Flora thought back to her childhood to little Shifter Suzie, the first girl to break Flora’s heart. Their sleepover turned into a nightmare when Flora shifted into her panther for the first time. A celebratory moment meant to be shared with friends and family, a joyous milestone into “Shifterhood” was destroyed by the terror etched in Suzie’s eyes. Flora learned later that night that if she’d turned into a wolf, or a bear, or literally anything besides a panther, Suzie wouldn’t have had such a reaction. A child's first shift into their animal was something to celebrate, like a birthday party. Signs would become apparent, like having a high temperature and itchy skin; family, friends or Pack members would gather around for weeks on end until the child finally shifted. Those signs for Flora came in hot and quick. Shifting in Suzie’s presence wasn’t the plan, but a Shifter can’t control their first time. From then on, she had to protect her mental state and keep her animal identity a secret. Selfishly, she liked the connection between her and her panther and wouldn’t have it any other way.
With respect to one another, Shifters didn’t ask each other what their animals are but making guesses was acceptable. Flora was sure her friend had made connections and guesses as to what her animal was; this jungle gym was a big hint. Flora guessed Willow’s animal was a wolf, since wolves are extremely family-oriented, and Willow had become so close to her that they were practically family with that though Willow could also be a lioness or cheetah. With Willow’s caring and loving personality, Flora thought her friend would fit perfectly into a Pack.
She couldn’t say the same about herself; being part of a Pack was a foreign concept to her. Panthers are solitary animals, so naturally, she was too. She moved out of her parent’s home when she was 17 and started making money from Dainty Rebel. That was seven years ago.
“You know what, let's just create our own designs without outside influence; this camel toe shit is too much,” Flora concluded, swirling around in her chair.
“Finally!” Willow exhaled.
Dainty Rebel started with customized shoes. As a teen, Flora used to draw on her canvas sneakers, which people noticed and wanted to buy. Now she had expanded her products to all sorts of accessories: shoes, jewelry, hairpieces, the works. Dainty Rebel was still a smaller company, a sole proprietorship to be technical. With no silly board of directors to answer to, Flora made the final decisions, and she was determined to keep it that way. Being based in her sweet Shifter town, life was perfect. Besides the trouble of having to come up with a new, awe-inspiring, and show-stopping collection.
* * *
“What about wedo something daisy-themed, like killer daisies?”
Luxe, Flora and Willow's partner-in-crime, exuded earthy vibes in everything she did. Her blonde shoulder-length hair and taupe brown skin screamed "fairy" vibes. Flora remembered when she was nervous about going blonde because she was worried it wouldn’t fit her dark-skinned complexion. After three months, Flora finally convinced her to make the change. Her prime reasoning on why Luxe should go blonde was how good Willow looked with her auburn hair. Sadly, battles with skin color were still a prominent racial problem among humans that spilled over to the Shifter world. Luxe didn’t grow up in a Shifter community like Flora and Willow did, so that mindset followed her. Willow and Flora were positive influences for her, although Flora couldn't relate to how her dark-skinned friends experienced the world. "Light skin" privilege was a very real thing.
Luxe was a wolf Shifter. Flora never thought she would be so close with a wolf Shifter, especially a Luna wolf, a natural-born leader who stereotypically conflicted with the independence of a panther. It was an ordinary day when Flora stumbled upon Luxe in Shifter form on a sidewalk in town. Since then, Luxe was determined to become Flora’s friend after finding out she was a Shifter like her. Shifting in public wasn't normal, but shit doesn’t always go to plan when an animal takes over.
“We did that two seasons ago. We gotta spice it up, take it to the next level,” Willow implored from her rocking chair in the backroom of Clothes Before Bros, where Luxe worked. The owner of the resale shop never had a problem with Willow and Flora hanging out with Luxe during her lunch break. A couple times a week, the girls all met to take their lunch break in the decorated backroom. Clothing racks filled the space, fairy lights hung from the ceiling, and fake vines lined the walls.
“Rings could work out, like literal metal rings That could be cool,” Luxe exclaimed. She dashed towards a shirt from a nearby clothing rack. The blouse had metal rings connecting the sleeves to the shoulder seam of the bodice. While the top itself was ugly, the badass look of the rings could be the focal point of Dainty Rebel’s new shoe collection.
“Brilliance flows from that gorgeous brain of yours, darling. Metal rings could be the next hottest trend, especially in shoes. The trending bucket hats already have them, so adding them to shoes would logically be the next step.” Leaning in towards her notebook, Flora started sketching to draw inspiration from later.
“Now that that is out of the way, what’s going on with this bright orange dress? It was quite an interesting choice to make this morning,” Luxe said, looking Flora up and down. As ambitious as Luxe could be, her style was definitely more conservative than Flora’s.
“I saw a picture of a traffic cone and felt the need to look the same. Regardless, I look good — and stop side-eyeing me Miss Cardigan-and-Tennis-Skirt hoe!” They all burst out laughing.
“So, are you going to tell Luxe about what happened at Lust Lane last week?” Willow said as she raised an eyebrow at Flora.
“What…happened, Flora?”
Flora twisted and twirled the ends of the braids that sat on her lap. “I onlythinkI was followed when I left, and for that reason I drove to the police department before I made my way home to scare them off.”
“Did you make a report?” Luxe questioned.
“A report on what, that Ithinksomeone was following me? You know they don’t take those things seriously. Not to forget, we’re not allowed to involve humans in Shifter business,” Flora said leaning back in her chair. Flora hated to make her friends worry, but more than that she hated to let them think she didn't have things under control. She didn't currently, but they didn't need to know that.
Honestly, Flora was terrified. Some of the girls at the strip club had had stalkers and one of the girls was involved in an attempted kidnapping a couple weeks before. Thankfully, that girl's tough ass animal killed the attacker before they got to wherever he was trying to take her.
“Why not call the Council then; can they do something?” Luxe tried again.
“Not this early—an attack needs to actually happen, even then the chance of them sending someone to catch thispotentialstalker is slim,” Willow informed. When it came to the Council, the rules and regulations were loose. They only stepped in when huge problems occurred, like a war between different Packs, needing to find killer rogues, or keeping humans out of nonhuman business. Protecting the existence of all nonhumans was their only concern.
“You need a bodyguard, then. Look, I know a guy who has a brother that could totally help you,” Luxe said, phone already in hand as she started to make a call. Flora jumped up from her seat and grabbed Luxe’s hand.
“No calls. If your guy is a Shifter, they’ll want to know who they're protecting, what my animal is, and I can’t risk it. They're too damn nosy.”
“He won’t ask. He’s super private like that,” Luxe said.
“Are they part of a Pack?” Flora asked, sitting back down, feeling more and more vulnerable as their conversation continued.
“Yeah, but it will be okay, I know the Alpha personally. He’s the one that comes into the store sometimes.”
Luxe had a huge crush on this Alpha for a while now since he came into the shop about a year before. From the pictures Luxe showed Flora, tall, dark, and classically handsome describe him well but Flora didn't completely trust him or his Pack. Protection of the Pack was an Alpha’s top priority; letting one of their own guard someone who is not part of their Pack puts them in danger.
“No, no, no — look, if it happens again, I’ll give you a call and we can set something up with a bodyguard.”
