Where the Predators Prowl [Ch 72, 73]

72. Shopping Spree

I slouched into a plush chair in the boutique's "boyfriend waiting area" tagged as such by the sales girl’s comment, while my pack disappeared into the fitting rooms. The waiting chair was designed for pradavarian proportions, leaving my feet dangling several inches above the floor.

This particular boutique catered to high level elite or wealthy female delvers. It practically shouted such from the displays of hexmesh-reinforced clothing to armor-compatible accessories on crystalline, slowly moving, rune-encrusted, tall and curvy female prad mannequins.

"What do you think?" Nessy emerged from the changeroom, twirling in a blue sundress. The fabric shimmered slightly in mesmerizing patterns, suggesting overpriced magitek threadwork.

"Beautiful," I commented, making her tail wagging accelerate tenfold. "Does the shiny thread do anything special?"

"Yep. Minor temperature regulation and small-impact protection," she slid her paws over the dress. "Perfect for casual outings in dungeons."

"Dungeons? Casual?" I laughed.

"Well, the safe-ish ones," she clarified with a smile. “Like the local edge of Denver. Urbexing at the half-drowned towers close to town is super fun. We should totally go! It’ll be just like old times, but with… slaying half-formed Lawyers!”

Just like old times. 

Patchy fragments of memories of another life danced across my mind. Nessy and I as young teenagers breaking into the abandoned bell tower of Saint Mary’s church. Taking photos inside the giant bell, giggling furiously at each other’s jokes about our Ferguson High teachers. 

For a brief moment, three distinctive lifetimes competed for room in my head. 

One in which Nessy and I grew up together in pre-Systemfall Ferguson.

One in which I died alone in a bathtub because of my brother’s gambling debts and was brought back by Systemfall.

One in which I grew up in Little Rock Citadel in SUSA, human Tennessee Republic and was mistreated by my parents and occasionally murdered by my Pyromancer brother’s ‘experiments’.

Three lifetimes. Three different, yet similar Alecs. Which one was the real me? Would I eventually lose my sense of self, drown in general Alec-ness if I remembered too much from too many different lives?

Candace burst from her fitting room next, derailing my worries as she engulfed me in a glomp from behind. “Rawr! Are we chatting about Lawyer-slaying? I did lots of that as a kit with Goobs. Part of my Binder and Seer training.”

Turning my head, I saw that the fox acquired a frilly, shiny, short white dress for herself with emerald gemstones at the edges. New, white leather boots designed to support digitigrade prad feet featuring reinforced holes for claws hugged her feet.

“Hey, um, did you two know each other before?” I asked the dog and fox. “Didn’t you go to the same school together in Ferguson?”

“No. Nessy’s friends shooed me away the few times I tried talking to her. Also, I’ve been homeschooled until last year,” Candace exhaled, ears tilting back as she rubbed the back of her silver-white curly mane. “I spent my childhood under the constant tutelage of the best delver prads my parents could afford to chain me to. Barely had any time to myself. Mom wanted me to shine like a diamond. Goobs was aight, but some of my teachers were brutal as fuck, were paid extra to turn me into the most capable Binder in the world. Each of them pushed me to see more in the Astral, to bind things that would break anyone else’s mind. Eventually I did break…”

“Sorry I wasn’t there for you,” Nessy smothered Candace in a husky hug, licking her face. The fox melted into the husky’s embrace, silver tail wagging lightly.

“I saw too much and it shattered my psyche,” Candace added. “All my life I felt… incomplete, unfinished. At times I thought it was because I wasn’t good enough or that I was mind-fucked in some way, but really… I was just missing this.” She mussed up the husky’s black and white mane. “This part of my soul. Plus you, Alec. I missed you without even remembering who or what you are.”

"Yeah." Nessy softly stroked the fox's silver hair back. “I wrote like a thousand songs over the years about us, ‘bout Kristi, ‘bout our RV waiting for us in the Superstore. So many years of longing.”

“We should go to the Superstore and get Bul,” I said. “She will amplify our skills.”

“We will,” Nessy nodded, grabbing me and pulling me into their mutual embrace. “We absolutely will.”

