Her secret mate

Brotherly love I

To say that Colin was a different person when around his sister would be an understatement. All the snarkiness was changed for soft and sweet comments.

Well, not that he was that bad before. In comparison to the alphas I have met over the years, he was in the top five of alphas, which have a somewhat likable personality.

He was so adorable, and I could not help myself, but laugh at how whipped he was for his sister... well, maybe the fact that his sister knew that he was whipped for her, and it was clear that she knew how to use it to her advantage. She would turn and smile at him while holding something and it had him pulling out his credit card, no matter the cost of it or if the girl would even wear it. I am no longer sure if she needed moral support for shopping as he told me, but maybe she needed someone to pay for her stuff and carry it as she walked around the stores.

Their little family moment almost made shopping in the pack's clothing stores almost bearable. Well almost... Jenifer, who was the sales assistant that followed us everywhere, shot daggers at my back, and she threw herself at Colin any chance she got.

Jenifer, like most of my father's pack, was not my biggest fan. They all saw me as a spoiled princess that was always unhappy with her father and did not show him the respect that he deserved. And now that I am marrying Darcy... a man that was not picked by my father, which was his own scandal at the time. I'm not sure, but everyone knew that my father was against me mating with Colin, and even after he agreed that the mating could go through, Darcy is still seen as below me, because he was not from an old respectable pack. There is also the fact that I spend almost no time with the pack, and I am seen as some sort of traitor here. Not that I had given them any reason to see me otherwise.

"Did you find what you need?"

Colin's calm voice drew me out of my thought bubble.

"Sorry what?"

"Did you find the dress for the official dinner? Are you going to wear that?"

He pointed to a black lace dress that I mindlessly picked up. I looked at it and started to laugh.

"Yeah, not gonna happen."

I said while shaking my head and hanging the dress back on the rack.

"Why? It's clear that you like it enough to pick it up, and I hadn't seen you interested in anything else in the store."

Knowing that he was paying attention to what I was doing this whole time, made little fluttering feeling rise in my stomach, but I ignored that and just shook my head.

"It doesn't matter if I like it. It's not Luna appropriate."

"Luna aproriate?"

"Yeah. Everything I do has to be Luna appropriate, or it will cause a scandal."

"A scandal because you wore a dress that you liked? Isn't that a bit dramatic?"

"Oh it is, but there is no getting around it. Both packs are already unhappy about our choice to mate, so everything either me or Darcy do is under a microscope, especially now that we are out of the academy."

I looked at the beautiful black dress one last time before stepping away from it.

"And not to mention the tiny fact that my parents would throw a major scene if I turned up in anything like that. I am not getting punished for something as stupid as a dress."

"Would they punish you for something like that?"

"Oh they will, and they had punished me for much smaller things..."

"Miss Valery, here, try this."

Jenifer brought a light baby pink dress. It had a sweetheart neckline and short sleeves. It would be more or less tea length on me. I could already see how bad it would look on me.

Don't get me wrong, the dress was adorable, and it would suit someone like Alisha so well... but on me... not only was the tone all wrong, but it clashed with my personality... with my essence so much.

Before I could say anything, Colin started to laugh behind me.

"Please tell me you are joking?"

He was shaking his head with such passion and laughter that Alisha got curious and walked towards us.

"Brother, what got you laughing so hard?"

She asked and Colin just pointed at the dress in Jennifer's hands.

"Cute dress, but please tell me why it's so hilarious?"

"She offered it to Valery."

The young girl looked at the dress again, then at me and then at Jenifer.

"Please tell me you did not pick it for her? Are you sure that styling is a career you want to pursue? Maybe try something a bit less... demanding."

The young girl said as she turned on her heel and started walking at the direction of racks behind us.

"Okay Valery, if you don't mind, let me pick something for you."

She did not wait for my answer as she had just started searching through racks, dismissing dress after dress with struck determination on her face. As she got sucked into the dress selection I saw the similarities between her and Colin for the first time. She had the same power and passion as he did, but I guess hers only showed up when it concerned fashion choices.

It took her almost five minutes and three racks full of dresses, for her to finally pick one she liked.

She pulled out a purple velvet dress. It had a respectable v neck and long sleeves. The skirt had some tasteful ruching at the hips as well as a tasteful slit.

The dress was gorgeous.

"I think this would suit you, especially the color."

She was right, the deep purple was a color that I would also choose for myself.

"Ummm... yeah, I think it will thank you. Jenifer, please wrap it up for me."

Jennifer nodded and took the dress from Alisha's hands.

"I will pick up a few other things if you two don't mind."

I whispered as I made my way to the side of the store to get a few other pieces of clothing that I needed. There was no ignoring the blush on my cheeks and the uneasy feeling in my chest.

This was the first time someone chose something I really liked. She just... she just picked the dress I would have for myself. Not even Darcy got me so well so fast, even now he would gift me something really sweet, but completely not my style. Hell, I'm pretty sure he would have said that the dress Jenifer picked would look great on me, and he would not be saying it to be sweet.

What the hell is it with those two?

How did they crack me so fast and so well?