Ruthless Misfit: Fierce Mates: Rock Creek Clan, #1

1

Erena poured steaming water into a mug, careful to keep her hands steady. The last thing she needed was some kind of spill that would prevent her from doing her own job later this afternoon. Working in her sister, Margot's, bakery was more of a hazard than Margot seemed to realize.

Turning carefully, Erena set the mug on the counter in front of the customer and pointed her to the selection of teas on a rack near the napkins. The woman smiled her thanks and Erena nodded.

She didn't smile. She very rarely smiled, despite—or maybe because—people always told her she should. Unfortunately, the people in Helene, Idaho, were generally positive and outgoing and they wanted everyone else to be that way, too. But they didn't know Erena's life, they didn't know what she was feeling. Why should she smile unless she genuinely felt happy? Luckily, Margot had given up trying to ask Erena to act cheerful. It was enough that Erena filled in for sick employees from time to time.

The early crowd coming into For Fox Sake Cupcakes was usually less interested in cupcakes and more interested in caffeine. Erena wished she didn't know that detail about the bakery or its customers, she wished she wasn't here at all, but when Margot needed her, Erena always came to the rescue.

Margot was Erena's Achilles' heel.

Thinking of her devil of a sister seemed to summon her, and Margot breezed into the main part of the shop, wielding a tray of freshly iced cupcakes. Her blond hair was shoved up under a pink baseball cap with the words For Fox Sake embroidered in silver thread along the front. Erena had one of those caps somewhere, too. She always forgot to bring it with her when she helped out.

Hey, Erena, Margot said. Would you mind arranging these in the case? I have another batch that I need to pull from the oven.

Erena gave her a mock salute and got to work.

The bells over the door jangled. Erena's head was deep in the display case as she set the cupcakes on little round cake plates.

Her shifter senses picked up that someone stood at the counter. Two cupcakes remained on her tray, but there wasn't space on the plate. She'd have to rearrange everything, scooting them closer. Balls. But set them up without the icing touching, she said in a snotty impersonation of her sister.

The customer cleared his throat.

One second, she said.

I'm in kind of a hurry here, he said.

Frowning, Erena set the tray on the counter and straightened up. The guy was tall and slim, with a pinched look around his mouth.

Fine, Erena said, what can I get you?

A coffee. He grinned at her.

She couldn't tell if he thought it was a flirtatious grin, but she wasn't having it. After Jake, she wouldn't trust a guy ever again. Margot dealt with recipes for baking, Erena dealt with recipes for disaster.

Sure. She poured the coffee.

He looked around. Where are your donuts?

We don't have donuts.

Why not? He sounded affronted.

She finished pouring the coffee. Because this is a cupcake shop. We have cupcakes and muffins.

You should have donuts.

Ignoring that, Erena asked, Do you want a muffin or a cupcake?

I guess I'll take a blueberry muffin, he said, like it was a great hardship.

Erena found a blueberry muffin hiding behind a mountain of cupcakes. With overly careful movements so that she wouldn't squish it into the shape of her fist, she put the muffin and a napkin into a bag.

As he handed her his credit card, the man said, You know, you're almost pretty with that blond hair and those blue eyes. You should smile more.

Well, that made it official. He was a dick. Her face flushed hot with anger and she squeezed the edge of the counter with her free hand. She ran his card and gave it back.

He turned to go, giving her an exaggerated smile.

Don't say anything, don't say anything, she told herself. She already had a reputation for being prickly, and the words fuck off were on the tip of her tongue.

The bells over the door jangled again, and in walked Gemma and Nina, two of Erena’s clan mates, bringing in with them a cold gust of the January morning.

The guy started walking and said over his shoulder, Smile, really. You'd be more attractive.

Gemma and Nina stared at the guy, and then looked at Erena. Gemma raised her eyebrows, likely expecting a big reaction from Erena.

Blood pounded in Erena’s skull, a whooshing sound of anger that drowned out everything else. With it came the words, right there, ready to force their way out of her mouth.

She couldn't help releasing them. In a sarcastically sweet voice, she said, I would smile more if there were fewer patronizing assholes in the world.

The whooshing, angry sound in her head faded until there was silence in the bakery, no sound except for Margot in the back, opening and closing an oven door. Nina and Gemma were both frozen next to the door, the man a few steps away from them.

Well that's—that's uncalled for, the man said, gaping at Erena.

She shook her head. Fortunately for both of them, Nina quickly took in the situation with those keen mountain lion eyes of hers. She looked from the man to Erena and back to the man.

Nina said, Here you go, sir, and held open the door for him.

