Sins Among Royals
Chapter 3

Waking the next morning Indie groaned and stretched, her head was still under the covers which surprised her a little bit. Usually when she and Poppy slept over one of them always ended up cold while the other was toasty warm. Looking at Poppy’s sleeping form, Indie reveled in the quietness. The smell of sleep suffocated and choked her airways as Poppy sleepily added something else for her to choke on.

While in her deep sleep, Poppy often had problems with flatulence and let one rip. At first, Indie laughed, but when the smell quickly became overbearing, she pulled the covers down and pulled her feet up to rest against Poppy’s back. With one gigantic push, she sent her best friend crashing to the ground along with the duvet.

“Ouch! Oh no, I’m sleepwalking again!” Poppy jumped to her feet rubbing her head as Indie lay there giggling. “Did you push me off!” Poppy cried at the injustice she’d just suffered through. “You pushed me out of bed...” Poppy pouted as she threw herself back into the comfort of the still-warm sheets and snuggled up to her friend.

“Yeah! Well don’t fart in my face and we won’t have this problem,” Indie growled as she shook her friend of and got out of bed. Walking to the only window in her room Indie pulled the curtain open she smiled at the world beyond the sky was still grey with the promise of more rain. “Looks like I won’t have to go to work today,” She turned back to Poppy and winked.

“Like hell, you’re going to work! I will break faces if you aren’t there to help me, Nini,” shopping must have been a serious priority for Poppy if she was threatening peoples faces at such an early hour.

“Don’t call me Nini. It’s either Indie or your supreme Lordship, remember?” She teased Poppy playfully as the door to her room opened carefully, the familiar creak of the door breaking their concentration.

Looking up towards the door and the sound of a creaky floorboard the girls spied Hunter walking towards them with a lopsided grin on his face. “You two are so bloody loud.” He groaned as he grabbed the duvet off of the ground and jumped onto Indie’s bed. “If I’m gonna be up this early I may as well be comfortable,” his lazy smile warmed his sister’s heart and sent butterflies racing through Poppy.

A minute later both girls nostrils were filled with a foul smelling odor as Hunter began laughing, he bunched up the duvet and pressed it against his nose and watched the girls expressions change in an instant.

“Ugh! You are so disgusting, Hunter!” Indie and Poppy almost cried in unison as they backed away towards the door.

“What?” He laughed from the bed as he pulled the duvet down, laughing at the pair, “I thought I’d show you amateurs how it’s done,” Hunter squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his fists, they both knew what was to follow.

Before they made it out of the room Indie frowned. “see what happens when you fart in my fortress? You entice the enemy,” though Indie joked she knew Hunter would stay in her bed for as long as possible. He often did especially when he was tired.

“Indie! Is that you up there?” She heard her father calling her from downstairs.

Popping her head over the side railing at the top of the stairs Indie shouted back, “he’s still asleep dad! Want me to wake him?” She frowned as her father appeared from the kitchen and looked up at her and Poppy.

Feeling something hit the back of her head she turned and saw Hunter standing there with a scowl on his face. He didn’t look too happy, not at all.

“Nah leave him to sleep,” her father called back, “you and Poppy need to get going to town if you want to replace the best dresses though.” Indie couldn’t help but feel sorry for her father; he looked tired, old and slightly annoyed though she knew the annoyance wasn’t their fault.

His words made Poppy run halfway down the stairs, “Why is that Mr Jones?” She asked eagerly; she didn’t want to miss out on the best dresses, not when so much was at stake.

“Oh, well, I heard a lot of the eligible young ladies.....and some not so eligible will be shopping for new dresses today.” It was a given that all females in the pack would want to make an impression on their future King.

Poppy turned back up the stairs and glared at Indie. “Pick me up from my place in fifteen minutes! We need to go buy dresses before all the good ones are snapped up!” The desperation on Poppy’s face was saddening as she pulled open the front door and ran out without another word.

Indie’s father looked up at his daughter and shrugged his shoulders, “I thought you’d want to know pumpkin, seeing as it is compulsory to wear formal clothes.” Though she knew he was right, it didn’t bring her any more joy.

With a heavy sigh Indie and continued down the stairs towards the kitchen as her father bid everyone a good morning and left to help at the Alpha’s home. “Mom is there any bacon?” She knew she would need a hearty meal to help her get through the day, the thought of shopping all day for shoes and dresses just didn’t appeal to her. She’d rather be helping her father and the other males set up for the event.

