"I'm in the fur trade with my brother, so we get invited to these things a lot. Dame Venetti and I aren't close but we have discussed antiques on occasion. My brother should get a medal for putting up with it. I forced him to come."
Talatia had a very pretty face; pale for a wolf. Werewolves were outside creatures, but Talatia didn't fit that mold. She had a subdued intelligence that barely escaped her tiny eyes, which did not so much pierce as graze, for she never seemed to look directly at anyone. Most wolves with an introverted nature, though quite qualified in their feral countenance, became withdrawn and displayed an obvious lack of dominance, even around other species. In this cooperative age, wolves like Talatia had a hard time. Talatia's profile wafted classic. She belittled and begrudged her brother, and belied a bossy nature when she spoke of him. She hid her submissiveness behind her brother's strength, and forged from him her shield. It became her duty to apologize for Honduras, even though he was not as bad as she pretended, because it afforded her an artificial burden. This supposedly replaced certain territorial instincts.
Happigo preferred wolves like Talatia, with the exception of close friends such as Lily. Especially in the case of males; the alphas did not feel so alpha around Happigo's eye. Talatia didn't seem too bothered about Happigo's presence, but she had to deal with Lily.
"He said you weren't feeling well. Are you okay now?" Lily asked. Neither wolf seemed to notice how quickly Lily established her own dominance, speaking like a concerned mother.
"Much better. After dinner, I went with Nist to freshen up, and I asked her if there was a room where I could lie down a moment. She let me use her room, which I'm pretty sure is just a closet in the powder room. A tiny space for a vampire to keep her meal, if you ask me. Do vampires really use powder rooms? They're already so pale. Anyway, I was asleep until Nist roused me for dessert. Between making sure my brother didn't embarrass us completely, and the fuzziness in my head, all I could think about was rest. I doubt I can be much help here."
Lily leaned on an armrest thoughtfully. "Did you hear anything break?"
"Break?" Talatia looked nonplussed. "No. No, I was out the whole time. That medicine is quite strong."
Lily nodded. "I see. Thank you."
"May I go now?" A genuine request for permission. She wouldn't budge if Lily didn't allow it. Happigo constantly found herself surprised by the intricacies of werewolf society.
Lily smiled. "Yes."
After Talatia ducked away, Happigo sat staring at Lily, amused.
"What is it?"
"I can forgive it this time, but are you really going to say that wasn't you being alpha?"
"I..."
Lily cocked her head to one side. "Yeah. I guess it was. Hey, you saw her. That one's a scrap-eater. She'd be lucky to stay in the pack, back when. Anyway, that's why you wanted me to question her, wasn't it?"
Happigo was kicking one leg, rapidly. She had her mind on what little information she possessed, but there was enough room in her thought processes to allow for another dig at her friend. "We aren't 'back when'. She seems smarter than you, anyway. Scrap-eater, maybe, but I bet she dines out more than you."
Lily folded her arms. "It wasn't an insult, Happigo. Calling a wolf 'scrap-eater' might have been harsh two hundred years ago. I meant she devotes more time to brainwork than being a brute."
"Like you?"
"Like me. That's not an insult either. Geez, you're my best friend, and you don't know that? You're trying to call me stupid, right? Learn your howlspeak."
Happigo did understand howlspeak, but if Lily knew that, it wouldn't be as fun to poke at her.