Little Red's Riding

The Dress Shop

"Alpha. Alpha. You need to get here now." The soft feminine voice in his mind was familiar but unexpected. He could count the number of times in his life that Lottie had mind linked him on one hand.

"Dress shopping? Do you have some sort of fashion emergency?" He had walked past the shop that they had gone to ten minutes earlier after deciding that he was going to walk around the outer walls of the palace, as casually as he possibly could, trying to get a feel for the layout and any structural security weaknesses that might aid their escape. So far he'd come up with nothing.

"She's here." He froze, mid stride, and a woman with a child who'd been walking behind him nearly walked into him.

"I'm so sorry," he mumbled as he turned and began walking quickly back in the other direction.

He wanted to sprint. Hell, he wanted to shift, tearing through his skin and running as fast as his four legs could take him. But that wasn't possible. And the very last thing that he needed was to draw attention to himself. So instead he was walking quickly as if he had a very important meeting to get too that he'd just remembered.

"Has she seen you?" he replied, keeping his eyes low and avoiding eye contact with everyone in his path. It was mid-morning, nearing lunchtime now, and the streets were busy, especially around the palace.

"No. Although maybe she's caught our scent. That's how we know she's here. Her mother caught her scent first. Then I came over. She's in one of the dressing rooms with another person."

"Another person?" His wolf surged beneath the surface of his skin threatening to explode.

"A woman, Silas, calm down." He could practically feel Lottie roll her eyes in his mind. "You need to be cautious. When you get here Mrs. Lemp is going to come outside and join you. You will pretend to be together. She will lead you inside and you must act as if you are helping her find a dress for the ball and as if it is of the utmost importance."

"If she's only with a woman-"

"Silas. Listen." Her voice was serious, even within his mind. "There are four guards here. They're huge even by our standards. We aren't getting her away from them right now."

"The Hell we aren't." For a second time he almost shifted right there in the middle of the Capital and it took every bit of self control from both his body and mind to push his wolf back down.

"And about the woman who's in there with her. I'm not sure what she is. She smells different. Human but not. I don't know just how to explain it. She's wearing perfume. Thick like roses so that I almost missed both of them at first. But there's something else there too. And I've smelt it before. Recently too. It's just there at the back of my mind. Not quite human."

"Another werewolf?" Silas was biting back a growl, keeping his mouth clamped shut. He could feel his teeth lengthening and biting into his lip.

"No. Definitely not a wolf. I just. I don't know. Just get yourself under control and get here as soon as you can. And be careful. We have no idea what's going on here but we can't get into a confrontation with these guys. But if you had a half chance I knew you'd want to see her."

Silas didn't respond. He pushed himself harder. Stretching his legs before finally replying, "I'll be there as soon as I can. And I swear by the Moon. If she's gone-"

"We'll do whatever we can to get her to stay, Alpha. Short of actually getting into a confrontation with the guards. I can promise you that."

It doesn't take him long to get there but the minutes felt more like hours. He was sweating, and had to mentally wrestle his wolf under control, pushing him down hard before he came anywhere near the two hulking brutes that were standing outside the shop. Vaguely he remembered noticing the two bastards earlier when he walked by, but he'd been on the opposite side of the street, trying hard not to attract their attention. Now he walked between them, nodding his head to them as he greeted his mate's mother warmly.