First Shift (The Wolves of Rock Falls Book 1)

by AJ Skelly

  “Hey, guys,” Sam called to those waiting as I climbed out of the car. My eyes snagged for a minute on the width of Sam’s shoulders tapering down to a slim waist. I jerked my head around as my eyes continued their descent toward his denim-clad rear end. So not going there. Wolf smirked. Knowing my face was flushing, I dove back into the car for a few bags that held the tablecloths and some cookie stands.

  “Kyp, can you grab this sign?” Rachel called from her car. Kyp moved quickly to help her take out our new vinyl sign—our pride and joy.

  “Does this stand come, too?” he asked. Rachel flashed him a smile and nodded as I caught up to her.

  “This is going to be the best year ever! Here, give me a high elbow. All our hands are full.” I laughed at her words and tapped my best friend’s elbow with my own.

  We laughed together as everyone traipsed in behind us to help set up.

  Our spot was stall twenty-seven. The building was massive, and vendors bustled about, hurrying to set up for the grand opening in two hours’ time. Once everyone was set, it was a huge indoor market. It was the only thing like it in Delaware, except the State Fair. HarvestFest had started out seventy-some years ago as a small-town celebration of the season and had morphed into a three-day bonanza that brought in a decent amount of money and short-term tourism to Rock Falls. Rachel and I planned to capitalize on that. This was, essentially, our job for the year, completed in three days’ worth of sales. We were also banking on our notoriety to use as a springboard to launch our own baking business after high school.

  Once stall twenty-seven was located, Sam and Cade brought in tables two at a time, and Jake and Kyp set them up for us. This was the first year we’d been on this side of the building. We had a wall to the back of us, which did limit selling space, but we were located at a decent intersection of walkways.

  “How many tables do we have?” I asked, surveying the space we had.

  “Jake has six in his truck, but we could probably find more if you need them,” Sam answered as he came up beside me, his hand brushing my arm. I pursed my lips, gauging.

  “What if we make a giant square? We can do two tables up the sides and two tables across the front. We’ll have to put all the extra stuff in the boxes and crates on the ground, but that would maximize the selling space,” Rachel commented. I nodded.

  “I like that idea.”

  “We’ve got another table similar to these at the house. If I can borrow a truck, or someone wants to drive me, I’d be happy to go get it. You could put it against the wall, so you don’t have to keep everything on the floor,” Kyp said.

  “That would be awesome,” Rachel replied. I watched them a minute. They’d hit it off well. Rachel’s eyes shone with excitement, and her cheeks were flushed.

  “I’ll run out with you in my truck. Cindy, you good here?” Jake volunteered.

  “Sure. Megan, what do you want me to do?”

  “Here.” I handed Cindy the bag with the tablecloths. “If you want to set these out on tables, I’ll go start unloading more stuff.”

  “I’ll come help,” Sam quickly offered.

  “Is it okay to start setting up these stands? Do you want them specific places?” Tammy asked.

  “If you can get them out of the boxes, that would be perfect.” I smiled back. She was still a little uncomfortable around Sam and me since she’d let the mate business slip.

  Sam snatched up my hand and interlaced our fingers as we walked out of the building, not at all bothered by Tammy’s discomfort. “Is your wolf okay that I’ll be meeting my former-potential-mate tonight?”

  Wolf stirred within me, narrowing her eyes to slits, remembering the anguish and the unexpected shift the news had brought on when Sam first told me. Sam squeezed my hand, and Wolf settled.

  “She’s still a little testy about it.”

  “Sorry. This is one of the biggest gatherings of wolves for the whole year. There are a lot of potential matches made at these sorts of social events. My dad and I have met other pack leaders at HarvestFest for several years now. It’s easy for all of us to meet up inconspicuously.” His face darkened. “This is the first year Dad has brought up a possible mate for me though.”

  I squeezed his hand, unsure how to respond. All of me hated the idea of Sam with someone else, but the rational part of me realized how silly that was. If I were to stay a human, then I’d be giving up this world. That meant no Sam. So logically, someone else would have him. All of him. Wolf bared her teeth at the thought. I mentally shushed her and handed Sam a box of cookies.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  I guess my thoughts were written plainer on my face than I’d realized. I quickly schooled my features.

