Stallion Shield: Guardians of Chaos, #3

Prologue

Chop, chop. Scrape, scrape. Place in bowl. And repeat.

Jessenia smiled for her followers as she demonstrated the proper way to choose, clean, and prep fresh herbs for her latest delectable recipe. It was difficult to concentrate when she had so many things crowding in on her already full mind, but she muddled through. Cooking was her jam and vlogging both her successes and failures was how she paid the bills.

Putting together dishes based on her experiences with cuisine from across multiple cultures, and new cooking fads had always brought her a sense of peace and purpose. Jessenia supposed it was a good thing she was trained to be a kitchen Witch.

Her powers really seemed to shine when she was brewing potions and healing salves. And she was getting better at both every day since she’d started living at the Keep and taking lessons from Holley.

Of course, thinking about Holley made her think of Furio, and that led to even more complicated emotions. It was an eye-opening experience for the young American kitchen Witch. Holley was able to bring her knowledge of the past and both her European and Native American cultures to the present. Jessenia was grateful for any knowledge she imparted to her. Heck, she was happy just to be allowed in the door.

Whoops, she stopped and plucked a stem from the sprig of thyme she’d been stripping out of her pile of herbs, You want to make sure you don’t rush this step. There’s nothing worse than biting into a hard, wiry stem from a thyme plant. She smiled, already feeling her cheeks heat up with embarrassment.

But that was nothing new. She’d polled her audience early on in her vlogging endeavors, and it seemed they loved she could admit her mistakes to them. To err was a very human trait, she supposed, and was glad her followers knew she understood that.

Perfection was not her goal. In fact, Jessenia often emphasized the opposite on her show. She wanted folks to know that cooking was messy, but awesome fun. Recipes should be fluid and based on what was accessible to the chef in their own home arena.

Remember, any fresh herbs will work for this souffle, she spoke with a smile on her lips, listing various combinations that went well together as she worked.

Where the careful cleaning and preparation of the herbs for this dish might have seemed like a boring waste of time back when she’d been a young Witch, Jessenia had come a long way since then.

She used to follow her poor Nana Carol around like a little lost kitten back in the day. Tugging on the older woman’s apron strings while she snacked on whatever yummy goodness her grandmother had been preparing, bombarding her with mountains of questions at the same time.

Gosh, she had been so annoying back then. She shook her head at the memories with a momentary self-indulgence. And yet, her Nana had always had infinite patience with her. The older Witch had taught her so much before she’d passed far too soon in Jessenia’s opinion.

Memories of her childhood warmed her almost as much as the superb quadruple ovens in the Keep’s superb, restaurant quality kitchen. All of the appliances were in exquisite condition, and better yet, they were on some kind of magical warranty. In other words, they were entirely self-cleaning.

Sigh. That alone was worth moving in for, but really, it had seemed natural in the heat of the moment. With Fergie gone, the apartment they had shared was just too costly. Besides, she was there all the time.

She worried her lower lip as she added the herbs and shredded cheese to the egg mixture, showing the audience as she went. Yes, she loved it there, and yet Jessenia had been doubting her decision to live inside the Keep just recently. Pushing the thought aside, Jessenia tried to focus on the task at hand.

There, now we fold this in with our other ingredients. Doesn’t that smell great? she smiled and breathed in the herb scented air.

Tilting the stainless-steel mixing bowl, she whisked the contents to a froth. Technique was something a chef developed, and she had hers down. But the people watching her were not trained in culinary arts, they were regular people, and it was her job to make recipes like this accessible and less frightening.

Okay, this is the big payoff for all that hard work peeling the leaves off the thyme, and quadruple rinsing the sand off the basil and parsley. You see, this requires patience, but in just a few minutes the results will prove worth it, she winked at the camera and continued to whip the mixture for her light-as-air ricotta and herb souffle.

Her weekly vlog was important to her. It not only provided her with enough money to maintain her old truck and chip in for food and things in the Keep, but it was her way of connecting with people.

Okay, just pour it into your ramekins like this. Now, who is ready for the results? Check this out.

Setting aside the mixture, she opened the oven. Jessenia always had a finished product waiting to show her followers since cooking in real-time took actual time that neither she nor her viewers had. The fragrant souffle filled the kitchen with a delightful aroma, and she pulled it out carefully with her oven mitts on, lifting it to show her online audience.

