Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Monkey Wrench ❯ Scents & Sensibility ( Chapter 6 )

Sunday January 9th, 2005

6:00 p.m. EST

Wilmington, DE

Theryn's Apartment

 

I wiped at the dust motes on my eyeglasses and watched in amazement as Rowan devoured yet another plate of spaghetti and meatballs. Good thing I liked to cook and that he was willing to eat just about anything because he was packing food away like it would be illegal in the morning.

 

Right now, I was thinking about two things: a) I really needed to go the grocery store soon if I wanted there to be anything for ME to eat and b) I was going to be rid of one gluttonous werewolf come tomorrow night.

 

Still basking in the glory of my escape plan, I was surprised to hear a knock on my door, so was Rowan apparently, as he immediately jumped up and flew to the little visitor predictor that was my peephole. I figured it had to be my next door neighbor, as I certainly wasn't expecting anybody. Sometimes she'd like to come over and shoot the shit with me, mostly complaining about the apartment complex.

 

I'm not sure why, I had no problems with the place, but she seemed to take some comfort in bitching about the unsanitary conditions of the laundry room so I consistently did the ole smile and nod routine for her benefit. Hey, who was I to question to her? I liked to bitch about things too, but usually just in my head.

 

Anyway, I was all set to play my part when Rowan opened my front door and I see who but Gage, Seth and Dom staring back at me from the hallway. The first was putting on his happy face, still playing at his folksy charm routine that was getting to be really annoying now that I knew he was really nothing like that. My brother looked as if he'd just run a marathon, he had high color in his cheeks and his breathing was labored. The latter stood up straight, looking at me like I was a roach he'd like to crush under his heel. He was holding an old, black leather bound book in his left hand.

 

Why on earth were they here, and how did they find my apartment? Oh, that's right, Seth must have told them. I guess this is when they'd be checking in to make sure I hadn't killed Rowan yet, or he hadn't killed me. No problems there, we stayed as far away from each other as physically possible and were on monosyllabic speaking terms, so far, so good.

 

“Ah, hi there, come in,” I said, obviously perplexed.

 

The three of them walked in single file and marched straight for my kitchen chairs. I guess they could see there was no way they could all fit on my sofa (Rowan called it “The Iron Maiden”). I followed them, propping myself to sit up on the counter, as they had ever so courteously sat in all my chairs. Yikes, Snib manners are something to be desired.

 

“Hello Theryn, glad to see you're okay. How are you adapting to your live in guard?” asked Gage, without revealing a trace of sarcasm, good for him.

 

“Thanks… as for adapting to Chewbacca over there? It's like living with a mute human garbage disposal that periodically vomits out dictatorial drivel. Not exactly my idea of the perfect roommate,” I answered snidely.

 

“It's no picnic on this end either sweetheart,” Rowan stated gruffly.

 

What an ass. My God how much of this was I going to have to put up with? It was no secret we didn't get along, why didn't he just pick up and leave? I know, I know, he must protect and guard, blah, blah, blah.

 

Wait a sec, why don't they just assign me a new guard. I know Dom fed me some crap about Rowan being “the only one” who could do this, but c'mon, there's got to be some bottom feeder lupus wolf who's willing to “guard” me from the big, bad Russian menace that heretofore has no interest in me, right?

 

“Look Gage, obviously this little experiment in cohabitation isn't working out. Why don't you just assign a new guard? I'm going on the record as saying I don't need one at all, but you seem adamant about this. Fine, I'll deal, but find me a replacement; I think this ones cage was missing its “Does not play well with others” label when you assigned him to me.”

 

Rowan growled lowly, “You have no appreciation for the honor Gage has bestowed upon you. He has indefinitely assigned you protection by the Pack's Beta Guard. This is not done for ANYONE, certainly not some ignorant human who has no idea what she' gotten herself into.”

 

Fuming inside, I squared my shoulders ready to defend myself and state the obvious, I had not gotten myself into anything, my brother and Nikolai did, but Dom quickly interjected.

 

“Funny you mention that Rowan, as I have just the remedy. Theryn, this is a copy of The Modern World of Lycanthropy, it is given to all werewolves when they enter high school. It is a book that explains all our customs and traditions in an easily understandable format. Gage thought it would be helpful, as your brother is now one of us. You must excuse us for not giving this to you sooner, we as a pack are not used to having siblings of different species, you see.”

 

Okay, so Rowan had a point. I had no idea what it meant for him to be protecting me. I didn't know what a Beta Guard was; I didn't even know that werewolves went to high school. I hated being in the dark about these kind of things and it was very thoughtful of Gage to bring this book so I could better understand the world that Seth, and apparently now I, was brought into.

