Lone Wolf (The Wulf Pack Book 1)
Chapter Sixteen

“Welcome to Wolf Vally,” Joy presented the town before them.

The town was only an twenty minute walk from the pack and Willow had been informed that it was still pack, the town was heavily populated by wolves, with some humans mixed in, most unsuspecting of the pack around them.

According to Joy, the town was old, one of the first werewolf settlements in Oregon, and had always been a town of wolves, until about the last fifty years when humans started moving in. The wolves didn’t mind though, because the humans brought them “out of the stone-age”, as Joy had put it, and more interactive with society.

It was a small town, but very modern, surrounded by both forest and mountains. The town didn’t have anything close to what a city would, but it had a rage of shops and a few cafe’s and dinners. The center of town, that contained more of the places, was twice as large as the human town Willow had worked in.

Joy lead her over to a small boutique that held nothing but clothes inside. Willow had never seen so much clothes before, and Joy frowned when she told her so.

Uncomfortably, she tried on everything that Joy handed her, without complaint. She lost count of how many times she had changed, how many pairs of pants and tops she had tried on. She had even tried on a few dresses, and thankfully Joy had noticed how uncomfortable she felt in them, dismissing them as an option.

“I’m sorry,” Joy smiled, “I have have only boy’s, and none of them are mated or have children, I don’t really get to go shopping with or for other’s,”

“It’s alright,” Willow said, looking down at the pile of clothes Joy had managed to make while she was stuck in the fitting room, “I this is too much, a few things will be fine,“Joy only shook her head, handing the woman at the register a card, she accepted it with a kind smile.

“Nonsense, for one, you are new to the pack and do not have anything, and two,” she took the card from the woman and began to grab the many bags full of clothes, Willow scurrying to help her, “I see you as a daughter,”

“You don’t...” Willow began as Joy lead them out of the shop and back into the busteling village.

“No I don’t have to,” she stopped and turned to look at Willow, the older woman’s brown eyes showed kindness and worry, “My son sent you here for a reason, I am not sure what that is, but I will take care of you as if you are family, as if you were my own daughter, because something tells me you haven’t had that kind of care in a long time,”

Willow was stunned at her words, wondering if it was that obvious that she lost her mother, that she never had a father. She had to rush to catch up with Joy as she continued down the sidewalk, passing a small hardware store and a coffee shop before stopping at another store. Without a word, she opened the door and stepped in.

Willows face heated as she realized what the place was: An undergarment store. Her eyes widened as she stood in her place, looking around her. The shinny black manquenes were scantily dressed in lace garments that barely covered their plastic bodies.

Joy’s laugh brought her attention away from her lace filled surroundings, the smile on her face making Willow blush harder.

“It’s alright, we are just here for some bra’s and panties, you do need some, yes?” she didn’t wait for a response as she moved to the back of the shop to a glass counter, tinted a dark black with a black marbled top where there was a single register.

“Luna!” the girl behind the counter exclaimed, rounding the glass to embrace Joy in a hug. She chuckled as she returned the affection.

“Rae, it’s just Joy now, I am no longer Luna,” the young woman scoffed at her, shaking her head.

“You are Luna until the new Alpha takes one, and you will always be my Luna,” Joy smiled, placing her hand on her cheek.

“You’re sweet, but please, I have to get use to not being addressed like that anymore,”

“How does Ms. Joy sound,” Joy laughed, and shook her head once more.

“I think I can live with that,” with that she turned their attention to Willow, “Rae, I would like to introduce you to Willow. She is new to our pack and we have taken her in,” Rae’s eyes grew as she looked at Willow, eyeing the bags in her hands, she was confused. Their pack rarely received new members, if ever, and never did the Wulf family themselves take it upon themselves to care for them more than just a bit. It was clear to her that this girl was different.

“Welcome,” Rae said, giving a curious but kind smile.

“We are in need of your help, Willow arrived yesterday with nothing, she is in great need of clothes,” Rae nodded, eyeing Willow once more before pushing her confusion away and smiling at both women.

“It would be my pleasure,” Rae helped them with their bags, setting them next to a small bench that sat in the center of the store, where she instructed Joy to sit while she zipped around the store grabbing things until she had her arms full.

She ushered Willow into the changing room before taking a seat on the bench next to Joy. She informed her that she had grabbed a few different bra’s and panties in a few different sizes as well as some camisoles as well as a few pajamas of different kinds.

The two women chatted until Willow felt comfortable in what she tried on enough to show them. Rae gave her tips and helped her replace the right bra and comfortable underwear. When they were done, Willow didn’t protest as Joy purchased the items for her, though she was a bit reluctant to get the pajamas.

“One more place, and then we will have lunch and wait for Fang and Wrath to help us take our stuff home,” those words relaxed Willow as Joy lead her to the next shop.

This one indeed went quick. As soon as Joy entered the shop, she asked Willow’s shoe size and was off, leaving her and all of the bags near a bench at the front of the store.

This time when they checked out Joy had a few things aswell.

“I love shoes,” she said with a shrug,

It was nearly one when Wrath and Fang arrived to join them for lunch at the small dinner in town. Wrath seemed to wear is trademark frown while Fang seemed to bounce in his seat.

“Damn Ma, this is a lot of stuff,” Fang whined as he and Wrath took the bags from them.

“Watch your mouth, boy,” Joy scolded as they headed back towards the castle, that Willow now knew was called, “Wolf Mountain Castle”. Fang had sarcastically told her that it was “very original”, and they laughed all, well except for Wrath, who seemed to be perpetually brooding.