Chapter 23
Chapter
Twenty-Three
ROWAN
Ihad Evie for only forty-eight more hours, sixteen of those soon lost to sleep. We stood inside one of the multiple dormitories hosting the shifters who didn’t want to live outside the Keep.
Hope, my Omega, blinked in surprise when she spotted me standing inside the Great Room with Evie. At my request, she’d kept her distance, but since Evie had questioned why she hadn’t yet met my people, I thought it might be time to introduce her to a few of my closest friends.
“Evie, this is my Omega, Hope.”
She was tall and willowy, had a massive amount of curly ginger hair springing about her head like an out-of-control jack-in-the-box, and green eyes the color of a jadeite stone.
I’d met her over twenty years ago when she wandered onto my lands, disoriented and wounded.
Right away, I knew what she was, but I allowed her to heal and recover emotionally before I offered her a permanent home.
Even after all these years, she was still recovering and would carry the reminder of what happened to her on the side of her face for all eternity.
Sometimes wounds were too grievous to fully recover from, even for shifters.
If she were human, her wounds would have been mortal.
As it was, a thin white scar ran from the top of her left temple, crossed her cheek, and stopped at the corner of her lips.
I’d called my best healers over the years, and none had been able to erase the evidence of her attack.
Evie stepped up and held her hand out. “Pleasure to meet you. Do you know Simone?”
My Omega grinned. “Everyone knows Simone and her ever-trusty tablet,” she drawled as they shook hands. “I’m happy to finally meet you. Our illustrious leader has told us a lot about you, and we’ve heard a lot of things through the grapevine.”
Evie grimaced. “Including the most recent shenanigans?”
“Oh yes,” Hope said. “You had us all quivering in our boots.”
Evie blinked at Hope’s droll tone, gauging whether the Omega was serious before bursting into a laugh. “You aren’t terrified of me?”
Hope snickered. “Should we be?”
Evie laid a hand over her chest and blinked a few times, a suspicious wetness in her eyes. “No. Never,” she said vehemently.
Hope’s lips parted. “Oh no. I was kidding about being terrified. I promise we aren’t. Rowan never would have brought you onto Keep grounds if you were a threat.”
Evie shook her head. “I’m happy to meet someone who doesn’t automatically believe I’m a monster.”
Hope’s eyes softened. “Why would I? I’m well aware of what I see when I look in the mirror every day even though I know I am more than the sum of my parts. It helps having people around who don’t let you sink too far into the quagmire.”
Evie lifted her hand, her fingers trembling.
I went still, and Hope’s brow furrowed. “I—I know we just met, and I don’t know your story, and I’m probably overstepping, but I have a…
” She sighed. “I hesitate to call it a gift because it could very well get me killed one day, but I can heal things even powerful healers cannot. I’m due back to Joy Springs in a few days, but if you want, and if Rowan approves, I can come back and we can see about that scar.
The only reason I’m asking is because many scars have underlying issues, and you might still feel pain from the wound you sustained.
I can help address those issues and force even the oldest injuries to heal like they should have in the beginning. ”
Hope swallowed, tears filling her eyes. She brushed her fingers over her cheek. “No one has been able to erase this. And you’re right, I still have pain in my jaw every time I eat.”
Grief filled me. She’d never said a word, and I never noticed. What kind of leader was I to have left her in pain all these years?
“I can’t make any promises,” Evie said, “but the Lord of Texas and his former Second are smooth as a baby’s bottom after I got a hold of them.”
Hope let out a wet laugh. She looked at me.
I tilted my head. My Omega knew she didn’t need my permission.
She’d always struggled with her appearance and rarely left the Keep unless it was for official business.
Hope had yet to understand her scars did not define her.
There were many men here who’d fallen head over heels for her and were merely waiting for a signal from her.
But Hope saw the evidence in the mirror every day and still thought she wasn’t good enough.
“Before you say anything,” Evie added, “I hope you’re not claustrophobic. You might have to spend some time in the dirt with me.”
