Wild and Untended — Character Index

Species: Toad Age: 1 Coloration: Blue-green Relationship: Theodore's girlfriend Aurora is a blue-green toad and Theodore's girlfriend. She appears curious and more interested in the comforts of the human world than Theodore, particularly after hearing Corvus talk about television. While Theodore prefers staying outside “where the bugs are,” Aurora has expressed interest in coming inside to watch TV. Very little is currently known about Aurora, though her curiosity suggests there may be more to her than initially meets the eye. As the story unfolds, more of her personality, history, and relationship with Theodore may come to light.

Species: Vampire Age: 22 Relationship: Regenerative healer brought in to assist with Iris’s recovery Gift: Direct Regenerative Healing Caelan Hart is an unusually young vampire healer whose magical gift is considered one of the rarest regenerative abilities known to exist, appearing only once across billions of births. Unlike healers whose magic encourages the body to recover naturally, Caelan can directly rebuild damaged tissue with his hands, causing wounds, organs, nerves, and other structures to visibly knit back together as he works. His gift is capable of repairing injuries that would normally leave permanent damage. He can regenerate lost tissue, restore badly damaged organs, repair severe nerve and spinal injuries, reverse some forms of paralysis, and even regrow lost limbs under the right circumstances. He has also successfully reversed damage from events such as strokes when enough viable tissue remains for him to work with. His ability does not simply accelerate the body’s normal healing process. It actively reconstructs what has been damaged or lost. The limitation is not financial or material. The cost comes directly from Caelan himself. Every healing draws from a finite reserve of magical and physical energy within his body. Minor wounds require very little. Major reconstruction can drain him severely. Regrowing a limb, repairing a destroyed organ, or rebuilding extensive neurological damage may require enormous amounts of energy and can leave him weak, shaking, barely able to remain awake, or unable to use his gift again for days or weeks. Because of this, Caelan cannot continuously heal patients without rest. Once his reserves are depleted, no amount of determination can force the magic to continue safely. He must sleep, feed, recover, and allow his body to rebuild what the gift consumed. Despite the rarity and power of his ability, Caelan is only twenty-two and is still considered very young. Much of his adult life so far has already been shaped by the responsibility attached to his gift. He has spent significant periods deployed in active war zones overseas, working with medical teams and using his magic on soldiers with catastrophic injuries. In many cases, his job has been to repair enough damage to save a life or return an injured soldier to functional health when ordinary medicine could not. His most recent deployment left him almost completely drained. He had spent weeks repeatedly healing battlefield injuries and returned home with his energy reserves effectively empty. He arrived late at night expecting to begin his normal recovery leave, during which he would avoid major magical work until his body had rebuilt enough strength. Diana Simonsen contacted him almost immediately after his return. She and Caelan have worked together before because their gifts complement one another unusually well. Diana’s magic guides natural healing, reduces excessive scar formation, prevents adhesions, and encourages damaged tissue to heal cleanly. Caelan’s gift is far more direct. Where Diana helps the body heal correctly, Caelan can physically rebuild what the body cannot restore on its own. Diana would have brought him into Iris’s care earlier if he had been available, particularly once the extent of the damage to Iris’s abdomen and reproductive organs became clear. He had simply been overseas and unavailable. When Diana told him about Iris, Caelan agreed to help despite having just returned home. Part of that decision was personal. Caelan grew up during a period when his family did not always have enough. Community programs, donated food, and people willing to quietly help families in need mattered enormously to him when he was young. Because of that experience, he has a deep respect for people who use what they have to help others without expecting anything in return. He had heard of Iris before ever meeting her. Her enormous garden, produce donations, and habit of making sure people throughout the city had access to fresh food had become well known enough that Diana did not have to explain much. Once Caelan realized the injured woman was the same Iris who had spent years feeding other people, he wanted to help her. He is honest, however, about the condition he is currently in. When he first meets Iris, his magical reserves are almost completely depleted from deployment. He does not attempt to heal her immediately because he knows doing so would be unsafe and ineffective. Instead, he comes with Diana to introduce himself, assess the situation, and arrange a time to return after several days of recovery. Caelan refuses to promise miracles before he has enough strength to examine Iris properly through his gift. He knows his abilities are extraordinary, but he is careful about setting expectations. His goal is to return once his reserves have recovered enough to perform one substantial healing session and repair as much remaining damage as his body can safely sustain. Depending on what he finds, that could include reinforcing the abdominal repair, restoring damaged internal tissue, improving the condition of Iris’s uterus, and reducing some of the lasting effects of the gunshot and surgery that Diana’s healing guidance alone could not eliminate. Caelan is compassionate without being overly sentimental about his work. Years of seeing catastrophic injuries have made him calm around blood, trauma, and fear. He does not treat his gift as mystical or miraculous despite how other people sometimes react to it. To him, it is simply an ability he was born with and a responsibility he has chosen to use carefully. He is also acutely aware that being able to heal almost anything does not mean he can heal everyone. That limitation has shaped him as much as the power itself. Every patient requires a calculation of what his body can safely give, how much energy the repair will require, and whether spending those reserves on one person could leave him unable to help another. It is one of the reasons he takes his recovery periods seriously, even when he would rather keep working. For someone so young, Caelan carries an enormous amount of responsibility. He does not resent the gift, but he understands its weight far better than most people looking at him ever could.

