Chapter 23

#Chapter 23: Fur Coat

When I looked down at myself to find that my breasts were completely exposed by :he fall, I felt my heart sink.

I shrieked and covered myself with my arms while the onlookers snickered nastily. Angela stood a little ways away, over by a tree, and I swore that I saw her sl*pping. her phone back into her pocket as though she snuck a picture….

Suddenly, Nathan sprung forward and put himself between me and the onlookers. I felt his fur press up against me as he wrapped himself around me. My heart started. to pound as I felt the sensation of his silky fur against my skin. The heat coming off of his b*dy made me blush, and all I could do was stare down at the ground nervously.

“See?” I heard Angela whisper. “I told you that dress was too tight on her.”

I heard another girl, one of Angela’s friends, giggle. “Looks like she’s putting on that baby weight awfully fast…”

Nathan whipped around at them and growled angrily. The girls yelped nervously and sc attered, along with the rest of the onlookers.

Once they were all gone, Nathan shifted back and took his coat off.

“Here.” He held it out to me, keeping his gaze averted to the forest floor. “Put this

on.”

I could tell that his face was just as red as mine, but I took the coat and sl*pped it on over my shoulders. I kept it buttoned up on the front, and it covered the places. where the dress had ripped.

“I can be such a klutz,” I muttered, pulling the coat more closely around my shoulders. “I ruined your sister’s dress…”

Nathan shook his head, causing his hair to fall into his eyes. It was funny to see how his natural hair was a d*rty blond color, but his wolf’s fur was as black as night.

I wanted to tell him how handsome his wolf was, but I couldn’t seem to find the right words at that moment.

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“It’s fine,” he said, still staring down at the ground. “Are you hurt?”

I looked down at myself. Although the dress was torn up in several areas and was a bit d*rty from my fall, I felt fine. “My arms and legs are a little scratched up, but it’s nothing too bad,” I said, forcing a weak but embarrassed smile.

Nathan nodded slowly. “Good. Let’s go to the picnic.”

I swallowed. “Are you sure I should… go like this?” I whispered, gesturing to my ruined white dress and Nathan’s suit jacket, which big on me.

as way too

Surprisingly, Nathan simply shrugged. “You’re supposed to be the Luna,” he said. ” No one will be allowed to say anything bad, and besides… Accidents happen. I’m just glad that you’re okay. And… Sorry for being careless and making you fall.”

My childhood friend’s words made me smile. A silence fell between us as I remembered our k*ss from earlier. It was just for appearances in front of the crowd, but in an odd way it felt all too real.

Da mn it, I thought to myself. Don’t get too attached, Olivia. You’re just friends.

Nathan cleared his throat and jerked his head in the direction that everyone else went in. We stepped over the deer’s corpse Nathan would call attendants to pick it

up and prepare it for the feast.

“You know,” I said as we walked quietly alongside each other, “you’re a good hunter.”

Nathan simply shrugged. “I’m alright, I guess. My dad made me undergo a lot of training as a teenager. But I don’t think I ever lived up to his standards.”

I couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. “Really?” I asked. “I think you’re really good. Your dad’s standards must be impossible to live up to.”

My childhood friend didn’t say anything after that. We walked for a little while longer, and eventually the picnic area came into view. I could see tables and picnic blankets set up all around, and already the attendants were carrying the kills from the hunt over to the cooking area.

The cooks worked behind a sheet, but I knew that they were cleaning and

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preparing the meat back there. Already, the air was fragrant with the smell of juicy meat and it made my thouth water.

Nathan stopped just before we walked out into the picnic area, and turned to face

me.

“Just so you know, that k*ss was just for appearances,” he said, sounding almost stern as he spoke to me. “That’s it.”

we were

I felt a bit hurt by his words, although he was right; we were just friends. Maybe I needed to hear him say that out loud so that I could be reminded of what really doing this for.

I nodded understandingly, although I couldn’t deny the fact that I did feel a little bitter that he was making me go through with this whole fake relationship nonsense

But if it helped my friend, then I supposed that I would do it for him.

“Of course,” I said, managing a smile. “I didn’t think otherwise.”

“Good.” Nathan straightened up and smoothed down the front of his shirt. He looked down at me, his blue-green eyes wandering over my messed-up dress and the jacket that was way too big on me.

“Are you sure it’s alright?” I asked, feeling nervous again. “I don’t want to make you look bad, and I’m worried that Jenifer will be upset…”

Nathan shook his head. “Just hold your head high, and no one will be able to say anything about it,” he replied. “And don’t worry about Jenifer. She’s got plenty of fancy dresses. I haven’t seen her

ar that one in… oh, it must be years.”

I furrowed my brow slightly. No wonder it was so small on me; she probably hadn’t worn it since she was a teenager, and she was naturally much more petite than me.

It almost made me wonder… She didn’t intentionally give me a faulty dress, right?

Nathan cleared his throat then, and snapped me back to reality.

*Olivia. Did you hear me?”

My eyes widened and I shook my head. I didn’t realize that I zoned out just then as I thought about the dress.

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But Nathan just laughed and reached out, ruffling my already-messy hair. He paused then and picked a twig out of my hair, then threw it on the ground. “You never had the best attention span,” he teased.

“What did you say just now?” I asked, choosing to ignore his childish taunt.

Nathan sighed. “I said that you should go and get some nice dresses of your own. You’ll need some nice outfits if you want to be seen as a real Luna. You can’t keep borrowing stuff.”

I chewed my l*p. “I would gladly buy some, but… I don’t have any money.”

Much to my surprise, Nathan just shook his head. “I’ll pay for it all,” he insisted. “I’ll take you shopping soon.”

I didn’t know what to say: I never wanted anyone to pay for me. I much preferred paying my own way through life. But before I could protest against it, Nathan grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the picnic area, where the fragrant smell of cooking meat only got stronger.

Da mn you, Nathan, I thought to myself as I watched his head of blond hair walking ahead of me. Don’t go making me fall for you for no reason.

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