image of an older woman flashed before his eyes and then she was gone.

“I got her” He breathed a sigh of relief. Rushing down the hall and into the room Tyler looked everywhere. Then they saw the bank of cabinets along the wall.

“Her lil a nuff” Tyler said,

“Clever girl!” They started opening the doors to look for her.

Kenzi sat jammed in a cabinet farthest from the door covering her mouth. She didn’t want to be seen or heard. Adam looked murderous when he saw her, she didn’t want to wait around and replace out what he’d do this time. She followed her first instinct to get away and hide till it was safe to come out. Now she sat there hiding in the cabinet waiting for safety, she sat waiting for Adonis. He made her feel safe, he’d make sure nothing happened to her. Her back was protesting and spasming, she was biting back whimper after whimper as the pain shot through her in waves. When she heard the door to the room she was hiding in open the second time and muffled voices, her heart jumped into her throat. It wasn’t Adonis, he tells her it’s him. She didn’t know who was in the room, but it wasn’t the man that made the monsters go away. Grabbing a hold of the first thing she could replace to use as a weapon, she waited, hoped, prayed they wouldn’t replace her and just leave. The cold metal pressed hard against her hand as she gripped it tighter when the cabinet doors started to open and then close. When the cabinet she had shoved herself into started to open her breathing increased, she felt herself starting to fall forward and she gripped her hand around her weapon tighter. When the door fully opened she tumbled out into a pair of arms she didn’t recognize, eyes shut tight, she brought her hand down as hard as she could.

“KENZI!” Tyler grabbed her hand as fast as he could before she plunged the weapon she was holding into Elijah’s chest. Her eyes snapped open recognizing the raspy voice immediately. Then she looked to see whose lap she had fallen into. They stared at each other wide eyed neither saying a word.

“Let’s put the scissors down Kenzi” Tyler said, taking the scissors from her.

“T-Ty-Tyler!” She glanced at him then back to the man, she knew him, he was Adonis’s friend. His name was just escaping her at this moment, looking back to Tyler, then down to the scissors he was now holding. Her eyes went wider, her hands flying to her mouth when she realized what she almost did.

“Oh my….Eli-Eli-Elijah….I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I-I-I didint, I didint mean to. I di-didint know, I th-ough-t you were….I’m so sorry” the words just kept falling from her mouth.

“It’s ok Kenzi, no harm done” Elijah looked from her to Tyler then back to Kenzi.

“Yeah, no harm done.” Elijah agreed, though he would beg to differ, had Tyler not been there he would have been stabbed with a pair of surgical scissors. Touching his chest where they would have penetrated, he breathed out a relieved sigh.

“I’m sorry Elijah I didint mean to almos stabbded you” She said,

“It’s ok” He replied,

“I think I need a drink” She breathed out,

“Me too!” Elijah agreed, still touching his chest.

“Do you drink bourbon?” She asked,

“I think I will today” He replied, nodding

“I has some at the bakery” she too nodded her head,

“Yup, that sounds good!” Tyler made a big fuss over her as he helped Kenzi to her feet. Her back protested the movement, but he had to make sure Adam hadn’t touched her again as he checked her over. Running into Dr. Martin on the way out of the clinic he had given her some compression bandages and an instruction sheet on how to apply them, however she would need help with it. He also reminded her about her appointment on Wednesday and that she was to wear dresses for the next little while and not pants. She thanked him again and headed back to the bakery.

As they walked back into the bakery, Kenzi and Elijah headed straight towards the kitchen.

“The fuck up wit them?” Jackson asked, Tyler went to explain, but he couldn’t keep a straight face. He was replaying the whole scene over and over in his head. Kenzi falling out of the cabinet into Elijah’s lap, her eyes closed tight as she tried to stab a shocked wide eyed Elijah with a pair of scissors. He broke out laughing, it was the funniest thing he’s ever seen.

“Her….her….try to….s-stab….Eli….Eli….wit a pair….wit a pair….of….sc-scis-scissors” He finally choked out.

“WHAT?” Jackson and Adonis yelled at the same time.

“Shoulda….seen the look….on his….face” Tyler laughed harder. They waited for him to calm down enough to explain to them what happened.

“Wow! Her got epic people stories. I scare her into a bush, met you by opening the door on my face and her jus bout stab poor Eli” Jackson remarked,

“I don’t know who more shock, Eli when her tumble out the cabinet wit scissors or her when her realize her jus bout stab him. I still fuckin hungry though. Patrick?” Tyler asked, looking at Jackson who nodded and the two brothers headed out of the bakery towards the diner to get food. Tyler once again animatedly telling the story of Kenzi almost stabbing Elijah with scissors.

