"Jess?" Jenna calls from behind me as I wait near the front door for Ryker to get his butt in gear. He lingered slightly behind and spoke with a posted guard for a few moments.

"Hey Jenna," I greet with a smile. The poor woman looks as nervous as can be and I can't help but feel bad for whatever conditioning brought her to this point. "All set?"

"Ready when you are," she says, perking up.

Chloe and Mira say their quick hellos and Sara comes a moment later. For being nearly ten am, she looks a little rough around the edges, almost hung over with her pale complexion and shadowed eyes.

'You good?' I link, not wanting to draw attention to her.

'I'm fine. Fuck, why does everyone keep asking me that!?' Sara snaps back.

'Cause you look fucking hung over and you're cranky as fuck,' I deadpan. Sara glares at me, pursing her lips but doesn't say anything for a moment.

'I'm fine, Henry just stressed me out to the point I slept like shit...' she trails off.

'You don't have to go, you know?' I offer, knowing full well Sara would never give up shopping plus a time to torment me.

'You wish,' she teases.

I really do...

"The shuttle will be here momentarily," Aiden announces, ushering us to the doors. "We're just waiting on... Ahh, there they are!"

My brows furrow in confusion at first, knowing that everyone is already here but a sense of dread quickly sets in. Following his gaze my fears are confirmed as I see Leah and Rebecca sauntering lazily towards us and too wrapped up in their own conversation to even look in our direction.

'Oh, for fuck's sake,' I groan, accidentally linking Sara.

'Yeah, I'm totally not missing when you break one of their noses,' she snickers.

"Oh good, we're all here," Rebecca greets us, her voice formal and lacking sincerity. "I've arranged the shuttle to take us to the shopping district." She walks past us with Leah in tow, heading out the front door leaving Mira and Chloe exchanging wide-eyed looks, Jenna shrinking away like she wants to bolt at the first chance, and Sara smirking, suddenly recovered.

I grab Jenna's hand just as she goes to run away and practically drag her out the front door as I rush to catch up. The poor woman feels like a terrified field mouse but I need to deal with the other two before I can address her.

"You're coming?" I question, catching up to them.

Rebecca turns to face me and quirks a brow taking me in before her gaze lands on Jenna and becomes even less impressed. Leah pushes out a 'tsk' sound and rolls her eyes at Jenna, making me grit my teeth from the effort it takes to not slap the pompous out of these women.

"We cleared our day for you," Rebecca says, stressing her sacrifice for me. "What kind of impression would it be for us not to show you around after all?"

'You think that's what is casting a bad impression?!' Ember chides. I bite my lip to stop from laughing out loud.

"You shouldn't have gone through that much trouble," I reply, struggling to find a diplomatic response. "I understand how busy you must be and figured we'd connect on the next time." I even force a smile, hiding the tension I feel building.

"It was no trouble really," Rebecca dismisses with a flick of her wrist. "We really should get going though, lots to see and all."

"Right..." I say with a tight lipped smile and head onto the shuttle dragging Jenna behind me, though she seems to have recovered. We head straight for the back and take a seat while the others slowly file in.

"You should have let me go," Jenna whimpers, her brown eyes darting around as she picks at invisible lint on her clothes.

"If you don't want to come, that's one thing," I say, flashing her a small smile. "But don't let those bitches run you off."

Jenna's eyes go impossibly wide at what I said but she quickly recovers with a small laugh. "You're not what I expected..." she trails off, looking at me like now is the first time she's seen me.

"Oh?" I ask, quirking a brow. "And what did you expect?"

"I don't know," she mumbles. "I guess something more like them."

"I wasn't raised in your world. I was adopted at a young age by a nice human family, I didn't even know werewolves existed until this year... So I'm not used to the hierarchy and Still Waters is my home, one I'm told is quite progressive," I laugh. "I wasn't born to be a queen, I literally fell into this... Thankfully Chris knows what he's doing because I'm totally winging it!"

Jenna laughs and relaxes at my admission. I have no idea what has been said about me and my pack but I get the impression it wasn't particularly flattering. Having only watched them briefly, I'm certain this poor woman has been the other two's punching bag for quite a while, only strengthening my resolve to protect her.

"Lies," Sara flops down next to me, ignoring my glare. "You may not have known about our world but you were born to be Queen. I have never met a more righteously annoying person in my life. Seriously though, you're nice to a fault."

"Really?!" I growl.

The lack of filter on Sara sometimes is exhausting.

"You know I'm right," Sara huffs, crossing her arms. "Hell look at us, I was an uber bitch and even after everything, you stood up to Chris for me... multiple times and now we're friends."

