The five of them followed the two elders out of the elevator down the hallway. Ansuya never turned her head or slowed her pace. She turned suddenly and used a key on a door which opened and she walked in. William didn’t even think but blindly followed the elder into the room. Aceso didn’t complain or object and preceded William into the spacious Mountain suit.
The furniture reflected the décor of the lobby and dining area. Everything was made of wood or animal antler. Ansuya gracefully sat down in a reclining leather chair. She leaned forward and unclasped the leash from around Alexiares’s neck. The elder immediately transformed into his werewolf form. His ears scraped the ceiling. William didn’t think the ceiling was that low, then again Alexiares was a foot and half taller than he was.
Ansuya glanced at Aceso and then at William. He couldn’t drop down to undo the leash around Aceso’s neck fast enough. He had felt that leash as an acid coated weight that had been crushing his soul with every minute that he held onto the thing. As soon as the leash was off Aceso’s neck, William dropped the leash to the floor, hoping that it would disintegrate out of existence. The leather lay there limply on the floor. William took a half step away from it anyway.
Aceso stood there holding her rigid proud posture for a few more minutes. Alexiares folded his arms across his chest and Aceso immediately transformed back into her werewolf form.
Ansuya looked up at the six people standing in front of her. She crossed her legs and leaned back in her chair. Seeing her relax even a little bit made William that much more weary of what was about to happen. Standing up in her perfect posture Ansuya was intimidating, but seeing her relax was something else entirely, something darker, something he couldn’t put his finger on.
“You will stay in your rooms tonight.” Ansuya spoke with all the power of someone in complete control. William didn’t have the slightest inclination to disobey her anyway but hearing that tone in her voice hammered it home. The elder looked at them for a moment as if trying to read their thoughts as she spoke to them. “You will all order from the room service menu, the bill has already been taken care of. Order what you like…within reason.” The last had a silent exclamation mark. The City under the Mountain had somehow paid for this part of their trip but it wasn’t an open tab to be used like they were children. That last part emphasized the unsaid consequences that would be had for being irresponsible.
Ansuya lifted two keys in her hand. She handed one to Katherine and the other to William. “Aceso and Katherine will get the King, while William and the males will get the Double.” She looked them all in the eye as she asked, “Are there any questions?”
Katherine shook her head and William remained silent. Nicolas however, could not. He asked from behind William, “Why can’t we at least go down and eat in the dining room?”
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Ansuya seemed a little surprised by the question. She widened her eyes at the scout. “Are you not a pack?”
“Sure.” Nicolas replied off handed.
“And as a pack, should you not share equally in all things, the hunt, and territory?” Ansuya asked again.
Nicolas nodded and sighed, “Yeah, I guess so.”
The elder locked eyes with him and he was unable to look away from her. She said in a much colder, harsher voice, “As a pack, if one receives, they all do, if one is denied, they all are. Do you understand?” Nicolas nodded in full understanding. Ansuya turned toward the rest of the pack, “Go to your rooms. Eat and go to sleep. We leave before first light.” She held out the two room keys, one to Katherine and one to Charles.
Having been summarily dismissed William turned around to leave. He didn’t want to be anywhere near that leash or Aceso again for a while. A few years might be enough time, though he knew how childish that sounded. The two other guys followed him out of the room as behind them Katherine gathered up the leash and refastened it to Aceso’s neck who was now back in her wolf form.
William didn’t slow down, even though he had no real idea where he was going. He heard the other two behind him their footsteps on the carpet were muted. He decided to stop and let the man with the room key take the lead before he ended up on the wrong side of Inn. Charles passed him without a word and William followed in his footsteps.
Ansuya Das. Even though at the moment all he wanted to do was take a shower, eat, and go to sleep, the elder floated in front of his vision. She was beautiful, strong, and amazingly powerful. The way she had demonstrated her powers and her strength to them and to total strangers was something he would not soon forget. When he first saw her, she had been just as beautiful, just as elegant, but if he had to choose the biggest threat from the elders, he would have chosen Derceto without hesitation. Now after seeing what Ansuya was capable of, it made him question all his presumptions, not just about Ansuya, but about the other elders as well.
He didn’t have more time to spend on the subject as Charles stopped in front of a door and slid in his key. The key turned and a lock clicked open and Charles swung the door inward. The three men filed inside.
The room was spacious enough for the three of them but there were only two beds. “I’ll sleep on the floor.” William offered.
“Fine with me,” Nicolas threw over his shoulder as he dove, head first, onto the nearest bed.
Charles sat down heavily on the other bed and looked over at William. “What was that all about?”
Without realizing what Charles was asking Nicolas lifted his head, “I know, right? I mean, all I asked was if we could stretch our freedom a little by eating downstairs like civilized people and she jumps down my throat.”
William arched an eyebrow at Charles as a smirk crept over his face. Charles shifted his attention to Nicolas. “That’s not what I was referring to, Nicolas.”
There was a brief moment of hesitation from the scout. “Then, what are you talking about?”
Charles shrugged, “At first I was referring to what happened between Will and our alpha, and then between Aceso and Alexiares.” He glanced up at the ceiling than back to Nicolas. “However, now that I’ve thought about it a little bit I am beginning to wonder about this whole trip.”
“I don’t know who Alan is but he sure knew Ansuya and he knew about us. I don’t know about you guys but that makes me a little uncomfortable,” William said.
“With the feds after you, I’m surprised you’re as calm as you are,” retorted Nicolas.