“Don’t look shocked Maggie, he’ll tell and retell that story until one of them gets a new one and they’ll continue to replace it funny every time. It’s who they are. There’s a reason they are referred to as demons.” She shot him a questioning look. “Say church bell crush a whore to them and watch them crack up,” Adonis said.

“You should go check on her,” Maggie replied, shaking her head at what he just said to her.

“I don’t think I people well,” Kenzi said as she handed Elijah a mug with bourbon.

“Thank you!” He took a quick drink to calm his nerves before he added. “It’s not that you don’t….people well, you just have really memorable encounters.”

“Yeah, I don’t think eizer one of us will forged that anytine soon.” She replied, after she took her own drink.

“No, that’s definitely ingrained in my memory” He said,

“I’m really sorry, I th-ough-t you were some-one else. I’m happy I didint stabbded you with a pair of scissors though” She said,

“That makes two of us! Especially since your eyes were closed” he replied,

“Well I didint want to see it.” He couldn’t help it, Elijah started laughing, then she started laughing. When Adonis walked into the kitchen they were both laughing uncontrollably.

“I don’t know what was worse, you falling out of the cabinet, you wielding a pair of scissors, or you trying to stab me with your eyes closed” Elijah joked, making her laugh harder.

“I’m gonna go with falling out of the….cab-in-et, I had my eyes closded for ez-ry-thing else.” She countered, making him laugh more.

“Good to see you two don’t dislike each other after your encounter at the clinic.” Adonis said after their laughter subsided,

“How one could dislike her, I don’t understand.” Adonis watched her cheeks turn pink at what Elijah said. “Thank you for the drink Kenzi, it was nice to officially meet you”

“You’re welcome Elijah, it was nice to of-off-off….meet you as well, ness tine I won’t has scissors” She smiled up at him.

“I would appreciate that, but if you do, please keep your eyes open” He replied, smiling back at her. Mr. Serious likes our mate. Told you she was special! Odin gushed in his head.

“Her fight response was instinctive, at least you know push comes to shove she will defend herself. Albeit with her eyes closed, but had Tyler not grabbed her hand she would have hit me dead in the chest” Elijah whispered low as he walked past Adonis to the front.

“How are you doing sweetheart?” He asked her,

“It’s ok, it’s not important. You should be ass-king Elijah how he’s doing. I jus tried to stabbded him with scissors with my eyes closded” she replied, taking a drink from her mug.

“I think Elijah is ok. I’m asking you” He moved across the kitchen to stand in front of her. He took the mug from her hand, took his own drink and put it on the counter beside them.

“It’s ok, I’m fine, it’s not important” He was growing tired of hearing her say that. It’s bad enough others said it to her, she didn’t need to be saying it herself.

Impulsively he pressed his lips to hers. Kenzi was startled at first but soon found she was kissing him back. He could taste the bourbon she was drinking, the currents that were ripping through him and he wanted more. This was why kissing her to make her stop saying things weren’t important was not a good idea, and he didn’t want her to think that kissing her was a punishment. He pulled her closer, until she was pressed against him. He wanted to move his hands over her body, but now was not the time. When they parted, both were breathing hard.

“What did I say about that? You almost stabbed my friend with a pair of scissors, don’t tell me it’s not important” He held her to him, he felt a shiver rip through her, but it wasn’t the good kind.

“I was scarded” She whispered so low, that even with his hearing he almost missed it.

She melted into his touch, into his embrace. The safety she felt washed over her. What happened at the clinic with Adam earlier was terrifying, but in his arms the fear couldn’t get to her, because Adam couldn’t get to her, no one could. Feeling the pull stronger than before, she didn’t know why, she didn’t understand why, but she didn’t want to fight it. She let go, gave in and melted into his embrace burying her face into his chest taking in his masculine scent.

“What did the doctor say?” He finally asked after a good few minutes.

“He wants to see me again on Wednesday. To keep icing my back and to take it easy.” she mumbled into his chest. “He also said I can’t wear pants for a liddle bit.” He released a deep chuckle at the huffing sound she made against him.

“Guess you better remember to wear panties all the time.” Though he couldn’t say he would be terribly upset if she didn’t.

“Right! I would-int want to be catchded without them” she replied, “He also gave me tape to put on my back, but it’s not duck tape.”

