He gripped my wrist, narrowing his eyes. “Careful, little wolf,” he rumbled, the sound shooting to my core.
Rissa slinked up beside me and grabbed my other hand. “There are a couple more gowns that caught my eye for you.”
Leo glowered at his sister as I pulled away. “She’s the boss,” I said, winking.
The two of us walked back to the dressing room, which was a chaotic mess of tulle, heels, feathers, and satin. Rissa pulled me to the clothing rack and held up another dress.
“You know, for someone who leads an entire rebellion, you sure are messy,” I pointed out with a laugh as she tossed the gown to the ground.
She waved her hand in the air. “People are easy, if you can find what keeps them motivated.Fashion, on the other hand…” Smiling, she brandished a sleeveless black gown that billowed like a dark cloud at the waist. Intricate silver flowers trailed down the skirt, sparkling when they caught the light from the high window.
“Black?” I questioned. “That doesn’t seem like your style.”
“Haven’t you heard? Black is this year’s pink.” She winked and hung the dress separately from the others. “Besides, it’s not for me. I happen to know it’s Leo’s favorite color.”
I snorted. “Why am I not surprised?”
She helped me undo the buttons on the burgundy gown. I’d enjoyed spending more time with her today. There were so many things about the bright-eyed, exuberant yet level-headed leader that intrigued me. She was an enigma; calm and easy going, full of jokes and laughter. But I’d seen the other side—the calculated Sentinel, the woman who could take charge and bend others to her will with a single sentence. How had she become this fearless figurehead who commandedsuch respect?
Stepping out of the first dress, my curiosity took control. “So, Leo told me a little about your childhoods,” I said slowly. “I had no idea how difficult it was for Shifters when your magic comes in so young.”
Rissa handed me the black gown. “It feels like a lifetime ago, honestly. I remember the first time I shifted—partially, anyway. I was nine. My mother had scolded me for not cleaning my room. She said I wasn’t allowed to go outside and play with Leo until I made the bed. I was so angry that when I tried grabbing the pillows, my hand shifted into a paw.” She chuckled, her blonde curls waving. “Shredded right through the fabric. But Mother was so excited, she didn’t even care.”
I let out a soft laugh, then cleared my throat. “He said the beginning was challenging. I could tell it was hard for him to watch you go through that.”
Her features tightened slightly. “Yes, well, adolescence wasn’t easy. For either of us.”
“No, it wasn’t,” I murmured in agreement. “But look at you now. You’re…” I waved my hand at her and she smiled.
“Quite impossible to describe? I get that a lot.” She smirked playfully, but her face fell a moment later. “Sometimes I wonder if things would have turned out differently had Leo and I not been forced to grow up so fast. Our father died suddenly when we were twelve, and Mother got sick not long after. We didn’t have anyone to help us hone our magic. I had to learn how to control my emotions, to keep a cool head and work through the hard days without losing myself to my Shifter half. Most people have years—decades—to master that, but I…” Her eyes drifted to the side while I finished pulling on the gown. “Suffice it to say, tolerance and acceptance didn’t always extend to people like me.”
“I suppose that’s what makes you such a successful leader,” I mused.
Rissa fussed over the fabric of the front of my skirt, smoothing it down and fluffing the bottom. “What makes you say that?”
“Becauseyouhad to learn tolerance through that. You had tofigure out how to put what was important over your own emotions, all while dealing with your grief and being shunned by society.” I shook my head and let out a long breath. Rissa had made the most of her trauma, wearing it like a battle scar and sharpening it as a tool. I, on the other hand, had let mine pierce me through. “It might have been for survival at first, but I can see it in everything you do now. Even if I’ve only known you a couple weeks.”
She flushed. “Here I was thinking you were trying to get my brother to fall in love with you, notme.”
My heart stuttered, then picked up speed as my body jerked reflexively. “What? I don’t?—”
“Oh, please,” she said with a smirk. “I can hear your pulse from a mile away.” When I moved again, she winced and looked down at her hand, where a small dot of blood had bloomed from a pin snagging her skin.
“Sorry,” I said with a cringe, reaching for a handkerchief next to my bag and helping her wipe the blood away. The cut healed within seconds. “How farcanyou hear, anyway?”
She shrugged. “It depends what form I’m in. Fully shifting gives me the most powerful instincts. But even partial increases my senses a bit.” In the blink of an eye, her dark irises took on a golden tinge and her human ears lengthened until I was staring at two fox ears on the side of her normal human face. She wiggled them at me.
“How efficient,” I said with a laugh. Motioning toward the doors leading to where the others gathered, I asked, “What are they talking about back there?”
She paused and listened, her lips pulling up. “Lark is pestering Horace about being drunk, Chaz is laughing at the beak mask Lark made Horace try on, and Leo’s staying quiet. Probably brooding since I took you away from him.”
My cheeks heated again and she laughed, turning me so she could lace up the gown. “I haven’t seen him this happy in…I don’t know how long. I think you’re good for him, you know.”
The blush spread to my neck. “We’re not—we haven’t really talked about…” I trailed off, unsure what I was even trying to say. Whatever was between us was fleeting. How could it be anything else, when I was leaving in less than two weeks?
Rissa raised an eyebrow. “You think I don’t notice him sneaking back home at the crack of dawn every morning?” She fixed my hair so it flowed down the side of my neck. “You light a fire in him, Rose. One I haven’t seen in ages. I think my little brother is so used to being the protector that he sometimes forgets how to live his life outside of that role. He’s become jaded and cynical, with a one-track mind. But lately, he’s been like his younger self. More present. He gets along better with everyone and even makes jokes. A little irritable, sure”—we both laughed at that—“but he’s finally passionate about something other than the mission.” She spun me to face her, dark eyes sparkling. “And my gut tells meyoumight feel the same, yes?”
I pinched my lips together. “We barely know each other.”
