[Hugnado🌀]:

Kristi's bra was now dangled from one emerald feathery shoulder, Addie's tongue tracing a wet line down the raptor's scaled sternum while Nessy's paw slid lower, grabbing Kristi's tail. The raptor girl's eyes were squeezed shut, beak parted in a silent gasp that looped three seconds, over and over.

[MaximaPawsome🐾]: [pic]

Nessy had turned the camera on herself—she'd swapped into a baby-blue lace teddy. Gemstone strands glittered like tiny stars, scattered in flowery patterns across her crotch barely containing her folds.

[Purrsnacka🐆]:

Addie had looped Kristi's own tail around her wrist like a violet leash, tugging just enough to arch the raptor's back. Candace's silver paw snaked in from the edge of frame, two fingers slipping under the waistband of Kristi's G-string, stretching it away from slick violet scales before letting it snap back.

I swallowed. My pulse was doing frantic parkour against my ribs. Another buzz.

[✨Stellaris]: if u don't get in here and stop them I will bite u

I chortled, considering abandoning shopping propriety to join the girls.

Another buzz

[Hugnado🌀]: no i 🦈 u

Sharp fox chompers. A white muzzle opening wide.

A sharp, barely concealed yelp echoed from the video as Candace's teeth sank into Kristi's scaled thigh, not hard enough to go through scales but firm enough to make the raptor buck. Kristi's feathery tail thrashed in the frame, feathers flaring wildly, while Nessy's laughter bubbled off-screen. Candace pulled back, her tongue darting out to soothe the bite mark with a lick, leaving a glistening trail on violet scales. Kristi's chest heaved, iridescent bra now fully discarded, nipples hardening in the cool air of the fitting room.

My throat went dry. Heat flooded my face, spreading down my neck. I shifted in the chair, suddenly aware of how tight my pants felt. Another buzz.

[MaximaPawsome🐾]: lik wat u see? 😘 shd we kp goin?

The attached photo showed Nessy mauling Kristi from the behind, white paws wrapped around her ample chest, canines closing hard around the side of Kristi's neck.

I felt my face burning, the boutique's air-conditioning doing nothing against the heat crawling up my neck.

I started typing, fingers fumbling.

But before I could hit send, the curtain to a nearby fitting room rustled. Terry stepped out, tugging at the hem of a black leather vest over a cropped tank top. Studded pants completed the look, giving her back the punk edge she favored when I met her at the gas station.

"Dis one fits aight, I think," She struck a pose, hands on hips. "Hey Alpha." She turned to me. "How's this? Better than that frilly crap, yeah?"

I turned my phone screen away quickly, shoving it into a pocket.

"Why so twitchy?" she asked, eyeing me suspiciously.

"Nothing. Just... pack stuff. The outfit looks great. Very you."

She crossed her arms, striped tail flicking. "Uh-huh. Why do you look so red?"

From the distant cubicle, a muffled giggle escaped, followed by Kristi's indignant squawk. Terry's fluff-tipped ears perked up, swiveling like radar dishes towards the direction of the fitting rooms.

"Wait," she said slowly. "Are those knobs sending you nudes from the fitting room?"

"Yep."

Terry barked a laugh, shaking her head. "Figures. That fox can't keep her paws to herself for five minutes round Ads, 'specially when she gets high."

"Is she high now?" I asked.

"Hmmmm," Terry licked the air, sliding onto the seat across from me. "Doesn't smell like it. Just… happy. You know, I've never seen Cap or Loops this happy before for this long. It's weird. Relationships shouldn't make prads happy."

"Why not?"

"Relationships add unnecessary drama," she shrugged. "Four prads pining for one human? That's a recipe for imminent face-clawing disaster, especially if there's an uptight raptor beerch involved. And yet… I'm not hearing face clawing. All I'm hearing is…"

Her ears swiveled from me towards the sounds of my packmates once again.

"Vigorous making out. Seriously, where's the violence? Where's the threats to 'lay off my property'? Where's your 'claimed by Strand' collar?" She stared at my bare neck. "I don't get it."

My phone buzzed again.

"You gonna check that?" Terry asked with a half-smirk.

"Nope," I replied.