Species: Fae Age: 210 Relationship: Seraphina's husband; father of Taryn, Iris, and Cora Cedar Briar is Iris's father. Warm, grounded, and easygoing, he genuinely loves his family but has a playful side that frequently undermines Seraphina's attempts at serious parental conversations. He is well liked wherever he goes, with a reputation for being someone people naturally enjoy having around. Although Cedar is 210 years old, he appears to be in his late thirties at most. He is strikingly handsome, but his most defining quality is his kindness. Warmth and compassion seem to radiate from him, making him a steady and comforting presence to those around him. Cedar loves spending time outdoors, particularly fishing, and is happiest when he can get out into nature. He also has a particular weakness for anything Iris cooks for him, especially her beef vegetable soup. He melts every time she places a bowl in front of him—a weakness Iris happily took advantage of in good-natured fashion throughout her teenage years. Cedar and Seraphina moved out of the family home when Iris bought the house from them.

Species: Fae/Dryad Age: 20 Relationship: Fated mate's wife; daughter of Cedar and Seraphina; youngest sister of Taryn and Iris Cora Briar is the youngest of the Briar siblings. At twenty, she has already found her fated mate and married him. Her happy relationship is one of the reasons Iris's parents believe love and mate bonds don't necessarily have to end badly. As the daughter of a full fae father and a full dryad mother, Cora carries both bloodlines. She grew up surrounded by the close-knit Briar family and has the unique perspective of being the youngest sibling while already having established a life of her own with her mate.

Species: Crow Age: 3 Relationship: Iris's companion Corvus is a three-year-old crow with a strong personality and an appreciation for shiny things. Curious, mischievous, and fiercely independent, he enjoys exploring the world around him and bringing Iris interesting objects he discovers along the way. He is an enthusiastic hunter with very particular opinions about food. He'd much rather have a fat mouse than bacon, and he has no problem making his preferences known. He loves spending time outdoors, searching for food, shiny objects, and anything else that catches his attention. Unlike Pickle, Corvus isn't particularly interested in cartoons. He prefers military movies and similar action-heavy programming, though he is perfectly happy to tolerate Pickle's choices when they're watching television together. Despite his mischievous nature, Corvus is affectionate toward Iris and enjoys presenting her with his latest finds. He has even been known to wish her goodnight before heading outside to spend the night in the trees.

Species: Human Age: 48 Relationship: Tessa's former fated mate Damian Moretti is a forty-eight-year-old human and a member of a powerful mob family who makes his living as a killer for hire. He is Tessa's former fated mate, though his connection to her has long since become one of control, fear, and possession rather than anything resembling a healthy bond. Dark-haired and dark-eyed, Damian has the kind of appearance that makes people instinctively uneasy. His features are hard and severe, and his solid, imposing build adds to the sense of danger surrounding him. He carries himself with the quiet confidence of a man accustomed to getting what he wants and having people too afraid to challenge him. Damian is cold, controlling, and aggressive, particularly when he feels disrespected. He doesn't need to raise his voice to make a threat feel serious; there is a quiet menace in his demeanor that makes it clear he is capable of following through. When Tessa escaped him, he considered it an unforgivable act of disrespect and has been searching for her ever since, intending to force her to answer for leaving him.

Age: 32 Species: Full Fae Occupation: Professional photographer Family: Older sister of Opal Harper Danielle has the same delicate, distinctly fae features as her younger sister, with similar facial structure, expressive green eyes, and softly rounded features. Where Opal has embraced her unusual pink hair, Danielle keeps her hair a natural warm chestnut brown, long and slightly wavy, usually worn loose or pulled back when she's working. She's attractive in a quieter, more mature way—warm, approachable, and effortlessly put together without looking like she spends much time worrying about her appearance. Her wardrobe tends toward comfortable, practical pieces that travel well, though she cleans up beautifully when the occasion calls for it. Danielle makes her living traveling to assignments, photographing people, places, events, and whatever else her clients need captured. She is frequently away for days or weeks at a time, which means she is accustomed to living out of a suitcase and keeping her schedule flexible. She genuinely loves the work, especially the opportunity to see places and meet people she otherwise never would. She's independent, observant, and patient—the sort of person who can spend hours waiting for exactly the right photograph without becoming frustrated. She has a natural ability to make people comfortable in front of a camera, partly because she's genuinely interested in them rather than simply trying to get a good shot. As Opal's older sister, Danielle is protective without being overbearing. The two are close despite their different personalities and lifestyles. Danielle is often the practical one when Opal gets carried away, though she secretly enjoys Opal's enthusiasm and tendency to throw herself wholeheartedly into things. Appearance: Natural warm chestnut-brown hair, long and softly wavy; green eyes; fair complexion with a scattering of freckles; delicate fae features; graceful build. She has the same family resemblance as Opal, but her coloring is entirely natural-looking. Personality: Warm, observant, independent, adventurous, patient, quietly confident, and very good at reading people. Story role: Danielle is the owner of the ring Corvus found and brought to Iris. She's currently out of town on a photography assignment, so her younger sister, Opal, will come to Iris's house to retrieve it.

