Chapter 34: Lingerie and Loyalty
Vivian’s POV
My cheeks were practically on fire. I hadn’t had a chance to buy any essentials since arriving, thanks to everyone acting so oddly around me, but now I had to. Not for Zaliver’s sake, but for my own dignity. There was no way I was walking around feeling like Captain Commando. Absolutely not.
As soon as we stepped inside the store, Johnson excused himself. He disappeared into a back room for barely a second before returning with a petite blonde woman, her soft blue eyes reminding me so much of his. She looked a few years older than me and wore a flowing lavender dress that hugged a very prominent baby bump. I blinked, surprised but not in a bad way.
Her eyes found mine instantly. I braced myself, expecting the usual flash of fear or suspicion. Instead, she smiled warmly, genuinely, as if I were just another woman, not the Luna, not Zaliver’s mate, not the rumored monster.
She stepped forward and offered her hand. "Hi! I’m Hannah, Johnson’s sister. You must be Luna Vivian. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you."
Her sincerity softened something tight in my chest. She wasn’t posturing or playing games. Even my wolf, usually alert and on edge around strangers, felt at ease. There was no challenge in her gaze, just quiet respect.
"Please just call me Vivian," I said, shaking her hand. "It’s nice to meet someone who’s not guarding me."
"Vivian it is," she said brightly. "Let me know if you need help with anything."
Then her friendly smile turned devilish as she glanced at her brother. "As for you, dear brother, I have a job for you."
Before he could protest, she dragged him to the other side of the store.
"I’ll be outside," Luke said, his voice a little too eager. "Patrolling. You know, patrolling."
He didn’t wait for a reply before escaping the store like it was on fire. I rolled my eyes. What was it with men and lingerie shops? They’d eagerly remove these things but freak out the second you mentioned buying them.
"Well," Courtney said with a teasing glint in her eye, "looks like you’ve got the floor, Luna."
"I’m sure you don’t want us watching while you pick out your seduction gear," Mila added, not bothering to hide her grin.
I turned away, cheeks burning again. "You can leave now."
Courtney snatched a red thong from a nearby display and waved it in the air. "I wonder what the Alpha would think about this lacy little number?"
Mortified, I lunged and grabbed it from her hands, stuffing it back in the box like it had burned me.
"I’m not here to seduce him. I’m just shopping," I said as calmly as I could, before striding off with as much dignity as I could gather, knowing full well that no matter what I said, everyone would assume my choices were to catch Zaliver’s attention.
But they are, my wolf chimed smugly.
No, they’re not.
Then get the red thong.
Shut up.
Okay, fine, the black one, then.
I blocked her out after that, pretending she didn’t exist. I was halfway through selecting everything I needed when something passed by me that almost made me choke.
Johnson. In a woman’s lingerie costume.
I swear I snorted, and I wasn’t the only one. The entire store erupted into laughter, soft chuckles and outright cackles filling the air. I knew I shouldn’t laugh, but spirits above, it was just too much.
His broad, clearly masculine frame was stuffed into a too-small outfit that wasn’t even the right measurements. His curls were pulled forward, his expression a mixture of rage and deep regret. And goddess help me, he had side-boob.
Outside the window, he stood with his arms stiff at his sides, jaw tight, staring straight ahead like a soldier at attention. Two older women had stopped to look. One of them said something and pointed. Johnson’s eye twitched.
A child tugged on her mother’s sleeve and pointed too.
Johnson looked directly at me through the glass, caught my eye, and mouthed, very slowly and deliberately, I hate her.
Hannah strolled over and stood next to me, watching her brother stand stiffly outside the store window.
"You are the best brother ever," she called through the glass, a wicked grin on her face.
People were already talking to him, gesturing at the costume, probably thinking it was part of some bizarre advertising campaign. They wouldn’t be entirely wrong.
"He volunteered?" I asked, still trying not to wheeze from laughter.
"Oh yes," Hannah said, arms folded smugly. "I told him sales were dropping and we needed someone to attract attention. I might’ve said I would have to dress up and stand outside, but being the sweet big brother he is, and seeing I’m pregnant, he insisted on doing it for me."
She paused, then added dryly, "What I didn’t mention is that sales are just fine. And that there’s no universe where I’d ever wear that thing in public."
I stared at her, a slow grin stretching across my face. I was starting to understand what Luke meant about little sisters. Dangerous.
Hannah must have caught my look because she grinned and said, "He called me fat in my second month. Fat. No one calls a pregnant woman fat and gets away with it."
We looked at each other and burst into helpless laughter. Full, genuine, stomach-hurting laughter, the kind I hadn’t managed since before the night my mother woke me up and told me to run. It felt good. It felt like something I hadn’t known I was missing.
"You might be my new best friend," I admitted, wiping actual tears from my eyes.
She slung a short arm over my shoulder like we’d known each other for years. "I had a feeling I’d like you. Anyone who makes my brother look that mortified is a friend for life."
But then she spotted the neat pile of undergarments in my basket, and that evil glint was back in her eye. The same look she’d given Johnson just before sending him into costume purgatory.
Uh-oh.
"So," she drawled slowly, lips curving into something that looked suspiciously like her brother’s mischief face. "How do you feel about see-through lingerie?"
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