Beta’s Delight: Dixon Pack Book 2

by Bryce Evans

  Bane rushed over to her. “Here, sit down. I thought you knew we were in here.” He pulled the chair over and she dropped into it like her strings had been cut.

  “How the hell would I know that? I thought you might be…” Simone stopped talking and looked down at her feet, dragging in deep breaths. Her hands wouldn’t stop shaking.

  “Simone, look at me. I promise you he won’t ever get to you. I promise.” Bane assured her, before he realized his mistake. He wasn’t supposed to know about her past all.

  “How do you know that?” Simone’s eyes were furious. She looked over at Finn, the most likely culprit.

  “It wasn’t Finn. Look, you moved to a shifter town,” Bane rushed to explain. “That’s my job Simone, to find out about the people who move here. We have to. We can’t have people who don’t know about shifters just settling down. I have to check out everyone, and it wasn’t hard to figure out, what with all the hospital visits and your injuries.” Bane moved his thumb across her lower check. The bruise was fading, but it was still there.

  Simone looked down at her shoes, unable to meet his eyes. She should have known. Quinn had said he was the one who knew everything that was going on in the pack. When Simone thought about it, she knew he was right. If their roles had been reversed, she would have done a background check on everyone who came to town too. The safety of the pack was his job, and she couldn’t fault him for that.

  Simone wanted to lean into his touch, but she couldn’t. For one, she had too much to do, and for another, Finn was silently watching them. Then the back door opened up, and Monica and Josh walked in. To say she was shocked was an understatement.

  “Monica?” Simone jumped up, making Bane’s hand drop. She didn’t know what to do. She wanted to go and check on Monica, but she hated that Bane wasn’t touching her anymore. Thank goodness, Bane got up and walked over to Monica first, hugging her warmly. Nuzzling her check, Bane touched his forehead with hers, glad to see her on her feet.

  “How you doing, kid?” He asked. Monica gave him a sad smile and nodded. “I’m glad you’re here.” Bane grinned back. He backed off as Simone came closer.

  “You okay?”

  Monica nodded and opened up her pocketbook, pulling out the apron she had on the evening she was carried out. “It’s yours if you want it, and the job too,” Simone said. “You ready to get started?”

  Monica nodded, hung her pocketbook and coat on the hanger, and slipped on the apron.

  “Okay then, let’s get to work.”

  Finn and Bane returned to the mixing bowl and started adding the other ingredients. Simone walked over to the other stove, pulled her book down, and thumbed through the pages until she found the recipe she was looking for. She pointed it out to Monica, “Honey butter cake is easy to make, but if you add too much honey then it won’t turn out the way it should. Trust me when I say that I have perfected these recipes. So when it says only use a cup and half, only use a cup and a half. I thought it wouldn’t hurt to add another cup of honey once, but the cake wouldn’t form. No matter how hard you try, it won’t stand up on its own. It won’t. It’ll fall over instead.”

  Monica nodded and started putting the ingredients in a large mixing bowl. She glanced over at Josh from where he stood to the side, taking everything in. “Josh,” Simone began, “I’m going to teach you how to run the taffy machine.”

  “Cool.” Josh answered. Today she was going to make some blackberry and honey taffy, another delicious creation of Simone’s own making. All of her taffy had been purchased the day before; she needed make another batch and a different flavor later in the day. The bakery had to have some stock ready for customers once they walked in the store today, so that was Simone’s plan for the day—get more stock out so her customers could see more of what she had to offer.

  “Last night at the pack house, everybody was saying how they wished you would had some pies in the bakery. They loved everything you did have too.” Josh said.

  “Today, I plan to have several pies in the display waiting for them.” Simone said with a wink at Josh.

  “Monica, if you can do that cake, I will get the ingredients for Josh, and then I can start on the pies.” Simone could tell that Bane and Finley were making hot chocolate kisses cookies, which was great, because they seemed to be a huge hit.

