I sailed across the empty store, one knee on the seat of my rolling chair and my hands gripping the back. “We’re business owners!” I exclaimed, unable to contain my excitement.
Opening my very own store had been a lifelong dream of mine since childhood. Well, not just mine but also Hope’s. She was my best friend and soul sister. We’d begun our entrepreneurship years ago by selling our wares to kids in the local wolf packs.
Hope specialized in jewelry design. Most of it was fun and fashionable, but she also created beautiful, elaborate pieces that some folks were willing to pay a lot of money to own. I had a passion for fashion. My custom-made shoes, jackets, and other clothing had become so popular among our age group that even humans were asking where to buy them. But I only catered to Shifters. My former Packmaster had advised me against doing business with humans. Since the Breed world was kept secret, the less we interacted with humans, the better.
My chair slowed to a crawl in the middle of the shop, and I turned around to relax in it. Sunshine soaked into the wood floor, casting a magical spell that hung in the air like spun gold.
From her place on the floor, Hope tossed a dirty rag down and wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. “Well, I’m done. I don’t think the floor or the baseboards will get any cleaner. Whoever owned this place before us didn’t do a good job keeping them clean. Bubble gum was stuck in all the corners.” Strands of her long brown hair had pulled free from her ponytail, and she blew one away from her face.
“Do you think I should go over the windows once more?” I asked, noticing a few streaks that the sun had begun illuminating.
“Let it go, Mel. It took you hours to make them look this good, and you already fell off the ladder once.” One of the suspenders on Hope’s overalls slid off her shoulder, and she suddenly smiled, her brown eyes changing to the shape of crescent moons. “Remember when we used to pretend your brothers’ fort was our store? We would decorate it and wait all day for customers. I’ll never forget the time Hendrix and Lennon brought their friends over to play.”
“And instead of yelling at us to get out, they wouldn’t let their friends go home until they bought something. Poor kids.” I smiled, remembering all the silly things we’d done growing up and how they had all led to this moment. “I told you this would happen. Your parents thought you would grow out of it and want to be a medicine woman.”
She flashed a bright smile and drew up her knees. “It runs in the family, but I never had the desire. Maybe it’s a nobler profession, but I love making things with my hands.”
“Don’t knock what we do. We’re not saving lives, but maybe we’re giving someone better self-esteem or putting a smile on their face, and that counts for something.”
We each could have taken different paths in life to pursue other interests, as kids often did, but my brush with death in a freak snowstorm when I was seventeen had been the catalyst for making my dreams into a reality. I’d learned firsthand how unpredictable and fleeting life could be. So we’d made plans. Real plans.
When I could no longer keep up with the orders, I searched the online Breed newspaper and discovered a group of Shifters local to the Austin area who were offering seamstress services. Since I was just an inexperienced kid in their eyes, I had to work harder for their trust. I’d arranged a meeting to present my designs and discuss my sales growth, and I had also asked to see samples of their work to judge the quality. After that, I drew up a contract and made them an offer. With labor off my hands, I suddenly had an inordinate amount of time to strategize.
Hope dusted off the bottoms of her feet. “It’s a good thing we found something in the Breed district. It’s worth every penny. I would have hated to worry about taxes and all those inspections. Plus I like doing something for our community.”
“Well, it’s not like we can keep the humans out,” I reminded her.
“I don’t dislike them,” she said quickly, obviously remembering that I’d grown up with humans in my pack. “But sometimes it seems like we have so