A flurry of hearts and thumbs up emojis flooded her screen, and gratification filled her. Jessenia’s vlog currently had over one-hundred-thousand followers, and her sponsors were thrilled with her steady progress.

Still small time, for sure, but she was happy. And that counted for a lot these days, given the fact her emotions were in constant upheaval. How could they not be when she was being driven crazy by an arrogant, cocky male who thought he was above all reproach?

Furio Do Luca was the bane of her existence. He’d not only made life difficult for her mentor and newest best friend, Holley, but he spent most of his time either staring at her like she was some damn science experiment or ignoring her.

The jerk. Still, he was pretty darn cute, and he had the nicest ass she had ever seen. Perfectly muscled and rounded, her hands itched to give it a slap every time he walked by.

What? She had eyes, and they worked. The man was hot. Even if he was an arrogant jerk face, it didn’t lesson her attraction to him. Jessenia was still allowed to look and appreciate. So, what if she wasn’t exactly talking to him at the moment? It did not detract from his good looks.

A shame. Yeah, right. Sniff. Whatever.

She could judge herself to death later. Right then, she had to concentrate on her audience. Making good, home cooked food less scary for folks was kinda her thing.

So? Jessenia loved food and wanted to share that love with the world. Growing up with working parents, she absolutely hated the way they’d grabbed fast food almost every night instead of cooking for her and themselves. Like a real family did at least once in a while.

Her grandmother was the total opposite, and she’d loved the older woman to pieces. She’d passed on her love of food to her granddaughter, which only grew once she’d inherited her powers, and embraced her kitchen Witch heritage.

Whoever said chicken soup was a cure all had no idea. It totally was. The ritual of cleaning, preparing, chopping, and adding ingredients was highly ritualized. Good cooks knew this. That was why they had their favorites.

Favorite knives, cutting boards, pots, pans, utensils. All of it was based in Witchcraft, though normals denied its existence. It was part of who she was, and she wanted to bring that sort of holistic approach to tackling kitchen tasks to her followers as well.

Just imagine being able to ease the mind and body through comfort food readily prepared at home. Jessenia understood the convenience of eating take out. Heck, it wasn’t like she never grabbed a hot dog or burger on the run. She just wanted people to know cooking wasn’t half as scary as it seemed. Anyone could do it.

And there you have it! She smiled and presented the perfectly golden souffle, Remember folks, magic can happen in any kitchen. Even yours.

The back door to the kitchen slammed open, and she suddenly stopped filming. With a click of a button, she switched on the usual credits and the jingle she’d prepared for the end of the show.

Nerves fluttered around her stomach. How irritating! She ignored those pesky butterflies and began to clear away her mess as the group of Guardians, whose kitchen and home she’d recently invaded, ambled in from their recent scouting mission.

Something smells good, a familiar voice called out.

Eeek! It was him. The only man in the entire manse who could set her heart to pounding like she’d just run a hundred yard dash.

Furio. The youngest Shifter in the bunch, he was still decades older than her. Not that he looked it. The man shared his body and soul with his equine half, a Draft Horse, she’d learned in passing.

He was absolutely gorgeous with his long, dark hair, emerald eyes, and olive toned skin. His Italian heritage evident in his Roman nose, and tendency to use traditionally recognized Italian American colloquialisms in his speech.

He entered the room, and she stopped like a deer in headlights. His lips curled, and she recalled the movement meant something different to Horse Shifters than a mere smile. He was tasting the air, testing the atmosphere.

Shit. She only hoped her body didn’t betray her feelings. Turning quickly to see to the oven, she worked hard to ignore his presence. Some secrets had to be kept for a reason, she reminded herself. Hardening her resolve, she stopped her heart’s foolery before it could run away with her.

He is not for you. She told herself and went back to getting lunch on the table.

Chapter One

H ey Jessenia, you cookin’ in here? Storm called and pulled himself up short before he could bump straight into Furio’s back.

He’d recognized the Wolf’s voice and knew he was simply being friendly. Shifters were always hungry, but Furio still did not like the idea of his buddy being so casual with Jessenia.

The female in question turned and grinned. Not at him. No, never at him. The warm, wide smile was for Storm. That just made him want to punch the fucker in the