Page 173 of Wolf Blood

"So, we definitely won," Bloom said, licking the last of her frosting off her fork. "No voting needed."

"Your cake was superior," Maverick admitted. "Iamgoing to practice."

"Good. The only way the cake-off gets better is if we havetwogood cakes to destroy." Harper dug her fork directly into the losing cake, since the other one was gone.

"Is this going to make you bloodthirsty?" Bloom checked.

"What doesn't?"

I filled my fork and lifted it to her lips. "Let’s maximize the bloodthirst."

Harper accepted the utensil I offered. "For no reason, right?"

"None," I confirmed.

"Get a room," Bloom teased.

"After the cake’s gone," Harper agreed.

I kissed her shoulder, and she leaned a little more of her weight against me.

It was fucking bliss.

epilogue two

HARPER—MANY YEARS LATER

"They used all the powder sugar,"Bloom's four-year-old said, her gorgeous green eyes flooded with tears and her bottom lip trembling.

"It's okay, sweetheart. Auntie Harper brought more. Dad and Uncle Rhone always use it all. It's a tradition."

"What's a tradition?"

"Something that happens every year. So every year, during the Cake Off, they use all of the powdered sugar," Bloom explained, wiping her daughter's tears gently.

The Vampire/Werewolf Cake Off had become the Boys Vs Girls Cake Off when the four-year-old insisted that she was going to be on a team with me and Bloom. The little werewolf was too adorable (and too stubborn) for anyone to fight with her about it.

“It’s so mean, mommy.”

I grabbed the extra bag of powdered sugar that Rhone "hadn't noticed" me bringing and held it out toward her. "Surprise! Wehave plenty of sugar. We're all set, and we're going to crush them."

"Not my baby brother," she warned me, taking the powdered sugar and hugging it to her chest.

"Of course not. We all love the little squirt way too much."

"We love dad and Uncle Rhone too," she argued.

"Right. But we still want to crush them," I agreed.

"Stop with the crushing," Bloom whispered.

"She has to learn slang eventually," I whispered back. “And her dad is Mav, so crushing things seems like a necessary part of her life.”

The little girl's whole chin quivered.

Bloom gave me a look.

I shrugged.