If the mysterious creature behind her hadn't spoken, he probably would've gotten his palm licked by the shorter girl, who was frozen against his firm chest.
"Calm down. He's just cleaning."
Her tense shoulders dropped at that.
I won't die… Great.
At this point, she felt that dying would be better than the embarrassment she was about to face.
The girls now stood at the door, hands clasped over their mouths, with Sabrina in front holding a fancy, ancient-looking lantern—the kind she'd seen at Granny's place. They all stared at her for ten long seconds.
Then they squealed loudly in excitement, slapping each other's shoulders and giggling like high school girls who'd just seen their favourite band.
The hand fell from Lilith's mouth, and she took a long, deep breath before turning slowly to come face-to-face with the one and only…
Sam.
He smiled softly. "So, we meet again…?" He trailed off, tilting his head as though asking for her name.
She replied, completely hypnotised, "Lilith… Lilith Thompson."
Her voice was strangely steady compared to her heartbeat at that moment.
"Sam. Nice to meet you again. Didn't think I'd find you so soon."
She let out a strangled laugh at that.
"Wow… How cliché. An encounter over brownies and brooms at probably midnight," she said.
Both of them had completely forgotten that the girls existed, and neither seemed to realise just how close they were standing.
That is, until someone—probably Stella—cleared their throat, popping the two out of their little bubble.
They stepped back a little, clearing their throats and awkwardly scratching the backs of their necks.
"I'm gonna have to ignore the fact that he just smiled…" Stella began. "We have to get ready now. And you—"
She turned to point at Sam, who grinned charmingly and raised his hands in surrender.
"You're sitting with us. With Felix and the others."
His grin faded as Stella waved him off.
"Hey, at least you get to spend time with Lilith!" Keira added cheerfully.
His crimson eyes lit up, causing Lilith, who was already staring at him, to blush furiously for absolutely no good reason.
"Sure. See you then."
With a wink in Lilith's direction, he walked away, leaving her in an unholy shade of red.
Silence settled over the room until the girls were sure he'd gone far enough.
Then they screamed, jumping around Lilith with the excitement of a girl whose crush had just asked her out.
"LILITH, YOU DID IT!!!"
"YOU BROKE MR. ICE KING!!!"
"Guys, it's not a big deal," Lilith protested, overwhelmed.
Then Catherine shook her hard.
"NOT A BIG DEAL!? HE SMILED! THAT'S NOT AN EVERYDAY OCCURRENCE! DEFINITELY A BIG DEAL!!"
Soon enough, the chaos settled, and Keira spoke.
"Okay… Let's go get ready. Lilith, come on!"
***********
They arrived at the general dining hall for the second time since Lilith's arrival. This time, the witches were absent, but at least the dragons and wolves were there.
The werewolf pack.
(Was it still a pack if there were only three of them?)
Christopher, whom she'd already met, was the tallest of the three. He had black, curly hair, dark eyes, and tan skin, along with gorgeous dimples that made him appear softer whenever he smiled—which was so often that it had become the norm. Muscular, seemingly the strongest of the bunch, and hot as hell.
She would've swooned if she didn't already have the hots for Sam.
Beside him sat Lucian, a younger-looking, shorter omega male. He had green hair with black roots, deep green eyes, and pale skin. He usually appeared cold, at least from what Lilith could tell, but right now, dressed in a lavender hoodie, he looked like an absolute twink, laughing at something Christopher had said with one hand resting comfortably on the other boy's shoulder.
He looked like softness wrapped in a hoodie.
(Don't blame me about Sam, Felix, and Christopher. I couldn't think of anything else. Iykyk.)
The last of the three was another alpha male. He had brown eyes, brown hair, pale skin, and a muscular build. He looked cold and intimidating at first glance, but Lilith suspected he was a literal sweetheart beneath all that.
The girls took their seats at the table where the two dragons were already sitting.
The second dragon, unfamiliar to Lilith, smiled when he noticed her.
He was gorgeous. His blond hair seemed to shimmer gold beneath the sunlight, complementing his sky-blue eyes and fair skin. He stood at about five feet seven inches—roughly 170 centimetres.
"Hey, you must be Lilith. Sam talks so much about you."
Sam's eyes narrowed.
Then, as though determined not to give the others the satisfaction of seeing him react, he offered the girls who had just joined them the faintest of smiles while they exchanged greetings.
Lilith, already seated, froze. She turned stiffly towards Felix, who was grinning like a Cheshire cat.
"Good things, I hope?"
"Oh, the greatest of compliments! More than I ever thought anyone could get out of a stone-cold brick wall like him. I heard you saw him n—"
"Okay, hold it right there," Sam and Lilith said in perfect synchronisation, their voices dripping with equal parts annoyance and embarrassment.
The others burst into giggles.
Sam, who sat right beside Lilith, leaned closer.
"Fancy seeing you again. Really."
He whispered the words just for her, and she flushed red once more.
He chuckled before leaning back in his seat.
It seems he only agreed to sit with them because of Lilith.
It was clear.
"BABY! COME OVER HERE! THESE TWO ARE MAKING ME FEEL LONELY AGAIN!"
A voice echoed from the neighbouring table, drawing laughter from everyone.
Even Lilith joined in, although she wasn't entirely sure why.
Felix stood up and moved to sit beside Ash, who immediately slipped an arm around him while glaring at the two others at their table, who were busy feeding each other with entirely too much affection.
Oh.
Lilith finally understood.
And then she laughed properly along with everyone else.
"So…" Sam began in a low voice, leaning slightly towards her so that only she could hear. "What brings you to this land? I heard Keira found you in the forest."
Lilith sighed.
"Even I don't know." She shrugged. "One second, I'm at work; the next, I'm passed out in a completely different world where phones don't exist and people are friendlier than they are back there."
"Phones?" He asked, confusion written all over his face.
Lilith mentally face-palmed.
Of course he doesn't know what a phone is.
"Ah! It's… something we use in the other world for communication, entertainment, and a whole lot of other things."
Sam studied her for a moment.
He noticed how she'd said the other world rather than my world, as though she were already beginning to accept that this strange land might be her reality for a while.
Interesting.
Their conversation continued with surprising ease, occasionally drawing the others into their playful banter.
For the first time since arriving in this unfamiliar world, Lilith found herself laughing without constantly wondering when she'd wake up.
Perhaps this place wasn't so bad after all.