"Hah! Listen to this. 'No one really knows what Māmā Fàn looks like or how old she is. She rarely comes out of the kitchen and when she does, she wears a veil!'" Theo stopped scrolling on his phone long enough to pop the last piece of chicken into his mouth. "Do you really think she will come out here?"

Gabriel sat back, looking around the tiny restaurant Xiāngwèi. The tables, plates, chairs and the restaurant itself was all made with the type of clean, minimalist wood designs that one came across in Scandinavia. Simple tear-shaped light bulbs hung above them on natural strings, although Gabriel assumed they were rarely lit since the six large windows that surrounded the tables let in sunlight and filled the room with the colours of the surrounding forests. The entire effect was of a simple elegance he had not been expecting from a place run by a woman called Māmā Fàn: Mother Rice. Of course, what was far more surprising than the look and feel of the restaurant, was its food.

After hearing how highly Rosabelle thought of the Chef, Gabriel had expected Xiāngwèi to serve good food, really good food, but not this. This was something different. Something more. The creativity and flavour balance of each dish was of the highest standard, but it was the scents that really drew him in. Like expensive perfume, the subtle tones within the plates melted together with sublime precision.

"She will come," Gabriel said after a long moment. "A dissatisfied customer is not something a perfectionist will treat lightly."

"A perfectionist? Well, yes, I suppose only a perfectionist can create the flavour in these dishes." Theo looked disappointed to find the rice bowl empty.

"It goes way beyond the food," Gabriel said, taking in his surroundings. "The napkins are the exact shade of the red maples outside those windows. The lotus carvings on the end of the chopsticks match the designs on the door nobs and each of the dishes was served in a bowl made from a different type of wood."

Theo stopped tracing the flower carved at the end of his chopstick and looked at the now empty bowl of chicken. "The bowls? They all look pretty much the same to me?"

"What kind of Lupus doesn't know his trees?" Gabriel raised a surprised brow. "The chicken was in Black Birch, it has a sweet scent." He pointed to the salad bowl next, "Walnut tree has a spicy-citrus scent." Then he nodded towards the neighbouring table where the waitress was setting down a pot of tea. "The tea spoon is made of Balsam Poplar which has a sweet-honey scent."

Theo took a deep breath, raising his eyes to Gabriel's. "Are you saying she picked the woods to accompany the dishes? But the scents are barely perceptible, Humans would not pick up on them."

"Most wouldn't, at least not consciously." Gabriel agreed.

"Is Māmā Fàn one of us?" Theo frowned, shaking his head in answer to his own question. "She couldn't be. Rosabelle would have told us, or you would have felt her presence... you didn't right?"

"There are no others of our kind nearby." Gabriel confirmed just as he spotted the subject of their conversation stepping through the door. She was no werewolf, but her presence was strangely magnetic. From her baring, Gabriel could tell that she was a lot younger than he had assumed while her almond shaped eyes suggested she was not local either. Intrigued, he watched her move towards them.

Her white trousers and tunic were cut in the fashion commonly worn by monks. Her black hair was covered with a bandana and the semi-transparent veil on her face hid all of her recognisable features other than her eyes. Gabriel tried to see their colour, but she kept her gaze low as she moved between the tables with hands pressed to her sides. The silence that had descended at her appearance erupted into a flurry of low murmurs as she came to a standstill beside their table.

Every muscle in Gabriel's body tensed when she finally raised her gaze to his. The jade eyes that had been lingering in the back of his mind since last night looked out from behind thick black eyelashes. His pulse jumped, his nostrils flaring to drink in the complex scent of her. Theo straightened beside him, feeling his sudden tension. What the hell? Gabriel reigned in his wolf, clamping down on his unexpected reaction while his cousin shot him a questioning look .

"Gentlemen," she spoke English with an American accent. "Are you feeling unwell?"

"Well-" Theo began.

"We lied," Gabriel cut him off, "in order to speak to you."

"I see." There was no sign of surprise in her expression and perversely that galled him. Considering how he had reacted a moment ago, he would have liked to shock her in turn, but she was obviously too confident in her skills to have believed her food had made them ill.

Still, she didn't seem angry at being lied to. Instead she looked curious, her big greeneyes running over Theo and pausing at the open skin at the top of his v-cut sweater. Was she attracted to his cousin? The thought brought on an irrational stab of annoyance.

"To be frank, Māmā Fàn, we are here to offer you a job," Theo spoke up when she remained silent.

"A job?" She repeated, but Gabriel could see that she wasn't paying attention. Her scrutiny had moved to Theo's hands, her head cocking to the side as she tried to see...what the hell was she looking for? Opening his senses, Gabriel reached for her thoughts.