Species: Fae Age: 38 Occupation: Healer Gift: Guided Healing Diana Serrin is a Fae healer whose gift specializes in directing the body’s own healing process rather than instantly rebuilding damaged tissue. Her magic works by influencing how injuries repair themselves, helping tissue heal cleanly, reducing excessive scar formation, and preventing internal adhesions from developing where organs or tissues should remain separate. Her gift is especially valuable after major surgery, abdominal trauma, reproductive injuries, and other cases where the patient may survive the original damage but face long-term complications from the way the body heals afterward. Diana cannot regrow a missing limb or reconstruct a destroyed organ from nothing. Her magic depends on viable tissue and on the body already attempting to heal. What she can do is improve the quality of that healing dramatically. She can: - reduce excessive scar tissue - discourage adhesions - guide tissue to knit together correctly - reduce the chance of surrounding organs healing together improperly - support more flexible, functional healing - help damaged structures recover with fewer long-term complications Diana’s work with Iris focuses heavily on the damage surrounding her uterus and lower abdominal structures after the gunshot and emergency surgery. Because Iris lost one ovary and required extensive uterine repair, uncontrolled healing could have created adhesions or dense scar tissue that later interfered with conception, implantation, pregnancy, organ movement, or chronic pain. Diana visits Iris multiple times during the early stages of recovery because her gift is most useful while the tissue is actively healing. Her sessions are slow and precise. She does not force the body to finish healing all at once. Instead, she works with the stage of healing Iris has reached at each visit, encouraging tissue to remain separate where it should, reducing the formation of unnecessary scar tissue, and helping the repaired structures heal as cleanly as possible. By the end of her treatment, Diana is satisfied that she has done everything her particular gift can accomplish. Iris still has healing left to do, but there are no significant adhesions, and the internal repairs have been given the best possible foundation. From that point forward, Iris’s body has to finish much of the remaining recovery naturally. Diana is careful about making promises. She never tells Iris that pregnancy will definitely be easy or that every consequence of the injury will disappear. She explains what she can improve, what remains uncertain, and what will still depend on Iris’s body. That directness is part of what makes her reassuring. Diana has worked with many other healers over the years, but one of her most frequent partners is Caelan Hart, whose gift is almost the opposite of hers. Diana guides healing. Caelan rebuilds. Where Diana can help damaged tissue heal correctly, Caelan can directly regenerate tissue, restore damaged organs, repair catastrophic nerve injuries, reverse some forms of paralysis, and even regrow lost limbs. Their gifts complement each other extremely well. Diana can prepare tissue for cleaner healing and reduce complications. Caelan can repair damage the body cannot restore on its own. In severe cases, Diana may work before or after him to make sure whatever he reconstructs continues healing properly afterward. She also understands the enormous physical cost of Caelan’s gift. Every major healing drains his own energy reserves. Diana has worked with him enough to recognize when he is capable of helping and when he needs to stop. She has no interest in treating his gift as an unlimited resource. When Iris’s stitches unexpectedly fail, Diana is contacted again. By then, she has already done substantial work guiding Iris’s internal healing. The reopening of the wound does not mean Diana’s treatment failed. In fact, the opposite is true. Iris’s internal tissues have healed remarkably well, but the combination of accelerated healing, postoperative swelling, and tension on the external stitches caused those stitches to give out earlier than expected. Diana arrives at the hospital with Caelan. She would have brought him into Iris’s treatment sooner if he had been available, particularly once they knew the extent of the damage to Iris’s reproductive organs. He had been deployed overseas in an active war zone, using his gift to treat catastrophically injured soldiers. Caelan returned home only the night before. Normally, he would begin a period of leave and recovery immediately because his magical reserves are nearly empty. Diana contacted him anyway to explain Iris’s situation. When she told him who Iris was and described the work Iris had done feeding and helping people throughout the city, Caelan wanted to meet her. Diana knows part of that reaction comes from Caelan’s own childhood. He grew up knowing what it meant to depend on community support and donated food, so Iris’s quiet habit of using what she has to help others matters to him. Diana brings Caelan to the hospital not so he can heal Iris immediately, but so he can meet her, understand the situation, and arrange to return once he has recovered enough energy to perform a meaningful regenerative session. Diana is calm, practical, and extremely difficult to rattle. She is comfortable around blood, trauma, frightened families, complicated injuries, and patients who are tired of being told to rest. She is warm without being overly sentimental and prefers explaining what she is doing instead of making healing magic seem mysterious. She also has very little patience for patients who mistake feeling better for being healed. Iris learns that distinction more than once.

