When nightfall arrives, Jules and I abandoned the library and head to bed.

“Which room am I staying in?” I ask as we stroll down a hallway lined with shut doors. Deep down, I’m hoping he’ll let me stay with him, that he’ll meet me in my dreams, that I won’t have to plunge into nightmares.

He rubs his hand over his head and glances at me from the corner of his eye. “There are a couple of guestrooms. If you want to, you can pick one of them.”

I work not to reveal my disappointment. “Okay.”

A few more steps, and then he sheepishly says, “Or, if you want to, you can stay in my room.”

I press back a smile, not wanting to seem overly eager, and nod. “I’d like that.”

“Yeah?” he asks, and when I zealously nod, a smile warms his face.

After I grab my bag, he leads me to his room, which resembles his other room, only the walls are a deeper grey and the bed’s a bit bigger. Then he leaves me to change into my pajamas while he slips into the attached bathroom.

Before he returns, I climb underneath the covers and wait for him, not turning around when I hear him crossing the room. Moments later, the blanket is slightly lifted then his body heat engulfs me. He leaves a bit of space between us, which I try not to frown over.

When I close my eyes, restless over what awaits me when dreamland pulls me under, Jules drapes an arm over my side.

I turn slightly, and he reduces the gap between us. Still, he feels too far away, so I finally surrender, rolling over and snuggling against him.

“Sweet dreams, Lake,” he whispers, savoring my star-marked temple with a kiss.

“I hope so.” I rest my cheek against the curve of his shoulder and press my chest closer to his side.

“It will be,” he promises, tucking his arm under my head. “I’ll see you there.”

I hope so.

Still, I’m too restless to sleep, wiggling and squirmy, probably driving him mad.

“Do you want me to sing you a lullaby?” Humor dances in his voice.

I nod, wanting to hear him sing again. “Yes, please.”

A soft gasp of surprise, and then he begins singing.

The melodious tune and lyrics are vaguely familiar, as if I heard the song a long time ago. It wraps me in peace and comfort.

With a yawn, I drift to sleep with memories dancing around in the shadows of my mind.

* * *

Jules and I are standing in a forest of leafy vines, blossoming flowers, and blooming trees. Moonlight illuminates the speck of land encompassing us, and crickets sing from the bushes.

“You chose our spot,” Jules murmurs in awe as he takes in our surroundings.

“I remembered it right before I fell asleep,” I admit. “We used to hang out here a lot when we were younger, right?”

He nods, his violet gaze encountering mine. “I used to come here to hide from my father, and you’d come with me because you didn’t want me to be alone.”

“What would we do when we came here?”

He shrugs, facing me. “We’d talk. Sometimes play. Sometimes practice fighting.” He grazes the pad of his thumb along my bottom lip. “I kissed you here once.”

I have the craziest compulsion to suck on his thumb, to gently bite it.

“What? But we were too young to be kissing.”

Back and forth his thumb moves, teasing me. “Relax, it was just a small peck.”

“Oh.” I suck on my bottom lip after he removes his thumb. “Why did we do it?”

“It was right after we found out I was your alterum dimidium animae. We were so young that we were a little confused what that meant. But your parents were each other’s, and you told me that they kissed a lot, and we both figured that’s what we were supposed to do. So, I kissed you.”

“And what happened?”

His eyes light up as he chuckles. “You said it was the most disgusting thing ever and shoved me to the ground. I ended up hitting my head on a rock.”

My eyes widen in horror. “I did that to you?”

“Yep, passed out and everything.”

“Oh, my wolves, I was an awful cub.” I shake my head, disappointed in myself.

He snags the hem of my shirt and reels me into him. “Nah. You were just confused. So was I. And you felt terrible about it. You even let me win a fighting match the next day.”

“Let you win, huh? Sounds like I was pretty tough.”

“You were—still are.”

“You think I could ever win against you now?”

