Chapter Three
Meeda and Vine looked at Moira. They bowed low and said as one, “Thank you for rescuing our kitten.”
Faline snorted as Moira blinked, and then her eyes went wide. “Vine and Meeda? Wait, Mia’s Meeda?”
They straightened and grinned. Meeda smiled. “Yes. I am ready to be seen. I hear you have a set of dark elves?”
Moira blushed. “Yeah. One is opening a boat repair shop with one of the Darings, and one is a financial director who is opening a local branch.”
Vine grinned. “And you have an actual kitten?”
The adorable little calico was sitting on Faline’s shoulder.
Moira grinned. “Any time Faline isn’t in the room, yes. Her nickname is Kram, it’s short for crampon.”
As they watched, the kitten climbed to the top of Faline’s head and stood proudly.
Faline sighed. “And now, she’s a hat.”
They laughed, and Meeda looked around the gowns on the dummies and filling the racks. “I saw some of these at Ahheel’s shop.”
“Yes, they are selling well, and Ahheel is enjoying the partnership. We have been talking about opening up satellite boutiques on Emerald and Breakridge.” Moira smiled. “Ahheel can do what she likes. I am just going to keep sewing.”
Faline lifted her hand. “Me, too.”
Vine asked, “You have citizenship?”
“Yes. I was born on Emerald. My mother was a mistress by profession. They sent me to my father’s family to be adopted as a lady of the house in the city.” She grimaced. “That didn’t last, but I got my early high school diploma before they kicked me out.”
“And Ever?”
“He’s from Emerald as well. His family had business on the mainland, and we ended up at the same school, but I am guessing he did some wiggling to get there.”
“Where is he now?”
“My guess is congratulating Stromos on whatever sporty thing he just did and trying to find out if that alpha is omega-biased only or a little flexible.” She smiled. “Ever is sexually omnivorous.”
Vine said softly, “But you are a mage.”
“So?”
“Don’t you have a draw to magic?”
Faline smiled. “I do, and I don’t. I am bound to Ever. Not in any formal way, but we fit like puzzle pieces. If he finds the wrong alpha, it acts as scissors to the puzzle, and he doesn’t want that. This is the fourth one that he has auditioned in the last two years.”
Moira blinked. “So, you don’t activate for the right guy?”
“Nope. We are activated, and then we find someone who suits what we have become. It’s a different order with a similar result.”
Vine asked, “What brand of mage are you, Faline?”
“Unlike your friend Sable, I am simply a biological energy mage. Animus is my focus, the power that moves the body and drives birth, death, and mating. The mental motivators that make society move along.”
She smiled. “It’s a weird adaptation, but my passion is ornamenting the gowns.”
Vine wandered around the gowns. “You put magic in them.”
“Side effect of me messing with them.”
Moira snorted. “Her embroidery and work increase the price of the gowns by around five hundred dollars.”
“Does Mini have one?”
Moira snorted. “Mini has six. She wears them at home with her alphas because they make her feel pretty. The queen has eighteen.”
Faline grinned. “Mimi can’t make them fast enough.”
Vine blinked. “Mimi?”
Moira explained the story of her volunteering, constantly screaming, “Me, me!” back on Emerald, where she grew up.
Meeda smiled and relaxed into the feeling of being among friends. Mia was her sister, but friends chose her. It was a heady feeling.
Eden walked in, saw the gathering, and smiled. “So, Moira. Having a party?”
Faline smiled. “My fault. Meeda was just telling us that Mia had asked another friend of theirs to design some beach wraps and simple dresses that went on and off easily.”
Eden smiled. “I would be up for that. Something that can go from beach to restaurant.”
Moira smiled. “My stuff is more for elegant comfort and shorting out alphas by making all wearers look like omegas.”
Faline chuckled. “They really do.”
Meeda cocked her head. “What do you look like in one?”
Faline froze. “Uh... Sorry. Can’t hear you. Cat on my head.”
Meeda smiled as Faline edged toward the door and eased past Eden. The kitten galloped over to Moira the moment Faline was out the door.
Meeda looked at Vine, and they smiled sadly. Faline was adorable when she was fluffy and soft, and that had been dangerous where they were.
Meeda asked Moira, “Do you still have the collar?”
“No. One of my mates suggested that I melt it down so it couldn’t be used on her again.” Moira smiled. “So, I did. Faline took it and gave it to the island for safekeeping.”
Vine asked, “Was Xida on the island?”
Meeda nodded. “She was with some alphas.”
Faline returned and said, “They did an emergency request for any ladies who could manage the course. If she was the one I was thinking of, she was here on a what can you do in five days trip. This ended up derailing some of her other plans, but I think she just did the final check-in and got on with her day.”
