“I was wondering, your highness, if it was possible for me to see my friend.” The tremble in her voice was evident even through the floor/ceiling.
There was a long pause, and then the Alpha Female said, “I do not think that would be a good idea. The Thaumaturgic has too much sway over you, I fear. Not that I blame you, my sister. Not in the least. Anyone in your position would have been caught unaware by her deceit.”
“But, your majesty, I honestly don’t believe she is—” There must have been some hand motion or look, because Talley cut off instantly. There was a scrapping noise, like a chair being pushed back and then soft footfalls.
“You know it cannot be natural for a woman not of Shifter blood to make the Change.” The Alpha had moved in closer to where Talley was.
“I know, but—”
“Our enemies have long been looking for a way to infiltrate our ranks. And they almost did it. She’s the perfect Trojan Horse, is she not? A lone female wolf when we lose almost all of the young born to us. As Seers, we want to protect her since we have been unable to save the others. And the males. The entire species is drawn to her, looking for a mate of their own kind. The Strategos tell me her scent is absolutely intoxicating, nearly impossible to resist. No wonder Hoplite Hagan looks at her with such admiration. The poor boy is a victim of biology.”
“I don’t think—”
“And the way they placed her with your Pack when she was so young, letting the child become like a part of your family. It was smart, strategically speaking, but so cruel to your family.”
“But Scout didn’t—”
“That, of course, is the reason the Hagan Pack isn’t facing charges of their own,” she said, her voice infused with a touch more strength. “I did not think it was fair to punish the entire Pack for something that was obviously committed against them. Don’t you feel the same, Seer Matthews?”
Blackmail. Awesome.
“You’re very kind and wise, my Alpha.” Talley sounded choked, and I knew it was because she felt guilty for not defending me. She shouldn’t have. I understood, and would have been angry if she had said anything else. There was no need in all of us going down with the ship.
After that there was some more conversation, but mostly of the “So, how are you liking Kentucky?” variety as opposed to manipulation by The Man. A few minutes later there was an influx of feet moving about, and then a television flicked on and my ears flicked off.
The rest of the day passed without much in the way of excitement. Hashim brought me lunch and dinner, both of which were pretty good for prison food. The television stayed on upstairs, blocking out any conversations. Since I had nothing better to do, I fretted over the whole intoxicating scent issue. Neither Jase nor Charlie had mentioned that I smelled especially sexy, but the theory did explain a few things, like that moment with Travis and Makya in general.
On second thought, nothing really explained Makya.
But what if she was right? What if I was throwing out a come and get me boys scent? Did it develop with my first Change, or had it always been there? The first time I met Liam he smelled me and asked Jase what I was. Could it have been because I already smelled like a female Shifter? And if I did, what did that mean in terms of Alex and Charlie? Did they really want me, or were they simply acting on animal instinct?
After many miserable moments, I decided that train of thought was both unhealthy and unproductive. To distract myself, I attempted to figure out how many people where in the house. Since I was locked in a concrete basement and the cabin was the size of the White House, it wasn’t an easy assignment.
My Pack was the easiest to pick out. Talley and Jase spent most of the day on the third floor with each other. Charlie, on the other hand, seemed to be stationed near the top of the basement stairs. I tried to remember what could be holding his interest for so long up there, but couldn’t come up with anything. As best as I could recall, the stairs were located in a super-huge pantry which came off the kitchen. Unless he was put on dishwashing duty, I couldn’t think of a single reason for him to spend the day up there.
Stefan and his three henchmen were almost as easy to pick out as Jase, Charlie, and Talley. Not only was I already familiar with their scents, but I could feel them somehow. It was like they were so Dominant they leaked power, and that power was an actual tangible thing floating through the air. Even without the aide of my super-powered hearing and smell, I could point out any member of the elite guard at any given time.
After that, it got harder. There were other males in the house, I could hear their heavy footfalls and smell their boy smell, but keeping up with the exact number was hard. People were constantly moving, and the stupid TV blasted CNN Headline News at full volume all blessed day. I knew there were at least three other guys on a level below the Strategos on the power structure, not including Akay. There were possibly others, but no more than six.
The females in the house were actually a bit easier to peg, thanks to the very profitable body wash, shampoo, and lotion market. Not counting Talley or the Alpha Female, I caught four other distinctive scents. There could have been more, but I didn’t detect them.
That left me in a house with, what? At least a dozen probable enemies? If any delusions remained about breaking out of this place, that promptly shattered them. I had better odds at winning the Miss USA crown, landing the lead role in a Wonder Woman movie, and hitting the lottery all in the same night.
Still, I listened and smelled and brain stormed. It was either that, or stare at the blank walls and go crazy. By the time I drifted off to sleep after all the motion upstairs stilled for the evening, I had a pretty good layout of the house and was starting to recognize different unknowns by their scent and the sound of their footfalls.
The next morning my breakfast was brought in by Mandla, the NBA guy. Along with the heaping plate of eggs, sausage, and toast, he sat a stack of books down on the end of my mattress.
“The one who owes you a life debt insisted you have these,” he said in that smooth voice. “He claimed it was cruel and unusual to leave you without something to stimulate your brain.”
I glanced at the stack, which was comprised mostly of Nora Roberts and James Patterson paperbacks. Not a whole heck of a lot of brain stimulation going on there, but still… “Thank you. I was going kind of crazy with nothing to do.”
“Thank not me, but the Alpha’s generosity. She is giving you much comfort considering what you are.” I made a split-second decision not to waste my breath on restating my innocence and slammed my lips back together. “She will be coming to see you shortly,” he continued on. “I suggest you show her the respect and reverence she deserves, Thaumaturgic.” With that, he turned and strode back to the door, leaving me alone with the high calorie breakfast I wasn’t going to be able to eat thanks to the awe-inspiring things that bit of knowledge did to my belly.