Before Terry could needle me further about my lack of collar, the curtains rustled again, all four prads spilling out in a tangle of flushed scales, rumpled fur and upright feathers. Nessy's tail was wagging so hard it created a breeze. Candace was a picture of dictionary smugness. Adelle looked like she'd won a fight she didn't know she'd started. Kristi, though—Kristi looked indignant to the max.

The raptor was stuffed into a fancy silver-white-blue dress that glittered like crushed diamonds and clung to every violet scale. The material was so fine and delicate that it bordered on translucent. Her feathers were sticking out in every direction.

She marched straight up to me, hands on hips, expression extra scandalized.

"That's a very pretty dress," I commented, staring at her curves.

"You left me in there," she accused, completely ignoring my compliment. "With these three hussies. I was assaulted by lingerie and… teeth!"

"Technically you walked in," I pointed out.

'Yeah," Candace burst into furious giggling. "Don't walk into dark changerooms if you can't handle the pawage. 'Sides you loved it! Admit it!"

"That is not the point, Alec." Kristi admitted nothing and sent a glare at the fox and then turned back to me, tail whipping through the air. "You did not rescue me. Therefore, you owe me."

"That's more like the Strand I expected," Terry whisper-commented. "Watch, she's gonna ask you to put on a collar and…"

I raised an eyebrow, fighting the twitch at the corner of my mouth. "Owe you what, exactly?"

"A walk on the beach," she declared. "Just the two of us! No fox ambushes, no husky licks, no cheetah sneak-attacks. You, me, the moon, and the sound of waves. Tonight!"

"Done," I agreed immediately.

"Good." She tugged at the silver dress. "And I'm getting this."

"Aight," I said.

Terry stared at the raptor and then at the others, expecting relationship drama escalation.

"Cool beans," Candace said. "Have fun ya two. We'll keep ourselves entertained n' warm for ya."

Nessy nodded, tail wagging. Adelle let out a noise that sounded like agreement.

"What the fuck is happening?" Terry asked.

"L'amour, ma chérie," Candace replied, waving her white paws dramatically. "C'est la magie de l'amour véritable qui transcende les dimensions!"

"I don't speak frog," Terry grumbled. "Use normal words."

Nessy giggled, reached down to grab my hands and pulled me out of the chair. As I came upright, she lowered her face down and pressed her muzzle against my lips in a kiss that took my breath away, the edges of reality wobbly with violet stars.

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Terry looked at us making out and then at Kristi, Addie and Candace. "This ain't right."

"Love," Candace translated, clearly enjoying Terry's confused expression. "The magic of real love that goes beyond dimensions! Pure weaponized Love, darlin' Terry, is when four apex prads decide one squishy human is worth sharing. Also it's the thing making your face do that."

"Love's a myth, like calorie-free bacon," Terry huffed.

"Fluffahrony, lighten up, my grumpy loaf." Candace snorted. "The universe's sense of humor is weirder than your hangover daydreams."

Adelle ambled past to grab a studded collar with a leash she clearly intended to buy for reasons I didn't want to interpret at this moment.

"Yes," Terry replied to Candace. "That's what I'm saying. This is some weird, uncanny valley bullshit. Did you all get replaced with reptiloid cryptids while I was drinking away my bike loss? This just ain't how prads behave after they claim someone. Especially when said prads smell like they got together with a human… only a few days ago."

"Technically, we've all known Alec more than one lifetime," Nessy pointed out, releasing me so that I could breathe.

Terry squinted at the husky.

"If dis' love was fake, I wouldn't have just dropped three grand on lingerie that's basically fancy dental floss for my baes," Candace laughed. "So either it's real, or capitalism is way more devious than we thought!"

"Not every relationship has to be a territorial pissing contest," the cheetah commented.

"Yeah, and I'm the Queen of Old Denver, Cap," Terry muttered.

"Your Majesty," Candace mock-bowed, grinning. "Want us to find you some Lawyer subjects to eat?"

"Bite me," Terry shot back.

"Nope, I only bite my harem baes," Candace cackled, causing Terry to choke on air.

"You four are batshit nuts," Terry shook her head. "Or high on something I can't smell. Or are all… reptiloids in disguise. 'Specially you." She stared at the raptor girl. "You aren't behaving like a Strand Prima at all."