"It was sooo maddening to exist without ya!” Candace smooshed both of our cheeks. "I kept having these dreams where I'd reach for someone, but they were always just beyond my grasp. I'd wake up feeling empty, get snappy at my instructors and they’d push me into more dangerous shit. Astral diving worked as a distraction until it didn’t… Until I stared at myself extra hard and understood that a part of me was sliced away by someone before I was even born. I freaked out, assumed that my parents messed with me, broke lots of overpriced shit at the Rhinehart estate, and even straight up attacked my tutors and parents. My psychiatrist thought that going to school would help, give me some socializing… relax me a bit. Is how I ended attending Ferguson High for a year!”

“Did it help?” I asked.

“Kind of,” Candace said. “Mostly because I met her.”

“Her?”

“Ads,” the fox clarified. “The first time I touched her and Astral-scanned her all the way down to her core, I thought that found my soulmate. She was exactly what I needed at the time. Absolute strength, motivation, blind acceptance, love. Addie embraced me without questions, took my mentally fucked up self, supported, held me when I kept slipping into the Astral abyss, didn't let me drift away to eternity… without that cheetah butt I wouldn't be here.”

Adelle stepped out of her fitting room in a black leather ensemble that hugged her orange-furred curves. The jacket was cropped and studded with a multitude of defence runes. Her legs were wrapped in tight leather pants. Heavy, celesteel-rune boots completed the look.

"Damn, Ads," Candace whistled, releasing me and Nessy. "You look hot as fuck."

Adelle spun around, orange striped tail twitching. "Yeah? You think so?"

"Absolutely," Candace nodded. “Six thousand and two thumbs up!”

“Are you gonna get a matching leather outfit too?” I asked Candace.

"Nu,” she replied. “Das much too heavy n’ dark for me.”

"If you're basically the same soul, why do you appreciate different things?” I wondered. “Is it because you grew up in different circumstances?”

"Ye, Addie's style is all rough edges, metal and badass vibes. Mine is more... Light n’ flexible. Nessy's got that wholesome doggo thing going on. Kristi's all regal, sporty and prop. It's ‘cus of Soul-division drift," Candace replied, idly pawing at Adelle's studs. "When a soul gets chopped up, each piece drifts in different directions based on its experiences. It's why we're not carbon copies of each other."

"Right,” I said.

Candace jumped onto my lap, making me grunt from the sudden weight. "Plus, with each choppery… more entropy gets in.” She wiggled atop me teasingly.

"As my parents said, we're the same at our core," Nessy added, "but we've grown in different directions."

"What would happen if there's more division?" I asked. “If I reach the end of time again and make another wish?”

“No, no, no,” Candace's ears flattened. "That’s a very bad idea. Do not divide us again. Addie here is pretty much at the edge of caring about you as you… as a Prad. She hurt you on purpose, in a misguided attempt to claim you. Any further divisions would likely produce... undesirable effects."

"What kind of effects?" I asked.

"Oh, you know," Candace said casually, examining her claws. "A bit of my soul that’s affected with enough entropy to be murderously vengeful. One who might figure out how to permanently corrupt, unbind you or the rest of us from reality just to avoid getting divided again. Or one that wants to consume the flesh of the others to become whole. The usual cosmic horror stuff. Nullspace devours sanity and logic. More division produces less sanity. Half the time I don't know if I'm hallucinating stuff, you know.”

“I see,” I shuddered slightly.

"Soul division is dangerous. We're a rare, somewhat fictional exception because of... you." She added.

"Because I'm a tree?"

"Because you're the divider," Candace said. "The Slayer. You cut us apart but you're also what holds us together, anchors us.”

Adelle huffed from where she stood. "Can we not talk about this loopy Slaya’ shit right now? I'm trying to shop and not get a migraine thinking ‘bout existential jank."

"Fair point," Candace grinned. "You getting that outfit?"

"Fuck yeah, I am," Adelle said. "Makes my ass look great."

Kristi emerged from her fitting room next, dressed in a sleek, emerald-green jumpsuit that matched her violet scales and emerald feathers.

"What'd I miss?" she asked.

"Just talking about how we're all fragments of the same soul and how any further division might create an entropy-afflicted fragment number eight that will most likely perma-delete Alec," Candace said cheerfully.

“Riiiiight. A totally normal shopping conversation." Kristi rolled her eyes, heading to look at dresses.

