A Luna Scorned

Chapter 21

"I cannot believe you ate that whole thing". Liam said, wide eyed.

"I was hungry. You made me do quite the workout this morning." I shrugged. We walked back to Liam's SUV. He beat me to my door and helped me inside. His gentleman side was really quite charming.

"Where to now?" He asked.

"I don't know. I don't really have anywhere to be." Just then my phone rang. I wasn't familiar with the phone number, but answered it anyway.

"Hello. This is she. Oh, wonderful. Yes. Yes, that works for me. Great. See you then. Thank you."

"Everything okay?" Liam inquired.

"Yes." I tucked my phone back into my leather purse.

"Can I ask what that was about?" He prodded. A wave of fear washed over me. Would he be upset I was going to interview for the job at the feed store?

"Calm down." He gently stroked my cheek. "Why are you so nervous? I can feel your tension."

"Well, I...um…"

"You can tell me anything Kyrie. I'm here for you. One hundred percent."

"Well, the day you stood me up, I went to do some shopping. I found a cute little feed store near here. I have been spending a lot of money on clothes and I applied for a job while I was there. I need an income."

"Sweetheart, you don't need an income. I will give you whatever you need or want. Why would you apply for a job?"

"I was sure you wouldn't notice me being gone. You were so involved with Rachel all of the time. I didn't feel like I could come to you for anything, and I'm definitely not going to ask you for money." I defended my actions.

"Hey, I am here to take care of you. You don't need to worry about a thing. Will you please cancel the interview?" He was practically begging. I expected him to be mad, and he really wasn't upset at all. Or if he was, he was very good at hiding it.

"I'm sorry I put you in a position where you thought you had to go get a job to support yourself."

"I've always made my own money. I've always supported myself. I gave a lot to the pack too, when I could. It's nice having my own income."

"How about this, I will give you a monthly allowance. How does five hundred a month sound?"

"Liam, no. I can't just take money from you " I blushed. I was embarrassed that he would even suggest that as an option. I was not one for handouts.

"Okay, what if I hire you to do paperwork for the pack? Like an accountant. To keep track of spending, handling ordering food and equipment and things like that. Does that sound good?" He was trying to strike a bargain.

"That's better." I was kind of sad about canceling the interview at the feed store. It was as close to my home life as I was going to get out here.

"But you're still not swayed?"

"Not entirely. I mean, it sounds like a good alternative. But I don't want you to employ me out of pity."

"Woah, I'm not doing it out of pity. I just want to keep you close. If I had a say in the matter, you wouldn't work at all. But I understand that you don't want an allowance, and that you would rather work for your money. I'm fine with that. But I'd feel better if you worked at the pack house." I understood where he was coming from. But it still didn't make it an easy decision. I looked down at my hands in my lap.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Liam brushed my stray hair behind my ear.

"Nothing, and everything. The feed store is the closest thing to home that I can have here. I was excited about being somewhere closer to my normal surroundings." I explained. Liam sighed and rested his head in the driver's seat.

"I don't know that I can give you the life you were used to, Kyrie."

"I know. I don't expect you to. That's what was nice about the feed store job. But I understand not wanting me away from the pack all of the time. I'm just not used to that. In my pack, most of us work outside jobs with humans to make ends meet. We didn't have wealth backing us. We had to create our own wealth. Speaking of that, where did yours come from? How are you able to support a pack this size mostly by itself?" I felt bad for asking, it was really none of my business. A look of concern crossed Liam's face.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have asked. It's none of my business".

"No, it's fine." He relaxed a bit.

"If you don't want to say, it's fine."

"My grandmother worked for a friend's parents. They were humans. Best friends. They went to school together. They owned a media company in town. My grandmother worked there her entire life. When her friend's parents retired, they made her CEO. Her friend didn't want to take over the family business, so, right before her friend's parents died, they gifted the company to my grandmother. She stepped down as CEO, but retained ownership. I now own the company. My grandfather invested a lot of my grandmother's money. He was pretty smart with his money and made some really good investments. He taught me a lot about investing so that I was able to continue building up the pack and the company. The media company pretty much runs itself. But I still have to do a lot of work for it. But investing is really where the money is. We don't really need the media company, but I enjoy the work, so I haven't sold it. There have been some very nice offers made on it. But my grandmother helped build that company. She dedicated her life to it. I don't have the heart to let it go. It would kill me if it was run to the ground by someone else. All her hard work, down the drain." He explained. I could see the love for his grandmother and her company all over his face. He was very proud of her and what she had accomplished.

"That's really cool. A family business."

"Yes. One day I'd like to have pups of my own to pass it down to." He smiled at me. I couldn't help but blush.

"If you play your cards right". I laughed.

"I totally intend to. So, Friday night. What sounds like fun to you?" Liam questioned.

"OH! It's Friday!" I squealed. "Back to the house!"