“Duct tape” He corrected, trying not to laugh,

“It’s not duck tape?” She returned,

“No, sweetheart it’s not” He replied “What kind of tape did the doctor give you?”

“It’s….com….impreson tape.” she replied adding “I gedded it in rainbow colours.” He pulled back from her for a bit looking rather confused.

“Impreson tape?” He asked,

“Imperson tape?” Judging by the look on his face, she got the name wrong. She pointed to the bag that was sitting on the table and he took a look.

“Compression tape!” He said,

“Conpreson!” She tried, but failed again when she saw the look.

“Com-press-sion!” He immunciated the word for her.

“Com-press-sion….comp-compression!” She repeated what he said, then smiled when she got it right. His mate had some secrets indeed, what he had discovered seemed to be just the tip of the iceberg.

“There’s inst- a sheet on how to apply it, but he said I’ll has dif- dif….trubble doing it myself” she added.

“Are you wearing some?” Please say no, please say no, please say no!

“No!” The Devil gets his wish! “Adam showded up, and then I tried to stabb-ed Elijah with scissors and then Tyler starded fussing over me. Making sure I wasn’t hurt” he could hear in her tone that she didn’t understand why Tyler would do that.

“Let’s get some on then” He finally pulled away from her to get some of the tape out of the bag.

“What colour would you like?” He couldn’t hide the grin on his face, she said she got it in rainbow colours she wasn’t kidding.

“I like rainbows!” She stated,

“Fair enough” he pulled blue, green and purple from the bag and the instructions. Quickly reading over them he put it off to the side.

“You’ll have to lean over the table, to pull your back tight” doing as she was told, her bottom was now sticking out. The images that entered his mind at the sight, had him taking several deep breaths. I’m a bad bad man! Can I bite it? NO! What? I can see what you’re thinking! Shut up Odin! He lifted her shirt up after taking a few more breaths to collect himself. With the lights of the bakery the scars on her lower back were more clear, they went in every direction. Long, short, wide, narrow. Some looked like they were deep, others on the more shallow side. There were so many of them, his heart hurt and his blood boiled as he took in the sight of them, keeping control of Odin in his head was becoming more difficult. Between his want to bite his mate’s perfectly round firm perky ass and the anger he felt towards seeing not only the massive bruise but the scars as well was taking everything in Adonis’s control. Gently running his hand over the bruise, he heard her hiss at the pain that shot through her but she stood firm at the table.

“I know sweetheart. I’m going to do my best to make this hurt as little as possible, but it is going to hurt.” Hope this doesn’t get us buried in the woods! Odin whimpered in his head. As gently as he could he placed the first piece of tape over her lower back. She whimpered as the pain shot through her and her knees threatened to go but she still held herself. The tape to her right went much easier. When he placed the tape across the left side and came in contact with the bruise, wanting to both gasp, cry out and hold it all in, the noise she produced was strangled, but the pain registered through her body.

“Ok sweetheart. Shhh all done” he gathered her back into his arms, helping her work through the pain.

The bandage should offer immediate relief from the tension on her back, but touching the sensitive skin of the bruise was extremely painful for her. Once again lifting her to his waist he helped her ride it out. He let her work through everything she was feeling, everything she buried and tried to keep hidden. Everything she fought not to show. Once again she cried into his neck, her tears dampening his shirt as she let it all go. Stopped fighting it all back and pushing it down. He held her close, one arm around her shoulders, his hand gently massaging the back of her neck while his other rested wrapped around her hips. The only thing different this time was she had her arms wrapped around his neck and her legs were tight around his waist holding herself to him. Clinging to him as if he were her only life line. Maggie stood at the kitchen door watching the interaction between the two. She had come back to tell them that the boys were back with lunch, but she didn’t want to interrupt what was happening in the back. Her little honey child got a real man fussing over her. The way he adorned her with affection, the way he touched her, held her. Showed her that it was ok to crack. He didn’t shy or run away when there were tears, he didn’t tell her to stop or quiet her down, he waited till she was done, he held her and waited till she was ready, Maggie would not interfere with that. Instead she just placed their food on the work table and walked back out of the kitchen, leaving them alone.

The rest of the day went by in a blur of activity, the bakery was busy until close with people coming in to buy The Falling Star Festival treats. Adonis and Maggie switched back and forth between helping Kenzi in the kitchen and working the front.

“Are you going to The Falling Star Feztisval Maggie?” Kenzi asked when Maggie was in the back with her.