“In the frying pan on the stove top honey.” Her mother sat at the small kitchen table reading the morning paper; her reading glasses were pushed down the bridge of her nose as one hand held the corner of the newspaper, ready to turn the page and the other gripped the handle of her favorite cup filled with coffee.

“I can’t wait till this is all over.” Indie couldn’t help but complain as she dished herself up some food from the many pans on the stove top. Though her mother often cooked it was rarely ever edible so when she saw food on the stove, she knew it was her father that cooked.

“I know honey but eat then go buy what you need. Your father left you some money to get you something extra nice,” Rita barely bothered even looking up from her paper.

“Thanks, mom,” Indie decided she didn’t have time to eat an entire plate of food so took a couple of strips of bacon instead and stuffed a few extra in her pocket for later she then took the money from the table and ran up the stairs back to her room.

By the time she got there Hunter was sitting up, “dad’s gone.” Indie grinned slyly, “You can leave my room now.” Unsurprisingly that was all it took for Indie to get her brother out of her room. She wished it was always that easy.

Indie dressed quickly in a plain pair of jeans with self-made holes over the knees and one of the front pockets. They were a pair of Hunter’s old jeans that Indie had fallen in love with and eventually claimed, the fact that her brother ever owned a pair of skinny jeans made her shudder. A faded grey t-shirt with a slogan on the front completed her never fail outfit. After replaceing a pair of sandals, Indie found her little shoulder bag containing her wallet and wandered off back to the kitchen to retrieve the money her father left for her, on the way out the door she heard her brother call to her.

“Hey!” Hunter yelled startling his sister a little bit. “Here get you something extra nice.” He grinned as he held out a few notes of money to her. Indie shook her head, but her brother insisted.

“No!” Indie couldn’t help but protest loudly. “Why is everyone giving me money? I have a job! I have my own money! I can afford to buy my own shit,” her family were acting as if she were going to be picked out as the Alpha King’s mate. She didn’t want to get her hopes up. All of the eligible girls in her pack had an equal chance to be his mate.

“Take it! Just get you something. Buy more shitty slogan shirts if you want to, I don’t care. Just take the damn money.” Though Indie was more than a little annoyed at being given money she also felt much loved by their thoughtfulness so didn’t bother arguing with her brother.

After taking the money she stuffed it into her wallet and muttered a quick thank you to her brother before heading off down the stairs and ducking into the kitchen to farewell her mother who reminded her about the gift her father had left her.

Indie rushed out the door and jumped into her car quickly, with a deep sigh she stuffed the key into the ignition and turned it quickly, much to her surprise the car started with little trouble. Pulling out of the driveway she headed down the road and away from Stoneden, she was headed to Poppy’s house. After a few minutes she indicated to turn off of the main road and down Westchester Grove, the road Poppy’s house was on. The normal asphalt on the road ended, but the road itself carried on up a small hill covered in trees. The unsealed road was narrow and rough, and Indie didn’t like driving along it in her shitty little car. With each bump she drove over, she could feel another piece of her car loosen in agony. The great thing about her friendship with Poppy was the honesty they shared, and Poppy knew her best friends dislike for driving up to the family home. After killing the engine Indie sat in silence and waited for a few moments, she knew Poppy would show herself eventually.

Before long the sprightly curly haired young adult ran awkwardly down the unsealed driveway with another bag of her belongings and a broad mischievous grin on her face. She ran to the car, pulled the passenger’s side door open and climbed in quickly. She was more than a little eager to get going.

“Let’s go shopping! Onward!” Poppy ordered quickly. Indie had no choice but to drive, and at Poppy’s insistence, speed. Heading back down the road towards her house Indie carried on and down the windy hillside road to Stoneden.

Poppy chatted incessantly as Indie tried desperately to block her out. The dull chat about dress color, length and style bored her completely, there were things Indie would have rather talked about. Luckily for her, they reached the edge of Luton sooner rather than later, the seaside town visible from Aspen was a beautiful sight to behold when the weather was clear.

Pulling into a parking space near the ocean the girls climbed excitedly from the car, Poppy more excited than Indie.

“Hurry up grandma all the good dresses are probably gone by now!” Poppy squealed obnoxiously.

Indie locked the doors of her little bomb of a car and joined Poppy on the sidewalk. “Well let’s go then, diva!”

Walking from the oceanfront car park and along the sidewalk, the few stores they passed were not too crowded with people but as they made their way further down the street towards the town center that all changed. The first store they went to was more than a little packed and while Indie wanted to walk right back out Poppy had other ideas.

