--- Lyra's POV---

A week had passed before I had even realized, mostly due to the work that had been placed on my shoulders. After the pack had accepted me among them and as my role as Peacekeeper, they had certainly kept me busy.

Most of the fights I had to break up and tempers that needed to be soothed, were relatively simple. Large amounts of wolves that lived together would naturally cause some friction and strife between people.

However, I had noticed the ever-growing trend of unmated males picking fights with one another. Simply so I had to run over and separate the men.

If only those idiots remembered that I could access the pack's mind link just as well as they could, and therefore could sense their intentions. Lately they had been less than subtle, even attempting to give me a kiss as a 'thank you' present.

Shaking my head, I slowly stepped away from my window before snickering. The look on the guy's face when he received a kick to his groin was priceless, especially when he realized his friends instantly ran for safety when I turned to them.

I had resolved the issue quite simply. Reaching out to all the unmated males through the mind link, I had informed them of a simple fact.

If they were going to keep picking fights in order to try and get in my good graces, I would be the one to start the next fight.

And it definitely wasn't going to be a pretty one, as I wasn't afraid to fight dirty..

Just as I left my room and closed the door behind me, I heard several footsteps approaching. Looking up, I grinned as Liz questioned "What were you thinking about, Lyra? You were smirking like a Cheshire cat."

"The looks on the pack's faces when I uttered my warning to the unmated males." I said with a shrug, watching as Liz snorted out a laugh, followed by Jess and Sophia giggling in amusement.

The pack made sure that the unruly young men knew what they thought of their antics, gently teasing the teens about their mistakes.

As my eyes flitted over the group, my smile softened. Liz and Jess had been the first women who I befriended after my acceptance by the pack.

Liz had been eager, with a bright and bubbly personality that elevated everyone's mood. I was surprised when she introduced me to her best friend Jess, who was rather shy and didn't speak as much.

Sophia, Liz's older sister, simply sighed and shook her head. "Honestly, those idiots deserved it. Picking fights and injuring one another just so they could have an excuse to talk with you?" She clacked her tongue with disgust.

And then I slowly realized all three women were flanking me with equal smiles blooming on their faces.

Oh no. Please don't tell me-

"I hope you don't have any plans today because honey, we're going to shop until we drop!" Liz announced with pure joy in her voice. Meanwhile I gave off a groan of absolute utter disgust.

"For what? To hang even more clothes in the closet that I'm never going to wear anyways?" I whined, gaining the attention of the other women, who looked at me as if I had said something scandalous.

Even Jess, the usually shy one, looked at me with shock. "Nobody told you?" She inquired curiously, eyes flitting from myself to Sophia and Liz and back again.

Now I was getting really suspicious, as both Sophia and Liz seemed even giddier than when they found out I had picked out Ryan's hoodie.

"Well, tomorrow night is going to be awesome, because the pack is organizing a salsa evening." Liz smirked while Sophia winked, continuing where her sister dropped off.

"And, all the boys will be there, even unmated wolves from nearby packs have been invited. We could potentially be finding our mate tomorrow!" She cheered with excitement. "We need to get ourselves a nice outfit to look our best and snatch ourselves a mate!"

I sagged against the door, considering to hide inside and crawl under the covers. But I knew that Liz and Sophia would have no qualms to drag me to the stores and force me in any outfit they considered fitting.

Not only did I despise shopping on its own, I could already imagine word spreading among the pack. Undoubtedly all the unmated wolves had already heard the news.

Which also meant that the stores would be crawling with people who needed a new outfit, and covert perverts wanting to sneak a peek at all the ladies changing their outfits.

"If I co-operate and let you pick something, will you guys exclude me from any shopping trips for the next few months?" I amended, knowing that protesting against the siblings in front of me was useless.

Liz giggled but crossed her heart and raised her hand, trying to look extremely serious and innocent. "You have my word." She said, just before her lips twitched in a barely hidden smirk.

"Of course." I groaned, following the group out the packhouse and followed the stream of unmated migrating to the shopping district.

Once we arrived there, I was yanked from one section to another, all kinds of outfits thrown into my outstretched arms. Though I adamantly refused any of the dresses that were extremely revealing or covered in a gag worthy amount of sequins.

As I was ushered towards one of the changing rooms, I let out a heartfelt sigh and started hanging up all the different clothes, vaguely recognizing I had way more than the permitted ten items with me.

Then again, I doubted anyone currently in the store was abiding those rules anyways. Luckily the store owners were keeping a close eye on everyone coming in and even made it a point to kindly herd any unmated man away from the dressing rooms for the unmated women.

I couldn't remember how many dresses, skirts and outfits I tried, but all of them were almost instantly denied by either Liz, Sophia or Jess. By the time that I swore I had genuinely tried on everything in the store, I was herded out the store and onto the next one.

