Because Mayor Pearl had leveled huge fines against the Pack for indecent exposure every time they transformed in public—all shifters shifted back to their human forms in the buff; it made winter supremely unpopular with some of them—the Northern Lakes Pack had been forced to come up with a solution for the problem.
The fae engineer that had made my rifle also did some work for the wolves. She’d created thin, gold bracelets all the wolves wore that, when they shifted from wolf to human, triggered a cloth spell that covered the most important bits—at least the ones that would get them fined by Mayor Pearl.
For the female wolves that meant these sack-like shapes that could technically be defined as dresses, but were really baggy, and basically existed just so they could walk themselves to one of the clothes drop-off points without getting fined.
For male wolves, there was a pretty wide variety given that the fae had done a lot of experimenting when she first made the bracelets.
Wyatt puffed up his bare chest as his covering—a blue kilt—flapped a little in the breeze. “Nothing like a run through the woods to pump you up!”
“Yeah.” Aeric tried stretching out his hamstring, which yanked the hem of his kilt tight. “I guess.”
“If you’re not careful you’re going to bust your kilt again, and the fae engineer told you next time you did that she’d engineer it to have roses and kittens,” I reminded him.
Aeric propped his hands on his hips. “Excuse me, I am not wearing a kilt. This is clearly a skort, thank you!” He yanked up the front flap to show me the shorts the skirt-part hid.
“I didn’t really need the visual, thanks,” I said.
“That doesn’t matter,” Aeric said. “My skort cost me so much more than the basic kilt, I’m going to make sure I get my money’s worth out of every one of them! And I’ve decided I don’t care about that fae’s threat. Shania told me she thinks I’d look good in roses and kittens!”
Wyatt rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah.”
“She’s a good and supportive girlfriend,” Aeric continued.
“We know—you tell us that every day,” Wyatt said.
“You’re just jealous you don’t have a girlfriend,” Aeric said.
“True.” Wyatt leaned up against a young tree, which groaned ominously under the pressure of his strength. “I joined two dating apps, and I’m still not having any luck. I hope it’s just my profile, and not me?”
“It’s your profile,” Aeric said with confidence. “You are one cool wolf. Whoever you date will be lucky to have you!”
“Thanks, man.”
“Don’t mention it!”
While Aeric and Wyatt exchanged manly hugs, I peeled my target off the tree I’d attached it to, used to the ways of their bromance.
I’d been friends with them pretty much since I’d arrived in Timber Ridge when I was twelve, but it wasn’t until Greyson became Alpha and the previous Alpha’s daughter, my best friend Lynn, left the Pack with her parents that we became better friends.
“You know, if you’re desperate, you could date Pip,” Aeric offered.
“Desperate?” I spun around to glare at the pair.
Wyatt grimaced. “Yeah, sorry, no, I’m not that bad off.”
“Hey! That’s mean!” I folded my target up and prowled up to the pair.
That’s it. Next time they make me go into Howl-In Café to get their coffee drinks, I’m getting them decaf!
“Sorry, Pip. You’re great and all,” Wyatt said. “You just…have that dog vibe.”
“You do,” Aeric agreed. “I don’t know if it’s because your pheromones make you just so cute we want to ruffle your hair, or if it’s like a self-defense aura unique to hunters. But you just have that…feel. The same way Greyson has that Alpha vibe!”
“Yeah,” Wyatt said. “It’s a feeling that makes us want to hang out with you, play with you, and have fun. But, like…not at all romantically appealing.”
“Gee,” I wryly said. “Thanks.”
Their words might sound mean, but it didn’t affect me too much. I’d been told I had a dog-like vibe since around the time I turned sixteen. It put a real cramp on my dating life.
“Oh, that is a good way to frame it, Wyatt. You might not be able to get a girlfriend, but at least you haven’t been outright rejected like Pip a dozen times because you have a dog vibe.” Aeric patted Wyatt on the shoulder.