"Rude," Kristi huffed, typing something furiously into her phone.

The salesgirl prad approached, looking a bit flustered. "Have you... decided on your purchases?"

"All of it," Candace announced, pulling out her credit card. "Everything we tried on, everything on us right now, plus that little swank number in the window."

The woman's eyes widened at the celesteel card. "Of course, Miss Rhinehart. Right away."

"You for real, Loops?" Terry blinked at the fox. "About to drop like three grand in one shop?"

"Yepperoni," Candace said.

"What happened to the fox who steals hot dogs from gas stations just so she can avoid spending money?" Terry demanded.

"This cheeky butt happened," Candace flitted to my side and swatted me with a fluffy tail. "Thought that I was binding him, but it was he who shackled my wrists to his branches for-evah before I even came into existence."

Terry blinked at the fox, struggling to process her words.

"Might as well get you a bike while we're here too," Candace called over her shoulder. "The sky-glider bike shop's just down the street. You'll need good gear to ride it too."

Terry froze. "Wait, right now? You were serious about that?"

"Duh," Candace rolled her eyes. "What part of 'you're in Alec's pack now' didn't compute, lynx-brain?"

"You can't just..." Terry's voice trailed off. "A… glider from Dragon Alley?! That's way too much, Loops!"

"It's just money," Candace waved dismissively. "Besides, I owe you for the Skid Marks hospitality."

"I… I've never been this hospitable to you," Terry pointed out. "And you've been a crazy penny pincher for the four months that I've known you. Why get me a glider?"

"You can fetch stuff for us while we're at school," Candace shrugged.

"What kind of stuff? T-dust?" Terry squinted.

"Nah," Candace said. "I'm getting off that shit. Look, Fluffy, I don't know what you can fetch us. I haven't bothered to think about it. Maybe you can get groceries? Errands?" Candace twirled her silver locks around a claw. "You're the backup team member eight for our impossible town-saving Quest, Fluffy. Take the bike. Is pack law."

"Eight?"

"Number six is Fern," Candace said. "Number seven is Marlena. You're eight. Das the math."

Terry turned her face from the fox to me, seeking rational words from the human.

"The fox has spoken. You're getting a bike," I shrugged.

After paying for our clothing purchases, we strolled down Dragon Alley's cobblestone street toward "Drake's Wheels," a gleaming storefront with a massive mechanical dragon sculpture constructed from gears and pistons hanging above the entrance. Its ruby eyes tracked our movement, head turning and tiny puffs of steam erupted from its nostrils and ears.

The inside of the shop was just as original. Gothic ceilings and steampunk pipes with hanging lamps featuring glowing sleeping dragons. Gliders of every shape and size hung from the ceiling and stood on displays. The motorcycle-types single and double person models stood in the center, each one a masterpiece of magitek engineering covered in runic enchantments.

Terry froze in the doorway, whiskers twitching.

"Welcome to Drake's Wheels!" The shopkeeper, a burly bear pradavarian with soot-stained fur, called out. "What can I help you folks with today?"

"We need your best one person glider-bike," Candace announced. "Something reinforced, loud and moddable for a lynx gal who knows her way around engines."

Terry's ears flattened. "I... come on, you guys, this is too much."

"Too much would be a Strand Nemesis," Kristi commented, examining a price tag on a nearby bike. "This is just... appropriate."

The bear led us through rows of motorcycles, describing engine specs and enchantment capacities while Terry trailed behind, running her claws reverently over chrome and leather. Her eyes lingered on a midnight-blue and black model with electric-blue accents.

"The Thunderstar 2020," the shopkeeper noted, following her gaze. "Good eye. Magitek-assisted combustion engine, hexmesh-reinforced frame, anti-gravity suspension for those tricky landings." He patted the seat. "This beauty can hit 320 clicks on straightaways and has built-in barriers and shredder blades against Denver conceptoids."

Terry's paws hovered over the handlebars, not quite touching, as if the bike might vanish if she made contact.

"How much?" Candace asked.

The bear named a number that made Terry flinch.

"The right side compartment unfolds into a single person wildland camper, ye?" Candace asked.