“Not this year. Patrick and I are setting up lawn chairs in the front yard to watch it, what about you? Are you watching from the roof again this year?” She replied as she rolled out the remaining pie dough.

“No, Teagan said she’d meet me in the park and we’d watch it together,” Kenzi replied with a smile, the excitement showing in her tone. Usually she watched it on the roof of the bakery alone, but this was the first time she was going to watch it with someone else.

“Oh, well that’s nice,” cutting the disdain from her voice. Maggie had a suspicion Teagan would blow her off again, she wondered what Mr. Wolf would think about that.

“Well that’s the last of the brookies and the cake cookies” Kenzi said as she popped the trays into the oven.

“Here’s the last of the pie ones,” Maggie added, handing her the tray.

“I can’t believe we almos sold out” Kenzi said, sitting down for the first time all afternoon.

“I can. Your baking is just too damn addicting” Maggie countered taking a seat beside her. Kenzi’s cheeks turned pink at the compliment.

“Thanks Maggie!”

“I’m gonna cash out, and kick our handsome helper to the back.” Maggie said standing up. “He’s been helping out a lot around here,” she added, moving closer to the door.

“He’s jus trying to be nice” Kenzi replied,

“Mhmm! I’m sure that’s all it is” Maggie countered,

“It is! He’s jus a nice guy” Kenzi replied,

“He is a nice guy….a nice looking guy” Maggie said. Kenzi’s mouth dropped open and her cheeks darkened.

“Mhmm! That’s what I thought” Maggie nodded her head,

“We’re jus friends Maggie.” The look on Kenzi’s face told her she was smitten with Adonis, even though her body language was trying to deny it.

“Right friends! You both just wanna be friends. You should just kiss him” again Kenzi’s mouth dropped again,

“Maggie! I can’t jus kiss him” Kenzi exclaimed, her blush on her cheeks darkening even more. Maggie just chuckled and shook her head leaving Kenzi in the kitchen. What happened earlier and the other night flooding her memory like a freight train. How his lips felt on hers, the way they moved with hers, the electricity that surged through her. She’s only felt something like that once before.

“Alright, I think it’s time to close the bakery now” Maggie stated when she joined Adonis up front.

“Should have closed the bakery two hours ago” Adonis muttered more to himself.

“Aw! Big bad Alpha had a hard day working in the real world” Maggie teased,

“No, but dealing with whiny, sniveling, bitchy humans and not smacking their heads off the counter is frustrating as fuck” ….grrrrrr…. he released a low displeased growl.

“Well don’t hold back on my account, tell me what you really think of the human race” Maggie laughed at the expression on his face.

“Not my favourite species!” That was an understatement, he hated the human species. Their sense of entitlement was astonishing. He had a woman yell at him because no one else in town saved her any brookies and she didn’t seem to like his reply when he told her she should have got here sooner.

“That’s one good thing about being the only bakery in town. I can tell them to go fuck themselves and unless they want to learn to make their own bread they still have to come back” Maggie declared, it was a small victory but she liked it. “Besides some of them could use their heads smacked off the counter a few times, might knock some manners into them” she added as an afterthought. Adonis couldn’t help but laugh at that.

“Maybe not all humans are that bad. Are you sure you’re not a wolf? You kinda have the temperament of one” he said.

“I’m going to flip the sign and cash out, you should head back to the kitchen.” Maggie chuckled some more.

“Have a good night Maggie!” He said as he moved towards the kitchen.

“You as well Adonis!” She called after him.

Kenzi was at the sink washing various baking tools and pots that were used throughout the day. She had already wiped down the counters and other work surfaces and boxed up the remainder of The Falling Star treats. Adonis watched her for a bit, she seemed lost in her own world as she washed item after item.

“How’s it going, tiny dancer?” He asked, watching her nose crinkle up at the name. Doesn’t get any less adorable! Odin gushed in his head.

“Good, jus boud done.” She answered, looking over at him. He saw her cheeks pinken slightly and he couldn’t help but wonder what she was thinking about to cause it. He strode over to where she was standing and placed his hand gently on the small of her back.

“How’s your back feeling?” He asked, when he saw her wince and felt the muscles stiffen.

“It’s ok” she replied, “Maybe a lit-tle sore” she added, when she saw the look on his face.

“I’ll finish this, you should go ice your back” he offered, taking the cloth from her. The look he gave said this was not open for discussion. She nodded her head and went to get a small bag of ice from the freezer.

