The Broken Wolf
Chapter 61

I walk into the seamstress’s shop and am greeted by Candice. Her mom owns the place and we went to school together. While we weren’t close, she was always nice.

“Hello, ma’am. How can I help you?” she asks me and I stop, confused by her words.

“Candice, it’s just me,” I tell her, confused as to why she would act like this.

She looks at me and tilts her head slightly. “I’m sorry, but have we met?”

I step forward, about to tell her that it’s not funny, when I catch my reflection in a mirror. I had forgotten that I look like this now. “Oh, umm. It’s just me, Molly,” I tell her with a small shrug, crossing my arms protectively around myself. “I uhh… I have my wolf now. It changed my looks a bit.”

I can see recognition on her face as she realizes and she jumps up excitedly, crossing over to me. “You FINALLY got your wolf?! That’s so exciting!” She tells me and throws her arms around me in a hug. “What finally did it?”

I finally uncross my arms and hug her back. “I just needed to replace my mate,” I tell her with a shrug. It’s mostly the truth, without giving too much information.

“I can’t believe I didn’t recognize you! I feel so bad!” She says, stepping back and taking a long look at me. “You’re still you, but you’re definitely different. It’s hard to see past your eyes though. They’re so green now.”

“I know, that’s actually why I’m here,” I tell her and look around for my mom, but she’s nowhere to be seen yet. “I’m a bit bigger now. I discovered last night that my dresses don’t fit.”

“Not to worry! We can get that made,” she says with a smile but walks to her calendar and looks at me sadly. “It may be a little wait though. The queen herself made an appointment with us for her new daughter-in-law this morning!”

“Oh,” I tell her and look down at my feet. “That’s, well… that’s for me. I think I just beat her here.”

“I don’t understand,” she says to me, confused.

“Well, my mate,” I begin, and I realize just how uncomfortable I am telling people. “My mate is her son.”

She doesn’t say anything for a moment. She just stands there staring at me, blinking rapidly. “Prince Seth, is your mate?”

I just nod to her slowly in response.

“Prince Seth. The gorgeous Prince of all Werewolves, is your mate?” she asks again, absolutely shocked.

“He is pretty handsome, isn’t he?” I ask her with a smile, but her entire demeanor changes and she quickly bows and then bares her neck to me. “I’m sorry, Molly. I didn’t know. Oh gosh, Princess Molly. We all knew he’d marked his mate, but I didn’t know it was you.”

“Candice, it’s fine,” I tell her. “You don’t need to bow. It’s just me.”

“You’re the future queen now,” she says, moving to stand normally. “This is just crazy.”

Thankfully, my mom and Audrey walk in, saving me from this very awkward conversation.

“Hello, Molly dear! You beat us here!” Audrey says to me as she steps in. I move to bow, but she grabs my hands and won’t let me. “I’m so glad we get to spend the morning together, just us girls.”

“Me, too,” I agree with her with a smile and take my hands from her, crossing to my mom to give her a quick hug. “I want to introduce you to Candice. Her mom owns the shop and they do such great work.”

“It’s lovely to meet you,” Audrey says kindly with a smile and when I turn, I realize that Candice has bared her neck to her. I’m not sure if I’ll ever get used to that. “Molly always looks so lovely. You all do great work. We just need to get her some new dresses to fit a little better for her now.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Candice tells her and lifts her head to look at us. “My mother should be with us soon. She ran downstairs to get our higher quality fabrics. I’m going to link her quickly and let her know it’s for Molly, she’ll know exactly what she will like.”

“She’s Princess Molly, now,” Audrey gently corrects her. “And that would be lovely.”

My mom takes my hand and leads me over to some dresses hanging up, taking a look at what’s out already.

“You’re going to need some stuff immediately. You can’t just walk around like this now,” my mom say, motioning to my jeans and tshirt that I’m wearing today.

“I know,” I say sadly.

My mom looks at me and shakes her head. “I didn’t mean it that way, Molly. But after today, word will spread and the entire pack will be addressing you as Princess by the end of the week. You need to look the part.”

I nod my head in understanding. “I was hoping I could avoid it, honestly. It’s not like it’s a bunch of strangers who are meeting me for the first time. Everyone knows me.”

“It gets easier with time,” Audrey says, walking up behind us and looking through the racks with us. “It’s always the hardest with your home pack though”.

“Nothing has been easy, recently,” I say with a sigh.

“Are you OK, Molly?” Mom asks me and I nod. “I mean really OK?”

I nod, but when I look up and meet her eyes I can’t help the tears that begin. “I’m trying really hard. Everything has changed, or is changing. It’s just been really hard.”

My mom leaves the dresses on the racks and pulls me into a tight hug. “What’s going on in your head? I know Seth’s been talking to you about a lot of it, but I also know there’s something you’re not telling him.”

“I just don’t feel like myself,” I whisper to her and Audrey moves to place her hand on my shoulder in comfort as well. “I don’t even look the same. I’m worried Seth doesn’t actually like how I look and he’s just being nice because he’s stuck with me now.”

