Page 29 of A Nest of Maple & Mist

And that was how I spent my morning, up to my elbows in cocoa and melted chocolate, making vampire bat truffles.

I was never much of a baker or a chef.

Lucky for me, Hazel had infinite patience.

Or a magic wand hidden somewhere.

I wasn’t entirely confident it wasn’t the latter.

All the noise of my life quieted while I filled silicone molds. The finished product had been delicious. Cherry whipped filling with a cherry sauce in a bat-shaped chocolate mold. I’d eaten far too many, but I didn’t regret it.

Not until I started the drive home.

No.

Not home.

The Hawthorne Packhouse.

And just like that, those three men consumed all my thoughts.

My lips tingled with the memory of Jason’s on them. Slick pooled between my thighs, and I squeezed my legs together, my fingers gripping the steering wheel. Jason was exactly how I remembered him.

Then there was Ty.

Lovely, wonderful, affectionate, Ty.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Stupid, Omega. Do you not remember what that so-called alpha did to you? How he stomped on your heart?

No. Of course she didn’t. My omega hadn’t presented yet when Shane left me. All she knew was that he smelled like something sweet on a cold winter’s day.

And that he was our scent-matched alpha.

Our perfect mate.

Supposedly.

I hadn’t seen Shane in days.

Not a single glimpse of his scuffed work boots or a hint of his coiffed copper hair. The only thing that told me he had been in the house at all was the thick permeance of his scent.

It taunted me, slipping under the door to my bedroom, trying to lure me out.

I’d not so casually asked Jason where Shane had been as he left this morning. He did nothing to hide the knowing arch of his brow. A plate piled with toast, eggs, and bacon slid across the counter as he pecked the top of my head.

“Eat,” he whispered, the commanding sound something between a growl and a purr.

Slick slid down my thighs. I hid my whine behind a piece of toast, jutting my chin out as I took an exaggerated bite. A low laugh left his lips, his thumb trailing over my jaw. I swallowed, dusting the crumbs from my fingers.

“There, happy now? Answer me.”

“Say please, Omega,” Jason murmured, his eyes darkening with the demand that he tried to phrase like a request.

“Please, Alpha.”

The whispered designation unleashed something primal in him. Jason’s eyes flashed pitch-black, nearly as dark as his hair. His breathing turned purposeful as veins throbbed in his hands.