Upon returning she sat on a stool at the counter and held the ice to her back.

“Are you almost ready to go home?” He asked,

“Um….I’m….gonna stay in town. Teagan said she’d watch the feztisval with me and the fireworks start at 10:30. It does-int make sense to go home then come back then go home again.” She replied, keeping her eyes focused on the counter in front of her, she didn’t want to see him upset at her.

“That makes sense. How are you going to get home?” He asked, his response slightly shocking her and she stole a glance at him.

“Maybe Teagan will drive me, or I could spend the night here” Actually she never thought about that. He drove her here and she wasn’t about to tell him she’d walk back to her house. She’s done it before but the conversation they had the night before popped into her mind, he was pretty adamant that was not happening.

“Are you gonna come to the feztisval?” She asked. He thought about that, he already knew his answer, he was going and he had every intention of running into her tonight. They started the day together, it seemed fitting that they ended the day together.

“I haven’t decided yet. What are you going to do while you wait for the festival to start?” He replied,

“I has this idea for a recipe. But-ter rum peachy plums, that I has been working over in my mind. I jus hasn’t had a minute to try and figure it out yet, and I has peaches, plums and rum.” He couldn’t help but laugh, one at the triumphant tone of her voice and two because of course she has rum. “What? What’s so funny?” She asked, looking at him confused.

“You like to keep moving cause the world is moving” He said to her. She grinned up at him.

“Well it keeps me out of trubble” She added,

“I thought you didn’t cause trouble, or is that just what you’ll have me believe?” He asked, her grin turning bigger.

“I don’t cause trubble” She replied,

“You don’t cause trouble, really? Let’s go over all the things I have learned recently shall we, and then we’ll see how much trouble you actually cause. Let’s start with….you sometimes don’t wear panties, you can’t wear dresses to work because somehow you manage to get it trapped in the car door. You lock your keys in the car so often that there is a tally board at the auto shop, you steal cars, have kissed more girls than I have and you not only crawl into people’s laps but invite yourself into their beds. I had to rescue you out of a hole you dug twice and apparently that is nothing because you fell in the apple tree hole four times and you danced yourself off the dock more times than you can count, wrecking countless phones and headphones. Nope, that doesn’t sound like trouble at all to me. Oh, I also forgot, reporting a parking lot stolen because you couldn’t replace your car and sweet talking a scarecrow out of his clothes, after you woke up naked in a farmer’s field. Which, I am still wondering one, how did you get there? And two, how did you end up naked?” Her face was red as she was trying to fight off the laughter that was bubbling up.

“I stealded one car, and I givded it back. And we’ve kiss-ed the same amount of girls, I’ve jus has more kisses. That Katy Perry song I kiss-ed a girl, she’s right we really do has soft lips, and who told you boud the farmer field?” He dropped his head and started laughing. I don’t think she realizes some of the things she says! No she doesn’t. It’s what makes her adorable! And her that much more innocent! Innocent indeed!

“I’ve only crawlded into your lap and the invite into your bed is you saying I did it, I still don’t believe I did that, but it does-int madder anyway, you don’t has a bed for me to invite myself into, it breakded” The smile that played on her lips was rather inviting to him.

“Hey! I’m going tomorrow to get a new bed, while I’m in the city. Shame you’re busy here though” He countered, staring down at her.

“Why?” She asked, looking up at him.

“Because if you’re going to invite yourself into my bed, then you should make sure it’s comfortable and you want to come in it” Her cheeks darkened, but her smile got bigger. He had to turn his attention back to the dishes, if he looked into her happy dancing silver orbs any longer, there was no telling what he might do.

“You spended the whole day with me. You would-int want to spended a uther one” She replied, taking the ice from her back and placing it on the counter.

“No I didn’t, I spent all day working in the bakery. I wouldn’t classify that as spending time with you. So yes, I would want to actually spend another day with you.” He stole a glance at her, she couldn’t hide the smile on her face at what he said. Her nose was crinkled and her silver eyes sparkled and danced with excitement. There was no denying that she might have been a little happy about him wanting to spend an actual day with her. Who wouldn’t!

Finishing off the last of the dishes he let the water out of the sink, before he turned to her.

“We’ll just have to make it for a different day. I won’t be around much this week, but if you need something Jackson, Tyler and Elijah will be.” He said to her, “Promise me, if you need something ask. You won’t be burdening them”

“I promise!” She replied

“Don’t break it” He said

“Oh, I don’t break promises. It’s like lying and bad juju all rollded into one. There was a girl at the orphanage she breakded promises all the tine and she was hit by a truck” What? I have no idea!

