The Cursed Shifters - Mateless

Dressed to Dazzle

A knock on the door drug all three women from sleep, groaning and stretching, Bex practically crawled to the door and opened it to find Dre standing there holding two dress boxes. Shiloh groaned again loudly, she had already forgotten the stupid engagement party, looking at her phone she realized it was already two and the party started at five thirty with dinner, she threw the phone down and looked at Kira. “Ugh, Dre, call doc and tell him to come to Bex’s room, he knows what for.” Dropping her head back onto the pillow she couldn’t even remember getting off the bed she mind linked the alpha. “Terry, I have a girl we rescued last night, I haven’t decided if she is coming with me or not. This is your heads up.”

                                “Very well, did you get him?”

                                “We will discuss it tomorrow when I brief you but no, he escaped.” Shiloh closed the link; she was still too tired to bother with Terry’s questions. Picking her phone back up she put in an online order for three coffees from the coffee shop down the road that delivered. Bex had taken the boxes and closed the door on Dre whom Shiloh was pretty sure was laughing at the three of them. By some baristas magic the coffee arrived before the doctor, though not too far ahead, just enough for Shiloh to start feeling her face and Bex to stop growling. When he knocked, they yelled in unison “Just come in!”

                                “Is this the patient?” Doc asked gesturing toward Kira, he knew she was, he knew every wolf in the pack and more then that, this girl was as Shiloh described, malnourished, and dehydrated.

                                “Yep, she ate her weight in breakfast this morning and drank a few sodas, that coffee probably has more calories than breakfast did to.” The doctor rolled his eyes at Shiloh, the girl acted like coffee and ale8 were the only nourishment she needed half the time. Doc set his bag down on the coffee table, dodging the empty plates and soda cans and looked at Kira. “I’m Doctor Slone but everyone just calls me Doc. I am going to give you a physical and a good once over, poke your belly and such to make sure you’re ok.” He sounded like he was speaking to a wounded animal and to her credit Kira nodded, she was wide eyed and a little frightened, but she consented.

                                Bex locked eyes with Kira and sternly spoke, “We are right here, Shiloh and I are staying with you. You are safe.” The last word was magic to Kira, she visibly relaxed and nodded to Doc again. It was all he needed, and he opened his bag to get tools to check her out. After checking Kira’s reflexes, eyes, ears, and throat he asked her to lay down and raise her shirt. Panic set into Kira’s eyes again, Shiloh scooted closer to her and took her hand, nodding in solidarity. Kira laid down, she was still tense, but she let the doc poke at her abdomen and check her ribs for any fractures. He felt along her shins, arms, and collar bone for any breaks, fractures, or poorly healed injuries.

                                “You can sit up dear, I’m finished.” Turning toward Shiloh he began the breakdown, “She is in fact malnourished and dehydrated but you’re working on that, I will need to do blood work on her, but she is vitamin D deficient; she has some old wounds that have healed well and a number of bruises. I strongly recommend you get her to a female gynecologist to check the things she wouldn’t want me to look at.” He reached into his bag and removed a bottle of pills and a bottle of liquid. “Multi vitamin and vitamin D drops, once a day. From what you told me I suspected these would be needed.” Doc closed his bag and started to the door, “Shiloh, she is fit enough to be up and moving but don’t start training her yet.” With that he left.

                                “We have two hours to get ready for this shindig. Kira, do you want to attend an event tonight or stay in? There will be a lot of people there.” Shiloh figured it was best to let Kira decide what she was comfortable with.

                                “I’d rather stay in, I’m not ready for people.”

                                “Would you be willing to keep an eye on our friend that was injured last night for us then?” Kira nodded with a small smile. “Then we need to get ready. Bex we better get you into that dress!”

