Page 41 of Bonded By Tea and Tarot

I ensure everyone is packed up and the site is covered for the night before heading to my truck, then I slump into the driver’s seat and tip my head back. I snag my shirt with her barely-there scent and lift the crumpled mess to my nose, inhaling as deep as I can. My eyes drift closed and my chest squeezes, want a throbbing ache beneath my ribs.

I picture her bright blue eyes, and imagine her excited voice from our foraging date. The way her grin lit up the whole forest. Another breath in, and I’m feeling her pressed into my side with my arm banded around her, holding her tight to prevent her from falling into the bog alongside Hayden. With my slow exhale, her nimble, ring-covered fingers dance over the foraging belt we gave her, tucking sticks and stones and tiny plant cuttings into the pockets.

My body settles as I replay it, my heart slowing to a steady thump in my chest. Her bright blonde hair glimmers under the dappled evening sun. That sexy piercing in her nose glinting with every smile. A beam of effervescent joy amid a darkening forest. A soft smile stretches across my face and my hand drops to the gear shift. I’ve been debating what to get as her next courting gift, but I don’t know her well enough yet to come up with anything good.

I figure I can’t go wrong with girly stuff, though, and since I’m finally done working before all the downtown shops are closed, I quickly duck into one on my way home.

“What can I help you find?” the beta at the counter asks, correctly assuming I have no idea what I’m doing here.

“Yeah, uh.” I rub the back of my head, then cringe when some dried flakes of dirt and concrete drop onto the floor from my work clothes. “Sorry about that,” I mumble.

“No worries!” Her cheer doesn’t even sound fake.

“I’m looking for something for an omega I’m courting. I don’t know her that well yet. She’s kinda witchy?” I cringe at my poor description of the gorgeous omega.

“Okay. Witchy, huh? Like tarot, crystals, spells?”

I nod, and she meanders off towards the right side of the shop. “I’ve got some body oils that are pretty popular. All natural ingredients, ethically sourced. We also have candles—most omegas like those—and some cute little house plants and pots if she’s more of a green witch type.” She turns to look at me with her eyebrows raised.

I’m in the middle of picking up a book about earth witchcraft, which I figure will be helpful in getting to know more about her, when the expectation for an answer presses on me. Am I supposed to choose from those options? I don’t want Siobhan smelling like anything other than herself, but I would like to rub body oil on her…

“Do you have unscented of that oil stuff?” I ask, my voice coming out far too gruff. I tuck the book under my arm and grab a second one about tarot that was behind it, then snatch the third one which says something about the language of flowers.

The beta simply grins and raises her eyebrows at me. “Of course. Would you like shimmer or no shimmer?”

“Uh… Shimmer?”

“Excellent choice. Maybe a couple candles to go with it?” She wiggles her eyebrows at me and I jerk away, but thankfully she’s already turned to grab a couple before she can see my reaction. “Could be romantic.”

Huh. That does sound romantic.

“Uh, yeah. Do you have any that smell like bonfire or Palo Santo?”

“Sure, hun.”

“Oh, um,” I shift back a step, uncomfortable with what feels almost like flirting. “I’d prefer if you didn’t…”

“Hm?” She glances up at me, eyebrows raised, then holds out two candles for me to smell.

I gingerly take one, careful not to touch her fingers in the process. “Call me that,” I say, then cough at how strong the Palo Santo candle is. “Oh, that’s a lot. Maybe you have a lighter one? Or rosemary?”

“Gotcha. This?”

She passes me candle after candle, and I sniff until I find two that are fairly close approximations of mine and Hayden’s scents. But I’d like something a little more practical for now, before giving such a potentially intimate gift.

“How about any jewelry?” I remember she wears a lot of rings and bracelets, and the beta leads me over to a counter to peruse some options. “She likes crystals I think…” I murmur under my breath, not intending for her to overhear me.

“I can tell you what some of them mean if you want, so you can send the right message?” she offers.

“What? They have different meanings?” My hand hovers over a silver ring with a purple stone, and she nods, then proceeds to give me a boggling lesson on crystals and their hidden messages.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Aury

Whatever Siobhan said to the alphas on their date a few days ago has resulted in me feeling like I’m being courted as well, despite not being an omega. A muffin basket showed up at work for me the next day. A basket. Full of muffins.

I didn’t know what to do with it, so I offered one to anywho who passed by, and then finally put them in the staff lounge after getting too many questions that I couldn’t answer. Because I wasn’t the only one confused; most people thought it was my birthday or the anniversary of something. One person asked if someone had died, and another asked if I’d had a baby.