  “Sorry, just thinking.”

  Sam cocked his head to the side, looking at me, his eyes slightly narrowed. I lifted an eyebrow at him.

  Catching me by surprise, Sam dipped his head down and put a quick kiss on my lips.

  “Will you have time at all tonight to wander around the festival some with me?” He switched subjects.

  “It depends on how much traffic we get, I suppose. I’d love to take in some of the festival. I haven’t much the past couple years since we’ve been manning the booth.” I glanced around. The traditional archery station wasn’t far off, and a giant old oak tree bordered the edge of the festivities to the right. I could smell the grease as the finishing touches were put on the few carnival-like rides. Taking a deep breath, I inhaled horse, leather, and buttery popcorn. People chattered as games and booths were set up. I did want to explore it.

  “You’ll have more than enough help if you want it.” He winked. “Not to volunteer her, but Raven would probably be delighted to step in for you for a half hour or so while we wander around together.” Turning serious again, he stopped outside the doors and lowered his voice. “My wolf will definitely want to be near you after the meetings.”

  “Oh. That should be fine then.” I still wasn’t crazy about his meetings, but I told myself that this was just the way it had to be. I was definitely looking forward to strolling around the festival with Sam. I smiled. It was the perfect romantic setting for a date.

  ****

  “The table is here,” Jake called as he and Kyp brought it in. They’d been gone the better part of an hour, and we’d made good use of the time in their absence. With Raven, Cindy, Tammy, Cade, and Sam to help set things up as Rachel and I directed, we were looking good. Pastries, scones, and biscotti lined one side of our square with seven different kinds of breads and rolls on the other, while we displayed our beautifully decorated cookies along with the other nine types of cookies front and center.

  “Raven, you really did such a beautiful job on these cookies!” I couldn’t help but gush. She’d done fall leaves, scripted HarvestFest in practically identical lettering, and piped designs on sugar cookie rounds and had done many one-of-a-kind cookies in all sorts of colors and designs. Each one looked good enough to be in a professional confection shop.

  She smiled up from putting the last touches on a three-tiered display of her unique cookies. “Thanks.” Her decorating powers would certainly bring in extra income this year.

  ****

  At five p.m., HarvestFest officially started, and it wasn’t long after that people started trickling in. At first, it was only a few, but soon, Rachel and I were blurs of hunter green and navy blue in our coordinating plaid tunics and our knee-high boots.

  Our new sign proudly displayed our name, Nutmeg and Crumbs, at a better vantage than it had in previous years, and people were taking note. Several took extra business cards.

  “Meg, that man asked if we could do decorated cookies for his daughter’s birthday party,” Rachel said as she grabbed a bag from under the back table.

  “Seriously? That’s awesome! Tell him yes!” I told her as I counted change out. “We’ll do them ourselves or rope Raven into doing a few more if we have to.”

  Rachel grinned and swiped an errant red curl out
of her face.

  “Hi,” I greeted our next customer warmly, confidence properly boosted. “How can I help you? Are you looking for anything in particular?”

  “I must have some of this hazelnut, dark chocolate biscotti. I got some of it here last year, and I have not been able to find any that’s tasted better since!” an elderly woman enthused. “Wherever did you find your recipe?”

  Memory bloomed warm in my chest. “It was my grandma’s. She was the one that taught me to bake.”

  “Well, she certainly did a good job. You don’t sell any coffee here, do you?”

  “Sadly, we don’t,” I replied, a lightbulb going off in my head as I bundled up the indicated ten biscotti into a bag. “But let me give you one of these almond and apricot biscotti to try. The white chocolate on them is a bit sweeter than the hazelnut ones, but the apricots give it a nice zest.”

  The white-haired woman beamed at me and looked greedily at the freebie biscotti I put into her bag. She patted my hand as she deposited her cash. “I’m just so thrilled that you young people are taking such an interest in baking. I’ll be sure to drop back by tomorrow if I make it in again.”

  “Thanks so much! Enjoy your biscotti.” I smiled as she trundled down the aisle.

