“Calm yourself, whelp,” The husky voice said mockingly.
Dru recognized the voice from last night. The beast-woman was here to collect her prisoners as promised. Forcing himself to relax on the cot, Dru pretended like he was not listening or even concerned by the beast’s presence.
“What is that delightful scent mixed with your fear?” Aribelle asked, her heels clicking loudly on the limestone floor.
Dru watched as Aribelle came into view; she was much taller than Wren and completely opposite of the woman she now stood before. Aribelle was dressed in all black: black boots, black leather pants, and corset, both of which were skintight, and a lengthy cloak that fastened tightly around her neck with several silver spikes sticking out. Aribelle’s hair was straight, but windblown, adorning her hair, were several braids with blue and silver metallic beads at the ends.
The Alpha’s face was not painted in the pretty feminine colors that Dru was accustomed to seeing. Most of the women in Vildaheim wore very little makeup or painted their entire faces in light pinks and reds. Aribelle, however, wore pitch black paint on and beneath her eyelids, and a single light blue line from her plump bottom lip to her chin. It was exotic, and if Thame’s sharp intake of breath was any indication, Dru would say some men would also find it erotic.
Aribelle looked exactly as their father described: a beast. There was nothing about this woman that would suggest that Dru could simply ask her for assistance or trust her with anything. He could see it in her eyes that she was cunning, ruthless, cruel, and it mattered not which form she was in, beast or woman. He understood why Wren looked so terrified; the Alpha was a woman who had likely never offered mercy to anyone her entire life.
“Is it guilt?” Aribelle asked, licking her lips as she cocked her head. “Is it anticipation? Anxiety? Hmm. I am still sorting out the ability to taste emotions, so help me along here, whelp.”
Aribelle bent down to Wren’s height, which was a few inches shorter than her own, and smiled tauntingly. Dru tensed, hoping that Wren did not betray him to save her own skin. His heart began beating a wild gallop in his chest as he waited for Wren’s response. Surely, she would not be so stupid to blurt out their plot, for that would see them all dead at the Alpha’s feet.
“Ohh, I see,” Aribelle said, a wicked smile in Dru’s direction. “Did I interrupt something special? His heart is thundering, as is yours. Not to worry, I have nothing against mixing breeds, whelp. You are free to fuck the human male as soon as I am done with him…although he might be dead, so I’ll send for another just in case.”
“I-I don’t need another male,” Wren sputtered, her face cheeks flushing pink.
Aribelle waved a dismissive hand, as though getting another human here for Wren’s pleasure would be no trouble at all, which she confirmed with her next words.
“Nonsense, Nilzan brings back human females all of the time. You have needs, we all do. Goddess willing, you’ll develop a taste for human flesh as well, and then we can all howl at the moon and celebrate your newfound wickedness. I’ll be honest, I was planning to kill you soon, but if this is you shedding your love of humanity, then I commend you for making the right choice. I mean, to use this handsome prisoner, all tied up and vulnerable, for your own pleasure knowing he is to die…”Aribelle nodded her head and clapped slowly, looking mad with glee.
“I WAS—” Wren began to shout indignantly.
“Is that why you were discussing payment?” Dru asked loudly, cutting off Wren’s vehement denial.
“W-What?” Wren choked out, her eyes flashing dangerously as she whirled on him.
“What’s this now?” Aribelle asked, looking delighted.
“I-I asked for some water,” Dru stammered, blindly pulling together what he hoped would be a believable story. “She said I could have whatever I desired if only I fulfilled her wishes first and granted her payment.”
Dru’s heart sunk as Aribelle narrowed her blue eyes at him, looking much like a fierce predator.
“Uh—” He said dumbly, as the Alpha stalked towards him.
There was nothing he could do, and he had run out of ideas to keep them all alive. She would kill him, then likely shift into her beast form and eat him. A shrill screech ripped from his throat as she bent over him, claws extending from beneath her nails. Her claws dug into his neck, pricking the skin as her hand wrapped around his neck. Squeezing roughly, she cut off his breathing as she snarled in his face.
“The whelp has never done any such thing, intruder. She walks around with her tail between her legs every single day. Not once has she embraced our ways, yet you expect me to believe this dribble? I think you both are hiding something much more than a would-be dalliance,” Aribelle sneered.
There was a tinkling noise behind them, and Aribelle’s head snapped to the side. Dru’s eyebrows rose to his hairline as he saw Wren taking a pouch of his coin from her apron pocket and shaking it before letting it dangle from her finger by the string.
“He speaks the truth, Alpha,” Wren said, her cheeks still flushed with anger, although she played it off as shame.
Aribelle promptly released her hold around his throat, her own expression one of surprise.
“If you are indeed embracing our ways, whelp, then why do you look so ashamed?” Aribelle asked suspiciously as she walked back to Wren, seductively swaying her hips.
Aribelle looked over her shoulder at Dru, who was watching intently and winked at him with a smirk. Suppressing the shiver that raced up his spine, Dru stayed focus on his one ally in this beast-ridden place. Wren mumbled something unintelligible.
“Darling, if you’re not going to speak up so that the adults can hear you, then I’m afraid you’ll have to go play with the other pups until you grow up,” Aribelle said with an annoyed sigh.
Sitting down at one of the tables with her back against the far wall, Aribelle kicked her feet up on the desk and leaned back, lighting a cigarette with a match that she pulled from her cleavage. The Alpha’s eyes went rapidly from Dru to Thame, who was poorly pretending to be still asleep.
“Tell me, intruder. I know your brother would have laid with the whelp, but would you really have?” Aribelle asked with a cruel smile. “You don’t seem the type to be experienced. Hecate’s left tit, what am I saying? Most men aren’t experienced with anything more than the in and out of things if you know what I mean. You just don’t appear to be experienced with anything more than your hand, and a dirty limerick is what I meant.”
Thame went into a fit of raucous coughing at that moment, but he was unable to hide the curve of his lips due to his hands being tied above his head.
“Thought you would like that, Thame,” Aribelle said with a wink in his direction. “You should never do theater, just so you know. You suck, like really bad. You may have thought your eyes were tiny slits, but they were wide open, and your breathing shallowed every time one of us spoke.”
“Well, nine hells, I thought I was doing pretty good. Good morning, beautiful. Did you miss me? Is that why you’ve come back so soon?” Thame asked in a gravelly voice.
“First of all, it has been about twelve hours, which is later than I intended to come back. Second of all, I didn’t come to see you; I came to retrieve you. You are a prisoner, an intruder, not my friend, or part of the pack. And lastly, it could be twelve lifetimes since I saw you last, and it still wouldn’t be long enough for me. Got it?” Aribelle said, blowing smoke from her mouth and glaring at Thame.