Page 194 of The Kingdom of Eternal Ice
“Noemi,” he sighs. “I appreciate your sense of adventure and your curiosity, but did you learn nothing from your experience with the dark witch and the werebears?”
“I did! I learned to be creative and choose my allies well,” I point out. “The wolves proved to be good allies. It was fun working with them.”
“Fun…” he sighs again. “You could have died.”
“But I didn’t, and now I know so much more about the world. With every adventure, I know more.”
Dad looks at me and shakes his head. “I wonder where you got that from. Certainly not me.”
I smile, clinging to his arm and looking at him with my best innocent expression. His expression softens instantly. Ever since I can remember, it was just him and me. Dad had me when he was sixteen. He had just gotten his fox spirit, so did Mom. But Mom died during labor, because her fox was still too new and weak to heal her after complications while she was giving birth.
But my dad is amazing. He stepped up as a leader to the foxes and was the best dad possible.
“I bet Mom was adventurous,” I say.
“She was,” he admits.
“See, so I got it from her, and I got my dashing looks and vibrant personality from you.”
He snorts. “If you are trying to kiss up to me, it’s working.” He pauses. “Still, promise me you won’t get yourself into unnecessary danger. And, don’t step onto no-man's land again.”
“I will try to. I want to explore the lands of our allies first.”
“Is that true?” he asks, surprised.
“I’m not stupid,” I say. “When I stepped onto no-man's land and the bears got me, I had no idea what I got myself into. I want to learn more about the other shifters.”
“Why don’t you visit them then?” he asks.
“Who?” I blink.
“You can start with the wolves. I can notify King Endellion and Queen Azadeh, and I’m sure they would be happy to host you as a guest,” he says.
“I could visit the wolves,” I beam. “They are hot!”
At that, he frowns.
“What?” I blink. “They are. Maybe one of them will be my mate. Oh! Or maybe one of the dragons? They are hot, too! Actually, after meeting the General, I wouldn’t be opposed to a human mate, either.”
Dad groans. “I can’t believe you.”
“Already cursing the day I was born?” I ask with a grin.
He puts an arm around my shoulders, squeezing them. “I’d never,” he says.
“But wouldn’t a wolf mate be good?” I ask. “They are strong allies.”
“We’ll see what the gods are planning,” he says.
“Speaking of…” I slip out of his grip and sit down at the dining table finally to dig into my breakfast. Dad follows me, sitting down as well. “On my way to the deer shifters, I saw something weird.”
Dad raises his head. “What do you mean?”
“It was between our and their border. A part of the forest looked like it was burnt down,” I report. “But, when I checked, it wasn’t fire that destroyed it; it wasn’t burnt.”
“What happened then?” he asks.
“I don’t know, it just looked like it was dead, you know?”
