“A good push-up bra can go a long way.” She turned her back and started flipping through the racks of bras.
“Can I help you?’ A sales woman walked over.
“Yes.” Jocelyn smiled. “She is in desperate need of some lift.”
“Gotcha. What size?”
“She’s a 34B. We’ll start with these,” She held up two bras. “But bring anything you can find and meet us in the dressing rooms.”
I wanted to melt into the floor. This was awful. Beyond awful. “I don’t usually go for this type. I want comfort.”
“And it shows…” She held open the door to a dressing room.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means you’re not using what you have.”
“But I already have Hunter’s attention… what’s the point?”
“The point is to make yourself irresistible to every man. It makes your man more grateful that you’re his.”
That’s exactly what I needed. To have Hunter more grateful to have me. “Oh.”
“You do want that, don’t you? You want Hunter happy that he chose you?”
“Of course.”
“And I know you wouldn’t mind making some other men jealous either.”
Was she implying that about anyone in particular?
“Go on, start trying on.” She closed the door behind her.
“Uh, aren’t you going to wait outside?”
“No. I need to make sure they fit right.”
“Why?” Jocelyn was way too into this.
“Just get changed. Hunter only gave us an hour and we have tons to buy.”
“Great.” I turned my back on her and tried on the first one. It fit fine, but I wasn’t surprised that it was uncomfortable.
“Here’s a few more.” The saleswoman called from outside the door.
Much to my horror Jocelyn yanked the door open. “Thanks.”
I hastily tried to cover myself up. “Did you have to do that?”
Jocelyn shrugged. “You’re going to have to get used to nudity.”
“Why?”
“Because of the people you’re spending your life with. It’s part of the deal.”
“It’s not a great part.”
“You made the choice to join them, didn’t you?” She leaned in.
Alarm bells went off. She was sniffing for information. She was trying to make me uncomfortable so she could get answers from me. “Of course. I mean who could resist the attention of someone like Hunter?” I tried on another bra. “I like this one. In fact I like it so much, I’m going to wear it out. Could you tell the salesperson please?”
If Jocelyn noticed my abrupt change in mood, she didn’t show it. “Of course.” She hurried out, returning moments later with a pair of scissors. “May I cut the tags?”
“Sure.” I handed her the bra, preferring to be exposed than have blades that close to my skin.
“Here you are.” She handed it back. “I’ll go ahead and throw out your old one. It wasn’t doing anything for you.”
“Of course. I’m also going to pick up some other new ones.” I walked out and grabbed an identical bra to the one she’d thrown out. I needed to stop acting like such a push over. It wasn’t my normal personality, and it wasn’t what I wanted to be. After paying for three bras, and a week’s worth of underwear, we walked over to the shoe department where I bought a pair of sneakers as an alternative to boots, and a pair of black heels that Jocelyn insisted I’d need for the dresses I’d be buying.
“I’m not going to be wearing dresses.”
“I’ll go find you something perfect. Every girl needs a little black dress.”
“Hunter and I don’t exactly go out much.”
“That might change. You are going to the city you know.”
“Yeah, I get the sense he’s not going to want to take me out.”
“I can see that. He wants to keep you in.” She nudged me. “Go ahead and pick up some boring stuff while I take care of the dress. Just don’t leave this store. Hunter will kill me if you wander off on your own.”
“I’ll be here. Where else would I go?”
She smiled, and it screamed of fake. “I don’t know, I guess nowhere.”
I quickly picked out some sensible clothes, two pairs of jeans and a few tops. I paid with more of the money from Hunter. I still had a few hundred left. I wanted to keep it for later, so I hoped Jocelyn was planning to cover the dress.
I went over to wait in the sitting area. Two girls were sitting next to each other on a couch. I took the remaining chair.
“Did you hear they think they found those missing college students?” one of the girls said to the other.
“Alive?” the other girl replied.
Missing college students? Were they talking about Gage and me?
“No. They found the guy’s truck though. It’s so sad.” She held out her phone.
“I can’t imagine. Did you hear the girl’s boyfriend being interviewed? I guess he begged her to get a ride from him, but she refused.”
Boyfriend? Ok, maybe they weren’t talking about me. Unless. Rob wouldn’t say he was my boyfriend, would he?
“It was so sad. The guy was so in love with her. I don’t see why the other guy was dumb enough to drive in that weather. It’s another example of a girl picking the bad boy and getting in trouble. That’s why I stay away from bad boys.”
“Me too.” The second girl crossed her arms. “There’s no point ending up in a ditch just because a guy’s good looking.”
In a ditch? This had to be about me. There had to be TVs around somewhere, but I’d told Jocelyn I wouldn’t leave the store. I’d already been worried about my parents, but this made it worse. What did they know? What did they think? I’d planned to get word to them eventually.
“Listen to the girl’s parents. It’s so tragic. It makes you think about your own life, right?” She handed her phone to her friend.
My mom’s voice had my chest clenching.
“Thank you to everyone who has aided in this search. I know it appears that we have found Gage’s truck, but we’re not giving up hope on finding them.”
