14. Shopping with Wolves （and One Judgmental Cat）
14
Shopping with Wolves (and One Judgmental Cat)
Victoria pulled up outside a private boutique in downtown Amberford and parked her Mercedes smoothly in a spot reserved for the clientele. I stared warily at the stylish frontage.
It looked like it catered exclusively to people who wiped their noses with hundred-dollar bills.
“Are you sure about this?” I said nervously. “I feel like my credit card might spontaneously combust just from being in the vicinity of this place.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Victoria said briskly. “The pack pays for luna-related expenses.”
I stared. This was my first time hearing this.
“Including designer clothes?” I asked suspiciously.
“Especially designer clothes.” Victoria frowned. “You represent the Hawthorne pack. You need to look the part, not just at work but in day-to-day life and at social engagements.”
I was beginning to think this sounded like a good deal bar the social engagement aspect until Pearl spoke.
“We can’t have you looking like you’re of common stock,” the cat said disdainfully from the back seat.
Bo, who’d been forced to ride in the rear with her, made gagging noises.
I narrowed my eyes at Pearl in the mirror. “That taxidermy place isn’t far from here.”
The cat hissed. Victoria sighed.
We got out of the car and crossed the sidewalk. A discreet sign above the boutique’s door intimated that its name was Moonlight Couture. A bell tinkled when we entered. I was hit by the smell of blank checks and what I was beginning to recognize as the distinctive bouquet of the supernatural.
I looked around nervously.
The place reminded me of the cover of a home interior magazine. The kind featuring a snake milker who hit it big and was now living the millionaire life somewhere exotic.
A willowy blonde with a scent similar to Mrs. Chen and Didi materialized from between racks of clothing that probably cost more than my annual salary. Her expression brightened.
“Victoria.” She came over and air-kissed the Hawthorne matriarch’s cheeks. “And Pearl, darling. How divine to see you both.” She pecked the cat on the head.
Bo and I both curled our lips.
Her gaze landed on me and widened slightly. Even Bo got a once-over.
“Claudette, this is Abigail West.” Victoria hesitated for a fraction of a second. “She’s Samuel’s mate.”
Claudette’s perfectly shaped eyebrows shot up. “The new luna?” She studied me more carefully. “I heard the rumor. How interesting.” She paused. “And not at all what I envisaged for your son.”
I narrowed my eyes slightly.
Claudette shot a puzzled glance at Victoria. “Wasn’t there talk between your pack and the Luptons about an engage?—?”
“Abby needs a complete wardrobe,” Victoria interrupted hastily, “including shift-friendly pieces. She will require business outfits, evening wear, formal daywear for social functions, and casual wear.”
I blinked, certain I’d just heard a distinct death flag. I decided to file this away for further investigation and focused on what I’d just heard.
“Shift-friendly?”
“Clothes that transform with you,” Victoria explained. “Unless you want to keep destroying your wardrobe every full moon.”
I blinked. “That’s possible?”
“With the right enchantments, yes.” Claudette was circling me like a well-dressed shark. “I must say, you have excellent bone structure. The clothes in my boutique will hang beautifully on you once we get you out of these”—she waved a derogatory hand—“department store pieces.”
I looked down at my suit, which I’d thought was perfectly nice until about thirty seconds ago. “This is my best suit.”
I lifted my head and faced a trio of pitying stares, Pearl’s the worst of them.
“Now then,” Claudette clapped her hands. “Let’s start with casual and business wear. You’ll need at least five suits for the office to begin with. We’ll move on to formal day wear for pack functions and evening wear afterward. Girls, take her measurements.”
A couple of shop assistants who looked like they belonged on the catwalk appeared out of nowhere. They took my elbows and ignored my protests as they ushered me toward a back room.
Victoria nodded approvingly and followed. “Oh and she needs something suitable for tonight’s family dinner.”
“A family dinner?” Claudette pressed her fingers to her mouth excitedly. “How lovely!”
I choked on air. “What family dinner?”
“You will be meeting the rest of the pack ahead of tomorrow night’s run.”
The reminder that I was T-minus thirty-six hours until I underwent my first full transformation resulted in a sharp bout of indigestion.
Victoria’s surprise revelation about the family dinner was still sinking in when I was escorted into the boutique workshop. One of the assistants leaned in and inhaled discreetly as she guided me to stand on a low platform.
“Did she just sniff me?” I whispered to Bo.
“Yeah.” He wrinkled his nose. “She and her friend are fae. Probably curious about your Eau de Luna .”
That explained the assistants’ stunning looks.
The next hour was a blur of pins, measuring tapes, and increasingly expensive fabric as Claudette and her assistants brought out the shop’s repertoire.
“Arms out,” one of the assistants ordered.
“Higher,” the other one said.
“Straighten your shoulders,” Claudette snapped.
I swallowed an “Argh!” of protest.
Bo, Pearl, and Victoria were not helping where they sat on a velvet chaise offering a running commentary.