  Simone had just taken the pies out of the oven when she glanced over at the clock. It was already ten in the morning, and she hadn’t opened the store yet. She rushed into the front, but Josh was already ringing up customers. She didn’t even know that her coffee and soft drink machine had been set up and running. Customers were sitting at the tables outside, inside enjoying their treats with a fresh cup of coffee.

  People were already at the window, watching the taffy stretch in the machine. Even Simone had to admit that it was fun to watch. What she really wanted to bring in was a chocolate fountain, where people could see it too as they walked by. She had talked Mr. Olsen into getting one and putting it in the window in New York, and it was a huge hit. Nothing brought customers in faster than seeing strawberries being dipped into the rich chocolate and placed on a tray. They couldn’t help themselves as the complimentary chocolate-dipped strawberries were handed out while they stood in line for their orders. Simone got them every time.

  As she took a moment to admire the customers, Ben Crenshaw walked in the door carrying a gift bag. He looked adorable carrying in a bag with bright decorative paper hanging out of it, but she had no idea what to say to him when he stopped in front of her. At first, neither of them spoke. Even though she felt someone coming up behind her, Simone wouldn’t let the bear know she was afraid. She should have known it was Bane when his scent hit her. He always smelled like the outdoors on a crisp, fall morning. She loved this time of the year, and he smelled just like it.

  “Alpha.” Bane spoke first.

  “Simone, I hope we can still be friends. Yesterday was a hard day, and the mating pull was hitting me pretty hard. I would never hurt Monica—never. But I need to see that she’s okay. I brought her a gift.” He said, changing the subject.

  “I’ll go and see if she’ll come out,” Simone said, and headed into the kitchen where Monica and Finn were frosting some cupcakes.

  “Monica.” Simone gently laid her hand on the girl’s arm. “Listen, I wanted to tell you that no matter what, nobody will ever make you do what you don’t want to do, so if you don’t want to see him, that’s fine.” Monica slowly put the icing down. “Ben Crenshaw is here. He said he wants to see you and make sure you’re okay. He also brought you a gift.”

  Monica rubbed her hands on her pants, glancing over to Finley. “Do you want me to go out there with you?” Her brother asked.

  Monica was fighting with herself. The girl shook her head, grabbed Simone’s hand, and pulled her to the front with her. Simone knew that her young protégé needed her support, so she allowed Monica to lead her. Ben’s eyes stalked her every move as the two came toward him. She stopped, not getting too close, but close enough to hear what he had to say.

  “Hey.” Ben’s voice held a hint of desperation as he inhaled deeply.

  Monica waved, but didn’t say a word.

  “I brought you something. I hope you like it. Bane said you like to cook and invent new recipes. I thought you might be able to make something unique with it.” Ben’s big hand held the gift bag out to her. Monica hesitantly took it, and looked inside the bag.

  Poor girl, Simone thought. Everyone was watching her as she pulled a single jar out. It was filled with honey and cherries. Simone hadn’t thought of it before, but the honey and cherries were a great combination. Ben watched as she turned the jar around and smiled; she liked it.

  Simone wanted to laugh when everyone looked relieved, especially Ben.

  “You like it?” he asked hesitantly.

  Monica’s eyes widened when she finally looked up, and nodded. She put the jar back into the bag and disappeared into the back. She looked over her shoulde
r and smiled as the door swung shut behind her. The single look was all Ben needed. “That’s a start.” He muttered.

  “Yes it is. I haven’t seen my sister smile like that in a while.” Josh said, which in turn made Ben stand up taller and smile. The bear didn’t say another word, just walked over to a table and dropped his bag in the chair. Then he pulled his laptop out and made himself comfortable.

  “Do you think he’s going to stay here all day?” Simone asked Bane and Finley as they stood beside her, watching their neighboring Alpha.

  “Unfortunately, yes. I’m sure the mating pull is still affecting him strongly. If he can’t mate with her, then he’ll settle for being near her.” Bane answered.

  Ben ordered honey buns and a large coffee from Josh at the register. Simone shrugged, but if Monica was okay, then so was she. Besides, traffic was picking up again. She needed to start making some blackberry cupcakes sweetened with honey. The bears were sure to love it, but she figured the wolves would too, since they seemed to like everything.