As rough around the edges as Sara is, she is also a good person deep down and some days you just have to dig deeper than others. She didn't like me from the moment I showed up, when she found out I was Chris' mate she became downright hostile, even going as far as trying to convince me to reject him. In her defense, all she saw was a weak human and didn't think me worthy to be her pack's Luna.

"Sometimes I wonder about my mental state," I wryly reply, pursing my lips and glaring at her.

"Oh, you're certifiable," Mira chirps, taking a seat next to us with Chloe.

"Says the psycho," I laugh watching her face fall.

The last two to walk on after Rebecca and Leah are Ryker and Aiden, all of which sit at the front of the shuttle. Rebecca says something to the driver, he throws it in gear, and starts to pull away from the palace. The two guards are busy with their own conversation but Ryker notices me looking his way and takes the invitation to talk.

"Ground rules are simple ladies. Stay together and stay in sight at all times," Ryker says directly to me.

"Is the town not secure?" Chloe pipes up, sweeping her long brown hair behind her ear.

"Oh, you needn't worry. The town is patrolled and quite safe... Ryker just takes his job quite seriously," Aiden offers with a warm smile. "Enjoy yourselves and take in what our small town has to offer."

"You say that like it's a bad thing?" Ryker huffs, giving his boss a sidelong glance. "As long as everyone stays on script, everything will go fine."

I sigh but bite my tongue. All I wanted was to sneak out with Mira and Chloe to get some clothes that actually fit and try to destress from the palace... Now the biggest sources of my stress are with me and I can feel my tension mounting into a budding migraine.

"Here," Chloe offers, pulling a small pill bottle and a bottle of water from her bag. "Jude said you'd probably need these... and forget."

'Is it a Gamma thing to be able to read when I need this?' I tease. 'Like Gamma-dar?'

'Jude's just freaky like that,' Chloe links back with a laugh. 'You keep rubbing your forehead and eyes though..."

"So how's the medical program here?" I ask her, making small talk. Chloe was in training to be a healer when her pack was attacked and she was taken. Doc was only too happy to have a new eager pupil when Chris asked him to continue her training.

"Big," she drawls, though the guarded look in her eyes tells me she's unimpressed.

"Of course it is," Leah chimes in. "At its peak, the Royal pack was the size of Still Waters and Crescent Falls combined. Our medical program is the best of the best."

"Where'd everyone go then?" Mira questions. "I mean, from what I've seen there are more Still Waters members then there are Royals?"

I hadn't really considered the numbers before but she's right. The balance is off too. Still Waters is a healthy mix of warriors, assorted pack members with mates and Omegas... Royals seem to be all warriors and Omegas with a small amount of mates.

"With the fall of the previous King and Queen and so long before your arrival, some left to neighbouring packs with extended family," Rebecca dismisses Mira's observation but her frigid tone indicates this is a sore topic for her. "Ah we're here!"

The town has a winding village feel to it, with narrow one-way streets. There's limited parking though I've seen very few vehicles since I've got here. With the palace being in the center of the valley on a raised hill, the houses and shops are on the downward slope towards the forest. The trees dotted throughout make the village look like it disappears into the forest.

Stepping off the shuttle, I sigh in relief feeling a bit of the heaviness from the palace missing until Rebecca's energy hits me a moment later. Even still, there's something different about the town... the energy is lighter.

Just one more thing I'll have to ask Derek about.

"Where to first?" Rebecca asks, sweeping her arm around at the various storefronts. "Dresses? Casual? Beauty products?" There's a twinkle of excitement in her eyes that makes me think that her and Sara are going to get along better than expected.

'They'll bond over torturing you...' Ember snicker.

'Fuck off,' I growl back. Already I'm so over all of this and regretting agreeing to a group shopping trip. I should have just snuck off with Chloe.

"Why not start with the closest one, I'm sure we need stuff in like all of them..." I mumble, not even forcing any excitement. What little resolve and optimism I had quickly died when Rebecca and Leah showed up. Even with the medication, the tension across my shoulders and neck keeps growing along with my headache.

She nods and leads the way with Leah hot on her heels while the rest of us follow. The first store is nice enough, but the clothes are trendier than I like and sizes aren't in my realm, so I just browse around, offering my opinions when asked. The next store has more shoes than I've ever seen and I think it's Sara's version of heaven. At least shoes are generally more forgiving and I'm able to pick up a new pair of running shoes.

The next two stores are all clothing that are not in my size let alone my style, though I keep busy helping Chloe, Mira, and Jenna pick out various things. Sara neither needs my help nor wants it. Relief washes over me walking into the next store seeing it's beauty products, not wanting to stand around idly while all my friends pick out clothes again.

