by Sable Sylvan
Cayenne did wake up when she felt someone brush by her arm. She opened her eyes. Two men were in front of her, out of town looking men, with a wolfish looking set of features.
“Sorry, can I help you?” asked Cayenne sleepily.
“We’re just wondering if we can sample what you’ve got,” said the first man, leaning forward. Cayenne saw that the top of his chest was exposed, hairy, but there was what looked like a tattoo on his chest. That’s when she realized that these men weren’t just wolfish…they were werewolves, wolf shifters.
“Yes, take as many samples as you like,” said Cayenne, offering the tray to the men.
“Silly girl, we don’t want your meat,” said the second man, taking one of the pieces of meat, eating it, and throwing the toothpick and cup out onto the street. “We want your curves.”
“Although you do look good enough to eat,” said the first man.
“You have the wrong idea,” said Cayenne. “All I have is hot sauce.”
“Oh, that’s where you’re wrong, sugar pea,” said the second man, reaching forward to brush against her shoulders with his hand, the paw mark of his species rough against her exposed skin. Right about now, Cayenne wished she’d worn that frikkin’ sweater.
“Don’t touch me,” warned Cayenne.
“Or what?” said the first man, brushing his hand against Cayenne’s thigh, which was only covered by a pair of short denim shorts.
“Don’t touch me,” shouted Cayenne, getting up from the bench, but the wolf shifters pushed her back down.
“Come on, darling, let’s have some fun,” said the second wolf. “Let’s take this party back to our place.”
Cayenne reached up and slapped the second wolf shifter. She couldn’t help it, but as soon as her hand made contact with the werewolf’s five-o-clock shadow, she regretted doing it, as she saw both of their eyes glint bright green and seemingly flash from within.
“Oh, now you’ve pissed him off,” said the first wolf. “You might just get eaten up, Little Red Riding Hood.”
The second man had backed off…but he was getting down on all fours. Cayenne knew what he was about to do, and there was no way for her to stop it.
Well, no way for her to stop it, but that didn’t mean that someone else couldn’t handle it.
A beast with ivory fur that looked like it had risen out of the sands of the desert of time barreled through the front door of the restaurant. Giant, with a snarling mouth that wasn’t in a grin but was open for the bear to use to roar at the wolves that dared to threaten the woman he had yet to claim, there was no mistaking this bear as anything but a Scoville Polar shifter.
The polar moved forward, and Cayenne realized she knew exactly which polar this was. She had seen it just a few weeks beforehand.
It was Basil frikkin’ Scoville, and he was on the warpath.
Basil looked at Cayenne and nodded his head for her to move. Cayenne started to move toward him, but the two wolf shifters had quickly shifted into their wolf forms. They were gray wolves with streaks of black and brown fur, and they snapped and snarled at her, threatening to bite her.
Basil took this opportunity. He ran forward and barreled into the two wolves, pushing them back, careful not to hit Cayenne. Cayenne quickly moved backward, so that she and Basil had switched spaces.
Basil roared at the wolves. He snapped right back at them and swiped at their faces. They’d threatened his woman, so all bets were off. The bear had taken over, and Basil couldn’t hold it back even if he’d wanted to…and the human side of Basil didn’t want to show these wolves an ounce of humanity.
The wolves leaped forward, to bite at Basil’s neck, but the first missed. The second did not. It had a lock on Basil’s neck and even though Basil squirmed and swiped, the second was not letting go of his neck.
Cayenne couldn’t just watch this happen and not do anything. There was no time to get the rest of the Scovilles. She did what every Southern woman must do time to time and made do with what she had…and like a Texas woman, defended her family and her property.
Cayenne grabbed the platter. It was metal, not too heavy, but it could do some damage. She flipped the sauce cups off the platter and ran with the platter, up to the second wolf, and used the platter to smack the wolf on the head. She used the metal disk’s sides to smack the wolf on the neck, making it let go of Basil’s neck, before using the broad side of the platter to smack the wolf’s head aside as if the head was a ping-pong ball and her platter, the paddle.
Cayenne and Basil covered each other’s backs as the wolves circled them.
