We lapsed into silence, with Pauline moving around the room periodically. "I should get you some stuff so you can shower and get cleaned up."

Since she was more forthcoming than my original abductors, I asked, "How long will I be here?"

"I don't know, but a few of us will be taking care of you while you are. We know that you won't be able to manage much on your own. At the very least you have to make yourself eat or you'll end up in bed and hooked up to an IV. I don't know what His Majesty wants with you but I'm pretty sure they did not drag you down here simply to let you starve to death."

Well, that confirmed some of my suppositions.

"Will I meet him?" I ventured to ask.

She chuckled. "I doubt that."

Further questions were forestalled by the ringing of the doorbell. She jumped up and came back in with several boxes in her hands. She set them down on the coffee table between us and then went to the kitchen and brought back a pair of plates. She put a few slices of pizza and some chicken wings on one and passed it to me, before sitting back down.

She cracked a can of pop open and took a drink. "I would offer you one, but it'll probably just aggravate the curse."

I did not argue. I managed caffeine before, but that was when Serge had been there to keep the magic from overwhelming me. Maybe this girl had some good intentions at least.

I took a bite of pizza and even though it was like chewing on foam, at least it was covered with a generous amount of cheese and meat. Then I picked up one of the chicken wings and stripped the flesh from the bone. The hard structure felt good beneath my teeth and I resisted the urge to gnaw on it as if I were in my wolf form.

We ate in relative silence, for which I was glad because talking might accidentally reveal my intentions to rebel against the situation I found myself in.

Finally we finished eating and she said she was going to get me some things. I stayed on the couch and cowered under the comforter, wishing that I at least had Denizen there.

It was a funny thought. I wondered how the city people would react to seeing a full grown wolf. Probably with amusing terror. Denizen was safer back in the territories where he belonged. Where I belonged.

* * *  *  *  *  * * *

True to her word, Pauline returned with a couple of bags of things in short order. She thrust clothing at me and herded me into the washroom with orders to clean up or she would have to help me before shutting the door.

It was difficult for me to go through the motions. Back home I could fall back on focusing what my pack wanted me to force me through the more difficult moments of my day, but this time I had only myself.

Well, I was sure Karen would want me to take care of myself, as much as I could even in the hold of the eastern wolves. And Serge would hardly be happy to see me fall into dejected ruin. I could still force myself to function for them.

Once I had managed to shower and dress in what turned out to be a very baggy t-shirt and soft shorts, I pushed myself out of the room to find Pauline had cleaned up the food.

"Although I doubt you'll be hungry in your condition, I put the leftovers in the fridge for you for later."

I nodded.

"Now head to bed. You can have either room," she said.

I moved to grab the comforter from the couch.

"That's filthy, grab the one off the other bed if that's what you were thinking about doing," she ordered.

While her orders were ineffectual against me, I decided it made sense nonetheless. I shuffled in and grabbed the heavy blanket and carried it into the smaller room. The tiny size made me feel comforted, rather like the bedroom at Serge's or the tiny office.

A bit of moisture pushed at my eyes. I missed him so much.

"You okay?"

Obviously not. "I miss..."

"I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do about that I'm afraid."

I nodded and dragged myself into the foreign bed.

My sleep was restless and I woke frequently with familiar fears flooding through me. I managed to get back to sleep every time, but I felt more wretched with each subsequent waking.

I was meant to be near Serge and this separation was cruel and unnatural. A huge part of me just wanted to uselessly give up, because how could I function without him?

But giving up and fading away would be the worst thing possible. It sounded like the eastern wolves had no intention of letting me die peacefully even if I tried to do so. I had no good choice but to fight and endure.

* * *  *  *  *  * * *

For three days I watched and waited for a weakness I might exploit, but I was disappointed to see nothing. My tenth week as a thrall began as my worst, because it was all I could do to try to restrain my shaking and my loneliness. I needed my master and my pack and they were so far away.

Pauline or one of the other people who had been assigned to care for me were there frequently during the days, but even when they were not there was always at least a guard outside the door and always a werewolf.

I still had no proper answers and mostly I simply sat around passively watching television.

At first, I had a beautiful fantasy of logging into one of my father's accounts through the television and changing the usernames to directions to my location, but my hopes were dashed.

The television was very simple. There was no connectivity to the internet, not even a streaming service I could log into, just basic cable.

It was excruciating. At least while I was a virtual prisoner in Serge's power, the only thing that repressed me was the curse, I was able to try to live the most normal life I was capable of. Here there was nothing to focus on but the curse. Everyone I loved, everything familiar, was impossibly far away. My mind went through everything I missed, my family, my friends, Serge, the forest, my magic, warmth.

No matter how many blankets I wrapped myself in, I was cold without Serge.

I looked at the ring on my finger that he had given me. It caught the light, and I longed for him.

