“What do you want to talk about?” I asked Hannah, sitting across from her in the living room, just the two of us.

  She stared at me, clearly pondering how to bring up whatever was on her mind, and I wondered if she wanted to start another discussion about my retionship with Azura.

  She sighed deeply, averting her gaze.

  “That bad?” I asked.

  “Not bad,” she replied. “It would just be much easier if you were a wolf shifter. Or any shifter.”

  “So that’s the problem again?” I asked.

  “No, but you don’t understand certain things,” Hannah replied.

  “What things?”

  “Azura behaves a lot like a wolf partly because she lived with them for so long, but even without that, wolf shapeshifters still have some animalistic nature.”

  “Okay,” I said, unsure where she was going with it.

  “And since you’re the only male around, it kind of… feels like you’re the leader of our pack. Especially for the girls. They’re younger, you saved them, Azura refers to you as the leader, and she convinced them that they’re part of the pack now, so…”

  “They also think I’m their pack leader?” I asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “As you said, I’m not a wolf shapeshifter. I need you to expin to me what that actually means.”

  “I’m not sure myself. Normally it would be their father, or someone from my family or his if he wasn’t around. He would provide for them and raise them. But you’re not even a wolf, so it all gets more complicated.”

  “You want me to support you and your daughters?” I asked with a frown. First she was against me and my retionship with Azura, and right now she was asking me for money?

  “No, ugh… It’s just that we’re free now, and we need to figure out how to live. And we kind of just moved in here without really knowing you or anyone. And I don't know many things. How much are you paying for this pce? Should I pay you or someone for living here? Or maybe we should find our own pce and you’re just waiting for us to move out? I should look for a job, but I’m not even sure what I could do. And I don’t know what to do with Anna and Alysson. They’re too old to start learning now. I tried to teach them, but they ck a lot of basic knowledge, and I doubt any school will accept them. I can’t afford to hire a tutor either. And normally, all of this would be the pack leader’s responsibility to decide, but we don’t really even have a pack leader. And I don’t expect you to support me or them or to become the pack leader, but there are things we need to talk about.”

  Hannah took a deep breath after the sudden stream of words finally stopped.

  “I’ll need some time to think about all of this,” I replied slowly. It all seemed like her problem, but it was Azura’s family, so in a way it would have an effect on me too. “I don’t pay anything for living here, and you can stay here as long as I can. It’s Sage’s pce, and it doesn’t seem like she’s going to kick me out anytime soon, but she’s… quite unpredictable.”

  “At least that’s something,” Hannah replied with a nod.

  “I’m not from Torania, so I have no idea what education is like here.”

  “If it works like in Saltus, then there’s a school that accepts young kids with enough mana and teaches them, in return, they ter work for them. But that’s for kids around five or six years old. So both of them are too old. I could probably find someone to teach them, but I would have to pay for that.”

  “I’ll talk with… someone, and maybe I’ll be able to arrange something,” I replied, wondering if Gemma would be willing to help. Perhaps that would make Hannah more friendly toward me and make Azura happy. “But I’m not really sure how long I’ll stay in Ortas. It might be a pce I’ll live in for years, or I might need to leave in a month.”

  Hannah sighed. “Typically, the pack would follow the leader,” she said.

  “I’m not leaving right now,” I replied. “So let’s not think about that for now. Other matters seem more important. Do they have more csses than just the basic shifter one?”

  Hannah hesitated for a moment, then shook her head.

  “What about you?” I asked.

  “I only have the shifter css.”

  “And what about mana? Do you or they have enough to get more csses?”

  “I can’t, but they should,” Hannah replied.

  “Okay. I’ll talk with someone and we’ll see. Maybe something can be arranged,” I said. Despite how hostile she was toward me at first, I could understand she was worried about Azura, and now she wanted to arrange a life for her younger daughters. “Even if I wanted to, I can’t afford to support everyone in this house. You should find a job. I can help, but I don’t earn that much.”

  “Okay,” Hannah said quietly.

  “You do realize… it’s a bit weird?” I asked. “Those are your daughters, not mine.”

  “If you were a wolf, you would understand,” Hannah replied.

  “But I’m not,” I said. “And Azura isn’t going to leave me, so we all need to learn how to live together. You can also move out and live somewhere nearby in Ortas.”

  Hannah frowned. “You know I can’t do that. I have no job. How would I pay for a pce to live? And even if I found something, it wouldn’t pay much. Feeding me and the girls and paying for a pce to live… we would end up living in bad conditions.”

  “So in a way, I am the pack leader,” I said.

  “Yeah…” Hannah sighed.

  “And you don’t like that?” I asked.

  Hannah grimaced. “It’s not that I don’t like it… Without you, I don’t know what we would do or where we would live. If we could even get out of the boratory without you somehow… I still appreciate everything you did, but… it’s just so weird. All my daughters think of you as the pack leader. And while Azura… ugh… she chose you, for Anna, Alysson, and me it’s kind of forced. Our nature pushes us to see you as the leader. And I don’t really have a choice in that matter, because I can’t leave.”