Audrey lets out a rather loud, rather un-queen-like laugh. “The sounds that have been coming from your room say that he’s very happy with how you look.”

I can feel my face turn bright red and I throw my hands up, attempting to cover my face. “Oh, Gods. Is it THAT bad?”

Mom smiles gently at me. “It’s not gone unnoticed. Your brother is uncomfortable. I’m fairly sure he’s considered having a talk with Seth. Your Father is mortified. It’s like he has forgotten what it was like when he met me.”

“Mom!,” I exclaim, mortified at the turn this conversation has taken.

Audrey laughs. “We’ve all been there, Molly. And you’re both lovely to look at. I’m sure I’ll have a grand-pup running around soon at this rate.”

I keep my hands on my face and look down at the ground. I just can’t with this entire conversation.

“Just a few more weeks, and then you can make all the grand pups you want,” my mom says and her words catch my attention, causing me to look up.

“Why… why would I need to be careful for a few weeks?” I ask her, confused about what she meant, but very nervous because we, in fact, have not been careful at all.

“You have to shift soon, and you can’t shift while pregnant,” my mom says, like it’s the most reasonable explanation, but it’s not something I have ever considered. Like, at all.

I attempt to take a deep breath, but replace that I’m struggling with the panic I’m suddenly feeling. “Mom. I… we…” I begin to say, slowly sitting down in a nearby chair. “Shit. Shit.”

“It’s OK, Molly. Take a breath,” my mom says to me, sitting next to me and rubbing my back. “It’s going to be fine. You SHOULDN’T shift if you’re pregnant, but you CAN.”

Audrey comes over and sits in a chair across from us. “I shifted a few times while I was pregnant with Seth,” she says to us quietly, looking around to make sure no one is listening. “It was… unavoidable. He’s turned out, OK. The doctor told us then that the bigger concern is when you’re further along.”

I’m about to respond when Candice and her mother, Mrs. Martha return. They both bow and bare their necks. I glance at my mom and replace her smiling brightly at them, bowing at me.

“It’s lovely to see you again, Martha,” my mom tells her.

“You as well, Luna. Candice has caught me up on the situation,” she responds and turns to me. “Molly, umm… Princess Molly, let’s get you measured and then we can talk about exactly what you need.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I say and stand, following her to a small pedestal in front of mirrors.

Don’t call her ma’am, Molly. You outrank her, now.

It’s a habit. I’ll work on it. I tell my new mother-in-law It would have been helpful to get a handbook for all of this.

That’s what I’m here for, dear.

Martha grabs a measuring tape and begins to measure me. “You’re the only person I’ve ever seen to gain curves AND muscles at the same time,” she says with a small giggle, and I know she thinks it’s funny, but I feel so self-conscious. “You’re a D cup now, so we should probably just get all new everything at this point.”

“Don’t look so sad,” Audrey says to me upon seeing my face. “Seth seems perfectly happy with you. Don’t think of it as having to get bigger clothes. Think of it as getting new wrapping paper for your mate.”

Martha looks up at me, clearly uncomfortable, and I give her the very same look. “It could be worse,” she whispers at me. “My mother-in-law HATED me.”

“You’re right,” I whisper back to her. “She’s been so kind to me.”

“I’m happy for you, Molly,” she tells me as she writes down my measurements. “Seems your curves are going to need a little more work. I’m not sure how well anything off the rack will fit, but I’m sure we can replace something to work for a few days.”

Martha hands the paper to Candice and they both head to the racks, pulling out a few things for me. Candice brings them over and leads me to a fitting room while Martha disappears to the back room. I try on the dresses she had for me and they’ll work, though they’re a little loose here and there but if I try something smaller, it definitely going to be too small.

“How quickly could you shorten this one?” Audrey asks, looking me over. “I could have it done by this evening. I think I’ll pull the straps up some as well.”

“Marvelous!” Audrey says, delighted. “I’d like a copy of her measurements as well. I’ll give them to the seamstress at the Palace so we can get her set.”

“Martha,” my mom says, pulling her attention. “Maybe make her a few dresses that can flow. I think we’re all hoping for a baby soon, so maybe a few dresses that could accommodate that.”

I look up, meeting Martha’s eyes. A look of absolute shock, but also happiness is on her face. “It would be great if you could keep that to yourself,” and she nods to me, smiling.

“I just can’t believe you have your wolf, Molly,” she says and hands me another dress to try. “The whole pack will be so excited for you.”

I finish trying on what feels like every dress in the shop and Candice walks off with an arm full of dresses to be altered. Martha has a list of dresses to make for me, and shows me a few designs that I approve, with Audrey’s blessing.

We’re walking out towards the pack house when my mom takes my hand to stop me. “Would it be OK if we have lunch today, just the two of us?”

“Yeah,” I tell her, nervous suddenly. “We probably need to talk, huh?”