I shook those thoughts off. “No. Cernunnos wants to keep the bloodline as pure as possible. He considers additional shifter blood a dilution.”
His eyes flashed gold. “And you’re sure it’s the shifter blood and not Caelan?”
I chuckled. “I can’t tell if my dad likes anyone to be honest. Maybe I should ask him to be more specific.”
“Mixing bloodlines can be a volatile practice.” Rowan pulled the next flat, this one full of herbs, over to him. “But it’s necessary to breed outside the lines to ensure the future health of our species.”
“A healthy outlook,” I mused.
The wards tingled over my skin. “Caelan’s here.”
Rowan nodded. “Let me finish looking this over, and I’ll take my toys and leave.”
“There’s no need for you to rush off.”
Caelan stepped inside the greenhouse and nodded to Rowan. I smiled and jerked my head toward the table. “Come help me pot these. Then I’ll feed you.”
He flashed a smile and came up behind me to drop a kiss against the back of my neck.
Rowan let out an aggrieved sigh. “Can’t you two at least wait five minutes for me to clean this up?”
“Nope,” Caelan said cheerfully.
He tugged a pair of gloves on and reached for some of the larger pots. “I heard something interesting tonight,” he mused as he popped one of the oregano seedlings from the tray.
Rowan and I exchanged looks. He gave me a sympathetic wince and dropped his gaze. “Oh?” I said.
Caelan snorted. “Garrett reported seeing a woman being flung through the air from the vicinity of your property. He noted the woman looked a lot like the Keep’s visiting guest.”
“Huh,” I said. “I wonder who it was.”
Rowan huffed a laugh. Caelan sent him a withering look. “When you two get together, there’s always trouble.”
Rowan held his hands up. “I got here after things had already escalated.”
At Caelan’s disbelieving look, I snickered. “He’s telling the truth. I tossed her while Rowan was here, but he had nothing to do with it.”
“Would you like to share why you chose to toss her?”
“She was being a bitch.”
Rowan couldn’t hold his laugh in that time.
Caelan sighed. “Evie.”
“She came onto my property, tried to get through my wards, then insulted me numerous times. Rachel deserved much more than I gave her.”
Caelan pushed the tray away and leaned against the potting bench. “She’s at the Keep Healer.”
“But alive,” I emphasized. “Maybe a few broken bones will keep her from showing up here again.”
“If her father hears about it, we might have trouble.”
“Then I’ll throw him off my property, too,” I grumbled.
Caelan’s eyes flashed gold. “Evie, you have to get better about your temper.”
Rowan’s hands stilled. His brow furrowed, and I saw his inhale. He opened his mouth, but I interrupted him, shooting him a warning look. There was no need for him and Caelan to have issues over something that involved me.
