Chapter 1

Marla stared at the door to her donut shop, seeing that someone had broken in. The glass was shattered and all somebody had to do was step over the broken glass and enter.

Why somebody would want to break in she had no clue as it wasn't like she kept any cash in the register after she closed for the evening. If she had they wouldn't have gotten very much at all really no more than 100 if that much, since most people paid by credit.

She wasn't gonna be open today because of her shattered door as she was going to have to do the responsible thing and call the cops. She took out her link, even though she'd rather not get the cops involved, but since she was in a shopping center and several of the stores would be open soon there was no way she could get her door fixed before those shops opened because it was only five o'clock in the morning and while she had come to make donuts for her customers she knew that most places weren't in operation yet and wouldn't be for several hours.

If she didn't call the authorities she knew that somebody else likely would, as she was sure some of the owners would be afraid the same thing would happen to them, which was reasonable.

This was such a pain in the butt to have to deal with, to be forced to call the cops. Why anybody would want to break in to a donut shop was beyond her understanding.

"911," Marla spoke into her link.

The link rang a couple of times before voice answered. "911 what is your emergency?"

"I would like to report a break in. This is Marla Rossi, at Enchanting Donuts. My entire door has been shattered and from what I can see of the inside whoever broke in made quite a mess," Marla said.

"Are you hurt Miss Rossi?" asked the 911 operator.

"No, I just got here to start making the donuts that are made on site and found it like this," Marla answered honestly. "I guess I won't be opening today," Marla added as she surveyed the damage. "I don't know why they would break in, it's not like I keep a lot of cash in the register, especially overnight. I'm located in Yarnold Shopping Center."

Marla reeled of the address from memory.

"The cops have been contacted they should be there in a few minutes," the 911 operator said. "Do not enter the premises until the cops arrive."

"Thank you, I won't," Marla said before she said goodbye and hung up.

Marla studied the damage from her car, which was parked right out front of her shop. She patiently waited for the cops, even though she continued to study the damage from her front windshield. She hadn't even had to get out of her car to see the damage done to her shop. It wasn't long before Marla heard sirens of approaching vehicles and so she got out of her car and waited on the sidewalk.

Several black and white cars screeched to a halt as well as an unmarked one. Well, it looked like her call had brought more then officers in uniform, because if Marla was right the unmarked car held a higher ranking officer, probably a detective.

"Miss Rossi?" asked one of the men in uniform and Marla nodded.

"That's me," Marla confirmed. "You can see the damage from here. I was just getting ready to go in and start making the donuts that I sell when I noticed the damage. I immediately called 911."

"I am Officer Aveyard and this is my partner Officer Hertz," Aveyard introduced himself and his partner.

"Has anything like this never happened before?" Officer Hertz asked Marla and she shook her head.

"Never before and I've been in this location for over 10 years," Marla said. Marla well knew she didn't look over 30, so the cops had no way of knowing that she had been making donuts in various cities for centuries. "I've never had an ounce of trouble at this location and why somebody would want to break in to a donut shop is beyond me. Even if I kept money in the register overnight they wouldn't have gotten much. Most people don't pay with cash nowadays anyway."

The officer asked her a few more questions before going to survey the damage to her shop.

The door to the unmarked car finally opened and a handsome man emerged. The man was black, but it was clear that he likely had some white in his heritage as he wasn't as dark as those people that had two black parents. That meant he was mixed race, although most people wouldn't be able to tell. Marla, on the other hand, could tell, as she had vast experience with different people that were of different nationalities, whether they be black, white, Chinese, Japanese, Korean or any other nationality.

The man walked up to Marla and he moved with the grace of a predator. "I'm Detective Derek Morgan," Derek told her. "I was nearby so I thought I'd see if I could help."

"That was nice of you detective," Marla said. "Why anybody would want to break into a donut shop is beyond me."

"Nothing on the premises that would interest anyone?" Derek asked.

