Russel understood but decided he was going to keep an eye on her just to make sure. The last thing he wanted was for her to be hungover tomorrow. He wanted her to be clear-headed and alert. That knight, Sir Thomas, still worried him. Something about the man had set his nerves on edge. The way he picked him out of the line of hundreds of humans didn’t feel like some kind of coincidence. It should be impossible for a human to know he was a werewolf. For the most part anyway. The eyes would sometimes give it away if the light hit them the right way. But that shouldn’t have been the case at the city entrance. That quirk typically became a problem at night.

So how did that human manage to pull out the one werewolf in that line of humans?

“You okay?” Lola asked.

“I’m fine. Just thinking,” he told her.

“About what?” she asked.

“It’s nothing,” he said, not wanting to worry her. He smiled. “Don’t worry. Tomorrow, we’ll get an early start to the day.”

“I’ve never been in a city like Wrexon before,” she said. “Is it weird that I’m kind of excited?”

“Not at all,” he replied.

Their food came a few minutes later and they ate. Their conversation moved away from talk of their current situation to other things. Things that gave them a little more insight into who they were as people. Likes. Dislikes. Anecdotes from their childhoods. What their lives had been like. It was the first time either one had really connected with another person on a deeper level. Russel had grown up as a royal in a kingdom that feared his father. It made it difficult for him to get close to anyone else. Most people tended to stay away from him or were only nice because of his status. He could never truly trust the motivations of others. For Lola, she had been friends with others in her village but never had any romantic interest with anyone. It was different with Russel. She felt something deeper there. Something she never felt with anyone else. It helped take her mind off the trauma of everything Drake had done to her. All the pain he caused and the sadness that came with the lives he ended.

Eventually, their time in The Midnight Oil ended. Russel paid for dinner, which was exorbitant but he didn’t mind, and then they left. The outside air had a pleasant warmth to it and the streets had cleared a lot from the mid-morning rush of people. The press of bodies and so many people in one place had been very uncomfortable, so Lola appreciated the much-needed space.

They spent most of the afternoon and early evening drifting from one shop to the next, avoiding any patrols of knights and soldiers that happened to cross their paths. There were a few, each person in them scanning their surroundings for signs of trouble. Fortunately, most of them didn’t have the innate suspiciousness that Sir Thomas had displayed and left the two of them alone. By the time they were done with their shopping endeavors, Russel had bought Lola a few new outfits, an upgraded travel cloak, a new pack, a spare pair of shoes, and a jade necklace she had fallen in love with. Russel grabbed a few items for himself but mostly, he wanted to spoil her. It was clear she didn’t need that kind of stuff and was perfectly happy with what she had, but he felt she deserved something good to happen to her. Even if it was only a shopping trip and some new things.