My Blood Moon

Chapter 26

A sigh reaches my ears and I look across the store to see River watching her reflection with deep uncertainty. She stills hasn't quite gotten the hang of being around us and she's kind of livid that she has to wear a dress - and by "kind of," I mean she threw a chair at Paul's head when he told her about what was going on this afternoon. It was both terrifying and completely hilarious, because I already know Paul's going to have a hard time with this one. She'll be good for him...her strong will will keep him from walking all over her and she can kick his butt into gear while also helping him with the beast problem. I look over at the other girls as they search the racks for something that will work for their personal styles...maybe I should explain what the "proper" attire for an Initiation Ceremony is. The girls, obviously, have to wear a dress...one that will represent who they are and has to be formal as well as, if you've found you're mate, the color of their wolf's eyes. Currently, most of the girls are looking around the golden-yellow colors, River is over by the blues, Anya and Anna are by the orange ones, and Aislynn and I are in the reds. The girls who don't have mates are to find a white dress to symbolize how they are waiting for their mate. It's all very symbolic and crazy.

Wait! I forgot to mention who Anya is...when River, relunctantly, decided to join us (after basically being manhandled by Paul, so I don't blame her for being unsure) she also brought her siblings: Dyscen and Gemma. And with Dyscen comes his mate Anya...she's weird and goofy but Aislynn, Aubrie, Selene, and even Laura have already taken a liking to her. Arielle's still on the fence, but I'm sure she'll come around - she's just being overprotective towards Aislynn. I can't say I blame her though.

"Um...what do you think?" Aislynn whispers to me.

I look up and see her holding up this gorgeous ruby, a-line dress with keyhole neckline and an intricate white lace attached to the area that would wrap snugly around her mid-section. I can already tell this one will be perfect for her. I nod with a smile as she giggles to herself before making her way to the dressing rooms.

Looking up I see that most of the girls have gone back as well, only River is staring at the racks with a dumbfounded expression. Sighing I give up on my own futile search - my mind's too busy with it's thoughts to really look right now - I make my way over to her.

"You'd think this would be easier." She mutters to no one in particular. "But, as Alpha, there was never really any opportunity to do this...Besides, I was raised by my father and he was never good at this stuff. I'm surprised Gemma somehow found it in her genes."

"You alright?" I ask with a slight chuckle - I can't help it.

She growls at the rack. "No. I hate shopping. And I hate dresses even more. Why does being a girl have to be so difficult at times? Why can't I just run things without having to deal with all this frilly bits?"

I have to hold back my wolf from coming out at the thought of someone pushing us out of our position and think of it through her point of view. "I get what you mean."

She quickly turns to look at me with suspicious eyes. "What do you mean? How could you possibly know?"

I smile sadly at her and start to comb through the rack in front of me. "Well, growing up I was the black sheep to other wolves - the color of my wolf's eyes freaked them out. And not too long after I originally moved to Albuquerque Hunters burned down the pack house. Derreck and I had been the only two left functionally alive - Paul was taken to a hospital at the time. From there we lived on the road, never sticking around any place too long. I think the last time I actually wore a dress was this Easter party my parents dragged me to when I was five..."

I smile at the memory of how proud I had been of that frilly pink and white thing my mom strapped me into. That is, until one of the pack boys decided that it would be hilarious to dump a whole bowl of chocolate pudding on me...it was the first time anyone other than my parents saw my eyes glow.