“Look what the cat dragged in,” came a slightly snide voice from behind Poppy as she browsed through a rack of garments as soon as space became open.

She turned towards the voice and quickly lost all confidence as the most beautiful girl in the pack stood with a gorgeous blue dress in hand.

“Well if it isn’t little Miss Maddy Thornton.” Poppy replied with a sneer and a death glare. Poppy was a very confident girl; Indie knew that she also knew that whenever Madeline Thornton was involved that confidence dissolved almost instantly.

Madeline Thornton was the Alphas daughter and strutted around like she owned the place. She was mean, rude and downright nasty and unfortunately for Poppy, she was her biggest rival.

“You and the freak are too late. All the good dresses have been brought by the pretty girls. The ones that actually stand a chance at getting picked.” Madeline hated Poppy and Indie for no apparent reason. The two friends were both so strange to Madeline and her friends, and strange meant trouble in her books.

“We’re never too late,” chimed Indie cheerfully. “You and your little goon squad just took all the tacky, classless ones cause you know, that’s so you.” Indie mocked the Alphas daughter quickly; she didn’t care who she offended when they so easily offended her. There were times Indie could be withdrawn and shy, but she always spoke up for her friends, mainly where Poppy was concerned.

“Oh was that supposed to be funny?” Madeline tried teasing the girls quickly, “go back to gaming you troll. The Alpha King wouldn’t be interested in either of you two anyway.” That was all it took for Madeline to turn and leave despite Indie trying to protest.

Unfortunately, Madeline had a way of only hearing what she wanted.

Indie watched and marveled as Madeline paid for her dress and left the store along with most of the crowd. Surely they weren’t all just following her around?

“Hey, you two!” A store attendant from her counter. “I was expecting you to come in Indie so I set something aside for you and a friend. I’ll just go get them.”

Both Indie and Poppy looked at each other oddly and shrugged, Indie didn’t recognize the attendant, but apparently, they knew each other. How on earth had she known they’d be visiting the store? The attendant quickly returned with two beautiful dresses. She handed a dark one to Indie and a shorter one in a shade of pink to Poppy. Both girls ran excitedly to the dressing rooms and changed quickly.

When they emerged from the small changing booths Indie couldn’t help but smile warmly at Poppy. She looked beautiful. Her pink dress was strapless and fell just below the knee; there was a thick gold embellishment that ran down the side and across her torso and made it look as though a blooming tree branch had grown from nothing. The gold embellishment ran up her back and rested behind the opposite shoulder. It was different and kooky and every bit a Poppy dress.

Indies, on the other hand, was completely different. While it had a gold sequinned bodice the skirt portion of the dress was a deep navy blue. The gold sequins faded out the further towards the ground the dress was. The overall effect gave the impression that Indie herself was adorned with a starry night sky.

Poppy couldn’t help but be proud of how Indie looked. The dress and the girl wearing it were absolutely stunning.

“If one of you don’t get picked I will be very disappointed!” She laughed playfully as her heart warmed at the sight of Poppy and Indie and though she didn’t know the girls well she would rather have anyone, but Madeline be chosen from their pack.

Indie looked at the attendant in a perplexed manner, “how do you know me?” She was more than a little curious about that, “how did you know I would be here?”

To her surprise, the attendant chuckled and shrugged her shoulders. “You help my cousin Emma a lot, from what she tells me,” the woman smiled and gave an odd expression, “the one time I came into Vinyl and Lace you also gave me some excellent movie recommendations too.” Her comments jogged a fraction of a memory in Indies mind, not enough to make her fully remember the encounter. “I told you if you were ever in Luton to come see me but you never did.”

“That makes total sense!” Poppy cut in quickly before turning back to the mirror to admire her reflection.

“Emma has been doing the flowers for whatever event the Thornton's are having and guessed you might be going,” the attendant paused for a moment. “Anyway long story short we guessed your size and put aside something you might like, Emma remembered your friend and thought she loved pink, so I put something aside for her too.” She chuckled at the sight of Poppy ignoring everyone else in favor of her reflection.

“You definitely picked the right dress for her!” Indie couldn’t help but giggle as Poppy stuck her booty out and shook it a little.

“And what about you Indie? That dress looks stunning on you!” A look of envy crossed the woman’s face but that soon faded as she straightened her posture and held her hands behind her back.

“I’ve never felt beautiful in a dress, to be honest, and I’m a bit scared to say out loud what I think,” Indie rarely ever thought of herself as pretty or beautiful but of the few glances she allowed herself to look in the mirror, she felt pretty, beautiful even.