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I note the time. “Holy crap, how long was I out?”
“For quite a while,” Jules says, shooting Philip a glare.
I throw a nasty look in Philip’s direction, as well. “Thanks for wasting my time, kitty cat.”
He merely grins. “Waste your time? Come on now; you had a little bit of fun. I mean, it’s not every day you’re used as a bargaining tool between an awesome cat shapeshifter and a moody werewolf.”
Shaking my head, I focus back on Jules. “My pass expires in just a few hours.”
He stares down at me with hesitancy written all over his face. “Lake, I’m pretty sure that, despite having a pass, you might not be able to get back into the Common Realm. Even if the portal allowed you to pass through, the guards on the other side would be able to detect your scent now.”
“Yeah, so? A few wolves managed to sneak in a couple of weeks ago.” I rise to my feet and stretch my arms above my head. “So, who’s to say I can’t sneak into it, either?”
His forehead scrunches. “Wolves snuck into the Common Realm?”
I nod. “That’s what Legend’s guard friend said.”
He runs his thumb along the silver rings on his hand, making the skin hiss. “Did he say what pack they were from?”
“No.” I flick his thumb away from the rings, the silver fleetingly scalding my fingertips in the process. “Stop doing that.”
“Sorry,” he mutters distractedly.
I rub my fingertips together where the silver rings briefly touched. The skin is already smoothed over. “Why does it matter what pack they were from?”
He shrugs, apprehension flooding his eyes. Before I can press him for details, he tangles his ring-less fingers through mine. “If you really want to try to go back to the Common Realm, I can walk you to the portal and see if I can get us both in.”
“You want to go to the Common Realm with me?” I question with skepticism.
“No, but if you really want to live there—to go back to that life—I’m not going to stop you. But I’m also not going to let you go there alone. Not now that you have a scent. And not when other werewolves are sneaking in.” His eyes flicker with faint violet light. “And not when I just got you back.”
“You don’t even know me,” I tell him. Still, his words make me feel strangely warm inside. “For all you know, I could be super annoying and mean and evil.”
He chuckles. “You’re definitely not annoying, mean, or evil. And I may not completely know you now, but I knew you back then, and I liked you back then.”
“But I could be different now.”
“So? I want to have a chance to get to know you.”
“Even if that means living in the boring human world?”
He gives a stiff but firm nod. “Even if it means I die of boredom.”
“You wolves are awfully dramatic,” I remark with an eye roll.
“You should probably fit right in then, at least from what I’ve seen,” he teases with a smirk.
I shake my head. “You know, for someone who supposedly didn’t smile for a very long time, you sure got that whole smirk thing down.”
He chuckles, but his laughter promptly dwindles as the clock chimes, announcing the start of a new hour. “So, what do you say, Lake? Are we going back to the Common Realm to live with the boring humans and watch me die a slow and torturous death by the hands of boredom? Or are you going to stay here, in your home, and rediscover who you are and the magic of your realm?”
Well, when he puts it that way …
“Fine. I’ll stay here for now and save you from a slow and torturous death by the hands of boredom.” When I roll my eyes, he grins. “And it’s nice to know that you’re a drama queen.”
Philip snickers, and Jules just keeps on smiling, looking happy as can be. It makes me feel a tab bit better about going home with a werewolf to a place where his entire pack lives.
A pack I’m supposed to be a part of.
