Chapter 6

"Why do you need all these buildings if you don't live in them?"

"You're literally dumber than a rock," Ama says. "We choose to live in the real world. The real world has stores."

"I've never been to a store," I say, feeling a little tendril of excitement growing inside me.

"Shocking," Ama says. "Seeing as how you're basically a bog hag who knows nothing except how to wrestle alligators and catch fish. Now

stop asking so many questions. You're making my head hurt."

Despite her nastiness, I let the first smile I've felt all day form on my face. Things are bad, but that doesn't mean there's not good in the world. Mama never let me come to town, even when she went to get supplies every few seasons. She said it wasn't safe. But I don't feel scared today. The cars are a little intimidating, but they seem to follow predictable patterns when I watch them on the road, and I think I can escape them if I stay out of their way, like Ama said.

I'm too busy marveling at all the newness around me to be very scared. Ama swings open the door of the concrete structure, and we enter. Inside the store, a tall, midnight-skinned man grins at us. He reminds me of the panthers that move through the swamps under the cover of night.

"Friends," he says, holding out his arms. "Is this the woman you told me about, Ama? The one we'll be grooming for the Alpha?"

Colorful clothes surround us, hanging from metal tubes, while light streams from glass balls in the ceiling.

My mind swims with all these new sights to take in Half of me longs to head back to the swamp and huddle in our cozy tin house, and the other half wants to touch everything, see if the yellow dresses feel like sunshine and the blue like sky.

The male saunters toward us. I sidle backward, away from him, baring my teeth. I've never spoken to a man before, but Mama told me they are to be feared. This one inches closer and seizes my chin, turning my face from side to side. "Exquisite. Beautiful cheekbones. I think we can do a lot with her."

I snap my teeth at his hand, but he yanks his arm back before my teeth connect. I wrench my face away, glowering at him and trying to back away. Ama gives me a little shove forward, back in his direction. "Don't touch me," I warn, fisting my hands, ready to return to my wolfskin if he tries to attack.

Ama snorts. "See what I mean? I'm telling you, Axel got swindled by that old diviner. This must be some sort of joke because this chick can't be anyone's mate. She probably couldn't find her way around a dick if you drew her a map."

"She does seem a bit... Untamed." The male strokes his chin with his thumb and forefinger, appearing thoughtful. "Mademoiselle, forgive me."

He extends his hand to me. I stare at it. I don't know who Mademoiselle is, or why he's holding out a hand like he'll help me up when I'm standing right in front of him.

Ama chuckles. "He's making a gesture of friendship, dumbass. Take his hand and shake it."

My brow furrows. "Why?"

Ama huffs out a sigh, wraps her fingers around the man's hand, and gives it a small shake. "Lewis, I'm pleased to make your acquaintance. I'm Ama." She turns toward me, her lips pressed together in a flat line. "That's how we greet people outside the swamp. Think you can manage that?"

I try it, taking Lewis's warm hand and moving it up and down. I've never touched a male before, but his hand feels the same as mine or Mama's, only softer. It feels warm and nice enveloping mine, but I pull away quickly. Mama said not to trust people outside our family.

"Say what I said, but use your name instead of mine," Ama says to me before meeting Lewis's gaze. "I have to spell out the most ridiculous things to her. I thought I was getting his mate, not babysitting an overgrown toddler."

"She seems a bit feral," Lewis says, gazing at me with soft eyes. "But she's not so bad."

We exchange names the way Ama did. "I'm Luna," I say when it's my turn. "You don't seem so bad, either."

Lewis throws back his head and lets out a deep, coyote-like laugh. "That's wonderful. I think I'm going to like you, Luna."

Then, he turns away from me and extends his hand again, only more from his side than straight on.

"What do I do this time?" I ask.

"You take it-but only if you're willing-and we proceed to my cave of mysteries." A smile spreads across his face and up into his dark, sparkling eyes.

Behind him, Ama glowers.

I went in a cave with Mama once, and it wasn't scary. I avoid Lewis's hand but follow him when he gestures toward a back room. Hardly the kind of shelter I expected, I'm confronted with a room where pieces of fabric in various colors are draped over chairs scattered around the area and a huge mirror. A table in front of the mirror is covered with tiny pots of color and sticks with soft-looking furry ends. I reach out a fingertip and stroke the end of one of the sticks.

"She probably doesn't know what that is," Ama says with a sneer.

Lewis picks up one of the stick-things and explains, "This is a makeup brush. And this is a hairbrush. We're going to use it on your abundant tresses once you've taken a shower." He waves a piece of wood with boar bristles poking out of it.

"A shower? Like rain?" I ask, dizzy from all the new information. "Sort of."

I pick up a jar with blackish goo inside from a rack next to the table. "What's this?"

"This is hair dye," Lewis says, grabbing the jar and replacing it on the rack. "Some people like to use it to turn their hair different colors. We'll not be doing that to you today."

"Why not?" I ask, wondering what different colors of hair I could have. I never much thought about my hair because I never knew I could change it. Looking around at all the colors of fabric in the room, I think of all the colors in the world that my hair could be. Blood red, or sunset orange, or pink as my tongue; blue as twilight or green as a coiled fern.

Ama scoffs. "Let's not make ourselves more of a freak than we already are."

Lewis grabs my shoulders, pivots me around, and marches me toward the corner. He urges me inside an outhouse-sized room with golden- green walls like dragonfly wings that smells damp, like the bog. Only this dampness smells sweet, like springtime flowers. Metal things protrude from the wall. Lewis twists one of them, and water pours from another metal device on the ceiling. "Strip out of these rags and step under the water. You can use any of those bottles..." He points to several items on the floor. "And wash your hair and your body thoroughly. Got it?"