I smoothed my hands down my floral apron and smiled. “Hello. Welcome to Little Shop of Florals. Is there something specific you’re looking for?”
The small woman smiled and stuck out her hand. “I’m Simone Ashmoore, The Shifter Lord’s Omega.”
Her handshake was firm and dry. Comforting magic rolled over my skin as we touched. Omegas were rare and prized within their packs for their unique, blissful magic, but rarely rose high in the ranks. It was odd she was with Caelan. From what I knew of Shifter Lords, they rarely left their compounds without their second. If Simone was a second, she was extraordinarily powerful.
“Evie.”
Caelan stared at me, his eyes not missing a thing. He was tall and powerfully built, his entire presence feeling like a warning. Even the plant life inside my shop had gone still and wary. He was well over six feet, with broad shoulders and a trim waist. Everything about him screamed restrained violence, and he stood with absolute stillness.
The Shifter Lord was a storm in waiting, barely held together by human skin.
His hair was dark, longer on top and slightly tousled, the only thing even a little messy about him. But the most stunning thingabout him was his eyes. Storm gray and gold-flecked, a rarity in human form.
Only Lord’s eyes glowed gold when they shifted or used their power, but Caelan’s magic was held firmly in check. His power was so tremendous, it had manifested into physical traits.
His clothing was made less for style and more for function. Today he wore well-used blue jeans and a charcoal-colored t-shirt with a flannel jacket over the top. His boots were leather and scuffed. Steel-toed and heavy, if I had to guess.
Caelan, for all his power, looked to be a working man. A sliver of admiration wound through me before I squashed it down.
As he looked at me, he catalogued weaknesses, searching for ways to hurt or subdue. I don’t think he meant anything by it, but Caelan was a man who constantly scanned for threats. In his line of work, he had to.
Power hummed around him, a magnetic field that brushed against my skin. I wrapped my power tightly around me, keeping it pushed deep down inside. This would be the true test to see if Caelan recognized me—if my thistle tattoo worked as it should when a threat like a Shifter Lord appeared.
Tess broke the tense silence. “The Pack needs flowers for a funeral,” Tess said.
I blinked and tore my eyes away from Caelan. “Oh!” I put a hand over my heart. “My sincere condolences.”
Get it together, Evie. He probably didn’t think anything of my perusal. I bet everyone stared at him like that. “I’d be happy to help. Would you like to step into my office?”
Being enclosed in a small space with Caelan wasn’t ideal, but I had to pretend everything was normal. Speaking about funeral arrangements in the open was the height of unprofessionalism.
Caelan stepped forward and held out his hand. “Caelan Wolfe.”
His last name was Wolfe? My lips twitched.
Moira sucked in a choked gasp of air.
Simone’s eyebrows lifted, her bright eyes sparkling with amusement.
To cover my faux pas, I smiled and mustered up my old high school theater skills. “A Shifter Lord,” I breathed, piling on false admiration. “Thank you so much for choosing my shop.”
When our hands touched, magic sparked between us, unseen by the others but felt by us.
Caelan’s eyes went wide. His nostrils flared as he tried to fully scent me. That’s where the power of my tattoo came in. All someone could smell was a low powered Hedgewitch. But there was one fatal flaw. It didn’t do a thing when someone at Caelan’s power level touched me. He wouldn’t know what I was, but he would know I wasn’t just a Hedgewitch.
And that might prove to be a huge problem.
His skin was warm and calloused, and for a brief second, I wondered what those hands would feel like running over my bare skin. I swallowed hard and pulled my hand away.
Caelan’s eyes narrowed. “Evie Quinn, you said?”
I nodded and cleared my throat. “Would you like to come into my office?” I asked again.
Caelan smiled, the effect devastating, and I wondered if he knew what I’d been thinking about a second before. “Lead on, Evie.”
He wouldn’t let me lead him. Caelan walked up next to me, his gray gaze scanning the shop with a thorough eye. “Every Shifter Lord takes on the surname of their beast, though we don’t always announce it.”
So, he had noticed my amusement. Great. But I couldn’t stifle my curiosity. “Is it given to you at birth or do you have a different surname before you’re named Lord?”