  * * *

  Simone walked to the back and found Monica pouring some of the honey and cherries into a bowl. “What’re you making?”

  Monica held up the cupcake pan, but she didn’t put it down. She just kept it up, as if she was waiting for permission to use it. “Of course you can, Monica. I would love to try some of your creations.”

  Monica smiled, nodded, and then poured the batter into the molds. Simone walked over to a table, and found Bane staring at her. “What?”

  “Nothing. Thank you for helping her out. I knew she loved to cook, but I think she loves doing this. She left a letter for Arden this morning, telling him that she wanted to drop out of school and work here in the bakery with you. She said she loved baking and it made her happy. Nothing has made that girl happy in a long time, so Arden said okay. He wanted Monica to get an education, but she wasn’t happy there. She can always take classes online if she wants to finish up. I think she is right where she wants to be, here with you.”

  “Why would he have to say okay? She’s an adult.” Simone questioned.

  “She could have, but the pack paid for her and Josh to go to school. We try to get all of our younger pack members to go to college. It’s different with us, Simone. The Alpha isn’t a dictator, but we live in a pack and we make sure our pack mates are safe. Living outside of the pack is dangerous, especially in a big city. If the wrong people found out about us, we would be tortured. Scientists would study us, thinking of us as nothing more than animals. We are both and can live in either form. Here in New Hope, we have a place to run wild and without danger. ”

  It was something she never thought about, but it was a lot to take in and understand. “I’ve always been so independent; I only had myself to answer to. I just never thought about it.” Simone answered.

  “Trust me when I say that we have a lot of different people in our pack, but we’ll try to help each other. If one of us is in danger, we band together, and we’re there for them. We’re all independent, but we choose to live on pack lands and thrive together. If you would like to see how we live, I think you’d get a better understanding of how it works.” Bane added. She could hear the longing in his voice as he invited her to his home, which was strange to her. They were not mates.

  “Sure.” Simone didn’t want to obligate herself for fear of getting closer to Bane. He continued to do this, and it only made her want to be with him more, but she couldn’t. She had a plan, and she needed to stick with it. That’s what she kept telling herself anyway. Dammit, the man was making her rethink everything.

  “I’ve got a couple more things to put in the oven.” Simone walked away quickly. She had to get away from his musky scent and the effect it had on her.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Simone sat at a table and ate a sandwich from Ben for lunch, full of delicious ham from the local diner. She watched as the bear typed away at his laptop, his brows knitted as he studied the screen. She took a sip of her drink, thinking about everything she had learned. In only a few days, she had discovered that shifters were a part of the world she lived in. Someone had to know out there. How else would the movies have gotten so much of it right? Not just shifters, but vampires too. She shivered, thinking about the story Bane had told her. The poor twins, losing their family at such a young age, and the pain Monica had went through.

  Monica who brought her back from those troubling thoughts walked out of the back with a dish full of cupcakes, fresh from the kitchen. She could smell the honey and cherry flavor, as she got closer. She hesitated when Ben’s head popped up from his computer screen, watching her as she stopped, placing one of the cupcakes on her plate, and walked over to Ben’s table with the rest. Pulling out a chair, she sat down, set the cupcakes in front of him, and waited. She didn’t say a word, just waited for him to taste it.

  Simone had to give it to Ben, he never raised his voice, or made aggressive movements; he just picked up the cupcake and put most of it in his mouth. Closing his eyes, she could tell that the bear liked what he was eating. He didn’t speak, but his face was expressive enough. He put the rest of the cake in his mouth, and then had another.

  Only after eating the third one did he speak and point at the cupcakes, “That was wonderful. I knew the cherries would mix well with the honey.”

  Monica smiled and did something that surprised the bear and Simone both. She picked up a napkin, reached over, and wiped the crumbs off his mouth, before retreating to the kitchen. Simone watched her go in disbelief. She glanced back at Ben, only to find his hand on his face as her stared at the doorway. She wanted to laugh, but she held it in. As small as it was, it was a huge leap for the couple. Apparently, Ben thought so too. He was still holding his mouth where she had touched him.

