Lily Carter POV
The smoke alarm scread like an injured animal as I yanked the oven door open. Black smoke poured out, making cough and wave my hands wildly. The roast I’d been trying to cook for three hours looked like a burnt rock.
"No, no, no!" I grabbed the smoking pan with my bare hands, then instantly dropped it with a yelp of pain. The burnt at hit the floor with a thud, spreading charcoal pieces across the kitchen tiles.
This was ant to be perfect. My first real dinner as part of the Alpha family. I’d wanted to prove I could do traditional Luna things, not just heal cuts and comfort crying pups. But instead of a beautiful feast, I’d made a disaster zone.
The kitchen door burst open. "What’s burning?" Aiden ran in, followed closely by Brock and Caleb. All three brothers stopped dead, taking in the scene: smoke everywhere, burnt food on the floor, and standing in the middle of it all with tears running down my face.
"I ruined everything," I whispered, holding my burnt fingers. "I wanted to make sothing special for your family, but I can’t even cook a simple roast."
Instead of the anger or disappointnt I expected, Caleb stepped forward and gently took my hands to study the burns. "These need cold water right away."
While he led to the sink, Aiden opened all the windows to clear the smoke. Brock picked up the falling roast, poking it with a fork.
"Well," Brock said with a straight face, "I think it’s done."
Despite my embarrassnt, I let out a wet laugh. "It’s completely ruined. Your father is coming for dinner in an hour, and I have nothing to serve him."
"Hey," Caleb said softly, running cold water over my burnt fingers. "It’s just food. Dad won’t care."
"But I will!" The words burst out before I could stop them. "Everyone already thinks I don’t belong here. Luna keeps saying that I’m just a pretend Luna who can’t do anything right. I thought if I could at least cook one perfect al..."
The three brothers exchanged looks. Aiden turned off the still-shrieking smoke alarm while Brock opened the back door to let more smoke escape.
"Luna doesn’t know what she’s talking about," Aiden said strongly. "You saved our pack from rogues. You brought order back to Silver Peak. I think you can handle one burnt roast."
"But look at this ss!" I pointed around the destroyed kitchen. Pots and pans covered every surface, flour dusted the counters like snow, and sothing green and sticky dripped from the cabinet doors.
"What were you trying to make?" Caleb asked, wrapping my fingers in a clean towel.
"Traditional Alpha family feast," I mumbled. "Honey-glazed roast, moon-blessed potatoes, winter root veggies, and elderberry pie. Elder Iris gave the recipes, but I guess I’m just not cut out for this."
Brock snorted. "Those recipes are impossible. Mom used to spend two full days making that al, and she had the pack cooks helping her."
"You tried to make all of that by yourself?" Aiden looked impressed rather than angry. "In one afternoon?"
"I wanted it to be perfect." My voice cracked. "I wanted your father to see that I could be a real Luna, not just the oga who got lucky with a magic mark."
"Lily," Caleb said gently, "you are a real Luna. Magic mark or not, you’ve proven yourself a hundred tis over."
"Not in the kitchen, apparently." I looked at the burnt remains of my attempts.
"None of us can cook either," Brock admitted with a grin. "We usually just eat whatever the pack cooks make, or we hunt for fresh at."
"Rember when you tried to make eggs for breakfast?" Aiden asked Brock. "You sohow managed to burn water."
"That was one ti!" Brock objected. "And the pan was broken!"
Despite my anger, I found myself smiling. "You really burnt water?"
"The eggs exploded," Caleb added helpfully. "We found pieces stuck to the ceiling for weeks."
This made giggle, which turned into full laughter. Soon all four of us were laughing at the silly situation. The smoke was clearing, and suddenly the disaster didn’t seem so terrible.
"Okay," Aiden said, rolling up his sleeves. "We have one hour before Dad cos. Let’s see what we can rescue."
"We?" I asked, shocked.
"We’re a team, right?" Caleb squeezed my unhurt hand. "Teams help each other."
For the next hour, chaos ruled in the Alpha family kitchen, but it was good chaos. Brock tried to make new potatoes, sohow managing to both undercook and burn them simultaneously. Aiden tried to prepare veggies but couldn’t figure out how to work the fancy knife, nearly cutting his own fingers instead of the carrots.
Caleb and I worked on a simple at pie using extra ingredients, but our pie crust looked more like abstract art than food. We kept bumping into each other in the small space, flour ending up in our hair and on our faces.
"I think your pie is trying to escape," Brock noted as our lumpy creation oozed filling from several cracks.
"It’s not supposed to do that, is it?" I asked, poking the stubborn crust.
"Definitely not," Caleb agreed, but he was grinning.
When Alpha Marcus arrived, he found us covered in flour and food stains, standing around a table that held the weirdest al in pack history. Burnt-but-edible potatoes, veggies cut into wildly different sizes, and a pie that looked like it had been in a fight.
"Well," the Alpha said, observing our creation, "this is... unique."
"I’m so sorry," I began, but he held up his hand.
"Son," he said to Caleb, "your mate tried to prepare a traditional feast by herself. That’s sothing even experienced cooks deal with." He picked up a piece of our disaster pie and took a bite. "And you know what? It tastes like love and care, which makes it perfect."
Relief flooded through . Maybe I wasn’t a failure after all.
We sat down to eat our strange al, sharing stories and laughing at our kitchen antics. I was feeling truly happy for the first ti in days when Caleb suddenly went rigid beside , his fork halfway to his mouth.
"What’s wrong?" I asked, but before he could answer, my Triple Moon mark exploded in searing pain.
Through the windows, I could see dark forms moving between the trees. Lots of them. And they were surrounding the Alpha house.
"Shadow Wolves," Alpha Marcus whispered, his face going pale. "They’ve found us."
The lights went out, plunging us into darkness as sothing started scratching at the doors and windows. In the dark, I heard Caleb’s terrified whisper: "They’re not here for the pack. They’re here for Lily."
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