"Correct," the salesbear agreed. "You can hire a Binder to reinforce it with crystal mana to increase the size and personal concealment area."

"Perfect. We'll take it!" Candace announced, the credit card manifesting in her hands from nullspace.

"No," Terry shook her head frantically. "Loops! That's a down payment on a house!"

"You can't be in a delver pack without transportation." I said.

"I can get by with… a normal bike," she protested weakly. "One that doesn't cost twenty times more than my mom's trailer!"

"This pack doesn't do normal," Adelle huffed, examining the Thunderstar's gravity engine. "Either get the nice bike dude or forever be known as a boring knobfold!"

"Think of it as mission-critical equipment." Nessy smiled.

Terry stood frozen, staring at the Thunderstar. Her claws flexed and unflexed as she fought an internal battle.

"Do you not like it?" Candace asked, pursing her lips. "We can look at—"

"No. I love her," Terry whispered. "She's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

"Then she's yours," I said.

The shopkeeper's eyes lit up at the imminent sale. "I'll throw in a matching helmet, gloves, pants and jacket. Hexmesh-reinforced and personal ward shielding of course!"

Thirty minutes later, papers signed and credit card charged, Terry sat atop her new Thunderstar outside the shop, wearing new leather jacket and gloves. The lynx ran her paws over every inch of the machine, her fingers trembling slightly.

"Try it out," Nessy encouraged. "Fire it up!"

Terry hesitated, then turned the key. The bike roared to life, a deep, throaty growl that vibrated through the cobblestones. Blue flames licked from the exhaust pipes, and runes along the frame pulsed with power, electrogravitic engine rings lighting up with raining sparks.

"Holy shit," Terry breathed. "Holy fucking shit. Listen to that purr. Slayer!"

I watched as she revved the engine, each rumble seeming to flow through her body like electric current. Her eyes shone, reflecting the blue glow of the bike's runes.

"Go on," Candace urged. "Take it for a spin. We'll catch up with you later. We got more shopping n' date business to do. Right, gals?"

The prad girls nodded.

Terry looked up, blinking rapidly, the tough, tall biker cracking apart like an eggshell. "I can't... I don't..."

Then, tears suddenly welled up in her eyes. She tried to blink them away, but they spilled down her striped cheeks.

"Fuck," she muttered, hastily wiping at her face. "Fuck, I'm not crying. Fuck me sideways."

She stepped off the bike and smothered Candace in a hug. "Thank you."

The fox squeaked in a reply as she hugged Terry back. She manifested her phone from nullspace and tapped it on the bike's control panel. "Thar. I'll V-cast your bike when we need ya."

Terri nodded. Her hands relocated to me as she lifted me up from the ground, squishing my entire body and spinning me through the air. "And thank you, you damned, insane human. I have no idea what the fuck you did to Loops and Ads to make them like this and I don't care anymore! I'll do whatever it takes to serve as your best packmate, Alec!"

Nessy placed a paw on Terry's shoulder as the lynx lowered me back to the ground, my ribs aching from the bone-crushing hug. "It's okay to be happy, you know."

"Nobody's ever..." Terry swallowed hard. "Nobody's done anything like this for me before."

"Get used to it, kitten bae," Candace grinned. "Go have fun flying roun' Ol' Denver scaring dragons. Have a nap on a roof. Gram me when you get all the jitters out, by then we'll hopefully get us a place for the night."

Terry revved the engine again, her tears now flowing freely. "I'll pay you back someday. I swear."

"It's all good, Terry. Just help us with the Highway Quest as much as you're able," I said.

"Promise." The lynx nodded, composing herself with visible effort. She pulled on her new helmet, the dark visor hiding her tear-streaked yellow-green eyes.

"I'll see you all later!" She called, revving the engine. "Have fun mauling your Alpha, you four!"

With a deafening roar and a blast of hot air, she took off straight up into the sky, sending colorful, bird-sized dragons scattering from nearby rooftops.

"That went well," Kristi noted.

"Better than expected," Candace agreed. "I thought we'd have to argue more."

Nessy leaned against me, her tail wagging. "Everyone needs something to love. For some, it's a person. For others, it's a bike."

"Or both," Adelle added, eyeing me meaningfully.

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