“Maybe. One day we’ll have to find out.” The violet symbol of our alterum dimidium animae brightens in his eyes.

“Maybe we will.” My flirty lightness astonishes us both.

“We could try it now.” His husky tone sends shivers across my skin.

My wolf purrs, begging me to accept the challenge.

I probably shouldn’t, since rumor has it, Jules is a badass fighter. Plus, we’re supposed to be working on discovering more about my nature abilities. But, like all the other new traits I’ve recently discovered about myself, I learn that backing down from a challenge is a no-go for me.

“Okay.” I crack my knuckles and grin, despite being scared shitless. “Let’s see what you got, wolf prince,” I taunt as I crook of my finger at him.

He smirks, and then suddenly, I’m enveloped in his arms with my back trapped against his chest.

Shit. He can move fast.

I raise my foot to kick him, but he flips me around, lifts me up, and lays us on the ground, his body covering mine. I curve an arm to put him in a headlock, but he pins my wrists together and imprisons my arms above my head. With my legs wedged under his, I’m rendered helpless.

For a heart stopping moment, panic chokes me.

I’m trapped.

I can’t breathe.

Please don’t touch me.

But the violet illumination of Jules’ eyes settles my frightened heart. I relax, reminding myself that Jules has never hurt me. He’s not Slate, and I’m his alterum dimidium animae who he cares about. The easiness that I feel with him instantly makes me feel guilty.

I should tell him what Legend said about the nature energy wolf. I should trust him. He’s given me no reason not to.

“Now, what were you saying about seeing what I got?” he teases with an arrogant smirk.

I wiggle my arms and legs, searching for his weakness. Only when I writhe my hips do I find one.

Magic jackpot.

“Your lips look so kissable.” A manipulative line that misses the mark when my cheeks warm.

Damn traitor blush.

“Nice try.” Jules grins, his body so close I can feel the heat radiating from him.

I try again, upping my moves. “They do.” Driven by the courage of my wolf, I lift my lips to his and trace my tongue along his lip rings.

He lets out a deep, toe-curling moan, then crashes his lips down on mine. I tangle my fingers in his hair, drawing him closer as I suck on his bottom lip. He grinds his hips against mine in response, his hardness pressing against my thigh, his hold on me loosening. Impulsively, I hitch my legs around his waist, and his hips rock against mine. I whimper, my neck arching, my back bowing up.

This so wasn’t what I had in mind. I need to win the fight. But breathless werewolves, this feels so amazing. I bet it could feel even more amazing if I moved with him.

Testing the theory, I gently press my hips against his. He growls, not threateningly, but with untamed want. I repeat the movement, rolling my hips more determinedly this time. As our bodies connect, we both moan in unison, and whatever connection lays inside us is unleashed at once.

The soft kiss flames in passion, our tongues entwining as we bite and nip and suck. His hands roam across my body, up and down my sides, his fingernails tearing at my shirt. I tug at his hair and scratch his back as we roll around in the twigs and leaves.

When his mouth finally leaves mine, I growl out a protest. But the anger soon fizzles as he paves the arch of my neck with licks of his tongue and scrapes of his teeth, not quite biting but close.

So, so close.

It makes me wonder what biting will actually feel like.

Makes me excited to find out.

“Bite me,” I moan, rocking against him. “Please, Jules.” My voice sounds otherworldly, as if I’m no longer Lake, the quiet human girl from the Common Realm, but a needy, wanting, demanding werewolf.

His breath falters against my collarbone, and then his teeth sink into my skin, not hard enough to draw blood, but with enough force that I feel the bite quiver through my entire body.

I cry out, clinging to him as I come undone. Pulling at his hair, the need to bite him in return burns against my teeth.

Breathless minutes drift by before I regain control over myself. Jules remains motionless with his head buried in my neck, his fingers clawing into the dirt beside my head. I make no move to disturb him, staring up at the stars peeking through the tree branches above while tracing my fingers through his hair.