Adelle too wandered off to the large mirror to admire herself, pretending to ignore us.

Terry stepped out of her fitting room last, looking uncomfortable in a frilly, floral pink dress that didn't match her punk aesthetic at all.

"Ugh, I hate this," she grumbled, tugging at the fabric.

"Then why'd you try it on?" Candace asked.

"The sales lady insisted," Terry said. "Said it would 'bring out my eyes' or some shit."

“And you listened to her, why?” The fox asked.

“Dunno,” Terry grumbled with a big yawn.

“You clearly need help, my grumpy cat,” Candace grabbed Terry and both of them wandered off towards the reinforced leather section of the boutique. “Come on.”

Terry grumbled something under her breath but let herself be led, looking too hungover to put up much of a fight. The fox rapidly piled a stack of black leather pants, studded jackets, and rune-etched boots into the lynx's arms. Then, Candace nudged her friend into the nearest changeroom and pulled the red curtain shut. 

The arctic fox turned back to us, smugly dusting her paws like she'd just solved world hunger. Her silver-gray eyes landed on Nessy, who was standing in her new blue sundress beside me, tail wagging at full speed.

"Hey, Nessikins," Candace said slyly. "You got any seductive outfits? Y'know, something to really wow our Alpha here tonight?"

Nessy's tail froze mid-wag, like it'd hit an invisible wall. "S-seductive? Like... um..."

“Lingerie, dawg!” The fox declared. “The good stuff. Don't tell me you've been rocking monk robes for so long you forgot how to dress sexy."

"W-hah? I... I have stuff," Nessy stammered out, fidgeting with the dress hem. "Just... not with me right now."

"Uh-huh," Candace grabbed Nessy's arm with one paw and Adelle's with the other. "C'mon, you two. Lingerie section! Now."

The trio rapidly acquired a basketful of lingerie and vanished in a cubicle together, giggling and shushing at each other.

In a few minutes my phone dinged. I opened Pradstagram to discover a photo of Nessy in an iridescent, semi-transparent dress. She was lifting the bottom of the dress revealing that underneath she was wearing an open-style g-string featuring a string of pearls running down the center section.

Candace was offering Nessy another white short dress while Addie was presenting her with a sling bikini.

Nessy looked adorably embarrassed by the offered outfits.

Kristi whistled softly from behind me, nearly making me drop my phone.

“Oi,” I looked up at her. “Don’t just sneak up on me like that! Damn sneaky Jurassic Park creature.”

The raptor girl sent me a smirk, feathers fluttering slightly. She leaned down to peek at my phone screen.

My phone dinged again. Another photo loaded. The pearls nestled between her folds up close. Her tail curled high, featuring an exceptionally curvy behind. It took my brain a moment to process that Nessy was rotated 180 degrees by Candace. Fox-paws were grabbing the husky girl’s butt.

“Hrm,” Kristi murmured, leaning in closer. Her feathers brushed my ear.

Heat crept up my neck as another photo loaded. It featured Nessy and Candace pawing at each other, both wearing new sets of extra-thin lacy lingerie. I guessed that Adelle took the photo.

Kristi straightened up, violet tail flicking in annoyance. 

“I'll handle this,” she declared. 

“Handle what now?” I blinked up at her as a naked selfie of Addie loaded being grabbed by Candace from behind.

“This is a public store!” She stated. “They can’t just…”

She angrily strode toward the cubicle, raptor claws clicking loudly on the tile floor now. Then she yanked the red curtain aside, striding in. Giggles and indignant raptor noises erupted from within.

My phone buzzed yet again. I steeled myself before looking. 

The newly made Pradstagram chat group name made me sputter out loud:

[Yo Harem 🐾✨🐆🌀]

[Hugnado🌀]: ke ke ke

[Hugnado🌀]: Behold! A captured raptor!

A picture of Kristi loaded. Orange, muscular, fuzzy hands pinned Kristi’s violet, scaled wrists up to the wall. The raptor was wearing a mostly transparent, iridescent bra and g-string that left nothing to the imagination. Her back was arched, wide snout open in protest, cheeks scales furiously ignited with brilliant violet spirals. Nessy’s tongue was mid-lick along Kristi’s neck, one paw tangled in emerald feathers. 