It was a Tex-Mexican standoff, but what these wolves didn’t know was that the polar and the BBW were more than just hot sauce hotties. These two firecrackers could bring the heat.
Cayenne let out a big yell, and Basil roared as Cayenne reached forward to smack a wolf upside the head with the platter, and Basil pounced to swipe the other wolf on the side of its face. Cayenne kept beating the wolf up as Basil kept hitting the other wolf in the face. The wolves, stunned, became confused, and then yipped and ran off into the night.
Cayenne went to sit down, huffing and puffing. She’d had an adrenaline rush, and now, she was crashing hard. Before she reached the bench, she slipped on one of the slippery pieces of tri-tip that were now sprinkling the sidewalk outside the restaurant. As she fell backward, two strong arms caught her and held her up.
She looked up. It was Basil, in his human form…and he was naked. She didn’t look down, or at his chest. Her eyes fluttered closed as her body instinctively curled up against his chest.
Basil opened the door and gently placed Cayenne on the couch before heading to the back room…which meant that Cayenne got another sneak peek of Basil’s bare buns.
Cayenne yawned as her sister Savina came out of the kitchen.
“Kai, what the heck happened?” asked Savina.
“Two wolves got fresh with me,” said Cayenne. “But am I seeing things, or are you really there?”
“I’m here,” said Savina, pulling up a chair to sit with her sister. “Kai, you had me worried. I stayed behind tonight to help Basil clean up after dinner. It was another punishment given that Mace and I got into another fight. Mace went back to the house where he has to help the staff scrub toilets tonight. Anyway, I didn’t hear it, but Basil’s a shifter, so he suddenly just turned, told me to stay put and not leave the restaurant, and he left, and I swear, swear to goodness, mid-run, he shifted. He frikkin’ turned into his polar, and then…what happened?”
“The two wolf shifters had come up to me when I was on the bench and were aggressive,” said Cayenne. “They were interested in more than the hot sauce if you catch my drift.”
“You don’t mean…” started Savina.
“That’s right,” said Cayenne. “They asked me back to their place. I said no, they ‘insisted,’ and I slapped one for being gross…and the one I slapped started to shift. That’s when Basil burst out of the door and frikkin’ saved me…but it was two against one, so I helped. What’s Basil doing back in the kitchen?”
“Getting changed into a spare change of clothes,” said Savina. “All the Scovilles keep a spare set of clothes at the store, the restaurant, the warehouse, and the factory because eventually, they’re gonna need one.”
“I gotta get up and clean up the mess outside,” said Cayenne, getting up. “I can’t just leave the meat to rot on the street. What would people think?”
“Don’t get up,” ordered Savina, pushing Cayenne back down onto the couch. “I’m supposed to be cleaning anyway, aren’t I? You just stay put and get some rest.”
“Okay, okay,” said Cayenne, yawning as she lay back down. She was so exhausted by what had happened.
Thirty minutes later, Cayenne was woken by the feeling of being carried. She freaked out and opened her eyes, and realized that the person carrying here was Basil.
“You’re awake, good,” said Basil. “It’s time to go home. You’re gonna sit in the back
with me. Savina, grab the door. I know that I said I’d drive, but…looks like I’ll need to stay in the back with Kai.”
Savina opened the door to the kitchen and turned the light off and locked up once Basil was outside with Cayenne in his arms. Cayenne shivered and nuzzled closer to Basil, who was wearing a flannel shirt again…and that’s when she realized one of them had put her in one of the Scoville brothers’ shirts, too. The flannel Basil was wearing was boring and basic, but the one she was wearing felt cashmere soft. Basil had worn one of his brother’s ugly flannels and let her wear his nice, warm one? What the heck was going on?
Savina quickly came up to the SUV and opened the back door.
“I’m gonna sit you down real fast,” said Basil. “I’ll be sitting in the back with you to keep you upright during the drive. Savina, don’t aim for the potholes.”
“You got it, boss man,” said Savina, getting in the driver’s seat.
