"Bellsie…"

"Bellsie…"

"I said BELLSIE!"

I was brought back to the present by the shrill but beautiful voice of Tanya. After our rough start she actually became my first and favorite friend in the coven.

I gave my puppy dog eyes (which would have been better if they weren't blank and white) and an exaggerated childlike pout.

"I'm sorry Tanya. Forgive me?"

Tanya hated being ignored. It I one of the reasons Pollo was perfect for her. He never took his eyes off her, loved touching her, and clung to her every word.

"Well I guess I will consider forgiving you, but we are going shopping!"

Much like in my human life I hated to shop, but my sisters all loved it. I agreed because I knew it was a losing battle on my part.

"AWESOME!" Tanya shrieked. "It's a no boy's allowed trip and we are going to Paris! It will be me and you of course and Tanya and Kate and Carmen!"

I gave her a small smile. "Are you going to allow me to pack my own bag this time?" I asked already knowing the answer but loving riling her up.

"Hell no Bells" she growled. "You'd back sweats if I left you to your own devices! And not even cute sweats but nasty granny sweats! Hell no! I will not be seen with you if you look like a hobo!" She continued her rant as I laid on the couch that decorated my room and she began piling clothes and shoes and makeup into a huge suitcase for me. Irina materialized at her side throwing underwear and pajamas in to accompany Tanya's pile. She sent me a wink. Tanya always forgot to pack underwear and I tended to spend our trips commando and braless thanks to her lack of foresight.

"Ummm…. How long will we be there?" They were packing more clothes than would be necessary for a simple weekend trip.

Irina's tinkling laugh filled the room and Tanya shot me a nasty glare. "As long as I want!" she whined. Another one of Tanya's fabulous (eye roll) traits was she never ever planned ahead.

Irina's laughed changed to a bellow and I heard Laurent's laughter in the next room join hers.

Commanding Laurent back to his mate was not one of my smartest plans, when I then decided to follow Eleazer to his mate's home.

Oh well….can't always be the smartest cookie in the book…

His mind was erased and since I had beaten him to the Denali home he missed my story about my past. It was many years until I filled him in on his part in my transformation. When I did he was obviously scared of me, but by then I had forgiven his transgressions. I had always known he was a coward and he was just scared of Victoria's wrath if he refused to help her. Unlike Victoria he was never cruel to me so for Irina's sake I decided to let bygones be bygones.

Before long my suitcase was packed and the other girls quickly finished their packing. I would never admit it to anyone in the house but I was secretly excited for the trip. Not for the shopping, but I loved to travel and it had been a year or two since I had left Alaska. Besides that it would be nice to be with just the girl and not having to be surrounded by the loving couples.

After their years of seducing anything that walked, all of my sisters had finally found their mates and settled down into happy relationships. While I was sincerely happy for all of them it also broke my heart sometimes to watch them interact.

Before long we were securely on our plane and on our way to Paris. I had been there more times than I could count, but every time we went something was different. Unlike us, humans changed and evolved and they never left anything alone for too long. New shops and restaurants were installed and old ones were removed. Roads were widened and new technology was splattered like paint on every surface. It was a beautiful thing to see.

All of us were bouncing in our seats….well my sisters were…I tended to be the mellow one and instead I quietly watched and laughed at them.

The plane ride was spent reminiscing on our last girls day (we went to the spa and I managed to fall onto a pool…..not a fun memory) and whining that we had waited too long to have another one. My defense was that each time we did have one I was always the one who managed to be thoroughly embarrassed or traumatized.

After a few fun memories we all took turns flirting with the males around us. Just because they were locked to men wouldn't keep my sisters (especially Tanya) from flirting with everything with a pulse. She did at least limit herself to humans. No need to work a fellow vampire up.

I always picked on my sisters for this, reminding them of the band wrapped around their fingers, but I always got the same response. Window shopping was totally allowed as long as they never purchased the product. And of course afterward I always called them the same thing. Dirty sluts. But I loved them so I let it go. After all, I had been told quite a while ago how vampires loved distractions…that's all I was after all. Their distraction.

Since our friendship took off and the Denali's grew into my family, their love for the Olympic coven grew to hate. They never mentioned their names or brought them up, but they did receive occasional phone calls from that coven and it never ended well. That coven did not understand why the sudden hate had developed and more than once since my arrival in the Denali coven they had dropped by for a surprise visit, but I always infiltrated their minds and convinced them to leave before they made it to the front door. Was that fair? Probably not, but I really did not give two shits so…

Once we landed we made our way to our hotel and after begging (on my part) I convinced my sisters to pretend they had jetlag and wait until tomorrow to shop. That gave me a night of peace and like always when I was alone my mind betrayed me and I thought of the man who had at one point meant more to me than my own life.