My phone rang.. “Hey Dad! What’s up?” The other end of the line crackles.. always makes me laugh, but my being so high in the mountains it’s understandable.

Are you coming to attend your brother’s ascension ceremony?

I sigh.. this is the same conversation we have had for a month now. “I don’t have a brother. I have a son! And I have a father! I have a three star Michelin restaurant. I have a four year old Jeep and I have a three bedroom cottage. But, I don’t have a brother.” My poor dad. I love him.. and I understand his position. But Tyler should have had my back. Family! I hear Dad sigh “

All right peanut! I understand.. I do! I love you! More than you know. Give Matthew a kiss from his old Grandpa, yeah?”

I love you, too, Daddy!

The last nineteen months have been hard. Becoming a lone wolf fourteen months ago. Thank Goddess the King and Queen were empathetic and granted me that status wherever I live. The only catch.. I have to live close to a pack and have permission from the Alpha. So, I settled on Smoky Moon Pack here in Tennessee. The Alpha and Luna are kind enough.. Thomas and Edith Bronson..and while they know part of my story… they don’t know all. Learned my lesson with that!

I bought my cabin just outside pack borders so Angel can run. And finished culinary school. I was lucky.. there is a three star Michelin restaurant here in Mountain Pine.. and the owners had fallen on hard times, so they allowed me to buy in. They have no children, and Mike is talking about retiring..signing the restaurant over to me when his wife passes. She has brain cancer and it’s terminal.

My beautiful bundle of joy popped into my life fifteen months ago tomorrow.. straight up 19 seconds after midnight on the night of the first blue moon in five years. My special Matthew August Garrett! He is my everything! And he is a tyrant! A holy terror ripping through my entire world every ten minutes. A bundle of energy that seems to explode into life every morning no later than six a.m. and goes Mach5 until nine every night. Sometimes, we’re lucky… and he takes a fifteen minute nap around one in the afternoon. Sometimes…

I help out at the pack hospital a few days a week. More.. if necessary.. because injuries happen. Several months back, about a dozen warriors were ambushed by a band of rogues passing through. So.. that was an all-nighter. But, it’s the least I can do, since Matthew goes to daycare at the pack. He needs to be around wolves his age.

I have an elderly she-wolf living with me.. as a live-in nanny. Her name is Alice and a pure joy to be around. Her mate died ten years ago, and when we met.. she was floundering.. trying to find direction. She tells me she’s found that with us. She treats me like she’s my mother and Matthew her grandson. And I love it! I think the Moon Goddess saw the need in each of us.. and led us to find each other. I will be forever grateful!

We have just finished breakfast and Alice immediately jumps up to clean the kitchen. I ask her “Ma, you want to ride to the pack with the monkeybutt and me, today?” She hmmms and seems to think on it.. she isn’t really.. she just thinks it makes me feel better “No, love.. I have that wedding quilt to finish for the beta’s daughter.. then, I have some laundry to do and I want to mop the kitchen.. My book club is at 4… so maybe next time” and I laugh! This is our routine. Four days a week, I head to the pack to train with the warriors.. Matthew goes to daycare, and Alice makes excuses. She only goes to the pack now, for mandatory attendance. I kiss her cheek and tell her not to overdo.

Loading Matthew up in the jeep, we head out. The radio is turned up and the wind is rushing past us.. while my son is animatedly singing his version of the song playing. Driving past the border gate, I wave at Paul, as we pass and he tosses a lollipop through my window for Matthew. This kid! Everyone is wrapped around his finger and he knows it!

After dropping the baby off at daycare, I saunter into the training center and over to where Eddie and Trish are practicing sword fighting. I watch them for awhile.. then turn back.. looking for Brandon. Today is my katana training, and it’s my favorite. We went at it hard and heavy for nearly an hour.. and I was able to pin him.. twice! Really proud of that!

I was sparring with Tricia for fifteen minutes, when she asked “Want to go out with us Saturday night? Please don’t say no! It’s my 21st birthday and it would be nice to have another she-wolf there.. who isn’t a bitch!” I start laughing.. hard.. “She-wolf.. Bitch..? In the same sentence.. Andddd you kept a straight face! Neat talent!” She flipped me off! She’s classy! I just told her I would think about it.

I made it back home by 4.. and noticed Alice must be at her book club. It’s my night to close the Mountain Den.. and I have to be there by 5 to prep the dinner dishes. It’s Wednesday, so the specialty is beef wellington. But I like to offer a variety of sides.. a truffle risotto.. potatoes au gratin.. Mike does a signature polenta that I just can’t get on board with.. but he’s teaching it to me. It just takes like soupy cornmeal to me. I don’t say that anymore though. He whacked me with a spatula.. so okayyy.. lesson learned!

Amber comes to the kitchen “Jo, someone is requesting the chef in the front of the house.. table 34.” I grab my dress chef’s jacket and hat.. because cooking is messy and I never enter the front of the house anything less than immaculate. It reflects on the restaurant. Walking up to table 34, I extend my hand “Hello! I’m Jolene Garrett.. your chef this evening.” A middle aged couple sat there.. with a younger male, most likely their son, judging by the resemblance and a debutant looking snoot with her lip curled. Hmmm. The gentleman complimented the beef.. the lady said she had had the truffle risotto and it was delightful. The younger man asked how long I had been cooking and he thoroughly enjoyed the wellington and it was cooked to perfection. I thanked them all for their very kind words and turned to walk away.. and the snoot felt the need to throw her two cents on the table. “My beef was quite underdone. I ordered the risotto but had to send it back three times before I simply gave up. Entirely too starchy. And my artichoke was too chewy and fibrous.. leaving a horrible taste in my mouth.. even rinsing it with this swill you call wine couldn’t cut the taste. The rest of the table looked embarrassed as I laughed out loud.

I looked then realized “Oh, you’re serious! If your wellington was undercooked, possibly you shouldn’t have ordered it rare. Risotto, of course, is starchy.. it’s rice.. after all.. as far as your artichoke… well, might I suggest, next time, don’t try to actually eat the ‘choke’ of the heart? It most definitely is tough, and fibrous and completely inedible. Everyone knows that... I am sorry the $300 bottle of eight year old Cabernet Sauvignon was not up to your discerning palate. I am sure the seventeen world awards would dispute your claim.. but in this business.. we generally choose the best. If your plan was for me to comp your meal, I fear you will be sorely disappointed. However, the kind people whom you have embarrassed…out of hand, for no other reason but to impress this poor red-faced young man.. will have their meals comped. On your behalf! And, please (speaking to the older gentleman) accept MY apologies for your guest’s uneducated and poorly executed critique of the food in my restaurant.” I shook his hand and walked away.. laughing my ass off!

There’s one in every crowd! I truly hope that little shit is not that man’s mate! Imagine! A life trapped with such a pretentious, uninformed parvenu like that! I shudder to think! Amber ran to the back and handed me a handwritten note.

I must apologize for the horrible rudeness of my mate. When we asked for your presence at out table it was to only compliment our dinner. My parents and I were caught completely off-guard by her words.. and now I find the need to reevaluate my entire life and whether accepting her as my mate is in the best interest of my pack and myself. But way to take it on the chin!

Sincerely

Alpha Blake Landon