 

Pushing off the counter, I walked over to Dom, reaching past Rowan, and grabbed the book. I noticed Rowan taking an extra heavy sniff as my uncovered arm passed under him. Whoa dude, what is up with the constant sniffing? Maybe he has a cold and didn't think his sleeve would be appropriate?

 

Or had he somehow figured out about my plan to mask my scent and escape from my own damn apartment? No way, wasn't like he was telepathic or anything, right? Shit, maybe I did need to read up on these guys and all their freaky deaky powers.

 

After receiving the book I realized I should talk to my brother, alone. So I asked the guys if they would excuse us and scurried off into my bedroom with Seth.

 

I dropped the book off on my nightstand to peruse later. I sat down on the bed and motioned for Seth to take a seat opposite me.

 

“Hey bud, are you feeling alright? You look like you've been run over by a Mack truck,” I asked.

 

“Yeah, I'm just tired. This whole lupinara thing is crazy,” Seth replied.

 

“What do you mean? Have you turned into a wolf yet?”

 

“No, not yet. Gage and Dom said the first transformation, if before the full moon, would be triggered by extreme emotion, if that doesn't happen, the moon will take care of it.”

 

“Are they going to watch over you when this happens so you don't freak out and bite everyone in sight?”

 

“Yeah, that's what they said. They're not sure about everything since they think I might have inherited that double fang thing from Nikolai.”

 

“Yeah, I how could I forget about that, you're going to be some sort of super werewolf, Seth. How did Mom and Dad take it?”

 

“Not too bad, all things considered. They were just happy I survived and that you were there to help me. They told me to tell you to call them; they can't get a hold of you on your phone or cell.”

 

“Don't get me started. My phone was broken by Colonel Stink in there and my cell was turned off. Let's call them now, that way they get to speak to both of us.”

 

I headed over to my purse to dig for my cell phone. The damned things were so small anymore you needed a toothpick and telescope to dial.

 

“Alright. Hey, I, uh, didn't get to thank you for, ah, you know…giving me your blood…and uh not freaking out over this whole werewolf thing…”

 

“Hey, no problem bud, you're still my annoying little brother, fur ball or no. Next time, just give a little bit of warning before you throw me to the wolves, huh?”

 

“Yeah Theryn, I promise. Let's just hope like hell there's no next time.”

 

I laughed loudly while dialing the phone, and responded, “Isn't that the truth. Hey, do you think you could take care of a little rodent problem for Lisa...”

 

----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------

 

Meanwhile in the kitchen with Rowan, Dom and Gage:

 

Dom watched as a more subdued, but certainly not defeated Theryn escorted her brother back into the hallway. He was very glad that it had been her brother whom had been turned and not her, she would have made one hell of an infuriating werewolf. He was also glad he was not Beta Guard and therefore relegated to spending his days cramped in this slightly-better-than-studio apartment.

 

He had an appreciation for the finer things in life and this small, albeit tastefully decorated hole-in-the-wall was not what he considered habitable. Rowan looked like he was ready to spit nails, which was highly unusual for the normally stoic wolf. The Pack's Beta Guard could fend off some of their greatest enemies with the same ease as he deflected his odious fan girls' attentions. Yet, he seemed extremely disturbed about something, nothing obvious that would tip off a human or newly turned lupinara, but it was like a blazing neon sign to Dom.

 

Perhaps it was Rowan's nature. The wolf had been given great responsibility at an age when most werewolves were still trying to master the finer points of their change. Rowan's parents were very aware of his birthright and made sure he understood all aspects of his heritage, both sides, werewolf and fey. His maternal grandmother was a full blooded fey who married a druid. Nothing out of the ordinary until that druid was inexplicably changed into lupinara and the faery refused to leave him despite her family's urgings to the contrary.

 

Curiously, Rowan's mother had been born despite her father's transformation and showed not one sign of lycanthropy throughout her entire life. However, when she married Rowan's father, Angus Campbell, a member of the Uig Americana Pack, she had one son and he was greatly affected by her parentage. It seemed the latent lupinara genes that ran through her strongly magical druid blood had come to fruition in Rowan, and coupled with Angus' own lupinara heritage, the Campbell's son was as close a rival to Nikolai as one could get without the double fang.

 

Consequently, it was Rowan whom was the Pack's strongest, fastest, smartest, deadliest member, and contrary to all werewolf tradition, he was not the alpha. Rowan had made it blatantly clear from the beginning that he would not be challenging Gage for the position and the other Pack members respected his decision, or else. Dom knew there was more to it, but never pressed for the answer. He suspected Rowan's refusal to lead the Pack was not simply out of deference to Gage, as he had yet to see Rowan defer to anyone, but out of indifference.

