Page 23 of Broken Arranged Mate
“No.” She stands, shaking her head. “Gods, Oren, did you ask them for the most boring suit in the place?”
“No.” I turn in the mirror, grimacing at how tightly the jacket pulls over my shoulders. It’s not a good look. “Simple is fine.”
“Trust me,” Raegan says, shaking her head again. “Simple will not be fine.”
My eyes dart to hers, and I try to use some of that alpha leader intuition Dorian is always talking about to read her mind, figure out what Ash’s dress is going to be like. What is going to be so special about it that a black suit just won’t do?
“Try something more colorful,” she says to the consultant, who nods and looks a bit eager, gesturing for me to follow him back.
“Just great,” I mutter, then I’m subjected to what feels like a never-ending cycle of trying on suits, stepping out, and waiting for Raegan to say no. The blue is too blue, the maroon makes her gag, and when I step out in what the consultant assures me is the most luxurious suit in the entire building,she throws her forearm over her eyes, falling back in her seat dramatically.
“What’s wrong with it now?” I snap, and when I look in the mirror, I also wish I were unconscious. “Other than the fact that it’s hideous.” I glance at the attendant. “No offense.”
He shrugs one shoulder, “Everyone likes something different.”
“It’swaytoo busy!” Raegan says, gesturing at it with a grimace.
“Okay.” It’s difficult for me to keep the growl out of my throat. First, it was too simple. Now it’s too much. I thought this entire thing would take less than an hour, and now we’ve been here long enough that I’m hungry for lunch again.
I don’t have anything nice to say to her, so I take a moment to figure out my next words. Through my teeth, I suggest, “Why don’t you just tell him what you’re looking for, since you’ve hated every suit so far?”
“Because I’m not sure what will work,” Raegan says, tipping her head to the side like she’s thinking. I want to reach over and snatch the hat from her head, tease her like I used to when we were kids. “But I’ll know it when I see it.”
“Great,” I mutter, looking to the ceiling. “So I can waste my day looking through every single fucking suit in the place.”
I don’t realize the attendant has disappeared until he comes back in with my mother, who has an unusually content smile on her face.
“Come on back,” the consultant says, also smiling. “I think we’ve got something for you.”
Dubious, I follow him back. I feel like an asshole doing this, dressing up when the shifters in my pack are still suffering,but I also know it’s important to keep up appearances, to make this wedding an enjoyable affair. To prove to everyone that Ash and I are a good pair, and ensure the unity of our groups.
This time, when I step into the suit, it still pinches, but when I look in the mirror, I’m too distracted by the color to complain about it.
“That’sit!” Raegan says, jumping out of her chair and pointing at me when I step out. “That is going to be perfect, I just know it! Here, let me—” she pauses, snapping a picture and sending it off.
A thrill of something near panic goes through me. “Wait—is that for Ash? Isn’t she supposed to see me, or something?”
“No,” Raegan does that sister thing where she flicks her eyes up at me while still typing away at her phone. “It’s for Kira. And that’s not for grooms—only brides.”
“Why does Kira need to see my suit?”
“It’s nottechnicallyyour suit,” the consultant cuts in, eying me up and down. “I’m thinking we craft something in this color, with all the same flair, but—where will the wedding be, again?”
“Uh,” I clear my throat, thinking about the watchtower Ash and I have been working on in near silence. “A rustic environment.”
“Okay,” he brings his hand to his chin and nods, clearly thinking. “Climate?”
“Desert at night,” I say, “so…cold.”
He’s a Grayhide beta, so he should know all about how frigid it gets here at night, the ground without moisture unable to hold any of the heat baked down onto us during the day. In fact, I might need to talk to Ash about installing some heatersin the space to make sure everyone doesn’t freeze during the reception.
“You’ll need something custom,” the consultant says, nodding. “I’m thinking wool, but with a lighter vest, to keep the elegance but match with therustictheme. Let me draw something up.”
He grabs a tablet and walks away, and I turn back to my sister.
“Raegan,” I ask, distracting her from her phone, which she’s currently laughing at. “Why does Kira need to know what my suit looks like?”
“Mind your own business,” Raegan responds.