Cayenne was buckled into the seat behind the passenger seat, while Basil took the seat behind the driver’s seat, giving Cayenne more room. Cayenne kept falling asleep, so Basil finally just let her rest her head on his lap. It wasn’t the safest thing to do, but smacking wolves upside the head with a metal platter hadn’t been either.
When they got to the house, Savina helped with the doors again while Basil carried Cayenne in his arms. Alice and Herb were in the front room, sitting in chairs waiting for the trio, worried sick as their crossed arms showed, but when they saw Cayenne, they ran up to Basil.
Savina put her hands on Alice and Herb’s chest.
“She’s asleep,” whispered Savina. “Basil said he’d come down later to explain everything.”
Alice and Herb nodded, and Savina went upstairs to get the doors for Basil.
Cayenne’s bedroom door was locked and rather than go through her purse for keys, Savina opened Basil’s door.
Basil walked into his room with Cayenne gently cradled in his arms. She was between a waking and sleeping state, her eyes fluttering open every so often.
“Where…where am I?” asked Cayenne, looking around slowly.
“My room,” said Basil. “I’m taking you to yours. Your room was locked. Force of habit?”
“Must be,” said Cayenne with a yawn. “I can walk the rest of the way.”
“No, you can’t,” said Basil.
Savina opened the door to the middle room of the suite, and when she saw what was inside, she gasped.
Basil walked into the middle room, and Cayenne looked around. This wasn’t the plain room with white walls and a navy-blue carpet that she remembered. This looked like the studio of her dreams, with fresh canvases on sturdy pine easels, new brushes in a cubby system, and fresh canvases laying against a shelving unit. There was a drafting table with pens and pencils, and the room smelled of brand new art supplies, of pastels, paints, and pencil shavings.
“What is this place?” asked Cayenne.
Basil stopped and let Cayenne look around, carefully moving in a small circle so she could see the room.
“It’s your studio,” said Basil quietly. “I set it up for you a few days after you told me about your painting. I didn’t know what to get, so I got you everything. Our stylist and your sisters helped me pick everything out.”
“You did all this…for me?” asked Cayenne.
“You didn’t notice because you were working so hard,” said Basil. “Ironic, isn’t it? This is supposed to be where you go to relax…but you work too hard. You were so busy. You didn’t even open the door and see what’s there.”
“Basil, you didn’t have to do this,” said Cayenne, with a yawn.
“You can thank me another time,” said Basil, instinctively pulling Cayenne closer to his body.
“Ahem,” came a voice. It was Savina, the door to Cayenne’s room unlocked and open.
“Sorry,” said Basil. He kept walking.
Savina opened the covers to Cayenne’s bed, and Basil put Cayenne down carefully. Savina took off Cayenne’s shoes, and Basil started to leave.
“Wait,” said Cayenne.
“You need sleep,” said Basil.
“I…I want a bedtime story,” said Cayenne.
“You’re joking,” said Basil.
“When she gets tired, she gets like this,” said Savina, taking off the last shoe. “She always forgets that she’s a grown up and can’t go around asking people for goodnight stories.”
“I know a story,” said Basil.
“Then tell it,” said Savina. “I’m outie. It better not be ‘Goldilocks And The Three Bear Shifters’ or ‘Shifterella’. She’s heard those a thousand times.”
“You can go, Savina,” said Basil. “Just…tell Herb and Alice I’ll be right down.”
“Chores, chores,” said Savina. “I’ll go.”
Savina left, and Basil took a seat next to Cayenne’s bed. He looked around the room. He hadn’t expected Cayenne’s room to be so girly. Given how driven and ambitious she was, the last thing he’d expect was that she’d have a fairytale feminine room…or a penchant for bedtime stories.
“Story,” said Cayenne with a yawn, reaching out for Basil.
Basil took her hand and held it in his.
“Have you heard the story…of the Matchstick Girl?” asked Basil.
“No,” said Cayenne. “Maybe. I don’t know.”