 

Rowan was still young, only 29 years old, much younger than both Dom and Gage, despite their youthful appearance. He had his whole life ahead of him and it would be a shame to spend the vast majority of that time leading one of the largest Packs in the United States. Moreover, Gage was beloved by his wolves, Rowan was feared, respected and firmly venerated by the Pack, but he was not adored like Gage.

 

For the past fifteen years Rowan had been steadfastly apathetic to just about everything life threw his way and it was for this reason that Dom was disturbed by Rowan's obvious anxiety tonight. He considered asking him about it, but figured it would be a question better asked by his alpha, as he was in no hurry to deal with the certain ire it would bring to himself if inquired on his own.

 

“I see you're settling in quite well here, Rowan. Enjoying your stay at Chez Thompson?” Gage asked chuckling quietly.

 

“That girl is impossible, she has no clue about the danger she's in. She told her friend, over the phone, might I add, about her brother's transformation. Then, the friend came over this afternoon reminding her to go to some party tomorrow night. Like it was no big deal she was supposed to be staying away from our enemies. The sad part is, I think she might be considering going,” answered Rowan.

 

Gage looked at the floor for a moment. “Maybe you should just let her go, Row. I think Theryn resents having someone looking over her shoulder all the time. Think about it, we've taken this highly independent scholarly type young woman, who's used to being on her own, and forced her to live with a werewolf she had met not hours before, under the threat of enemies she can't even imagine targeting her.”

 

Rowan looked to Dom for assistance. “What about you, do you think I should let her go?”

 

“Gage seems to think so. How hard could it be Row? I'll admit it's a security risk to take her out in public, but we can't cloister her away indefinitely until we find out what Nikolai's interests are, people will become suspicious,” Dom reminded.

 

Exhaling loudly, Rowan argued, “I know I can't keep her under lock and key, but we're not exactly comfortable with each other and I have the feeling no matter what I say or do she'll do the opposite just to piss me off or prove her point.”

 

This was the opening Dom had been waiting for and he hoped like hell Gage wouldn't squander this opportunity to inquire about Rowan's unusual behavior.

 

“I noticed you seemed most interested in her scent,” Gage queried, “I can understand her discomfort but I think yours is coming from a different source. You've never been one to personally invest so much in one of your charges, certainly never to the point of procuring a permanent scent imprint.”

 

Dom couldn't stop his reaction, the raised brows and gaping mouth were a dead give away to his shock. A permanent scent imprint? Why would Rowan do that? In the whole of a lupinara's life, he wouldn't permanently imprint a person unless it was his mate, or his children, and this was rare, as the opportunity was always available for short-term scenting. That was it; nobody else was worth the psychological strain imprinting left behind.

 

For humans, it can best be described as a permanent migraine headache, where a particular scent lurked in the mind, waiting until it was needed for tracking purposes. Once such an imprint was made, a lupinara could track the scent to the very ends of the earth, a sort of full coverage insurance policy in exchange for such a heavy encumbrance.

 

It was a testament to imprinting's rarity among werewolves that Dom didn't even recognize when Rowan had imprinted Theryn and had heard of only one other lupinara fabled to have done so, Nikolai.

 

Moreover, Rowan looked none the worse for wear, despite having permanently scent imprinted sometime within the past two days. Yet, Dom had never seen Rowan look more threatening, like he was daring Gage to say anything about what he had done. Gage, however, was not the Uig Pack's Alpha for nothing.

 

“Answer me, Rowan. Why did you imprint her? If you didn't want me to know, why would you wait until I was right in front of you?” asked Gage.

 

Rowan mumbled something under his breath, it sounded like “thwampfastimshogottclosstwme.”

 

Dom was definitely curious, “I'm sorry, what?”

 

Letting out a low rumble, Rowan answered clearly, “It was the first time she got close to me.”

 

Oh, that explained it. A permanent scent imprint had to be done at close range, much closer than your average allotted personal space. Theryn had been keeping her distance, which must have felt weird to Rowan. He was a magnet for the opposite sex, came with the territory of being the strongest werewolf in a species that tended to be ruled by the animal side's libido.

 

Unfortunately for Rowan, Gage had not forgotten his first question. “Okay, so she's justifiably wary of standing in close proximity to you, obviously, you just got around that. Again, why did you imprint her?”

 

“Gods Gage, didn't you smell it?” asked Rowan exasperated.

 

“I smelled nothing out of the ordinary,” Gage responded, “She's not on her moon time, so that shouldn't be a problem…”

 

Rowan made a frustrated sound, “Gods be damned! No, she smells like fey!”

