Two Wolves and a Cook [Werewolf Castle 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 2
But back to his own mate. Would Anastasia even be interested in him? They’d been working companionably together for so long. If he asked her to date him, and she refused, would that spoil the comfortable and friendly atmosphere in the kitchen? He liked his kitchen just the way it was. Everyone worked together so well. If he started dating Anastasia would that destroy the working space for everyone else? And apart from that, he didn’t have a really close male friend who he expected to mate with to make the triad. He’d studied in Europe alone and had run the kitchen alone, whereas these days the Alpha sent men out in twos to study or work away from the castle. Like Brody and Roman, who’d recently returned to the castle with Leonie, who they’d mated. And Kiril and Magnus for that matter, as well.
Ugh. It was all too hard. He needed to focus on the banquets, not on Anastasia. Even though he was starting to think he really wanted to get to know her better.
* * * *
Ion Varga was a geek. He almost never wore medieval costume. He stayed in a nice quiet office, tucked away behind various security doors in the east wing, and did geeky stuff with mathematical models, statistical analysis, and computer programs the average tourist didn’t even know existed. There was a lot more to running a successful tourist attraction than sweeping the courtyard and having a few pretty girls dotted around to redirect lost tourists. He got to do the fun stuff without having to face the crowds and be nice to overweight, overtired paying customers.
Unfortunately, he was one of the few wolves who knew how to joust with a medieval sword and make it look exciting and dramatic, without actually hurting anyone. When his fellow geek, Grigori, had told him about the plans for the banquets, he’d thought it sounded like a great way for tourists to spend more money and have an added adventure without making an inordinate amount of extra work for the castle wolves. When Grigori had mentioned having some entertainment during the banquet, he’d agreed happily. When he found out that extra entertainment included him having a sword fight with someone else, he’d even thought it might be fun. Until he’d figured out just how much practice it took to make the moves look fluid and unexpected.
The practices had been long, and draining, and then he’d had to rearrange some of what he’d planned to do, as the banquet rooms were fairly narrow. However, they’d had their final rehearsals in the rooms themselves and he was fairly sure the customers would enjoy the show. Damask played a lute and Tatiana a wooden pipe similar to an early flute, and they both sang an old medieval-style ballad about the wolves of Werewolf Castle. Then he explained a little about the swords he and Grigori would use.
Finally, they had their fight, and apart from Grigori almost falling over at one stage, it went as planned. Actually, the almost-fall just made it look even more realistic, but he wouldn’t suggest they add it into their choreography in case one of them really did slip in the future. They bowed and left the room, walking the few steps to the identical room next door and doing at all again, minus the slip. After that, he took the second sword from Grigori and returned to his nice, quiet office.
But seeing Damask there with Jairus and Grigori just reminded him of how badly he wanted to get to know Anastasia better. She’d been working here in the castle for years now, and he’d scarcely progressed beyond “hi” with her. Oh, he was a geek, so he knew all about her human mother and werewolf father, her three older brothers—two wolves, one human—her home in the mountains, and the wild nature of her father and brothers. He knew she’d done very well at the specialist cooking school she’d attended, and he also knew she was single. All of that he’d gotten from the records in the castle computer files. He had access to all sorts of things other wolves knew nothing about.
What he didn’t have access to was her mind and her heart. Was she interested in forming a relationship with a couple of wolves? Was she ready for some dungeon play? Being from a wolf family, she’d know all about BDSM, but that didn’t mean she wanted to be involved in it and wanted that lifestyle herself. Maybe she was more like her human mother.
Then there was the matter of the second man to be included in the relationship. Watching her, Ion thought she was attracted to Evan. That was natural. She worked with him all day long and he was a talented man, an expert in the field she’d chosen. But did Evan like her? Ion had no idea at all.
