Page 144 of All Packed Up

Griffith’s hands were warm on her back, smoothing up and down her spine in a pattern.

What else have they taken from me that I haven’t realized yet?

“Just breathe,” Grif said, voice little more than a whisper.

As she sucked in a shaky breath, she tried to match her exhale to the descent of Grif’s hand down her spine. It took a few tries, but she pictured Grif’s palm sliding up and down her back, pacing her breaths with the movement.

If she could just get her brain to shut up for a few seconds, to focus on something besides the alphas, she’d be okay. She just needed to distract herself.

And with Griffith’s help, she felt her pulse calm and her breath slow. This good alpha kept his arms around her for a few minutes longer, until he was sure she was alright.

“You feel better?” he asked.

The heat from her cheeks surely had dried the tear tracks by then. “Yeah. Thanks.”

Grif eyed her for a second more before he reached past her and picked up the abandoned clothes.

“Now, these are the ones you didn’t want, right? Do you want different sizes, or what?”

Wendy frowned up at him. “What? I— I just wanna go,” Wendy stuttered, her energy draining out with her panic.

“Nuh-uh,” Griffith said.

Wendy lifted her gaze to him, surprised by the note in his voice. “What?”

“We’re not going anywhere until you have some new clothes to show for it.”

Her mouth fluttered open. “No way,” she hissed. “Griffith, I’m so embarrassed! I can’t go back out there!”

“Why not?”

“Because everyone heard me freak out!” she hissed. “And I was rude to that lady and her little boy, and everyone saw.”

“Wendy,” Grif said, interrupting her tirade. “What does any of that matter?”

“I don’t… I don’t know! It just does!” she insisted.

“No, it doesn’t. Not a single one of those people matter. Especially not in light of what you’ve been through.”

Technically, he was correct. Those other people wouldn’t know about why she was there. What she was running from.

And she didn’t want them to know, she wanted—

“I just want to be a normal person,” she finally whispered.

Griffith arched a brow, crossed his arms. “This is your chance to be a normal person. We aren’t leaving until you have picked out clothes.” He said sternly, leaving no room for argument.

Wendy crossed her arms, stared up at him in the tiny dressing room, and studied him under the bright lighting.

In jeans, a clean pair of work boots, and a combination of undershirt, tee, and warm coat on top, Griffith was handsome. With the bright lights surrounding them from every side, she could really see every freckle, wrinkle, the slight scar above his right eyebrow.

“Okay, tell you what. I can go retrieve the clothes and bring them back here for you to try on. How’s that sound?”

Wendy lifted her gaze to Griffith’s, tilted her head to the side. “You’d do that?”

“Well, I figured you could hide in here, and maybe by the time we’re done, everyone you’re embarrassed about seeing will be gone.”

Wendy would still be picking her own clothes… and she wouldn’t have to face all those people who’d seen her freak out. “Okay, I have to admit I don’t hate that plan.”