73. High on Love

[Hugnado🌀]: [video attachment]

Kristi’s bra was now dangled from one emerald feathery shoulder, Addie’s tongue tracing a wet line down the raptor’s scaled sternum while Nessy’s paw slid lower, grabbing Kristi’s tail. The raptor girl’s eyes were squeezed shut, beak parted in a silent gasp that looped three seconds, over and over.

[MaximaPawsome🐾]: [pic]

Nessy had turned the camera on herself—she’d swapped into a baby-blue lace teddy. Gemstone strands glittered like tiny stars, scattered in flowery patterns across her crotch barely containing her folds.

[Purrsnacka🐆]: [video attachment]

Addie had looped Kristi’s own tail around her wrist like a violet leash, tugging just enough to arch the raptor’s back. Candace’s silver paw snaked in from the edge of frame, two fingers slipping under the waistband of Kristi’s g-string, stretching it away from slick violet scales before letting it snap back.

I swallowed. My pulse was doing frantic parkour against my ribs. Another buzz.

[✨Stellaris]: if u don’t get in here and stop them I will bite u

I chortled, considering abandoning shopping propriety to join the girls.

Another buzz

[Hugnado🌀]: no i 🦈 u [video attachment]

Sharp fox chompers. A white muzzle opening wide.

A sharp, barely concealed yelp echoed from the video as Candace's teeth sank into Kristi's scaled thigh, not hard enough to go through scales but firm enough to make the raptor buck. Kristi's feathery tail thrashed in the frame, feathers flaring wildly, while Nessy's laughter bubbled off-screen. Candace pulled back, her tongue darting out to soothe the bite mark with a lick, leaving a glistening trail on violet scales. Kristi's chest heaved, iridescent bra now fully discarded, nipples hardening in the cool air of the fitting room.

My throat went dry. Heat flooded my face, spreading down my neck. I shifted in the chair, suddenly aware of how tight my pants felt. Another buzz.

[MaximaPawsome🐾]: lik wat u see? 😘 shd we kp goin?

The attached photo showed Nessy mauling Kristi from the behind, white paws wrapped around her ample chest, canines closing hard around the side of Kristi’s neck.

I felt my face burning, the boutique’s air-conditioning doing nothing against the heat crawling up my neck. 

I started typing, fingers fumbling.

But before I could hit send, the curtain to a nearby fitting room rustled. Terry stepped out, tugging at the hem of a black leather vest over a cropped tank top. Studded pants completed the look, giving her back the punk edge she favored when I met her at the gas station.

“Dis one fits aight, I think,” She struck a pose, hands on hips. "Hey Alpha.” She turned to me. “How's this? Better than that frilly crap, yeah?"

I turned my phone screen away quickly, shoving it into a pocket.

"Why so twitchy?" she asked, eyeing me suspiciously.

"Nothing. Just... pack stuff. The outfit looks great. Very you."

She crossed her arms, striped tail flicking. "Uh-huh. Why do you look so red?"

From the distant cubicle, a muffled giggle escaped, followed by Kristi's indignant squawk. Terry's fluff-tipped ears perked up, swiveling like radar dishes towards the direction of the fitting rooms.

"Wait," she said slowly. "Are those knobs sending you nudes from the fitting room?"

"Something like that, yep."

Terry barked a laugh, shaking her head. "Figures. That fox can't keep her paws to herself for five minutes round Ads, ‘specially when she gets high.”

“Is she high now?” I asked.

“Hmmmm,” Terry licked the air, sliding onto the seat across from me. “Doesn’t smell like it. Just… happy. You know, I’ve never seen Cap or Loops this happy before for this long. It’s weird. Relationships shouldn’t make prads happy.”

“Why not?”

“Relationships add unnecessary drama,” she shrugged. “Four prads pining for one human? That’s a recipe for imminent face-clawing disaster, especially if there’s a raptor beerch involved. And yet… I’m not hearing face clawing. All I’m hearing is…”

Her ears swiveled from me towards the sounds of my packmates once again.

“Vigorous making out. Seriously, where’s the violence? Where’s the threats to ‘lay off my property’? Where’s your ‘claimed by Strand’ collar?” She stared at my bare neck. “I don’t get it.”