The obvious way to find out was to invite her out on a date. But her first question, quite reasonably, would be, who is the other man? And if Evan wasn’t interested in joining them he was in big trouble. He’d be in even bigger trouble if she specifically wanted Evan and he wasn’t prepared to join them. Ion cringed at the kinds of disaster that could be.
Besides, where could he take a couple of cooks out for dinner? The nearby town had a range of eateries, but whereas a bowl of Hungarian goulash or a burger would suit him just fine, they were not likely to be what Anastasia and Evan were looking for. There was a much bigger town an hour away which likely would offer better dining choices, but he knew they started work very early in the morning. Cooking all the food for so many people was a huge job. Plus, they made a lot of the treats sold by the Village Traders, as well. All of which meant it couldn’t be a late night out or they’d be tired the next morning. So an hour road trip each way would be a no.
Dammit. This was going to be more difficult than he’d thought. How was he supposed to get to know Anastasia? Was he going to have to wait until winter when Werewolf Castle only opened weekends and holidays?
Chapter Two
Because Anastasia lived at the castle year-round whereas most of the human women were just working there for the summer tourist season, her bedroom was the closest one to the bathroom. Well, bedroom was a misleading term. Her room was marginally larger than everyone else’s because she was sleeping in the room where the supervising monk had slept, the monk who was responsible for all the more junior monks. But her room was still more like the size of a closet than a room. Her bed occupied one wall, and there was a chair in the corner beside it, which functioned as a nightstand as well as a chair. On the wall by the door she actually had a tiny, shallow closet to put her belongings in. Everyone else’s room was too small for a closet. And the beds, like the rooms themselves, were narrow.
Being next to the bathroom meant she didn’t disturb the other women, seeing as she was always the first person awake in the mornings since the food preparation had to start way before the first tourists arrived.
Anastasia loved being here in the castle. She loved her job, and she was excited about how the first banquet day had progressed. It hadn’t been completely drama-free, but nothing really major had gone wrong either.
When she’d first started work at the castle, she’d looked on Evan Huber as some kind of mighty god, king of the kitchen. She’d been in awe of his prowess. As she got to know him a little better, she came to understand that he was a genuine, caring, and clever man as well, with an encyclopedic knowledge of all things medieval, especially food. From time to time she wondered if he was interested in her as more than just one of his staff, but she finally decided he cared about everyone equally. She, however, became more drawn to him over time. The more she learned about him as a person, the more she wanted to know him better. However, that didn’t seem like it was going to happen. Besides, the werewolf men formed relationships in pairs. Two wolf men, one human woman. And she knew for a fact he didn’t have a very close male friend. The men who’d already built partnerships tended to be men who’d grown up together and known each other from childhood, like Damask’s men, Jairus and Grigori. Or like the two men recently back from Vienna who’d brought Leonie into the castle, Roman and Brody.
Perhaps it was time for her to start looking around for another man who both she and Evan could befriend, assuming Evan really was interested in her. Likely that was moving too fast. Perhaps she should merely give him a gentle nudge to see if he liked her first. But the question was, how could she do that without exposing herself to his disdain, or worse, his pity? Well, she damn we
ll better think of a way or another three years would go past and still nothing would have happened. At least if he rejected her she’d know where she stood, and she was convinced he was enough of a gentleman not to demean her in the kitchen.
Hmm. That was a thought. If he rejected her advances, even politely, would she still want to work for him in the kitchen? She really did love living and working at Werewolf Castle. Oh, well, she’d worry about that if it happened. She couldn’t live her life waiting for other people to make the moves. No man had suggested she date him in the past three years, and there was no reason to believe anyone would ask her out anytime soon, either. It was up to her. She wanted to taste Evan so she needed to tell him that. Actually, what she really wanted was a look at the werewolves’ private dungeons. She’d heard plenty about them from her brothers, and there were a few toys there she could hardly wait to see how they might be used on a willing sub, such as herself.
