Chapter 498: Episode 496: A coincidence right?

The little cafe next to the dress boutique was warm, cozy, and smelled absolutely amazing.

The air was filled with the sweet scent of vanilla, melted chocolate, and freshly roasted coffee beans. Soft jazz music played quietly in the background.

Roxy and Lira sat together in a comfortable, curved booth right by the big front window.

Across the room, sitting at a completely different table, were the six Kings.

It was actually a very funny sight. The little cafe tables were meant for normal-sized human people. Squeezing six massive, broad-shouldered, six-foot-tall men covered in pure muscle around one tiny, round wooden table was almost impossible.

Torian had his giant knees bumped up against the wood, looking totally uncomfortable. Kaelen was holding a tiny, delicate white espresso cup in his huge hand, looking like he might crush it by accident.

They were not relaxing. They were watching the girls’ booth like a pack of hungry hawks.

Syris wasn’t even pretending to drink his coffee. The Swamp King had a sleek black cell phone in his hand, his long thumbs typing incredibly fast. He was already following Zarek’s dark command, hacking into human databases, checking records, and finding out absolutely every single detail about the woman named Lira.

"She is sitting too close to Roxy," Torian grumbled softly, his bright blue eyes narrowed into a glare. "I should go over there and tell her to move back."

"Sit down, Torian," Ren whispered, reaching out to gently grab the tiger’s arm. "Look at our wife. Really look at her."

The Kings stopped glaring at Lira for a second and looked at Roxy’s face.

Roxy was glowing. She was leaning across the table, holding a warm mug between her hands, and she was laughing. It wasn’t a small, polite giggle. It was a loud, real, beautiful laugh that made her green eyes crinkle at the corners. She looked so happy, so light, and completely free of the dark sadness that had been crushing her for months.

Zarek let out a slow, quiet breath, his tense shoulders dropping just a tiny bit. They were highly suspicious of this human who shared the exact same face as their Beastworld ally, but they couldn’t deny the truth. They hadn’t seen Roxy smile and laugh this easily with a friend in a very, very long time.

If this strange human woman could make their Queen smile like that, the Kings decided they would let her live. For now.

Over in the booth, the connection between Roxy and Lira was completely uncanny.

It was spooky how fast they clicked. They didn’t have to force the conversation at all. It flowed like water. They liked the same colors, they laughed at the exact same silly jokes, and they even ordered the exact same type of sweet pastry to share. Half the time, Lira would start a sentence, and Roxy would finish it without even thinking.

It was the exact same comforting, warm sisterhood Roxy had shared with Lyra back in the Beastworld.

Roxy took a sip of her sweet coffee, letting her mind wander to the past for a brief moment.

She looked at Lira’s big brown eyes and remembered the other Lyra. Things had not always been this easy and perfect between them back in the Beastworld world. In fact, when they first met, they didn’t click at all.

But this Earth Lira was different. There was no jealousy, no betrayal, and no need for harsh punishments. She was just sweet, kind, and instantly felt like family from the very first second they bumped into each other.

"I am so glad I knocked your bags over," Lira giggled, picking at a piece of the sweet pastry on their plate. "I know that sounds crazy, but I really am."

"I’m glad you did, too," Roxy smiled warmly. "I don’t have any friends in the city yet. My husbands are wonderful, but sometimes a girl just needs to talk to another girl, you know?"

"Oh, absolutely," Lira nodded, her wavy honey-colored hair bouncing around her shoulders. She peeked over Roxy’s shoulder at the giant men sitting across the room. "They are... very intense, aren’t they? They haven’t stopped staring at me since we walked in. I feel like they want to bite my head off."

Roxy let out a bright, happy laugh. "Don’t mind them. They are just incredibly overprotective. They look scary, but they are just big softies on the inside."

Lira smiled, but then her face slowly turned a little bit serious. She wrapped both of her hands tightly around her warm mug of hot chocolate, looking down at the dark, sweet liquid. She bit her bottom lip, looking suddenly shy and a little nervous.

"You know," Lira said quietly, keeping her voice low so only Roxy could hear. "When I said back in the store that I felt like I’ve known you my whole life... I wasn’t just being polite."

Roxy tilted her head, her smile fading into a look of curiosity. "What do you mean?"

Lira took a deep, slow sip of her hot chocolate. She set the mug down gently on the small saucer.

"I have this weird, recurring dream," Lira confessed, looking back up into Roxy’s green eyes. "It happens every single night. It has been happening for months now. The exact same dream, over and over again. And when I saw your face today, it felt like... like you stepped right out of it."

Roxy felt a strange, cold shiver run quickly down her spine. The tiny hairs on the back of her neck stood straight up.

"A dream?" Roxy whispered, leaning closer across the table. Her hands tightened around her own coffee cup. "What is the dream about?"

Lira looked out the cafe window at the busy human city, but her brown eyes looked completely far away, like she was staring into another world.

"It’s never a city," Lira explained softly, her voice full of wonder. "I dream about a forest. But it’s not a normal forest. The trees are massive. They are so big and so tall that their leaves touch the clouds. The wood looks as strong as dark iron. And I am always running through it."

Roxy stopped breathing entirely.

Iron-Wood. She was describing the Iron-Wood forest.

"Are you scared in the dream?" Roxy asked, her voice shaking just a tiny bit.

"No," Lira shook her head immediately, a warm, soft smile returning to her face. "I’m never scared. Because I am never alone in the forest."

Lira looked right at Roxy, her eyes shining brightly.

"There is a wolf," Lira whispered. "A giant, beautiful, incredibly protective wolf. He walks right beside me. He is so big that his head reaches my shoulders. He watches over me, keeping all the scary things away. I can feel how much he cares about me, even when I wake up."

The busy noises of the cafe completely faded away. The jazz music, the clinking of plates, the people talking—it all vanished from Roxy’s ears.

A giant wolf. In the massive Iron-Wood forest.

Roxy’s fingers went entirely numb. All the strength left her hands in a single, shocked second.

The white ceramic coffee cup slipped right out of her loose grip.

CRASH!

The cup hit the hard floor of the cafe, shattering into a dozen sharp, broken pieces. Hot, dark coffee splashed everywhere, spilling over the white tiles.

Across the room, the sound of the breaking cup made all six Kings jump straight to their feet instantly, their chairs scraping loudly against the floor. They were ready to tear apart anyone who had hurt her.

But Roxy didn’t even look at them. She didn’t look at the broken cup, and she didn’t care about the spilled coffee on her shoes.

She just stared at Lira’s sweet, honest face, her heart hammering against her ribs like a wild drum. Her mind raced back to the magic world, thinking about the giant wolves who lived in that exact forest.

"It couldn’t be a coincidence, right?"