Jules wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly cold despite the blankets still draped over her shoulders. This was her fault. She'd stumbled into Lex's life, his home, his world, and now he was facing down his own pack because of her.
"I should go," she heard herself say. "Back to my house. Or... somewhere."
"Jules, no." Faye grabbed her hands. "That's not?—"
"Your house isn't livable yet," Adam cut in. "I checked yesterday. The damage is worse than I thought. We're looking at a month of repairs, minimum. Maybe longer."
A month. Jules felt the blood drain from her face. "How much?"
Adam's hesitation told her everything she needed to know.
"How much, Adam?"
"The estimate came in at around fifteen thousand. Maybe more depending on what we find behind the walls."
Fifteen thousand dollars. She didn't have fifteen thousand dollars. She didn't have fifteen hundred dollars. Between the car repairs and her cut hours at the shop, she was barely scraping by as it was.
"I can help," Faye said quickly. "We can help. Adam knows people, and?—"
"No." The word came out harder than Jules intended. She softened her voice. "I appreciate it, Faye. I do. But this is my mess. My house. My problem."
"You're not a problem," Faye insisted. "And neither is what's happening with Lex. He wants this, Jules. He wants you."
"Does he?" Jules pulled her hands free, moving to the window again. "Because he left this morning without a word. And now he's at some pack meeting fighting for the right to... what? Keep me around like some kind of human pet?."
The silence that followed was answer enough.
"I heard them last night," she admitted quietly. "I wasn't asleep when Lex went outside. I heard what Stan said. About how the pack is divided. Weak. Because of humans like me." She turned to face them. "I won't be the reason Lex loses his family."
"Jules—"
"I need some air."
She grabbed her coat and boots, ignoring Faye's protests as she pushed out into the cold. The morning was bright, the sun reflecting off the snow in a way that made her eyes water. Or maybe that was something else.
She walked without direction, just needing to move, to think. Her boots crunched through the fresh powder as she made her way toward the tree line. Everything was so beautiful here. So peaceful. A world away from her flooded house and mounting bills and the complicated mess her life had become.
A world she didn't belong in.
The thought settled over her like the cold—uncomfortable but undeniable. She wasn't part of his world. She was just a small-town girl with a crumbling house and a talent for talking too much, who'd somehow stumbled into a world of wolves and ancient traditions she didn't understand.
And Lex...
She thought back to what he'd confessed on their walk yesterday. He told her he'd spent months watching her from a distance, fighting his instincts, trying to stay away. And at the time, she couldn't understand why.
But maybe he was right. Maybe he'd been right to stay away from her.
"You look like you're about to do something stupid."
Jules spun. A man she didn't recognize stood at the edge of the trees, arms crossed, watching her with pale eyes that caught the light in an unsettling way. He was lean and sharp-featured, with the same coiled energy she'd noticed in Lex and Adam. Another wolf.
"I don't believe we've met," she said carefully.
"We haven't. Name's Stan." He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I'm the one who came by last night. Thought I'd check in. See how our little human guest is settling in."
Every instinct screamed at her to run. But she lifted her chin instead. "I'm settling in just fine, thanks."
"Are you?" He took a step closer, and she forced herself not to retreat. "Because from where I'm standing, you look like a woman who's finally realizing she's in over her head."
