Page 11 of Mine to Claim (The Shifterverse #1)
Lila
After last night, I slept like a baby. Waking around noon, I got dressed in cute ripped jeans and a dark green, square-neck long sleeve. Dani texted me to meet her downstairs for brunch. Walking through the kitchen the madness I found could only be described like walking into the cafeteria. There were people sitting around the table that was long enough for apparently everyone who lived here. Jace was placing a bowl in front of Dani when I dropped into the chair next to her, but Evander was nowhere to be seen.
“Where’s Evander?” I asked looking down the table to see if he was sitting somewhere else.
“Reassigned,” Jace grunted before sitting next to her.
“Makes no sense really. The two of them have been by my side for years. When my first body guard retired they took his place . I can’t think of a reason why my dad would just up and move him. Especially since I’m only here on breaks, you know? I’m going to bring this up to him if he decides to come down,” Dani huffed as Jace stuffed his plate with food.
“I’m sorry,” I say quietly, the words catching on a lump of guilt.
“What? Don’t be. It has nothing to do with you. It’s my over-controlling father stepping in for no reason. Whatever.” She scooped up a spoon of strawberries, blueberries, and coconut from her acai bowl. I scooped some eggs, bacon, and hash browns onto my plate.
“Eat up. You’re going to need energy for our shopping trip!” she giggled, the irritation replaced with excitement. After the meal with Parker, I’d spent everything I had. There wasn’t a dollar to my name. It made my skin itch to accept so much when I couldn’t afford to buy socks, but I knew there was no getting out of this.
“Mm, are we now? You don’t want to bed rot and read all day?” I shouldn’t have been hopeful.
“Uh, no. It’s sunny and we’re going to make the most of it. There’s a bookstore in town if you want to pop in and check it out?” she offered.
“I would actually. So make sure you pencil that in. I know how you are when it comes to shopping. You always have a list of where we’re going to go first and then an order that needs to be followed,” I groaned.
“You know her well,” Jace chuckled.
“Are you coming too?” I asked. His shoulders slumped.
“He doesn’t have a choice, and not because he’s my bodyguard,” she mocked. Facing him, she booped his nose and I stifled a laugh because that was so freaking cute.
I love this for her.
She caught my eye and blushed before rolling her eyes.
“I wouldn’t let you go anywhere without me anyway. Can’t have you meeting someone else before the Blood Moon,” he growled. Something miraculous happened—Dani was speechless. Her eyes were wide and she blushed a violent shade of red and shoved his chest.
“Gag.” I grabbed my throat and pretended to choke.
“Shush, you,” she laughed.
Twenty minutes later, we were driving into town. The Rivian Dani picked for today’s trip drove smoothly. And it was probably the roomiest SUV I’d been in. There was more than enough space for all the shopping she’d got planned. Jace pulled to a stop and my best friend practically flew out.
“There’s nothing like a retail therapy session,” she sighed, a hand on her hip as she impatiently waited for me.
“I’m coming, I’m coming.” When I stepped on the sidewalk, I looked up to find that we’re outside a store I’d never heard of.
“The Goddess. I told you it’s the #1 place for trending styles. She’s got a shop in a few other realms.” She was bouncing on the heels of her feet. Walking in, the doors opened automatically, and a team of retail associates rushed forward. Three of them wore white skirts and tucked in silk blouses, but one was dressed in a black skirt and matching blouse.
“Danielle. How may we be of assistance today?” the latter asked.
“Hi, Emerson. Thanks, can I get the latest collections out?”
“Yes, of course,” she answered. One of the women in white locked the door after Jace walked in before disappearing in the back with the rest. Walking further into the store, I found Dani was already sitting in a lounge chair, a glass of champagne in hand, and I shook my head. She had a look of determination and I wanted to laugh, but couldn’t stop thinking about what happened last night and wondering how I could broach that subject, or if I should. I did not want to. It was hard talking about it before I even knew who he was. Now that I do it feels almost impossible.
“See anything you like on the floor? I promise the best is coming out if you wait a few minutes. She just dropped her Spring collection and I needed it like yesterday,” she gushed, ripping me from my spiraling thoughts.
“Look, I don’t—”
“Nope. None of that.” She glanced around and I followed her gaze. There was no one here. Jace was still in the front and the women were in the back. “We aren’t worrying today. Not about men, school, or money. Especially you. We’re on break, and this little shopping spree is on my dad. So don’t worry about the money. He’s got more than enough, but we can try to find the limit.” My heart plunged into my stomach and mingled with the butterflies at the mention of Grayson.
I’m such a shitty friend.
“Dani, I can’t—”
“You can. And you will.” She gave me that look. The one that screamed ‘end of conversation.’ The guilt was eating me up, but if I pushed on this, she would one hundred percent fight me. So I didn’t.
“Okay, but I’m going to protest it the entire time,” I teased half-heartedly.
“Oh, no. My best friend forced me to shop til I dropped,” she said in a little whiny voice, lifting her hand and holding it against her forehead.
“Ha, ha,” I deadpanned. The women appeared one at a time, pushing a rolling rack. I couldn’t see the clothes, but already knew from the material that the price tags were through the roof. The one in white came out with finger food. Dani jumped to her feet and was in front of the first rack in the blink of an eye. Facing the next rack I fought against the burning curiosity that told me to check the price tag first.
“Oh, you need to try this one.” I turned to see a dress I might actually need .
An off shoulder mini dress the color of… a starry night sky. I grabbed the material and inhaled sharply. It slipped through my fingers like silk.
“Bitch. This is the softest thing I ever felt. And I’ve felt the pack house beds. This is… so soft,” I murmured as she dropped it in my hands and looked at the next piece, a corset styled blouse.
“See? What did I tell you? She’s your new favorite designer,” she squealed.
“Fine, you were right, but she’s my once in a lifetime favorite designer,” I laughed.
“You’re such a downer. What’s mine is yours. We should take everything, but still try it on.” My jaw dropped.
“No, no way are you buying the whole collection. Do you see all of these?” I waved at the racks.
“No. I’m not buying the whole collection,” she said, dragging out the word with a grin. “But I’ve had to fight you just to get a pair of jeans, so yes, I’m going all out today.” She pulled a skirt and held it in front of her before tossing it on the chair.
“At least give me a logical reason to trick my brain into going along with this,” I whined. Grabbing another dress from the rack, she held it up in front of her.
“The Blood Moon is tomorrow. There ya go,” she teased.
“From the little I’ve been told, I know this event isn’t for humans,” I groaned.
“Psh. Shifter human pairing is rare, but not unheard of. We’re doing things differently this year. The neighboring pack has permission to join us for this one. They’ll get 24 hour access to the veil. And I’m praying to the Goddess she has someone in mind for my dad.” Her words made my heart skip a beat.
Traitor.
“I am not looking for a mate, Dani.” But my mind was stuck on Grayson finding someone at this gathering. My stomach twisted into knots.
“I know that, but you can go and mingle with those who don’t find their mate.” She wriggled her eyebrows suggestively.
“I don’t know why I even try to have a conversation with you,” I grumbled.
“Um, because I’m the bestest, maybe? No, definitely.” She blew me a kiss and we spent the next six hours trying on every outfit. Then she ordered two of each because ‘while everything that is hers is mine, she doesn’t share.’ Which is a total lie, but I love her for this . After that we hit up an upscale place overlooking the water and ate the best food I’ve ever had. Then we went to two more boutiques before grabbing snacks for later. That night we had a sleepover, watched movies in her room, and stuffed our faces until ungodly hours.
Life is better with great friends.