Brand of the Pack - Tera Shanley Page 0,7

crazy. I don’t care. I’m just glad to be getting away from Logan and Jason. And besides, my wolf is way too submissive to hold second in the pack.”

Morgan chuckled and speared a piece of the cake with a plastic fork. “Grey is going to have his hands full. Packs rarely have two females, and all he has are ladies.” She stifled a groan when the sweet flavors burst in her mouth.

Marissa propped her feet on an empty chair. “Tell me about it. I’m calling it right now. He is going on a maiming spree the first Summit we ever go to.”

“Nope,” Morgan said around the bite of cake. “He said he wasn’t going to subject any of us to Summit. He said, and I quote, ‘There’s no way I’m flouncing a silver wolf in front of hundreds of horny werewolves.’ End quote.”

The door to the woodshop swung open and Grey sauntered out holding an armload of scrap wood. It would have bent a weaker man over, but he made it look like he was taking paper out to the recycling.

Marissa squinted at him and pulled her sunglasses down from the crown of her head. “He has a point, you know.” She swung her gaze to meet Morgan’s. “You smell different to me. If I can smell Silver Wolf, it has to be ten times more potent to males. Probably best we don’t go. Don’t get me wrong, Grey would take them all down, but it isn’t best for werewolf numbers, you savvy?”

Grey’s eyes landed on Morgan and froze her in place. No way the red velvet deliciousness threatening to plop out of her mouth would taste better than his lips right now. With a secret smile, he disappeared back into the workshop.

She had added his hand-carved wooden recipe boxes to her website, and the response had been immediate. Orders had flooded in so quickly, she had to start a waiting list. They were already booked for the next three months, so Grey spent a lot of time working. After his chronic struggle to fit into the human workplace, it seemed he had found his niche. He obviously loved the work, and with the house already paid for, they could provide for living expenses and bills with the income they were making from the sales. It suited Grey perfectly since he never had to meet a customer. He handled questions over the phone and email, and three days a week, he drove into town and shipped the recipe boxes out. Clients would never know they dealt with a werewolf who loved howling at the moon and had a tendency to eat squirrels.

Tearing her eyes away from the woodshop, Morgan said, “You’re officially fourteen years old now. Are you having a good birthday?”

“I am. It’ll be even better when Rachel gets off work, though. I’m starving.”

Morgan snorted. “You’re always starving.” Keeping a werewolf’s appetite satisfied was a full-time job. “I asked Rachel what your favorite kind of cake was. She said she was making it for the celebration tonight, but she gave me your second choice.”

“I love red velvet. My mom used to make it when I was little. I can’t get enough of Rachel’s coconut cake either. I think I have a sweet tooth.”

“Was your mom good at baking?”

“Good at baking, terrible at cooking. We ate pizza and sandwiches a lot.” Marissa stared off into the woods, but her focus seemed somewhere beyond.

“What happened to her?” Morgan asked low.

Every muscle in Marissa’s body tensed and she clutched the arms of the chair until her knuckles shone white. “Grey didn’t tell you?”

“He said it wasn’t his story to tell. If you don’t want to tell me, I understand. I don’t like to talk about what happened to my sister, either.”

“We were kidnapped by a man named Raul. He liked little girls, so Mom wasn’t his type. He toted her around for a while, but—” She swallowed and closed her eyes. “He would touch me and call me his mate, and Mom went after him one night.” She shrugged the admission away. “He killed her and kept me.”

“Oh, my God, Marissa.” Morgan blinked back tears. “You didn’t see him kill her, did you?”

A nod and Morgan’s heart broke into pieces. “Was he a werewolf?”

Another nod.

“How did you get away?”

“He kept me caged until we had to move locations. Raul killed little girls so we couldn’t stay in one place too long or he would get caught.” Marissa’s voice trembled. “He’d Turned me