“Neither are we.” A woman, I could guess was Gage’s mom, sniffled. “We will keep up our search until we find proof.”
“I just—” My mother started to cry, and even without being able to see her, I could picture her face. The look of despair.
My stomach churned, and I ran into the bathroom. We had to do something. I couldn’t let my parents suffer. It wasn’t fair. It had been a little over a week since our disappearance, and I’d contented myself with thinking I’d find an excuse, a way I could see them again. But how long was that going to take? Was it even possible? And what about Gage? Would he ever be able to see his parents again?
I waited until I assumed the girls were gone before walking out. They hadn’t looked at me earlier, and I didn’t need to take the chance of them recognizing me. I ran into Jocelyn. She was holding a plastic bag covering several hanging garments. “I found you some fabulous dresses. I can’t wait for you to try them on for Hunter later.”
“Thanks.” I blinked back another round of tears.
“You okay?” she asked.
“Fine.”
“You don’t look fine.”
“I am.” I tried to compose myself. “Shouldn’t we go meet Hunter?”
“Missing him?”
“A lot.” I was missing my parents so much more. Maybe I could convince Hunter to let me call them. We could make up some excuse.
“I know why you’re upset,” she whispered.
“You do?”
“And I have a plan.”
“Why? Even if you did know, why would you help me?”
“Because I want the hunt to end. If there’s any chance you can help do that, I’m willing to support you.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“That doesn’t matter. I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing. Let’s go
meet Hunter. Act like everything is okay. He’s going to ask you a million questions if he sees you like this.”
“I can’t.”
“You can. You’re going to have to get better at acting.”
“I’ll try.” I wasn’t sure I had the energy to convince anyone of anything.
“Tell him you found some good clothes, and you can’t wait to show him everything. Stroke his ego. He needs it.”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s suspicious. He can sense how you feel, and you’ve been thinking about another man. Think about Hunter. Let him know you’re thinking about him. The happier you make him, the happier he’ll make you. And the same can be said for Gage.”
“Is he really with Marni?” I had to know even if I didn’t want to.
“Blunt. I like that.” She wrapped her hand around my arm. “He’s in love with you. Resist Hunter but keep him happy and it’s all going to work out.”
I didn’t ask her how. There was no reason for her to know the answer, and there was no reason to worry about it. Right now all I could concentrate on was making sure Gage survived and that my parents knew I was okay. I didn’t have enough strength to worry about anything else.
“How’d it go?” Hunter stood at the entrance to the food court.
“It went well. Your mate is going to be well dressed.” Jocelyn smiled.
“Great news. You doing okay, Mary Anne?”
He sounded down. Was I right and he somehow knew about my dream, or was it something else?
“I’m good. And you?”
“Good?” He studied my face. “Please don’t hide things from me.”
“Can we go now?”
“Don’t you want to eat?” He gestured to the surrounding restaurants.
“I’m not hungry.”
“How about something to go? A snack?”
“Have you eaten?” I needed to stay polite. Jocelyn was right. If I made Hunter unhappy, that wasn’t going to help anything.
“No. I waited for you.”
“Then why don’t we both get something to go? Can you eat while you drive?”
He smiled. “Do you doubt my ability to do two things at once?”
“No. Not at all.”
Out of the corner of my eye I saw someone staring at me. He glanced down at his phone. He’d recognized me. Of course they’d have been circulating my picture on the news. I was surprised no one had noticed earlier. Jocelyn seemed to notice the guy too. She grabbed my arm. “We should go.”
“We need to get food first.”
“You do that. I’ll get her out to the truck. Give me the keys.”
He followed her line of vision to the suspicious man who was now talking on his phone. “We’ll get food later.”
If he’d been going for inconspicuous, Hunter failed miserably. I’d never walked so fast in my life as he nearly tugged me to the truck. He closed my door and hopped in. Jocelyn disappeared, so I assumed she was getting back into her own car. Hunter didn’t say anything as he pulled out of the lot. I glanced out the window wondering if the guy had been suspicious enough to follow.
“We’re going to have to change your appearance.” Hunter said mostly to himself. “We can’t let that happen.”
“Or I could talk to my parents. Tell them to call off the search.”
“Oh yeah? And they’re going to take that well?”
“We can make up a story about Gage and me running off together.”
“And they’re going to believe that? Because it fits your personality?”
“I’m in college. Kids get weird in college.”
He laughed lightly. “You missing them?”
“Yes.”
“I burned that truck to scare Gage. I had no intention of keeping you from your family forever.”
“Then what was your plan?”
“Eventually you’d say you were saved and fell in love with your rescuer. You’re an adult. They couldn’t force you to come home.”
“The rescuer being you?”
“Yes.”
“And that would be more believable than me running off with Gage?”
“How is it different?”
“I’ve known Gage forever, and I’m pretty sure my mom’s known about my crush for years.”
“Key word is crush. She’d understand that you found true love.”
“And then what would have happened with Gage?”