"Nothing I can think of, as it's not like I keep a stock of alcohol or leave a lot of cash in the register overnight. I am not a bar or a restaurant so they just wanted to steal some kind of alcohol they chose the wrong place. The only things on hand are things like yeast, sugar, flour and chocolate that are used to make the donuts. I suppose they could've broken into steal some of the expensive equipment but since I haven't had a chance to survey the damage, I don't know."

Marla finally looked up into Derek's face and it was impossible to contain her reaction completely. Her eyes widened slightly, as this Derek Morgan was her mate. A lot of her family had found their mates and it looked like it was her turn. She was a ecstatic about finally meeting her soulmate, but still, she tried her best to contain her reaction

"I'm not a jewelry store with a lot of valuable merchandise on hand," Marla said finally getting control of herself after a few seconds managing not to stutter, even if she still wasn't completely recovered from her shock.

Derek noticed Marla's eyes widen the minute she looked in to his face and he also felt an instant connection like he been punched in the gut.

Of course, he'd noticed that Marla was a beautiful woman with her skin that was a bit darker than if she was pure white just like his, but also lighter then his. He would've had to have been dead not to notice how gorgeous Marla Rossi was. Marla was the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen and he was going to ask her out on a date as soon as the situation was done.

"We're ready for you to come and tell us if anything is missing ma'am," Officer Hertz told Marla coming out of the donut shop.

"The place is a mess, but still hopefully, you can tell if anything is missing or not."

"I was just telling Detective Morgan here that I have nothing valuable other than the equipment in the kitchen that they could possibly want," Marla said. "The equipment is expensive but can be replaced if necessary. I never leave cash in the register overnight and most people pay by credit anyway."

Marla followed the officer into her donut shop carefully stepping over the glass of the broken door, as she didn't need to heal right in front of so many eyes, not even her mate's until he knew the truth.

The only problem was that her mate happened to be a detective on the police force and any immortal tried to avoid bringing police attention and for a very good reason.

She needed to talk to her parents as soon as possible, but there was no way she was going to reject her mate, even if he was more dangerous to her and her family than anybody else just because he was a cop.

Marla surveyed the damage calmly and walked around where the register and tables were to see if she could discover anything that was missing.

"No, I don't see anything," Marla said. "I had some inexpensive prints on the walls of food, mostly donuts, pastries and other desserts items, but if somebody stole those hoping to sell them on the black market they're barking up the wrong tree."

"They weren't worth anything?" Derek asked having come up behind her.

"Not much more than I paid for them," Marla said. "All together they're maybe worth 100 and that's certainly not enough to break the glass of my door or mess my place up. It's obvious I'm not going to be opening for business today. I need to contact my employees and tell them not to come in."

"Why come in so early?" asked Aveyard.

"Apparently you don't know anything about the donut business," Marla told him looking at the officer with amusement in her expression, trying not to snort Aveyard's naïve question. "Any baker will tell you their day starts early as the deserts a bakery sells have to be made so they can be bought by the customers when they open their doors. I might not own a bakery but the donut business is the same in that way. The donuts have to be made before the shop can open for business. You can't just produce them out of thin air."

"You could do it the night before though," Aveyard suggested.

"I could, but then they wouldn't be fresh," Marla told him. "Places like Milo's Donuts might do that but not me. Milo's Donuts might not be completely stale by the time they open for business but they're also not fresh. The customers come here because they've come to appreciate the freshness of my products. My mother owns a bakery and she does the same thing though she has a far larger staff than I do."

"So your mother owns a bakery?" Derek asked and Marla nodded.

"She does. She's just a really good baker and always has repeat customers," Marla said.

"So why didn't you open a bakery then?" Hertz asked her.

"I could have, but I've always enjoyed coming up with new donut flavors, so I just decided to open a donut place instead," Marla shrugged. "I'm doing very well for myself, as donuts are welcome about anywhere at doctors offices, at PTA meetings, at book clubs, birthday parties, bar mitzvahs and bookstores. Some people even give donuts to their employees as a present for the holidays like Christmas. Besides, it might've still have happened even if I had opened a bakery like my mother so whoever broke into a place like this is just an idiot as there is nothing valuable here."

