Meet me in the Emerald Forest

Chapter 26 Clementine

Lily dragged me to the shopping epicenter of Stafford which consisted of a few strip malls and a large outlet store. It was nearly 11:00 AM on a Thursday, so the stores weren't very busy which meant Lily could torture me for as long as she wanted without having to worry about nosey busy bodies. She pulled me into multiple stores and literally grabbed every single thing that I touched, whether I wanted it or not.

I had summer dresses, jean shorts, dressy shorts, blouses, tank tops, t-shirts, leggings, and everything else that you could think of stuffed into the back of a blacked out SUV or carried by the poor guardsmen. We were just walking out of a fancier shop with the guys carrying several garment bags protecting evening gowns that Lily insisted I would need for pack events. When two out of the four guards went to return the dresses to the car, Lily pulled me towards a Victoria's Secret.

"Now, Lily..." I started to protest but she wasn't having any of it, "I don't need measured." I argued when she tried to pull over one of the workers.

"Look at you." Lily grinned.

"I do own lingerie, Lily, I'm not a prude." I snapped and she threw her head back laughing.

"Oh, I'm so glad to hear that. So many human girls are such nuns. That means we can get freaky with it." She winked before heading back towards the BDSM looking shit.

"No, no that is not what that means." I argued feverishly, glancing back to make sure that the guards were all waiting outside the store.

In all reality, I was in need of some more underwear and bras since I left most of them back at home. I selected quite a few matching sets of lacy items, thongs, and some comfy cotton sets as well as sports bras and spandex. I hadn't seen Lily the entire time I was elbow deep in the mix and match section. I was immediately suspicious when she walked back with her arms full of pink bags.

"Those better be for you." I threatened but she just shook her head with a huge grin on her painted pink lips.

"Not a chance, sweety. I want to be an Auntie!" She whistled for the boys to take her bags and guided me towards the check out.

"Lily!" I shrieked and she just kept on laughing.

"Oh come on, think of it as a revenge plan. You can strut your stuff wearing all that goodness I picked out for you but not give him any. It'll drive him wild and it'll be fucking funny to watch." Lily said as she swiped Lukas' credit card for the thousandth time.

"You realize that you're planning out your brother being cock blocked, right?" I raised an eyebrow and she just shrugged,

"I've been waiting years for him to be tortured like he tortured me."

"What does that mean?" I was almost afraid to ask.

"Garrick knew he was my mate years before I turned 18 and found out, and Lukas kept him from me. Then, he made up all these rules about us dating because Garrick was his "Beta" and so he was allowed to rule over his sex life. It was hell for an entire year. Hence why it took us so long to have Callie." Lily explained as we walked back through the store.

I wondered what she meant about being so long until they had their daughter. I knew she was four or five, and Lily couldn't have been that much older than me. Wasn't that a pretty reasonable timeline for having children?

I was still lost in thought when we exited the store and handed off more bags to the guards. Once again, two walked off towards the car while the other two remained. The next thing I knew, Lily was growling, the two remaining guards were flanking me, and a repulsive familiar figure was clouding my vision.