  “Let me think about all of this, okay?” I said. “I’m not expecting you to leave or anything like that. You’re Azura’s family, and I want her to be happy and with you. She goes with us to dungeons, and even if she doesn’t fight there, she should get at least part of the money from the loot. She doesn’t want to take it, but I can pass it to you so you’ll have some cash.”

  “You do realize that by doing that, you’ll only reinforce their belief that you’re the pack leader?” Hannah asked.

  “From what you told me, they already think of me that way,” I replied.

  “But that doesn’t mean you have to take on that role…” Hannah said.

  “Do you actually want me to take that role?” I asked, confused about whether she was asking me to do it.

  “I don’t know. It’s… ugh. It would make sense if you were a wolf.”

  “Okay. For now, you can live here. I’ll give you Azura’s income, if she agrees. I’ll see if I can arrange something regarding Anna and Alysson’s education. You should look for a job, and we’ll see how things develop. Okay?”

  “Okay,” Hannah replied. “I’m gd we can stay here for now.”

  “Great. Anything else important right now?” I asked.

  “I don’t think so,” Hannah said.

  “Do you still have money from Sage, or did you spend it all?” I asked when it occurred to me that maybe this was the real reason she brought up the whole topic - she might not have any cash left for food.

  “I still have over half of it. I don’t spend much, but I wanted to talk before I go completely broke.”

  “Okay, then. I should get going. We’ll get back to this soon,” I said.

  With that conversation taken care of, we left the living room, where Zoe and Azura were already waiting for me.

  “Ready?” I asked them, and when both nodded, I stopped in the kitchen doorway, where Amber was inside, brewing a potion again.

  “Busy with work?” I asked.

  “Yeah,” the elf replied.

  “We’re going out with Azura and Zoe to meet Julia. Do you want to join us?”

  Amber turned and shot me a gre. “That whore again?”

  “Is that a no?” I asked.

  “Some of us actually have work to do,” Amber huffed. “And I’m not interested in some weird five-person date.”

  I looked at her, wondering if she wanted me to grab and take her with me anyway, but she really seemed occupied with whatever she was brewing at the moment, so I decided to leave her to it.

  “Sure. See you ter, princess,” I replied, and with that, we finally headed out of the house toward the tavern where Julia worked and lived.

  “What did my mom want to talk about?” Azura asked when we were still on the way.

  “Living arrangements,” I replied. “And the fact that you convinced your sisters that I’m their pack leader.”

  “You are,” Azura said simply.

  “Azura, you need to remember that I’m not a wolf, and all that pack stuff isn’t natural to me. I have no idea what it even means that I’m their pack leader.”

  “You lead. And make them safe and healthy.”

  “Is that all?” I asked.

  Azura confirmed with a quiet hum.

  “I offered to give part of the money you should get from the dungeon to your mother, so she could buy food for herself and your sisters. Are you okay with that?”

  “It’s your decision,” Azura replied.

  With that, we remained silent, but only for a short moment before we reached the tavern. Even though I had new things to worry about, I decided to leave them for ter and focus first on meeting Julia.

  She was already waiting outside, wearing a loose, sky-blue summer dress. The clothes she wore at work accentuated her body and made her look hot, but the dress she was wearing was more modest, though she still looked gorgeous.

  “You look amazing,” I said as I approached her, leaning in for a short greeting kiss, which she returned.

  “I thought this was going to be a date,” she said, her gaze flicking to Zoe and Azura.

  “It is,” I replied. “A date doesn’t have to be one-on-one.”

  Julia pouted slightly, looking at me as if she were thinking it over.

  “I thought you wouldn’t have anything against it,” I added.

  “We can keep our distance,” Zoe said. “But I must make sure that nothing happens to Master.”

  “Are you in danger?” Julia asked, looking at me with a frown.

  “No. Zoe is just a bit… overprotective,” I replied.

  Julia paused for a moment, thinking, before she spoke again. “Fuck it. Let’s go on a weird four-person date.”

  “Perfect. Let’s go, then,” I said, leading us through the city, with Julia and Zoe walking at my sides and Azura beside Zoe.

  “I was thinking,” I started. “Why doesn’t a pretty girl like you have a boyfriend?” I asked, looking at Julia.

  “It’s complicated,” Julia sighed. “I was… picky about who I dated, and even more about who I slept with. I believed I would find a prince in shining armor and waited for him. That doesn’t really help when it comes to finding a boyfriend.”

  “Was?” I asked, noticing the past tense.

  “For some time now, I’ve felt like I was missing out, and that I shouldn’t be so picky about men. But there was always something wrong with them. Too short, too fat, too ugly, poor, drank too much, wanted to have sex with me without even knowing my name. I kept wondering if I should lower my standards, and then… listening to you and them fucking every night kind of pushed me to finally stop looking for a perfect man.”

  “And then you finally found him,” I joked with a smile.