"The equipment you mentioned," Derek said and Marla nodded.

"While that's true, most of it is too big to really steal no matter how expensive it is and no matter what I said earlier. My big floor mixer for example would be impossible for one person to move, even though it's worth over 100,000.

"Even today that's a whole lotta moolah," Hertz whistled impressed.

"It definitely is," Derek agreed.

"It holds up to 140 quarts at one time, it's all purpose and it has up to five different speeds and also a timer that can be set for up to half an hour. While there are some smaller mixers on the premises that are used regularly I still don't see it being worth breaking into my shop unless someone is really desperate," Marla explained.

"You should think about getting an alarm system," Derek suggested.

"I've been here for over 10 years and I've never had any trouble before now," Marla said. "My parents aren't going to be happy that my place of business was broken into, but at least I wasn't hurt, which they will be happy about."

"She's right, I was back in the kitchen to make sure no one was lurking and the big mixer that sits on the floor is way too large for any one person to steal," Hertz mentioned. "It must weigh several hundred pounds at least and would take several burly guys to move it. Besides, how would they get it out the back door?"

"It's also easy to disassemble, so it's easier to transport if necessary, as that's how we got it into the building in the first place," Marla added, "but I doubt whoever broke in knew that or how to do it."

"This is one weird break in," Derek sad looking around.

"It is, as there's a pawnshop several doors down that would've been a better bet then my donut shop. I've been in that pawnshop and they have a lot of items that could probably be sold for a high price if you know what you're doing."

"Pawnshops are also a cash heavy business," Aveyard mentioned. "They can make quite a bit from people who want to pawn items that are more valuable than they look."

"True," Derek said. "Maybe they meant to hit the pawnshop but were drunk or something so broke into your place instead."

"Am I going to be able to open tomorrow?" Marla asked the three officers.

"I don't see why not, though you'll have to get your door replaced before you can," Derek said.

"I know, I was going to contact the company I rent the space from when they open," Marla said. "They will see about replacing the door, though it might be a couple of days. I'll mention an alarm system when I contact them, though they might not want to go to the expense, especially since it's never happened before today."