“That one makes her look like an angry banana,” Bo said as I modeled suit number three.
“It’s an improvement on the previous suit,” Pearl contributed. “She looked like a tax collector.”
“At least she doesn’t look like something the cat dragged in anymore,” Victoria mused. “No offense, Pearl.”
“None taken, Victoria.”
I gritted my teeth.
Just when I began considering running for the hills, Claudette emerged from the back room with what looked like a small fortune in silk. “Try this. It’s for tonight’s function.”
I stared. The one-piece pantsuit was charcoal gray with subtle silver threading that caught the light. The fabric felt like water against my skin when I put it on, the neckline revealing the right amount of cleavage to be alluring rather than red-light-district raunchy.
“Now that’s alpha mate material!” Bo panted.
Even Pearl looked impressed. “It’ll do.”
Victoria nodded. “That’s perfect for tonight’s dinner.”
My stomach clenched. “About this dinner. I’m not sure I’m ready to meet the entire pack yet.”
“Nonsense.” Victoria waved away my protest. “They are dying to see who their luna is. Besides, Samuel will be there.”
That was what worried me the most.
The mate bond had been difficult enough to handle last night and in his office that morning. How was I supposed to maintain my composure through an entire family dinner?
“Speaking of Samuel,” Victoria said carefully. “Have you two discussed your sleeping arrangements yet?”
My eyes bulged. “Our what ?!”
“Traditionally, the luna lives with the alpha,” Victoria said like she was commenting on the weather. “And they share the same bed.”
I scowled and straightened to my full height. “We are not having this conversation!”
Bo’s tail wagged hopefully. “Can I have your room when you move out?”
“No one is moving anywhere!” I snarled.
“Actually,” Pearl drawled, “the pack might have something to say about that.”
I turned to Victoria. “Is she serious?”
The Hawthorne matriarch suddenly became interested in a rack of evening wear.
“Victoria?” I asked in a dangerous voice.
“Let’s try on some cocktail dresses,” Victoria said brightly. “You’ll need them for pack social functions.”
I looked at my reflection and wondered how I had gone from normal accountant to supernatural socialite in less than a day. Two hours and numerous shopping bags later, including a visit to a shoe store that specialized in shift-friendly footwear, Victoria dropped me back at Hawthorne & Associates.
“Don’t be late tonight,” she said as I climbed out. “Seven o’clock sharp.”
“Sure,” I muttered wearily.
“And bring the dog,” Pearl warned from the back seat. “I chose that bow tie for him. He’d better be wearing it when he turns up.”
“I will.” Bo wagged his tail hesitantly. “I like the bow tie.”
“Good,” Pearl said, surprising us even more than when she’d picked out the accessory.
Had I been less tired, I would have been more concerned about my innocent Husky becoming friends with Satan’s feline spawn.
Janet was waiting in reception when we entered the building.
“Ready for your orientation?” She clocked my leaden expression and gave me a sympathetic smile while Charlene and Fred pretended not to eavesdrop. “I see you’re suffering side effects from your shopping session with Victoria. Don’t worry, this is mostly paperwork and a tour.” She paused. “Though there are a few, shall we say, unique aspects to working here that I’ll need to point out.”
The next hour was a whirlwind of forms, security protocols, and increasingly bizarre workplace guidelines.
“No blood drinking in the break room,” Janet read from the employee handbook.
I realized she was directing a narrow-eyed stare at Barney.
The vampire looked up from his ancient typewriter. “What?” he said with an innocent shrug.
From Janet’s expression, Barney broke that rule regularly.
Janet sniffed and continued reading. “No setting fire to the filing cabinets.” This time, she side-eyed Gavin hard.
“It’s not like I do it on purpose,” the dragon newt protested, accidentally knocking over his collection of fire extinguishers.
“No turning anyone into frogs,” Janet stated firmly, staring Dorothy right in the eye.
The witch uncapped a highlighter with a deadly sound and an even deadlier smile.
“And absolutely no unauthorized exorcisms,” Janet finished. “Mindy gets very touchy about that.”
The copy machine near the window made a threatening sound.
By the time the werewolf completed the tour of the other floors and finished introducing me to the supernatural staff making up the departments headed by Samuel’s top management, a headache was hammering at my temples. I returned to the fifth floor to find Didi gathering her things.
“You leaving already?” I glanced at the clock on the wall.
It was only four p.m.
“I have a dental appointment,” Didi said briskly. “Gavin is technically in his hibernation period right now, so he’s gone home early. Be here at eight tomorrow. We’re visiting Mystical Moments first thing.”
I nodded, vaguely wondering how I was going to face Mrs. Owens after everything that had happened.
Didi paused, her bag on her shoulder and her broomstick hovering impatiently beside her. She studied Bo warily.
“Will he be coming with us?”
I looked at Bo.
“If you leave me at home, I’ll chew your brand-new shoes,” my dog threatened.
“He’s coming with us,” I sighed.