Species: Full Fae Age: 32 Relationship: Contractor working with Iris and Hunter Dominic Parsons is a thirty-two-year-old full Fae who owns his own contracting business. Intelligent, capable, and easygoing, Dominic has built a reputation for doing quality work and treating his clients with respect. He takes pride in his work and approaches every project with careful attention to detail. With blond hair, light eyes, and an effortlessly handsome appearance, Dominic has a warm and approachable demeanor that puts people at ease. He is gentle by nature and tends to listen before speaking, giving him a thoughtful, intelligent presence. Despite his good looks, he isn't particularly interested in showing off and is much more comfortable discussing plans, materials, and how to make a project work. Dominic is brought in to help Iris and Hunter plan the professional office addition to their home. His practical knowledge and calm personality make him an easy person to work with, and he quickly becomes someone they trust.

Species: Wolf Shifter Age: 52 Occupation: Trauma and Reconstructive Surgeon Gift: Diagnostic Touch Dr. Adrian Voss is an experienced wolf shifter and trauma surgeon whose magical gift allows him to assess internal injuries through direct physical contact. His ability functions almost like having high-resolution medical imaging in his hands. By touching a patient, Adrian can sense what is happening beneath the surface in real time, including internal bleeding, swelling, damaged organs, tissue integrity, scar formation, surgical repairs, and the way an injury is healing. His gift does not heal on its own. It tells him exactly what he is dealing with. That distinction is what made Adrian such an effective surgeon. He does not have to rely entirely on scans, bloodwork, or symptoms when a patient is unstable. He can place his hands on them and determine where the damage is, how severe it is, and what needs to be addressed first. In trauma cases, where minutes can matter, the ability gives him an enormous advantage. Adrian still relies on modern medicine, surgical technique, imaging, laboratory testing, and other medical professionals. His gift supplements those tools rather than replacing them. He is meticulous about that distinction and has little patience for anyone who assumes magic makes conventional medicine unnecessary. His diagnostic sense is especially useful during surgery. Adrian can monitor the integrity of repairs as he works, check whether surrounding tissue has been damaged, identify hidden bleeding, and confirm that structures are sitting where they are supposed to be before closing a patient. He was the surgeon who treated Iris after she was shot in the lower abdomen. Her injuries involved significant blood loss and extensive damage to her reproductive organs. Adrian was able to save her life and preserve as much function as possible, though one ovary could not be saved and her uterus required significant repair. When Iris later returned to the hospital after several external stitches unexpectedly failed, Adrian was able to assess the problem almost immediately. Once she was medicated heavily enough that he could examine her without causing unnecessary pain, he used his gift to evaluate the healing beneath the incision. What he found was both alarming and reassuring. Diana's healing work had been extraordinarily successful internally. Iris had developed no significant adhesions, and the repaired tissues were knitting together cleanly. The problem was not that the internal healing had failed. In some ways, it had progressed faster than expected. Iris had lost a tremendous amount of blood during the original trauma and surgery and had experienced postoperative swelling afterward. As that swelling changed and the accelerated healing pulled tissue together beneath the surface, pressure built against the external stitches. Those stitches should have remained intact for at least another week, but the combination of swelling, tissue tension, and Iris gradually increasing her activity caused them to fail early. Adrian asked Hunter and Orion how active Iris had been since discharge. They explained that she had spent most of her time in bed or on the sofa, moved slowly between rooms, and usually had support nearby. They had trusted her to judge what she could comfortably handle. Adrian's conclusion was that Iris had probably gotten a little ahead of herself. She had not been reckless, but feeling stronger had allowed her to do slightly more than the healing tissue was ready to tolerate. After re-closing the wound, Adrian tightened her activity restrictions again. He made it clear that feeling better did not mean the repair was ready to be tested. Adrian is calm, practical, and extremely difficult to rattle. Decades of trauma medicine have made him comfortable around blood, frightened families, complicated injuries, and patients who are convinced they know their bodies better than their surgeons. He has a dry sense of humor that tends to surface once a crisis is under control. When Iris's wound was repaired and she was stable, Adrian offered Hunter the choice between taking her home once the fluids and transfusion were finished or keeping her in the hospital another day or two for observation. He admitted they may have discharged her too soon after the original surgery. Hunter, despite wanting her close to medical care, pointed out that Iris barely rested in the hospital because nurses, vital checks, medications, and constant interruptions kept waking her. Adrian understood immediately. He knows as well as anyone that hospitals are excellent places to keep people alive and terrible places to get uninterrupted sleep. As a wolf shifter, Adrian also has heightened senses that complement his medical training, though they are secondary to his diagnostic gift. He is physically solid, steady, and difficult to intimidate, with the grounded presence of someone who has spent decades being the calmest person in a room full of panic. He does not dramatize injuries or soften facts unnecessarily. If something is serious, he says so. If something is improving, he says that too. And if a patient is pushing too hard because they are impatient with recovery, Adrian has absolutely no problem telling them to sit back down.

