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He was already unconscious when I bounded away from him toward the opposite side of the fence. The wounds were too severe for him to have any chance of survival, no matter how quickly help arrived. He would bleed out before anyone had the chance to help him.
Ramsey’s enemy had paid for her suffering with his life. He would be leaving the prison in a pine box instead of with his freedom after a ridiculously short sentence of only six months. He couldn’t hurt her anymore. I savored the coppery taste of his blood as I raced across the yard and leaped over the fence, reaching the safety of the woods before the guards realized what had happened.
This would be a mystery the human authorities would never solve. An animal attack that would spark rumors of a beast living in the nearby wilderness…land claimed by the local pack. I took comfort in the fact that the alpha and his wolves would no longer be able to run free. Not when people would be drawn to the forest to hunt for the beast for many years to come. It was a small price for him to pay for his prejudice against loners.
1
THORA
Inormally enjoyed talking with my parents on the phone, but my mom was laying the guilt trip on me extra thick today.
“But if you were still in Chicago, we could celebrate with you.” She heaved a deep sigh. “I don’t like to think about my baby girl being all alone on her birthday.”
I was a grown woman with a career and my own home, but my mom treated me as though I was still a teenager whenever she didn’t get her way. The blame for her self-absorption rested squarely on my dad’s shoulders. He always gave her whatever she wanted and pushed me to do the same.
“I came up for my birthday last year,” I reminded her.
“But not for Thanksgiving.”
She was never going to let me forget about that perceived slight, but it was a small price to pay for spending the holiday with Peppa and her growing family. Although we’d made a feast fit for kings, it had been the most relaxing Thanksgiving I had ever experienced. Mainly due to the fact that I didn’t have my mom looming over my shoulder, trying to tell me that her method of cooking the turkey was better than mine. Even though I was a chef who specialized in the preparation of roasted and braised meat.
“I had to work the day before and the day after. If I’d come up for the holiday, I would’ve only been able to spend half the day with you and Dad before I needed to turn around and head back to Timber Ridge.”
She sniffed at my explanation—one I’d given her many, many times already. “If you’d stayed at Castagna like I told you to do, spending the holidays with your father and I wouldn’t be a problem.”
None of my friends or family had understood why I’d left one of the very few restaurants in the world that had earned three Michelin stars for a job at a start-up in a small town almost two years ago. No matter how much I tried to explain why I was following my former sous chef—who’d only had the position for six months before she resigned—they just didn’t get it. Peppa had protected the other female chefs of the misogyny in the kitchen as much as she could, but there had only been so much that she could do.
When I heard that she was leaving to take the executive chef position at a new restaurant, I hadn’t hesitated to jump at the chance to join her. No matter how much my parents tried to talk me out of the decision, I hadn’t budged. Although I knew I’d miss them when I left Chicago, I couldn’t ignore the voice in my head urging me to move to Timber Ridge.
Not even when Peppa sat Larken—Castagna’s pastry chef and a good friend of hers—and me down to explain that we would be surrounded by shifters if we moved with her. That she could change into a lioness, and the other two chefs who’d resigned with us—Bexley and Aero—were shifters, too. A polar bear and a falcon.
It had taken a lot for me to wrap my head around the existence of shifters, but there had been no denying the truth when she changed into a lioness in front of us. Knowing that she could’ve killed William—the head chef at Castagna—with one swipe of her powerful paw had made me respect Peppa even more. She had put up with a lot of crap from him before she resigned, and the jerk would never know how close he’d come to dying. Unfortunately.
“I know you don’t agree, but I made the decision that was best for me, Mom.”
I took some small comfort in the fact that William had come to regret treating Peppa as though she didn’t belong in his kitchen. I had been giddy when I learned that Armand—Castagna’s executive chef—had come to Timber Ridge only four months after we had left to ask her to return to Chicago and offered to fire William if she came back. He’d apparently managed to destroy the morale of a kitchen that had just earned its third Michelin star in that short amount of time, and nobody skilled wanted to take the positions we’d left.
Not that I blamed any of them. I would have been miserable working for him without her there to act as a buffer. Leaving had been the right choice. Knowing the restaurant had already lost one star without us reinforced that I’d made a good call.
“While I’m willing to admit that Timber Treasures is more successful than I expected, you could still do better if you came back home,” she insisted with a huff. “There are so many more options here. Chances for you to move up to sous chef and eventually executive chef. Or even to open your own place. I’ve told you time and time again that your father and I would be more than happy to give you the money to do so.”
“I appreciate the offer”—although I’d never accept it since the number of strings attached meant any restaurant I opened with their money would be hers more than mine—“but I’m happy where I’m at.”
In all the time since I’d moved, I hadn’t second-guessed the decision. Until today. My birthday.
I was close with my coworkers, but I missed having family near to celebrate with. My mom had sent a package with a present and Fannie May mint meltaways, but it wasn’t the same. No matter how delicious the dessert Larken would most likely make for me was, it wouldn’t be the German chocolate cake she had baked every year until I moved. Luckily, her favorite was also mine, so I enjoyed the cake as much as she did.
“Fine. Enjoy your birthday with your friends.”
She didn’t sound as though she really meant it, but I thanked her for the birthday wishes before ending the call. The last thing I wanted was to get into a fight with my mom today of all days.
When my phone rang again right away, I assumed it was my dad calling to back her up. I didn’t look down at the screen as I answered, so I was surprised when Peppa responded to my stilted greeting. “Happy Birthday!”
As soon as I heard my friend’s voice, the tension drained from my body. “Thanks.”
“Do you have any special plans other than our breakfast?”
I was meeting up with her, Larken, Aero, and Bexley to celebrate my birthday before the restaurant opened. But since only one or two of us could be off at the same time, I was going to be on my own tonight. “Nope, I think I’ll probably watch a chick flick, drink a glass of wine, and demolish the box of chocolates my mom sent.”