Ah, that was another point. She didn’t really think Evan was a Dom. He was too gentle and thoughtful. Too willing to listen to other people and always incorporate their ideas in his plans. Not that Doms wouldn’t do all of those things, just that the Doms she knew, like her father and brothers, were much more assertive and self-confident. When they incorporated her ideas she knew it was out of kindness to her, not that they really believed her ideas were better, or would even work. Whereas with Evan, he genuinely seemed to think another person’s plans would be better than his.
Anyway, however she looked at it, this meant that the other man, whoever he turned out to be, would need to be a Dom if she was going to get her playtimes in the dungeon. So that put another layer of difficulty onto what was already looking like a damn tricky situation.
Anastasia rolled over on her bed, being very careful not to roll off it. At least Evan had his own apartment. Hopefully his bed was a lot bigger than hers. But who could be the other man? Which men attracted her and were good friends with Evan?
* * * *
By the time Monday rolled around, Evan was feeling a lot more relaxed about the banquets. All the menu items had been appreciated, and his new waitstaff were working as smoothly as if they’d been carrying the heavy trays and serving the food for months, not a matter of days. Monday was the quietest day in the castle. Weekends were always busiest, and he was never quite sure if Mondays just appeared less noisy after the hype of the weekend, or if numbers were genuinely smaller. Or it might just be that it was a day when older people seemed to be more likely to visit. Families flocked to the castle on weekends, tour busses came on any day, but for some reason Mondays appealed to senior citizens who took life more slowly and quietly and liked to sit over their meals or cups of tea or coffee.
However, they were good shoppers, invariably buying gifts for their children and grandchildren, so all in all, Mondays were pleasant and somewhat more relaxed than the rest of the week. He was in his tiny office, looking through his sheaf of recipes, thinking about changing a few things in the banquet menu for next time. Through his window he could see into the kitchen where Kiril and Magnus were finishing washing the last of the lunchtime dishes, while Kady and Anastasia were making a large batch of Turkish delight. It was one of their most popular sales items. It sold well in the kitchen, both as a dessert and as a to-go item. It was also one of the top sellers in the candy store, so they tended to make a batch whenever the kitchen was quiet.
Another favorite were sweetmeats, candied fruits that, like Turkish delight, were a medieval favorite and also fit well with modern tastes. Since it was only a little after four, likely there’d be time to make a batch of candied oranges as well today. Almost as if Anastasia was reading his mind, she left the kitchen for the storeroom and returned with a twenty-pound bag of oranges.
She really was a very special woman. He simply had to do something about getting to know her better, even if it endangered their relationship in the kitchen. She was too important to him not to make an effort to attract her attention on a personal level. He’d just need to be very careful that his initial overtures didn’t jeopardize their working relationship. It was going to be incredibly difficult to invite her to spend time with him in private, at a non-work level, but he had to do it. He couldn’t keep putting it off any longer. It’d serve him right if she went off with another man. Well, two other men. Like Kiril and Magnus, for example.
Kiril and Magnus. Would either of them suit him as a partner for Anastasia? He thought about what he knew of them, which wasn’t a lot, except that they’d both worked hard to learn their new jobs in the kitchen, but no, neither of them was the man for him.
Evan closed his eyes and thought about the unmated wolves in the castle. Name after name he summoned, considered, and rejected. There was one man who might be suitable, though. Ion Varga. He was a computer person who worked in an office in the east wing and seldom emerged apart from late at night to sit in the living area and maybe watch a baseball match, or just chat with whoever was around. Because he tended to start work at six in the morning, Evan was usually asleep in bed by midnight, but occasionally he stayed up late, participating in conversations about things not related to his work, and he did enjoy Ion’s company. The man had also put on a very energetic sword-fighting demonstration at the banquets. He was apparently not just a desk-bound person. Those old medieval swords were surprisingly heavy and more difficult to manipulate than a rapier or a modern-day sword.
