I walked out of the kitchen with shaky legs up to my room. I had a nice hot shower. I scrubbed my body clean and washed my hair with my favorite shampoo which smelled like berries. I walked out to find that Mom had laid out a simple white halter dress that came up to my knees. I wasn't a big fan of dresses and I never wore them unless my I had to, which on this occasion I had to.
I found that mom had placed a pair of matching white heels that looked quite a bit scary. But I ditched them and opted for my converse, which to my surprise, matched the dress.
I blow dried my dark hair and ran a brush through it. It was naturally pin-straight and it was on the verge of touching my shoulders. Satisfied with the result, I walked out, only to be pushed back in by Layla.
She was wearing a deep purple dress with scary three inch stilettos.
"Nu-uh. You ain't going anywhere without even a little bit of make-up."
"Layla," I groaned. This was going to take a while.
After bickering for five minutes with a few slaps here and there, I agreed to put on only the slightest amount of make-up and was giving her only three minutes to do it. I was counting down the seconds while she rubbed some shit on my face. And then she did something that tickled my eyelids and she put some mascara on me.
"Time's up!" I yelled with glee.
"I wasn't even done!"
"I'm all good!"
I took one final glance in the mirror. My skin looked the same, but my gray eyes shone. I think it was because of the black line on my eyelid.
I looked the same, thank-goodness.
We both went downstairs. Layla was struggling with her heels while I happily skipped down, glad that I wore shoes.
"Girls! You look lovely!" Mom said to us, engulfing us in a hug. "Astoria, shoes." Mom gave me a look.
"I wore a dress for you," I said to her.
"Oh my god, you should have just been a boy," Mom said, shaking her head and Layla snickered. We all headed to the pack house backyard for the gathering. I could already smell the roasting meat and my mouth watered.
The boys were walking in front wearing button down shirts. Ethan slowed down a bit until the both of us were walking side-by-side. He slung his arm around my shoulder.
"Care to explain what happened in the dining room?" He asked lowly, so no one could hear us.
"What happened?" I asked, playing innocent.
"You and Caine looking at each other."
"We were just looking at each other. It's no crime." I said.
"I know, but ... he's our Alpha now." He said.
"So?" I asked.
"So, it's just – ugh!"
"It's just you being over-protective." I said, smirking.
He pulled me in a headlock and I burst out laughing. I tickled his midriff, trying to escape. He let go of me and ruffled my hair. I laughed again and smoothed it out, though it probably already looked like a rat's nest. I ran my hand through his hair.
"Hey! Don't ruin my masterpiece!"
"Ethan! Tori! Stop it!" Mom yelled from behind us. We stuck our tongues out at her and resumed messing with each other's hair.