Species: Full Fae Age: 21 Relationship: Taryn's chosen mate and fiancée Elara Pike is Taryn's chosen mate and fiancée. Bright, bubbly, warm, and effortlessly social, she is the kind of person who can walk into a room and make everyone feel welcome within minutes. Elara genuinely loves Taryn and chose him because of who he is—not because a goddess told them they belonged together. Affectionate and optimistic, she is not one to hold a grudge for long and tends to approach life with an open heart. Elara is sunshine in human form. Her natural warmth and love of connection provide a striking contrast to Iris's tendency to withdraw from others. Her relationship with Taryn also demonstrates that love can be freely chosen and still become something deep, committed, and lasting.

Species: Vampire Age: 362 Relationship: Detective assisting in Iris’s disappearance Gabriel Mercer is a three-hundred-sixty-two-year-old vampire who has been helping find missing people and lost things since childhood. His gift runs through his family line and allows him to pick up impressions left behind on objects, places, and biological traces. By touching something connected to a person or event, Gabriel can sometimes sense where someone has gone, see fragments of what happened, and gather enough detail to help reconstruct a scene or identify the people involved. He became a police officer the day after turning twenty-one and has spent the centuries since building a career around the ability he was born with. Over time, Gabriel developed a reputation for handling difficult disappearances, cold cases, and cases where ordinary investigative methods had stalled. His gift is powerful, but not perfect. What he receives often comes in pieces rather than a complete picture, forcing him to rely just as heavily on experience, instinct, and traditional detective work. Despite his age and long career, Gabriel still looks like a man in his early thirties. He is strikingly handsome, with dark hair, strong features, and an intelligent, attentive expression. His demeanor is calm, warm, and approachable rather than brooding. He takes his work seriously but has never lost the compassion that drew him toward missing-person cases in the first place. Gabriel is brought into Iris’s case after blood is discovered at her home. By touching the blood, he is able to see enough of what happened to begin piecing together her abduction, including impressions of the man responsible and clues that may help determine where she was taken.

Species: Fae/Wolf Age: 30 Relationship: Potential love interest to Iris Hunter Andrews is a thirty-year-old fae/wolf who chose to become a werewolf after rejecting a fated mate who treated others cruelly and cheated on him several times ever after she realized he was her mate. Rather than accept a bond with someone he could not trust, Hunter took the dangerous step of allowing himself to be bitten. Quiet, self-assured, and somewhat reserved, Hunter has a distinctly black-cat personality. He tends to observe more than he speaks and doesn't seek attention, but there is a dry confidence beneath his quieter exterior. His brown hair is worn somewhat longer than most men's, though not nearly as long as Orion's, and he keeps a close-cut beard. His striking blue eyes and broad, fit build make him difficult to overlook. Hunter currently works for the electric company, a job that brings him to Iris's property when he discovers damage to her meter. He seems unusually eager to return in a few days to replace the damaged glass, though Iris initially assumes he's simply someone who takes his job very seriously.

Species: Half Fae / Half Dryad Age: 24 Role: Female Main Character Relationship Status: Complicated Parents: Cedar Briar and Seraphina Siblings: Taryn Briar and Cora Briar (Blue) Home: Her childhood home Iris Briar is the eldest child of Cedar and Seraphina and the firstborn of the Briar siblings. Her father is full fae, while her mother is a full dryad, making Iris half fae and half dryad. She inherited powerful plant-growing magic from her dryad heritage, as well as the ability to communicate with animals. Once bright, social, and trusting, Iris gradually withdrew from people after years of disappointment and emotional hurt. Rather than continuing to risk being hurt by people, she chose solitude. She now lives in the home where she grew up, surrounded by her enormous enchanted garden and the wild animals who have chosen to make themselves part of her life. Iris is fiercely independent and capable, with a natural talent for growing things. Her garden has become both her refuge and her greatest accomplishment. She uses her magic to nurture her plants and has an almost instinctive understanding of what they need. Her ability to communicate with animals has also resulted in an unusual collection of companions, including Pickle and Corvus, who have become part of her household. Despite her isolation, Iris is warm-hearted beneath her defenses. She cares deeply for the people and creatures she allows into her life and tends to express affection through food, gardening, and taking care of others rather than through openly emotional displays. Personality: Independent, intelligent, capable, guarded, compassionate, quietly funny, and stubborn. Iris is slow to trust but deeply loyal once someone earns that trust. Her tendency to retreat when overwhelmed is a product of experience rather than a lack of feeling. Reputation: Iris is known in her community for her extraordinary garden and the quality of the produce she grows. Those who know her family also know her as Cedar and Seraphina's daughter, though Iris has largely stepped away from the social life she once had. Her neighbors are accustomed to seeing her as the quiet woman with the remarkable garden, while those who know her well understand that there is considerably more warmth beneath her reserved exterior. Abilities: Iris possesses powerful plant-growing magic inherited through her dryad bloodline and can communicate with animals. She is particularly skilled at using her magic to encourage plant growth and operate the enchanted systems throughout her garden. Relationships: Iris has a close relationship with her family despite the period of withdrawal that separated her from much of the outside world. Her relationship with her siblings, particularly Taryn, remains important to her. Her growing friendships and connections outside her family are beginning to challenge the isolated life she deliberately built for herself. Romance: Iris wants absolutely nothing to do with romance, fated mates, or the complications that come with them. Unfortunately for Iris, the universe—and the Goddess—may have considerably different plans. Iris's greatest conflict is not simply whether she will find love, but whether she will allow herself to want connection again at all. Her journey is ultimately about discovering that opening herself to people does not necessarily mean surrendering the independence and safety she fought so hard to build.

