Finally, Rae had managed to assemble a wardrobe for Lucille, from a combination of what the local shops had, and what she had in storage.

The girl had a definite fondness for black, but in a more feminine way than Rae did. However, she had also managed to get her everything that she needed for both hot and cold seasons, as well as formal occasions.

Despite the Lycan insisting that she didn’t need a dress.

"See how happy your dad is? Besides, if you go off to a mage school, there will be formal dances for the holidays, and someone is definitely going to ask you to go with them, so you need a dress.

Probably two because the other girls will be jealous of how cool you are, and will try to ruin one by spilling something on it." Rae insisted.

Lucille rolled her eyes, but her father nodded. "That happened no less than three times during my senior year’s final dance. Girls are vicious when they think their territory is threatened."

Lucille frowned. She had seen that within the pack as well. The older girls claimed boys as their own, often without telling him. Then they would scare off any other girl who tried to approach him, so their position as his "girlfriend" wasn’t threatened.

The idea was that he would pick her as his mate after school ended.

Only, the current trend for the boys in class was to go on a grand adventure looking for their fated one so that they could have a proper game to steal their bride, not a symbolic one for a chosen partner.

Lucille agreed with them. She thought that it would be much better to wait and have that perfect Lycan simply show up at her window or classroom one day and sweep her off her feet.

In the most literal sense of the word, as Lycan courting rituals started with an abduction to bring your bride home to meet your family.

Lucille was a bit lost in her fantasies, and Rae used that as the perfect opportunity to get her into a few more dresses for her father’s review. A father had different opinions of his daughter’s fashion than she did, as a general rule. But these should be approved by both.

At least while Lucille was too distracted to object to being put into dresses.

The shopkeeper tried not to laugh as the spider quickly moved the Lycan girl in and out of her changing room, showing off outfits every few minutes. They had gone through a third of the store, and had done much more at other shops along the street, she had heard.

But they had bought new things at every shop, so nobody was complaining.

Rae finished up and paid the tab, then had Lucille put the bundle in her inventory.

"Alright, all finished, let’s go back and join the others. They’re having a barbecue party."

Both Lycans’ ears perked up.

"I thought that might be the case. Everyone else from our dungeon team is there now, and the beasts are helping with both cooking and entertainment. It should be a great time."

"Well, what are we waiting for?"

Elder Blackwood picked up Lucille so that the girl didn’t remember that she was in a cute overalls and blouse outfit in time to change. But before he could leave the shop, three big goons from the same Sect that had tried to grab Dana earlier blocked the door.

"A present for me?" Rae cooed lovingly.

The shopkeeper shivered as a chill ran up her spine. She needed to get this out of her shop before she lost everything.

The Elders of the security force, who had been unobtrusively watching, stepped out of the shadows.

"Gentlemen, I suggest that you reconsider causing trouble today."

Rae frowned. She thought that they were there to serve as witnesses, what were they doing causing trouble for her?

"Elders. You misunderstand, we were hoping to have a conversation with Elder Blackwoods about the future of his pack," the man countered.

"{If they trouble you, tell us, and we will bring the wrath of the Darklight Host on them.}" Rae whispered into the Lycan’s sensitive ear.

That gave Elder Blackwoods a bit more confidence. His pack was a small one, tiny compared to most of the local Sects. If someone came for them in force, they were in a lot of trouble. They did have strong Elders, but that didn’t matter as much when you were hugely outnumbered.

"You wish to discuss the future of my pack? Now, we don’t take well to threats. So, I do hope you’re thinking of a civil discussion."

The men gave him a cruel smile, while the Elders sighed.

They likely wouldn’t pick a fight here in the city, but they could give the Lycan a lot of trouble the moment that he left town, and the Pack’s territory wasn’t far from the city limits.

It seemed that another Clan War was inevitable.

Only, they had no idea who would stand with the Blackwoods Pack, and who would stand with the attackers. Both were very minor forces, hardly worth mentioning in the grand scheme of things. But the aggressors had just lost half a dozen of their men today.

Were they even strong enough to be issuing threats?

Especially in front of that psychotic spider. If they really wanted to start a fight, she would definitely get the New Home Merchant Clan members involved, and then it would turn into an all out war.

Something that the city really didn’t need.

They weren’t far enough from New Home Merchant Clan that they could guarantee that the rest of the Clan wouldn’t show up to make a point. If they walked through the city with those ten Supremes that were supposed to have come out of seclusion for the war with the Templars, the whole region would be up in arms.

That kind of show of force would be a direct threat to the Almeixei Sect’s dominance of the region.

But it would also say that the New Home wasn’t going to suffer insults or slights gracefully, the way that they had in the past. They were openly mocked as the "Newbies" and never let it bother them.

Two wars in the same month would definitely change people’s opinion of them.