Althena

28. Fancy

Just like Monte said, the training is a hike in the woods today. There are older people here and none of the young ones are. I feel better like this. The old people don't care what I wear or do. Then they start getting naked. This I have problems with. I don't want to see old people naked. I turn my back to them.

Monte comes over and stands in front of me. "What are you doing?"

I whisper, "They're naked."

"They're turning into their wolves. Do you want to turn into a wolf?"

"No." I peek over my shoulder. "No."

"You don't have to. Some people can't even shift. You won't be alone."

"Good. Thank you."

He takes his shirt off, and I cover my sunglasses with my hands. He cracks up laughing. "I'm joking. I can't yell at people if I'm a wolf."

I think the walk is more challenging because I'm in my human form. I see lots of stuff I could play on as a wolf. I wish I could shift in front of people. Monte talks the whole time about figuring out where we are. What direction is north? How to tell the different directions. What we can safely eat. How to find animal tracks and figure out what they are. Then he shows us the border alarms so we know what to look for. I watch a wolf jump on a downed tree and I get jealous. That looks so fun.

"Does anyone come here?"

"No. We're far away from the packland. If the alarms get tripped, the guards will show up. We get occasional attacks from rogues. Mostly, it's empty woods. People don't even walk this far out. I just wanted to show you guys the alarm. You can see what it looks like."

"It kind of blends in."

"It's supposed to. But if you know what you're looking for, you'll see it. So, tell me what way is north."

I point north. "That way."

"How do you know?"

"Moss on the tree."

"Very good. Let's get back. I want to do 1 more thing with this group."

We gather around the picnic table. I try to drink a bucket of water.

"City girl isn't used to the woods yet." An old man winks at me.

I smile at him. "I'm getting better. As long as I remember the bug spray, I'm ok."

They laugh and Monte lays out a map. He goes through them one at a time and lets them leave. Then he motions for me.

"Where is your grandma's house?"

The map has a lot of trees. Buildings are different colors. The map is only of Mystical Moon Packland. I point at some trees. She has a lot of trees around her house. That's probably right.

"Ok. And the coffee shop."

I point at a cluster of colored boxes.

"And where are we?"

There's a clearing in the middle. I point at that. That has to be right.

"Good job."

"I did it?"

"You got the park right."

"Yea, it's a clearing. This is a clearing. That seemed right."

He smiles. "You have good reasoning skills. You need to learn map reading though."

"No, I don't. Everything has big signs. Safiri that way. Food next right. Bazaar district, 64 miles straight ahead."

"Out here, there are no signs."

"Trust me, I've noticed."

He laughs and rolls up the map. "Drink some more water. I have to do the training."

"That's a good idea." I lay on the picnic table and rest.

"GIRL."

I tilt my head, and it's that damn Beta again. I don't even know his name.

"COME HERE."

I walk over to their training. The warriors are all standing around without shirts. It's a nice view. Beta and Monte are standing by a table.

Beta sits something down. "I give up. Why aren't you in school?"

"You give up?"

The beta crosses his arms. "Don't try to change the subject."

I cross my arms. "It's not your business."

"Ut oh."

"Ooohhh." The warriors start laughing.

Beta smirks and picks up a coffee. "I got an extra mocha magic coffee this morning."

I watch it and try to smell it.

Monte nods. "Some people like chocolate in it."

"It's not my favorite. I can dump it out." Beta reaches for the lid.

I jump. "NO."

The warriors crack up laughing.

"I guess you can have it, IF, you tell me why you're not in school."

I crack under the pressure. I point at woodland's mark. "I lived with my momma here until I was 13. I went to public school. She died. Then I went to Moonlit." I move my finger to their mark. "My aunt and uncle were the only family I had. They didn't like having an orphan though. They got me a place in the market district. Woodland found out about it because of a crimson moon scout. He didn't like that I was alone at 15. He told on me. Woodland and Crimson made Moonlit make me an apartment and everything. But I had already been out of school for a year and a half. It was too late for me to go back. I have tutors in Crystal Falls now."

"How did you get Crimson's mark on you?"

"THAT'S NOT WHAT YOU WANTED FOR THE CHOCOLATE."

He hands it to me. "You're right. So, how did you get crimson's mark?"

"Mmm I love this coffee." I take another deep breath. "Moonlit got robbed. My uncle showed up at my place. He... He put me in the hospital. It wasn't me who robbed them though. The Crimson scout went and kicked the moonlit alpha's ass. I guess he was going to remove the mark so they didn't have to pay for me anymore. It made crimson mad because without moonlit, I didn't have anywhere to eat. Alpha Rhett put the mark on me, so I could have a place to live until my apartment was done."

"Is that when you got the scar on your belly?"

"No. That was something different."

"LET'S GO SHOPPING." Clover comes out of nowhere and is pulling me.

"I HAVE NO MONEY."

She looks at Monte. "Can we have some money?"

"I don't have any on me."

"Call your boyfriend. Mine's lame."

The warriors lose it this time.

I pull my phone out of my pocket. "I'll try."

"Hey, babygirl."

"You're on speaker. I need money."

He laughs. "What you need money for?"

Clover yells, "SHOPPING."

"I'll wire you some. You know how to use it from your phone?"

Clover jumps up and down. "We'll figure it out."

"Give me a minute, and you'll get it."

"Thank you. I love you."

"I love you too, baby. You have fun and call me later."

"I will."

