Chapter 8

Silver City was nothing the girls had ever seen before. So many stores to shop in, clubs to dance in, and places to go where they could be themselves without worrying about hiding who they were. It was a taste of freedom, and they loved every minute of it. They passed a beautiful boutique with gorgeous dresses hanging in the window. Tabitha was the first to stop and look. “Wow, these dresses are amazing,” she said quietly. Gretchen and Vita stopped next to her as they all stared at them. Esha smirked as she watched the girls drool. “Why don’t we go in and have you try some on?” she suggested. Gretchen shook her head vigorously. “I don’t think I could afford any of these.” “You don’t have to worry about a thing; the dresses are a gift for being guests here in Silver City,” Esha explained. “Really?” Vita asked with a furrowed brow. Esha nodded her head. Tabitha shrugged. “I’m game if it is truly a gift. It would be rude of us to reject it.” Esha smiled devilishly. “Exactly. Come, let’s see what we can find for you for tonight’s party.” Tabitha and Gretchen giggled with excitement as they followed Esha into the store. Vita was hesitant. Why were they paying them so much attention? First the beautiful hotel room, and now expensive clothes. What else were they going to offer? What did they really want? Deak walked up behind Vita and whispered into her ear, “Calm yourself, my love.” Vita closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She turned and looked at Deak. “Thank you.” He kissed her forehead. “Go have some fun with the girls; we’ll go check out some of the other shops to keep ourselves occupied.” He reached up and rubbed her cheek with the back of his hand. “I want you to find something that makes you feel beautiful when you look at yourself in the mirror.” Vita shook her head. “I don’t think—” Deak raised his finger to her lips to stop her from saying something negative about herself. “For me, will you do this?” Vita sucked in a deep breath as she puckered her lips to kiss the finger against her lips. Deak’s eyes filled with desire as he lifted a brow and watched her do this. Vita smiled as she watched her mate yearn for her touch. “Don’t tease me,” he whispered. Vita smirked as her eyes told him she was ready for the challenge. “Behave,” he growled with need. Vita licked her lips before she leaned up and placed a soft kiss on her mate’s lips. “I’ll see you later,” she told him. “I’ll be waiting,” he promised. Vita walked toward the entrance to the boutique and disappeared into the store. Marco slapped Deak on the arm to get his attention. “Relax, she’ll be fine,” Marco told him. Deak sighed as he looked around the street they were on. “Let’s find a bar or something. I need a drink.” Marco and Colson grunted in agreement as they walked further down the street to find something to do while the ladies played dress up. *** Three hours later, the girls walked out of the boutique with various bags hanging from their arms and hands. Vita had fun hanging with just the girls, but something was missing from the whole experience. “I wish Amanda were here,” Vita said as she looked down at her bags. Tabitha had stopped laughing the second she heard her friend and future Luna’s name. “Maybe we should call her to let her know we got here okay?” “Who’s Amanda?” Esha asked with curiosity. “Our friend from back home. She recently completed her mating ceremony and wanted to spend some time with her new mate,” Tabitha explained. “Oh, maybe you should invite her and her new mate to come and spend some time here. Silver City is a great place to have a honeymoon,” Esha offered. “I’ll let you know when we talk with her. We should probably go look for the guys,” Tabitha suggested. “No need,” they heard a deep voice say behind them. The girls turned and found the guys walking up to them with a few bags of their own. “Where have you guys been?” Tabitha asked with a lifted brow at her mate. “We wanted to show up looking as good as our women for tonight’s party,” Marco told her. “Mm-hmm,” Tabitha said with a displeased look on her face. “Let’s get you all back to the hotel to get you ready for tonight. I’ll have hair and makeup artists coming to the girl’s rooms at six o’clock. The limo will pick you all up at nine,” Esha explained. A limo pulled up, and the driver collected the bags and put them in the back of the car. Everyone filed into the car and headed back to the hotel. Once there, they got out and collected their bags. “I’ll see you guys later when you show up at the party tonight,” Esha said with a wave, and the car pulled away. “Hey, let’s see if my grandmother is up and show her the dresses we got,” Gretchen suggested. “Then we can call Amanda and see how she’s doing,” Vita added. The girls giggled as they entered the lobby and headed for the elevator. The guys were strolling behind them. They seemed to be sulking. “What’s wrong with you guys?” Tabitha asked. “Nothing, we’re fine,” Marco told his mate with a shrug. Tabitha narrowed her eyes at the three guys. “Do you forget I’m a wolf too and can smell your emotions reeking from you?” Marco mind-linked his mate quickly. Marco: Tabitha, stop making a scene and making things worse. Colson and Gretchen are still very new in their relationship, and Colson missed her. He’s trying to keep it cool. Tabitha looked surprised at her mate. He had never snapped at her before. She turned and looked at Colson. “I’m sorry for saying something,” she told him. Colson shook his head, “It’s fine,” he told her and tried to smile to show that everything was fine. Vita and Gretchen were confused. They weren’t wolves and couldn’t sense if there was something wrong with their mates. Gretchen walked up to Colson, hooked her arm in his, and leaned against him. His wolf started to calm down at the touch of their mate. The elevator door opened, and everyone slowly walked in together. There was an awkward silence as everyone rode the elevator to their floor. When it finally opened, they all slowly stepped out. “I’ll get ready in Ruby’s room and meet you downstairs,” Tabitha told Marco as she turned and walked away. “Tab.” He tried to grab her, but she kept her distance from him. Marco clenched his hand into a fist and then released it. “I guess I’ll see you all in a couple of hours.” The girls turned to their mates and gave them soft smiles before they turned and followed Tabitha to Madeline’s room.