Meeda chuckled. “That sounds like her. I was surprised to see her here in the islands, but she is how I found out I wasn’t a lesbian.”
That conversational bomb led to descriptions of that journey of discovery and Xida’s amused cooperation. Despite Meeda being comfortable and very attracted to Xida, she couldn’t do more than kiss her on her cheek. Xida had smiled and said, “Now you have your answer.”
Vine paused. “Does Xida like women?”
Meeda was sheepish. “No. I just thought it was worth a shot. She’s just so... everything. She’s the person I would like at my side as a solid companion.”
There was a chime in the front of the building, and the ladies jolted. Moira blinked. “Oh, I forgot I run a business.”
They all laughed, and a woman came in with dark sable hair, bright green eyes, and a stance that said she was ready for anything. The woman saw Meeda, grinned, then said, “Hello, Moira. I believe Ahheel called you about a custom piece?”
Moira blinked and looked at her. “Oh, of course. Your name?”
Meeda smiled. “Xida.”
Xida snorted. “Correct. It is Xida.”
Meeda grinned. “You did well in the run today.”
“Faline’s team kicked our asses. It was fun, though. It goes on the list.” Xida smiled. “If they do it again.”
Faline came in with a tablet and a measuring tape. She saw Xida. “Oh. You are really fast.”
“Not fast enough. Well done.” Xida smiled. She was still wearing her running bodysuit, sneakers, and the red streaks from impact with a lot of things on the route through the island.
Faline grinned. “I use all my feet.”
Moira looked at her. “Did you want to wear a basic wrap for sizing?”
“Please. This suit compresses, so I am going to be a little fluffier.”
Meeda chuckled. “A little.”
Xida made a face. “Quiet you.”
Meeda cackled.
Faline walked with her and said, “You are familiar.”
Xida shrugged. “Must be my staring into your spine all day.”
Faline chuckled. “I have worked with Ever a lot. He and I move very well together. We had a lot of practice in sophomore cheerleading.”
Xida nodded as they went to the back room. “That explains the happy little shouts when they flipped you and the posing when you landed.”
Faline giggled. “Yeah, it was a fun day.”
Meeda and the others looked at a stunned Faline who was walking out ahead of Xida. Moira was stunned as a beta-sized goddess stood there, her body a testament to health and strength, while still remaining soft and curved. Moira blinked. “Right. Custom dress.”
The client was urged onto a platform, and Moira and Faline zipped around, taking measurements and recording everything on the tablet.
Vine chuckled. “Okay, I see it now.”
Meeda grinned. “She’s like a statue. Not Eden’s mother goddess, but Athena or Artemis.”
Xida said, “I can hear you.”
Meeda laughed. “I know.”
Moira’s eyes looked like she had a challenge in her grip. “What colours?”
“Well, it’s for my vacation, so ocean colours. Blues, greens, greys, black, and stars and the reflected moonlight. You know, the standard.”
Moira’s eyes gleamed. “This is going to be fun. Do you have a style you like?”
“I need to be able to bend forward without my cleavage making a break for it.” She smiled. “And it needs to be opaque enough that you can’t see my ass crack or front bottom.”
Moira grinned. “Been to Europe?”
“Twice. I love that it sounds silly and yet conveys the spirit of the thing.”
Moira asked, “How long do I have?”
“I am here for four more days, but day four is a noon departure.”
Meeda pouted. “Why?”
“Because I said so. No, that is when my flight off Emerald will happen.” She smiled. “This was the only travel visa I could wrangle.”
Faline frowned. “Were you here for the first attempt at the race?”
“I was, but it wasn’t until I arrived here that I found out the other two guys from my team hadn’t gotten their travel visas on time.
So I decided to follow their ad campaign, and I was heading for a hike to the falls when Temal and Yeskin snagged me.
They asked me to take the part as their third, and I did.
” She grinned. “Because our trail would take us past the falls, I saw it anyway.”
She looked at Faline and Moira. “Can I get changed?”
Moira tilted her head and sighed. “Meeda, I get it. Yes, Xida, you may.”
Faline suddenly lifted her head. “She moves like an alpha.”
Xida called out, “And you run like a pussy.”
They sat and giggled in the shop in the middle of the township of the main island of Wonder.
Participants in the event were gliding and staggering through the market areas depending on how they had done during the race.
The hotel was filled, and many had to commute over from Emerald, which necessitated a later start.
They were in a safe, little corner of the town, and for some reason, Moira’s shop only appeared for her mates or for women sent by Ahheel.
Eden smiled. “So I have gotten authorization to immigrate to Wonder. Krossos is waiting to hear back on his application, but I think Kekoa just wants to make him sweat.”