"Your human has a wedding dress appointment," I told the wolf.
She closed her eyes and made a sound suspiciously similar to a snore.
I nearly smiled.
"Merrily. She’s the autumn fae queen."
The wolf's eyes opened, and narrowed.
That would be her possessiveness. All magical beings were possessive of their mates, so it was entirely unsurprising. A good sign, though.
"The other fae royals are my family."
The wolf relaxed for the most part.
"I have raw steak in the fridge," I added. I'd prepared for Kat's wolf being more of a wildcard than the woman was, and everyone I talked to had mentioned that bribery was a near guarantee when it came to getting a wolf to do what you wanted. "If you shift back now, I'll give it to you after the dress fitting."
The wolf studied me for a few minutes, then shook her head.
Shit.
She climbed off my lap and jumped off the couch, padding toward the door that led into the garage.
Apparently, she wanted to go in her wolf form.
I grabbed the clothes Kat had left on the couch when she shifted, and followed the wolf out to my black SUV.
I'd deal with the shifting problem when we reached the dress shop.
Somehow.
Kat's wolfsat in the passenger seat. She didn't fit even slightly, and kept putting her paws on the center console so she could lean over and lick my hand where it sat on the steering wheel.Or she’d lick my cheek. Or the side of my neck.
It wasn't unpleasant.
Even if I hadn't liked it, the lack of pain that accompanied it would have been worth some discomfort.
When we reached the dress shop and parked, I stared straight ahead, debating how much to push Kat's wolf.
The wolf liked me, which was a good thing. The more she liked me, the less likely she would be to try to escape.
I didn't want to ruin that by pushing her.
I also didn't want to piss off Merrily any more than I already had. She didn’t believe in abducting someone, even if fate declared them yours.
Merrily was the person who dealt with most of the nightmarish organizational requirements that came with running Rumor's Cabinet, so staying on her good side was important. She was basically a sister to me, as well.
The Cabinet was far from united, so her job was miserable. I'd probably made it much worse by murdering Simon. The werewolves weren't powerful, but they made up more than sixtypercent of the city’s three and a half million immortals, so they did have some sway.
They were the only species of magical beings that lived all over the city, not just in their own Borough. And while no one had liked Simon, they were still loyal to him.
Loyalty was arguably the most important thing to wolves.
I had been intensely careful to make it clear through the media that there was no one else for me. Kat may not have realized that was what I was doing, but that wasn’t important. She would have had no reason to question my loyalty, even while I was keeping my distance so her magic could settle safely.
Her wolf leaned over and licked the back of my hand again.
The icy pain that felt like tiny daggers embedded in my skin was already eased just by her presence beside me. With her rough tongue on my hand, it vanished entirely.
