“Well, it’s settled then. Congratulations,” Lucy said, grinning as she swapped babies and boobs. “You should know, Dire Wolves are different from other Shifters. They are more powerful, they follow ancient rules, and when I tell you they mate for life, I mean it, honey. Thor is never gonna let you go. Anyway, come on. It’ll be fun,” she coaxed.
That was a lot to swallow, and though Nica had misgivings about what they’d all said about mating for life since those words had not exactly come from Thor, she couldn’t help but agree a day out sounded just peachy.
“It will be super fun. Besides, tonight is bikini night at the bar. We need to get our wax on!” Sheila exclaimed.
“Okay,” Nica said, finally giving in.
Her head was spinning by the time they stopped yammering. She got in the shower. Well, she was dragged and pushed into the bathroom by Gwen, then had a pair of leggings and a sweatshirt shoved unceremoniously at her when she was done. One by one, they filed out of the bedroom with Sheila practically frog marching her through the hall and into the living room.
“Nica? Are you okay?” Thor asked.
“Um, I think so—” was all she managed to say with Sheila pushing her forward in with a relentless grip on her arms.
“She’s fine. We’re going out for the day,” Lucy replied, handing Derrick one of their babies, while the other women placed the other two in nearby bassinets.
“I pumped this morning, bottles are in the fridge. We should be back by three,” Lucy told him before following them outside.
“Wait. What is going on?” Thor asked.
“Ladies’ day out,” Tracey repeated slowly.
Nica had to hide her grin. Thor looked like he wanted to say something, maybe ask her to stay home. But Nica had no idea what to do. She really could not refuse, what with the entire Pack going to bat for her and all. Besides, Sheila had an iron grip on her.
Nica barely had time to take in the intimidating males sitting in the living room, discussing her life without her. Of course, she knew Thor and Derrick, but the pair of identical twins were strangers. They smelled like Wolf, but different from the Dire Wolf MC.
One had on a charcoal gray suit, and seemed to never smile, while the other wore a t-shirt with a bone on it, and the wordsI got a boner to pick with youstrewn across the top. He was grinning at them like a loon. Nica raised her eyebrows and shrugged, but if she thought Thor was going to rescue her this time, she was mistaken.
“Be careful, angel. Come home safe,” he rumbled, his black eyes boring into hers.
Twenty minutes later, Nica forgot most of her questions as a large woman with a German accent named Helga started wrapping her body in a seaweed mask treatment. The smell was not altogether unpleasant, and she kind of liked the part where the matronly female had massaged her scalp before applying a conditioning treatment there.
Heavenly Bodieswas run by a coven of Eastern European Witches, so they did not have to worry about letting things slip in front of the staff. Helga had assured them their room was private and soundproof, not to mention surrounded by magical protection wards.
The spa was also located smack dab in the middle of town, with tons of normals around, so Nica didn’t have to worry about the Murder trying anything with so many onlookers.
Still, she’d felt like someone was watching her while they drove and then walked through the parking lot. But even if they were following her, keeping tabs, Jack was not that stupid. He knew better than to grab her out in public.
“Ohmygawd! I feel like a princess,” Lucy squealed when Helga moved on to her.
“Princess of the mud people,” Ariella snorted, only to get thwacked by Sheila on the butt.
“Shush it, Miss Kitty. This is the most relaxation I’ve had in weeks,” the she-Wolf told her.
“With the way you and Leo go at it, go figure, Sheila. I mean, I’m surprised you can even walk with all the sexy times you two got going on,” snarked Gwen.
“Catty!”
“Ha! As if Gwen isn’t getting sexed up every night,” Ariella pointed out.
“Damn straight, I am,” the new Dire Wolf confirmed.
“OMG! Just look at you, Gwendolyn. A second ago, you were this cute little pious virgin coming into the roadhouse for a job. Now look at you! Weylin sure corrupted you. But now, come on, we’re scaring Nica here and today was supposed to be about her,” Lucy teased.
“Who me? Nah, I’m enjoying the banter, believe me. I didn’t know women could be so sassy and frank and still be friends,” she told them honestly.
“Well, damn,” Lucy said, sitting up. “Look, Nica, I don’t know how you were raised, but in this Pack we females have one solemn rule and that is to always have each other’s backs, no matter how outrageously sarcastic and sassy we get!”
“That’s right!”