She jumped out of the SUV and headed to the front of the house. Natalia had a bakery box in her hand. The box was wrapped with a pink-and-gold ribbon. She knew the local bakery. It was really popular, and their sweets were out of this world.
Her mouth watered just thinking of whatever was inside the box. The craving for chocolate had been at her for two days, and she’d been ignoring it, but now that she thought of the decadent sweets, she almost drooled. “Please tell me that there’s chocolate in there?” She smiled hopefully.
Nat grinned and passed her the cake box. “I wanted to bring you something special to welcome you back to health. Yes, it is chocolate. Actually it’s Tryx’s famous chocolate mousse cake. I called your cell phone, but I didn’t get you.” She frowned as she neared Sam. “What the hell happened to you?”
After she’d taken the medication for the pain she’d forgotten about the small cuts and bruises. “Juan Junior.”
Natalia slapped her hands on her hips and huffed. “I knew that piece of crap was going to be trouble. What did he do?”
Sam glanced at Riel. “Do you mind checking to see if I left my phone upstairs? If I didn’t, then that means it’s back at Sophia’s, and I’ll need a way to get it back.” She hoped he’d go for the request. When he nodded she sighed in relief. She didn’t want to discuss what happened in front of him with him.
He rushed up the stairs. She headed to the backyard with Nat. She stopped at the kitchen to grab a knife, plates, and forks for the cake. Natalia set the coffee maker to brew.
“So?” Nat’s voice was filled with curiosity.
She placed the cake box on a table and opened it. “He came over to Sophia and Chase’s, you know the Alpha of Ry’s pack, and started talking trash about my parents.”
Sam lifted the cake, and Nat removed the box. “What kind of trash did he talk? I mean what did he say to make things get that bad?”
Sam cut a large piece of cake, placed it on a plate, and stared at it. She then cut another piece and added it to the first one. “He said my mother was a whore because she’d fallen in love with my father, who was a shifter and one of Chase’s father’s enforcers.”
She moved the plate to the side. When Natalia tried to grab it she smacked her hand away. “That one is mine.”
Natalia’s gaped at her with wide eyes. “OK, OK. I’ll take the next piece. Sheesh.” She stuck her tongue out. “Anyway tell me more about this. Your father was a shifter? Oh my god. That’s huge.” She bounced on the lounger. “But why don’t you shift?”
She cut a much smaller piece of cake. Her best friend studied the plate, glanced at her, and raised her brows. Nat’s loud sigh said she knew Sam wasn’t trying to share.
Sam sat down and inhaled the delicious scent of chocolate, milk, and sugar. “I’m not sure why I am not a shifter, but Sophia is checking out my blood. Apparently it could be anything that caused me not to be one of them.” She bit into the cake and moaned.
Nat laughed. Sam opened her eyes to catch her grinning.
“I knew you’d love it. Tryx’s chocolate cake seems to be a favorite among shifters and humans. Although from what I’ve heard pregnant shifters crave it like a drug.”
Sam stopped the fork mid-way to her mouth. She glanced at Natalia’s smirk and shook her head. “You fantasize too much. Just for that, you don’t get any more of my cake.”
Nat waved the chocolate-covered fork in the air. “So what exactly did Juan do?”
She licked the fork and took another bite. “He started talking trash, and I got fed up. I yelled and told him the entire estate is going to charity. He went berserk. Slapped me multiple times. I tried to get away, but he had a tight grip on my shirt.”
Natalia stopped eating. “What happened then?”
“Ry and some others showed up. Juan dropped me on the ground and got torn to shreds by my wolf.” She remembered how concerned he’d been.
Nat sat unmoving. “Wow.”
She shoved a big bite of cake into her mouth and moaned. “Mmm. I know. God this cake is fantastic. Do you think she puts something special in here? I’ve made cake tons of times, and they never tasted this good! I want to buy her to make this for me every day.”
“No. It’s from an old family recipe, but we can make arrangements for you to get as much of it as you want.” Riel’s deep voice made her and Natalia both turn to face him. He stood by the kitchen door.
He brought out the coffee and shook her head in a negative. All she wanted was cake. He grinned, and she wondered what he found amusing.