Page 7 of Once You Go Pack
The bag sealed with a decisive zip. Seven minutes.Fastest I’ve ever packed in my life.
Lyra waited by the castle’s side entrance, her own pack slung casually over one shoulder. Her knowing smirk made his jaw clench.
“Ready to meet your destiny, big brother?”
“I’m ready to entertain diplomatic relations,” he corrected stiffly.
“Right. And I’m just along to admire Earth’s architecture.” She fell into step beside him as they headed toward the royalgarage. “You know, I’ve never seen you this wound up. Not even before the council meetings with Zarik.”
The mention of his rival’s name sent cold purpose through Cade’s veins. “This is different.”
“Because everything changes now.” Lyra’s voice gentled with understanding.
Everything’s already changed.The thought should have irritated him. Instead, it felt like waking up after years of sleepwalking.
They climbed into his sleek transport vehicle, the engine purring to life with quiet efficiency. The wormhole station lay twenty minutes outside the castle grounds, hidden among crystalline peaks that caught Nova Aurora’s twin moons like jewels.
As familiar landscape flashed past the windows, Cade’s mind raced ahead to tomorrow’s meeting with Mila.
How does one approach a human woman who had no idea wolf shifters existed until now? How does he balance the magnetic pull of recognition with the need for caution?
“You’re overthinking this,” Lyra observed, watching his white-knuckled grip on the steering controls.
“I’m strategizing.”
“You’re panicking.” Her tone was maddeningly cheerful. “What’s the worst that could happen? She says no after meeting you?”
The words hit like physical jabs. His wolf recoiled at the possibility, but his human mind cataloged all the ways this could go wrong.
She could be uninterested. She could reject everything about my world. She could?—
“She won’t say no.” The certainty in his voice surprised them both.
“There’s the alpha confidence I know and love.” Lyra grinned. “Though you might want to dial it back a notch when you meet her. Humans aren’t used to our intensity.”
Intensity.That was one way to describe the fire burning through his veins and the constant hum of anticipation that made sitting still torture.
The wormhole station materialized ahead—a sleek building that looked deceptively simple from the outside. Inside, advanced technology hummed with energy, maintaining the delicate balance required for interplanetary travel.
The attendant recognized them immediately, bowing respectfully. “Your Highness. Princess Lyra. The Earth portal is prepared.”
Cade’s pulse hammered as they approached the control station. The small metal egg floated serenely above its pedestal, waiting for destination coordinates.
“Salem power plant,” he murmured to the device.
Blue light erupted from the egg’s surface, expanding into a perfect circle that revealed glimpses of another world—darker sky, different air, the scent of a planet he’d only visited twice before.
“After you, Your Nervousness,” Lyra teased.
Cade stepped through the portal, energy crackling around him like lightning. The sensation lasted only seconds, but his world tilted on its axis the moment his boots touched Earth’s concrete floor.
She’s here.The knowledge slammed into him with the force of a tidal wave. His wolf lifted its head, nostrils flaring as it caught traces of something ethereal—lavender and rain and something uniquelyhersthat made every nerve ending come alive.
“Holy hell,” he breathed.
Lyra emerged beside him, her own senses clearly picking up the shift in his energy. “That strong already? And she’s not even in the same building?”
What’s going to happen when I see her face to face?