I hang up and the beta nods. "And the boyfriend is?"

I point at the woodland mark. "Delta."

The phone dings. I lift it up.

Clover's mouth falls open. "That's a lot of zeros." She grabs it and stares at it. "I can't..."

I roll my eyes. "It's $5,000,000. Come on. We'll get a limo to drive us around." My turn to pull her.

I hear the warriors laughing as we walk away. "Ain't nobody competing with that delta."

"He's in his own league."

A limo shows up 20 minutes later at granny's house. She watches us get in it and waves.

"CENTRAL DISTRICT." I can't help but scream at the guy. I need my hair and face done. I need this day more than Clover does.

I manage to calm down before we get there. A man opens the door for us. "Welcome ladies." Then he stares at us.

"Thank you." I look at us and crack up laughing. I'm in shorts and a t-shirt. She looks like she's wearing a potato sack for a dress. And she's staring up in the air at the buildings. "We're here to sort ourselves out. Do you have safiri?"

"Yes, ma'am. Over there."

I drag her to the door and the man tilts his head. I show him my phone. "My boyfriend gave us money for shopping."

"Enjoy your shopping ladies." He opens the door and his eyes glaze over.

"What was that about?"

"Pack marks draw a lot of attention. And we're on their packland shopping. Probably notifying the alpha. It happens every time I'm in the central district in crystal falls. Someone royal always shows up to say they like my money."

She laughs as a lady comes up to us. "Good afternoon ladies. Is there anything I can assist you with?"

"Where are the dresses?"

"Right this way."

I nearly die. They have the most amazing dresses here. They flow to the mid-thigh. Low cut in the front. The back is perfection. There is a braid of fabric that goes from the back of my neck to my ass. That's all the fabric that's on the back. I put on a black and blue one. Then I get some black high heels. "I feel so much better."

Clover stares at me. "That's fancy."

"What about something like this?" The lady holds up a dress with more fabric. It goes to the mid-thigh still, but the front isn't as low, and the back is covered.

"That's beautiful."

"Put it on. We need to go home fancy."

"Are you sure?"

"Yea, it's fine. Can I get this in every color please? I am in love with the back of it."

"Of course, ma'am."

After that, we get our hair and makeup done. She stares at herself for the longest time. I feel relaxed and at home. I missed doing this. Then we grab some lunch.

The Luna comes up to us while we're eating. "Good afternoon ladies. How are you enjoying Central District?"

I smile at her. "It's lovely here. And your safiri has different styles than Crystal Falls. I had to get a few extra things." I knee the bag.

She smiles. "Yea, it's hotter here year round. Our stuff seems to be smaller for the beach goers."

"I'll be wearing this in the middle of winter at home. I love the back."

"It does look nice on you. Shows off your gold mark too."

I glance back. Half the time I forget about that one. It takes up my whole shoulder blade in the back. Gold moon has the biggest pack mark in Crystal Falls. "I spent so much money there, they gave me a mark for free."

"Added bonus." She laughs.

"You have something on your glasses." Clover tries to brush it off or something.

I pull them off and blow it away. "Thank you."

The queen stares at me for a second too long. "So, you're from Crystal Falls?"

"Yep. I'm going back in a month. I'm here visiting my grandma. We should be getting back. It's almost 4."

"Yea, driving takes forever." Clover grumbles at her drink.

"What pack is your grandma from?"

"Mystical Moon."

"That is quite a drive. You can use my helicopter. You'll miss dinner if you take a car."

"Are you sure? We don't want to impose."

"I'm positive. I'm home for the evening. What's your name?"

"May-Eve Sage, ma'am."

"Beautiful name." She waves her hand at someone.

"Thank you."

"Take these lovely ladies back to mystical moon territory in my helicopter."

"Yes, ma'am."

We thank her again and off we go.

The helicopter lands right in the middle of the park. I don't think there were any other options. There are too many trees here. But the warriors are still training. They move so we can land.

I grab my bag and Alpha Jax gives me his arm. I'm shocked to see him. I lean into him as I step down and whisper, "She is going to fall."

He helps her down, and she stumbles around in the yard. She was doing fine on concrete with the heels, but this is different. I take mine off. "Too hard to walk in the field."

She relaxes and takes hers off.

"I love that dress."

"Thank you." I spin in a circle for Alpha Jax. "I got it in every color."

"I would like to see it in every color."

The man that was in the suit last time is here. He's standing by our beta. Both of them lean against a table and rub their eyes. The man in the suit finally looks at me. "How long until you're an adult?"

"Almost a whole year. My birthday was September 1st. I just turned 17."

Jax ignores them and puts his arm around me. We start going somewhere. "You're planning on going back to Crystal Falls in a month?"

"Yes. I'm visiting my grandma for now."

"I met her. She seems like a nice lady."

"You met my grandma?"

"I was looking for you. She said you went out shopping and to bother the warriors until you got back."

"I guess that worked. I landed in the middle of them. But honestly, there was nowhere else to land."

"That worked perfectly. Will you have dinner with me tomorrow? I'm really interested in your story."

"Sure. What do I wear?"

"Anything you want. I'll be dressing like this." He's got a nice suit on.

"I could wear this in another color."

"That would be amazing. You look stunning. I'll have a car pick you up at 5? Will that work?"

"I'll be ready."

"Thank you." He kisses my head then turns around and walks away.

I spin in a circle. I am standing on granny's porch somehow. I guess that was convenient.