"Doctor Alexi? What are you doing here?" Serge asked, sounding understandably confused by the scientist's presence.

"What am I doing here? Are you ready to make another thrall yet?" she demanded.

"No," Serge said firmly.

She scoffed. "You and Nick are both so stubborn," she muttered.

"Well, if that's all you wanted—"

"Of course that's not all I wanted. Nick is terribly upset with the trouble in your pack this challenge has caused and he demanded that I come and figure out a solution for Elise. Again, he's expecting some sort of solution, but I work in science, not miracles. What will happen to Elise if you lose the challenge?"

"Elise believes—"

"I don't care about beliefs, but that's about all you're giving me. I know that you still have a prisoner from a few weeks ago, Serge. Turn him into a thrall and we'll see what would happen if Nick does the same. Then we'll know if we can safely transfer Elise back to her pack where she'll be safe."

"I will not—"

"You already did it once, Serge, and the fact that you care more about the state of a prisoner than Nick's daughter—"

Doctor Alexi's harsh words were increasing the pressure of the curse on me. I could feel it on my skin, in my blood, skimming along my nerves. The curse did not like her words and I was tired of hearing the same old accusations.

"It was an accident!" I snapped. "You can't possibly expect h-him to do i-it intentionally to someone else. That's like telling someone who got in one accident that they now have to go intentionally smash into pedestrians. Stop harassing h-him about it. H-he doesn't want to do it and I don't want h-him to, either."

Doctor Alexi finally stopped her near monologue and gaped at me.

"Sorry," I lied. My heart was pounding in some combination of angry adrenaline and fear.

"Have you thought through what might happen?" Doctor Alexi asked calmly.

I nodded. "Either Se-Ser... Will win or h-he'll lose. If h-he loses we don't know what will h-happen to me. I think my c-curse will transfer to the new l-leader. Maybe not, though."

"What if he dies?"

I swallowed hard. "I suppose it depends whether the c-curse breaks or the l-leadership transfers to the challenger first. Think of all the data you'll get." I tried to smile, but it was not even a grimace.

"So you simply want to wait and see what happens, Elise?"

"Yeah."

Doctor Alexi raised a skeptical eyebrow. "I'll tell Nick you said that. And that he wasted my time. I don't suppose you have your journal here?"

I shook my head. "Afraid not," I said. "You could probably ask K-Karen to find it for you if sh-she's still at the house."

"I'll ask Karen to bring it here, Doctor Alexi."

She nodded curtly and looked towards Serge. "Very well. We might as well discuss how things have been since I last saw you, Elise. Is there somewhere quiet in the bustling madhouse you consider an office, Serge?"

"Elise knows where to take you," he said.

"Then lead the way, Elise. We'll let your leader get back to work."

I wasted no time in leading her away from Serge's office to the cramped little room where I had been placed.

* * * * * * * * *

Once in my crevice, I considered whether to sit behind the desk or take the chair by the wall like an unimportant thrall now that I had a guest. Alexi removed the quandary from me by taking the wall chair.

"Do you have a notepad and pen? I did not think to bring one with your father hounding me."

I smiled half-heartedly as I dug around in the desk drawers. The curse sent little pinpricks of cold pain when I touched the items in the desk. "Is he terribly worried?"

"I could lie, but I won't. He is."

I sighed. "How did he even find out?"

Alexi shrugged. "Good news travels fast, I suppose."

"Bad news travels faster." I passed a notepad and red pen across the desk. I shuddered, the curse trying its best to convince me I would be punished for my thievery.

"I suppose whether this news is good or bad is subjective," she said, eyeing me critically.

"It's bad. I don't want a new m-master," I admitted.

Her raised eyebrow did nothing to dim the curiosity in her expression. "You don't? Why?"

I considered. "Because I trust Se-Ser..."

"You're getting closer to saying his name," she observed. "Now, tell me everything."

