Chapter 21: Chapter 21

When I left Jori’s pack house, Rie was waiting outside for me by the car. There was a large man standing next to her. Rie’s arms were crossed, and she was glaring at the man.

“Hey,” I said, approaching the car.

This grabbed Rie’s attention. She unlocked the car. “Let’s go. You can sit in the back, big guy.”

I climbed into the front seat. I looked over at Rie. Her face looked pretty neutral. “I’m surprised you offered to take me dress shopping.”

Rie glanced over at me. “Why?”

“Well, I didn’t think you liked me very much,” I admitted. Especially after the conversation I had overheard in the car, I felt pretty nervous being around Rie.

“Because Mark’s my alpha, and you might break his heart?” Rie was so straight forward with her words.

I winced at her words. “Yes.” I didn’t have a defense, and even if I did, I was sure there was nothing I could do to change Rie’s mind. She had known Mark for much longer than me, and I imagined she saw me as the harpy trying to destroy Mark’s heart.

“Look, I will forever and always be on Mark’s side, but that doesn’t mean I am going to shun you. I can’t even imagine what you are going through right now, and I’d like to think you are doing your best, right?” Rie pulled out of the driveway and started walking.

I looked over my shoulder at the guy behind us. He hadn’t said a word to us, and Rie was acting like he wasn’t there. “I don’t know if I am, honestly. It has all been a lot to process.”

“Do you want to hurt Mark?” Rie asked.

“Of course not!” My response was instant. Even if I didn’t want to think about the whole mate situation, I knew I didn’t want to hurt Mark. Or Jori.

“Then that’s enough for me right now.” Rie smiled.

“What if I do end up hurting him? I’m not sure if there is something I can avoid in this situation.” I was terrified of making the decision. I knew in the end someone would end up getting hurt, and I hated the idea of being the person who caused that.

Rie thought about this for the moment. “Of course I want you to pick Mark. All I want is to see him happy. He puts other people before himself all of the time, so for once, I want him to get his happily ever after. But that doesn’t mean I want you to sacrifice your happiness for that.”

I laughed in response, which felt like the wrong response. “Sorry. I’m just surprised. I thought you would react very differently.”

Rie chuckled in return. “Did you expect me to give you the typical, ‘If you hurt him, I will hunt you down’ speech?”

“Kind of,” I admitted.

“I think that’s a ridiculous thing to say, especially because it’s not true. Feelings get hurt, and sometimes it’s unavoidable. Unless someone is being malicious to another person, there is no reason to hate someone or go as far as threatening them.”

“You’re very wise.” I looked out the window and the feeling of nostalgia washed over me as we pulled up to the town mall. It had been over five years since I have been here.

Rie laughed again. “There’s a reason I’m tied for Mark’s second in command.”

Rie pulled into the parking lot, and the three of us climbed out of the car. Jori’s protective detail followed us closely, not saying a single word. It felt a little weird since I didn’t even know his name, but Rie was acting like he wasn’t there. I decided to follow her lead, since I didn’t know how to act exactly.

Rie grabbed my hand and pulled me to a store. She let go when we were inside. I looked around and was surprised with how fancy all of the clothes were. Normally I avoided going into stores like these. It was way above my budget, and I never needed anything this fancy.

“Are you sure this is a good store?” I asked. “Aren’t we just going to have a small party?”

Rie smiled, shaking her head. “You don’t know Scythe very well yet, but there’s no such thing as a small party when it comes to him. Trust me, this is the perfect store.”

I chewed my l*p feeling nervous. I didn’t like the idea of a big party, but if it was going to happen, it would be a waste of energy to continue fighting it. Instead, I walked deeper into the store, flipping through the various dresses. I lost Rie in the racks of clothes, but I didn’t mind it. I forgot how comfortable I felt going clothes shopping. I used to go all of the time with my close friends in high school.

Jori’s bodyguard was following me closely, making sure he was only a few feet away from me no matter where I went. I tried to ignore him for a while. I grabbed a blue dress that had silver sparkles and looked floor length.

I looked back at the man. “Hi, I’m Adira.” I reached out my hand to him.

He looked at my hand for a moment before grabbing it. His grip was firm and borderline hurt. He let go of my hand and went back to his sullen stance. I waited, expecting him to introduce himself, but when he didn’t, I went back to looking for clothes. I wasn’t going to force the interaction.

I saw another dress that was silver with a tulle skirt that went down to my knees. I grabbed those two and went to look for the dressing room. On my way to the dressing rooms, I heard Rie calling my name. My jaw dropped when I looked at her. She had an arm full of dresses already.

“How did you find so many things?” My eyes were wide as I tried to count the number of dresses in her arms.

“It’s easy.” Rie shoved the clothes into my hand. “Time for you to try them on.”

I went into the dressing room and tried on the blue dress first. I went out to show Rie. She instantly gushed over the dress, but when I looked in the mirror, I pursed my lips. It didn’t feel right. It seemed like it was for something way too formal, and I didn’t feel comfortable in it. I tried on the silver dress next, and that one felt like it belonged on a high school dance floor. As I went through the rest of the dresses, none of them felt right.

I found myself standing in the last dress Rie had brought me with a frown. “Sorry, none of these feel right.”

Rie pulled her lips tight. “Don’t apologize. Wait right here. I have an idea.” Rie skipped away into the store.

I stood in the middle of the dressing room, shifting my weight. I looked over at the bodyguard, and he was scanning the room carefully. I wondered what was going through his head. Finally, Rie skipped back with a single dress in her hand. She shoved it into my hands.

“Here, try this on,” she said.

I took the dress back to the dressing room and pulled it on. When I left the dressing room, Rie’s jaw completely dropped. She ran over to me and grabbed my hands.

“You look absolutely gorgeous,” Rie gushed. “Look for yourself.” Rie let go of one hand and twirled me towards the mirror.

My eyes widened, and I couldn’t believe the person in the mirror was me. The dress was a soft peach and the bottom of the dress hung close to my body. However, when I moved, the bottom of the dress flowed like water. I twisted back and forth to make the dress sway around. The top of the dress was a sweetheart neckline and was made out of a silky material. My hands ran over the dress.

“This is perfect.” I couldn’t stop looking at myself.

Rie walked over to me and looked over my shoulder into the mirror. “Happy?”

“Very much.” I was beaming.

“Good. Then this is it. We are officially getting this dress,” Rie declared.

“How much is it?” I asked. I had been avoiding the prices of the dresses so far.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s on me.” Rie pulled out her credit card and waved it in front of my face.

“No, I can’t let you do that.” I frowned, feeling guilty at the thought.

“Nonsense. Consider it a birthday present. I don’t want to hear any arguing either.” Rie raised her eyebrows and gave me a look that stopped my words before they even hit my tongue.