Species: Dryad Fae Age: 32 Relationship: Married to Cora Briar (Blue) Leo Blue is a thirty-two-year-old dryad fae whose connection to the wind has made him an exceptional pilot. His ability to manipulate air currents gives him an almost instinctive understanding of wind, allowing him to read changing conditions and control the air around an aircraft with remarkable precision. What began as an unusual talent became a passion for flying, and he eventually turned it into his career. Fair-complected and strikingly handsome, Leo has pale blue hair and brilliant blue-purple eyes that give him an almost otherworldly appearance. Confident, adventurous, and easygoing, he has a natural charm that makes him comfortable around people. His dryad abilities allow him to manipulate wind currents, from creating gentle breezes to redirecting powerful gusts, and his understanding of the air around him makes flying almost second nature. Married to Cora Briar, Leo is deeply devoted to his wife and enjoys the lively family life that comes with being part of her world.

Species: Half Fae / Half Dryad Age: 23 Relationship Status: Single Role: Iris's new neighbor Mira Evans is a twenty-three-year-old half fae, half dryad who recently moved into the neighborhood. Her dryad heritage is tied to water rather than the plant and earth magic associated with Iris's dryad bloodline, reflected in the flowing markings across her arms. Mira is gorgeous, warm, friendly, and naturally social. Her vivid purple hair and bright green eyes give her an unmistakable presence, while her easygoing personality makes conversation with her feel effortless. She is the sort of person who is comfortable reaching out first and has no trouble making herself at home around others. Mira is particularly interested in getting to know her new neighbors and plans a casual poolside meet-and-greet shortly after moving in. She quickly takes a liking to Iris and invites her to join the gathering, beginning what may develop into a close friendship. Personality: Warm, outgoing, friendly, curious, confident, and socially comfortable. Mira seems genuinely interested in people and enjoys creating opportunities for connection. Appearance: Mira has vivid purple hair, striking green eyes, and flowing dryad markings across her arms that resemble ripples or patterns formed by water. Abilities: As a half fae, half dryad, Mira possesses both fae and dryad magic. Her dryad heritage is associated with water, distinguishing her from Iris's plant-based dryad abilities. Reputation: Mira is still new to the neighborhood, so she has not yet established much of a reputation. Her first impression, however, is overwhelmingly positive. She is friendly, approachable, and clearly interested in becoming part of the community.

Species: Full Fae Age: 28 Occupation: Garden and Landscape Designer Relationship: Potential love interest Opal Harper is a twenty-eight-year-old full fae who works with parks and public spaces to design beautiful, functional gardens and landscapes. Her natural talent lies in seeing the aesthetic potential in a space and knowing instinctively how to bring it to life. Her magic gives her an almost supernatural eye for beauty, allowing her to recognize balance, color, composition, and harmony in ways others simply cannot. What might look like an ordinary patch of grass or an awkwardly arranged garden to someone else can become a complete vision in Opal's mind. Her professional work has made her highly sought after by parks looking to transform their public spaces. She doesn't simply plant pretty flowers; she understands how plants, trees, pathways, water features, colors, and open spaces work together to create something that feels intentional and beautiful. Her ability to combine practical garden design with her magical eye has earned her a reputation for creating spaces people genuinely want to spend time in. Outside of work, Opal is an artist in her own right. She paints as a hobby, with much of her inspiration coming from nature and the landscapes she encounters through her work. Painting gives her a different way to capture the beauty she is constantly seeing around her, allowing her to create rather than simply design. Opal has pastel pink hair, reflecting the playful and colorful side of her personality. She is also an avid motorcycle rider, giving her a fun contrast between her artistic, garden-loving profession and her enjoyment of getting out on the open road. Opal is a close friend of Tommy Rice. The two have known each other for years and share an especially playful friendship. They enjoy experimenting with their hair together, frequently helping each other create increasingly outrageous colors and styles. Tommy's pastel mint-green hair and Opal's pastel pink hair are as much a product of their friendship as they are expressions of their individual personalities. Personality: Creative, warm, playful, expressive, and naturally appreciative of beauty. Opal has an artistic way of looking at the world and tends to notice details that others overlook. She enjoys making things beautiful simply because she can, whether that means designing an entire public garden, painting a landscape, or deciding that her best friend's hair would look better in an entirely ridiculous color. Abilities: Opal's fae magic gives her an extraordinary eye for aesthetics and design. She can intuitively recognize what elements will work together to create beauty and harmony in a space, making her particularly gifted at landscape and garden design. Reputation: Opal is known for her exceptional work designing gardens and public landscapes. The spaces she creates are visually striking while remaining welcoming and functional, and her magical eye gives her an advantage that ordinary landscape designers simply don't possess. Relationship with Iris: Opal's love of plants and garden design gives her an immediate point of common ground with Iris. Unlike someone who might simply admire Iris's enormous garden because it is pretty, Opal would understand the thought, composition, and living beauty behind it. Her knowledge of plants and landscape design complements Iris's natural magical ability to grow them, potentially giving the two women plenty to talk about—and plenty of reasons to spend time together.