Each store was the same, exhausting endeavor of trying on all the clothes, being told they weren't good enough before we left again.

It was only after the fifth store that we found an outfit for both Liz and Sophia, where we also bumped into some of the unmated males doing their own shopping.

"Hey girls! Liz, Jess, Sophia, Lyra." Jason greeted with a smile and a nod before glancing at the bags around Liz and Sophia's arms. "You girls shopping for an outfit to wear at the ball tomorrow?" He inquired with a raised brow and an eager grin.

Liz nodded with an ecstatic smile. "Yup, We're still looking for an outfit for Jess and Lyra though." Motioning towards us before she teased, "Of course, anything these two will be wearing will make em smoking hot."

The guys chuckled, silently agreeing before a few turned their gaze on me. "Can you actually dance though?" He murmured curiously, adding a muffled "You know..." not wanting to outright indicate my nomadic background.

I simply smiled in reply "Of course I can dance. Can you?" He flushed slightly as his friends good-naturedly nudged him in the ribs with smirks on their faces. I didn't even bother entertaining their not so subtle inquiries about who my dance partner was going to be.

Liz pulled us away from the guys, her eyes nearly dancing with excitement. "This dance has never been so popular as now. I'm willing to bet an entire week of patrolling that most of the guys are coming over just to see you in a dress."

Groaning out loud at her very likely remark, I allowed myself to be dragged away by the laughing girls.

By the end of the day, I was more than grateful when we finally made our way back to the packhouse. Not only had we run into several pack members who were either curious who we were going to dance with or outright inviting themselves to be our dance partners, but I was pretty certain we had visited every store in the shopping district.

Luckily one of the store owners had just the dress I wanted. A gorgeous yet simple red dress with an open back and an angled split on my left leg.

Everyone had agreed it looked amazing and it had fit me perfectly when I tried it on.

"I'd say we're done here" Liz nodded, looking through our bags before she smiled my way. "You are coming to us tomorrow so that we can work on your hair and make-up."

We all laughed and agreed before finally heading back home. However, as we were approaching the packhouse, we stalled slightly at the sight of Jason.

He had been undergoing quite a character change over the past few days. From what I had learned from the girls, he had been quite a bit of a player before I had arrived to the pack.

But after I had put things into perspective for him, had shown the similarities between his own behavior and that of a rogue, Jason had tampered down quite a bit.

He'd seen his past behavior on a new light, had realized that his supposed slick and smooth behavior was borderline creepy and stalkerish.

So imagine our unified shock when Jason stood there with a sheepish smile and a single hydrangea flower in his hands.

As our group approached, Jason mustered up his courage before approaching us, or rather, a single individual in the group.

Gifted with the soft pink flower, Jess' lips parted in shock, eyes flitting down to the flower and up to Jason with a slight curiosity flickering in her eyes.

I barely managed to repress a smile as Jason scratched at the nape of his neck. "I was uhm... hoping you'd... maybe... consider going to the dance with me." He managed to squeeze out awkwardly, making Jess flush as she took a delicate whiff of the flower.

She shot us a quick look, almost as if expecting one of us to snatch Jason up in front of her nose. Rolling my eyes, I gave Jess a gentle nudge, to which she gladly accepted the invitation.

And I could tell by the elation in both their eyes, that maybe something had finally awakened in Jason, something that may grow to an actual mating bond.

Jess had already told us that she suspected he may be her mate. That she had hoped he would change his behavior, would stop running after every single unmated wolf in the pack.

"I, uh, I'll come pick you up. Tomorrow!" Jason grinned with elation, giving an awkward wave before darting away.

As soon as he was out of earshot, the girls exploded in a giddy mess of laughter and cheering. Hoping that, even if the date may not lead to a mating bond, that Jess could at least enjoy her date with Jason.

"He's all yours daring." I ensured the near tearful Jess, who grinned vibrantly as the rest of the girls heartily agreed.

Sophia smirked, rubbing her hands together as her eyes sparked at the challenge. "Girl, we're going to do your hair and make up to the point where Jason will be unable to take his eyes off of you, even if his life depended on it."

After more excited chatter and planning on when to gather for our hair and make-up, we split ways to finally go to bed. With my dress wrapped securely in its protective cover and dancing shoes selected, I flopped on the bed with an exited huff.

I had made sure to select flat shoes, as I refused to make myself immortally ridiculous in high heels and fall flat on my face.

That would be my luck. First pack event where everyone's attention would be on me, wobbling around like a drunken foal before I made a spectacular nose dive.

A.N. Some readers of the old story may see a massive difference in Jason's behavior. After reviewing (and cringing) over his behavior in the old book, I realized Jason's behavior and thought process was extremely sexist, borderline assault. And as I don't condone that behavior, nor wish to promote it, I made his character realize the err of his ways.

You'll notice similar changes in the future, but this is all for the improvement of a story I wrote as a teen.

Love n kisses <3