So, they think they can smooth everything over by feeding me? Emily was eating stew as fast as she could without choking. Rek and Koswer had led her along two halls, past a number doorways, and into a large kitchen. There were several long tables on one side of the room with a few benches and even fewer people. A wide counter split the room almost entirely in half; it had a stack of bowls and spoons and a large cauldron on it. The second half of the room was the real kitchen. Work tables, fires, spits, dishes, ovens: there was everything a cook could possibly desire.

Even as she ate, Emily kept glancing around at the new creatures--somehow she doubted there were any more humans here. Most of them were openly staring and muttering in that same harsh language as before.

Three younger men were the worst about the staring. Two of them looked to be in their late teens; one with dark skin and large brown eyes, the other a smaller, more nervous version of Kowser. The third was about Emily's age, red haired and handsome but with no apparent concept of how long it was appropriate to stare at someone.

Two other men sat huddled close together, throwing furtive glances but being much more subtle about it. They were both dark haired and pale. There had to be at least twenty years between them, though they didn't look like father and son.

These reactions weren't exactly unexpected--not completely. But there was one other reaction that worried Emily.

She had barely sat down when she'd heard the scrape of a bench being pushed back forcefully. A rather nondescript man--brown hair, brown eyes, brown skin--had surged to his feet. He had locked eyes with Emily and an expression of something akin to horror washed over his face. Before she could even react, he had bolted out of the room; eyes flooded gold.

And neither Rek or Kowser had said a thing, even though they had definitely noticed. Since then they'd sat in silence. The storm of whispers battered against Emily's forced calm and the piercing stares felt like a thousand knives. It wouldn't be so bad if I at least understood what they were saying! Or if Rek and Kowser would speak. Why were they being so quiet? The longer she sat there alone with her thoughts, the more she became aware of it--a new sort of presence. What was it they called it? An aurum?

It felt much weaker than Dray's. Less... overbearing. And--she closed her eyes without thinking, trying to focus on what she was sensing and put a name to it. It was complex, scattered, more like--

"Emily?"

Her eyes shot open.

Rek and Kowser were giving her strange looks--worried looks. The room had gone silent.

"Are you okay?" Rek was frowning and his mismatched eyes had the faintest ring of gold around them.

"What? I--yeah. I'm just tired."

He looked unconvinced, but didn't pry any further.

"Hey," Kowser leaned across the table and laid a hand on her wrist. "I do apologize for how... unpleasant your introduction to Wullferg Keep has been. We don't often get human visitors. Actually," he paused, thinking. "You're the first human we've had here in forty years or so. I'm afraid our manners are a little lacking." His voice rose sharply. "Some of us just don't realize how incredibly rude we are." He sat back, folding his arms and casting a disapproving look around the suddenly silent room.

"We were told not to mob her!" It was the red head, and he was a pure picture of indignation.

"Oh, and sitting there hissing like a basket of snakes is so much better?"

A cry of outrage went up from the others, several rising to their feet so they could see Kowser while they yelled at him.

"You always get on us for being overeager!"

"Or mock us for wanting to actually meet other people."

"We actually listened this time, shouldn't you be thanking us?"

"You could at least introduce us."

"Yeah! You're the one being rude."

Emily stifled a laugh as Kowser tried to shout them down.

At last, Rek stood with a sigh. "Hey!"

They quieted at once, a few still glaring at Kowser.

"Everyone, this is Emily." He pointed at her. "Emily, this is about half the pack and I'll give you their names even though I doubt you'll remember them all. I still get some of them mixed up."

Emily turned so she could get a good view of everyone as Rek rattled off their names. The red head was Caimdon, the dark skinned boy was Fisk, mini Kowser was actually named Rowan, the older dark-haired man was Leng, and the younger one was Nyrell.

"And the one who ran out earlier is Arrech." Rek grimaced. "It'd be best if you gave him some space."

Emily narrowed her eyes. "...Why?"

"He's crazy." Caimdon dropped into the seat next to Emily, a little closer than she would've liked.

"Caimdon!" Rek snapped.

"What? He is."

"He's not crazy." Rek frowned and turned to Emily. "He's a little... unstable. Humans in particular tend to set him off."