I spent a half an hour describing the previous week in detail. Alexi dragged the wall chair up to the desk and I ignored the anxious complaints that her rearranging engendered. She worked on her wild notes while I spoke.

When she had finished examining my experiences from every possible angle, she pushed back in her chair and looked at me. "I've been examining your writings and my notes and..." she paused dramatically.

I sensed she wanted me to ask so I obliged. "And wh-what?"

"And I still don't know anything."

I forced myself not to groan.

"I've been trying to figure out what I could about the nature of werewolf magic since it seems probable it is intimately intertwined with the curse. I'm sure you're aware that there seems to be a genetic component; for example, my mother is and father was a werewolf, as are my sister and I. Like Serge pointed out that first day I spoke with you, there must be something that bridges the gap between the physical and magical..."

Alexi trailed off, as I had occasionally experienced. If I interrupted her she would snap at me, so I waited patiently. I picked up my phone from the desk and checked my messages.

There was one from my father.

Elise, I sent Doctor Alexi to speak to you.

It seemed he had sent it around the time I was wandering around looking for Jodi. Thanks for the advance notice, dad, I thought.

Doctor Alexi stopped me from beginning my response. "Conservation of matter."

"What?" I asked since there was no possible way I could follow her ramblings.

"Werewolf transformations seem to conform to conservation of matter."

"Okay?" Her words sounded vaguely familiar.

She looked vexed. "Matter can neither be created or destroyed. Were you sleeping in basic physics?" she accused.

I frowned. "I didn't take physics."

"It was probably in your general science course, too."

"Sorry," I said and I did not allow my eyes to roll, because it would aggravate the curse as much as it would aggrivate Alexi.

"Regardless, your mass stays basically the same between your transformations. You weigh, what? A hundred and twenty pounds? Then you weigh the same in your wolf form. You may lose a small amount during transformation as your fat reserves are metabolized into usable energy, but the difference would be negligible. Basically you're the same collection of atoms before and after."

I really had no idea what she was getting at, or even if it was relevant to my problems. I hoped Karen would arrive soon. "Okay..."

"I'm beginning to wonder if werewolf magic is not merely a unique form of applicable energy, but then what is the curse? Another facet of that same magic? It seems as if it might be. You've described it as if it were almost conscious, living inside your mind, running through your body. Is it a bond, like the bond of our packs? Then what even is the bond of the pack. Is it more like a viral infection on your mind? If I can just figure out its nature, perhaps a solution would be the next thing I could discover."

I really hoped she was figuring something out.

"Mind you, the whole matter is still a waste of my time. Even if I figure out everything I could know about our magic I can't publish a paper on my findings, nor get a research grant, you know. Nick is merely fortunate that my curiosity exceeds my avarice."

I smiled wryly. "Well, if you do figure out the nature of werewolf magic and the c-curse, you'll go down in werewolf history,"

Alexi scoffed. "Werewolf history? Nothing but a shabby collection of fables. I dare say I'll be remembered in werewolf lore as Alexi, the great sorceress who dueled the werewolf in the moon and forced him to hand over the secrets of magic or some such nonsense."

She paused. "Although there is a certain allure to the idea that I might win such an epic battle. Perhaps werewolf lore isn't all bad."

I chuckled. The curse shivers did not subside, but I was also amused.

There was a knock on the door.

Alexi got up and strode over. She yanked it open. "Ah, Karen, perfect timing." She turned back to me. "Start another journal, Elise. I'll see you in a week or so."

With that, Alexi plucked my journal from Karen's hands and swept away.

Karen paused at the door to my little cave. She glanced around. "Do you need anything? This office is pretty drab."

"I like it," I assured her. The curse seemed soothed when I was in small spaces. In truth, I would probably get the most relief from its constant harassments if I were to be chained to the wall of a dungeon. The curse might feel like it could take a vacation with my misery so well in hand.

"Okay," she agreed. "Well, I'll see you tonight or tomorrow. Bye."

I managed a little wave as she left.

* *  *   *   *   *   *  * *