Everything is scented.Everything.
Putting the basket down, I start to scope out the products on offer, sniffing at different lotions and random shit until my head hurts. It all goes into the basket until it’s close to full and my head is aching from the different smells shoved up my nose. Nothing smells anywhere near as good as the soft sweet raspberry scent of my Soul Bonded, but hopefully there’ll be something in there she enjoys.
Leaving the aisle with a grateful inhale of scent-free air, I tackle the next one, grabbing another basket. Gray finds me wild-eyed and clutching something called a – a throw pillow?
“Tris,” he says carefully, approaching me slowly. “Ah… what are you doing?”
I show him the pretty pattern on the green pillow. “You think Sienna would like this? Jax said she didn’t have anything in her room. I thought—,”
I can feel the heat creeping up at the back of my neck. I’m no good at this stuff, not really. Logan did the bulk of the work in making Sienna’s room presentable at the house, and I don’t think he ever went shopping for this kind of stuff.
“I’ll get a trolley,” Gray says, glancing around. “I think we might need it.”
He’s right. We work our way through the store until the trolley is overflowing, grabbing a second one. Anything that looks like something Sienna might like goes in. I spend ages looking at different types of lights, picking out several sets of stringed warm white lights. I also slip something else into the trolley.
Gray comes back with his arms stocked up. “Candles,” he says testily. “Why the hell are there so many different types?”
He spills them into the trolley, and we both stand there. “You think that’s everything?” he asks.
I start pushing one of the trolleys towards the grocery section, and he does the same. “We can’t keep relying on Emmett to feed us, and I want to get some things for Sienna. She’s not eating enough.”
Maybe some treats will tempt her. We were always taught that omegas like sweet things. I remember that much of my training at least.
It takes an age to ring everything up, and the cashier, a thin-faced young beta male with a messy ponytail eyes us suspiciously. “You with that group?” he asks. “The ones looking for the girl?”
Gray and I both stiffen. “What group?”
The kid shrugs, tossing things into bags haphazardly. “I dunno. I heard it from my manager. They came in a few days ago looking for a girl with pink hair.”
“Huh.” Gray studies the bags, faking waning interest. “Never seen a girl with pink hair before.”
“They haven’t been back?” I ask, and he shakes his head. “Don’t think so. Thought you might’ve been with them.”
“Nah,” I say casually. “Just traveling with my wife and brother.”
Gray chokes as I nod to the kid and we load the bags into the trolley as quickly as we can. I spare a brief moment of thanks that the debate the Council had last year about changing Navarre currency didn’t go through, and we still use the same money. We’d be fucked if we couldn’t access our accounts.
“Shut up,” I mutter as we leave. “They don’t have packs here, remember?”
“You think they’re gonna come back?” Gray shifts closer as he asks the question, his mouth pressing together.
“I don’t know.” But if they do, Emmett’s bar isn’t exactly the safest place. We might have to move on and hide Sienna in a more built-up area, but I can’t see our Soul Bonded agreeing to travel anywhere with us at the moment.
We spend the drive back in contemplative silence. I’m trying to work out a plan to get this stuff into Sienna’s room, and when I pull in and see Jess in the yard when we get back, I dive out.
“Jessalyn!”
Her lips curl as she turns. “Did someone call me?” she asks nobody, putting her hands on her lips and twisting around. “Nope. Just an annoying little alpha with a god complex.”
I take a breath. Good job she’s on Sienna’s side.
“Jess, I need your help.”
She squints at me. “I know,” she says slowly, “that there’s no way in hell you’re stupid enough to think that I would help you, Crispin.”
I fight the urge to bare my teeth. She knows my damn name. “Not for me. For Sienna.”
It’s plain as day that there is nothing this girl won’t do for Sienna. Her hostile demeanor changes slightly as her eyes flick towards the bar. “What?”