Red-faced, the man walked out of the cupcake shop.

Making friends and influencing people? Gemma asked Erena as she and Nina approached the counter. Gemma's dark hair was up in a loose ponytail, unlike Nina's, which fell in waves past her shoulders. The two had become fast friends when Nina came to the Rock Creek territory a little over a year ago. Once Erena had left the territory, they'd befriended Margot as well.

When Erena had returned, it had been to see the three women as close friends. Erena still didn't feel like she fit in, and she didn’t think she ever would.

Yeah, making friends and influencing people, Erena repeated, working to keep her face blank. Don't you know it.

Margot appeared at Erena's shoulder. A swipe of flour decorated her cheek. What happened with that guy? He sounded upset when he left.

Nothing, Erena said.

It was a lie, though, and even if it hadn't been obvious that something had happened, her sister's keen shifter sense would have sniffed out the untruth.

Margot put a hand on her hip and waited for Erena to explain.

He was a dick, Erena said flatly.

You say that about everyone, Margot said.

Well, it's true about everyone, Erena said.

Gemma and Nina started laughing, and Erena felt her face grow hot. She worked to untie her apron. She didn't like being laughed at, and as far as she was concerned, she was pretty sure everyone laughed at her behind her back all the time. And no, she wasn't paranoid. She'd be the butt of her own jokes, too.

She'd followed Asshole Jake out of the territory, after all. Like a lovesick kit.

Unsurprisingly, she still didn’t find it funny.

Dangling the apron from her fingers, she turned away from the counter.

Where you going? Margot asked.

It looks like you have everything under control, Erena said. I'm outta here.

Do you want to join us for some coffee? Nina asked.

Erena turned around and stared at her. Nina's sincerity was evident, but it only made Erena more suspicious. It felt like ages ago, but it really wasn’t that long ago that Erena had helped Jake paint the words CAT IN HEAT on the side of Nina’s truck when Nina had first come to the territory.

Erena still felt the occasional flash of shame when she remembered it, although she'd paid Jameson and the clan back every penny for the truck's new paint job.

Gemma was obviously surprised by Nina's invitation, but she nodded eagerly, like it was actually a good idea. Like any of them would really want to hang out with Erena.

Thanks for the invite, but not today, Erena said. She was careful not to tell even a white lie, which shifters could scent as easily as old lunch meat or bad body odor.

Nina shrugged a single elegant shoulder, the waves of her hair rising and falling with it. Maybe next time.

Erena nodded and made her way back to the kitchen where she hung up her fox-patterned waist apron. There, she rested her forehead against the cool metal wall of the walk-in refrigerator. She just didn't relate to people. The only person she felt any kind of connection to was her sister, and their relationship was strained. It had been tense between them ever since Erena had returned to the Rock Creek Clan. Sometimes Erena wondered if she should’ve stayed away. But swallowing her pride had seemed better than spending another second around Asshole Jake.

She'd been such a fool.

Back at the Ring of Fire, where the Rock Creek Clan lived, Erena bypassed the cluster of nine cabins with the central fire pit nestled in the middle. Parker and Nolan, two of the clan members, sat on Nolan's porch. Now there was an odd pair of friends—neither of them talked much at all. Maybe they found each other's reticence refreshing. She lifted a hand in a wave. They nodded back, and Erena hurried toward the garage-turned-workshop at the outskirts of the cabins, her boots crunching in the snow that dusted the gravel drive.

She thought of stripping out of her clothes and taking her fox form to run through the territory, but this order needed to be finished up in the next two weeks. Plus, hammering the shit out of something would help her work out her aggression almost as well as a good run.

She stepped into the workshop and inhaled the scents of wood, hardware, tools, grease, paint, and wood glue. The shop was massive, large enough to fit an entire tiny house and still provide room to work around the house to construct individual elements that she'd add in when they were finished.

Pausing at the doorway, she leaned back to take in the project. Every house she made was her baby. She put in time, thought, and creativity for each one, customizing them to her clients' satisfaction. One hundred seventy-five feet on an eighteen-foot Tumbleweed trailer might not seem like it would allow much room for creativity, but Erena enjoyed the challenge.

For the next few hours, she lost herself in her work. Cutting, measuring, creating. Her stomach rumbled, but she barely registered the hunger. It was only when the workshop's windows dimmed with twilight that she realized she had missed lunch. Wiping her forehead on her sleeve, she stood back from the trailer and surveyed the work she'd accomplished. The ottoman that converted to a dining table, a storage box, and a desk was nearly finished. After dinner