Tricks & Treats: A Romance Anthology by Alexis Abbott, Candace Osmond, Kate Robbins, JJ King, Katherine King, Ian Gillies, Charlene Carr, J. Margot Critch, Kallie Clarke, Kelli Blackwood

way he’d recognize her, but seeing as their olfactory senses were heightened as wolves, he would know who she was immediately. Still, her change would shock him and she loved nothing more than shocking her boyfriend.
     
    The final part of her costume lay on a white piece of velvet inside an ornate box, a mask she’d had shipped from France for this very occasion. It was simple in comparison to her mother’s, which was made entirely of jewels, but she loved the drama of its simplicity.
     
    Katherine fit the black lace mask over her eyes and pulled the black ribbon back around her head, tying it securely. She looked in the mirror one last time.
     
    The woman standing there was frighteningly beautiful, with sharp features and deep red lips. She had a figure to die for and an aura of danger that suggested she actually could and would kill if prompted.
     
    Perfect.
     
    Guests had been arriving for some time now and she was perfectly aware that it was part of her responsibilities as first born child of the Alpha to greet and mingle with the wolves her parents had invited into their home. Her parents took responsibility very seriously, but her mother was savvy enough to understand the impact of a perfectly timed entrance. Everyone would stop and take notice when she walked in.
     
    Katherine pressed a hand against her stomach, which was suddenly very queasy with nerves. She’d thought up this crazy scheme as a kind of coming out. Everyone downstairs had known her for the past hundred years and saw her more as a child than as a woman. She wanted to change that and tonight had seemed the perfect opportunity.
     
    They’d all know her instantly, of course, just as Maxwell would, but that would give her even greater impact.
     
    She took a deep breath and steeled herself, it was time.
     
    Katherine lifted the long skirt of her gown and stepped carefully down the mahogany spiral stair case, keeping her gaze straight ahead. There were a few people coming in through the doors who stopped and stared at her. She could hear their deliberate inhalations and then shocked murmurs as they realized who she was.
     
    Taught by the best, Katherine smiled politely at their guests and greeted them warmly but succinctly, then moved on towards the ball room. It was located on the main floor at the back of the house and was rarely used. Back in France they’d held balls regularly, but here in the new world people lived much further apart and traveling took quite a bit of effort.
     
    The double doors to the ball room were opened wide and music from a jazz band Sylvie had hired from Montreal filled the air. Katherine grinned, her mother had impeccable taste in music, always had. This new style, though, was fantastic. She’d contemplated wearing one of the shorter styles of dress so she could dance, but had decided that her coming out should be a tad more glamorous. After all, she had her mother to live up to.
     
    Katherine paused as she stepped into the doorway and eased her lips into a mysterious smile, one she’d literally practiced for weeks. The laugher and noise of the guests stopped short as all eyes turned to her.
     
    It took all her determination and will to refuse the blush that threatened to stain her cheeks and ruin her calm, composed, appearance.
     
    As always, her parents were the ones to rescue her. Sylvie LaFlamme skimmed across the dance floor in a floor length gold gown that shimmered under the light of the million candles she’d had arranged throughout the room. Her eyes gleamed with satisfaction and Katherine could see, even though the bejeweled mask, that her mother had never been more proud of her than in this moment.
     
    Her father, Pierre, usually so stony faced in public, beamed at her from his wife’s side with a smile that he reserved for family and close friends. He didn’t say a word, but she knew he too was proud.
     
    “You’re perfect ma fille.” Sylvie whispered the words then pulled Katherine into a