My phone buzzed again.

"You gonna check that?" Terry asked with a half-smirk.

"Nope," I replied.

Before Terry could needle me further about my lack of collar, the curtains rustled again, all four prads spilling out in a tangle of flushed scales, rumpled fur and upright feathers. Nessy’s tail was wagging so hard it created a breeze; Candace was a picture of dictionary smugness; Adelle looked like she’d won a fight she didn’t know she’d started. Kristi, though—Kristi looked indignant to the max. 

The raptor was stuffed into a fancy silver-white-blue dress that glittered like crushed diamonds and clung to every violet scale. The material was so fine and delicate that it bordered on translucent. Her feathers were sticking out in every direction.

She marched straight up to me, hands on hips, expression extra scandalized.

“That’s a very pretty dress,” I commented, staring at her curves.

“You left me in there,” she accused, completely ignoring my compliment. “With these three hussies. I was assaulted by lingerie and… teeth!”

“Technically you walked in,” I pointed out.

‘Yeah,” Candace burst into furious giggling. “Don’t walk into dark changerooms if you can’t handle the pawage. Sides you loved it! Admit it!”

“That is not the point, Alec.” Kristi admitted nothing and sent a glare at the fox and then turned back to me, tail whipping through the air. “You did not rescue me. Therefore, you owe me.”

“That’s more like the Strand I expected,” Terry whisper-commented. “Watch, she's gonna ask you to put on a collar and…”

I raised an eyebrow, fighting the twitch at the corner of my mouth. “Owe you what, exactly?”

“A walk on the beach,” she declared. “Just the two of us! No fox ambushes, no husky licks, no cheetah sneak-attacks. You, me, the moon, and the sound of waves. Tonight!”

"Done," I agreed immediately.

"Good." She tugged at the silver dress. "And I'm getting this."

“Aight,” I said.

Terry stared at the raptor and then at the others, expecting relationship drama escalation. 

“Cool beans,” Candace said. “Have fun ya two. We’ll keep ourselves entertained n’ warm for ya.”

Nessy nodded, tail wagging. Adelle let out a noise that sounded like agreement.

“What the fuck is happening?” Terry asked. 

"L'amour, ma chérie," Candace replied, waving her white paws dramatically. "C'est la magie de l'amour véritable qui transcende les dimensions!"

"I don't speak frog," Terry grumbled. "Use normal words."

Nessy giggled, reached down to grab my hands and pulled me out of the chair. As I came upright, she lowered her face down and pressed her muzzle against my lips in a kiss that took my breath away, the edges of reality wobbly with violet stars.

Terry looked at us making out and then at Kristi, Addie and Candace. “This ain’t right.”

"Love," Candace translated, clearly enjoying Terry's confused expression. "The magic of real love that goes beyond dimensions! Pure weaponized Love, darlin’ Terry, is when four apex prads decide one squishy human is worth sharing. Also it’s the thing making your face do that.” 

“Love’s a myth, like calorie-free bacon,” Terry huffed.

Candace snorted. “Fluffahrony, lighten up, my grumpy loaf. The universe’s sense of humor is weirder than your hangover daydreams.”

Adelle ambled past to grab a studded collar with a leash she clearly intended to buy for reasons I didn’t want to interpret at this moment.

“Yes,” Terry replied to Candace. “That’s what I’m saying. This is some weird, uncanny valley bullshit. Did you all get replaced with reptiloids while I was drinking away my bike loss? This just ain’t how prads behave after they claim someone. Especially when said prads smell like they got together with a human… only a few days ago.”

“Technically, we’ve all known Alec more than one lifetime,” Nessy pointed out, releasing me so that I could breathe. 

Terry squinted at the husky.

“If dis’ love was fake, I wouldn’t have just dropped three grand on lingerie that’s basically fancy dental floss for my baes,” Candace laughed. “So either it’s real, or capitalism is way more devious than we thought!”

"Not every relationship has to be a territorial pissing contest,” the cheetah commented.

"Yeah, and I'm the Queen of Old Denver, Cap," Terry muttered.

"Your Majesty," Candace mock-bowed, grinning. "Want us to find you some Lawyer subjects to eat?"

"Bite me," Terry shot back.