                                Bex headed for the bathroom, dress box in hand and Shiloh followed behind her. Spreading the dress out on the ground, Bex stepped into the center of it and stooped to pull it up around her and put her arms through the thin straps. Shiloh swooped in to start lacing up the corseted back, sealing Bex into the gown. “Oh, I forgot to tell you the other night, with everything that was going on, most of this skirt detaches. If we need to fight, which I doubt, under the first two layers of petals is a strong velcro that attaches all the other layers, you just have to grab the split here,” Shiloh grabbed the split between to petals at Bex’s hip and gave a slight tug, the sound of velcro pulling apart, then She pressed it back into place. “And you’ll be left with a short pixy skirt you can move freely in.”

                                “Ha! That’s awesome! I honestly had no idea how I would fight in this thing!”

                                “You should have known If I designed it, it would be functional.” The girls laughed and started out of the bathroom. “I need to go get the makeup and stuff, kind of figured we would get ready in my room. I’ll be back.”  Shiloh stepped toward the door revealing Bex to Kira as she did, and Kira’s jaw dropped.

                                “Oh wow! That dress is, just wow.” Shiloh swelled a little as she walked to the door, she loved when someone made positive comments about her work, art or otherwise but it also made her feel awkward, so this situation was perfect. She could hear the praise, but it wasn’t directed at her.

                                “I’m running down the hall to get hair and makeup stuff, I’ll grab you some clothes while I’m there, mine should fit better. Tomorrow we will take you shopping.” Out the door she went, headed for her room.

                                Kira appeared confused as she turned back to Bex, “I don’t have any money to get clothes.”

                                “Shiloh is most likely putting them on the pack card, can’t have you running around naked, can we?” Shuffling the many petals around Bex planted herself on the couch. “So you’re a fairy?” Kira nodded. “Do you have any powers?” She shook her head no and looked at the ground. “Why did Vareese think you were a key then?”

                                “I don’t really know, he said that since I didn’t have powers, I must be a half breed, but I don’t know why that would matter and I’m not.”

                                “How did he get you? You should have been super safe from vampires surrounded by fairies.”

                                “Well, we weren’t staying at a court, we were staying with a wolf pack. I was too little to know all the details, but mom did tell me when I asked once about my dad that he was gone and its why we didn’t live with the other fairies. So, I assume, now that I’m older, that he was executed, and mom fled with me.”

                                “He thought you were half fairy half wolf because you lived with the wolves and your mom was a fairy. That makes sense actually.”  A light but urgent series of kicks on the door alerted Bex that Shiloh had returned, and she hurried over as best she could to get the door. Giant makeup box in hand and arms full of brushes, irons, and sprays, Shiloh was using her chin to hold some of the items in place in her arms. Clothes for Kira were tucked tight against her body. A hairspray rolled out, crashed to the floor, and rolled across the room as Shiloh made for the bed to dump everything.

                                “You ready for this?” She challenged Bex.

                                “Not at all.” All three girls laughed as Shiloh drug the tolling chair over beside the bed for Bex to sit in and plugged up a curler. Bex’s short pixy cut didn’t take long to curl into soft waves in the longer sections near her face and Shiloh had soon moved on to makeup. She approached Bex with concealer and a blender ready to start her art project.

                                “Wait, I’m darker than you, your foundation is going to make me look like a snowman.” A mischievous grin spread on Shiloh’s face.

                                “I bought this one in your color, no escape.” She attacked, concealing, contouring, blending, blush, highlighter, and then came the eyes. Yellow that blended to orange and then brown at the outer corners, very fall like but perfect for the dress, she finished the eyes with a small wing on the liner and mascara and chose a lipstick that suited before ever letting Bex see what was going on. Kira had gotten nosey and a little braver, she inched up behind Shi and peeked over her shoulder at Bex, she gasped, awestruck.

                                “Can you make me look like that too?” Shiloh smiled broadly and looked at Bex.

                                “We are keeping her, I like her. Yes, I will do your makeup tomorrow when we go out!” Shiloh pulled a small box from the bottom section of her makeup box and opened it, not letting Bex see what was inside. “Last thing, then you can go look and Kira can help you get your shoes on.” Lifting the small autumn beauty sunflower out of the box she tested the clip on the back of it before opening it and sliding it into Bex’s hair above her ear on the shorter side. “Go look!” Bex darted across the room for the bathroom mirror and squealed.

