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I WAS STANDING in the air-conditioned hush of Forever Bridal in Albuquerque, New Mexico, but since all I could see was a rack of plastic-wrapped wedding dresses taller than my head, I could have been in any bridal shop in any part of the country The dresses were ones that had needed tailoring to fit their brides I stared at the different shades of white, froht to a cream so dark it was almost a pale brown, or maybe taupe I was always confused by taupe Who wouldn't be confused by a color that couldn't decide if it was gray or tan? The dress they'd finally let me try on was black, because the pale teal that matched the maid of honor's dress had looked so bad on me that even Donna Parnell, the bride-to-be, had conceded that we could try the dress in black for room's side of the aisle and the men were in black tuxes with teal ties and cu party look er had finally said

I stood clutching the overly long black skirt in one hand, so I didn't trip, as I talked to Micah Callahan on my new smartphone, which was actually so sy were silently judging my lack of tech savvy

"So, your clients have finally given you perirlfriend?" I said

I could feel/hear the smile in his voice as he said, "They're not clients, Anita I don't takepeople who are desperate" Micah was the head of the Coalition for Better Understanding Between Human and Lycanthrope Communities, colloquially known as the Furry Coalition They traveled the country, some internationally, to help keep the lycanthropes and the huive lectures to the local police to help them deal better with this v

ery special minority in their cities; sometiroups before they became violent The Coalition never went into another city without an invitation fro either the local lycanthropes, the police, or even s the Coalition did was help victims of wereani into their attackers come the next full moon Micah had been a survivor of an attack, just like the people he tried to help He'd been hunting with his uncle and cousin the year between college and high school when they were attacked by a wereleopard He had been the only survivor, so he had serious street cred when he spoke to victims

"You take donations," I said

"If they can afford it, yes, and if it's a city government, we'll take a fee, but for individuals in need aive fees, so they are not clients"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to step on an issue here"

"It's okay, Anita I' to me When you see the pictures, you'll understand"

"Okay, if they aren't clients, ord do you want me to use in conversation?"

"Shapeshifters," he said

I glanced around the store to see if there was anyone within earshot, but all I could see edding dresses on one side and another rack of dresses on the other, this time in ajust that much made my breasts slide out of the halter top of the dress, which had been designed for soure I transferred my hand to clutch the top instead of the he as I didn't try to walk, the yards of extra fabric wouldn't trip er from the dress than my body was Solution: I would stand still and dorooot as much privacy as I can find here, but there are certain words that make civilians perk up their ears and listen harder" I lowered my voice even more and said, "Shapeshifter would be one of those words"

"That's fair," he said, and sighed, not like he was happy "You can use the word client for now, but I see myself more as their advocate But that's beside the point Use whatever vocabulary you think will keep this between us, Anita They're finally letting me send you pictures, and those absolutely must be for your eyes only"

"I'm a US Marshal, Micah I kno to keep details to myself" I realized that it sounded a little crankier than I'd meant it to

"Are you okay?" he asked, takingit personally There were so ed to each other

"Yeah I mean, I can't believe that Donna decided at, like, the eleventh hour that I couldn't wear a tux like the rest of the ure out a way for the halter top not toan accidental PG-thirteen"

He laughed, then said, "Ask Nathaniel to take pictures of the dress before they fix it"

"You can see my breasts without a dress next ti, which is probably why he'd said it the way he had Micah knehen I needed cheering up, or coaxing out of a cranky mood

"We haven't been in the saain

"You and I both travel for our jobs"

"I know, but I miss you"

I stood there in the ill-fitting dress with our shared boyfriend only yards away from me and was suddenly so lonely for the touch of Micah's arms around me that it was almost a physical pain I could remember the last time we'd slept in the same bed, but I couldn't remeone a ether "I miss you, too I want to do more than just sleep in the same bed in between business trips for our jobs"

"Nathaniel is staying in toith you, so I know you're getting sex"

I'd never heard Micah sound even a little bit jealous of Nathaniel before "He's our shared boyfriend, shared fiance, and you're planning toJean-Claude," I said

"I know, and if we could marry more than one person at a tih I ad any man but Nathaniel, even Jean-Claude, would be weird"

"And do you have another woroup?" I asked,

He laughed "No The other woroup are lovely, but it's not about the sex; it's about the eether I'm a couple with you and Nathaniel, but not really with anyone else, not the way the two of you are with soe of laughter and was back to sounding tired

"What's wrong, Micah? Besides this case, I mean"

"I told you what's wrong, Anita I' Nathaniel; I love hiot to be Jean-Claude He's the king of all the va of all the supernatural citizens in this country He has to be the one that marries the princess"

"I'm not the princess in this story," I said

"You're not the damsel in distress, but as far as everyone in the media is concerned, you are the princess to be "

"Nathaniel is enjoying the idea of all the weddings more than I am"

"He's enjoying itI always pictured a white-dressed bride co down the aisle toward me"

"Nathaniel would probably wear a white dress if you really wanted him to," I said

Micah laughed "I knoould, but I think I'd prefer him in a white tux with tails"