"What's today?" Liam was so completely confused.

"It's Friday! There's a rodeo tonight. Cole and Ari and I were all going tonight. I almost forgot!" Liam turned the car in the direction of the pack. He was silent for most of the ride back.

"Are you alright?" I prodded.

"Yeah. I'm fine." He smiled weakly.

"No. Something is wrong."

"Well, I really wanted to spend the evening with you."

"What are you talking about? We are spending the evening together." I hadn't said anything about the rodeo to Liam, and I was sure he was thinking he wasn't invited.

"You're going to the rodeo though."

"Yeah, with Cole, Ari and you."

"I'm invited?" He questioned me.

"You are now." A big grin crept across his face as I invited him. "I've never been to a rodeo before, but I'm excited."

We arrived back at the pack house and Liam and I went our separate ways to get ready for the rodeo. I had just gotten out of the shower when I heard a knock at my door.

"Hey lady. So, what's a good outfit to wear to a rodeo?" She had brought a ton of clothes with her and laid them out on my bed.

"Geeze Ari. Did you bring your entire closet?"

"Not even close! This is like a quarter of what I have." Ari laughed as she fumbled through the clothes.

"Okay, give me a second to get dressed." I had been standing there wrapped in my towel still.

"Okay." She continued holding different outfits up to herself. I quickly got dressed in the bling pocket jeans I had bought a few days before, and I threw on a plaid button up top. I left the top few buttons undone, revealing the lace camisole I had on underneath. I completed the outfit with a pair of western thunderbird earrings and my new boots.

"Alright, so, do you have anything like this?" I gestured to my outfit.

"Um…" She sorted through her clothes, tossing shirts and jeans all over my floor.

"Ah ha!" She exclaimed triumphantly as she held up a pair of jeans with bling out pockets.

"These look close to yours."

"Yeah. Those are good, but honestly, any jeans are fine."

"If you're wearing sparkling pants, I'm wearing sparkling pants." She laughed and dug around through her shirts.

"Will this work?" She held up a cute short sleeved tee with a rhinestone angel wing pattern on the back.

"I love it. That will be fine. But honestly Ari, most of these shirts will be fine." I rummaged through and picked up a cute brown shirt that had cutout sleeves and intertwined straps across it. "I LOVE this shirt, Ari!"

"You can have it, love. I think I've worn that once, maybe?" She put her finger to her lips and stared up at the ceiling thinking about it.

"I can't take it."

"No. Take it. Really. As you can see, I have more clothes than I need. If you love it and will wear it, it's yours."

"Thank you!" I bounded over and hugged her tightly. I quickly removed my shirt and cami, revealing a plain, nude colored bra.

"Oh, honey. Is that the only bra you own?" I suddenly felt insecure about my chest and nodded my head in affirmation.

"That just won't do. What size are you?"

"34b". I said sheepishly. I hated my small size. Although I was tall, I was so petite and my chest never seemed to fill out bras, bikinis or shirts right. I was so incredibly flat chested.

"Wait here". Ari grabbed a bunch of clothes off my bed and disappeared in a hurry. I headed back to the bathroom to blow dry my hair.

About two minutes later Ari reappeared in my room, holding a red, lacy, racerback bra.

"Wow." The words escaped my lips as I rubbed my fingers over the soft fabric. "That's pretty."

"It's yours." She pushed it in my hands.

"Where did you get this? It still has the tags".

"I convinced a friend to buy it, but I knew she wasn't crazy about it. I just asked her if she still had it. It's yours if you want it. You both are the same size."

"Are you sure?"

"YES!" She laughed. I turned around and threw on the bra. It was gorgeous and fit me like a glove. It made my boobs look huge. I turned around to show Ari.

"Why are my boobs so big?" I fiddled with the bra.

"It's a push up! That's what it does. They're magic." She changed her shirt as we spoke. I put on the shirt Ari had given me.

"Looks good!" She told me as she changed her shirt again.

"Perfect." She settled on a shirt. "Now, sit. Let's get your hair and makeup going."

"Okay, but you need to teach me. I want to learn."

"Deal." She said as she fussed over me.

About an hour later Ari finished. I looked like a supermodel. She had walked me through her steps and I felt that I could do a better job next time on my own.

"Hey girls, you ready?" Liam swung my door open.

"Good thing we're dressed". I quipped.

"If you don't want people bursting in, lock your door." Liam laughed.

"We're ready boys." Ari grabbed her purse off my bed and headed out the door. I grabbed mine and followed her out.

"Rileys going to come too. If that's okay." Liam asked.

"Totally." I had decided to let what Riley did slide. I know I told him to not say anything to Liam, but it seems to have worked out in my best interest, so I couldn't be too mad. We all piled into Liam's SUV. Liam and I in front, Riley, Cole and Ari in the back, and off we headed towards the rodeo.