Supper with just Serge and I was a quiet ordeal, but I was glad because it was easier on my nerves than having the people I love writhing in hostility towards the leader to whom the curse made me desperately want to submit.

It was not just that, though. Sitting there at the same table with him as far away as I could be at a ninety degree angle, eating leftover stew and rewarmed garlic bread while the blizzard slowly began to die off outside was not bad.

Sure, the curse still made me want to cower and hide just as much as it did the first day, but something was different than then.

The first day I had been genuinely as afraid as the curse insisted I be, but now it was only the icy chains sending that prickling fear up and down the back of my neck with every movement he made.

Not that I did not regret everything, but my life here was not going to be as bad as I first feared when I had first been taken away from my pack.

I ineptly assisted with clearing the table after supper.

"You don't have to help," he said.

"I kn-know," I agreed and kept trying anyway, careful to not run into him while keeping my gaze carefully on what I was carrying. I could see the plate shaking, but I simply held tighter and brought my load to the counter.

He did not argue with me.

"Y-y-you know, if I tr-try really hard, maybe some d-day I could even manage to d-do d-dishes," I joked.

He did not seem to find me funny. "You're not going to be my slave, Elise."

I sighed shakily. "Y-you were s-supposed to l-laugh and find m-me h-hilarious," I told him and the curse consumed me for my brazen display of humour.

"Sorry," he said.

I did not bother to push him further. It was like he had cursed himself at the same time as he had cursed me.

* * * * * * * * *

I tossed and turned throughout the night, waking myself up several times. I woke in a bed with the sheets tangled and poor Lizzy somehow tossed halfway across the floor. I was almost relieved to face my terror filled day.

I peeked out the window. The ground was covered in two feet of snow and all the trees that had been previously bare now had scads of the nasty white misery clinging to their needles.

I shivered and sighed and forced myself into the bathroom. I could have ventured out of my room and asked Karen if I had time for a run before we left, but it did not feel worth it. I turned on the shower and tried to make myself look presentable.

I dragged myself out of the warm water and got ready for the day. I trudged down the hall and found Karen in the kitchen.

"Good morning," she said. "I hear you had an exciting couple of days, huh?"

"Y-you could say that," I agreed.

"Sorry that I didn't stay for supper. I thought everything would be fine."

I sat in my usual seat at the counter. She slid an omelette in front of me.

"It w-worked out okay," I assured her. "No bl-blood spilled."

"I only heard the abbreviated version from Serge," she commented. "But the curse really took you down, didn't it?"

Of course he would focus on that bit, I thought with an eye roll. The fear ran down my back and stung my eyes at my action.

I picked up my fork and took a bite, chewed carefully and swallowed.

Though I knew I was asking for trouble, I decided to speak. "I-I thought it actually w-went pretty w-well," I said and the predictable curse swept cold through my blood since I was not permitted satisfaction.

"Really?" she asked, sounding interested and optimistic.

I ignored the raging blizzard inside me and responded, "Well, not between S-S-S... Not between h-h-him and my father. That bit was a d-disaster."

I wished I could meet her eyes, but there was no way I could attempt to do that while saying things the curse disagreed with at the same time. Instead I kept my gaze on my plate. "The c-curse attacks m-me when I d-do, th-think anything wrong. B-b-but I d-did what I w-wanted anyway."

"You ended up cowering on the floor," she pointed out questioningly.

I nodded, my eyes still fixed on my omelette. "B-because I was out of l-line, I think, but still..."

I had pretty much exhausted my reserves of rebellious speech for the time being. Perhaps I should have saved it for the upcoming ordeal.

* * * * * * * * *

A short while later I was bundled up in my winter jacket and mittens and being driven down the plowed road towards my old pack. Serge was driving and Karen was in the front seat, although she periodically would turn back to talk to me.

I responded as best I could, but my mind was mostly on the coming appointment with Doctor Alexi.

We drove through my hometown and I saw familiar sights like the small school and the general store.

We pulled up to Doctor Alexi's house, or rather her mother's house and I could see that my family was already there by dad's truck sitting parked on the roughly shovelled driveway.

We walked through slushy snow to the door and it promptly opened to reveal the tiny old Missus Lindale and her house in all its doily encrusted glory.