“That’s the part I never figured out.”
“Convenient.”
“Isn’t it though?”
Chapter Eighteen
Gage
After six and a half hours of driving, we finally reached the new homestead. The pack seemed determined to keep calling it that word. I didn’t care. I needed to get out of the car to run. I also needed to see Mary Anne. I’d had only glimpses of her since we left. I’d been trying so hard to stop thinking about her, but it was impossible. Making Hunter think I’d gotten over her meant making her think the same thing, and I hated knowing I was hurting her. I wasn’t sure whether what Jocelyn said was real, but I knew the part about Mary Anne was right. She was such a strong and confident girl, but she wasn’t confident in us.
When Chet had said New Orleans, I was thinking the city, but I probably should have known we weren’t going to be staying downtown. We caravanned down some dirt roads that brought back some unwelcome memories of the route to the witches’ house, although these roads were surrounded by swamp and not snow. Marni noticed me tense.
“We’re not taking you to see psycho bitches.”
“Really? I thought that was exactly what we were doing.”
Denny laughed. “Don’t mind her, she’s a bitch herself.”
“Did you just call your sister a bitch?” I knew they didn’t get along, but still that was pretty low.
“Well he’s a jackass so we’re even.”
I attempted to stretch. I was tired of being jammed in the back seat. “Didn’t your mom tell you that girls shouldn’t curse?”
Chet and Denny laughed. “You didn’t just say that.”
“Why not?” I knew very well why it was going to annoy her, but sometimes it was fun to play stupid.
“Please tell me you don’t actually believe such a sexist comment.” Marni glared at me. “Because if you do, you’ve got a lot to learn.”
“Don’t I have a lot to learn anyway?”
“Yes, but this kind of learning is going to be painful.”
“Painful, eh? Chet, what kind of girl are you dating?”
Chet chuckled. That one joke had probably bought me enough good will to keep him from hating me. I needed to tread carefully. I could play around all I wanted, but I didn’t want Chet to actually think I was trying to steal his girl. Men can do stupid things when they think they are losing the one they love. I knew that from experience. “I’d be careful, man. She’s scarier than you think.”
“Scary?” Marni leaned forward in her seat. “You’re the one who should watch it, Chet.”
“Oh yeah? What are you going to do if I don’t?” He laughed.
“It’s more what I’m not going to do.”
“Oh no. Don’t go there with me here.” Denny made hand earmuffs. I felt like I was stuck in some really bad comedy. Except comedies don’t usually involve being a shifter.
Chet slowed down. “All right kids, we’re almost there. Is everyone ready to be on their best behavior?”
“I’m hitting the road as soon as we park.” Denny cracked his knuckles.
“Why did you bother to come then?” It was a big trip just to ditch the second we got there.
“Because I’m part of the pack.” He said it like that explained everything.
“But why?” I asked. “You don’t spend any time with the others.”
“I’m still part of it. You’ll get it eventually.”
“Okay…” I wasn’t sure I would ever understand. I didn’t plan to stay around long enough.
“We’ll mi
ss you, Denny. It’s always so nice to spend time with you.” Marni rolled her eyes.
“Same to you, sister. Hope next time it’s for more than a road trip.”
“Bullshit. You can’t handle spending that much time with other people.”
“You want to bet?” He leaned over me.
“Bet what? Are we kids again?”
“How much are you going to wager?”
“Why would I want to bet on you staying? I’d rather you didn’t.”
“Ouch. Marni, that’s cold.” Chet turned around. “I’ll take you up on it, Denny.”
“Fine. I bet you a hundred bucks that I can stay a week.”
“A week?” I looked at Denny. “Is that really that long a period of time for you to stay?”
“Yes,” everyone said at once.
We pulled into a clearing that housed some rustic looking cabins. There was one larger main building, sort of like the place we’d just left. My guess was it had once been a camp. How’d they even know about this place? I figured that was the least of my concerns. “Okay, then.” I waited for Denny to open the door so I could get out. Marni never did move to the front. I wondered if they’d learn to trust me before I ran. I guess that would be proving their trust wrong, so maybe it would be better if they didn’t.
We were in some sort of swampy area. The ground was soggy and the trees were covered in dangling moss. I eyed the group of small cabins in front of us skeptically. Were they even sturdy?
The last of the trucks stopped, and I looked around at the large group. I still didn’t even know all of the so-called nomads’ names.
“Mary Anne and I will be taking the furthest cabin from the common building. The rest of you can fight over where you want to stay.” Hunter had his arm tightly wrapped around Mary Anne’s waist. She looked uncomfortable.
She watched me tentatively the way she used to in high school. I wanted to reassure her, but Hunter was watching too. I couldn’t.
“Want to share, new kid?” Denny asked.
Marni laughed. “You want to be Gage’s roommate?”
“Sure. I can babysit as well as you.”
“I think that’s a great idea.” Chet nodded. “Marni and I can take the place next to yours.”
“No one leaves without talking to me first.” Hunter turned, pulling Mary Anne with him.
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