Inez, who was walking down the path to her lodge, was frowning hard. She was still lost in her thoughts and was not watching where she was going. As she walked, she didn’t see that someone was walking in front of her, which led to Inez bumping into the person.
Inez looked up, and her gaze fell on the woman whom she had met in the sushi restaurant. Unlike the last time, the woman was no longer in a mess, as her mascara was not dripping down her face.
Inez was quite surprised to see the woman in the Red Blood Hill pack, but when she remembered that this woman was Killian’s mating match, she slightly frowned, but realising that it was not the fault of this woman, she asked, "Are you alright?"
"I am alright," replied Jules with a nervous smile on her face. "I didn’t know that you were a member of this pack. Were you alright after that little prank?" Jules was still in awe. Her sister and father had told her about Killian so many times, and each time they spoke of him as if the man were some kind of big, bad monster.
Because of this, she was really scared of that man. However, after seeing him getting doused with blood, Jules was no longer as terrified of him as she was in the past.
Inez’s smile turned a bit awkward. She nodded and replied, "As you can see, I am perfectly fine."
"I am glad that you are alright," said the woman with a relieved smile on her face. "Though I have to say that it was quite impressive; that was my first time seeing Alpha Sokolov in such an embarrassing situation. Though he deserves every bit of it, can you believe him? He actually told my father that I was the one who did it to him. It got me the scolding of the century."
When Inez heard the complaints of the woman, she was slightly stunned. She blinked her eyes and questioned, "Killian—he blamed you for that prank?"
"That’s right," the woman nodded with a light furrow between her brows. "He told my dad that I didn’t like the mating match and embarrassed him in such a manner. I bet you—I have never seen my father screech like that in my entire life. He was yelling as if I had done something really embarrassing."
"Kept talking about the honour and pride of the Drakos family. Like dumping a little bucket of pig blood would ruin our years-long history of greatness." The woman rolled her eyes at the very thought.
"I am really sorry," Inez apologised. Even though she didn’t know the woman and her siren was still stifling her anger, thinking about how this woman was Killian’s mating match, Inez still felt a bit sorry for her.
This woman was blamed for something that she hadn’t done.
"It’s alright," Jules waved her hand with a smile on her face. "At least it was quite cool. Even if others find out about it, they will only call me crazy, not a fool." She looked quite satisfied about it.
"Er–okay, if it’s alright with you," said Inez, not knowing what to say in this situation.
"I would also like to apologise for the last time," commented Jules when she thought about their last meeting. It was only when she returned home and calmed down that she realised that she might have burdened Inez with her crying and sobbing. "I showed a really unsightly side of mine to you..."
"It’s alright," said Inez with a shake of her head. "I am Ine–Lyla." Thinking about how she was hiding from her ex-mate, Inez changed her words at once.
’A close save,’ she thought.
Inez noticed how Jules moved her lips, trying to get the pronunciation right before saying, "Thank you for helping me out back then, Lyla. I am Jules, Jules Drakos. You must have heard about me," she added with slight arrogance.
Though Jules looked like she was showing off her identity in front of Inez, in truth, she was just trying to get close to her by using her identity as the only dragon princess of the Drakos family.
All her life, people have only flocked to her because she was a pure-blooded dragon shifter and had the purest of all blood in her veins. Not because she was Jules but because she was a Drakos.
And as Inez’s kindness had touched her, Jules wished for the woman to befriend her.
Though Inez had never heard about the woman, she thought that it wouldn’t be right to say that she hadn’t when the woman obviously looked really proud of her identity. She nodded and lied, "Yes, I have, Miss Drakos."
"You can just call me Jules," said the woman eagerly. She wasn’t often this generous, but she was willing to let this woman become her friend.
She should be grateful, right? Jules thought with a smile on her lips.
"Let me treat you to a meal. I believe that the night we met, you didn’t get enough time to eat anything," said Jules, wanting to get close to Inez and find out more about her. She wondered if the woman was truly as nice as she thought or if she was trying to fake it to get close to her, as many had tried the same.
They pretended to be nice and unaware of her identity, the first time they had met and earned her trust, only to stab her in the back and then use her for their benefit.
"There is no need," Inez was slightly confused because of the eagerness of the woman. She raised her hand and touched her red locks only when she was certain that her appearance was indeed different, that she had lowered her guard. "I am a bit tired today and would like to go back to my lodge and rest. You must be here for something, aren’t you?"
The second she finished speaking, Jules’ lips curled up in a dissatisfied scowl.