  “Yeah… Actually, you’re a good example,” Julia replied. “You are handsome, confident, good in bed. Potentially a good boyfriend. But a few months ago, it wouldn’t even have crossed my mind to do anything with you. One girlfriend would have been enough for me to cross you out. Three… yeah. But that’s not even all. If a man was exploring dungeons, it was an instant no. I didn’t want to get involved with someone who risked his life every day. And you’re not from Ortas, so that would’ve probably been another reason to reject you. I’d worry you’d disappear in a week and move to another city. And-”

  “Okay, okay,” I said, stopping her. “That’s enough reasons. I get it.”

  “Sorry,” Julia said with a frown. “I didn’t mean it like that. And those aren’t even bad things about you. I was looking for someone that doesn’t exist, and I always found a reason to reject a man, waiting for my ideal. And I’m tired of that. I decided to just live my life and see what happens.”

  “No regrets so far?” I asked.

  “Not at all,” Julia replied with a grin, but then frowned, looking ahead of us. “Wait, where are we going?”

  “Don’t you want to live your life and see what happens?” I asked.

  “You want to take me outside Ortas?” Julia asked.

  “That’s the pn.”

  “And the pn also includes taking me into the woods and killing me?” Julia asked, and from her tone, I wasn’t even sure whether she was joking or serious.

  “Only if you can’t swim,” I replied.

  “Oh… you want to go to the ke?” Julia asked.

  “Yeah, I heard people go there to swim and have fun.”

  “Mostly kids,” Julia replied. “I haven’t been there in almost ten years.”

  “We can change that today.”

  “You should’ve told me earlier. I can’t go swimming like this,” Julia said, indicating her dress.

  “You can take it off and swim in your underwear.”

  “What if I’m not wearing any?” Julia asked.

  “I won’t mind if you jump in naked.”

  “I don’t doubt it,” she replied with a smirk. “But what about kids?”

  “Do you really have nothing under that dress?”

  Julia didn’t reply, thinking it over. “Promise you’re not going to kill me, and I’ll take you to a pce where there won’t be anyone around.”

  “Sure,” I snorted. “I promise my intentions toward you are far from murderous. Especially if you really don’t have anything under that dress.”

  “Okay…” she replied slowly, as if still hesitating. “It’s a bit farther than the pce everyone uses, but not that far,” Julia added, and we started walking toward the gate to leave Ortas.

  “Master,” Zoe said before we reached it.

  “Yeah?”

  “I’m not the best swimmer,” she said shyly.

  “Azura, what about you? Can you swim?” I asked, realizing I hadn’t even thought about that.

  “No,” she hummed.

  “I’ll teach you both. Don’t worry,” I said. “You can swim, right?” I asked Julia.

  “Maybe I should lie and let you teach me too,” she replied with a smile.

  “Then I will teach all three of you,” I said, just before we reached the gate.

  After passing through it, we turned onto a different path than the one leading to the dungeon, with Julia guiding us. We had barely walked for twenty seconds when Azura hummed, and one look at her was enough for me to understand what she wanted.

  “Julia, wait,” I said, nodding at Azura, who immediately started taking off her clothes.

  Julia looked surprised, but before she could ask anything, Azura was already in her wolf form, running a small circle around us.

  “She likes to run as a wolf whenever she gets the chance,” I expined, picking up Azura’s clothes as we continued toward the ke.

  “She looks so excited and happy,” Julia said, watching Azura run ahead and back, disappearing into the trees at the side of the road.

  “Before we met, she spent most of her time as a wolf. Living in the city now, she misses it,” I expined.

  “She lived as a wolf?” Julia asked.

  “Yeah. In a real wolf pack.”

  “That sounds… wild.”

  “And tough,” I replied. “The ke is that way,” I added, pointing to one of the roads that I was pretty sure led to our destination.

  “There’s a beach everyone uses, and there would be people there,” Julia replied. “But there’s a hidden spot we used with friends. Let’s hope no one else knows about it now.”

  She led us farther, until we turned onto a smaller path. The shore was overgrown with reeds, and I had no idea how she pnned to swim there.

  But then she pushed the reeds aside and stepped forward. Instead of entering the water, she stood on a wooden ptform that had been completely hidden by the pnts.

  “It’s overgrown, but the ptform goes further into the ke. A few years ago it reached past the reeds. Let’s hope we can get through and find a free spot. Follow me,” she said, disappearing into the reeds and leaving a trail of bent pnts behind her.

  We followed her one by one. I pushed through the thick reeds until suddenly we emerged onto a ptform extending into the ke, forming something like a small bay, surrounded by pnts on three sides, giving us a secluded spot. Julia was already standing at the end of the ptform, waiting.

  When she noticed me, she grabbed the hem of her dress and pulled it over her head, proving she had been halfway truthful about her underwear as her bare tits bounced, but before I could take a good look, she turned around, dropping the dress to the ptform. The blue panties she was wearing vanished between her cheeks, her amazing ass in perfect view.

  “Catch me if you can!” Julia shouted, looking back over her shoulder before jumping into the ke.

  I wanted to rush after her, but first I stopped, wanting to make sure Zoe and Azura would be safe and wouldn’t jump in without knowing how to swim. It wasn’t part of my original pn, but if I could teach them, it would be a valuable lesson as a bonus of that date.