“A man from a country near mine wrote this story, and my grandmother told it to me, so now, I will tell it to you,” said Basil. “In Scandinavia, we call him H.C. Andersen, but you might know him as Hans Christian Andersen. He wrote what my people and his call eventyr, adventures, but what you would call a fairy tale. This one is one of his most famous stories…Piken med svovelstikkene: The Little Match Girl, or, The Matchstick Girl.
“Once upon a winter’s eve, there was a young girl who sold matches to make a living. You would think that selling matches would be easy during the winter, but sadly, for this girl, it was not. She needed to sell the matches or else she couldn’t go home to her family because she’d be punished brutally. She had lost her shoes and walked barefoot through the streets,” said Basil.
“Then what?” asked Cayenne.
“Then, the girl decided she could light just one match, to keep herself warm…but when she lit the match, she saw delightful things dancing in the flames,” said Basil. “She saw visions of a happy home, of a feast at the hearth on Christmas. She saw a glittering star she thought was the topper of the tree, but it was a shooting star. The girl smiled, because…” Basil started to choke up a little.
“Because why?” asked Cayenne with a yawn.
“…Because her grandmother had told her every time you see a shooting star, it’s someone going to the afterlife,” said Basil, regaining composure on the outside. His bear roared. Could Basil make it through this without crying?
“And then what?” asked Cayenne.
“Then, the girl struck another match, and saw a vision of her grandmother,” said Basil. “You see, her grandmother, the only person who had ever treated the girl with love and with kindness, had passed away. Seeing her grandmother again seemed like a New Year’s Eve miracle for the girl, so she kept on striking matches to keep the image of her grandmother flickering in the flames of the matches.”
“But, if she strikes the matches…” started Cayenne. “Oh no.”
“Exactly,” said Basil. “She had no matches to sell and eventually, no matches to keep her warm, but her grandmother carried her to the afterlife.”
“That’s so sad,” said Cayenne. “At least she was in a better place.”
“Remind you of anyone else?” asked Basil.
“No,” said Cayenne.
“Really?” asked Basil, squeezing Cayenne’s hand.
“What, me?” asked Cayenne. “No way.”
“You see no parallels?” asked Basil. “Come on, Kai. You work too hard, to the point it gets dangerous. You didn’t die, but you were stubborn and stayed outside…but the difference is, you
have the option not to work so hard. You have a family that loves you, and you don’t have to work as hard as you do. You didn’t catch a death of cold, but you almost got eaten by the big, bad wolves. You gotta be more careful and take care of yourself…and let us take care of you, too. We’re all a big family now. You’re gonna be my sister-in-law. What kind of brother-in-law would I be if I let you get taken by wolves?”
“Okay, you might have a point,” said Cayenne before yawning again. She was struggling to get to sleep.
“Get some shut-eye,” said Basil. “I’ll turn off the light when I leave.”
“Basil, wait,” said Cayenne.
“What?” asked Basil.
“Can I…ask for something weird?” asked Cayenne.
“Anything,” said Basil.
“Can…never mind,” said Cayenne, asking herself why she had thought to ask for that from him. “It’s nothing. See you tomorrow…and thanks again, for everything.”
“No problem,” said Basil, giving her a small smile before turning off the light and shutting the door. He had told Cayenne a very special bedtime story, but now, he had to tell Alice and Herb another story…
Chapter Thirty-Eight
The next morning, Cayenne took a shower and headed downstairs for breakfast. It was Saturday, and everyone was eating brunch together. Of course, the topic of discussion was Basil taking on the two wolves and Cayenne’s badass defense of Basil. Eventually, people dropped the topic, and it was time to clean up.
“Can I see you upstairs?” Cayenne asked Basil as she cleared her dishes. “The studio?”
“Sure,” said Basil, and once they finished cleaning up, they headed upstairs together.
Cayenne opened the door to the suite from her room and met Basil inside. The studio looked even better than she’d dreamed of. After all, how couldn’t she have had a night filled with dreams of the gorgeous paints and brushes that Basil had stocked the room with? There were even empty frames and hanging equipment for her paintings and a big couch. Cayenne sat on the couch, and Basil pulled up a chair.
“I just wanted to thank you for last night,” said Cayenne. “And…for this.”