Page 31 of Fated or Knot

The beta showed us to a section of the store lined with ready-made clothes. She hovered a polite distance away. I waited and eventually turned to Kauz, who mirrored the movement.

“If you don’t start trying clothes on, I’m going to buy every single thing here that fits you,” he said mildly.

That spurred me into action. I looked at every tunic and dress in the first row. These were clothes for noble omegas, made of buttery soft fabrics I’d never worn but wanted to rub against my cheek the moment they were between my fingertips.

The prices glowed on the sleeves from enchanted ink. In reality, Kauz shouldn’t buy me any of them. I didn’t pick anything off the rack before moving to the next one.

I browsed the whole section and turned, empty-handed, to tell Kauz that we should shop at a more affordable store, just to do a double take. He’d slung several items over one arm and reached past me to pick up the cloak I’d just barely restrained a purr over. It was charcoal gray on the outside, with a snowy lining of responsibly harvested fur that I’d snuck a covert rub of against my jaw while I’d longed to wear something so soft. “The changing rooms are over there,” he said, pointing.

The beta jumped forward to prepare a room for me, sweeping away the chosen clothes. I followed, shaking off my daze. The changing rooms were split by designation, with a couple sectioned off for omegas. There were complimentary heat supplies beside a three-fold mirror, and I helped myself to them once I was shut away for a moment of privacy.

I dressed down, pulling my smock and dress off. I used some sanitary wipes to clean away the spots where my perfume and sweat were lingering, not wanting to get any offensive odors on the clothes. Then I sat and peeled my panties off, hissing at how wet and oversensitive my folds were when exposed to the air. I’d come a hair’s breadth from my heat, and my intimate spots still felt it.

No wonder I was so needy to be touched and gentled. My inner omega still craved to be soothed by alphas, and was it any wonder when a couple had shown me hints of care and attention lately? It didn’t matter that they were Unseelie. I wanted their affection.

I sighed and used more wipes to clean off the lingering slick, grateful to wipe it away even as I frowned at my panties. Guess they had to go back on, soaked as they were.

“Lark? You know I want to see you model the clothes, right?” Kauz called.

“One moment,” I called back. Then I poked my head out of the changing room to catch the attention of the beta assisting us. She came over when she noticed me. Though my cheeks heated, I whispered in her ear about underclothes, and she went off to retrieve some without so much as batting an eyelash.

It was another ten minutes at least before I emerged in a new ensemble. Kauz glanced up from where he’d been waiting in a chair built large enough for his wings, which he had half-spread behind him. He had his chin resting in the cradle of his hand but sat up with a jolt when he noticed me.

“Well, look at you.” His tone lit warmth in me, unrelated to any kind of pre-heat. I felt pretty, and my wings fluttered under his admiring inspection. Most of the clothes on offer were neutral colors, designed to make pixie hues pop. They even made the dim glow of mine look nice. This tunic was a light brown, with faun-colored pants that went with it. It’d be good traveling attire, though the decadent fabric felt odd against my skin. If I was given such a nice outfit, I’d be afraid to exist in it and potentially stain it.

We’d acquired a second assistant, apparently, as Kauz signaled to a beta male. “The lady requires new shoes as well,” he said.

“Right away,” he answered, taking a good look at my worn slippers before heading further into the store.

Kauz sent me off to change into a new outfit. He didn’t say whether he liked any of the various things I ended up modeling for him, though on occasion, he asked if I did, especially if something needed a seamstress to fit me correctly.

After the hitch in starting the process, I had fun, enjoying the feel of some of the clothing that swished just right against my skin. He’d picked up everything I’d spent more than a couple moments touching and admiring, and I was grateful for the chance to try it all on.

And the fur-lined cloak… I modeled it last, with the gray pants and amethyst-toned tunic Kauz wanted me to wear out of the store. It was huge on me, as some of the clothes were, but that made it easier to close around my body and sink into like a wearable blanket. It even had a hood… I loved this thing.

“That was everything?” Kauz asked. Once I nodded, he stood and took the edge of the cloak, brushing my cheek with its ultra-soft lining. I began to purr as he did it again. He smiled, adding his fingertips as he held the side of my face for a too-brief moment that I chased by leaning into his touch as he was withdrawing it. He reached for the clasp holding the cloak around my shoulders. “You’re going to overheat if you wear this right now.”

I began to whine as he pulled it off my shoulders, suppressing the sound out of habit before it got too loud or annoying. His starry eyes flickered, something unknowable passing over them. “I know,” he murmured. “I’ll carry it for you.”

“Oh, wait, you’re going to buy it? It’s a lot,” I said, figuring he hadn’t looked at the hood’s edge, where the price was inked. Over a thousand fulls, probably because of the fur.

“Why don’t you rest your leg a moment while I finish up here?” he suggested. He didn’t even look at the cloak’s price before leaving with it.

I sank into the big chair he’d left behind with a sigh. The clothes I wore, plus the cloak, shoes, and underclothes, were already a pricy gift. However, getting to this point had taken a lot more time than Kauz probably expected. We had maybe an hour before the sun would start setting.

The act of taking clothes on and off, twisting to get my wings through some of the holes, trying on different pairs of shoes until Kauz insisted I walk out with the fur-trimmed boots I now had on… I’d aggravated my lame foot at some point along the way. He’d noticed that, too. This male could read me at a glance, it seemed.

Instead of feeling worried, as I probably should’ve been to have an Unseelie able to perceive my inner thoughts so easily, I was flattered. I thought I just might like Kauz, and the smell of pine he’d left behind on this chair. It had to be a soap, since betas didn’t naturally have a strong and distinct scent.

There was something else too, a smell more alluring underneath. Whatwasthat? It passed in and out of my awareness before I could figure out what it was.

He returned after a short while with the fur-lined cloak thrown over one arm. “I’ve been given leave to spritz you,” he said playfully, showing that he had what looked like a perfume bottle in one hand.

“Oh no, I smell that bad?” I asked in a small voice, suddenly mortified that I’d gotten my scent on all the clothes I’d tried on after all. The female beta attendant had offered to dispose of my old clothes, but I insisted on keeping them, so they rested in a bag by my side. My smock still had my limited funds and the tokens from my scent matches.

His snowy lashes fell in a long blink. “No, sweetheart,” he said gently. “It’s a potion to remove the prices. See?” With a little shuffling, he showed me the damp edge of the cloak’s hood, which no longer had luminous numbers.

I nodded, glancing down as I rode out my embarrassment. Kauz sighed as he knelt and took my wrist, spraying away the price on the long-sleeved tunic I wore. “I know you must feel overwhelmed by my family and our personalities all at once,” he said in that same tone. “No one expects you to change overnight. But what you’re doing right now, hiding your face and reactions…we’ve got to break you of the habit.”

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