Chapter 53 Too Many Dresses
2392 Words
Chapter 53
Too Many Dresses
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Louise
“Louise!” Jo shouted as her fist wrapped against the door.
“Open up,” Raine ordered with a giggle. “We have some gossip for you…”
“And a few dresses,” Jo added.
“A few?” Raine snorted. “More like a shopload.”
After I had closed the back door, I straightened my top, dusted off my jeans and hurried to open the front door. The second I did, I nearly fainted. Behind the girls was a portable metal clothes rack, drowned in dresses... lots of dresses. Too many dresses!
“Your mum asked us to pick them up after school and bring them over.” Raine grinned. “This is so exciting! You’re being mate bonded to Tyrone Rathbone!”
“Yikes,” shaking my head, I let them in. “Did you walk that here?”
“No way,” Jo snuffled a laugh. “Baba dropped us off in his van.”
“It’s so good to see you both,” I said, wrapping my arms around them and holding them tight. I thought you wouldn’t want anything to do with me anymore…”
Scowling, Jo stood back. “Do you think we’re scared because you’re an Alpha?”
“No, it’s not that,” I shook my head with a slight chuckle. “I thought...”
“Are you kidding?” Raine exclaimed, talking excessively with her hands. “It’s so freaking cool! You were swapped at birth... Alpha... A chosen mate ... A jealous Alpha! It’s a saucy fairy tale!”
“Wait, what?” My chest tightened, and for a moment, I didn’t know what to think. “What do you mean, a jealous Alpha?”
“That’s what I was told.” Jo dropped onto the couch and propped her arm against the back. Raine sat next to her. “Well, by Mama.”
I perched on the chair across from them. I knew Joseph had been furious when I had left him earlier. I sensed he was jealous, but some part of me didn’t want to believe it. “What have you heard?”
“Mum overhead Joseph and Kingston talking after Maddison left.”
My brows furrowed. “What about privacy at the hospital? Nurses aren’t supposed to repeat events they oversee or hear.”
“Correct, “Jo continued. “But Mama comes to me in confidentiality sometimes, not very often. This time, it’s because she heard your name.”
I leaned in closer, my curiosity getting the better of me. “What did she hear?”
Her vivid eyes sparkled, revealing the magic of emotions they harboured. “Joseph said you deserved to be someone like him … That he regretted hurting you...”
“Seriously!” I sighed, flopping back against the chair. “Joseph’s so confusing. First, he tells me I’m his mate, and then his chosen mate turns up. Now he’s jealous about Tye...” When I didn’t hear their responses, I faced them. Both girls were open-mouthed and wordless. Oh no! I had told them the one thing I had kept secret from everyone. “I mean... err ...”
Raine scooted forward, sitting on the edge of her seat. A strange mixture of disbelief and confusion contorted her face. “Did Joseph tell you he was your mate?”
Rubbing my hands down my face, I nodded. It was too late to put the lid back on now. “Yes, at the doctor’s clinic… At the school... A few times. He told Tyrone and Kingston, too, and I think Josie-Anne knows.”
“Then why is he choosing this Maddison girl as his mate?” Jo asked, crossing her arms and shaking her head simultaneously. “And why are you choosing Tyrone? And Tyrone knows. Oh my!” She grabbed the sides of her head. “My head is spinning right now!”
“Not to mention that Maddison is scary,” Raine added with an involuntary shiver. “That day at the hospital, she threatened us with her wolf because we refused to tell her where you and Joseph were!”
“What!” I nearly screamed. Heat rose under my ears. “She did what...?”
“I can’t even explain it.” Raine trembled and then shook it off. “But her wolf is not gentle.”
“We had to give in.” Jo huffed, crossing her arms. “Not friendly!”
At least I knew why they had left. Anger bubbled in my stomach. That disrespecting she-wolf scared the two people that meant the world to me! How dare she!
“I’m still curious about the entire Alpha-Gamma kerfuffle.” Raine reached across the coffee table and took my hands. “Tell us everything...”
“Okay…” I quickly went through the Joseph fiasco and Tyrone’s admission. It was easier than I had imagined. A weight lifted off my shoulders. By the time I was done, both girls were speechless again.
“I feel right with Tye,” I said. They stood, too. Joseph made me angry, and I cried a few times. A mate should never do that.”
“Can you feel the bond with Joseph?” Raine asked. “Anything?”
“No,” I shook my head. “Nothing...”
“And you’re happy with Tyrone?” Jo added, watching me closely.
I thought about Tyrone and his kiss, how his body felt against mine – the shape of his butt and manhood pressed against his pants. My heart fluttered. My legs grew weak. Grinning, I brushed my hair behind my shoulders. “Yes, very happy...”
“Well then,” Jo grabbed Raine’s hand. “Our Alpha best friend, it’s dress time!”
The two of them rolled out the dress rack. Dresses swished from side to side. Some were in garment bags, and others were on wooden coat hangers. None of them looked cheap. Mum had spent a small fortune on the display.
“You know…” Raine said as they skipped through a few of them. “I think red is your colour.”
“I do like red,” I admitted.
“We know…” Jo winked at me.
Between the two of them, they found four brilliant and vivid red dresses and laid them over the coffee table. Each one of them was a different style. Two had short, capped sleeves—one cap dress had a low-cut back. Another was sleeveless—with sparkly sequences across the bodice. And another had a sheer red jacket that fitted over spaghetti string straps crisscrossed at the back. All of them were knee-length or shorter.
“This one is so you…” Raine grinned, holding up the red dress with the low-cut back.
“And I like this one…” Jo picked up the crisscrossed dress and the sheer red jacket. “It can be modest and raunchy at the same time.”