“Ok then!” It was all he could think to say. “Alright my tiny dancer I’m gonna get going, hopefully I will at least see you at some point this week, but I will definitely see you this weekend, we’ll do something fun. Plus you’re spending every evening next week with me” He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Her nose crinkled and the butterflies soaring inside went into a frenzy at the word my. A simple two letter word, but it held so many meanings.

“Ok! Thank you for all your help today” She spoke in a soft voice, she didn’t trust it not to break.

“Pleasure was all mine, it was important.” Her cheeks darkened a bit. She couldn’t help but feel excited about all the time she would be spending with him, her body was practically vibrating from it and the feeling flooded the room. She handed him a box of falling star cookies and he arched an eyebrow,

“I thought we sold out!” He said,

“I savded some! You should come to the feztisval, it’s some-thing you’ve never seen before.” She said, glancing up at him, then away. She wanted to kiss him, she wanted to be brave and just do it, but a little nagging voice in the back of her head kept telling her he didn’t want to kiss her, if he did he would have done it already.

“Maybe I will” he replied, the urge to kiss her was compelling, he was losing his battle with his control. In truth he didn’t want to fight it anymore, she was his mate and he wanted to kiss her whenever he damn well wanted to. The problem was he didn’t want to just kiss her, he wanted all of her and that’s the part he was fighting. The need burning in him to claim her and make her his forever was consuming him. A simple kiss would make him want more, much more than she was ready to give. When his arms circled around her and he kissed the top of her head, she realized they were just friends. That was ok too, it had to be ok, she would rather have him in her life as a friend, then not in her life at all. The kiss they shared last night was just the result of him dropping the card and following the rules and nothing more. The one they shared earlier in the kitchen was probably because he couldn’t spank her when she said that the fear she felt in the doctor’s office wasn’t important.

“Thank you again for your help,” she said when he pulled away from her. Though she had a smile on her face he saw something flash in her eyes for the briefest of seconds that he didn’t quite understand. He studied her face for a moment longer, but she gave away nothing that would explain the sadness he saw swirl through her silver orbs a moment ago.

Locking the front door again after Adonis left, Kenzi headed back to the kitchen to get started on the work she had left. With a quick check of the time, she had two and half hours to get it done before she had to meet Teagan in the park. She started trying to write out the recipe she was working on in her head. She also made more dry mixes for sale and to use in the kitchen. She kept herself busy trying to ignore the tinge of disappointment she felt. It wasn’t his fault, she read more into their relationship than she should have. She was a foolish girl and she told herself not to get her hopes up, but what did she go and do, she got her hopes up and now look at her.

“Silly lit-tle girl!” She scolded herself. There was no denying that he cared for her, it just wasn’t the way she had twisted in her head. Sure he flirted with her and he was relentless and shameless, but he probably did that with a lot of girls. He did say flirting was a fun way to make beautiful girls feel special, but she wasn’t beautiful and she wasn’t special. She knew that, but it was nice to pretend, even if only for a little while. She would just have to try harder to not get her hopes up, he was just being nice to her, he just wanted to be her friend.

With the work done in the bakery, she had time for a quick shower in the little bathroom upstairs. Finding a set of clean clothes in the bedroom she put her dirty ones in a bag and she would grab it tomorrow after work, she left the bakery to go meet Teagan at the park. Finding a spot near a tree she sat and waited for her. She caught a few curious glances and she heard some whispering, but she chose to ignore it by putting in her headphones and turning her music on. She didn’t want anything to wreck this night, she was going to show Teagan she could be a good sister. She would look up and glance around every once in a while to see if she could spot Teagan, but when she didn’t she’d put her head back down.

When the town lights started to go out, Kenzi grew a little more concerned that Teagan wouldn’t be able to replace her in the dark. She glanced around again before she checked her phone. It was quarter after ten and the Mayor started his speech by thanking everyone in the town who pitched in to help pull off the festival, well almost everyone. He skipped over Sweet Talk Bakery for baking The Falling Star cookies, but that was nothing new to her. She could just imagine Maggie cursing up a storm though. Kenzi looked around again to see if she could spot Teagan. Checking her phone again she still had a little time before the fireworks started.

