Alpha Prime: Shiftily Ever After(5)

Dakota set her cookie down and stared at her friend in shock. “Are you saying that Roy cheated on me because I’m fat? So I deserved it?”

Tina flipped her long, shiny blonde hair out of her face and leaned forward with exasperation. “Dakota, for God’s sake, when it comes to women, men only care about one thing. One thing. Looks. They want a gorgeous arm bangle. Why do you think I starve myself and exercise until I’m ready to puke every day?” She gestured at her body, so slim that her collarbones and hip bones were prominent. “Why do you think I skip lunch and spend every spare cent I have at the beauty salon so my hair always looks perfect? Because that’s the only way to get a guy and, more importantly, keep a guy.”

Dakota shook her head. “That’s not true,” she protested. “My mother was full-figured, and my father loved her. He worshipped the ground she walked on.”

Her father had been deliriously happy with her mother. It wasn’t until after her mother had died in a car accident that her father had turned into a cold-blooded, hard-hearted asshole. He’d pushed Dakota away from him, throwing himself furiously into the business of running the pack and building new developments for shifters. All the joy had drained from his life. He hadn’t dated since then. He never did anything for fun anymore, never went out to restaurants or movies or plays or concerts the way he had when Dakota’s mother was alive.

Now his entire focus was on making their pack the biggest, wealthiest, most powerful pack on the West Coast. He’d issued death challenges left and right, taken over and absorbed several smaller, weaker packs into his own, and still it was never enough. He was like the Genghis Khan of the shifter world with his endless drive for power.

Tina shrugged. “Your mother was a very rare exception to the rule,” she said. “Irrelevant. A guy like Roy – any decent guy – is going to want a woman who looks like she belongs in a beauty pageant. And if you ever let your looks go, he’ll cheat on you and neglect you and your marriage will be miserable.”

Dakota grimaced. “That’s a depressing outlook on life. And you’re worth more than your looks, Tina. You’ve always been a loyal friend to me.”

It was true. They’d met when they were fourteen, the year Tina and her mother had moved to town, and they’d bonded right away because they were both social outcasts.

Oh, everyone at high school had tiptoed around Dakota because her father was the Alpha, but she’d heard all the muttered insults and seen how the popular crowd sidled away when she walked by.

Tina had been an instant pariah because her mother was dirt poor and single, and also the popular girls had been jealous of her looks.

Tina smiled wryly. “Thanks. But that and a dollar won’t get me a latte at Starbucks. Because lattes cost more than a dollar. And without my looks, I’ve got nothing.”

She looked at Dakota. “It’s not too late for you to lose weight and attract a better guy than Roy, you know. Just stop eating. Go on a liquid diet. I mean, you’ve got such a pretty face…”

Dakota had heard that so many times in her life that she was ready to choke on it. She was sick of it – just sick and tired. “Get out,” she said.

“What?” Tina looked at her in shock. “Dakota, I’m just trying to help.”

Dakota fought down a wave of hurt and fury. “Get. Out.”

Tina leaped to her feet. “Fine,” she said bitterly. “I see what my friendship’s worth to you.” And she tossed the box of cookies back to Dakota and stalked out of the room.

After she left, Dakota hurled the box of cookies into the garbage, buried her face in her hands, and burst into tears.

Had she been wrong to kick Tina out? She was angry and miserable and frustrated. She couldn’t even think straight anymore.

She spent several wretched hours curled up in her bed wishing she could fall asleep. For a year. Then Tina burst through the door again and hurried over to her, her eyes shining with excitement.

“Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty,” she said. “I solved your problem.”

Dakota sat up, rubbing her face with her hands. She was exhausted, but sleep had eluded her. “You did? How?”

Tina sank down onto the chair. “I’ve got a way to get you out of here,” she said. “You won’t have to marry Roy. You deserve someone better than that. I’m sorry about what I said before. I’ve got my mother yelling at me all day to hurry up and get married before I lose my looks and nobody wants me, and do I want us to live in a shack forever after everything she’s done for me, and…I’m just sorry.”