Page 15 of Luna Trials
“And then you’ll be stuck just like me,” I screamed.
“Aspen, are you okay in there?” My papa knocked at the door.
“Don’t come in. I’m naked!”
Not exactly. But the band of material cutting into my flesh didn’t really count as clothes.
“Uh.” I could practically hear him scratching his head. Shifters didn’t worry about nudity much.
“Hang on.” I squeezed my belly button into my spine and yanked on the fabric. There were no straps. It was a tube top that I pulled up over my not that large D cups.
My ribcage saved my lungs, busting the seam in the back a few stitches, and I inhaled precious air. I turned to the mirror on my dresser and burst out laughing.
I looked like a casing of sausage pouring out at both ends of the slinky dress. Stef definitely didn’t have my curves.
“I’m going to have to cut this off.” I shook my head at my reflection.
“Did you say you needed scissors?” My papa chuckled from the other side of the door.
Cheeks red and sweat beading on my forehead, I nodded. “Yes please.”
*
“I don’t know why you need those.” My papa motioned to the clothes.
“I don’t.” I started shoving them back into the trash bag.
“Do you need clothes?” He scratched his beard, giving me the strange look he’d given the first time I went into heat when I was eighteen. Like I was some sort of rabid animal and he didn’t know whether to set a trap or run.
“No.” I sat on my twin sized bed and put my head in my hands. “Yes? Maybe. I don’t know. I’m not sure I can do this.”
“You’re not sure if you need clothes or not?”
A laugh rippled through me even though I wanted to cry. “I don’t know if I can do this stupid show. Those females, they…”
I took a deep breath and looked up. “I’m not like them.”
“How do you know that if you’ve never met them?” He wheeled his chair closer to my bed.
“Have you actually seen the show?” I asked. “They’re all candidates from the major packs. Alpha groupies with higher ranks and money to spare on clothes and things. I don’t know why Trenton got an invitation. I don’t think it’s just me either. The three of us are going to be a joke.”
And maybe that was the point.
Did the producers need some comic relief?
“I can’t say I know about all that. But I don’t think this is a joke.” His chest puffed out a bit like it always did when I was about to get schooled.
“And why is that?” I sighed.
“Even before the show started, the Alphas from the major packs brought their children together during the season. Some of it may have been about power and prestige, but I think they wanted that one thing all parents want.”
“Obedience?” I asked.
“No, smartass.” He chuckled. “This is a chance for your wolf to find her match and be happy.”
“What if I’m happy without a mate?” I knew it was hard for him to believe because he was so in love with my gram, but not everyone needed to settle down and get mated to live a happy life.
“Aspen, you’ve been running for so long, I don’t think you know what happy means.”