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Alex jumped and turned to the figure seated on her bed. “Niyx! You scared the crap out of me!”

He kept his eyes locked on the black ball of fuzz in her arms. “Do you have any idea what you’re holding?”

“Hello to you, too,” Alex said back, her voice sour. “I’m okay, thanks for asking. A bit sore, but still alive despite being almost burned alive. But enough about me, how’s your day been?”

“By the light, kitten,” he said, unfolding from her bed and walking threateningly over to her. “It’s aShadow Wolf. Do you know how big they grow? How quickly? And what they do when they’re fully developed?”

“She’s just a puppy,” Alex said quietly, revealing the softly snoozing creature for him to see better.

“Nowshe is,” Niyx said, pointing to the wolf. “But by this time next week, she’ll be as tall as your chest.”

Alex’s eyes widened as she whispered, “What?”

“What is with you binding yourself to beings you’re better off avoiding—myself included?”

“What are you talking about?” Alex asked, still whispering as she looked down at the awakening pup. “I’m not bound to her.”

“She wouldn’t be lying docilely in your arms if you weren’t, kitten,” Niyx said. “Puppy or not, she’d be trying to rip your face off.”

As if able to understand his words—and maybe shecould—the puppy reached up and gently licked Alex’s neck.

“Stars,” Niyx muttered as he took in the sight, running a beleaguered hand across his face. “What am I going to do with you?”

Alex bit back a grin and stepped towards him, holding the puppy out. “Do you want a cuddle?”

Unlike with Caspar Lennox, the wolf didn’t start growling, but she did eye Niyx speculatively, as if sizing him up.

With a sigh of resignation, Niyx took the little black furball in his arms. But not even he was strong enough to resist the pull of her cuteness, and a smile touched his lips as she nipped at his fingers.

“What did you mean about her being that big in a week?” Alex asked, struggling not to melt at the vision of him holding the puppy.

“Shadow Wolves grow into adulthood at exponential rates,” Niyx said, returning to sit on Alex’s bed.

The puppy, curious about her new surroundings, left his arms to explore, wobbling along the mattress before plopping off it and onto the ground, then sniffing all around the room on one great investigative journey.

“Within a week she’ll be fully developed,” Niyx continued. “So enjoy this cute phase while you can, since it’s not going to last long. That said,” he cocked his head at the puppy as she toddled into Alex’s wardrobe, “you have a real beauty on your hands here. She’s going to be extraordinary when she’s finished growing.”

Again, as if she’d understood his words, the puppy looked back at him, her tongue lolling out in doggy pleasure.

“She’s intelligent, isn’t she?” Alex guessed. “Like, supernaturally?”

“It won’t be the same as your bond with Xiraxus,” Niyx said, and Alex felt her heart thump painfully in memory. “You won’t be able to converse with her like you did with him or you do with me. But there will be… impressions. She’ll be able to sense your needs and understand your requests.”

The puppy snuffled her way over to D.C.’s bed and wiggled under it, sneezing quietly. She then appeared again and trotted back over, jumping up to rest her front paws on Alex’s shins. Taking the hint, Alex drew her up into her arms and placed her on her bed beside Niyx. She immediately crawled into his lap and, within seconds, curled up and started dozing again.

“I wish I was a puppy,” Alex said, looking longingly down at the wolf.

Niyx raised an amused eyebrow. “You want to fall asleep on my lap? I thought we talked about this, kitten. I’m flattered, really, but—”

Alex somehow managed to laugh at the same time as cringe while she interrupted, “That’s not what I meant, and you know it.” She rolled her eyes at his ‘Whatever-you-say’ expression and explained, “All she’s done so far is be all kinds of adorable and sleep. That’s what I call living.”

“Adorable or not, you’ll have to quickly adjust to having her around,” Niyx said, running a hand along her sleek, black coat. “She’ll stick to your side like glue for the first few days, but then she’ll take off and do her own thing, only coming to see you when she wants company, senses you do, or is responding to your direct call. No matter where in the world she is, if you cry out for her, she’ll hear you and be at your side in an instant.”

“So shecantravel through the shadows?” Alex said, pointing to the blackness swirling around the puppy’s three paws.

“Judging by the look of her, I’d say she can probably move through the light, too,” Niyx said, stroking her one white paw. “When she’s big enough, you’ll be able to catch a ride with her.”

Alex looked at him in disbelief. “Seriously?”