Grae called Lucas to see if Zoe had any ideas about where Andreas may go. It was urgent, he said. Andreas had been in Zoe's lab looking for sothing, and now they believed he had masked his scent and disappeared to hide sowhere on pack land.
"Oh yeah, he can do that," Zoe nodded emphatically once Lucas relayed this theory to her. "He used to brag about it to all of the ti. He said it so arrogantly like it made him superior."
"Well most lycans can't mask their scent like that, because it is extraordinarily hard. Instead, we tend to work on offense. There's a stigma associated with masking your scent as well."
"What stigma is that?" Zoe tilted her head in curiosity. She was batting her lashes less and less, much to Lucas' relief. It made her seem less creepy and manipulative. And not quite as young.
"If you mask your scent, then you are considered a coward," he explained. "And soone who can't be trusted."
"I would say that's accurate," Zoe replied in her matter-of-fact scientific voice, causing Lucas to laugh out loud.
Zoe's eyes went wide at the sound of Lucas' laughter. "W-was I funny?"
This made him chuckle more, and he nodded.
"I was funny? ?" a genuine smile spread across her face at the surprise of making soone laugh. Especially soone who she thought hated her.
"So do you have any ideas about where he might have gone after making it so no one could follow him?"
"I think so, yeah. There is one good place. One really good place. Andreas was the one who suggested it to when I wanted to test August's alyko abilities to see if she would show up on the map," Zoe thought aloud.
"When was that?"
"The bears."
"The bear attack in Maggie's basent?" Lucas gaped, mouth hanging open. "That was you?"
"Yes!" she bead proudly.
"That's not sothing to proud of, Zoe," he scoffed.
"But…" her smile slowly fell. "But it worked. It accomplished what Andreas wanted," she whined.
And then the smile slowly ca back along with the excitent in her voice. "And it was brilliant. Do you know how hard it was to lure that mama and her cubs into the basent? I had to call in so of my old team mbers to help , because that is not a job I would have been able to do by myself. It was so exciting too, because that was one ti when I was finally able to actually do so work outside as long as I made sure no one saw . I got to run through the woods and taste the air and see bears up close… Why, why are you looking at like that?"
"I'm sorry that you have been locked up unable to interact with anyone, but you need to learn how wrong it is to execute so of these scientific curiosities of yours," he groaned. "So the place you think he might be is at Maggie's cottage?"
"Yes," she said softly, feeling the sting of his disapproval.
She liked Lucas. He listened to her and took the ti to explain to her when she was behaving in a way that was distasteful or 'wrong.' She still didn't get it, but she was willing to learn if he was the one teaching her and if it ant she might have a chance to stay in the pack after the elders were disposed of.
"Well, I have good news for you, Zo. We are going on a field trip. Co on, grab a coat."
"Where are we going?"
"Back to the cottage. We're going to see if you're right."
When they approached the cottage through the woods, Lucas heard the hushed, alard voices of the pups up ahead. What he couldn't understand is why they would be out here at this ti of night on Samhain. Had soone co across the human custom of visiting haunted houses online or sothing? Whey else would be be hanging around the abandoned house?
But then he recalled how August had gotten them started on so kind of art project out here before her and the pup Isaac were attacked by the bear. Why would she have chosen this place to have them do those sculptures?
"Zoe, did any of the pups help you in this assignnt to get August out here?" he finally asked her once the pups had left.
"Yeah, yeah I told Andreas I needed a pup in on it," she nodded, confirming his suspicion.
He grunted in reply as he walked across the bridge toward the dark cottage. How could Andreas do sothing like that? And bring a pup into it?
"All right, shhh," he turned back to her, showing her the finger covering his lips that indicated she should not speak.
She nodded and followed him quietly as they approached the house. Lucas froze, his ears perked toward a noise that ca from the basent. Zoe wanted to giggle at how much he looked like a dog right at that mont.
Then without any warning, Lucas jumped from the bridge into the creek and bounded up the bank into the backyard. He was chasing sothing.
Excitent bubbled up through Zoe watching him take off on the hunt, and she jumped off the bridge into the water, too. Unfortunately, her head went under, and she paddled in a panic to try recovering. Finally, her feet found the muddy bottom of the creek where she was able to push herself above the surface.
Wow, Lucas sure made that look easy. She gasped, coughing out the water she swallowed and climbed up the bank as he did, fully drenched now. While Zoe might not be able to die, she certainly didn't want to be choking on water and gasping for breath like that again. That was awful.
Sounds of a struggle drifted from the backyard, and she heard Lucas snarl. She was right, then! Andreas must have been here. Hopefully Lucas would be pleased that she actually proved to be helpful at sothing.. Maybe then the Alpha and Luna would be pleased, too.
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