“Yeah, I had the same look on my face when I found out.” Seraphina places a hand on my arm. “Feels like we’ve all been living in limbo since she got sick. Maybe it’s time to arrange that trip to the leisure bowl.”
I’m still grinning when she walks away. But when I’m alone in my room again later that same evening, the fears start to creep back in.
Because something is shifting inside me.
I feel it low in my belly, and in the way I’ve been rolling my sleeves up all day trying to cool down a little.
My heat isn’t far away.
8
TYLER
The greenhouse doorcreaks softly as I push it open, the familiar scent of soil and green life folding around me. The tables are clear, seedlings arranged neatly along the propagation shelf Calder built. The tray he sanded last night holds its first pots, each one spaced carefully, room left between them to breathe. Methodical, just like Elowen.
Calder stands near the back wall, adjusting a light over one of the benches. He turns when he hears me.
"You’re early."
"Yeah, it’s that magnetic thing working its magic again."
He nods. Sandpaper is spread out across the workbench in front of him. His corner, the one he inhabits like a comfortable sweater. “I never met anyone like Elowen before.”
I wasn’t expecting that. “I don’t think any of us have. She’s…”
“Special.”
I smile. “In all the best ways.”
“Look,” we both say together.
“You first.” I indicate for him to take the spotlight, something I thought he was good at last year, but I now realize was merely the aura he carries around with him without even knowing it.
“I think about Elowen a lot. All the time in fact.” He inhales deeply. “I never expected to meet someone here at the Academy. I never expected to meet an omega I was attracted to. It didn’t feature on… It wasn’t something I was looking for.”
“And now…?” I prompt.
“Now, I’m simply telling you how I feel.”
My turn to nod. “I think about her too. I look for her in the dining hall. The library. Classes. If she wasn’t here, the greenhouse would be just another project that didn’t gain much traction.”
“She brings it to life,” he agrees.
“It’s those green fingers.” I smile. Time for the punchline; this whole conversation has gone way more smoothly than I anticipated. Calder and I weren’t that close last year. We probably wouldn’t be close now if it wasn’t for Elowen and the greenhouse. “I won’t put any pressure on her. You know, to choose. Between us. When the time is right.”
He inclines his head. “Fair enough. If she chooses you, I won’t stand in your way. I won’t… make my feelings known.”
“I think she already knows.” I navigate the tables and shake his hand. “Her choice?”
“Whenever she’s ready.”
We return to our jobs in comfortable silence. I feel lighter. I hadn't realized how much it was weighing me down until the words were spoken out loud.
I pick up on Elowen’s scent before she appears shortly after with her russet and gold bag over her shoulder. Different. Thicker. Not quite enough to alert all my alpha senses, but enough for me to take notice.
Her face is flushed.
Calder’s gray eyes linger on her for a fraction longer than usual. Then, "You feel okay?"
