Tess told Kit she was taking me for the day and off we went as soon as I was dressed. She drove us into the nearest town.

"What's going on between you and Kit?" I asked on the drive.

Tess smiled, "I wondered when one of you kids would ask. Kit and I..." She paused to consider how to phrase it. "New each other very well back when his kids were babies."

"Are you their mom?" I gasped.

Tess laughed, "No no, Kit and I got close after he split with Simon's mom."

She pulled into a parking lot of a small strip mall. I had no idea what to say to that so I changed the subject.

"What are we doing here?"

"Well first of all sweetie, you need some new clothes. A lot of your clothes are ripped up and old now and you're about to ruin another pair when you change."

That's how the beginning of the day went. Tess took me from shop to shop. She let me walk around the clothing store for a while but I was being rather picky and only picked out maybe five things.

Tess shook her head, "That won't do. You need a lot of new clothes."

She shooed me to the dressing rooms and started bringing in clothes. She found everything and brought different sizes of everything so I could get whatever fit best. I had to say she had a good sense of style. Tess brought me some bras, I knew I needed a new one but these were the wrong size.

"Tess," I said. "These are the wrong size."

Tess smiled and rolled her eyes at me, "I know. But who's the werewolf expert here? Once you're through the change, you're going to see changes on this side too."

I raised my eyebrows, "Really?"

"Well yeah, why do you think every werewolf boy is muscular? And every girls got curves." She pointed to a black one, "That one is your current size, it'll get you through until your change."

Tess insisted on paying for it all. I wanted to ask where she had the money for this but didn't. She took me to a shoe store next and bought me two new pairs of tennis shoes.

"Keep the ones you have," She advised as we walked out. "Wear them when your going to your change so you don't have to worry about losing or ruining them."

Next Tess brought me to a salon and got my hair cut. It needed it, I couldn't remember the last time I had it cut. I didn't realize how damaged it looked before until the stylist cut it.

"No advice or secret with that one?" I asked as we left, admiring my hair in the reflection on the window.

"No," Tess shook her head. "You just really needed that."

We approached another building, "What is this?"

"This is a waxing salon," Tess smiled. "You don't have to if you don't want to but trust me, once you back in human form, smooth skin feels amazinggg."

I shrugged, "What could go wrong?"

Half an hour later my legs were throbbing as we walked out of the door. Tess walked out like it hadn't even tickled her.

She brought me to a small electronics store and let me pick out a burner phone. Telling me it was for emergencies and giving me her number.

Our next stop was probably my favorite. Tess brought me to a small store and bought me everything she thought I needed in make up. She bought me a eyeliner, eye shadow, the whole kit and caboodle. Then she was up and down the isles getting everything a girl could need bathroom wise. Tooth brush, hair brush, shampoo, soap, band-aids, I told her I already had this and she told me to throw it out. This stuff would be better than anything I had been using on the run.

"How am I supposed to travel with all this new stuff?" I asked Tess as we got back into the car.

"You aren't," Tess replied. "You're staying with me as long as you need. Hell, you know that Matt's been around forever. What's wrong with you sticking around too?"

I smiled at the thought of a semi-permanent home.

We drove back but Tess missed the driveway and kept going.

"Uh," I started.

Tess shook her head, "We aren't going back yet. I've got something important to show you."

She drove several acres past the edge of the property and parked on the side of the road. Tess got out and I followed. She walked further from the acre edge, maybe sixty feet.

"Can you find it?" Tess asked.

I looked around in front of us for whatever she was asking about. Seeing nothing among the tall grass. I almost said no when my eyes landed on a small orange flag, the kind that I used to see follow gas lines or other underground stuff. Right below it was a handle. I leaned down, grabbed it, and pulled. The door took a moment to give among the knots of grass.

Tess nodded, pleased.

"Is this a cellar or bomb shelter or something?" I asked, stepping in.

Tess followed me and shut the door behind her. She reached up and pulled a beaded cord that turned on the single light bulb.

"It used to be something like that, I've since converted it into a werewolf safe haven. We can come in here to change. You don't need to worry about anyone seeing you, hearing you, or finding you."

I looked around, the walls were padded with sound proofing materials. The ground was carpeted even though the carpet was shredded in places. There was a mini fridge in the back left corner and a chair. In the back right corner was a bucket, mop, and bottles of cleaning supplies. Along the right wall was a steel cabinet.

Tess nodded to the cleaning supplies, "All I ask if people use this, is that they clean up anything they throw up." She walked over to the cabinet and rapped it with her knuckles, "This baby holds the serious stuff. If a werewolf thinks they are in danger of hurting themselves or others, there's chains in here that can hold them down if they hook it up fast enough. I also got enchanted chains that can hold werewolves with powers if someone thinks their powers will go haywire during the process."

I looked around the room. I never would have noticed them if she didn't say anything about the chains. There were hooks screwed into the walls and ceiling throughout the little room to hold the chains in place.

"So this is where I should come?" I ask.

Tess nodded, "Ideally. If you don't think you can make it out here for whatever reason. You come get me. I have back up plans."

"Thank you," I hugged Tess again.

She hugged me back, "It's what I'm on this earth for."

She showed me how to lock the door from the inside if I ever felt I needed to do that. Then we got back in the car to go home.