                                “OH MY GOD! I LOVE IT!” She leaned in over the sink looking closer, “How do you even do this stuff? The few times I’ve tried to put on any makeup I just made a mess.”

                                “I’ll teach you if you want to know how to do it.”

                                “You better get ready now, you have a lot more hair, I’m sure it will take a lot longer to do then mine.”

                                “Ugh, you have no idea.” Retrieving all her products from the bed Shiloh piled the bathroom sink with them and went back for her dress. “The music is coming on and I don’t want to hear a single comment about my horrendous singing, I have to get into my groove to deal with this disaster on my head.” A pointed look to Kira and Bex who both busted out laughing as the door closed on the bathroom. Sorry I’m Not Sorry by Demi Lovato blared from under the bathroom door, Bex and Kira looked at each other again and busted out laughing once more.  Hearing the laughter on the other side of the door Shiloh smiled to herself as she began her work, sectioning out her thick hair. Hair sectioned she opened the dress box and spotted note along with circlet made to sit further back where a headband would rest.

Shiloh,

I don’t know what you and your friends did exactly, but I know you’re the reason there haven’t been any more girls vanish.

Thank you.

                                Retrieving the circlet from the box she took it in, it appeared to be made of brushed nickel, not bright and shiny like silver, little vines tangling together and weaving in and out of each other with small flowers and leaves made of black and clear crystals. It was elegant and perfect for the dress. Half up with the hair it would be. Getting Bex ready had only taken thirty minutes, but curling Shiloh’s hair had taken an hour, time was running out to be ‘on time.’ “We are shooting for fashionably late!” Shiloh yelled to Bex through the door. “Call Michael and see if Lennon is fit to move, that way he can come in here and Kira doesn’t have to hang out in a smell guy room.” Her words wobbled a bit as she tapped her foundation on. Fifteen minutes and black smokey eyes later makeup was done, and it was time for the dress. Lifting it from the box she could tell that the alterations were perfect and Celest had taken some liberties that were even better. The bodice was a corset style and Celest had removed a couple of the panels and replaced them with lace that had a similar vining pattern to the circlet, a panel of the same lace ran from high up on each hip all the way down the length of the now A line skirt, the slit Shiloh had asked for was so high up the front of the thigh it was almost revealing but it was perfect for her to move in, just as she had asked. “Uh, Bex!” She called as she slid the dress up her hips, “You’re going to have to put all the weapons under your skirt, Celest took some liberties, and I won’t be hiding much on me but maybe a knife down the front of the bodice between my boobs.” Why Bex found this funny Shiloh couldn’t fathom but the laughter bellowing out from under the door was indicator enough that she did.

                                “I got you girl; you don’t need any anyway!”

                                “Have the boys made it in yet?”

                                “No but they’re coming, Lennon is fit to move around but he’d be useless in a fight right now.”

                                “Ok come in here and close this dress up before they get here.” Bex scurried into the room and gasped just as dramatically as she had when she saw herself.

                                “Dang girl we both clean up good! Why don’t we have boyfriends?”

                                “Because men are annoying.” Taking them both in through the mirror while Bex closed up the back of the dress Shiloh couldn’t help but to appreciate their friendship. They were different, Bex was all sunflowers and sunshine while Shiloh tended to be dark with a morbid sense of humor, their dresses showed this but the didn’t show both the girls love of sarcasm and music or the fact that they would fight to the death to protect each other. They worked, they fit, opposite but compatible. Shiloh turned her music off; she could hear Dre and Michael trying to get Lennon into Bex’s bed. “Speaking of annoying men, your room is full of them. Ready to shock them?” She smiled wickedly at Bex who returned it with a nod and grabbed the doorknob. The door flew open and both ladies stepped out of the bathroom, heads snapped to them, jaws dropped, and Michael and Dre dropped Lennon on the floor right next to the bed. Had his mouth not been wide open to catch flies he probably would have at least grunted at the impact, but he was just as shocked by the two women before them as Michael and Dre. “Boys, you might want to pick your jaws up off the floor, you’re going to catch flies.”