"How the hell?"

Both Theo and Māmā Fàn turned to him in surprise.

"Umm, Gabriel, is something wrong?" Theo asked, his voice low.

"Yes." Gabriel narrowed his eyes on the American Chef. How the hell was she blocking him?

It took years for an Alpha born to cultivate the type of shield that could block Gabriel's power completely. For a human to be able to do it, and a young one at that? This shouldn't be possible and yet here they were.

Although it was hard to tell with the loose clothing and veil, Gabriel recalled how Māmā Fàn had looked in the silver minidress and red umbrella back at the club. Long shapely legs, a slim figure and quick reflexes that hinted at superior martial arts. Could it be her training? Even so, she was human. Maybe if he touched her...

"Láojià, Māmā Fàn?" The middle-aged woman from the table next to theirs interrupted the strained atmosphere. Since her right arm was in a sling, she used the left one to tap the Chef on the shoulder with a hesitant smile. Māmā Fàn stiffened and Gabriel watched with surprise as a look of pain filled her eyes before she took a wobbly step back.

"Duìbùqǐ, wǒ xūyào líkāi," she apologised quickly in perfect mandarin, then before anyone could react, she turned and fled out the front door.

"So...that didn't go well," Theo began, but Gabriel wasn't listening. Without a word he followed Māmā Fàn, driven by a need to figure out what was going on.

Outside, the sun shone brightly and there was a pleasant breeze that carried the scent of pine trees. Gabriel spotted her walking quickly up the pebble path that led from the restaurant to the small parking lot.

He didn't bother calling out for her to stop, knowing instinctively that she would not obey. Widening his stride, he caught up with her and grabbed her wrist. She spun at the contact, her veil coming loose with the suddenness of the movement. Gabriel sucked in his breath as the full impact of her came at him like a punch. High cheekbones, pink, luscious lips, a slim nose and then those eyes, staring up at him like wet emeralds.

He shook off his momentary daze. "Are you in pain?"

She didn't reply, her eyes glued to the hand that still held her wrist. Was she in pain? He pushed at her mind, trying to see what she was feeling, but her block remained strong. How? How the hell!?

Gabriel pulled at her wrist, drawing her closer in a swift move. He intended to surprise her into lowering her guard, but the move snapped her out of her trance and she suddenly jabbed her free hand up, grabbing his arm and getting her wrist released in mere seconds.

She backed away from him, her voice breathless when she asked: "What do you want?"

Gabriel wavered between being impressed and annoyed. He had seen her quick reflexes at the club, but had underestimated quite how well trained she was. He was having serious trouble placing this woman and his strange reactions to her.

Nothing about her seemed to make sense. He watched her closely, noting her delicate bone structure. It was a lot easier to picture her shopping for haute couture on Rue Saint-Honoré than practicing martial arts in the forests of Hong Kong.

And what had she been doing at the club with that getup and umbrella? Why was she hiding such beauty behind a veil? Why was she running a restaurant in the middle of nowhere? And why the hell did he have the ridiculous urge to kiss her? She was human. He did not get involved with humans!

Gabriel saw his sister's face in his mind, crying and in despair. It was enough to put a damper on this moment of madness. Māmā Fàn might have captured his attention for a fleeting moment, but that was all it was. She was just a means to an end; a human who would make an excellent Chef for his restaurant regardless of her strange talent for blocking his ability.

His emotions firmly in check, Gabriel bent to pick up her fallen veil and held it out to her. She reached out for it, her eyes lingering on his hand for a moment before she drew back.

"As Theo was saying, we are here to offer you a job -"

"I accept." She put her veil back on, watching him with a steady gaze.

His brows rose in surprise. "You accept?"

"Leave your contact information before you go. I will send you my conditions. If you agree to them, then I agree to work for you." She held herself stiffly, her words precise and un-rushed.

"How can you agree without hearing the offer?" Gabriel shoved his hands into his pockets when he felt the niggling urge to pull the veil back off her face. "The location of the restaurant, the style of cuisine, your pay...we haven't discussed anything."

She arched one dark brow, "You are upset that I've agreed too quickly? Why? Does it feel like too easy a win?"

Gabriel narrowed his eyes, getting the distinct feeling that she as provoking him on purpose. There was no way he would give her the pleasure. "Thank you for the exquisite meal, Māmā Fàn. I look forward to working with you."

"But my conditions..." she called when he started walking back towards the restaurant.

"I accept," he said over his shoulder. "Unless that's too easy for you?"

Hearing her snort, his lips curled into a smile.