So, Ion. Was he prepared to talk to the man and see if they had enough in common to join in pursuit of Anastasia? Or should he talk to Anastasia first? Get to know her a little better. Date her properly and buy her flowers. It was no good giving her chocolates. Likely she could make much better candy herself than anything he would buy from a store. But flowers he could give her. Or maybe perfume. Something light and floral and summery. That might be better.
* * * *
It was after seven when Evan locked the kitchen and headed to the “Staff Only” entry to go back to his room in the east wing. He was carrying a plastic box full of his latest creation for his supper. Back in medieval times, soups and stews had often included nuts and berries in season. Up until now Evan had doubted that twenty-first century palates would adjust to a stew with berries in it. But Kady had just looked at him today and said, “What part of sweet and sour pork aren’t you paying attention to?” And she was correct. Some sweet and savory mixtures were popular. Also, in medieval times people preferred their fruits and vegetables cooked, whereas today many such things were eaten raw, which meant he had the basis from which to start right there.
So he’d lightly cooked arugula, pine nuts, and strawberries, added a little honey, a little salt, and a dash of a few different medieval-appropriate spices, and he hoped what he had was a warm salad that would be an excellent addition to the kitchen’s menu board and another item for the banquet table. But first he needed to eat an entire serving of it to ensure it didn’t just taste okay in a mouthful but was right as a complete dish. And he really ought to get someone who wasn’t used to testing food to eat some as well. Likely someone would be in the living room watching television. That was one thing about having so many male wolves around. There was almost always someone who was willing to be a taste tester for him.
Ion was leaning against the hallway wall just inside the private area of the castle. Evan smiled at him as he entered and was about to ask him if he wanted to eat some warm salad, when he realized Ion was likely waiting for someone, so he turned to go down the hallway and into the east wing.
“Hey, Evan. I’ve been waiting for you. Can we talk?”
“Me? You’ve been waiting for me?”
“Yep. Sure have. Now, where can we talk privately?”
Evan had intended to eat in the living room with anyone who’d taste his arugula and berry salad, but that was a long way from private. Besides, they needed to get plates and forks to eat with, so if they weren’t going to eat in the living room they might as well go back to the kitchen and dine in comfort.
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“I was looking for someone to share this new dish I’ve just invented. If you’re happy to be my guinea pig we might as well go back to the kitchen where there’s crockery and cutlery and no other people this late at night.”
“That sounds like a good idea. Let’s go. What have you been inventing?”
Evan described his cooking as they returned to the kitchen, then he collected plates and forks, mugs, and a jug of the very weak light ale they served. “The average diet in medieval times was lacking in a lot of vitamins. Ale was one of the few ways most people got vitamins, but they made it very weak. Most wine was very weak as well. Our modern beers and wines are ten times stronger than the drinks were back then.”
Evan watched Ion’s face as he ate his first few mouthfuls of the salad, but Ion smiled and nodded, swallowing appreciatively. “Hey this’s good. What spices did you use?”
“Ideally I’d have used paprika, but it wasn’t in use here yet. Anise, caraway, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, cumin, ginger, mace, mustard, nutmeg, pepper, saffron, and turmeric were being introduced by the crusaders returning from the Middle East. These spices resulted in a whole new style of cuisine and fresh recipes for the nobility. They were very expensive to buy, so cooking with spices was seen as a sign of wealth. That’s why I moderate use of them. I want people to taste the best of the historical food, but things that were similar to what people would really eat. Not just a meal only a king would ever experience.”
They talked some more about food as they finished their meal, then Evan sat back and waited to hear what Ion wanted to talk to him about. He wondered for a moment if it was about Anastasia, then decided it couldn’t be. He hadn’t even realized himself until quite recently that he was interested in her, so it was completely impossible that anyone else would know. Besides, he didn’t really know Ion all that well, either. Apart from tonight, he could only recall half a dozen one-on-one, genuine conversations with him, although they frequently met at large community events and had often talked in groups.