I deserve it, I told myself, as I inhaled the rich scent.
Sitting on the counter, I crossed my ankles and sipped. Come on, tryptophan. No go. The sugar was strong in my system.
I set a frying pan out and tossed on several slices of maple bacon. I could eat it raw, but I wanted to feel as human as possible.
The sizzling hot meat got transferred to a paper towel to soak off some of the grease. The grease in the frying pan got dumped into a plastic coffee can we kept in the fridge door which Percy made dog cookies with, as all her treats, for people and animals, were made from scratch. I’ve never even seen her buy a doughnut.
An egg went into the pan next, and some bread into the toaster. My yummy breakfast disappeared with a few big bites, burning my tongue in the process.
I hand-washed the remaining dishes from the night before, swept and mopped the floor, and organized the fridge. Not stopping there, I scrubbed down the salon floors, mirrors, counters, and cleaned everybody’s combs.
Needing to burn off more energy, I wandered to the gym. Most of the equipment belonged to Percy and me, except for one treadmill that belonged to Lacey. There were three, all in a row in front of a big mirror. Why Percy believed mirrors were good for workouts, I’ll never know. We liked to run outside whenever possible, but in the winter, when the woods have three feet of snow, it’s more convenient to use treadmills. We can’t go to a public gym or run on the roads because, you know, we’re just a wee bit fast. All right, that’s a massive understatement. Lacey could run from border to border of the state in just a couple hours. It takes several hours to do it by car. I can run it in about a day on two legs. In wolf form, it’s half. Not a bad deal.
I completed some warm-up exercises with the previous night’s band practice turned up on my iPod. Jumping rope brought my heart rate up before going to town on the rowing machine. Sweat beaded on my forehead, and I yanked off my sweatshirt. My tank top smelled from the bar, and my fuzzy pj bottoms were a sight to see, but I had no one I cared to impress.
I pushed my way through a rather intense workout, and it felt wonderful. I was cooling off when Lacey-Marie entered, sporting blinding pink Lycra shorts and a black sports bra.
“How long have you been up?” she asked, beginning her own routine.
“A while.” I took myself down to the mat to stretch back out as my muscles cooled.
“You’re crazy. You know that, right?”
“Takes one to know one.” I smirked up at her.
“True, but you take the cake. What time is the pack making their appearance?” She worked her way through a sun salutation.
“The alpha didn’t say, but I think it will just be one wolf, not the whole pack.” I wiped my face and neck with a towel and threw it down the laundry shoot. I can honestly say, I’ve never seen the laundry room. It was one of the many perks of residing in a living house. Clean laundry usually appeared in a pile in the middle of my room around the middle of the day. If only it did the folding.
“Huh.” She moved into cobra pose with a fluid grace. “I wonder why now? They neglect you then, ‘Oh, we love you. Move back with us?’ It’s such a weird situation.”
“You’ll get no argument from me. I’m gonna go take a shower. See you later!” I took my hair down from the messy bun it’d spent all morning in and shook it loose.
“Oh, god, that’s just scary,” Lacey commented just as I got to the door.
I turned and stuck out my tongue. “At least I’m naturally hot. You have to try. Let me emphasize: try.”
“Bitch.” She smiled up at me from downward dog.
“Psycho.”
“Don’t let the door hit you in that Texas-sized ass on the way out!”
I didn’t. And my rear is not Texas-sized. It’s just in existence, unlike Lacey’s. I didn’t bother with a comeback. I wanted that shower sooner, rather than later.
The scalding hot water, sluicing sweat and the bar smell from my skin, felt even more wonderful than the workout. I think getting good and yucky makes me appreciate bathing all the more. Nothing makes me enjoy a good, long bath like shifting, though.
I dried off and got dressed with regrets. I could have spent all day in that shower.
Percy’s name flashed across my cell’s screen.
To answer or not… I answered. “Yeah?”
“Hey, Gretch. You’ve got a visitor downstairs.”
