Two

Two

Kezan

“I’m so happy for you!” Micah exclaimed as soon as the second customer had left and it was just the two of us.

I gave him a confused look, and he rolled his eyes.

“He’s your mate, isn’t he?” he asked, brow raised.

I blushed, wondering if I’d been that obvious. “Um, yeah. How did you know?”

This time, it was Micah’s cheeks that turned red, and he fidgeted as he spoke. “I probably should’ve told you this before, but I can read minds. I have a really great shield though, and I promise I have never read your mind before today. I was just curious about your reaction but didn’t think it’d be a good idea to ask you in front of Mr. Owens.”

He could read minds? “Is that how you’re able to help the customers so well?”

Micah shook his head, eyes wide. “I don’t read everyone’s mind, Kezan. I promise. I can see your magic. It’s a pretty blue color, and it always leads me to the right outfit. I think it might be because of my general psychic powers. It’s easy for me to sense active magic around me.”

I could see the sincerity in his wide eyes, and I relaxed as I gave him a smile. “It’s okay. No need to panic. And yeah, he’s my mate. But I didn’t even get his name, and he’s trying to impress someone else, and this is all a mess.” I slumped against the counter, my heart feeling too heavy in my chest as I thought about the fact that there was someone out there my mate wanted instead of me.

“His name is Ezra Owens. He works as a data analyst at Hawthorne Infotech. He has his eyes on a female coworker, but it doesn’t matter because we’re going to make sure he realizes you’re his mate.”

“We?” I asked, my confusion growing. I felt like I’d only understood every other word he’d spoken. What the hell was going on?

“Well, Cam’s dad owns Hawthorne Infotech, which means we have an in. I can get him to visit again somehow so you can get to know him and make a move.”

“A move?”

“Will you stop repeating my words?” Micah asked with a laugh, and I blushed again as I ran my fingers through my hair.

“He’s human,” I blurted, and Micah raised a brow.

“Yeah, I noticed that. Don’t tell me you’re speciest.”

“What? No! I just meant it will be difficult to explain the supernatural world to him.”

Micah laughed as if I’d said something funny. “You want me to ask one of my shifter friends to shift in front of him? That works splendidly.” I felt like there was a story there, but I was too concerned about my own dilemma at the moment to ask.

“There are other humans in the know?” I asked, surprised. I knew Mistvale had a healthy supe population, but I hadn’t expected the humans knew about us.

“Oh yeah. We have three humans in our clan already. And Cam’s dad and Cam were humans before Raiden turned them into dragons. Tell you what, I’ll ask them for advice about how to go about this, okay?” Micah asked, and I nodded dumbly as I realized Micah was talking about the dragon who watched over the town of Mistvale. Damn, I’d forgotten Micah was dating the dragon’s son, and wasn’t that crazy?

“Okay, so Mission: Get Kezan His Mate Before Valentine’s Day is officially underway. Don’t worry about a thing, okay?” the fifteen-year-old kid said, a bright smile on his face. “The Mistvale Clan will make sure we succeed.”

The way he said it, with a deep ring of assurance, made goose bumps rise at the nape of my neck. I hadn’t met many members of Micah’s huge family—that he called the Mistvale Clan—but I’d heard quite a lot about them over the past five months, and I didn’t know if I should be excited or nervous about their interference. Only time would tell.

Ezra

The next day, my phone buzzed just as I was turning off my laptop and getting ready to head home. I glanced at it, surprised to see Aeron’s name. Aeron worked on the floor below mine and was, for all intents and purposes, my junior. But he was also really good at his job and had become a friend of mine since he’d joined the company a few years ago.

“Hey, Aeron. What’s up?” I asked as I moved things on my desk to put it in some semblance of order. Leaving my desk messy at the end of the workday was something I tried to avoid.

“Hey, Ezra. I apologize in advance, but I was wondering if I could ask you for a favor?”

A favor? I glanced at the clock, and realizing I still had a few minutes before my shift officially ended, took a seat in my chair. “What kind of favor?”

“Uh, so Jason told me he recommended a clothes boutique to you, Wish For It?”

“He did,” I agreed as my mind went back to the man I’d met yesterday. I wasn’t sure what it was about the boutique owner that had stuck with me, but I couldn’t get him out of my head. His warm eyes and bright smile had been at the forefront of my mind since I’d stepped out of the shop yesterday.

“Well, I placed an order with them for Niall. I want to surprise him since it’s his birthday tomorrow, but my boss just handed me enough work to keep me busy all night. I was kinda hoping you could pick it up for me when you go shopping?” Aeron sounded so hopeful, and I winced as I answered.

“Uh, actually, I did my shopping yesterday.”

“You did?” Aeron groaned softly, and I felt bad for him. He was a hard worker, which was probably why he’d been given the extra work, and he was my friend. It wasn’t like I had any plans for the night. And if I went by the boutique, I’d get to see Kezan again…

I shook off the weird thought and cleared my throat. “I don’t have any plans for tonight, though. I can pick up the order for you and give it to you tomorrow morning if that’s okay?”

“That would be perfect. Thank you so much, Ezra! I owe you one.”

I grinned as I got to my feet and grabbed my jacket. “You’ll definitely owe me. Let’s grab lunch sometime next week. Your treat.”

Aeron laughed but agreed with the plan, and I ended the call, trying not to think about why I was so excited to go back.

As I walked over to the elevator, I mulled over what it was about Kezan that had caught my eye. He was gorgeous with his Middle Eastern features, his tan skin, his warm brown eyes, and his wide smile. He had full, pink lips. Kissable lips.

I froze, my finger hovering over the elevator call button. What? Kissable lips? What the fuck was I thinking?

Never in my life had I thought anything like that about a man, and I had no idea where the thought had come from. It made no sense, right? I was straight.

“Are we going home today?” Brittany’s soft voice said behind me, and I blushed as I pressed the button.

“Sorry, lost in thought,” I mumbled, and Brittany smiled.

“No problem. Thinking about your girlfriend?”

My eyes widened at her question, and I shook my head. “Oh no, not at all.”

Brittany laughed, her blue eyes bright. “Oh, okay. It’s just that the look on your face reminded me of the look my girlfriend gets sometimes, and I had to ask.”

Her girlfriend? Brittany had a girlfriend?

Well, fuck. There went my plan to ask her out. Strangely, I didn’t feel too disappointed. I wondered if my thoughts about a certain shop owner had something to do with it, but I shook off the thought because I didn’t want to deal with all the questions that brought up.

As the elevator doors opened, I waved her inside before following, my mind still caught on the weird revelation I was having.

“You okay?” Brittany asked, eyeing me with concern.

“Yeah, just trying to deal with an existential crisis, I think.”

She raised her brows, curiosity clear on her face. “Wanna talk about it?”

I shook my head and gave her a slight smile. “Later maybe.”

She patted my arm as the elevator opened in the lobby, smiling. “Sure thing. Have a good evening!”

I stepped out of the elevator and tugged at the collar of my shirt as I tried to take a deep breath. Whatever these feelings were, I knew I needed to get to the store to see Kezan again so I could decide if I was freaking out over nothing or if there really was something there.