  “Rachel.” I gasped in a spare minute between customers. “We need to get coffee in here, like, yesterday. The percolator at the cabin holds a ton.” Rachel’s eyes glowed.

  “Why have we not done this before?”

  “Probably because we haven’t ever had a plug at our booth. Look.” I pointed to the back wall. Sure enough, there was a blessed outlet, just waiting for a percolator. We looked at each other and nodded quickly.

  Before we could get plans any further solidified, Sam sauntered down the aisle toward me, eyes light but face drawn. His gaze softened when it landed on me, but I knew he must be getting ready to go to the meeting. Where Sarah Thornehill would be waiting. Wolf bristled, and I shushed her and took a big inhale through my nose.

  “Hey,” he called with a smile. “How goes the booth?”

  “Fabulous!” Rachel enthused.

  “Can I talk to you a sec?” Sam asked me.

  “Sure, you can talk to Megan,” Rachel replied with a wink. “Kyp, can you come help while Sam and Megan take a minute?” Kyp, who had come up behind Sam, looked like the proverbial deer in the headlights for a second but then blinked and his expression relaxed.

  “Yeah. What do you need me to do?”

  Rachel launched into a quick rundown of things while Sam took my hand and led me a few stalls down and into a sort of alcove where we were more secluded.

  “Meetings start in a few minutes. You okay?” he asked, taking both my hands in his.

  Wolf growled inside but didn’t try to lurch her way out. She’d come to terms with things, even though she wasn’t happy. I was trying to be rational and realized that this was probably a good thing for Sam since he’d have to move on once I returned to permanent skin. The thought soured in my belly.

  “She’s fine. I’m fine,” I whispered, not sure if I was lying.

  “Okay.” He blew out a breath. “Kiss me?”

  I grinned.

  “Maybe it’s my wolf that wants the reassurance.” He gave a nervous chuckle.

  I took perverse pleasure in the fact that for the first time, it wasn’t my wolf that needed calming. I reached up and kissed him. His lips moved against mine, and I could feel his uncertainty. I pulled back and hugged him tight, putting one more tiny kiss right on his earlobe.

  He drew in a shuddering breath. “More of that later, I think.”

  I laughed as he walked me back to the booth. Rachel and Kyp were thoroughly enjoying themselves if their expressions were to be trusted. Raven and Cade had come up and were chatting with them during a lull of customers.

  “You ready?” Cade asked Sam once we were within conversational distance. Cade was going as Sam’s second.

  “How can I help you guys? What do you need?” Raven asked Rachel. Sam gave my hand one more squeeze, and he and Cade took off. Sam’s shoulders were tight, and unease slithered into my belly.

  “What time is it?” I said aloud as I glanced at my watch. “It’s about seven. HarvestFest shuts down at ten.” I glanced up. “Raven, how long do you think it would take to get back to the cabin, get the percolator and coffee stuff, and get back here?”

  “Ooh! Coffee is a fantastic idea! But we don’t need to go as far as the cabin. I happen to know that Dominic rented out one of the fair booths for the weekend, and they brought a huge percolator and all the stuff! The only thing is that we’ll have to wait for tonight’s meeting to be over. The formal stuff will probably take about an hour or so, but after that, we should be able to use it. It would take at least that long to get everything from the cabin.”

  “Perfect!” Rachel chimed. “We can bring the one at the cabin tomorrow so they can have the other one back.”

  With that settled, I ignored Wolf’s pacing, wondered what Sam was doing, and then focused on our customers. Things were picking up again as people were looking for after-dinner treats, and Raven and Kyp stuck around. There were quite a few students from school and several pack members that swung by, and it helped pass the time.

  Chapter 37

  Sam

  I wiped my palms on my jeans, more nervous for this meeting than I probably should have been. I couldn’t help the sinking trepidation that made my legs drag like lead. Should Megan not remain a wolf, my most likely future stood behind the doors in front of us.

  “Deep breath, dude.” Cade nudged me, sensing my unease.

  “Cade, if things don’t work…” I trailed off, and he looked at me sympathetically.

