Yil

We arrived at the first store and I finally understood Dina's one minute encouragement speech. Zena and I had tried about twenty different outfits and with each draw of the curtain to reveal the worn outfits we would either get excited squeals from Dina and Lloyd, signifying that the outfit was good to go or uninterested yawns, signifying that the outfit was not it.

We happened to get the uninterested yawns ever so often.

"My calves are seriously killing me," Zena complained. "This is the fifteenth store and we are still not finished. What exactly are we looking for?" She questioned, rolling her shoulder blades.

"You're the first female I've met that complains about shopping," Lloyd noted with a laugh and I huffed in indignation at the impossible shoelaces that refused to untie. "Okay make that two," she chuckled, bending down in front of me to assist with untying the shoelaces. "We just need to get a few more things and we'll be done. Then we can get lunch, how about that?" She proposed and I nodded enthusiastically.

Shopping for clothes had never been my thing but I had nothing against food.

"You still need to get a few things," Kiba repeated in disbelief. "What about all these bags?" He motioned to the numerous shopping bags surrounding him.

"Trust me those are small compared to what we normally buy," Lloyd picked up a discarded summer dress and passed it to a shop assistant who went about re-hanging the clothing item.

"Twenty-five hefty bags are small?" He snorted, incredulously, before resting his head on the couches' headrest.

"I could arrange a trolley for you if you don't mind. It'll take the stress off your arms," the sweet shop assistant, Rain, offered with a shy smile. He was about to respond when Dina cut him off.

"He's strong enough to handle twenty-five bags," she waved off as she sauntered out of the changing room wearing a pink, frilly short dress. "Or is the strong manly man just a big baby?" She taunted with a twirl.

"I'll have that trolley," Kiba replied, softly, to Rain with a smile, ignoring Dina.

"It's the latter then," Dina scowled, burning holes into Rain's retreating back.

"Jealousy doesn't look good on you sweetheart," Kiba tutted, still in his relaxed position with his eyes closed. Dina scoffed in shock at his retort and Zena, Lloyd and I tried to hide our growing grins. The object of her tease had become the teaser.

I had a proud mother's moment as I smiled at Kiba's perfectly timed clap back.

"First you're too old to be my type and I happen to have a flock of male admirers who'd jump at a snap of my fingers," Dina crossed her hands across her chest with a smirk.

"Then why the unexplainable fixation?" He questioned from half-open eyelids with a lazy smile.

Gosh! When did Kiba get so hot? Zena asked, shocked, down the mind-link.

We thank Dina for bringing that side of him out, I replied with an outward smile. Maybe now he'll be able to finally get a marked mate, I thought.

"You are so egotistical," Dina huffed and turned, swiftly, back into the changing room.

"The dress looks beautiful on you though," he commented. "It brings out the colour in your eyes," he added before closing his eyes and halfway into the changing room I caught the look of surprise that crossed Dina's features. He had never complimented her before.

"That's done!" Lloyd announced, placing the untied black combat boots to the side. "We'll get that as well since you have a love for boots," she added, standing up. "Now just when is she going to come back with that dress?" she muttered, turning to look for the other shop assistant. A lady in our age bracket named Mirabel.

Dina's birthday was coming in a week's time and she had persuaded Zena and I to buy at least a dress each for her whimsical themed party. Zena had gotten a fiery, red evening gown with a slit at the side, lined with intricate artistic weavings. The bodice had a sew-in corset which accentuated her waist and the swell of her pert breast. It was a beauty as it hugged her womanly curves.

Once we had found Zena's gown as well as Lloyd's we had gone on a gown-hunt for Dina and I. A simple but elegant midnight-blue dress with a v-neck and sequin bodice caught my eyes and we had ventured into the shop for a try on. However, they only had one in my size and so Mirabel had gone into the store to fetch it out.

"I finally got it," Mirabel announced as she walked towards us with the dress, wrapped in crystal white nylon, in her arms. "It's actually the last one besides the one in the show glass," she added, laying it down on a fantastical designed table.

The whole shop had a playful allure about it. The rows of gowns and dresses were arranged on clothing racks with flower garlands placed, systemically, around them. On the plush settes lay cute animal shaped pillows, ranging from pandas to kittens, and the soft wool rug, positioned in the shop's middle, was rainbow coloured. Bright shades of hue lined the walls to create a happy, carefree aurora and the small boxes of cute earrings, little perfume bottles and other numerous accessories were arranged in jeweled card casings.