Species: Full Fae Age: 24 Relationship Status: Single Role: Iris's longtime friend and potential love interest Orion is a full-blooded fae and one of the few people who has known Iris for most of her life. After years apart, his return to Iris's life begins to pull her out of the isolation she has built around herself. He is warm, dependable, and naturally affectionate, with an easygoing presence that makes people feel comfortable around him. Personality: Orion has a distinctly golden-retriever personality—friendly, loyal, upbeat, affectionate, and genuinely happy to be around the people he cares about. He has a playful side but is also deeply dependable, making him someone Iris can relax around without feeling pressured. Appearance: Orion is strikingly handsome, with long blue-black hair and the distinctive beauty associated with the fae. His appearance is memorable without making him seem unapproachable, fitting his warm personality. Reputation: Orion is well liked and easy to get along with. He has a history with Iris that gives him an unusual ability to reach her even after her years of withdrawal. Relationship with Iris: Orion is one of the first people to successfully reconnect with Iris and remind her of the person she used to be. His presence seems to bring her back to life emotionally, though Iris does not initially recognize just how significant that change is. Interests: Orion is involved in producing and selling agricultural goods and regularly comes to Iris's property to collect produce. He is also helping Iris plan and measure the new chicken coop on her recently purchased lot. Role in Iris's Story: Orion represents the possibility of connection without pressure. His friendship gives Iris a safe way to begin letting someone back into her life, opening the door for the relationships and changes that follow.

Species: Rat Age: 7 Relationship: Iris's companion Pickle is Iris's seven-year-old rat companion and a permanent fixture in her home. His age is remarkable for a rat, but his longevity is not accidental. Living within Iris's enchanted garden and remaining part of her inner circle has magically extended both his lifespan and his health. Despite his age, Pickle has retained the vitality and youthful appearance of a much younger rat. Pickle is social, affectionate, and completely comfortable making himself at home. He enjoys watching cartoons, following Iris around the house, and generally treating every comfortable surface as his rightful property. He has no hesitation about making his preferences known, particularly when food or a comfortable place to sleep is involved. He also has a particularly destructive little habit: eating Iris's wooden spoons. No matter how many she replaces, Pickle seems to regard them as perfectly acceptable snacks. He's also been caught eating Iris bulbs from the garden, leading Iris to wonder if her inability to grow them successfully might have less to do with her gardening skills and more to do with the small furry culprit helping himself underground. Unlike Corvus, who prefers military movies and outdoor adventures, Pickle is perfectly content with cartoons, good food, and curling up somewhere comfortable. He provides a lighthearted, domestic presence in Iris's life and has become far more than a wild animal living in her garden—he is part of her family.

Species: Fae Age: 25 Relationship: Hunter Andrews's younger sister Sable Andrews is a twenty-five-year-old wolf who has dedicated her life to helping others through her extraordinary ability to manipulate weather. Rather than settling into a conventional career, Sable travels throughout the state wherever her abilities are needed, helping communities through droughts, flooding, extreme temperatures, and dangerous storms. Her power allows her to influence everything from rainfall and wind to severe weather systems, including tornadoes and hurricanes, and she has even been called upon to help mitigate the effects of larger disasters such as tsunamis. Independent, compassionate, and confident, Sable has a strong sense of responsibility toward the people and communities she helps. Her work keeps her constantly on the move, and she is accustomed to going wherever she is needed without hesitation. Despite the serious responsibility she carries, she has a warm personality and a playful relationship with her older brother, Hunter, who worries about her tendency to run toward dangerous situations rather than away from them. Sable has never been particularly concerned with settling down, preferring the freedom of her work and the ability to go wherever she is needed.

Species: Dryad Age: 190 Relationship: Cedar Briar's wife; mother of Taryn, Iris, and Cora Briar (Blue) Seraphina Briar is a dryad and the mother of Taryn, Iris, and Cora. She is married to Cedar Briar, whose warm, easygoing nature often provides a playful counterbalance to her more serious side. Flamboyantly beautiful, charismatic, and expressive, Seraphina has a larger-than-life presence and isn't particularly shy about saying exactly what she thinks. She loves her family deeply and takes her role as a mother seriously, though her concern for her children's happiness can sometimes make her more persistent than they would prefer. Seraphina is especially concerned about Iris. She respects the life her daughter has built and understands why Iris values her independence, but she worries that Iris has shut herself off from the possibility of love and companionship altogether. Of the family, Seraphina is the one most likely to ask the difficult questions—and the one least likely to accept a vague answer simply because Iris would rather change the subject. She and Cedar lived in the Briar family home until Iris eventually purchased the house from them, allowing the couple to move into a home of their own. Her children's experiences with love and their relationships—particularly Cora's happy fated-mate bond—have influenced Seraphina's understanding of love, destiny, and the possibility that mate bonds do not always end badly.