Adonis watched her from a distance, the concern that would cross her face when Teagan hadn’t shown up yet. The dejection when the Mayor thanked everyone but her and then the acceptance at it. His anger was starting to boil, Odin’s anger was already boiling. How could this town be so stupid? I don’t know! How could that worm of a Mayor not thank our mate? I don’t know! How the fuck is her bitch of a sister not here yet? I don’t know! THE FUCK DO YOU KNOW? Don’t yell at me! Give me a reason not to! It’s not my fault! You should have fucking kissed her, she wanted you to! I know! You wanted to! I wouldn’t have been able to stop myself, I want her, all of her and she’s not ready! Don’t make that decision for her! I can see it on her face! Odin huffed and puffed in his head at how the night was turning out. He watched her look up again and then check her phone. Concern was growing more and more on her beautiful face as was her sadness. He watched her clench her fists, trying to fight it all back. He knew she was reciting the words he heard her say the other day. When the fireworks started to go off she was the only one that didn’t look up. While he heard a chorus of ooo’s and aahh’s around him at the spectacle in the sky his focus remained on his little mate. When she checked her phone for the upteenth time and looked around for her sister, it was time to make his move. He would make this right.

“The fuck a Fallin Star Festival?” Jackson asked, he was a little grumpy that Tyler dragged him outta the house for this. “That ain’t stars that fuckin fireworks, I ain’t stupid.” They were standing behind a group of men and one of them turned around and looked at him, eyeing him up and down.

“What?” Jackson snapped at him. Tyler handed him a pamphlet and went back to watching the fireworks.

“The fuck this?” Jackson grumbled, looking at the pamphlet.

“Explain what it is,” Tyler said, still watching the fireworks.

“Oh explain what it is….the fuck I posed to read it? It dark out stupid.” Jackson barked at him, the same man turned and looked at him again.

“What?” Jackson snapped at the man again

“The stars fall out of the sky. They don’t know why it happens but once a year only over the crater they fall. People come from all over to see it” Elijah explained,

“The fuck you know that?” Jackson turned to him asking

“I read the pamphlet” he replied,

“You read the pamphlet, course you read the fuckin pamphlet” Jackson grumbled under his breath. He didn’t want to be there, he wanted to be at home. When the man standing in front of him looked at him again, Jackson just about lost it.

“The fuck you lookin at?” He barked, causing the man to look away immediately.

“Hey Jackass, calm down, the fuck?” Tyler said pushing Jackson back.

“He turn roun one more time I’ma poke his eyes out” Jackson warned,

“You jus miss Drea that all, her be here soon” Tyler said, patting his brother on the chest thinking that had to be the reason for his brother’s outburst.

“Sup lil man, you wanna turn roun again?” Jackson decided he didn’t want to watch the stars and was now taunting the man in front of him.

“He ain’t gonna turn roun” Tyler lost interest in the fireworks and was now watching the man standing in front of them nervously move from foot to foot.

“The fuck you know?” Jackson replied. The fear pouring from him had Ko stirring to life in his head. Revelling in the scent Ko pushed for more.

“You jus threaten to poke his eyes out, he ain’t gonna turn roun” Tyler replied laughing. Bal too was stirring. He wanted to have fun as well.

“Town full of stupid people an I feelin slightly homicidal, think anbody miss one or two” Jackson cracked up when the man inched away from them.

“Don’t think so, could take em to the woods bury em, they never know” Tyler replied

“Nah! Too much work, buryin em. Dump ’em in a dumpster” Jackson countered. The man inched further away from them.

“You two are not seriously playing that game right now?” Elijah asked, though he didn’t know why it surprised him. He didn’t know why half the things they did or said surprised him, but they continued to do it. Always pushing the limits of insanity to new heights.

“Wanna play?” Tyler asked,

“No!” Elijah responded,

“That cause you no fun, blow torch” Jackson replied,

“Burning man! Acid bath” Tyler cracked up followed by Jackson. Elijah could only shake his head.

“Worse spa trip ever” Jackson cracked up even harder. His brother always knew how to turn his mood around.

Adonis was side stepping around people as he made his way towards Kenzi. She had collected herself and was now watching the fireworks along with the rest of the town. She carried an air of defeat about her and resigned herself to watching them and the falling stars alone. She would still check her phone and periodically continued to scan for her sister, but he could visibly see that she gave up on hoping she would come.

