“It wasn’t a complaint, my man! Just letting everyone know they should appreciate your efforts for the festival,” he says with a laugh.
When we get to the register, Sterling is still red-faced as he hands over our food.
I empathize with a complexion that so easily shows a blush.
“I haven’t been to Flourist before. Your desserts smell so good, I’m excited to try everything!” I say cheerfully, hoping to distract him.
“I hope you enjoy—” Sterling says, but Henri cuts him off.
“Icook for my pack,” he says in a cool tone.
“And your food is amazing. You make so many delicious things for us,” I say, putting my hand on his arm. It relaxes under my touch, and he stops glaring at the other alpha to smile down at me.
“I specialize in floral desserts, I’m not good at making much else,” Sterling says modestly.
“That’s why your bakery is the best in town. We should have brought Hestia by sooner. She moved here a fewmonths ago and we haven’t had a chance to show her everything yet,” Henri says, apparently mollified that I’m not looking for another alpha to cook for me.
I don’t know why he was so worried anyway, Sterling has a bond mark on his neck.
We leave Flourist on good terms with the baker and wander over to watch the ice carving competition while we eat our desserts. They’re as delicious as everyone says, though my favorite sweets are still the ones that are the scentsakes of my alphas, chocolate, peppermint, sugar cookies, gingerbread, and even the conifer needle cookies Henri makes that smell like Charm.
The next booth, funnily enough, is more flowers, fresh ones at the Queen of Hearts florist. Their tent is full of poinsettias, flower bouquets, wreaths, Yule cactuses, and mini evergreen trees, along with several space heaters so the plants don’t freeze.
I’m smelling an amaryllis flower when a feminine voice startles me.
“You smell like peonies,” she says accusingly.
I jump and spin around to find a short omega glaring at me.
“Um?” I say, unsure.
I don’t think I’ve even seen any peonies in here. I look down at myself as if I’ll find the offending pollen on my coat, a clue to my crime.
“We were just at Flourist, that’s probably wherewepicked up the scent,” Charm says with a smile.
The omega relaxes. “Oh, right, of course. Sorry about that.”
“No problem,” I say, although I’m still confused about what’s wrong with peonies.
“I should be used to catching Sterling’s scent on otherpeople by now, I don’t know why it still surprises me. Besides, you have your own pack,” she says with an embarrassed laugh.
Ohhhh.
She must be the source of the baker’s bond mark. I’m so distracted by the realization I don’t even think to correct her about the guys being my pack.
The omega introduces herself as Daphne and drags me deeper into the tent, where she forces us to take part in a wreath-decorating activity as an apology.
Daphne shows us how to weave evergreen branches into a circle as our base, and then lets us decorate them however we want. I make a cedar and pine wreath with cinnamon sticks and nutmeg so it smells like Charm and Magnus, topping it off with a big red bow. Henri’s wreath is mostly flowers tucked into the evergreen branches, and Cato’s seems to be just a bunch of mistletoe knotted together. He grins when he sees me looking.
Daphne doesn’t charge us for the wreaths, which feels like overkill for an apology, but whatever makes her feel better. I had a good time, and she was fun to hang out with when not accusing me of being pollinated by her alpha.
We buy a few plants before leaving, some bulbs, poinsettias, tiny evergreen trees, and small flower bouquets. Just the basics. We already have tons of plants at the station thanks to Magnus, but there’s always room for more.
Chapter 48
Hestia
Cato is curled around me and I keep my eyes closed, not ready to face reality.