While everyone fusses over make up, I head to the bath and shampoo area, smelling the different bottles before settling on a few. Wanting to make sure Claire didn't feel left out, I find a nice Satsuma body wash and lotion, then pick myself out a refreshing wild cherry body wash and lotion.

"For someone wanting to shop, you're buying very little," Ryker comments, looking at the items in my hand. His tone is slightly condescending, only adding to the budding pressure in the back of my brain.

"Sara and the others were more interested," I sigh, heading towards the register with him in tow.

"We have people in the palace that could have run out for this for you, you know?" He chides.

I turn my attention to him, no doubt glaring as my patience crumbles in record time. Once again I hit a weird wall trying to get a feel for him, like he's projecting disdain and annoyance to hide something buried deeper down.

"Why would I send someone else out to do something that I can do for myself?" I huff, crossing my arms preparing for the comeback he no doubt has.

"To not waste other people's time?" He replies without missing a step.

'This fucker...' Ember growls.

"Is that what I'm doing? Wasting your time?" I ask, clenching my jaw.

"I'm sure there are better things both of us could be spending our time on then picking up-" he pauses picking up a bottle to read "-stretch mark lotion?" He trails off, eyeing me.

"That's for Claire," I snap, grabbing the bottle and giving it to the cashier. "I didn't ask you to come with us. If you have more pressing matters, by all means, go back. I'm sure Aiden can keep us out of trouble, this area is patrolled after all."

Ryker rolls his eyes and grabs my bag while I pay and sulks off through the front door, leaving everyone behind. "I can't leave, Aiden went back already. With the patrols, there's no need for both of us," he complains, dropping my stuff off at the shuttle. "Where to next?"

"Well, we should probably wait for the others," I say, furrowing my brows at the petulant male. His energy matches his sentiment, he really doesn't want to be here. "You really don't like me, do you?"

Ryker's eyes widen briefly at being called out but he quickly recovers. "Like," he stresses, "Doesn't factor into my job performance. I don't have to like you to keep you safe."

"It would make your job easier," I mutter under my breath, rolling my eyes.

"Not everyone is going to like you," he clips back.

"Well aware," I reply, locking my gaze with his. "But if I'm such a bother to be around, then please, delegate me away, because this constant passive aggressive hostility is wearing me out. I'll let you in on a secret... I hate shopping. But Sara and everyone else seem to love it, so I'd rather be back in my room out of the way too."

Ryker's frown only deepens and he sighs deeply. "Come on, let's keep going."

I take a deep breath and follow him towards the next store that everyone else is waiting out front of. The moment we step in, I groan seeing another high end fashion store but Rebecca is in her glory, suggesting things for both Chloe and Leah to try on, even Sara gets recommendations. How much effort they put into ignoring Mira and Jenna within every store hasn't escaped my notice. I've also been painfully aware of the curious stares and silent attention drawn to me from other shoppers and store workers, but so far no one has approached me.

"It's a shame we haven't been able to find you anything today..." Rebecca says in that same sickly sweet tone my Aunt Karen uses when she picks at my weight. Before I can retort, Leah calls her over to look at something more pressing.

'We can punch her soon, right?' Ember asks, but I feel her pain hidden by her words. She's always maintained there is nothing wrong with our thicker size, stating if Chris loves us, what should anyone else's opinion matter. Having these women throw it in her face and no doubt feeling my own embarrassment however seems to have eroded her resolve a bit.

"Jess?" Jenna calls timidly from behind me.

"Mmm?" I mumble, not trusting my voice as I pull my game face back on.

"There are a couple stores we could try that should have a better selection for you... If you want?" She offers, plucking at an elastic around her wrist.

"Lead the way," I say with a smile, hanging up a small scrap of fabric they call a shirt.

I've seen bras with more material!

"And just where are you sneaking off to?" Ryker snaps, setting my teeth on edge.

"We weren't sneaking, Jenna was telling-"

"One thing... I said one thing. Stick together and the first time I turn my back, you're sneaking off," he scolds, drawing all eyes, making my cheeks heat.

"I wasn't sneaking," I defend our exit toward the doors. "I'm sorry, I'll wait-"

"Lead the way, Highness!" Ryker snaps, pushing out the door. My eyes burn from frustrated tears threatening to fall from the shocked looks from everyone in the store, including strangers, at my public scolding. I storm off after him, unable to stand their judgmental stares any longer and wishing for nothing more than to be home, or anywhere but here.

Fucking hormones!