The store manager approached us, catching the tail end of the interaction. She sent the clerk away to do busy work in the back, “My apologies Alpha, I will keep her busy while your group is here.”

The manager turned to me and gave me a once over, “Let’s get the tape measure and figure out exactly what we’re looking for. Lady Kami, let’s get her upstairs.”

“You got it, Miss Martha.” Kami giggled and grabbed my hand, dragging me toward the stairs with Martha following behind us. Kami looked back at the boys, “Come on Mat, aren’t you the wardrobe expert?”

“I’m right behind you!” Mat jogged to catch up to us, laughing at Kami.

“What about Tristan?” I asked.

“He’ll be fine. He and the warriors will wait in the lobby area. Miss Martha keeps snacks and drinks down there for those that are stuck waiting on shoppers.”

“We’ll get him once we have some stuff to get his opinion on.” Mat added.

“Or, oooor, we could leave him in the dark and she can have tons of fun watching the look on his face each time she puts something new on for the first time.”

“That’s an even better idea. So, we’ll get him when we need another opinion to decide whether or not to get her something?”

“Sounds good.”

“Do I get a say in this?” I asked.

“Nope, you leave this to us.” Mat said.

“That’s what I figured.” I sighed and let Miss Marth do her thing. I spent 15 minutes being moved into various positions while she took various measurements, scribbling them down into a notepad she kept on her hip.

“Alright, I think our best bet is going to be the misses section. We’ll likely have to hem pants for you, but should be able to find the right fit otherwise.” Martha said as she clapped her hands together in triumph.

We followed Martha and Kami, who seemed to know this store like the back of her hand. When we reached the section, Mat, Kami and Martha set to work pulling various clothing items off the racks and talking amongst each other. I found a chair and plopped into it to wait.

After 20 minutes and much discussion amongst themselves, Mat and Kami came over, holding an armful of clothing each. I eyed them warily, “So that’s multiple colors in the same styles right? That way I just try on a few?” I knew it was wishful thinking. Kami just grinned at me and Mat grabbed my hand, pulling me out of the chair and into a large dressing room.

The dressing room had to be for their VIP shoppers. It had racks along one wall and seating in the center area with a couple of end tables and a small center coffee table. There were drinks and snacks on the center table, “Wow. This is fancy…” I murmured.

Kami and Mat laughed at me, “It is for our little territory, but it has nothing on some of the bigger city stores.” Kami informed me.

Mat and Kami began organizing the clothing that they had brought in. They organized them by type and style. Just looking at them made me tired, “Why do you hate me?” I whimpered at them.

“We don’t, we love you. That’s why we’re making sure you have everything you need.” Mat scoffed at me.

“Is torturing me really a necessary part of the process though?”

“Absolutely. Consider it an initiation of sorts.” Kami laughed.

“Come on, time to get to work.” Mat was excited. He almost never got to go shopping with me up until now. He grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the chair, “Into the changing room with you. We’ll need to see each outfit and we’ll rotate them through to you. It will help make it go quicker.”

“I wish that were reassuring, but this is only the first stop.” I rolled my eyes at him and smiled despite my torture. I knew they were only trying to help. I stepped into the changing room, taking an outfit from Kami as I went in. It was a pair of dark wash jeans and a black, bell sleeved, semi-low cut top.

I changed into the outfit, looking at myself in the mirrors in the changing room. It wasn’t bad. The top did show a little skin, but it wasn’t horrible. I stepped out of the dressing room, looking at them, “I actually kind of like this one..”

“Give us a twirl,” Mat spun his finger in a circle and I spun around slowly so they could see the outfit from all angles.

“I agree.” Kami said

“Absolutely, this one stays.” Mat nodded and he grabbed the next outfit, handing it to me, “This one next.”

“Ok, but I kinda wanna wear this one out of here. Think Tristan will like it?” I half whispered the question, blushing a little.

“If he doesn’t he’s either blind or needs his ass kicked.” Kami laughed.

“I’d be happy to give him said ass kicking if necessary.” Mat offered and pushed me toward the changing room, “He’ll love it and I will set it aside for you to wear when we leave.”

The fashion show went on for about an hour and between the three of us, we had vetoed about half of what had come in with us. What we weren’t taking we had hung on a separate rack, and everything else we had folded into a couple of neat piles, aside from the outfit I was leaving in which I had put back on, shoving my old clothes into a shopping bag. I loved the way it made me feel, even though some of my scars were visible in it, I no longer felt the need to hide them as much.

Martha came in to check on us, “How is it going in here?”

“I think we’re about done, Miss Martha.” I smiled at her, “We hung up what we decided against, and the folded stuff is going with us. I would like to wear this one out though, if that’s ok?”

“Absolutely my dear, it looks stunning on you.” Her eyes lit up and she smiled, raising a finger to tell us to wait a moment. She disappeared for a couple minutes and came back in with a pair of black wedges. There were low wedge heels, which I was thankful for, because I knew I was going to have to put them on. “Try them my dear,” She handed them to me.

I sat down and looked them over. They had a zipper on the inside as well as black lace style laces. I slipped my feet into them, zipping the sides up and adjusting the laces so they fit comfortably. I stood and shifted a little, admiring the shoes. I looked in the mirror and even I had to admit, they made the outfit that much better. I smiled a bit to myself.

“We’ll take those too,” Kami said, “She’ll wear them out.”

“Of course. I’ll take the rest of your purchases down and settle the bill with the Alpha.” Martha smiled at us.

“Yes, thank you Miss Martha.” Kami said, handing her the sales tags from the outfit I had on so they would be paid for as well.

“I’ll head down and make sure everything gets sorted. Wait a couple minutes and bring her down, Kami. That way we can all see his face.” Mat was laughing.

Kami grinned and nodded, “You got it. We’re headed to the lingerie store next to get the rest of the basic clothing necessities and of course some sexy things.”

“You two are terrible. Monsters, you’re monsters who encourage each other’s terrible behavior.” I laughed at them and Mat just smiled and waved as he headed out the door.

Kami turned on me, pulling my hair down out of the braid I had it in. She ran her fingers through it working some of the curls from the braid into loose waves, then she pulled it half up, securing it with a silver colored clip in the shape of a leaf, emerald green stones set into the metal to form the leaf. Where she pulled that from I’ll never know. She moved to face me and pulled a couple strands of hair down to frame my face and smiled at me, “Ready?”

I nodded and took in a deep breath, “As ready as I’ll ever be. Why do I feel this nervous about going downstairs all of a sudden?”

“Because you put this on for him, and you’re hoping he likes you in it. Trust me, he will.”

I smiled at her and we linked arms, heading for the stairs together, “Thanks, Kami. You’re the best.”

“I won’t tell Mat you said that,”

“He’s the best too. You’re both the best, terrible, monsters ever.” I laughed as we reached the landing halfway down the stairs and turned to finish descending.

Mat was handing the bags to Thomas, asking him to take them to the truck and meet us at the next store. Thomas took them and nodded before catching a glimpse of me. Even he did a brief double take before regaining his composure and heading out with the bags.

Will nudged Tristan, who was looking a little perplexed by Thomas’ reaction, “Uh, boss, you should take a look at the stairs. You’ll understand in a moment.” Will was mated, and thus not susceptible to a reaction like Thomas had been.