On the other side of the portal, there was no sign of the white hallway. Before I could take a step into this new room, Sam darted in front of me. Wondering what had her worried, I looked around quickly, finally following her line of sight above our heads.

Oh, shit. The black sparking smoke that had hovered around the doorway was following us. Floating like a cloud of evil, it was actually much calmer than before, its energy now curious versus murderous.

Sam and I exchanged a glance, and it was at this point that I initiated the change back. It was time for us to discuss what was happening here because this was messing with my head. My wolf didn’t fight me, and a few minutes later, I was able to stand.

Shaking out my limbs, I waited until the sensation of bones breaking and bodies reforming faded. Immediately, I noticed that I felt stronger here; that couldn’t be a coincidence, right?

“Where are we?” Sam asked huskily, rubbing at her chest as she straightened from her shift.

“I have no idea,” I said breathlessly because a lowkey excitement had started thrumming through my chest. “To my knowledge, I’ve never been here before. Never stepped out of Torma into another damn dimension or tangled with an angry cloud of smoke, but at the same time… this feels familiar.”

She halted me with a hand on my arm. “I have no idea what happened to you, but can I just say how badass you are, taking this on without a clue of what was waiting on the other side of those magical doorways?”

Badass or stupid. Such a fine line.

“Why did you step through?” I asked, reminded that she’d followed when she should have stayed safely in Torma. “This isn’t your fight, and you already went above and beyond in trying to help me. So why?”

Sam ducked her head, a long sigh escaping. “Would you believe that my life has been such a miserable suckfest that I actually don’t really have that much to lose by following you on your adventure?”

Empathy rose inside of me. I understood more than I wished to. “I think that’s part of why I felt such an instant connection to you,” I said, shaking my head. “You and I are the same, just raised in different packs. I would literally choose anything over staying in Torma.”