BLACK

(10) Additions

EDITED

The house had been silent, unforgiving. For the rest of the week we woke and slept at different times. We didn't speak. Didn't see each other. I would catch myself staring in the mirror, sighing. I had to come to terms with Aris' actions. These were the prices I paid for taking the love of seven shifters.

Rayanne is quiet behind me, fusing over my pitch black tresses. She is the Beta female, mate of Yianni. Aris waited patiently with him downstairs, and I could feel his confidence rise like heat through the floorboards, collecting in between my thighs. I radiated in what he emitted, yet he brushed off the hormones I drenched. In the mirror, the overgrown ends of my hair still come to the very end of my spine, though clips fold my hair into an acceptable length. Usually I just braided it for this effect, yet Rayanne had gone through all the trouble of straightening it and then curling it again for her masterpiece. My green eyes had an effect of brown and black lining, making them irrevocably striking with the shadows of my hair. I'd hinted at the cut of my hair many times with Aris, but he wouldn't have it. He enjoyed the length of my hair, and I would keep it as long as it was the only thing he payed attention to about me.

"Thank you," I tell her as she rests the heated iron bar back on the bathroom counter.

Her blue contacts meet mine in the mirror, short black synthetic hair straightened to a crisp. "Something else for your night out, Luna." She pulls something from her pocket, a hesitant glance from her fake eyes in the mirror.

She extends her hand to me, containing a gold and green crested bracelet. I take it from her with delicacy, admiring the unique carvings. In the middle of the convex plate, two anubis with diligent marking face each other, each holding with strength their staff. At the back, the bracelet doesn't clasp closed, but remains still with an inch gap to slip my wrists between. I do so, admiring the exquisite piece of jewelry.

"It's beautiful, thank you very much." She nods in response.

I stand from the bathroom stool, shaking out the edge of my dress. It was a simple grey, ribbed vertical pattern with slits along the side of each leg. I eye my stomach area a little longer than necessary before leading Rayanne down the stairs. I breathe in anxiously, lifting my gaze to Aris' only on the last step.

"You look extravagant," He comments as I walk to his side in a pair of white pumps.

"Equally as handsome, Aris." The crisp, silver suit with obsidian lining did little to compare the masculinity on his face.

I'm sure he could smell my arousal I so desperately tried to hide. The bond would do that. It could show up whenever it wanted, yanking at my strings like a puppeteer. Could make me feel so much for him, just to test his self control. Aris would always win against he bond, he had for nine years. For once, I just wished he would lose. That he would want me as much as I needed him.

"You did well as always, Rayanne." Aris compliments her work.

"Thank you, Alpha." She replies.

"Have a safe drive," Yianni opens the door for us. "All the luck, Alpha. Luna."

He adds my title like an after thought, and I am quick to walk out the door. Rayanne was a tad more friendlier to me because she had helped me out when Aris took me to his home so young. Yet as time progressed, she figured I needed to fend more for myself. We rarely spoke. We were meant to be business partners, not friends. Yianni was close with Aris, both leading since their early twenties. Except with him, he held a larger dislike for me than Rayanne. It was fine my first two years, but even Yianni doesn't believe me. He thinks I'm a liar, despite the fact my other mates agree I'm theirs. all the evidence is there, but the story is just too unfathomable for his ears. Just like the rest of the shifter world.