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Cora shook her head. "Not a chance in hell."
Lydia looked at her with wide eyes, a calculated innocent look that didn't even come close to working on Cora at this point. "But Cora—"
Cora tapped the dress laying across the foot of the bed. "Absolutely not. There's no way you're getting me in that."
Lydia sighed and dropped the pretense. "It's a black tie event. That means dresses."
"That means a black tie." Cora crossed her arms. "I'll get a suit or something."
Lydia arched an eyebrow. "A tux, not just a suit."
Cora made a face. "Fine, then. I'll get a tux."
Lydia narrowed her eyes. "I can hear you suppressing a shudder of revulsion."
Why the hell had Cora gone and fallen for such a drama queen? "I am not. I just don't see why we have to get all dressed up for this. It's just a banquet."
"It is not just a banquet." Lydia paced the room, swiping her hands across her skirt. "It's the closing banquet at the largest pack gathering in North America, and this is the first time we've attended since your mother was the Alpha of this territory. We need to make an impeccable impression."
Cora had vague memories of her mother attending conventions before the fire, but it had been so long ago, and she herself had never been old enough to go. She didn't think it was a big deal, but Derek had been freaking out about it for months now, and his anxiety had gradually rubbed off on Stiles, Scott, and now Lydia, apparently.
She grabbed Lydia by the shoulders to stop the pacing. "Hey. It's going to be fine. Why are you so worried about this? You're, like, ten times the Alpha of anyone else we'll see there."
Lydia's lips thinned. "But I'm not an Alpha. I'm a banshee. Stiles and I have been researching the other packs, and to say we're 'unconventional' is putting it mildly. If we don't make a strong showing, make it clear that we can protect this area and the Nemeton..."
She trailed off and stared over Cora's shoulder, her eyes haunted. Cora hadn't gotten all the details about what had happened here after she'd gone back to Brazil for a couple of years, but the bits she'd picked up from Stiles, Derek, Scott, and Lydia were enough to turn her stomach.
"Are you worried about a repeat of what happened in high school?" Cora asked.
Lydia nodded jerkily.
Cora slid her hands down Lydia's arms and around to the small of her back. "Listen to me," she said quietly but firmly. "Derek's a great Alpha. Stiles is a fantastic Emissary. We're unconventional, yeah, but we are strong. And we're going to show them all that we're a force to be reckoned with." She pressed a kiss into Lydia's red hair. "And you are going to scare the shit out of them without even trying."
Lydia laughed wetly. "I don't think I'm as good at that now as I was in high school."
"Oh, you are," Cora assured her. "Believe me, you are."
Lydia hugged her hard, burying her face in Cora's neck, and they stood in the middle of the bedroom for several minutes, just holding each other. Cora couldn't drain anxiety the way she could physical pain, but she focused really hard on pretending she could.
"You sure you won't wear the dress?" Lydia finally asked.
Cora sighed. "Lydia, I will do absolutely anything for you. But no, I'm not wearing the dress."
Lydia sniffed. "Well, it was worth a try."