Page 176 of Volik

I can’t believe I rented an apartment and lived there for less than a week.

Thinking about the difference between that little apartment and Volik’s house, I turn back to my mate. “Does the dean live in a house like yours? Secluded in the woods, I mean?”

“Not in the way I do.” Volik holds back a low branch, and I hurry past it. “Not all wolf packs are the same, but here, you must be a pack member to live on Argus pack land.”

“Can pack members choose to live somewhere else?”

Volik tips his head. “I believe so. I have known wolves to live in major cities, outside of any other pack territory.”

“Hmm.” I wish I knew how many shifters I’ve unknowingly walked past. “And are their houses… normal?” I scrunch up my face. “That sounded rude. But I mean, do they have…”

Volik chuckles when I clearly can’t think of a better way to put it. “Da. They live in normal houses. Their neighborhoods are normal too. You have to be pack to live there, but it’s completely accessible to the outside world. Looks like anywhere else with streets and mailboxes. Shifters have their own abilities, but gravito belongs only to the vampires. So, unless they are using a portal to travel long distances, they drive cars and travel as humans do.”

“Huh.” I can’t help but picture getting into a shouting match with a driver after a fender bender, only to have that driver turn into a wolf and bite my face off.

“What?”

I glance up and catch Volik watching me. “Nothing.” I school my features. “How many people—er, wolves?—are in a pack?”

“Varies.” Volik shrugs. “Technically two or more, but I think there are over a hundred in the Argus pack. Perhaps much more. I have not been on their land in some time.”

“Did you know the dean before, and that’s why you moved here? Or did you move here and then meet the dean?”

I catch Volik smiling, and I bump my shoulder against his arm.

Not once has he ever seemed annoyed at my endless questions.

“I knew that the dean at Stalden was a shifter, but we had not met before my move.”

“And…” I squint up at him. “What do you actually do at the school?”

Volik smirks. “Look for my brother.”

“That’s it, though?” I snort. I remember him telling me that’s what he spent his time doing, but I guess I didn’t realize that was all he does. “You don’t have any duties? At all?”

He bumps me back. “Nyet.”

“Seriously?” I laugh at his answer. “Are you actually a staff member, or is that just a ruse?”

“Somewhere in between.”

I huff. “Explain that, please.”

“When I decided to move here, I went to Henry’s office⁠—”

“With no warning?”

Volik grins. “With no warning.” I grin back. “I told him I would be living nearby and that I would like a place to conduct my research. I could, of course, stay at home, but to do that every day… It gets old. So, we came to an agreement. I do not have to do any work for the school. I do not collect my salary. And the school gets the prestige of having a vampire on staff.”

“I mean, I’m pretty sure the only reason I know the Stalden name is because of you working there, so it’s been a successful marketing ploy.”

“Da.”

“But why here? Was it having the, uh, Argus pack close? Or did you just like Hemlock Hills?”

“It was you.”

I stop walking.