Species: Fae/Dryad Age: 22 Relationship: Elara Pike's chosen mate and fiancée; son of Cedar and Seraphina; brother of Iris and Cora Briar (Blue) Taryn Briar is the middle child of Cedar and Seraphina and the brother of Iris and Cora. Like his mother and sisters, he carries dryad blood, while his father is full fae. Taryn's magic is closely tied to trees, timber, and construction. He can accelerate the growth of trees, allowing him to cultivate timber specifically for building rather than relying on clear-cutting established forests. His abilities also extend into magical construction, giving him an almost architectural understanding of how structures should be designed and allowing him to use his magic to help build them. His powers make him uniquely suited to sustainable construction. Rather than taking resources from existing forests, Taryn can grow what he needs, harvest it responsibly, and replace what he takes. Taryn is engaged to Elara Pike, his chosen mate. Their relationship is based on mutual love and choice rather than a fated-mate bond, and their happy relationship is one of the examples that has helped Iris's parents believe love does not have to be dictated by destiny to be lasting and genuine.

Species: Human Wolf Age: 25 Relationship: Friend of Iris and Orion from college Tessa Dirk is a twenty-five-year-old former human who is now a human wolf. She has been friends with Iris and Orion since their college days, making her one of the people who knew Iris before she withdrew from much of the world. Tessa is strikingly beautiful, with vivid deep-red hair that falls in long, loose waves down her back, green eyes, fair skin, and a scattering of freckles across her face. Her appearance has a natural, almost wild quality that suits her wolf nature despite her human origins. Tessa recently discovered her fated mate and immediately fled rather than accept the bond. She isn't running because she fears commitment or because she doesn't understand what a mate bond means. She simply doesn't want the man the Goddess chose for her. Her reaction—panic, denial, and escape—is a familiar one in a world where fated bonds can override personal choice. Tessa's experience is one of the reasons Iris views fated mates as dangerous rather than romantic. To Iris, Tessa's story is proof that being told someone is your destined partner doesn't mean you will actually want them, love them, or choose to build a life with them.

Species: Toad Age: 2 Relationship: Aurora's boyfriend; Iris's companion Theodore is a two-year-old toad and Aurora's boyfriend. He is perfectly content with the simple pleasures of life and has little interest in the comforts of the human world. Given the choice between coming inside to watch television and staying outdoors, Theodore will choose the outdoors every time—preferably somewhere “where the bugs are.” Theodore is easygoing, outdoorsy, and seemingly quite happy with his place in Iris's garden. His relationship with Aurora provides a fun contrast between the two: while Aurora has become curious about coming inside and watching TV after hearing Corvus talk about it, Theodore would much rather remain outside where he can enjoy his natural environment. He is one of the many creatures who have made Iris's enchanted garden their home, benefiting from the magic that surrounds her property and the protective inner circle Iris has unknowingly created around herself.

Species: Vampire Age: 28 Occupation: Kindergarten Teacher Relationship: Potential love interest Tommy Rice is a twenty-eight-year-old vampire who looks considerably more intimidating than he actually is. He is heavily built from spending a great deal of time in the gym, with pastel mint-green hair and warm brown eyes that do little to hide the enormous cinnamon roll underneath. Tommy has a goofy, affectionate personality and a deeply protective nature, possessing the loyal, devoted energy of a Rottweiler rather than the brooding demeanor traditionally associated with vampires. Tommy works as a kindergarten teacher, a career that suits him far better than his intimidating appearance might suggest. His magic is centered around teaching, learning, and expanding the minds of others, which he uses to give his students the best possible foundation for their education. Children who begin their learning careers in Tommy's classroom consistently go on to achieve extraordinary things, with many eventually attending top-tier colleges. His reputation as a teacher is exceptional. Parents actively compete to get their children into his classes, knowing that students who spend their early years learning from Tommy tend to thrive academically and develop a genuine love of learning. He doesn't simply teach children what they need to know—his magic allows him to help them reach their potential and gives them an unusually strong foundation for everything that follows. Despite being a vampire, Tommy can eat ordinary food just like anyone else. When he needs to replenish his blood supply, he feeds on animal blood, allowing him to live comfortably without hunting humans. His ability to enjoy normal meals alongside his occasional need for blood is simply an accepted part of vampire life in this world. Tommy is warm, playful, affectionate, and deeply devoted to the people he considers his own. He has been best friends with the witch/fae woman who lives next door since childhood; the two grew up together and are only three months apart in age. Their relationship is so longstanding and familiar that they are essentially family to one another. Reputation: Tommy is beloved by his students and highly sought after by their parents. Among his friends, he's known as the big, goofy guy who would absolutely protect his people without hesitation. His appearance may make strangers think twice, but anyone who actually knows him quickly discovers that he's a giant sweetheart.