“Wolf?” Who else would it be? My heart rate picked up slightly as my inner wolf woke up.
“Scott.”
Crap. “I’ll be right down.”
Scott could not be there when the wolf showed up.
I threw my hair up and yanked an elastic around it as I booked it down the stairs.
“Morning, beautiful.” Scott smiled crookedly at me from his spot on the couch in the waiting area.
“Morning. What are you doing here?” I asked, twirling the elastic around one more time.
“It’s nice to see you too.” He sat forward and lost the smile.
“Yeah, yeah. What do you want?”
“You’ve got my car keys. Austin drove me here.”
I glanced down at his clothes. Yep, the same tee and jeans combo as the night before, accompanied by the smell of beer and sweat.
“Oops. Follow me upstairs. I think they’re still in my pocket.” It may have been a mistake to take him up to my room, but I didn’t want to leave him waiting around in the empty salon either.
He ran up the stairs behind me and caught up to my side as we reached the hallway.
“So this is the Lady’s Secret Sanctum,” He joked.
“Not even close. You’re not allowed there.”
“Never?” He stuck out his lower lip absurdly.
“Never.” Thing is, we actually have one in the attic. All the fae junk, spell books, herbs hanging from the ceiling, were all reasons not to invite outsiders up.
“I’ll have to settle for your bedroom then.” He dashed in front of me so he was walking backward down the hall.
“The doorway of my bedroom. You’re not getting any further than that.” I shoved my door open, wishing I’d cleaned. There were clothes all over the place, and my bed was unmade. My bathroom and dressing room doors were open and viewable from the doorway.
“Wow, Gretch.”
I turned and glared at him.
“This place is enormous.”
He’d been kept in the downstairs up until then. Maybe I should have kept it that way. Too late now.
“You have no idea. Percy’s kinda well off.”
“You guys can’t be making money like this off the salon.” He eyed my heavy four-post bed.
“Percy’s husband is loaded, and I’m good at investing.” It was a half truth at best.
“I should have you invest for me.” He paused as my words sank in. “Wait a sec, Percy’s married? How come I’ve never met her husband?”
“He doesn’t exactly live around here.” Nowhere near.
“Where does he live?”
I tried to throw him off. “What is this? 20 questions?” It didn’t work.
“Sorry. But where does he live?”
“Greece.”
“What the hell is Percy doing in Maine?” Scott’s jaw dropped.
“She lives with him over the winter.”
“I thought she went to Florida.”
“It’s a long story that I will never tell you.”
“Never?”
“Absolutely never. Not a chance.” I dug through my clothes and came up with the jeans I had worn to practice. “Tada!” I triumphantly produced the keys from my back pocket. Now he could go away.
“Thanks.” He took them from me. Then he took my hand.
I pulled away. “No.”
“I didn’t ask you anything,” Scott protested, managing to look hurt.
“Yeah, you were going to, and ‘no’ is an appropriate answer to just about any question you might ask.” I pushed him out of my room and back down the
hall with an outstretched hand. Thankfully, the house had behaved, and everything remained as we left it.
“You’re a cruel woman. I’m not giving up.” He followed me down the stairs.
I felt a change of subject was in order. “How are you feeling?”
“Fine. Who’s that guy?”
Double crap. Quinty, or whatever the heck that guy’s name was, was sitting in the waiting area.
“Do you want some breakfast or anything? I’m sure Percy can hook you up. Or are you in a hurry to leave?” I brainstormed ways to get Scott out of the same room as the other werewolf.
“I’m fine. No hurry. I don’t have to work today. I was sorta hoping we could hang out.”
Wolf boy stood up from the couch when he noticed me. “Gretchen, I’m here to formally invite you to the pack hunt tonight. We’ll be picking you up at seven p.m. The quarry will be moose.”
“And you are?” Scott bristled at the other man, his testosterone scenting the air.
Not good.
“Quintavious. I’m Gretchen’s brother.” His posture was tense, his hands tucked behind his back, elbows bent, making him look larger than he was.
