"So what do we have?" Andreas growled as he entered the map room. This ti, both of the other guardian elders entered with him.
Zoe thought the three of the elders together were a strange combination. Andreas was the no-nonsense commander of the the other two. And he was always the one in charge of anything to do with the alyko, including Zoe's team.
The tall, thin Pearce was highly intelligent and cerebral, and he chose his words carefully. He only spoke after each word had been weighed and considered, and he seed to be incredibly bored doing it.
And Auden was a squat, jittery, mostly dim-witted… creep. Zoe couldn't think of a better word for him. Like a bug that can't stop moving and creeping, his eyes always darting around nervously.
Pearce and Auden did everything they could to avoid Zoe all together, and their discomfort being in her presence today was palpable. Despite how different both n were, they wore the sa smug look of distaste—as if sothing foul could be scented in the air.
Zoe didn't let it bother her. She was excited, because today was truly another incredible day for unprecedented events.
"Co see!" Zoe's eyes were bright like a child, ushering the foremost elder forward to view the screen that Kai was seated behind.
Once Andreas and the other two elders were positioned behind the computer, Kai played the recording from just a few minutes prior when August had encountered the fighting mates in the woods.
"It is just as before," Zoe pointed to the scattered points of light all over the pack territory. "Not one light from herself, but many. This would of course indicate that the previous incident was not a mistake. This is how she manifests her power."
"That's impossible," Auden snapped, the sa look of distaste on his face.
"What does this an Zosi?" Pearce asked, ignoring Auden.
"I can't say for sure," she started, and Auden scoffed. "But I have a theory. It requires an open mind," she added and glanced at Andreas aningfully. He grunted and gestured for her to continue.
"Given all of the literature that I have read, which—let be clear—does not ntion this ever occurring, I believe that there is a strong possibility that when she uses her alyko abilities, she acts as a conduit for others in the pack who do not otherwise manifest on their own."
As the recording looped to play again, Zoe pointed to several of the other points of light that were not anywhere near hers.
"They are everywhere, Zosi," Pearce spoke the obvious. "If these are mbers of our pack, they have never appeared on our map before."
"I know," Zoe said.
"So what would these pack mbers be experiencing at the ti of this occurrence?" Pearce asked.
"I don't know. They may experience nothing at all," she replied.
"If that is the case, then what significance is there in this finding?"
"Well, it helps us identify the others with alyko predispositions, however small or inactive. But it really tells us more about her," she stressed. "This human—witch—whatever you want to call her… she is unique. There has never been one on the map like her. And sohow she is connected to others in this pack through so kind of unseen bond."
Pearce looked over to Andreas uneasily. An unseen bond sounded an awful lot like a Luna bond.
"You have deactivated this feed again?" Andreas expression turned fierce. "No other packs have this?"
"Of course. It is for our eyes only," Zoe tampered her excitent, Andreas' sudden anger eliciting a spark of caution in her mind.
"They will beco suspicious if we keep taking it offline," he grumbled to himself. As Andreas appeared lost in thought, Zoe caught the sharp daggers Auden was sending her with his eyes.
"I want you to give her your serum or whatever it is," Andreas finally said. "Now, Zosi. I will have her brought in."
"But.." Zoe started.
"I need her controlled until I can get His team here. I will make the call today, but I need that safety asure in place," he said sternly. There was no arguing with it.
"It could kill her," Zoe spoke the argunt anyway—just as a reminder. She didn't want to be blad if sothing went wrong.
"It won't," he said with a peculiar certainty that had her pinching her eyebrows in confusion.
"Expect her in the dungeon. If you can't find soone to administer it, give it to her yourself," Andreas said before leaving abruptly as the two other elders followed him out.
"Wait!" Zoe scurried after them. "Where are you going?" she called.
"To give the order to bring her in," Andreas called back. "And to buy us so ti."
———————-
Zoe cursed to herself as she made her way through the secret passage to the prison below the pack house. It was dark and damp and all of the things she hated. It gave her bad mories.
When she entered the back entrance of the prison, or dungeon as Andre liked to call it, she pushed the massive stone door to have it barely budge. She groaned. What had happened to her impressive team that used to do things like this for her? Now she was wandering through spider-infested corridors that slled damp like mildew.
The vial of her famous anti-alyko abilities position was in one hand, and she clutched it protectively. She didn't like passing this way, but she was very excited to et the infamous test subject from Eliade who was now amazingly mated to their pack's Alpha.
The underground prison was nearly empty. She stepped cautiously, aware that this was a space she rarely ventured into. It was equal parts exciting and terrifying.
Zoe arrived in front of a door with a small barred window out of her reach. It was occupied.
"Hello?" the female from inside called, sensing soone stop in front of the door.
"Hi," Zoe started shyly. "Um, I can't… I'm not supposed to be here. But would you… would you like so water?"
"Yes—please!" the female answered from the other side. "I'm so thirsty. Thank you so much. You won't get into trouble will you?"
"No," Zoe answered. "I will be careful."
Zoe walked to where the pail of water rested against the wall and poured a cup before tilting her vial into it. She walked back to the cell and slid open the small door on the floor.
"Here you go," she said in her most innocent sounding voice.
The female sighed on the other side of the door. "Thank you, dear," she said. "You are a life-saver."
A satisfied grin spread over Zoe's young features, and she retreated back to the door from which she had ca.. "I have to go!" she said as if she were in a hurry and afraid of being caught, and then she slipped back out from where she ca.
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