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“It’s... it’s an herbal remedy. It will change my scent.” I scrambled for a lie at the same time my brain scrambled at MoonDark. Why hadn’t Marcella just given this to me before I’d left? “They have tracking hounds. If there are any there, it will throw off my scent.”
Hamid looked skeptical. “I see.”
He’d have to be skeptical then. “Did she say what formulation this is?”
“She said it was single-dose full suppression. She said you’d know what that meant.”
I closed my fingers over the vial. A dose this strong would take effect within an hour, and by the time we arrived in Alaska, my sense of smell, my feral nature, would be under wraps.
But any wolf casually passing by me would smell it, and given I was in the company of a human, would deduce I had gone human and was using a strong dose of MoonDark to do it. It wasn’t a perfect disguise, but it would mean any passing wolves notice us, take note, immediately smell the MoonDark, and do very quick math.
A single draught of this dose would only last about a week, but the effects, within hours, would be total and complete.
“If it’s just to change your scent, why does it upset you?” Hamid asked.
“Because it tastes horrible and makes me feel like an outsider.”
“There are side effects?”
“Some, but nothing I’m unfamiliar with.” I yanked off the cap and downed it before I thought more about it. Sour sarsaparilla bubbled up into my sinuses. I sneezed.
I shoved the vial into my purse and tried not to think about it.
Hamid then slid something else to me.
My phone.
I grabbed it and hastily unlocked it. Texts from Gazelle and Mint. Oh no, and I’d just been ignoring them! I hastily mushed the texts, only to see someone had been replying, as me.
[UNKNOWN NUMBER]
I’ve been you. Everything’s fine. Feel better. - Cerys.
I swallowed the MoonDark-flavored lump in my throat. Then scrolled to my thread with Sterling, and then Pack Chat. Scrolled through the messages. Nothing new. I’d probably been removed from the Pack Chat thread. Nothing from Sterling.
Cerys had spun a neat, limited tale to Mint and Gazelle that I’d been hurt in a hunting accident (and not to tell anyone) and Sterling and I had decided to take a delayed honeymoon so I could recover while letting Garrett handle things for a few months. Both Gazelle and Mint had teased me (well, Cerys) about feeding myself to a bear to avoid the NYC post-holiday holiday season.
Cerys did a pretty credible Winter imitation.
I wiped a tear from my eye and took in a shaky breath. Who would have thought I’d havemissedany part of New York? But I missed Gazelle and Mint. Didn’t miss the burned plastic and musty water scent, or the depressing gray skies, or the unending concrete, glass, and steel strapped and bolted over everything.
I chewed on my lower lip hard enough I drew blood. My thumbs quivered.
Text him, text him...
Just to tell him I was thinking of him. That I missed him.
Fuck. I put my phone down and stared out the window.
“You aren’t allowed to communicate with anyone, I take it,” Hamid said.
“No. I guess you have to take that back when we return to Virginia.”
“I have no such instructions. The elder Mr Mortcombe is the one who gave it to me.”
Nobody knew I had it? I pulled the phone back and shoved it into my pocket.
Hamid said, “Focus on memorizing the mission.”