She ushered us inside and into the living room. Moramay and my father were already there, but their conversation with Doctor Alexi trailed off into silence upon our entry.

She was basically just as I remembered her except she had a few more lines and an additional sprinkling of grey in her short brunette hair. All three of them looked at me when we walked in. Moramay with sympathy, Doctor Alexi with a calculating stare and my father with concern that quickly changed to anger when his gaze shifted to Serge.

I swallowed.

Karen directed me to an armchair and she and Serge went and sat together on a flowery love seat. My father and Moramay got up long enough to give me a quick hug. Moramay passed me a plain envelope with a whispered, "For later."

I did not have time, nor energy to fixate on the possible contents of the envelope.  My mind was fully turned towards my coming ordeal.

"Let me get you some drinks," Missus Lindale said as she bustled off into her kitchen, leaving the rest of us sitting there in silence for a moment. I shivered at the anxiety running down from the back of my neck.

Nothing like a nice tense situation to give the curse an excuse to dig its teeth harder into me, I thought sardonically.

The killjoy magic stabbed me with ice again.

* * * * * * * * *

Missus Lindale returned with a tray covered in tea cups and a pot of tea and a carafe of coffee. I took a cup of tea with my slightly trembling fingers. I made Missus Lindale look steady in comparison, I thought.

But then again, she was not quite as frail as she looked. She was a werewolf.

Once we were all settled, Doctor Alexi finally spoke. "You were supposed to come yesterday, Serge," she commented challengingly to my leader.

The curse surged up in response to the criticism.

Not my fault, I reminded it, not that it cared.

"Sorry, but you might have noticed the blizzard," Serge commented flatly.

She scoffed. "Seriously? Are you werewolves or mewling kittens?"

Serge apparently decided not to respond. My father looked pleased with the exchange. I felt renewed shivers.

Doctor Alexi continued, turning to my father with a scowl on her face. "I'm not sure why you called me back here, Nick."

My father looked considerably less pleased. "I explained rather thoroughly."

She looked unimpressed. "I know what you want me to do, of course, but why you thought I would be able to help is beyond me."

Serge broke in. "You're a well respected scientist in the human world."

"And this magic is hardly based on science," she retorted.

"But this magic has a foothold in the physical world. Surely there are ways to study it scientifically," he argued.

She pursed her lips. "I don't know what you all think science is, it's not a magic bag in which you dig around until you find answers, it's a methodology. I test hypotheses, and my hypothesis for this situation is that it is a waste of my time." She fanned her fingers in my direction.

I could see my father was getting angry. "This is not a waste of time, Alexi."

"Yes, this is your daughter, but I can only do what I'm capable of, Nick," she responded.

I wondered why they had even brought me here to hear this.

"I would do the same for any member of my pack," he nearly growled.

Doctor Alexi paused. "I was not accusing you of nepotism. I'm telling you your hopes are unrealistic. I can and will examine her situation, but it's unlikely that anything will come of it. I need data and you're giving me a very limited supply."

"There's no other thralls in our packs," my father said roughly.

She paused and looked between my father and Serge. "Perhaps you could make some," she commented as if she were merely suggesting they have another cup of tea. I felt my own horror crawl down my spine.

Both responses were instantaneous.

"No," Serge growled.

"Absolutely not," my father said, giving his unrepentant pack member a dark look.

She rolled her eyes as if she did not have both leaders glaring at her. "I'm not suggesting that you turn any members of our packs into thralls, but rather you use it the next time the borders are breached. Winter is nearly over, it's certain there will be more attacks soon if recent years are anything to go by. I do have a few theories, but I am not willing to test those on Elise."

I could not see Serge, but my father did not look at all receptive.

"Or, I believe I heard that you've got a couple of attackers from the last battle still locked up here?" she asked in a sly tone that made my skin crawl with my own true unease.

The curse was oddly unresponsive.

"We're trying to get information out of them," my father said.

She looked at him with an air of innocent curiosity. "Think how much easier it would be if you could simply command them to tell you everything," she suggested.

"No," my father said.

She sighed. "I thought not. However, I do have one theory about how we might perhaps improve Elise's situation."

"What?" asked my father.

Doctor Alexi looked directly at me and then turned her attention back to my father. "You could bite Elise with your own curse, Nick, and bring her home."

* * * * * * * * *