"Set him off how?"

Kowser looked up from his food. "He might kill you. He'll feel terrible about it once he gets his head on straight again but that won't exactly bring you back to life."

"Kill me?"

"Isn't unstable the same as crazy?" Caimdon seemed to have tuned out of the conversation for a moment.

Kowser sighed. "Yes, but it's nicer to say unstable."

"Oh."

"You're from the city, right?" Fisk sat down across from Caimdon, leaning on the table eagerly. He had an easy smile and a certain... gentleness. It sort of hung around him like an invisible cloud.

Why do I know that? Emily was growing more perturbed by the second. The things she noticed weren't normal; and she'd never been able to notice them before today. And the unstable wolfkin--no one seemed to want to talk about him any more than they already had. Emily very much wanted that conversation to continue, especially since her life may depend on it. But a new topic had already taken over.

"Of course she's from the city," Caimdon was saying. "Can't you smell it on her?"

What?

"Well there's something there but I didn't really--"

"I thought Caimdon was teaching you how to track?" Rek was peering at Fisk.

"Me? Fisk said he would talk to you about it."

Nyrell joined in, even more suspicious than the others. "But Fisk told me that he was allowed to swap out tracking with arcane studies. He's been in the library with me most days."

Fisk leapt to his feet. "I think I should go check on Arrech."

"Sit." Rek, Caimdon, and Nyrell spoke in unison.

Fisk sank back down, dread filling his features. Emily watched with a mixture of sympathy, amusement, and frustration. She'd been the same way during her short stint at temple school. She hadn't exactly been kicked out, but when money got tight for her family the priests hadn't even pretended to be sad when she left.

A tap on her hand brought her back to earth.

"If you're done eating, we don't have to watch." Kowser also seemed amused.

Emily nodded and got to her feet. The conversation hadn't quite become a yelling match, but it was getting awfully close. They'd switched back to Wolvish, now sounding more like a pack of snarling dogs than people.

No one noticed them leave. It wasn't until they got into the quiet hall that Emily realized how badly the ruckus had hurt her head.

"Sorry about all that. Fisk is new here and we're still figuring him out. No one expected him to be able to lie so well."

"Do his parents have anything to do with his teaching?"

Kowser shook his head. "It's just Fisk here."

A knife twisted in her stomach. "Oh, I didn't realize--"

"No, no; you misunderstand. He's not orphaned. His parents thought it would be safer for him here. They brought him a month or so ago."

"Speaking of safer..." How to do this delicately? "What am I supposed to do if I accidentally run into Arrech?"

Kowser smiled gently. "Don't worry about it too much. Arrech himself isn't much of a threat; his wolf is. He'll do his best to stay far away from you--as he's already proven."

"His wolf?" Emily barely noticed they'd entered a different hall. "Is it--is it like another--uh--person in your head? Or--" She stopped.

Kowser was shaking his head again and chuckling. "Not even close. Although I appreciate you trying to be polite." He paused at the base of a staircase. "The wolf is just another side of our personalities. It's still us, but more instinctual. In rare cases, it can be more like a separate personality but as I said; it's very rare and very dangerous. Only the most unstable individuals have a separate wolf side. It usually leads to bouts of violence and insanity in the other personality." He smiled grimly. "Basically, if you know someone has an unstable wolf, stay as far away from them as possible." He started up the stairs.

"If Arrech is so dangerous, why is he here?" Emily followed, every step making her wince.

"Well, he's less dangerous to other wolfkin." He glanced back. "It's people of significantly less strength that are in real danger. That, and humans are what really set his wolf off. He's mostly harmless to the pack."

"Is that normal? For unstable wolves to not be a threat to their own kind?"

"Not at all. Which is why we all avoid Oberkon like the plague and wish his trial had ended the very day he was sent here."

"Oberkon? Who's--"

"Large and pale. Blue eyes, blonde hair, will try and flirt with you." Kowser turned back, making eye contact. "Don't ever let yourself be alone with him. But try to get away from him without making him angry. Although," he paused, pensive. "If he does attack you, we can probably have court and be done with him. Though I'm not sure we'll be able to get to you in time."

