Page 43 of It All Started with a Bite

Claudette’s perfectly shaped eyebrows shot up. “The new luna?” She studied me more carefully. “I heard the rumor. How interesting.” She paused. “And not at all what I envisaged for your son.”

I narrowed my eyes slightly.

Claudette shot a puzzled glance at Victoria. “Wasn’t there talk between your pack and the Luptons about an engage?—?”

“Abby needs a complete wardrobe,” Victoria interrupted hastily, “including shift-friendly pieces. She will require business outfits, evening wear, formal daywear for social functions, and casual wear.”

I blinked, certain I’d just heard a distinct death flag. I decided to file this away for further investigation and focused on what I’d just heard.

“Shift-friendly?”

“Clothes that transform with you,” Victoria explained. “Unless you want to keep destroying your wardrobe every full moon.”

I blinked. “That’s possible?”

“With the right enchantments, yes.” Claudette was circling me like a well-dressed shark. “I must say, you have excellent bone structure. The clothes in my boutique will hang beautifully on you once we get you out of these”—she waved a derogatory hand—“department store pieces.”

I looked down at my suit, which I’d thought was perfectly nice until about thirty seconds ago. “This is my best suit.”

I lifted my head and faced a trio of pitying stares, Pearl’s the worst of them.

“Now then,” Claudette clapped her hands. “Let’s start with casual and business wear. You’ll need at least five suits for the office to begin with. We’ll move on to formal day wear for pack functions and evening wear afterward. Girls, take her measurements.”

A couple of shop assistants who looked like they belonged on the catwalk appeared out of nowhere. They took my elbows and ignored my protests as they ushered me toward a back room.

Victoria nodded approvingly and followed. “Oh and she needs something suitable for tonight’s family dinner.”

“A family dinner?” Claudette pressed her fingers to her mouth excitedly. “How lovely!”

I choked on air. “What family dinner?”

“You will be meeting the rest of the pack ahead of tomorrow night’s run.”

The reminder that I was T-minus thirty-six hours until I underwent my first full transformation resulted in a sharp bout of indigestion.

Victoria’s surprise revelation about the family dinner was still sinking in when I was escorted into the boutique workshop. One of the assistants leaned in and inhaled discreetly as she guided me to stand on a low platform.

“Did she just sniff me?” I whispered to Bo.

“Yeah.” He wrinkled his nose. “She and her friend are fae. Probably curious about yourEau de Luna.”

That explained the assistants’ stunning looks.

The next hour was a blur of pins, measuring tapes, and increasingly expensive fabric as Claudette and her assistants brought out the shop’s repertoire.

“Arms out,” one of the assistants ordered.

“Higher,” the other one said.

“Straighten your shoulders,” Claudette snapped.

I swallowed an “Argh!” of protest.

Bo, Pearl, and Victoria were not helping where they sat on a velvet chaise offering a running commentary.

“That one makes her look like an angry banana,” Bo said as I modeled suit number three.

“It’s an improvement on the previous suit,” Pearl contributed. “She looked like a tax collector.”

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