Chapter 3: Shopping

After school was finally over, Mandy and I said our goodbyes until we would be meeting a little later to go shopping at the mall to get new dresses for my birthday party.

James was waiting for me near his car as I was descending from the front stairs towards him with my books in hands. As he waved me over, I noticed Tyler and Max were with him and they were all goofing around.

Looking around, my eyes went to the edge of a parking lot on the right side near the grass area, and I saw those same three guys that I was watching in the cantina.

The two—blondie and chocolate as I call them due to not knowing their names—were looking at something that seemed to be a phone, while the dark-haired raven guy was leaning against a tree whilst talking on the phone with a frown on his face.

Even when he was frowning, he was attractive. To be honest, I haven’t seen any guy who has piqued my interest as much as he has. I felt my Siren feeling restless the moment I looked at him.

He looked up in my direction and I froze. A lazy smirk started to show on his gorgeous face.

Feeling my face starting to heat up again, I removed my gaze from him and started to walk faster towards James and his friends.

My skin was prickling, making me feel all giddy inside, as I tried to shake off the feeling.

“What got you looking red as a tomato?” James teased me, poking my side.

Glaring at him, I swatted his hand away and said, “Nothing.”

He snorted as Tyler came next to me, placing his large arm around my shoulders.

Then we heard a low growl that made all of us turn and look in the direction it came from. I was surprised when I saw those three hotties watching us.

“What’s their problem?” Max asked, feeling slightly confused.

“Who knows?” was Tyler’s answer.

James was quiet as he watched them.

Contemplating how I could find out who they were, I debated about whether I should ask my brother and his friends or let it go. Curiosity got the better of me, so I did just that. “Do you know them?”

Tyler looked down at me as a mischievous smirk played on his lips. “Oh don’t tell me that I’m not enough for you now, babe.”

A slight rumble of growls was heard, and I saw the raven God-like beauty looking at Tyler with a murderous glare.

Swatting Tyler’s arm off of my shoulders, I punched him slightly on his chest.

“Stop playing around, Tyler, I only asked a question as I haven’t seen them here before.”

Taking a peek at the raven beauty, I could see his eyes were hard as he was still glaring at Tyler, making me wonder what the hell was wrong with him.

“You couldn’t have seen them as they are from Cornal High School, and I want you to stay away from them. Got it, Ollie?” James said sternly with a look that showed he was serious.

Rolling my eyes, I turned and opened the car door and let myself in on the passenger side. Sometimes James was annoying, and this was one of those times.

The guys slowly followed me inside, and then James started the engine and we drove off from the school.

When I got home, I kissed my mom, who was baking some goodies in the kitchen, and rushed upstairs to leave my stuff I brought back from school and have a change of clothes.

Changing into my white shorts and a pale pink fluttering blouse, I grabbed ahold of my Roman shoes and put them on.

I let my light brown hair, which always had a mind of its own, fall in its natural waves down my back.

I redid my makeup, took my light pink gloss and applied it to my lips.

Satisfied with my work, I walked into the hallway and headed down the stairs as the smell of a freshly baked apple pie called my name.

My mom was washing a plate in the sink when I approached the apple pie with predatory slow steps. With lightning speed, my mom’s hand swatted at my own, stopping me in my attempt to taste the pie.

“Don’t you dare, missy! This is not only for you, and before you can have the pie, you will eat lunch.”

“But Mom… It’s calling for me.” Giving her my puppy eyes, she shook her head as she pointed towards the dining room.

“Lunch… first,” she said.

Grumbling as I made my way towards the dining room table, I took my seat as my dad and James failed miserably to hide their laughter.

“Greedy little monster,” James said under his breath.

Kicking him stealthily under the table, he jumped in his seat and grunted.

“Kids… behave,” my father said as he gave us a warning look.

Finally, my mom came from the kitchen and took her seat, and we all ate. Afterwards, I helped her clean up the kitchen.

The front doorbell rang, and I knew it must be Mandy and Annie.

Kissing my mom, I rushed towards the front door, greeted my friends, and we set off to the mall, chatting about our day.

