He’d start by offering her a substitute for the warmth and affection she was used to getting from her pack by keeping her busy and surrounded with his people. Once she saw they were not mindless slaves doing his bidding, but living and unliving people who were—for the most part—genuinely happy to have his favor and protection, she’d see it was not so bad to be beholden to him.
If he cultivated the image of himself as the equivalent of the “pack alpha” in her mind, eventually she’d answer to him the way she would any dominant wolf in her pack. He would give her every creature comfort he could spare, save for what might aid her in escape or as leverage against him when she returned to her pack. He’d handle all of her needs the same as he did with any of his donors; ensuring she had the best of everything so as to instill a sense of gratitude and desire to exchange something for all that he would freely provide. Soon she’d start looking for someone to come to with her problems or questions; he assumed Mouse could serve in that capacity, since he’d forbid contact between Analie and any humans under his employ without the strictest of supervision. Coupled with the inevitable pack-minded desperation for interaction, he calculated it might take between one and three months for her to start seeing him as a potentially benevolent protector, and another six months to a year to turn her fear of him into adoration and loyalty.
If he guided her education properly, she may even be grateful for that. Once her attitude toward him loosened, he’d see that she did spend time getting to know all of his people and not just a handful of select vampires and humans. Maybe enough to let her befriend some of them. In addition to making her feel like a part of the group instead of an unwanted outsider, it would make her hesitant to hurt any of them in the future, perhaps even enough to stand up to any demands for attack or retaliation by her alpha. That wouldn’t happen for quite a while yet. Not until he was certain she no longer saw him as the bogeyman or some uncaring jailor.
His brows were knotted as Mouse walked him to the door. Analie might also withdraw into herself like a lone wolf, but Royce thought that the mix of lessons and his personal attention to her education would be adequate safeguard. As he opened the door, he paused, looking back at Mouse. She was watching him with narrowed eyes. No doubt she’d thought this through much the same as he had. He trusted her to forward his ends for she, too, was old enough to know the danger the Goliath werewolves posed if the girl was not handled properly.
“Check in on her after a bit and make sure she’s all right, would you?”
Mouse curled her lip, glancing in the direction of the girl’s room. She could smell the thick, rank musk of Were from where she stood, along with the barest hint of salt tears. She didn’t like the idea of offering comfort or aid to one of the Goliath pack. If anyone other than Alec had suggested she do as much, she’d have happily gutted them. While he made some rash decisions now and again, she would trust his judgment and follow him to the deepest pits of the nether hells if he asked.
Nodding shortly, she watched the elder go, the satisfaction in his expression briefly giving her pause. He had some devious plans in mind, as usual.
Rolling her eyes, she headed to her own room, picking up the book she’d been reading before Royce’s assistant, John, came by to tell her about the new “guest”. Settling into the plush, rumpled blankets on her bed, laying on her stomach with her booted feet dangling off the edge, she tried concentrating on the novel instead of the alien scents invading her living space. That the girl had been crying meant little to her. No one had answered her cries while Max Carlyle tore her apart every day for twenty years, nor in the years to follow when she had no voice left to plead with. The wolf’s separation from her family had a time limit attached, and she would not be ill-treated while she was here. Mouse had no pity for her.
At least, that’s what she told herself as her keen eyes refused