Reading Between the Lines

Chapter 13: Application

And then... his wolf talks. Not through the mindlink. Actual fucking words from his mouth.

"That's ok. We always have next time." A wolf just talked. TALKED!

Am I dreaming?

This entire thing is a fever dream, what do I even expect?

Jet gives me a reassuring smile, showing me that he doesn't take it personally. But I can see some slight hurt in his eyes. Naishal told me that wolves are very territorial and protective, especially of humans. I think I made him sad that I didn't trust him fully yet. We'll get there, though. It'll take time, but I'll get there.

Jet goes back into his bathroom, and I hear the noises of bones crunching. Not before long, he comes back out in human form, clothing still intact and everything. He throws his hands out and says, "didn't need my Soulstone at all." He grabs his glasses and puts them back on.

I widen my eyes and give him a questioning look, wondering if he knows everything his wolf did. "Don't worry, Jet gets it. He knows that it'll take time for you. It's just natural for us to get attached," he justifies and pats my back to reassure me. Wolves are really just another emotional, messy human inside another emotional, messy human.

"Our Soulstones are just a reservoir for our powers and stuff. Our creatures are an actual part of our bodies, so we can shift whenever we want. The necklaces just help us use our powers," he clarifies while he puts on a rose-pink crewneck.

I guess he just couldn't go without the sleeves. But still, he has some nice arms. He looks so skinny underneath his long sleeves and sweats, but he's ripped just like everyone else in this world.

He walks closer to me with his Soulstone, guiding my fingers with his to show me something else. "This is how we activate portals. You press the middle of your pendant and tap it 3 times. It'll come right in front of you," he instructs me. With the pressing of his fingers, a gold portal to the forest appears right in front of me. With the same three taps of his fingers, the gold aura poofs out of sight.

"You want it back?" I ask him to which he nods. "Here," I hand it back to him before he puts his necklace back on seamlessly. "Was that insightful?" he teases me before he goes back to his board.

"Very. That was so fun! Why don't you guys shift often?"

"We do! We shift mainly for combat training every week and forest runs. But you know, we spend most of our time as humans," he justifies before he goes back to the board and leans against it.

"So what are the symbols that everyone else has? And what elements are they?"

"Every creature's pendant is a different shape. As you can tell, werewolves and lycans have claws," he shows the shape of his pendant. "Vampires have a fang, mermaids have a fishtail. Do you want me to keep going?"

I shake my head extra to show I'm getting it. He chuckles, breaking out into a huge grin.

"This is all too much," I exhale exaggeratedly while someone knocks on the door.

"You're doing great, don't worry. You're learning really fast," he gives me a chuckle a friendly smile. Suddenly, three knocks are heard on the door. Naishal looks at me with a teasing face before rolling his eyes and grinning in mischief.

"Tushi, you know that you don't have to knock whenever you come to my room," he mocks her while she opens the door and smirks before coming in with a giant plate of pancakes.

Okay, the fact that he knew it was her even before seeing her face is the cutest thing ever. And what's even cuter is that he has a picture of just him and her hugging during his graduation on top of his desk.