"Then I'm lucky I guess," I smiled, feeling the material of the dress, slowly.

"Extremely," she agreed, smiling and re-packing her thick black tresses into a messy bun. Her beauty was much more enchantral than any faerie or lycanthrope that I had ever met. Her shiny amber eyes shone with meekness leading to a delicately sculpted nose and pink plump lips all framed in a heart-shaped face.

It was hard to believe that she was human and not a mystical being.

"Let's try it on. Shall we?" she urged and I followed her into a cubicle, hidden by cream-coloured curtains. "I'll just stand outside. Shout if you need any help," she added before passing the dress into my arms.

I thanked her and drew the curtains. Removing my jeans and shirt, I brought the dress over my head and attempted to shimmy into it but it wouldn't budge. I pulled harder and realised that with each pull, the bracelet on my wrist would tug painfully. It was then that I noticed that the material had caught the intricate design of my bracelet.

"Ahm Mirabel," I called out, tentatively. "Please could you help out?" I added and I heard her shuffle over to the cubicle.

"Of course," she answered and parted the curtains a little to enter. "Oh! It got stuck," she noticed, giggling at the state in which I was in. My hands were twisted above my body in an odd position, my face was hidden behind the dress and its satin fabric provided a flimsy covering against my red lace underwear. I couldn't help but giggle along with her.

"Yes and it won't budge," I added with a tug to emphasise my point.

"Let's do this first," she suggested, prying the material from the clasp of my bracelet, gently, but even at that it wouldn't budge. "Should I remove it? Because it'd be easier to get the dress over your head," she parted the satin fabric away from my face and gave me an earnest look.

"No, I'm sure if I just removed the dress then I'll be able to see just how tangled they are and release them from each other," I refused with a smile.

She couldn't remove the bracelet even if she tried. For only I could remove it and if I did then I would have no control over how my powers manifested.

"Okay," she relented and tried to help me remove the dress but a sudden tear halted our actions and with a forceful pull, I managed to get it over my head and unto my body.

"I think I've ruined it," I whispered, afraid to look at the damage.

"Trust me it's not bad," she placated, turning to take a look at the back where the damage had happened. "It's nothing I can't fix within a few days," she shrugged and promptly helped to fluff the dress out.

"It's beautiful," I breathed as I caught sight of my reflection in the full body mirror.

"Yep and it suits you really well," she agreed. "Your bracelet is really gorgeous as well," she praised, staring at the ancient designs on the golden bracelet.

The bracelet had widened with the passing of each year to accommodate the growth of my wrists and around it were four coloured small jewels, representing the different colours of the elements.

"Thank you," I replied.

"Can I see it up close?" She asked, politely, and I placed my wrists in her palms as she scrutinised it with deep concentration. "It's like nothing I've ever seen," she said, absentmindedly, as she traced it with careful fingers. "Where did you get it?"

"Ehm my mother gave it to me as a present," I lied, feeling the bracelet grow heavy on my wrists, probably from the constant contact with an individual who was not me.

She let my hand go with a smile and I felt it's heaviness die down and fit snugly against my wrist. That was weird.

"Let's go and show your friends just how dashing you look in the dress," she squealed and I followed her out of the stall towards where they were gathered. They all stopped what they were doing as they took in my presence and Zena was the first to approach me.

"You look breathtaking," she gushed, eyeing my figure appreciatively.

"Wow just wow," Lloyd followed, circling me in awe.

"Do a twirl," Dina urged, excitedly, and I obliged her request with an enthusiastic twirl.

"I love it," I affirmed. "I guess this is the one, hmm?"

Zena and Lloyd gave a thumbs up and Dina bounced up in excitement.

Finally we could get that lunch!

"But why is it torn here?" Zena asked, putting her finger into the side slit that had been caused by the bracelet.

"I can fix that in a few days time and get it delivered directly to your home," Mirabel said, picking up a piece of paper and a pen. "Just give me your address and I'll be sure to have it ready before your party,"

"Well, the problem is we live in Alaska," Lloyd coughed out with a scratch to her head.

A-a-and we are werewolves, Aryn doesn't really like humans and Roy would chew our heads off if we entertained human guests.

"That's no problem, we do intercountry deliveries and Alaska is just two hours drive from here. No big deal," she waved off and pushed the paper and pen into Lloyd's hands.

