Soren’s question blindsided me. I stared at the bracelet on my wrist as he played with the Blackfire flower charm.

“You’re asking me to stay in a pack with you?” I repeated the question, thinking I might have misheard him.

“Yes, that is what I’m asking,” Soren said, chuckling and smirking. “Stay with me.” He fiddled with the flower charm again.

He wanted me to stay with him? He wanted a pack?

Was this his way of ...