Page 19 of Full Moon Frenzy

Her mouth opened, jaw working, her voice trying and failing to start until the werewolf raised an eyebrow pointedly.

“I just moved here. I-I heard you on the phone,” she blurted out at last, fire rushing up her face. “ And then when the owner came out, and I just . . . how? How did you do that? How did you learn to—” She gestured at the woman, voice trailing off. How did you learn to become someone brand new?

The werewolf’s eyes softened, intuiting what hadn’t been said. “Well, it didn’t happen overnight, if that’s what you’re hoping. Do you have a job yet? If you’re running away from your pack, I can put you in touch with—”

“Oh, I, um. I’m a doctor. Yeah, I have a job.”

“A doctor?!” The woman laughed, taking a step closer. “Honey, you already have everything you need, in that case. And you’re pretty. You just need to . . . let it go. And I know, that’s easier said than done. Let me guess — you got a sibling in rehab? Parent who’s proud of you but resents you, too? Expects you to give every bit of yourself and every dollar in your pocket to people who wouldn’t piss on you if you were on fire? And you hate them but you still desperately want their approval?”

Adriana smiled thinly. Read you like a fucking book. “Well, my brother’s in jail, so . . . I guess that’s a version of rehab.”

“Close enough,” the wolf laughed. “A doctor . . . Okay, so at least you have a budget to work with. Clothes — nothing with a designer logo. Simple. Spend money on fabric, not labels. You’re going to make an appointment at this salon,” she paused, fishing a tiny notebook from her bag, “and do whatever they say. Get your nails done if you can’t do them yourself. Every week. Keep your shoes clean. That’s what people will notice. The voice . . . I watched a lot of movies. I also had the benefit of being pregnant for two straight years, so we had a lot of time for movies, but . . . higher than you feel is normal. Enunciate. It’s not, yeah, you have a job; it’s yes, of course I’m employed. I copied. I copied until it was natural.”

She handed over the name and number of the salon she’d written on a scrap of paper, her stack of gold bracelets sliding. The wedding ring she wore sported a blue diamond the size of a gumball, its anniversary halo a circle of shining stones, and the pendant around her neck sparkled with an emerald and a sapphire. She was polished and put-together and expensive-looking. And she’s from two towns over from where you grew up.

It was Dr. Marsh who’d first made her realize how completely out of depth she was, her third day at the clinic. The managing physician of the practice was charming and glossy, casual beneath his white coat, yet somehow still expensive-looking and immaculate, not a hair out of place. The staff adored him, and Adriana knew without needing to be told that his appearance and overall comportment contributed to their fondness. She had felt like a shabby mouse that day as he breezed through the clinic, delivering iced coffees to the staff, and when he’d left with a gleaming white smile, she’d realized that her emergency department chic — bedraggled hair pulled into a messy bun and a mustard stain on her coatsleeve — wasn’t going to engender much admiration.

She would do whatever they told her at this werewolf’s salon, if it would help her look the part.

“Most importantly — you don’t take anyone’s bullshit. You let the folks around here treat you like you’re lesser and they’ll never stop. You got family here?”

Adriana shook her head, carefully pocketing the scrap of paper. “No. I’m alone. I told my mom she should visit, but now I don’t think it’s a good idea. This place is so expensive. There’s a notebook in there that’s really pretty, but it’s eighty-four dollars. For a notebook! I helped my folks out of a bad jam not long ago, so I’m trying to rebuild my savings . . . What did you have to do to afford all this?”

“What did I have to do?” the she-wolf asked, laughing. She turned, gesturing up the block in the direction of where the coffee shop stood at the center of Main Street. A man was standing in front of the building that housed the shiny gold clock tower. When he noticed them looking his way, he threw up his hands in a universal gesture of impatience that transcended species. “Him. But I love him, so no regrets.”

Adriana laughed, her throat sticking as she nodded.

“But you have endless options. You’re pretty. You’re obviously smart. You’re going to start investing.” She fished another card out of her bag, handing it over. “Make an appointment; you’ll be set up with what you need. Start dressing the part. Pay attention, watch how people act, what they say, how they sound.” She hesitated, her face tightening for a moment. “You don’t have to let go of the folks who love you, only the cycle. They’ll keep you trapped in it forever if you let them. But sometimes that means cutting your losses. That was the promise I made to myself when I got out — there was no going back. I was never gonna let any of my boys be caught up in pack life. You can start over. This is a nice place to do it in.”

She could do this. She could be like this wolf, who’d shed all she was, too. “Someone brand new,” she murmured.

“Someone brand new who deserves a new notebook,” the woman said pointedly.

“Would you spend eighty-four dollars on a notebook?!”

“I wouldn’t because that’s absurd. But I also don’t need one.” Her canines glinted as she smiled. “Go in there and buy it, because you deserve it. And today’s the day you start remembering that. You know, there aren’t too many coyotes in this area. You’re going to have a hard time finding a pack, if that’s what you wanted.”

“I don’t,” she answered quickly. “My pack days are done.”

The she-wolf nodded with a small smile. “Good girl. I’m Didi, by the way.”

“Adriana. Thank you . . . so much.”

The she-wolf gave her that bright smile again, her green eyes sparkling. You can be like her, someday.

“I wish you good luck, Adriana. You don’t ever have to forget the place that raised you. But it doesn’t need to define you. I look forward to meeting your next evolution, whoever she may be.”

***

“I’m telling you, I saw him! She’s not making it up! Normally he’s there with his brother on Thursdays. They sit alone, and no one bothers them. This was Monday! He spent the whole time I was there standing at the bar, and he definitely left with the elf from the carriage house.”

She was standing at the edge of the coffee shop’s long counter, just beside the pick-up area, listening to the tiefling behind the espresso machine talking about some unnamed person.

“Well, he’s single now,” Xenna countered, although Adriana noticed she was frowning as she said it. “There’s nothing wrong with that, right? Although, I really don’t understand what that teacher was thinking. You move your mama here to where that man is, so you can hold onto him!”

The tiefling pfffft’ed her words with a shake of her head. “I guess so, but it makes me wonder. How do we know his girlfriend left for another job? Especially after hearing that he slipped out of Hyleena’s at the crack of dawn without even saying goodbye. And you know she hates Lyla! They’ve been enemies since like, the third grade! Everyone knows that. So to hook up with both of them? I don’t see how you can hand wave that away. You know I’ve always said he’s too hot for comfort. He and that teacher weren’t even engaged! Maybe because he was slutting his way around town and she left broken-hearted in the middle of the night.”

The sheep woman burst out laughing, her frown forgotten. “Girl, goodbye. You have lost the plot entirely.”