The dress Raine held had a fitted miniskirt. The dress Jo held also had a fitted skirt, but it was an inch or more longer. Both of them were stunning.
“Try them on…” They sang together.
“Okay…”
The three of us took the chosen dresses to the bedroom. I stripped down to my underwear and heard them gasp.
“What?” I quickly peered down at my stitches to ensure they were still there. I had gone without a bandage all day. It was healing well. When I realised there was no blood, I turned to them. “What is it?”
“It’s just …” Raine gaped. “You’re so thin …”
Heat flustered my face. I hugged myself protectively. “It’s what happens after chemotherapy. You can’t eat, and when you do eat, you throw up. I’m dreading the next round.”
Without a word, Jo threw her arms around me and held me in a way she never had before. “I knew it was bad, but I didn’t realise how bad. Please, forgive us?”
“There’s nothing to forgive,” I stood back from her embrace and stared at them questioningly. “Do I look that bad?”
“You don’t look bad at all…” Raine added. “You’re skinny but still the prettiest girl I know... Inside and out.”
I pressed my hand to my heart. “Really?”
“Yes,” they both nodded.
Fighting away a tear, I grabbed the crisscross dress. “Enough emotional stuff… let’s find a dress that will weaken Tyrone.”
“Just go naked...” Raine teased.
Jo elbowed her. “In front of her family? So childish!”
Raine winked. “I’m telling you how it is.”
“She’s not wrong…” I giggled.
Once I had slipped the dress on, Jo zipped up the back. The material was soft against my skin. I turned to them. “What do you think? I feel amazing…”
“You look gorgeous!” They sang together.
“I love it on you.” Jo grinned. A tear resonated in her eyes. “I mean… wow…”
“You took the words out of my mouth.” Raine agreed.
There was a knock at the bedroom door. “Hi Louise, it’s me, Jada… We’re home…”
“You can come in…” I called back.
She opened the door and peered around the corner. Again, I saw myself looking back at me. “Wow, you look like a supermodel.” She came further in. “Is this for your bonding ceremony?”
“Sure is,” I replied, running to the mirror on my vanity table. A young woman reflected back at me. “What do you think?”
Jada was behind me in the mirror. I shivered at our resemblance. “I love it…”
“So do we…” Jo and Raine echoed.
“But…” Raine held up the other one. “Try this one...”
Jada spun around and saw the low-back dress. She gasped. “Wow, that one is very revealing …” She turned back to me with a familiar smile. “Try it on…”
“I will...”
Jo undid my zip, and I slipped out of the dress.
“What happened to you?” Jada asked softly, meeting my gaze with childlike interest. “That looks painful…”
Swallowing nervously, I pulled up the other dress and drooped it below the wound. I faced Jada. The poor girl seemed purely concerned for me. “I have cancer… and I needed surgery to remove it.”
She double-blinked, almost confused by my words. “That…”
“It’s okay,” I sighed. “None of our kind have been through what I have...”
“I’m sorry… this is Edwin’s fault!”
I placed a hand on her shoulder. “It might be his fault, but the guilt is not yours. You’re a victim as much as I am.”
There was another knock at the door. I hurried to cover myself with the dress before it opened.
“You’re popular today…” Raine chuckled.
“Sorry to bother you. I was looking for Jada,” Anna said as she opened the door. Her eyes widened at me. “Wow, you look dazzling.”
“Not bad…” Agatha called out from behind her. “I prefer black, but at least red is better than pink.”
I shook my head. The room was packed. All I needed was Mum, and the congregation was complete.
“If you want my opinion…” Agatha nodded at the first dress. “That one is the one you should wear.”
“But you didn’t see it on me.” I raised a curious eyebrow. “So, how do you know?”
“She’s a witch…” Jada shrugged her shoulder. “How does she know anything…? Magic!”
“That’s fair…” I nodded.
“Is it dress time…” Mum called from the hallway.
And now it’s complete…
“Let me see my daughter…” Everyone moved aside, and Mum entered the room. Her eyes landed on the dress, and I saw the look of thought in them. “You do look beautiful… but–”
“The other dress…” Jo, Raine and Agatha said in unison.
“I’m outnumbered…” Exhaling, I gathered up the dress. “I’ll put it on.”
I dropped the low-backed dress, ignoring the glances at my wound, and slid on the first one. Raine zipped me up, and the room filled with collective gasps.
“That’s the one…” Mum’s eyes teared up. “My beautiful girl…”
“I told you,” Agatha said, crossing her arms.
“Please don’t take it rudely…” Anna said, gesturing her hands at my middle. “What happened.”
“Louise has cancer…” Agatha interrupted with a knowing-all attitude. Her face darkened. “My mother’s evil knows no bounds.” She stood up straight, walked towards me and asked for my hands.
I gave them to her.
Her eyes rolled into the back of her head, turning an off-white. Strange words muttered from her mouth before the blackness returned. “I can’t reach into your subconscious or your wolf. I wish I could see what curse she placed on you…”
Fear engulfed my chest as Agatha released my hands. Why couldn’t Agatha reach my wolf? What had this curse done to me?
“Enough curse talk,” Mum demanded. She stepped up behind me and turned me towards the mirror. “Louise, this dress is beautiful on you,”
“That is the dress!” Jo beamed.
“That is, you,” Raine added.
“That dress is as pretty as you…” Jada sighed sweetly.
“Agreed…” Anna and Agatha said in unison.
I ran my hand down the silky material, allowing the sensation to distract my mind from all the information that had been placed in my palms. This was the dress I imagined Tyrone running his hands all over as he claimed me.
“Yes,” I turned to everyone. “This is the dress.”
- Writer