  She smiled as Quinn walked through the door and sat down across from her. “So how did today go?”

  “It’s finally slowing down, so I took a break to eat, but so far sales have been great. We actually got a lot of orders that were phoned in.” Simone was eager to share the good news with her friend. Her friend, she thought, that was strange coming out of her mouth. She had never had one, and it felt good to say it, even if it was just to herself.

  “I knew it would be like this. I’m so happy for you.” Quinn answered with a smile. She looked over her shoulder, then back at Simone. “He’s been here all day?”

  “Yep, but it’s been good so far. Monica doesn’t seem to mind in the least. She’s doing much better than I thought.”

  “Good! Hey, I want to bring you next door and introduce you to Jade and the others. Besides, I want you to see my shop. Let you see where all the magic happens.”

  “Oh yes, I would love that. Let me go tell Monica.” Simone said, standing up. Josh was up front at the register, reading a book while the shop was quiet. She liked this, even the bear sitting in the corner typing at ease. It felt right. This was her store, and these were her friends.

  Now she was ready to explore the town she called home, especially Southern Treasures. When she entered the back, Finn was sitting on a table, watching as Monica decorated a cake. As she got closer, she could see pieces of fondant in shapes of trees, bears, and wolves. It was beautiful, almost like the picture in her living room that Quinn had painted.

  “That’s beautiful, Monica. Where did you learn to do that?” Simone knew how because she learned from Mr. Olsen, but who had taught Monica?

  Monica pulled her phone closer so Simone could see the website that gave step-by-step instructions. She laughed; Monica was a natural. She could see something and just make it.

  “Today is Quinn’s birthday and she thinks nobody knows about it. We’re throwing her a surprise party at the pack house and Monica is putting the finishing touches on her cake. She did a good job copying the picture.” Finn explained.

  “I didn’t know. I’ll have to get her something. She’s done so much for me. How about if I bake some treats for your party tonight? You can tell her they’re
from me.” Simone said with a smile.

  “I don’t think anybody will argue with you.” Finn added.

  “Good. Hey, I’m going next door to check out the store with Quinn. Can you handle this for me for a few minutes?”

  “Sure,” Finn said with a smile. “Monica has some pies in the oven. As soon as that timer goes off, I’m taking them out and putting them on the cooling rack.”

  Simone watched Finn eat a cookie as Monica prepared the cake. She was an artist in her own right and found something she loved to do.

  “You’re learning,” Simone nodded. “I don’t know if I told you both, but thanks.”

  The two of them turned around, beaming at her from the kind praises. Maybe Simone could find something in the store she could give as a present, along with her desserts. Monica could take it with her. Her thoughts flashed to Bane as she picked up her pocketbook, and walked out with Quinn.

  * * *

  When Quinn opened the door, the smell of cotton candy invaded her nose. It was a wonderful scent, and she knew she had to find out what it was. “What is that smell? Do you have a cotton candy machine?”

  Quinn laughed. “No silly, but I have candles and body spray. Isn’t it wonderful?”

  “Show me. I have to get some of that.” Simone breathed.

  “First, let me introduce you to Bane’s little sister, Jade Cross.” Quinn pulled Simone over to a beautiful woman leaning over a counter, straightening some jewelry in a case. When she leaned up, Simone nearly gasped at what she saw—a long scar, the wound long since healed, running down her face. She smiled instead, fighting to keep her face expressionless.

  “Jade, this is Simone Alexander.” Quinn said.

  Once she smiled, Simone saw that the scar couldn’t take away from her beauty. Jade Cross was absolutely angelic.

  “Finally, I get to meet the woman that has my brother tied up in knots. I’m so glad to finally meet you, Simone.” Jade came around the display and hugged her. The gesture was genuine as Simone hugged her back. Jade was a naturally sweet woman; she liked her already.