This had been his mother's ring and the only reason it was now on my finger rather than on hers was because she died in an attack against the territories, by these people who now afflicted me. I was angry and tired.

Finally I gave up passively fighting. I went into the bedroom and stripped off my clothing with my shaking hands and carefully placed my ring under my pillow, then I let my cells flow from human to wolf. My lithe canine muscles formed and most of all my fur cover my flesh to keep my warmth from so readily escaping.

I could not properly run, but there was no reason not to at least feel less cold.

I walked out on my paws and I struggled to get back underneath the comforter. I was only partly covered, but it helped trap the heat nonetheless. I was shaky, but the tremors lessened in my wolf form.

I closed my eyes and let myself drift away into sleep.

* * *  *  *  *  * * *

"Oh," a voice said.

I cracked open an eye and looked towards the door. One of my caretakers, Leopold, looked at me nervously.

His reaction seemed overwrought, it was not as if he had been unaware of what I am. I opened my other eye and fixed my gaze on him passively and wondered what his problem was. Perhaps these city wolves never used their magic. Perhaps that was why they plagued us so, but if they only wanted the freedom of the wilds, why not set up their own community somewhere else and stop bothering us? It was not as if there was a shortage of land in the harsh north, but the difficulties were worth the freedom of the location in the eyes of my people.

I yawned and closed my eyes again. What did I care of these people's intentions? I kept my ears firmly attuned to what he was doing. He seemed to be cleaning up after me, but I did not spare him a thought. It was not my fault that I was creating extra work for him.

After a few minutes he ventured to speak. "Perhaps you should change back, miss."

I burrowed further into the blankets. It was easy for him to say. I never wanted to come out and there was nothing in these people's voice that made the curse want to force me to obey them.

What did they really expect of me? They had stolen a thrall from the master of her curse.

Leopold did not argue with me or try to cajole me further. He put a plate of food on the couch near my muzzle. I was not even slightly tempted, but I remembered I needed to keep up my strength, so I eventually forced myself to eat. I did not bother to transform back this time, instead I just ate the food like a dog.

I used to care, but I could not summon the energy.

Finally, he left and I was relieved.

With my acute wolf hearing I heard that he was talking to the guard outside my door about my condition. I ignored his words and curled up even tighter in a ball.

* * *  *  *  *  * * *

I was awoken from my fearful half slumber by another conversation outside in the hall. I did not move and I kept my eyes tightly shut, but I kept my attention affixed firmly on the door.

Someone walked in. He smelled like an unfamiliar werewolf and something about him raised my hackles. I did not move, other than my ever present shaking.

"Hello, Elise," he said.

I ignored him.

"I've been wanting to meet you."

I doubted that. I had been here for several days and I had seen no sign of this unknown person.

"Please transform back to human so that we can talk properly."

I had no desire to comply with his veiled order. I felt so much warmer in my wolf form that the idea of returning to a human while I was stuck here with the eastern wolves scared me.

"Elise. I know you're awake."

I did not respond. I hoped he would go away. The only person I wanted to talk to was Serge and my people and they had stolen that from me.

He sighed, but I was disappointed when he did not leave.

I lay there, terribly aware of his presence. He did not say anything else. I opened one eye to look at him. This werewolf had brown hair and a lean but attractive face, although he seemed smaller than the wolves I knew. No wonder our forces handled these easterners so easily. Probably one of our regular humans could take him down in a one on one fight. He was sitting in the armchair tapping on his phone.

I felt a rush of resentment. What he would do if I managed to summon the energy to leap towards him and attack him? Could I get that phone and send a message to my family before the guards could come in and stop me? Probably not and then I would find myself restrained like an animal. It was not time to waste my one chance yet.

He met my gaze. "I knew you were awake. Now would you please transform?"

I let my brows lower aggressively, but I forced myself to my paws and padded to the bedroom. I knocked the door shut behind me and lost my beautiful warm fur.

I dressed as quickly as possible in my sweater and leggings. They had given me new things to wear, but I wanted to wear my clothing from home as much as possible. I put back on my engagement ring. It made me feel better, somehow.

He was waiting expectantly when I came back out of the bedroom. He got to his feet and extended his hand. I decided to shake it even though he repulsed me.

He cocked his head at me curiously. I met his brown eyes evenly.

"You're a strange thrall," he told me. "You react to me as if I were just any regular human."

I realized that perhaps I erred in not cowering more, but there was some part of me that rebelled at bending the knee to these enemies.

I decided to explain. "You're not my pack, I'm not your thrall."

"That makes sense," he agreed. "I've never met a thrall that was not my father's before."

"Your father's," I repeated slowly. So this must be the son of that shadowy oppressor. No wonder I instinctively balked at his presence.

"Yes. I'm Jordan, the prince of werewolves."