My first instinct was to laugh through my fear at the so called prince's assertion that he was in some way the prince of werewolves. Was this grandiose nonsense the reason they kept plaguing our people, some insipid desire to rule over all?

He sat back down in the chair and I took my spot on the couch and huddled into the blanket I had left there.

"The prince of the eastern werewolves," I corrected, since I could not entirely let his assertion stand. I was supposed to be playing passive and lull them into underestimating me, but it was difficult. Maybe I had spent so much time trying to fight the curse that the fight had become ingrained in me.

"So you say, and I suppose that's true, for now."

I failed to not narrow my eyes at him. "What do you mean by th-that?"

"Well, I did not come to answer your questions, I'm afraid, princess."

"Then why are you here?" I asked.

"Simple curiosity. I wanted to see the princess of the savage rebels with my own eyes," he explained.

I resisted the urge to bare my teeth at him. Where was this aggression coming from? The curse, or was it me? Did it matter? "I'm not a pr-princess. We're not rebels, we're free p-people. We owe you nothing. You began the fight so you can hardly complain when we finish it."

Even though it might not have been the wisest choice, I could not help but believe that Matthias would be proud of my little outburst if he had been able to hear it.

He almost looked at me with pity. "You'll never finish it."

"Then why do you keep attacking us?"

He shook his head. "That's not your concern, princess."

"Then why am I here?" I pushed.

"It's not my place to explain that," he said simply.

"Then why did you want to talk to me?" I asked, voicing my frustration. This pretentious man was aggravating.

"I told you, curiosity."

I huddled back further into the blankets. This conversation was a waste of my time, and that was saying something since I had nothing to do besides sit around and be terrified. I turned my face away and huddled into the couch.

"You really have no interest in complying with me, do you?" he asked.

I ignored him. I had enough to deal with without sating his morbid curiosity.

"Look at me, Elise."

I shut my eyes and kept my face turned away.

"Fascinating."

I just wanted him to go away. Perhaps if I did what he wanted he would grow bored and leave, but I could not bring myself to do it.

"Your rebellious spirit intrigues me. It's not what I heard about you, princess."

I took the bait. "What have you heard?"

"Many things. I've heard that you're sweet and gentle, protective and loyal. Beautiful."

His odious words deserved no response.

"You have such a forgiving nature that you've forgiven the one who put you under the curse. I'm reasonably certain that none of our thralls have given that benefit of the doubt to my father," he commented.

A scowl I could not control crossed my face. "S-Serge is nothing llike your father. He hurt me by accident. Your father is the aggressor. I would not forgive him either, if he did such a thing to m-me. I'll never forgive him for all the people he has hurt."

I hated how my voice still caught on Serge's name.

"You're an interesting anomaly," he commented. "My father will, no doubt, be interested in meeting you, too."

I did not bother to answer. Part hostage, part curiosity to them, these people disgusted me so much that I wanted nothing more than to tell them exactly how repugnant they were. Even the curse could not suppress such overwhelming sensations. I wished I was just a bit more like Matthias so I could punch the so-called prince in the face.

Jordan nodded to himself. "Well, I can see you need your rest, but it was a pleasure to have met you, Elise. No doubt we'll talk again soon."

I consider telling him that the pleasure was all his, but remembered in time that I was trying to lull them into further letting their guards down.

"You too," I lied flatly. A huge part of me hoped he caught my sarcasm.

Another fearful night and another endless day passed and I continued to drag myself around my little apartment cage. I stayed in my wolf form most of the time because it continued to take the edge off my curse.

I wondered about Jordan's words. Would his father want to see me? Was I such an interesting specimen that he would set aside his important business of harassing and murdering my people to talk to me? It seemed terribly unlikely.

But even the fact that I was here seemed terribly unlikely. I had not seen a familiar face in days, not even the traitors who had kidnapped me. It was just me and my caretakers and that one incident with the odious prince.

Would my people attempt to rescue me? I had no doubt that Matthias would want to rip up the whole province into shreds in his attempt to find my location.

I doubted that they even had any idea where I was, though. They probably reasoned out that Mark had taken me, they might have noticed the other kidnapper who was probably from Austin's pack, but would they even know that it was the eastern wolves who had done it? Of course they would suspect, but we had never even known exactly where they had been located. Who would guess there were a bunch of werewolves working in a building in downtown Toronto?

I swallowed past the sudden thickness of my throat. Even if they did somehow track me down, it would be dangerous, more dangerous than I imagined it was to fend off the attacks. My skin prickled and my blood rush with fear that they might be put in danger. The safest thing, the best thing, was for me to try to find some way to get myself out.

Unfortunately, that seemed rather unlikely as well. As always, my hope was in my one chance at the element of surprise. I had one physical way out of this stark apartment and that was through the door that was constantly guarded by male werewolves. I would not have had much of a chance against them even before I was cursed because of their muscle mass advantage and training. With the additional handicap of the curse, my odds were near zero.

My most likely hope was to somehow get my hands on a bit of technology once their guards were down. And then let other people risk themselves more my sake.

The curse howled and I despaired. I waited some more.

* * * * * * * * *

Another excruciating night passed me by and turned into a day that brought little relief. I was scared and I was anxious, but oddly my anger and my frustration helped tamper my fear just enough that I managed to function.

My heart ached for Matthias. I wanted to be back by his side. I wanted the relative peace of being beside my master.

I continued to shiver and hide under the blankets in my wolf form, but I kept quiet watch.

* * * * * * * * *

The day drew to a close in the cold geometric rooms and I survived another night. Pauline came in the next morning and bullied me back into my human form and then into the shower.

"Make yourself look presentable," she ordered.

I frowned. She was being much more bossy than normal and seemed to be in a worse mood. I went into my room like a good little thrall and closed the door. I searched through the things they had provided me. I was terribly tempted to wear my clothing from home, but I wanted to give the impression I was cowing and submitting, so instead I picked an outfit out of what they had provided, a skirt and a sweater.

I slipped on my mother's ring. My symbol of the promise between Matthias and myself, the symbol of the loves my parents had felt for each other.

When I came out, Pauline looked relieved to see me complying.

"What's wr-wrong?" I asked.

She shook her head. "Nothing, but you've been summoned."

"Summoned?" I repeated.

"Yes," she said tersely. "Now come over here and eat quickly, you don't want to be late."

Could I actually be summoned to see the wretched king of the eastern wolves?

My anxiety spiked as I sat down to eat. The hour hurried towards me.