When we got to the mall, we began dress shopping, hoping to find the perfect dresses for each of us.. After six stores and what felt like thousands of hours spent looking and trying on all kinds of different dresses, I was losing hope that I would ever get to find the right dress.

Mandy was the only one still enthusiastic among us all, eagerly looking through the racks of dresses as she kept pulling out styles that she liked out for us to try.

“Let’s go try them on,” Mandy said.

Rushing us to the changing rooms with too many dresses in both Annie’s and my hands, we got shoved inside to try them all out.

Trying out first a red lacy dress, I walked outside and looked in the floor-length mirror.

Mandy and Annie walked out from their dressing rooms at the same time. Mandy wore a fuchsia knee-length strapless dress that was tight-fitting and suited her perfectly.

Annie wore a royal blue dress that fluttered lightly and had a sparkly waist of silver. Her eyes were shining and she looked stunning in it.

“You two look amazing,” I said to them. They both smiled at me and agreed. “You should buy those.”

“We most definitely are. Now we just have to find the right one for you too,” Mandy said happily.

Her enthusiasm was contagious. I felt mine coming back as I went into my changing room again, took off the dress, and looked through the dresses Mandy had been accumulating in my hands Then I saw one that caught my eye.

It was light pink with a sweetheart neckline and an open back. Little sparkles were covering the dress and reflecting light patterns onto the wall, making the dress look like it was changing color.

I smiled and hurried to put it on. I came out of the changing room and walked towards the long mirror. In my rush, I nearly missed hearing the gasps from Mandy and Annie. I looked at myself in the mirror, and I couldn’t believe that it was me.

“You look so beautiful,” Annie said, mesmerized.

Slightly blushing at the compliment, I had to agree—the dress was fabulous.

I slowly spun around to get a better look at all sides, and I loved everything about it. It was following my body shape and reached just above my knees. The back was bare except for small straps that crossed over. It wasn’t too revealing, and its unique color was only adding to the look.

Since we had all decided on our dresses, we went to change and pay. For the rest of the shopping spree, we found all the other needed accessories like shoes, jewelry, and even went to get our nails done in a salon.

Finally, as the shopping fever was down and our bags were safely placed in our car, we went to sit down and grab some much-needed food. My stomach grumbled at how hungry I was, making Annie chuckle next to me.

“You’re insatiable, Ollie. Thank God you’re a shifter. Otherwise, the amount you eat would make you fat,” she teased me.

“Well, haven’t you heard that love comes from the tummy?” I joked.

They both laughed at me.

What? So kill me… I love food.

It gives us energy, and I definitely needed energy after this shopping spree that my friends pulled me into.

“So is that why you looked as though you could eat that hot stud you were devouring with your eyes earlier?” Mandy said teasingly, taking a bite of her pizza.

Unfortunately, at that moment, I was taking a sip of my juice, and hearing her words made me almost choke on my drink. Annie was gently rubbing at my back to ease my coughing while I gave Mandy the stink eye.

“What? Don’t even try to deny it,” she said, batting her eyelashes and trying to look innocent.

“Who are we talking about?” Annie asked, sounding confused.

“Oh, just three hot werewolves,” Mandy said.

“Who are they?” Annie asked.

I was about to say something, but Mandy cut in. “Well, I was told they belong to the Blue Moon pack, and the dark beauty is supposedly a soon-to-be Alpha.”

My eyes snapped to Mandy as she spoke. How the hell did she know, and I didn’t?

She saw my look and giggled. “I know you want to know their names, you’re too curious,” she teased.

“No… they don’t interest me.” I lied.

Snorting at my response, she said, “Right.”

“Oh, just tell me, I want to know even if Ollie doesn’t.” Annie was jumping in her seat as she leaned over the table towards Mandy.

“Well, the one with blond hair I think is Tanner, brown-haired one… umm… wait I forgot… no, no, I know he is Logan, and the dark-haired one is Marcus.”

I finally got to know their names.

Marcus…

Just the name sent a shiver running through me.