4

“My name is not Valeria, but Wallia. Valeria is for people,” she said and left, closing the door behind her.

"Wallia" - I rolled the name on the tongue - unusual. Naturally, I knew about it, but did not speak. Why escalate an already difficult relationship. Two days before her arrival, I was given a dossier on Wallia. Although the dossier is too loudly said: two sheets - her whole life. An interesting girl, inexplicably catchy, and I like to solve riddles.

He opened the curtains and the door to the terrace wide, sat down in an armchair and wearily rubbed his temples. Recently, many problems had to be solved at the same time. He turned on the laptop, began to look through the financial statements and slammed his fist on the table in annoyance. At that moment, Alex entered the office.

- What are you raging about?

- Supplies for cognac failed, furs fell in price. What do we have there with pharmaceuticals?

- We signed the contract, we got permission for production at the minimum consumer level, so for now it’s normal.

- That's it ... for now!

Alex felt that he would not fall under the distribution, relaxed and sat down in a chair.

- Well, how did the conversation with mymra go, I hope without tantrums?

“Don’t you dare call her that!” he almost growled at him and, unexpectedly for himself, showered him with a wave of strength.

Alex clutched the armrests and gasped for air. I winced. This is a bad sign, over the past few years, there have been no fugitive emissions.

Max, what are you doing? - He swallowed and looked at me dumbfounded, - Well, I would say simply, I'm not a moron and I would understand that.

"Aleksey," he winced. I knew perfectly well that he did not like his full name, - You need to be aware of every word you utter and understand that you are responsible for this. I'm already pretty tired of your teenage blunders.

- Well, what did I say? He looked at me indignantly.

- Good. Explain your negative attitude towards her.

Alex looked at me warily.

"As long as you don't slam me into a chair again," to which I raised my hands, palms up, urging him to continue.

- Firstly, appearance: she looks like a scarecrow, - I nodded in agreement, - secondly: her heredity confuses me.

I raised my eyebrows in surprise.

- Do you think that if her mother was a prostitute, then the same should be expected from her daughter?

- Well, ... I don’t think that she will be in demand here. With her appearance, - Alex chuckled, but when he saw my gloomy look, he broke off and continued: - but the behavior can be appropriate.

- More reasons?

- The smell, - he grimaced: - you can't even imagine how it smells from her! - He looked at me expressively, - Is this not enough?

- Not. Are there any other reasons? - he shook his head negatively. - In the closet, - I shook my head to the left, pointing the direction to Alex, - in the third drawer, take the dossier on her.

- How long ago delivered? - He rummaged, pulling out a thin folder.

- Two days ago.

- Yes, you can’t call her life rich, - he waved two sheets of paper in surprise, sat back in his chair, looking through the text.

There was nothing special to see: Yantarskaya Valeriya Aydarovna, twenty-four years old. She was born in a flock of Silvers, an indication of her mother, father. At the age of four and a half, she left the territory of the pack with her mother.

The following were the names of the cities and towns where they lived. Moreover, the frequency of moving was not systematized, but the change of addresses varied from two months to two years, the geography was determined by the northern latitudes of the country. Until the age of nineteen, she lived with her mother, who provided for her daughter through prostitution. She received a complete secondary education, after which she left for Petrozavodsk. She rented an apartment, worked in the office of a furniture company, studied in absentia at a medical college. The training is not over, the defense of the diploma remains.

There are no data on permanent and periodic relationships with the opposite sex. That's all the information.

Having finished reading, Alex looked up at me:

- Well, what does it change?

- Let's start with the first one, what did you have there? Appearance? - he nodded gloomily, already expecting that I would smash all his arguments to smithereens, - I will repeat your words: it looks like a scarecrow. Haven't you wondered why? Given the nature of women - the desire to look the most attractive?

- Most likely - the taste is completely absent.

- It's not about taste - it's a disguise, - Alex chuckled in disbelief, - Judge for yourself - a ridiculous hairstyle that does not decorate her, but rather repels her. Lack of make-up, appropriate clothing, does not emphasize the figure - there is nothing to catch the eye, faded, boring. Imagine seeing her in a crowd, would you remember her?

- It is unlikely.

- With the first figured out, what did you say next?

“About the mother of a prostitute,” he said already without enthusiasm, I only mentally chuckled at this.

Yes, that means mother. I'm wondering why you made such hasty conclusions, did she give a reason for this?

Not yet, but that doesn't change anything at the moment.

- Alexey, now let's turn to your parent. And now I'm not talking about your mother - a modest, worthy woman I'm talking about.

- Well, what about my father?

- Yes, all the same. You are now arguing that genes influence even such a complex aspect as human behavior and made your conclusions about Wally on this basis. So I want to compare you with your father. With his sexual needs, it was necessary not to be born a werewolf, but at least a rabbit.

Alex gave me an evil look, why is it unpleasant to listen to the truth about myself, and I continued:

- But you are a normal, healthy man without any deviations. And somehow I did not notice such aggressive sexual activity as was observed in your father.

- How abstrusely twirled, - Alex gave me another angry look, - Isn't it sick itself? The fact that he was the last dog is known to every mongrel in the pack, - his eyes went out and he himself was blown away like a balloon, - Okay, I also agree with this. Sorry, I was wrong. Damn, but, Max, she really stinks! I couldn't even eat today. Why the hell did you put her next to me?

You're exaggerating here too. I agree, she smells strange, but ...

