“Here’s the list I made of the clothing you’re going to need,” Jennifer said.She handed me a piece of notepaper. “But if anything else catches your eye, there’s lots of room in your closet.”I glanced at the list and gasped. “Is my closet really this big?”Jennifer’s eyes sparkled with merriment. “If not, we have a lot more closets in the house. And with all the events coming up that you need to attend with Mr. Klein, you will need everything on that list.”There are three ball gowns on this list. Is there some rule that you can’t wear a ball gown twice?” I askedJennifer laughed. “Yes, there is. A wealthy young lady like yourself never wears the same ball gown twice in one season.”“Who makes up these rules?”“Lunas, like Victor’s mother, make the rules,” Jennifer replied.Jennifer had been full of excitement when she heard that Victor’s mother was going shopping with me.I rolled my eyes. “Then it’s a good thing she’s going to pick out my clothes. Do I look good enough to be seen w
“So, talk to me, dear,” Lana said with an encouraging smile.“Explain your feelings calmly,” Diana advised. “Don't let yourself feel so stressed out that you come across as snappish.”I didn’t have a choice. I had to say something and tell her how I felt. Maybe she would understand, but I wasn’t sure if she would have a solution to my problem.I was nervous and jumped in with both feet. “I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but I want to wear clothes that I choose and not what someone else thinks I should wear.”I looked out the car window and waited for Mrs. Klein to say something. But she just sat there as if waiting for me to speak again.“And I hate feeling like I’m always trying to project a certain image instead of being me,” I added.“Don’t you like the things I chose for you today?” Lana’s smile was gone, but she didn’t seem angry. “Every item can be exchanged for something you like better.”“No, it’s not that I don’t like them. It’s hard to explain.” I threw my hands in the air.
Alex was waiting for us at the front entrance. His lips curved into a smile when he saw us get out of the limousine.“Lana, you look marvelous,” he said. “It's been too long since I last saw you. How have you been?”Lana quickly instructed the servants to carry my purchases to my room and approached my father.“I’ve been wonderful,” she replied. “And now it looks as if our children are about to be officially engaged. I’m pleased to discover they are Fated Mates.”Alex’s smile grew even wider. “I’m glad you’re happy to have Daisy in your life. She’s a wonderful girl and very much reminds me of her mother.”“I see Joanna every time I look at her,” Lana agreed.I followed Alex and Lana inside the mansion.“Would you like a cup of tea while the servants bring Joanna’s things down from the attic?” Alex asked.“That would be nice,” Lana replied. “Daisy, this would be a good time to change into your jeans. Perhaps one of the new pairs?”“Yes,” I agreed and went upstairs to my room, where I f
It was time to go back to school the next day.I had been looking forward to seeing Amy, but she seemed different. Whenever I was around her, she constantly checked her phone for messages, and she seemed distracted when we talked.All the other students noticed I looked different than before my ball. They stared and whispered as I passed them or while we sat in classrooms together.I had been expecting it since I was wearing my contacts, a little makeup, and had my long, wavy hair styled in a loose ponytail. The expensive jeans Lana made me buy caught their attention too.It was surprising that Amy didn’t say a word about it. It wasn’t like her to ignore me like this, and I decided to talk to her at lunch and see what was on her mind.I realized I hadn’t seen William yet, as I was walking to werewolf history class. Was he still out of town?I forgot about him as I stopped at a water cooler surrounded by my classmates. They either didn’t notice or didn’t care that I was within earshot.
I hurried to the car and gave Victor a big smile as he held the door for me while I climbed into the Lamborghini.Diana felt Adam nearby, and she was like a wolf hurling herself against the walls of a cage. Her excitement was contagious. It was making me jittery.“You need to calm down, Diana.” I laughed. “You and Adam don’t want to distract Victor and get us into an accident, do you?”“Of course not,” Diana said. “It’s just difficult not to be able to greet Adam properly.”Both of the wolves calmed down, and they seemed content to be close together as they let Victor and I speak.“Are you going to tell me why you looked sad as you were walking away from the school?” Victor asked.I was impressed that he noticed. He seemed to care about me more than my best friend did today. But I wasn’t sure if I wanted to talk about it.“It’s more than one thing,” I said as the Lamborghini pulled away from the curb. “I’m sure these things never happened to you, so I doubt you’d understand.”“Please,
I took Victor's advice. The following day when I got to school and found Amy outside waiting for me, I asked her not to text for a few minutes.She looked more grown up than ever with her light blonde hair styled in a twisted bun at the back of her neck, and she was wearing mascara and eyeliner that made her chocolate brown eyes look even prettier.“What’s up?” she asked.“I don’t want to sound like a jerk,” I began. “But I feel like you don’t want me around anymore because of Justin. Doesn’t he want you to have friends?”I knew from watching talk shows that a guy isolating his girlfriend is one of the signs of an abusive mate.“We never talk about our friends much,” Amy replied. “I’ve mentioned you. He knows you’re an Alpha and that I went to your ball. But we don’t talk about you much.”“What do you talk about?” I asked.Amy shrugged. “I don’t know. What we want to do with our lives and stuff.”“Please try to understand, Amy. I want you to be happy. I want you to be with a guy that
“I don’t know if I can wear this gown, Jennifer,” I said as I studied my image in the full-length mirror.I was wearing my mother’s ball gown, but I hadn’t realized that the Queen Anne neckline of the dress would show a hint of my cleavage.“It looks fantastic on you, Miss,” Jennifer said. “The seamstress did a wonderful job tailoring it to your figure.”“It looks terrific on you,” Diana said. “Why don’t you like it?”I put my hand over my chest, covering the area at the top of my breasts. I’m not sure I’ll be comfortable wearing this one around people for a few years. It will be more suitable for me when I’m older.”“You can hardly see anything,” Diana argued.“It would still make me more nervous than I already am,” I told her. “I don’t like feeling like I’m on display at functions like this.”“You have other gowns suitable for this ball.” Jennifer pulled another gown out of my closet. “This one has a neckline that will show nothing of your breasts.”The gown Jennifer held out for my
I pulled the pearl and gold wire wreath from a clump of hair tangled on my shoulder. I felt proud of the way my hair looked. I couldn’t believe it was ruined.“I can’t skip this ball,” Victor said. “Are you sure you can’t comb it or something?”“No.” My lower lip quivered. “Look at me! I …I can’t be seen like this. Don’t you …you realize how buh …bad people will talk about me and laugh if they see me like this?”I lost the fight to hold back my tears. “I’ll nuh …never live it down. Please, Victor, just take me home. You can come back by yourself.”“Daisy, try to calm down. It’s just one ball,” Diana said.“No one has seen you.”Victor put the Lamborghini into gear and backed out of the Phillips’ driveway. But instead of turning right to take me home, he turned left.“Where are we going?” My voice was shrill, but I couldn’t help it. “I need to go home. If people at school heard about my hair looking like this, I wouldn’t be able to show my face again.”Panic raced through me. How could