Chapter Seventeen
Hazel
“Hazel, you really need to come down here. Like now.” Augustine’s voice shot up the stairs, alerting all of us who weren’t up at the crack of dawn trying to replicate and upgrade Alice’s recipes and improving on some she’d come up with on her own.
She and Alice had a running competition of who was the most creative baker. Friendly, of course.
Women could be competitive and kind at the same time.
“What is it?” I groaned. The day before had taken the wind out of me. Already, I’d downed two cups of Goldie’s espresso, thanks to Clover ordering us a machine, and a huge piece of Augustine’s dark-chocolate banana bread.
My body was buzzing but I was nowhere near ready to face the day. Looked like I had no choice.
“Get your ass down here.”
“She sounds serious,” Clover said. “Not sarcastic either. I’m scared.”
Non-sarcastic Augustine was cause for alarm.
“Let’s all go,” I said, not wanting to face whatever was happening alone. I needed my girls with me. We’d always been friends, but since moving here and having to rely on each other for everything, we’d become a pack of sorts. Everyone needed a pack.
When I walked downstairs and to the shop, at first, nothing seemed out of order.
The shelves were stocked. Augustine made sure not a speck of dust was to be found except in the air.
She called them fairies, and I thought they added just the right amount of whimsy when the sun hit the store just right.
“What is going on?” I asked, first to get to the front door where she was standing. The door was open, letting the morning chill in.
“You have presents. Offerings.”
I snorted. “Offerings? This isn’t a shrine.”
Augustine moved aside. “There’s a note.”
On top of the dozen bags was a card in an envelope with my name on it. “Who is it from?”
“I’m not reading it,” Stine replied, shrugging. “It’s all clothes and shoes.”
“No way.” Goldie pushed the both of us aside, grabbed the envelope, and ripped it open. “It’s…oh, my. You’d better read this, Hazel.”
She jutted the card my way, and there was a bit of a scuffle about Goldie reading a note that wasn’t for her. I shrugged it off as I realized that the note was from Lindon, True, and Shiloh. All of this was from them.
“Read it out loud!” Clover chanted. The rest of them were peeking into the bags, gasping at intervals.
“Okay. Okay.
“Hazel,
We are replacing the clothes you lost in your shift, but we didn’t know what you’d like. We probably bought too much. Keep, return, or donate any of this. There are no strings attached.
We would like to have dinner with you. But remember, “No” is a complete sentence. You owe us nothing.
“Shut your whole ass!” Augustine shouted. That sounded more like her.
“With three men? You need every hole you can ge…” I clapped my hand over Goldie’s mouth before she announced to the whole town about my holes and sex with three alphas and…she needed to shut up.
“Shut up. Can we please bring this conversation inside, ladies? Some decorum. Please.”
Clover snorted. “Decorum. Are you fucking kidding me?”
The look I gave her made her stop laughing. “Oh, okay. Not kidding. Decorum, females. Into the shop with the offerings to the goddess. At once!” She even clapped a few times.
We brought the bags inside and only had a few minutes to look through them. How these three knew my taste and color preferences, I might never know. There were casual clothes and jeans and sweaters and some dresses and three bags with nothing but shoes.
Low heels. Ballet flats. Sneakers. Flip-flops. I had every style of shoe possible.
“Damn, I need a pack.” Goldie held up a slip dress. Plum-colored with black lace. It was a goth girl’s dream. And mine.
“What exactly happened in the meadow?” Clover asked. “I mean, this is a lot of gifts.”
“Not that,” I said. “I told them everything. About my dad and the people who came to get me. The debts. The hunters that were probably after me. All of it.”
Everyone had stopped gawking at the clothes. “What did they say?” Augustine asked. “I mean, clearly they are not scared away.”
“I tried to scare them away by telling them. I mean, I already dragged you three into this and now them?”
Clover wrapped her arm around me. “You didn’t drag us. We came willingly. We’re a pack now.”
At least I wasn’t the only one on that wavelength. “Yeah. We are. They, um, they said they don’t care about my past or who is chasing me. They said they will protect me. Keep me safe.”
“And one of them gave you his shirt,” Goldie added. “We all saw it last night. We just didn’t want to say anything.”
“Yeah. I shifted. My wolf wanted out because they scared me while I was in the meadow. But then I shifted back and naked and…”
Goldie sat on the floor. The rest of us followed. Right in the center of the store. Only a few minutes until opening. “Do they…are they your scent matches? I mean, are you sure?”
I nodded. “More sure than anything I’ve ever known.”
“Do they smell like heaven?” Clover asked. If any other female other than my girls asked that, my wolf might have shown her teeth, but these three would never betray me.
“They do. Like home and comfort and safety.”
“Like a scent nest,” Augustine added.
“They…it’s perfect.”
“So you’re going to dinner with them, right?” Augustine again. “You have to wear this one.”
“I am. How can I not?”
We laughed and talked some more until a soft knock at the shop door alerted us. We’d gossiped too long. We were late opening. Some things were more important.
“Laura,” I greeted the woman. She looked ten times better. “How are you sleeping?”
Her smile reached her eyes. “The best sleep of my life. I’m here for more.”