- Strange? - Alex, interrupting me, jumped up from his chair, - Yes, I had the feeling that I was chewing on the scorched tire of my jeep, - walked nervously around the office and fell back into the chair, - I didn’t even feel the smell of food. Listen, let me sit down for dinner with Alinka or Viola? And I won't last long.

- That the effect of the potion has not yet passed? - I watched him throwing with a smile.

Two weeks ago, he had volunteered to test Martha's experimental smell-enhancing potion for himself. But no one expected such a reaction. Especially Alex himself. For the first week, he could only live in the forest, because all household smells caused him dizziness and vomiting. Now already, he felt only echoes of this amplification.

I smelled Wally a little differently. Yes, there was something similar to the smell of burnt rubber, but through it I caught notes of freshness, some kind of meadow grass, some other smell slipped through, but even I could not catch it.

“Now, also remember what you read in the dossier, and sum up,” I looked at him expectantly.

- Bottom line, okay. Given her appearance and the fact that she and her mother moved from place to place, they know about the artifact. Most likely - he is with one of them. And they know that they are being hunted, so this kind of disguise of appearance, as you put it, is justified. But I don’t know how to fit her smell into all this, ”he spread his hands.

- It's just not difficult - it's an artifact of werewolves and hunting for it, they will be the same, respectively. I am ninety percent sure that such a specific smell is not felt by ordinary people. This is also a disguise. And, it's very efficient. Just before your visit, Wally was sitting in the same chair as you.

Alex wrinkled his nose, sucking in air.

“But I don’t feel anything,” he looked at me in surprise.

- You see, if Alina or one of the other werewolves were here, the smell would be preserved. To be honest, I don't even smell anymore.

- Interesting! Look, if this is a disguise, what is the result of?

- Most likely - she uses some kind of infusion. But of course I'm not sure about that. In general, I would like to see your polite attitude towards our guest. I hope I explained everything clearly?

- Yes, I understand, I understand. And what is the next plan of action? Did you tell her about your mother's death?

- Do you need a tantrum? - I raised an eyebrow skeptically. Alex shook his head. - So I have no desire to listen to lamentations and wipe the snot.

- When are you going to tell her?

- Alex, she still needs to catch on to something here. I can't say now that her mother was killed. It's hard to imagine her reaction. Maybe she'll get out of here when we don't expect it or she closes... there are many options. And all of them with one outcome - we will not learn anything about the artifact from her. But when someone from the pack enters the circle of her trust, then it will already be possible to inform, and in the right way.

- Hm. It's like, if she doesn't talk about the artifact, then she will fall under the distribution?

- You think not quite right. If we do not have information, then it is more difficult to build protection, not knowing in which direction to work. It is necessary to inspire her with the idea that this is a priority task - to find an artifact or remember everything that she knows. There is an artifact - the problem is solved, there is no threat to life. Yes, it's sorted out here. You now come on, wind to the West. I was informed - there are stray guests roaming around. Find out who they are and figure out what's going on with the supply of cognac, why the deadlines were missed.

- How much time do I have?

- Not limited, - noticing that it inspired him too much, he added: - but you report constantly.

- Everything! Got it, run!

Seeing Alex happy, he began to look through the reports further. From time to time he called, giving instructions.

Alina pulled herself away from work, bursting into the office like a whirlwind. He looked at his watch: there was an hour left before dinner, turned off his laptop. With pleasure, until a crunch in the joints stretched, listening to the latest gossip. Sometimes a very useful activity - it is by the mood of the youth that you can isolate the brewing problems in the pack. However, she did not say anything special or important, the only thing that alerted her was that she managed to talk with Wallia.

- You'd better come up with a better legend for her brother. Or at least give more details. By the way, who is she?

I frowned, yes, I missed the moment:

- Did you ask her?

- Yes, she asked, she said that she could not tell.

I nodded, well at least I didn't talk.

- Hey, brother, - Alina waved her hand, attracting attention, - Who is she and what kind of terrible secret are you hiding?

- Aline, I can't tell you about it. And to be honest, I wouldn't want you to get close to her.

- Why?

- Yes, I just don’t know what it is and ...

- Oh, come on, she's good, - noticing how I raised a skeptical eyebrow, she explained: - it was very easy for me to communicate with her and her soul is bright.

"How bright?" I asked with a smile.

- Don't laugh okay? - I shook my head negatively, - it is yellowish and silvery rays, and when it frowns or thinks, it darkens to slightly orange with silver.

- Do you feel it so well?

She shrugged her thin shoulders.

- Not like you, of course, but I feel it.

Alina did not have a gift, as I thought before, but everyone around feels her bright and pure soul. That is why I am worried - how will she settle down in life?

This winter, after the session, she told me that she felt not only werewolves, but also people. Moreover, he feels unusual, and the colors emitted by the aura, and the colors are different for everyone. Now even Martha knew about this gift of hers. No matter how much we search for information, at least explaining the nature of this peculiar empathy, we have not found anything yet. Maybe the little sister is a kind of unique person, or maybe this is how she showed the gift of reading. Well, time will tell.

- Okay, if you think that she is good, you have the cards in your hands, - I could not help but smile, watching the change of emotions on her face, and now curiosity is being read with cunning.

- Well, first of all, I don't think, but I know. And secondly, what do you mean?

“Here, come up with a legend for Wally and make sure that she remembers all the details.

- Well, - my sister jumped off the table, - Let's meet for dinner, - and easily fluttered out of the office.