Scott looked to me for confirmation.
“I was… adopted.” I was a terrible liar. Hopefully he didn’t notice.
“Scott.” He held out his hand.
“He’s the bassist for the band I play in,” I filled in quickly.
“Pleasure,” Quintavious accepted the gesture, shaking his hand firmly.
Scott quickly took his hand back and shoved it in his pocket. “Is all mine.”
“Tonight, then?” Quintavious asked me, without turning from Scott.
“Yeah, fine. I’ll be here.” Get out, please. Just leave.
He fulfilled my silent pleas and walked briskly out the front door.
“You’re moose hunting? At night?”
“Yeah. Family bonding and all that.” I watched Quintavious climb into his car and drive away, then turned back to face Scott.
“I didn’t know you hunted. Isn’t it illegal to hunt after dark? You know it’s not moose season right?”
And for another lie. “It’s on private property, and we’ll only track it.” It would be in unpopulated woods in northern Maine.
“Huh. So what are you doing today?”
“Shopping with Percy.” I bluffed and bluffed some more.
Lucky for me, Percy came through the door just then.
“Gretchen, I want to get going soon so we can beat the crowds. We need to re-stock some things before the shipment comes in.” She sashayed up to us, becoming my hero. We got shipments direct from warehouses, but sometimes we went through stuff faster than we could get it in.
“Sure.” I breathed an internal sigh of relief at her timing.
Scott slumped with what I could only imagine was disappointment.
“Some other time?” I suggested weakly.
“Yeah, sure. Whatever.” He squared his shoulders.
“Later.”
“Yeah, bye.”
I watched as he stalked towards Austin’s car. I felt terrible lying to his face, but he could never know. None of my boys could ever know.
I turned to Percy. “Are we actually going to go shopping?”
“Sure, why not? I think you need some girl time.”
If only to cancel out my lies. “I do, thanks. Let me throw on some shoes, and I’ll be right down. Is Lacey coming?”
“Am I coming where?” Lacey asked, appearing from out back with a towel draped across her shoulders, despite lacking the ability to sweat.
“Shopping,” I supplied.
“Are you leaving right now?” she asked, running her fingers through her loose hair.
“Pretty much,” Percy answered.
“Then no. Besides, it’s a nice sunny day, and I’m not up to dodging through the shadows.”
I trailed her up the stairs, then parted ways at her door.
The drive to Brewer was a quiet one. I needed to think before talking, and Percy respected that fact.
We got to Salon Centric, our preferred supply store, quicker than usual. The traffic was pretty non-existent for a Sunday morning. We split up and loaded up hand baskets with the supplies we were lacking. I lingered in front of a display of new colors and splayed some swatches against my skin. Percy joined me.
“What do you think? Am I a redhead underneath it all?” I fanned the swatch up by my eyes.
“Shit, Gretch!” Percy’s pitch edged on shriek.
“What, is it really that terrible?” I knew it had to be bad if perfect Percy was swearing.
“It’s terrible, but that’s not what I mean. You forgot your contacts. Hold still just a tic.” Percy placed a hand over my eyes and squeezed shut her own.
The scent of her magic headed straight up my sinuses, like fizz from a soda. Percy was glamouring me. Too bad it hadn’t happened before Scott had shown up. The fact he hadn’t mentioned them meant absolutely nothing. He might think of it later.
I opened my eyes and blinked a few times to get used to the illusion. A little bit of glare flitted around the edges, like seeing through useless dollar store glasses.
“Thanks,” I said, still blinking.
‘‘No problem. Shall we check out?” Percy lifted her filled basket.
“But what about the red?” I was feeling up for something crazy.
“Maybe some chunky streaks. We’ll discuss it with Lacey when we get home.”
“She’ll try to talk me into pink instead.” I wrinkled my nose at the thought.
“Probably.”
We headed for the front counter, paying for everything with the debit card attached to our business account.
We each lugged armfuls of bags out to the car and continued on towards the mall in Bangor. The mall, unlike the roads, was packed. And I had to pee.
