Page 47 of The Forbidden Wolf

“I don’t know.” I threw one arm up in a dramatic shrug. “I have nothing to wear?”

Chapter Eighteen

Hey. What’s that movie with the space fish?

I have no idea what you’re talking about.

Yes, you do. He has big wet lips and shouts, “It’s a trap!”

Oh. Admiral Ackbar? Return of the Jedi? Why?

Heh. That’s you now.

I growled under my breath, ignoring her panting laughter in my head. She was right though. Just like that doomed Mon Calamari, I’d flown headlong into an imperial-strength disaster. Five hours after Sebastian left, Ruby arrived at my door, dragging a luggage trolley laden with stacks of designer shoe boxes and dozens of elegant dresses draped on wooden hangers, narrowly avoiding interrupting the last few moments of the season one finale of Alma Mater Animalis.

Lucky for Sebastian. I would have been far less receptive to his extravagant unwanted gift if it had come during the emotional—and Emmy-earning—offer the heroine couldn’t refuse. Or could she? I didn’t know. Before she could answer, the credits abruptly rolled, and this haunting yet hopeful song called “Black Sheep” started playing, and suddenly all I wanted in the world was one more hug from Charlie.

Meaning that when Ruby showed up a few minutes later, I was feeling lonely enough to let her and half of Sak’s Fifth Avenue into my living room. She didn’t bring a single shred of fabric I would’ve picked out for myself, but then again, my formalwear choices had always been made with Kiana in mind. Sharing a face meant our clothing had to make it obvious who was heir and who was spare. But that didn’t matter in Manhattan.

Where I lived.

I lived in Manhattan.

No. I owned Manhattan.

After Sebastian left, I had pressed my miserable face to the rain-streaked window overlooking Central Park and suddenly heard the voice of James Earl Jones intoning, “Everything the light touches is our kingdom.” Then he paused and said, “Ignore the rain. You know what I mean.” And just like that, I did know. Sebastian might have traded down, but I had traded way, way up. Tower Room at the Plaza Hotel up. Torch of the Statue of Liberty up. Observation Deck on top of the Empire State Building up.

And maybe, just maybe, if I earned my mate’s trust… Last Century Cinema uptown up.

So, I’d resisted the urge to resist the gifts and granted Ruby full permission to dress me however she saw fit. I thought that meant she’d pick out a dress and some shoes, and I would throw them on thirty minutes before I walked out the door, but no. Apparently, Sebastian’s idea of a date required a full face of makeup and an elaborate hairstyle held in place with scalp-stabbing pins. I’d been sitting on the bathroom stool for over an hour, and I wasn’t even dressed yet.

“Almost…” Ruby dragged out the word as she ran a tube of lipstick over my pouting mouth. “There we go! Do this for me.” She folded her own lips inward, and I obeyed. It wasn’t like I hadn’t been wearing the stuff when we met on Sunday, but I liked how my general vibe had given her the impression this was a She’s All That situation.

Beaming, Ruby stepped back and spun my stool around to face the bathroom mirror. I gasped. First, in horror because all I could see was Kiana, but then Ruby put her hands on my stiff shoulders, and I made myself relax so as not to be rude. She had done an incredible job. Like, she could have been working in a diva’s dressing room down on Broadway if her family’s rank hadn’t doomed her to servitude. And I could have been that diva.

Those painful pins were holding my thick blonde hair in a side chignon that was serving some serious Old Hollywood glamour. And in spite of the fact that my ass had totally fallen asleep while she worked, my face appeared wholly naturally, as if she had only enhanced its colors in the editing booth. My blue eyes sparkled underneath lashes twice as long and thick as they’d been when I sat down.

I did look like Kiana. There would never be any way around that, especially not in front of a mirror, but… for the first time, I saw something more than just my twin. I saw my mother. Brought back to life in me for a change. Tears instantly threatened to ruin the whole look, so I tilted my head back, blinking rapidly.

“Oh, none of that now!” Ruby smiled gently and grabbed a tissue to dab the corners of my eyes. “Can I take this as your approval?”

I nodded and grasped her hand with gratitude, unable to speak just yet without opening the floodgates. Her smile widened, and she tugged me off the stool and into the living room. I shivered in my skimpy formal shiftskin—barely more than a strapless bathing suit really—as she led me to the bedroom where rain continued to pelt the windows.

“What do you think?” Ruby gestured at the dress she’d laid out for me—a simple, dusty blue, A-line number that, like my hairstyle, had a certain vintage vibe about it. I hadn’t given it a second thought when I saw it on the rack earlier, but now I realized I might have picked it out for myself, after all, if it weren’t for the well-trained voice in my head telling me to never outshine my sister.

“It’s perfect,” I murmured.

“Then let’s get you in it.”

Ruby helped me step into the dress, which was practically an evening gown. The bust pulled in at my waist in gentle folds, allowing the skirt to flow lightly down to the floor. A slit ran up the front of my left leg and ended halfway up my thigh, which was certainly more skin than I’d ever been permitted to show back home. I felt a moment’s hesitation, remembering I was being styled more for Sebastian’s pleasure than my own.

But then my thoughts turned to Damian in his bunker, how angry he would be if he could see me brazenly drawing male attention toward that which must remain hidden until after my mating ceremony. I bit back a devious grin as Ruby drew the zipper up my back. Perhaps I could kill two birds with one stone in this dress. Perhaps Sebastian would be so distracted by desire that he would agree to let me attend the administration of the truth serum later. If the oily Bronx Beta knew my father’s mind so very well, then I wanted to hear everything he had to say about me for myself.

“Alright, Miss?” Ruby asked, smoothing the loose ruffles of my plunging neckline and stopping just short of making it to second base. Nerves exploded in my belly. Sebastian was probably counting on making it to first this evening.

“I’m fine.” I drew a shaky breath. “Will the Heir and I have a chaperone on this outing?”

“You are betrothed adults.” Ruby gave me a curious look. “Do you wish for one?”

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