Oh gods, oh gods, oh gods. Now there were three people she wanted to avoid at any cost. Two of which will kill me.

"And because of that"--Kowser grabbed her by the arm to get her moving again--"You will be staying far away from the pack around full moon and will never be allowed to go anywhere by yourself. Here we are!" He motioned to a large wooden door on their right. It was carved and inlaid with bits of gold, silver, and semi-precious stones. Depicted was a sweeping river, a forest of pointed pines, towering mountains, two moons, and a sea of stars.

"Oh." Emily let out a breath as she drank in the details of the relief. "I've never seen anything like this." She trailed her fingers along the ridge of a mountain, stopping at the red moon that had just crested the horizon. "Are these opals?"

"This used to be Lady Dione's room."

Emily turned sharply. "Lady?"

"Dray's mother. No one's used it since she died."

"And you said this is where I'm staying?"

Kowser smiled knowingly. "She'd be happy someone was using it. Especially if you can read Falhergmore. Most of her books are written in it."

Books? As dreadful as a student as she'd been, Emily did love to read. Never anything too heady or informational; she preferred stories. Suddenly, staying in the late Lady Dione's room didn't seem too horrible after all.

Pulling a key out of his pocket, Kowser unlocked the door and pushed it open. The room was just as opulent as the door. It was about the size of the main room in The Rival. One wall had three windows, the middle one twice the size as the others with carved crystal panes that played with the evening light. The bed could have fit four people with ease and the enormous white fur draped across the end looked incredibly soft. There was a roll top desk and chair across the room and a wall of bookshelves that held a lifetime of tiny trinkets. But what intrigued--and worried--Emily the most was the curtain hanging on the other side of the room.

"Is that a doorway?"

"Yes; it leads to the Alphet Solar."

"And that is..." Emily started across the room, trailing her hand along the fur as she did so. It was even softer than she imagined. I want ten.

"The private chambers of the Alpha and his mate. They're referred to as the Alphet."

Emily stopped. "Do you mean--Lord Raefling--Why would you put me in here?" Panicked sharpened her voice, breaking it halfway through her question. What kind of sick trick was this? She had to get out of here.

"Hang on," Kowser stepped forward, holding his hands up. "The other doorway is closed off. It has been for decades. I picked this room because it's the nicest one we have. Why would I give you a small, barely furnished room? They're fine for a night, but not long term."

"Long term?" Emily breathed. She was feeling faint again.

Kowser stiffened, not quite meeting her eye.

"I'm not staying long term. I have to go home. I have an inn to run, people to take care of; I'm getting married in a week!"

"How could you possibly go back to the city when you know someone there wants you dead? You were lucky this time. Lucky you were brought to that spot in the woods, lucky Rek and Dray found you and not Halowick, lucky Dray got there when he did." He looked up, gaze cold. "If I were the person who had hired those thugs, I wouldn't be too pleased to see you come home safe and sound. And I doubt I'd try the same thing twice. I'd probably kill you myself to make sure it was done properly."

Emily clenched her trembling hands together, drawing in shaky breaths. Kowser was right and he knew it. She couldn't go home. It wasn't safe. The only place on earth that was truly her own was no longer hers--it had been stolen by the same person who'd tried to take her life.

She looked up at Kowser, eyes brimming with tears. "I'm supposed to get married in a week."

    Kowser's hard look melted away. He closed the space between them and pulled her into a soft hug, giving her plenty of time to duck out of it if she wanted. Emily rested her forehead on his shoulder, still twisting her hands together and blinking back tears.

    "You've had a terrible two days," he murmured. "I won't say everything will be better in the morning, but sleep will certainly help." He patted her shoulder and pulled away, grasping her upper arms. "There are extra clothes on the side table. Rek or I will come get you for breakfast, and we'll do our best to answer all your other questions. Alright?"
    Emily nodded, wiping her eyes and still breathing unevenly. She hated crying in front of people.

    Kowser gave her a half smile and held out the key. "Lock the door behind me, and don't worry over the solar. The only way in is through this door." He gave her shoulder a squeeze. "Goodnight, Emily." He left, closing the door behind him.

    Emily was alone.

    She was very, very alone.

☽

Of the characters introduced in this chapter, who was your favorite?