 

Dom and Gage both blinked slowly at Rowan, thinking over the implications. Had they really just sent the strongest known single-fanged werewolf with a heavy strain of druid/fey blood into solitary confinement with a human female whom apparently harbored fey ancestry?

Considering the Pack knew next to nothing about how Rowan's unique genetic makeup affected his instinctive urges, it was impossible to have predicated his reaction to this development, although, this certainly did make it more interesting.

 

Dom succinctly put the trio's feelings on the matter into one word, “Shit.”

 

“Yeah Dom, shit is about right,” Rowan replied.

 

“Why didn't you say anything? If I had known I could have come up with something else, maybe have Theryn moved to the Hunt, something, anything,” Gage offered.

 

“It wouldn't have mattered. I couldn't confirm it until I was in her apartment for a few hours. I still would have been the only one able to protect her from Nikolai's threat, and regardless of where I was, I would have noticed it eventually.”

 

“Yeah, but at least you wouldn't be completely surrounded by her scent. She lives alone in her apartment Row, it's like taking a bath in eau d'Theryn, I'm surprised you haven't pissed on the carpets yet,” Dom remarked.

 

Rowan cut his eyes at Dom, apparently not appreciating that last comment. “While marking my territory was indeed on the forefront of my mind, have either of you taken into consideration the fact that simultaneously, on a purely instinctive level, I want to brand my name on her ass while personally, I can't stand to be in her presence for more than thirty seconds?”

 

Again, shit. This was bad on so many levels, levels that Dom had just not anticipated dealing with right now, on top of everything else. One thing was very clear; they needed to do something about this now. Theryn had no clue she was a walking aphrodisiac and wouldn't appreciate the delicacy of the situation.

 

Additionally, she felt about Rowan the same way he felt about her, sans any of the instinctual blood calling to blood/scent pheromone exchanges that were plaguing Rowan. That is, unless her fey blood, of which Dom had no idea as to its strength, was somehow triggered, then it was anyone's guess as to what would occur.

 

Dom was aware that there had been many werewolf marriages that were little more than pheromone driven and based solely off of instinctual urges. Yet, these worked well because the spouses were either lupinara or lupus, and in exceptional cases, fey or druids, they knew what they were getting into. It wouldn't be the same for a mere human with a bit of fey blood in her veins.

 

Dom heard Theryn finishing her phone conversation with her parents. They had to get this wrapped up quickly. Gage was looking at Rowan with pity, it seemed the alpha was apologetic for something he had no control over, a trait that always endeared him to his pack.

 

“We'll take care of this, Row. I'll have Doc look into it. He's got all the genetic information on your parents and maybe we can figure out how to fix this. I know it's most likely too late now, with you imprinting her and all, but maybe there's something. You know he's been working out the kinks in that inhibitor patch?”

 

Rowan looked hopeful, “Thanks Gage. I really can't believe this has happened. I do know I have to get out of this apartment if I want to stay sane. I'll take your advice and let her go to that party tomorrow.”

 

“Sure thing, just be careful about how you react in public, now that you've all but marked her, you're going to be, ah, how do I put it, a little more sensitive to her interactions with other males,” Gage warned uneasily.

 

“I'll keep that in mind,” Rowan nodded.

 

Dom cleared his throat as he saw Theryn and Seth emerge from the hallway. Seth looked better; he was experiencing the secondary physical changes that come with transforming from human to lupinara. Dom couldn't wait until he saw Seth's wolf form; he wanted to see the double fang for himself.

 

Theryn came out behind him. Dom examined her again, she was more easygoing the first time he met her, Seth had told them it was much more like her true self. He believed her confrontational attitude was her response to all that had happened. He also told them he was worried about her with Rowan, he knew she didn't like losing her independence and she especially didn't appreciate high handedness in any form.

 

He found himself nearly breaking out into hysterical laughter at the thought of Rowan and Theryn together. Rowan, with his domineering, serious and stoic personality coupled with an independent, sarcastic bookworm who at this very moment, wearing oversized fuzzy apparel and cleaning her coke bottle thick cats eye glasses, had no idea the affect she was having on her silently suffering bodyguard. The irony was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

 

As he, Gage and Seth prepared for the two hour drive back to Uig's Hunt; Dom realized just how serious this situation could get. What if Nikolai was focusing on the Thompson family and Theryn was a potential target, while she had the only other lupinara who could possibly survive going one on one with Nikolai, guarding her not just under the order's of his alpha, but under the unwavering directives of his protective instincts?

 

Dom knew the answer to that question, one of them, if not all, would die.