“I’ll meet you in front of Bath and Body. I’ve gotta hunt down a restroom.” I took off, my purse bouncing against my back.
The good thing, and perhaps bad thing, about having a good doggy nose is I can sniff out a bathroom in a matter of seconds and determine whether there’s a line or not. There are so few perks, I was going to go with this as one of them. My second attempt turned out to be the golden ticket.
Percy was sampling body sprays when I located her again. I’m not a huge fan of spray scents. They really clouded up my olfactory receptors.
“Smell. Lavender!” She thrust her wrist at my unhappy nose.
“Great. You can make me some.” I backed away and breathed deep with my nose in the crook of my arm to clear my sinuses.
“I can, but this is already made. This is a very busy time of year, getting ready for farmers markets.”
“I’d rather have more lavender and less alcohol.” I maintained my distance.
“Good point.”
Of course it was a good point. Anything that Percy made was better than anything you could find in the store. She was really good with plants, and a chemistry wiz to boot. A useful gal to have around. You might even call her magical.
“Clothes next?” Percy asked.
“Clothes it is. I need to stop at Hot Topic.”
It was Percy’s turn to wrinkle her nose.
“I’ll go by myself. Meet you in an hour?” I knew Percy’s aversion to everything goth.
“That sounds better. Do you have a watch?”
“I have my cell phone. See ya.”
“Think happy thoughts, and don’t eat any shoppers, no matter how obnoxious they are,” she said, waving her fingers at me over her shoulder.
“Yes, Mommy,” I said as I walked away.
I checked out some baggy black jeans, all chained and zippered up to wazoo. Thinking they’d be perfect for performances, I shuffled through the rack until I came up with a pair in my size. There was also a red and black corset-style halter top that got added to my pile. It wasn’t something I would wear outside of performances. Or a brothel.
I
tried them on together. Both pieces were eye-catching, but together they were a hot mess. I hemmed and hawed and put the pants back. I had plenty of black pants. The top would go well with my leather pants. And no, I don’t care how sleazy that made me sound. Performance. It was all for the sake of performance.
I settled up and went wandering. It was the only thing I bought in the entire mall that day. I’m not much of a shopper.
Percy was, though, so I helped her carry her bags to the car.
“So, we haven’t talked.” Percy started the engine of her BMW.
“Nope, we haven’t. I’m nervous, and I don’t know what to do.”
“About Scott or the wolves?” She tilted her head to one side in thought.
“Yes.”
“It’s quite the muddle you’ve found yourself in, but are you sure you’re not encouraging Scott’s attentions?” she asked.
“Maybe?”
“Gretchen.” She gave me her stern mommy look, all furrowed brow and pursed lips.
“It’s nothing I’m doing intentionally. The dude should be in mourning, so I’ve been trying to be a good friend. He perceives everything at a whole level I don’t want to be on. I’m well aware that nothing could be allowed to happen between us.” I’d never admit it out loud, but there was a time I’d been attracted to him when we first met. He’s sweet, if a little pushy. My better sense, also known as my human side, squashed those thoughts flat. Too many deaths after attempted relationships littered my past.
“Good girl. But maybe you should back off a bit more. You don’t want to put yourself in a compromising situation that will inevitably bring out the beast. You’ll either get annoyed or you’ll open yourself up. I know you’re lonely.”
“As always, you’re right. This sucks.” I slouched in my seat and crossed my arms.
“I know, honey. I’m sorry. And play the wolf thing one day at a time. You’re smart. You’re also extremely dominant, more so than any alpha I’ve ever met, be careful with your decision. You won’t be able to change it.”
We got back to the house and went about the rest of our day. I spent the afternoon pacing around outside, dreading the night. Too bad it wasn’t as simple as saying no and walking away from the pack. I wanted a family and, yes, I was lonely. I didn’t know them or what the whole pack thing was all about. I should have considered that when I consented to the change.
Beauty is the Beast: Beasts Among Us - Book 1 Page 12