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Scarlet appeared in front of them just as they threw down their second drink, smiling. “Alpha Blake, Eleanor. We are about to embark on a journey together. I would advise you to slow down on the drinking, as it could block the path to be followed.”
Eleanor watched her leave and then rolled her eyes. “If she didn’t want us to drink, then why in the world did they provide the booze?” she muttered under her breath.
Blake chuckled, and the sound broke the ice. Contrary to what Scarlet said, Eleanor felt instantly more settled. She loved the burning sensation of the alcohol as it ran down her gullet and settled in her stomach. It was looking more and more likely that they were in for a long night, and she had no intentions of going through it sober.
A bell rang somewhere in the room, and thedongcut through the scattered sound of conversation. Scarlet stepped into the middle of the room, flanked on either side by two women who bore a striking resemblance to her.
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome, once again,” she started. “First, I’d like to thank you for taking the time to be present here today. We hope that at the end of this exercise, you’ll go back to your respective homes with a clearer knowledge and understanding of your mates.”
Blake and Eleanor exchanged glances. What in the world was she talking about? Blake seemed to read her mind. He shrugged and crossed his arms over his chest, watching Scarlet with a great deal of concentration.
“You are all here because of your nature,” Scarlet continued. “You’re different from other people, strange to those who don’t understand you. Within you live beasts, animals of immense strength who are an extension of who you are. Your very duality is what makes you who you are.
“Over time, your parents and the pack have trained you, taught you, and instructed you on how to be one with your wolves. They’ve shown you to see your wolves as not another entity but as the other side of the coin of who you are.
“We are here to help you connect with your mates on the same level. Man to woman, wolf to she-wolf. Not four separate entities, but one. Bonded by love, lust, and desire.
“As you are aware, the world is much more than this physical realm. We will help you transcend into a plane where the material world ceases to exist, and you and your mates will see one another in your true forms. Just as you were always meant to be.”
Scarlet looked around, a smile playing on her face. She made eye contact with Eleanor and her eyes lingered, as if she planned to look into her soul. Eleanor had been hanging on to her words, following Scarlet without knowing where she was headed.
“We shall begin.” Scarlet made a gesture to one of the women standing beside her, and her assistants disappeared into a side door. They returned with mats and started handing them to each couple.
“Looks like we’re finally about to have some fun,” Eleanor said sarcastically when Blake took a mat from one of the spiritualists.
Scarlet waited until every couple present had a mat before she continued, “Do as I say, and I will be your guide on this journey of enlightenment. Look for some space and spread your mats on the floor.”
Blake looked mighty uncomfortable, but he did as Scarlet asked. He looked at Eleanor and raised an eyebrow, and this time it was her turn to shrug. They’d crossed into uncharted waters and she didn’t have a clue what was going to happen next.
At first, it wasn’t as bad as she’d feared. Scarlet led the group through a meditation for starters. “You will be sharing your mats, as you do your bodies, souls, and beasts.”
She sat on her mat and said, “Assume this position. Sit with your back to your mate, make sure your backs touch each other.”
There was a slight disturbance as the couples shuffled into sitting positions, wiggling to find comfort and space on the very narrow mats. Blake muttered under his breath as he finally wiggled into a comfortable position, his legs crossed in front of him and his back pressing against Eleanor’s.
The room grew silent again and all eyes turned to look at Scarlet in the middle of the room, all asking the same question.What next?
Scarlet waited until she had everyone’s attention. Satisfied, she said, “This next part is oftentimes the hardest, we find. Now, I need you to close your eyes, clear your mind, and listen to the sound of my voice.”
Eleanor closed her eyes and tried to listen to Scarlet, but that was as far as she could go. She’d never had much regard for meditation, and thought it to be a pointless waste of time. She could never understand how people expected something surreal to happen, simply from sitting quietly.
She smelled something funny and opened her eyes a crack. Someone had lit incense around the room, and the thin smoke from the burning incense smoke soon filled the already crowded room, making it unbearably stuffy.
Scarlet began to speak. Eleanor couldn’t make sense of her words and thought the woman was speaking gibberish, before she realized it was just a chant. The other spiritualists echoed Scarlet, their soft voices sounding eerily disturbing to Eleanor.
She tried to follow Scarlet’s words when they switched to something comprehensible, but she just couldn’t focus on anything the woman was saying. Her mind was anything but clear. It was like a muddy pool, if someone had stirred the bed with a stick.
She tried not to think about Blake’s comfortable weight, pressed tightly against her. She allowed her mind to drift loosely from one thought to another, anything to keep her from thinking too much about him.
And then, everything went to shit. Eleanor should have anticipated what came next, but she’d hoped that she would be wrong. She wasn’t.
“Beautiful,” Scarlet said. “Now your mind is ready. Now, we start on our journey. The first thing you must know is this—there are two aspects of love. The spiritual, and the philosophical. You must recognize that love and sexuality are an integral part of your existence, and can lead to a deeper understanding of your non-human nature, and your connection to the world.
“Your mate helps you achieve this, but only when you can connect with that mate on a plane that exceeds the physical. This practice is calledZyphralytis.”
It all seemed like a load of rubbish to Eleanor, and the more she heard, the more she wanted to be done and move as far away from Scarlet and her spiritualists as possible. She reserved her comments but counted down the seconds left till she escaped this madhouse.
“I shall be leading you through a series of positions, and you will replicate the same with your mates,” Scarlet said. One of the spiritualists joined her on her mat, and the gong sounded again, indicating that they were starting a new exercise.