"Nope, I only bite my harem baes," Candace cackled, causing Terry to choke on air.

"You four are batshit nuts," Terry shook her head. “Or high on something I can’t smell. Or are all… reptiloids in disguise. ‘Specially you.” She stared at the raptor girl. “You aren't behaving like a Strand Prima at all.”

“Rude,” Kristi huffed, typing something furiously into her phone.

The salesgirl prad approached, looking a bit flustered. "Have you... decided on your purchases?"

"All of it," Candace announced, pulling out her credit card. "Everything we tried on, everything on us right now, plus that little swank number in the window."

The woman's eyes widened at the celesteel card. "Of course, Miss Rhinehart. Right away."

"You for real, Loops?” Terry blinked at the fox. “About to drop like five grand in one shop?"

“Yepperoni,” Candace said. 

“What happened to the fox who steals hot dogs from gas stations just so she can avoid spending money?” Terry demanded.

“This cheeky butt happened,” Candace flitted to my side and swatted me with a fluffy tail. “Thought that I was binding him, but it was he who shackled my wrists to his branches for-evah.”

Terry blinked at the fox, struggling to process her words.

"Might as well get you a bike while we're here too," Candace called over her shoulder. "The sky-glider bike shop's just down the street. You'll need good gear to ride it too."

Terry froze. "Wait, right now? You were serious about that?"

"Duh," Candace rolled her eyes. "What part of 'you're in Alec’s pack now' didn't compute, lynx-brain?"

"You can't just..." Terry's voice trailed off. "A… glider from Dragon Alley?! That's way too much, Loops!"

"It's just money," Candace waved dismissively. "Besides, I owe you for the Skid Marks hospitality."

“I… I’ve never been this hospitable to you,” Terry pointed out. “And you’ve been a crazy penny pincher for the four months that I’ve known you. Why get me a glider?”

“You can fetch stuff for us while we’re at school,” Candace shrugged. 

“What kind of stuff? T-dust?” Terry squinted.

“Nah,” Candace said. “I’m getting off that shit. Look, Fluffy, I don’t know what you can fetch us. I haven’t bothered to think about it. Maybe you can get groceries? Errands?" Candace twirled her silver locks around a claw. "You're the backup team member six for our impossible town-saving Quest, Fluffy. Take the bike. Is pack law."

Terry turned her face from the fox to me, seeking rational words from the human.

"The fox has spoken. You're getting a bike,” I shrugged.

. . .

After paying for our clothing purchases, we strolled down Dragon Alley's cobblestone street toward "Drake’s Wheels," a gleaming storefront with a massive mechanical dragon sculpture constructed from gears and pistons hanging above the entrance. Its ruby eyes tracked our movement, head turning and tiny puffs of steam erupted from its nostrils and ears.

The inside of the shop was just as original. Gothic ceilings and steampunk pipes with hanging lamps featuring glowing sleeping dragons. Gliders of every shape and size hung from the ceiling and stood on displays. The motorcycle-types single and double person models stood in the center, each one a masterpiece of magitek engineering covered in runic enchantments.

Terry froze in the doorway, whiskers twitching.

"Welcome to Drake’s Wheels!" The shopkeeper, a burly bear pradavarian with soot-stained fur, called out. "What can I help you folks with today?"

"We need your best one person glider-bike," Candace announced. "Something reinforced, loud and moddable for a lynx gal who knows her way around engines."

Terry's ears flattened. "I... come on, you guys, this is too much."

"Too much would be a Strand Nemesis," Kristi commented, examining a price tag on a nearby bike. "This is just... appropriate."

The bear led us through rows of motorcycles, describing engine specs and enchantment capacities while Terry trailed behind, running her claws reverently over chrome and leather. Her eyes lingered on a midnight-blue and black model with electric-blue accents.

"The Thunderstar 2020," the shopkeeper noted, following her gaze. "Good eye. Magitek-assisted combustion engine, hexmesh-reinforced frame, anti-gravity suspension for those tricky landings." He patted the seat. "This beauty can hit 320 clicks on straightaways and has built-in barriers and shredder blades against Denver conceptoids."

Terry's paws hovered over the handlebars, not quite touching, as if the bike might vanish if she made contact.

"How much?" Candace asked.