Hope grinned. “Good thing I like the dirt.” She squared her shoulders. “Let me think about this, okay? I’ve worn these scars for so long I’m not sure what I’d do without them.”
She’d never shown me the others, though I could only assume if the one on her face was still there, she had others on her body.
“Of course. And I’m sorry if I overstepped or overwhelmed you.
You’re a total hot tamale just the way you are, so I don’t want you to think anything other than this as a sincere offer.
I’m more concerned about the pain you must be in.
” Evie smiled. “And if you decide to keep your scars, I can still help with the pain.”
Hope’s eyes widened. “I think we’re going to be the best of friends, Miss Quinn.”
Evie smiled back. “I certainly hope so.”
A giant of a man walked out from the back, his eyes trained on Hope.
“Declan,” I said to my Second. “This is Evie Quinn.”
Evie went still. Seeing Declan in the flesh gave most people pause.
Where most shifters were lean but muscled, Declan looked like a grizzly in human form.
He was close to seven-foot tall, tipped two hundred and eighty pounds, and had arms like tree trunks, though I’d never seen the man lift a gym weight in his entire life.
If he never spoke, you’d automatically discard him as a gym rat.
Women found him unbearably handsome, and I’d had to turn many heartbroken girls away at the front of the Keep when he refused to go out with them.
But he wasn’t a use ’em and lose ’em kind of guy.
Like me, he rarely dated, and when he did, I’d never seen him go out for more than two dates with the same woman.
The reason stood right in front of us grinning like a fiend at Evie.
Declan inclined his head. “It’s a pleasure, ma’am.”
Evie’s lips twitched. “Just Evie, but if you see my mother around, you should definitely call her ma’am. She loves it.”
Declan chuckled. “I’ve seen her. You favor her.”
“I do.”
“I’m Rowan’s Second if he hasn’t already told you. I hear you stole Garrett and Simone right out from under Caelan’s nose.”
To my surprise, Evie laughed. “Not quite. Certain events brought them to me, but I’m happy to have them.”
“I’ve never heard of a shifter being blood sworn to a fae. How does that work?”
Evie rolled her eyes. “They take advantage of it,” she said with a laugh.
“I’m not the kind of person who will yank on the bond.
The only order I’ve given them is to defend my family because I had to give one to make the oath.
Let’s just say they are both experts at interpreting things how they see fit. ”
Declan grinned. “Sounds like Garrett, that old bastard. He’s got a girl with him, doesn’t he? Another fae?”
“My sister. She’s under his protection.” For now, she didn’t say. With the broken oath, Thalia’s status was still up in the air. She made herself scarce with Cernunnos coming around, but she’d made no moves to leave Garrett and return to Caelan.
Not that Garrett would let her if she tried. The man had it bad for her.
Declan tipped his head to me. “I’m running out for a bit. I take it coming back into the main house is okay now that we’ve met Miss Evie?”
Evie frowned. “You could have come by at any time.”
Declan laughed. “No Miss Evie. Not if I wanted to keep my head on my shoulders.”
He bumped me with his elbow and grinned as he passed. Asshole.
I gave Evie a sheepish smile.
“You haven’t met Simone yet?” Evie asked Hope after she’d rolled her eyes at me.
“Not yet. Simone is wise not to explore the Keep without Rowan. She’s not tied to a Pack, and other shifters get weird about unattached paranormals on Keep grounds. Same with Garrett.”
“I’ll talk to Rowan tonight about bringing her over.”
Hope and Evie chatted for a little while longer before my Omega excused herself, but not without giving me a long look as she walked away.
I swear. My people could be like mother hens sometimes.
“Ready to go?” I asked Evie. My chest felt warm with pride. Declan and Hope liked Evie. I found the Floromancer irresistible, but if my Pack didn’t agree, we’d find ourselves in the same position as Caelan and Evie were, something I couldn’t abide by.
She nodded and took my proffered elbow.
I tried not to think about her telling them she would return to Joy Springs. There was still time to change her mind. I had to believe that.