"We could just come back...." Lloyd started but was cut-off by Mirabel.

"I'll help her out of the dress while you fill in the details and I promise to get it fixed speedily and delivered in good condition," she said to Lloyd with a warm smile before ushering me into the cubicle.

I changed from the dress into my clothes then I joined everyone at the shop till. We paid for some cloth and shoe items before waving Mirabel and Rain goodbye.

"Roy is going to have my head for supper then Alpha Aryn is going to feed my remains to the vultures or better still torture me at the dark hole of horrors," Lloyd sighed, heavily, before sipping on her choclate milkshake.

"I told you I have a plan," Dina assured her before biting into a cheeseburger. She rolled her eyes, in ecstacy, at the taste and relaxed into her chair.

"Pray tell which plan are we actually talking about? The plan to save me from Roy's sadistic torture or Alpha Aryn's clucthes?" Lloyd deadpanned with an intense stare towards Dina.

"A plan to get the dress from her before she even nears our territory," she corrected, placing the burger down on her plate. "Then we send her back speedily before pack trackers realise that a human came close to entering into our territory," she explained, pointing this way and that way with a french fry before finally dipping it in sauce and chewing on it.

"Are they really going to be mad?" I enquired, referring to Roy and Aryn. "Like would they really torture you?" I shuddered internally at the thought.

Roy didn't look like the sadistic type and Aryn had only shown me his soft and playful side ever since I came to the pack. However, unlike Lloyd and Dina who had spent years with them, I had only spent a week at the pack and couldn't say that I knew all about Aryn much less of Roy.

"She's just overreacting," Dina disregarded, rolling her eyes. "Yes, they won't be ecstatic at the prospect of a human entering our pack and that's why we'll intercept her before she even comes close," she explained with a shrug.

"I wouldn't want anyone to get hurt on my behalf," I noted with seriousness. "I could just get another dress and we could cancel the delivery," I added.

"We'll just do as Dina suggested," Lloyd interrupted. "Don't sweat it, I just tend to overreact sometimes," she dismissed, taking another sip of her chocolate milkshake.

That was her third bottle and I could feel the anxiety waft off her in strong waves. Overreacting? I think not.

"Trust me, it'll be alright and if not for Roy's overprotectiveness we would have been able to come get it ourselves or he could even come get it for us if we tell him," Dina stretched her hand to pick up the bottle of ketchup and sensing a finger by her food she smacked it away with an abrupt turn. "Kiba! Stop pinching on my fries. Go order another plate if you are not full," she complained.

"You aren't going to finish it up anyway," he muttered and picked up some more french fries before she smacked his hands away again.

"I will you hungry wolf," she moved her plate of fries away from him and towards Zena who sat on her other side.

"When is Roy getting here again?" Zena piqued with interest, diverting the question to Lloyd.

"In thirty minutes time. He just sent a text saying we shouldn't move from where we are," she answered as I polished off the last bite of my burger.

"Pfft!! Who does he think he is?" Dina huffed and looked around us before she gasped. "I see a tattoo and piercing parlour Lloyd!" she squealed in excitement.

"So?" Lloyd asked, scrolling down rapidly on her smartphone.

"So-o, I have to get my piercings just like the one on Fred's ears. My sixteenth birthday is in a week's time anyway and that's my early birthday present to myself," she announced, getting up and pulling a confused Zena up with her.

"Please Dina, Roy will be here in thirty minutes just stay put," Lloyd pleaded, tiredly. "You can get your piercings some other time," she proposed but Dina was having none of it as she packed her purse, hurriedly.

"I've wanted to do this for the longest time Lloyd. Now is the time," she said, determinedly. "Let's go Zena," she placed Zena's hand in the crook of her arm and pulled her towards the tattoo and piercing parlour.

"Who's this Fred guy anyway?" Kiba mumbled, eating the leftover fries on Dina's plate.

"My boyfriend!!" Dina shouted back at him before opening the door into the parlour. He choked on the fries that he was eating and only quieted down when he chugged down the bottle of water that Lloyd held out for him.

"I'm intrigued by tattoos and piercings," I mused, remembering Jayce and Jared. "I'll just go over to look at the piercings that she'll eventually get," I added, giving Llyod an apologetic smile.

"Not you too," Lloyd groaned.

"Count me in as well," Kiba ground out and walked towards the parlour with Llyod and I behind him.
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