The bear named a number that made Terry flinch and back away.

“The right side compartment unfolds into a single person wildland camper, ye?” Candace asked.

“Correct,” the salesbear agreed. “You can hire a Binder to reinforce it with crystal mana to increase the size and personal concealment area.”

"Perfect. We'll take it!" Candace announced, the credit card manifesting in her hands from nullspace.

"No," Terry shook her head frantically. "Loops! That's a down payment on a house!"

"You can't be in a delver pack without transportation." I said.

"I can get by with… a normal bike," she protested weakly. "One that doesn't cost ten times more than my mom's trailer!"

"This pack doesn't do normal," Adelle huffed, examining the Thunderstar’s gravity engine. "Either get the nice bike dude or forever be known as a boring knobfold!"

"Think of it as mission-critical equipment." Nessy smiled.

Terry stood frozen, staring at the Thunderstar. Her claws flexed and unflexed as she fought an internal battle.

"Do you not like it?" Candace asked, pursing her lips. "We can look at—"

"No. I love her," Terry whispered. "She’s the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

"Then she’s yours," I said.  

The shopkeeper's eyes lit up at the imminent sale. "I'll throw in a matching helmet, gloves, pants and jacket. Hexmesh-reinforced and personal ward shielding of course!"

Thirty minutes later, papers signed and credit card charged, Terry sat atop her new Thunderstar outside the shop, wearing new leather jacket and gloves. The lynx ran her paws over every inch of the machine, her fingers trembling slightly.

"Try it out," Nessy encouraged. "Fire it up!"

Terry hesitated, then turned the key. The bike roared to life, a deep, throaty growl that vibrated through the cobblestones. Blue flames licked from the exhaust pipes, and runes along the frame pulsed with power, electrogravitic engine rings lighting up with raining sparks.

"Holy shit," Terry breathed. "Holy fucking shit. Listen to that purr. Slayer!"

I watched as she revved the engine, each rumble seeming to flow through her body like electric current. Her eyes shone, reflecting the blue glow of the bike's runes.

"Go on," Candace urged. "Take it for a spin. We'll catch up with you. We got more shopping business to do. Right, gals?"

The prad girls nodded.

Terry looked up, blinking rapidly, the tough, tall biker cracking apart like an eggshell. "I can't... I don't..."

Then, tears suddenly welled up in her eyes. She tried to blink them away, but they spilled down her striped cheeks.

"Fuck," she muttered, hastily wiping at her face. "Fuck, I'm not crying. Fuck me sideways.”

She stepped off the bike and smothered Candace in a hug. “Thank you.” 

The fox squeaked in a reply as she hugged Terry back.

Then the lynx’s hands relocated to me as she lifted me up from the ground, squishing my entire body and spinning me through the air. “And thank you, you damned, insane human. I have no idea what the fuck you did to Loops and Ads to make them like this and I don’t care anymore! I’ll do whatever it takes to serve as your best packmate, Alec!”

Nessy placed a paw on Terry's shoulder as the lynx lowered me back to the ground, my ribs aching from the bone-crushing hug. "It's okay to be happy, you know."

"Nobody's ever..." Terry swallowed hard. "Nobody's done anything like this for me before."

"Get used to it, kitten bae," Candace grinned. “Go have fun flying roun’ Ol’ Denver scaring dragons. Have a nap on a roof. Gram me when you get all the jitters out, by then we’ll hopefully get us a place for the night.”

Terry revved the engine again, her tears now flowing freely. "I'll pay you back someday. I swear."

"It’s all good, Terry. Just help us with the Quest as much as you’re able," I said. 

“Promise.” The lynx nodded, composing herself with visible effort. She pulled on her new helmet, the dark visor hiding her tear-streaked yellow-green eyes.

“I’ll see you all later!” She called, revving the engine. “Have fun mauling your Alpha, you four!”

With a deafening roar and a blast of hot air, she took off straight up into the sky, sending colorful, bird-sized dragons scattering from nearby rooftops. 

"That went well," Kristi noted.

"Better than expected," Candace agreed. "I thought we'd have to argue more."

Nessy leaned against me, her tail wagging. "Everyone needs something to love. For some, it's a person. For others, it's a bike."

"Or both," Adelle added, eyeing me meaningfully.