Marla finally saw the three officers out but got the number for the detective before she did. Marla also gave Detective Morgan her number and told him to call about anything.

~~~Derek and Marla~~~

Raleigh, North Carolina

Several days later

"It was just really weird," Marla told her parents Dave and Jazz.

"It is," Jazz agreed. "A donut shop would be the least likely place I can think of for someone to break into, well, other than someplace like my bakery."

Dave and Jazz were living in Raleigh in North Carolina along with the Hotchners.

"I'm certainly glad you weren't hurt sweetie," Dave told his daughter.

"Even if I had been I would've heal quickly dad," Marla said, "but I'm glad too."

"If she had been hurt there wouldn't have been any witnesses around at that hour of the morning, but I'm also glad that you weren't hurt," Jazz told her daughter. "Still, you're right, a donut shop is a weird place for break in, just like my bakery would be."

"So what did the cops say?" Dave asked his daughter.

"They think it was a weird break in to, but I told them there's a pawnshop just a few doors down that would've been a better target then my donut shop. At the moment the cops think whoever broke into my shop was drunk and so hit the wrong place."

"No cameras?" Jazz asked.

"There are," Marla said, "so hopefully, the cops will find out who broke in to my place and destroyed my door."

"Let us know would you sweetie?" Dave asked and Marla nodded.

"I will," Marla promised. "There is one good thing though, that came out of having my donut shop broken into."

"What could possibly be good about having your place of business broken into?" Jazz asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Because I met my mate that's why," Marla revealed.

"You did," Dave lit up at that news very happy for his daughter.

"I did," Marla confirmed. "There's only one problem though."

"What's the problem?" Jazz asked surprised.

"He's a detective on the force," Marla said. "His name is Derek Morgan."

"That might indeed be a problem," Dave winced at the news. Any immortal tried their best to avoid the attention of the cops, but this situation was different simply, because this Derek Morgan was his daughter's mate.

"My desserts have never failed us though," Jazz reminded her husband and daughter. "In fact, you have the same bakery magic I do and you could fix some type of dessert so that he'll accept your explanation."

"True, they haven't," Marla agreed. "That doesn't mean that I'm not worried about possible consequences if he doesn't accept the news despite a dessert with the families bakery magic in it."

"As much as I don't want to Shonda and I can make sure he doesn't go blabbing and just take his memory of meeting you or at least of having feelings for you," Jazz said. "I don't want to do that and neither will your godmother when she finds out you have met your mate, but since he's a cop he could be trouble, so let's hope that isn't necessary."

"Let's hope we don't have to do that," Dave said grimacing.

"I certainly hope not," Marla said fervently.

"Shonda and I have only had to do it three times in our centuries, but never on someone who is a mate of one of our family. Let's hope that this turns out well, so Shonda and me don't have to do that, as I know you'll be unhappy without him," Jazz said.

"That's the understatement of the millennium," Dave said. "It would be like having half your soul ripped out of your body."

Marla grimaced at that. "Now that's graphic."

"So have you been on your first date yet," Jazz asked and Marla shook her head.

"Not yet, I might be the one that's asking him out, as I made sure I got his number," Marla said. "I know he's interested. It was obvious but he was also professional enough not to ask me out in front of two officers he works with while he was surveying the scene. I'm hoping that once they have done all they can to find who broke into my shop that he'll ask me out then and if not I might just end up asking him."

"Let us know how it goes sweetie," Dave told Marla and she nodded.

"I will," Marla promised smiling. "I hope I have some good news for you soon, but I'll have to see."

"He should be understanding that you're different from mortals since he is your mate," Jazz said.

"True, he should be," Dave agreed, "as that's the way it works between mates, even if we didn't have the advantage of your bakery magic."

"So if he doesn't ask you out what are you going to do?" Jazz asked her daughter.

"I'll just take him some donuts," Marla said. "I've never known a cop to turn down free donuts and I'll make sure I add the magic of course."

"That's actually not a bad idea," Dave said.

"No, it's not, as it might get him to accept our explanation easier when that time comes if you give him free donuts on a regular basis," Jazz said.

"We normally don't have to do it that way, but also this Derek Morgan could do us more damage than all the others we have told put together, simply because he's a cop," Dave said.

"I still remember how Jason reacted when we told him," Jazz said.

"So Jason Gideon didn't react like you expected," Marla asked.

"His reaction was just extreme honey," Dave told his daughter and Jazz nodded in complete agreement.

"His hands actually shook once we demonstrated our magic and we all knew that his view of the world had shifted dramatically to one side. He went completely white."

"That does seem extreme," Marla said.

"It was, but that kind of reaction was bound to happen eventually, even with your mother's magic baked into the dessert we always serve for after dinner," Dave admitted.

"Luckily, Shonda gave him some tea with that powder that Aeon left in our possession for situations exactly like that one," Jazz said.

"It certainly did bring his color back and cause his hands to stop shaking," Dave remembered.

"After that he accepted it pretty easily," Jazz said.

"Derek doesn't seem like the type that will have that sort of reaction," Marla said.

"Probably not, but you never know," Jazz said.

"He's as broad at the shoulder, as Uncle Aaron is and also tall. From what I could see he has bigger muscles than anyone else in the family, which means he works out on a regular basis," Marla said. "He's also at least partly black, as it clear to me at least that one of his recent ancestors had white skin, as it isn't as dark as someone whose ancestors were all black."

"That won't matter to us, though I know it does to some people," Dave said. "Your mother after all is partly black to and so are a lot of our children including you."

"No, it doesn't matter," Jazz agreed, "so long as he loves you."

"Exactly," Dave immediately agreed. "Hopefully, things will turn out well."

~~~Derek and Marla~~~