I figure he’s trying to calm down until he rasps hoarsely, “I’m sorry … I shouldn’t have done that.”

My fingers pause on his neck. “Why not?”

“Because … I think I just …” He sighs against my neck then pushes back to look at me. “I probably just deepened the alterum dimidium animae.”

“So?”

His forehead creases as his brows bunch. “You’re not upset?”

I shake my head from side to side. “It’s never really bothered me; only scared me a bit. And the closer you and I get, the more I remember about us, and the less scary it gets.”

Tenderness flows from his eyes. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. And what just happened … it was pretty … amazing.” And there goes that stupid blushing again. But a blush is way better than me freaking out. I never thought it’d be possible for me to share a moment like this with someone else. I thought I was too broken. Yet here I am, unbroken and perhaps even a bit healed.

“You’re cute when you blush.” He smiles as he lowers his lips to mine. “You’re right; that was pretty amazing.” Then he kisses me, relishing the taste of my lips.

Only when he pulls away and pushes to his feet do we realize the forest changed during our melting make out session.

“What the hell?” I mutter. “They weren’t like that before, were they?”

He shakes his head, gaping at the flowery vines now dangling from the trees and the branches weaving around our feet. “Either your dream changed or … or you brought them out.”

I reach for one of the vines to test my ability, and the flower stretches out to kiss my fingertips. The other vines correlate, spinning a dance around me, and the branches below our feet join in.

I let out a startled laugh as a vine snakes around my arms, coming to rest at my elbow.

“Does it hurt?” Jules asks, reaching for me worriedly.

“No, it just tickles.” I pet the vine, and the flowers buzz with elation.

“Hmm …” Jules muses over something. “Well, if they’re not hurting you, then do you want to see what else you can do?”

I nod, and then we begin playing with my ability, testing my powers, seeing just how well the plants obey me.

In the end, per my command to the vines, Jules ends up bound to the ground, and I refuse to let him go until he declares me the winner of the fight. Which he does so with pride.

* * *

When I wake up the next morning, bright and early and well-rested, I roll over to find Jules wide awake, lying on his back and staring up at the ceiling with his face set in deep contemplation. He’s shirtless, like always when he sleeps, and my gaze instantly magnetizes to that mysterious tattoo on his hip, letters that could lead to my name, but I haven’t been brave enough to ask yet.

Tearing my gaze off his tattoo, I prop up on my elbow and look at him. “Is everything okay?”

He startles, his gaze darting to mine. “Shit. I didn’t even realize you woke up.”

“Maybe because you were thinking so hard.” I sit up, stretching. “What were you thinking about?”

He sits up with me, finding my waist and pulling me forward until I’m straddling his lap. “I was actually thinking about your abilities and what you could do with them.”

I gulp a shaky breath. “You mean, like get rid of the vines?”

He swiftly shakes his head, brushing hair out of my eyes. “I was thinking what an amazing warrior you could end up being after some training both with fighting and your gift.”

“Would you let me fight with you, if you went to war with your father?” I blurt out. I don’t even know why. It’s not like I want to go to war. But I also despise his father, for reasons I feel like I can’t entirely grasp yet.

“I hope it doesn’t come to war, but if you wanted to fight with me, I’d let you.” He delicately cups my cheek in the palm of his hand. “I think, with that gift of yours, one day you might be able to control the entire forest.”

“Sounds like I could become pretty amazing,” I joke, again uncomfortable with the compliment.

“You could,” he assures me. “And I think, one day you’re going to do great things. I just want you to let me be there with you. To let me fight by your side and protect you.”

“Can I protect you, too? Can we protect each other?” Not just from a war, but from the abuse of his father, from another incident like Slate’s, and what other darkness festers in this world.

He nods. “Wherever you go, I go?”

I’m not sure if it’s a question, but I nod, anyway. “Forever?”

His smile reflects as brightly as the sunlight filtering through the window. “Forever always.”