  “I know. Let’s just get through the meeting. It might be horrendous, and there’ll be no question of you two matching up.” He tried to sound hopeful. I forced a laugh.

  “Yeah. She probably has three eyes and horns.”

  Cade rolled his eyes and opened the door.

  Sarah Thornehill did not have three eyes or horns. She was there, front and center, seated between Dad and Mr. Thornehill, other wolves from both packs in the background. She was beautiful—light blonde hair that barely met her shoulders, eyes green like celery, and pale skin with a gentle upturned nose. She was stunning, but I felt nothing beyond a polite curiosity and an objective opinion about her looks. Wolf even recoiled, and a twisted part of me was relieved that there was no pull of attraction to her. I swallowed as I noted Cade’s inhale beside me. Dad’s eyes followed me closely, and I carefully schooled my features to look polite, but blank.

  “Samuel, come meet Sarah Thornehill.” They all stood. “You already know her father, Austin.” I nodded respectfully at him and turned to Sarah.

  “Hi, Sarah.” I smiled.

  “Nice to meet you, Sam.” Her voice had a lyric quality.

  I scented her neck at a polite distance, and she did the same. Rain-washed spring. But not the sunshine and roses I wanted. “This is Cade Rivers, my son’s second,” Dad continued with introductions.

  “Nice to meet you both,” Cade said before exchanging scents with both of them. Was it my imagination, or was there interest in Cade’s eyes?

  We all sat, and the other wolves from both packs settled themselves in their own conversations around the room. There were other social meetings going on in our private room, but ours was the only political and mate-related meeting to my knowledge.

  “Samuel, your dad tells me you’re a fine young man,” Mr. Thornehill opened. I felt my ears turn red. What had Dad said? I glanced over at him. His eyes were warm, but the rest of him sat stern, as unmovable as stone.

  I cleared my throat. “Thank you,” I said, unsure what else to say.

  “There’s been an unexpected event since we last spoke. I probably should have called but knew that we had other business to attend to,” Dad intervened. “Without beating around the bush, Sam has met his mate.” Dad’s turn to clear his throat.

&n
bsp; Mr. Thornehill’s eyebrows shot up. “Well, in that case, congratulations!” He reached out and shook my hand. Sarah said nothing, her face unreadable, but her shoulders sagged a fraction of an inch. I wasn’t sure if it was relief or disappointment. “I have to say, I was hoping you and Sarah would hit it off.” He looped an arm around his daughter’s shoulders. “But finding your mate is a rare and beautiful thing.” He smiled genuinely, and Wolf slowly let his shoulders relax.

  “Thank you. We’re very happy,” I stammered, knowing I was elated, not sure where Megan stood, but also unsure what else to say.

  “With that in mind, how would you like to proceed?” Dad asked, all business again. No time for trivial emotional mess.

  “Even though we won’t be making an alliance with a mating ceremony,” Mr. Thornehill said as I caught Dad’s thick swallow. Guilt fluttered in my gut. I shoved it away. Megan had to stay wolf. What would Dad tell the Thornehills if Megan walked away in skin? That their potential son-in-law broke one of the cardinal rules—an offense that would possibly ruin any alliance with the Thornehill pack? That she had died? That I was untethered? Ice lodged in my spine as a horrible thought took root. If Megan were dead, then I—the pack—would be literally freed of the encumberment I’d caused. I forced myself to breathe through my nose at a normal rate. Flashes of Megan crouched behind the concrete barrier wall as the black sedan screeched away crashed through my brain, and I blinked. Cade subtly elbowed me, and with some effort, I focused in on the conversation once more.

  “I still think a formal alliance between our packs could benefit us both.” Dad nodded at Mr. Thornehill’s words. A frown creased between the blond man’s eyebrows. “There’s been talk.” His voice lowered with the gravity of the words he was about to utter. “Talk of an uprising.”

  An uprising? Wolf raised his head and perked both ears forward. This was the first I’d heard of such a thing.

  “An uprising of wolves?” Dad clarified, shock evident in his voice.

  Mr. Thornehill nodded his head. “There are rumors of a growing unrest among some of our population that think humans should no longer be our equals.”