Burke and the betas carried her lifeless body back to the house and told me that she had drained herself past the point of saving, I didn’t buy it for one second. Neither did some of the other members of the pack.
The problem is, I couldn’t prove otherwise. There wasn’t a mark on her or anything else that would give me any clue about what really happened. No broken bones, no sign of poison...I looked at every possibility I could think of. It has to be something to do with magic, but I have no way of knowing for sure. And because Burke rules through fear and threats, there’s no one who dares question him about it. Not even Hess.
I thought maybe the Flux would be pushed back at least, just until a new healer joined the pack—in case anything goes wrong with anyone’s transformations. But Burke said he wouldn’t cancel the Spirit Weaver, since he’s coming down from a neighboring pack specifically to perform the ceremony. So despite the mystery surrounding the death of my mom, everything is continuing on like normal. It’s like we all know that something happened, but no one is willing to stick out their neck for her. Or for me.
“Do you know what you want to do to your hair?” Daisy asks me, steering the conversation away from the heavy shit. She hands over a magazine, and I take it but don’t bother opening it up. “I’ve always been jealous of your gorgeous hair, so please don’t tell me you’re chopping it all off and dyeing it blue or something.”
“Hey!” Mackenzie objects from where she’s leaning against the wall by the snacks the Lycans laid out for us.
Daisy looks over sheepishly and smiles at the female with the pixie cut that’s currently dyed bright orange. “I didn’t mean you, Mack, you totally pull it off. But can you picture Seneca with a bright blue mohawk or something?” she teases as she strokes a strand of my warm brown hair.
“Bright blue would be the wrong color with those icy blue eyes. She needs something dark, more like a navy or midnight blue. Ohhhhh, that would be pretty!” Mack declares, and the other girls all look over at me appraisingly.
“I’m just gonna trim it,” I hedge, pulling my hair away from Daisy and bundling the rest of it over one shoulder protectively. Just in case anyone gets any bright ideas about pinning me down and bleaching anything.
“You should totally curl it,” Trinity encourages, and Daisy starts nodding eagerly in agreement. “Lee has a technique that would make a Victoria’s Secret Angel jealous, that’s how gorgeous it is.”
“Count me in,” I concede, worried I might tip them off if I’m not more into this.
“You’re already super tan, so I wouldn’t recommend a spray, but mani and pedi for sure, and maybe wrangle those eyebrows,” Trinity assesses, like this is makeover day on some rigged TV talent show.
My hand shoots up to cover my eyebrows. “Thick defined brows are in,” I defend, but she just waves a hand at me dismissively.
“I know, but some of those hairs are trying to make friends with your eyelids and that should never be allowed, girl,” she teases, making everyone around me chuckle.
“Don’t worry, everyone’s usually too busy staring at those eyes and the lips you’ve been blessed with that most women have to buy. I doubt they’ve ever noticed the caterpillars you’re trying to grow, but this is what a pamper day is all about,” she encourages, bumping my hip with hers and whooping excitedly.
The whole salon whoops in return, and I can’t help but crack a small genuine smile at the antics. I drop my hand from my forehead. “Fine, turn these bitches into butterflies,” I tell her, pointing at the offending strips of hair as she claps excitedly and pushes me in the direction of a salon chair.
Two hours later, after gaining firsthand knowledge of what Toula from My Big Fat Greek Wedding felt like on her big day, I emerge, not quite a snow beast, but definitely something outside of my norm. Thankfully, nothing required Windex, but I’ve been waxed, polished, curled, and contoured, until I look like I belong on a red carpet instead of amongst the rivers and trees that make up our pack land. This look is definitely not inconspicuous for riding on a bus.
The entire time I was being transformed and girl talked, I tried to think of a new plan. Maybe some errand