“Hello Adonis!” A fake sultry voice rang out in the dark. Stopping him in his tracks. The fuck does the succuwhore want? I don’t know! I want our mate! Adonis did as well, he looked at Kenzi and his heart broke for her. The light from her phone screen lit up her face. He could see her trying to fight for control over herself when all she wanted to do was crack. Something had happened and her face was etched in sorrow. He wanted nothing more than to go over there and make it all better, make it all go away. Take her in his arms and promise her he would never leave her and would always be there. Tell her she was the most important person in the world to him, but he stayed rooted to the ground. If he did any of that right now, the fall out from his actions would just make his mate’s life unbearable.

“Address me by my title or not at all. Now what the fuck do you want?” He never turned to face the she-whore, he kept his eyes on his mate.

“The falling stars are going to start soon, it’s very romantic” she purred, his skin crawled immediately, he could smell her, the pungent aroma of her arousal assaulted his senses.

“Then I guess you should go replace someone to watch it with” he all but growled at her. He didn’t have time for this when he could see the torment on his mate’s face growing more and more. Her phone lit up again, when she checked it pure anguish ripped across her face. As the first star fell from the sky he watched the first tear slide down her delicate cheek. Adonis watched as Kenzi fought back the rest, stood up on wobbly legs with the help from the tree and walked out of the park. He watched as she fought to keep her composure, when she hit the sidewalk she ran the rest of the way to the bakery. He saw her bump into Joe. He could only imagine the pain that caused her. Watching as Joe helped keep her steady, as she pointed towards the bakery, Joe shook his head and pointed to the passenger seat of his car. She shook her head and tried to walk away, but Joe wasn’t having it and physically put her in his car. Kenzi was upset, Adonis was upset, Odin was really upset, mixing whimpers with growls he was ready to let loose in his head. He wanted blood, he wanted vengeance, someone said something to his mate to wash the smile from her face. Someone’s cruel words destroyed her peace and calm, and the stupid whore prevented him from going to her. When he felt Kiara’s hands wrap around his upper arm, he did nothing to fight off the shudder that ripped through him. She felt every inch of his displeasure at being touched by her.

“I found someone I want to watch the festival with” she pressed herself into him.

“You must be very stupid. I thought I made myself very clear when I said I was not interested.” ….grRrRrRRRrRrRrr…. This time he did release a low growl, causing the hair to raise on the back of Kiara’s neck.

“I think you were just holding back. I think you need to release some pent up frustration and anger, and I know a fun way we could do it.” She now stood in front of him with her back to his chest, pushing her bottom into him. His hands instinctively went to her hips, his touch was hard, aggressive and she purred at the contact, until his fingers dug into her skin causing her to whimper slightly. Daddy’s little succuwhore, he must be so proud! We are frustrated Odin! She is not our mate Adonis! He ran his hands roughly up her sides causing her to moan, Odin raged in his head at his actions, pushing for control, fighting for it. She arched her back into him pressing more against him, one arm wrapped around her waist, pinning both her arms to her sides, while his other continued to move up her body till his hand landed where he wanted.

“I can think of another fun way to relieve frustration and anger, one that will teach you and those like you why you don’t fuck with The Devil” he whispered in her ear, closing his hand around her throat, squeezing tighter to strangle her cry.

“You are not my mate. I do not want you. Not now, not ever.” His voice low and gruff when he spoke, his grip tightened around her neck, he didn’t want to hear her cry or whimper, her fear was only encouraging him further to do it, he revelled in the scent of it. He had to keep his control, when all he really wanted to do was let it go. His arm tightening more and more around her lower half he could feel her bones protesting under the pressure he was applying.

“I can snap your neck right now, and with the cover of darkness no one will know until they discover your discarded body in the morning. But first I will crush every bone in your torso. It is painful and agonizing, but with my hand around your throat, no one would hear you cry. No one would help you. Look at all these people, little whore, they would all bear witness to your death and none of them would ever know.” CRACK! He heard the crack of the first bone in her ribs as his arm constricted around her more, her strangled cry being silenced by the pressure on her throat. Her eyes bulged from her head as they darted back and forth looking for someone to help her, but with all their focus on the falling stars no one was paying them any attention. CRACK!

“Now I am going to give you one more chance to leave me the fuck alone, and be grateful I usually only give one. I have far more pressing matters to attend to than dealing with a whore like you. But understand this, next time, I will kill you” when he released her, she fell to the ground gasping and sobbing at the same time. Leaving her in the dirt he walked out of the park. He had a mate to go and see, she needed him. Might want to shower first and get the succuwhore smell off you! He shuddered at the scent. That whore wrecked his shirt, with her stench. Stupid bitch!