A/N

Sorry for the short chapter guys, it was a lot harder to write than I thought.

Thank you for all the reviews! I really do appreciate all of them! Have a great day/night you guys!

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"...Smell of Death."

Elise stared at the blonde man with a wide, enthused grin on his face. He had forgotten about anyone else as he raked over every detail on her form, and she wasn't sure what to make of the impressed whistle when he caught sight of her injuries.

"My God, look at you! Already have a few battles under your belt, huh?"

Claire stiffened when Bridges fearlessly walked over to Elise as he got a better look at the long, scarring gash on her leg, but he wasn't dumb enough to touch her. Owen curled his lip from the top of the platform; he had already been informed of Elise's apparent hiring in the ACU. He wasn't happy about it, but he knew Claire had her hands tied. He resisted the urge to hose Bridges down when the man exclaimed, "Truly a remarkable creation."

Elise glanced at Owen for a little help before a slight breeze shifted, and she immediately curled her lip.

Something nearby had been dead for a few days it seemed. It was the worst kind of rotting flesh that had baked in the sun for a few days before bursting at the gut. Luckily, it seemed to be coming from a smaller animal, but her sensitive nose still tried to shut the stench out.

She turned her crimson gaze back to the blonde man when he purred at Owen, "And the famous tamer himself; truly a modern day David in the lions' den story. Taming the Untamable."

Owen wanted to rub his eyes tiredly; he found Vic's long lost brother it seemed. Vic was always prattling about how Owen was brilliant for being able to outsmart the 'Swift Thief'; it was like an obsession that hadn't ended well. Vic just hadn't comprehended that they were animals with vastly different, dangerous personalities that rarely heeded their species' name. Blue was a Velociraptor, not a swift thief; it wasn't her nature. Blue was cunning, calculating, bold, and fiery. She didn't thieve swiftly, she bullied until it was given to her.

And now Bridges seemed focused on the alluring temptations of conquering a dinosaur whose name meant Untamable King. Elise wasn't that; she was soft and fluffy. Adorable, and almost childish at times. She didn't seek power over others, but didn't shy from a position of power if she could justify it.

But Owen wasn't exactly ready to forget the image of Elise before she was Elise. When she truly heeded the name of an Indominus Rex.

An Untamable King who easily stripped away the illusion of control from arrogant humans who thought themselves higher on the food chain than what they really were.

"I didn't tame Elise; I gave her the respect she deserved."

Owen was serious when he said he never tamed Elise. It wasn't taming when she decided to follow him instead of continuing her rampage. He felt like he had simply educated her about the world, and she decided she liked it. He felt like she had mellowed, and grown kinder, but it didn't feel right to apply the word 'tame' to Elise.

Because there was still enough Velociraptor in her that Owen would go to sleep wondering which part of her took over in moments of panic; times when Elise would react without thinking.

He wouldn't consider her tame if it was the raptor.

Maybe the word tame just brought about the wrong impression to him; Owen thought of a dog when he heard the word tame. Owen felt like a tame animal wouldn't consider eating him when he gave an order the dog wouldn't like. He knew Elise wouldn't eat him, but he knew he still had to be careful around his girls.

Would Elise snap into killing someone if they were cruel enough to her? Owen knew that wasn't a fair question that would pop into his head. Everyone had their breaking point, but there was prejudice with Elise; she looked like a dinosaur. If Owen killed someone, he would be a murderer. If Elise killed someone, would she be considered the same or a wild animal?

Bridges smirked; he didn't care about how Owen went about it. He cared about the end result; he was a business man through and through.

"But she does what you say."

Owen pushed himself off the platform railing, and retorted, "When she agrees with it; she is her own self. I'm just...a parent basically; when Rexy gets tired of her."

Elise puffed air onto Owen, and he chuckled before squirting her shoulder in retaliation. Bridges seemed to be contemplating that as he continued to look over Elise. He backed up when the Indominus turned around, and Owen hosed down the healing leg. Bridges remained wary of the misting water, but he wasn't at all shy about walking around the large creature. He furrowed his brows at the ribs before asking, "How did you get those slashes?"

Claire had to smile at Bridges' baffled stare when Elise raised her hand, and made the 'L' with her fingers before taking her fingers, and closing them like mouth before tapping her snout twice. Bridges didn't know what to say, and Owen burst out laughing at the inside joke; he truly loved Elise like his own. Her humor was always refreshing to him.

"I'm afraid I don't see what's funny, Mr. Grady."

Owen wiped his eye as he grinned at his girl. He wanted to help her learn the alphabet better, so he taught Elise how to name people. He knew a deaf person was supposed to assign the names, but there wasn't a deaf community here; they had plenty of deaf guests, but Owen didn't know anyone that worked here who was deaf. Granted he didn't look.

Elise had lots of fun with it, and she was all the more eager to expand her vocabulary in order to name everyone. Owen had seen the video of Lilly dragging Elise into the water, and he couldn't help laughing at her absolutely terrified expression when she dragged herself out. He had been biting his nails the whole time, but her face had just been too priceless; it was the face of someone who knew they had made a terrible mistake. He had poked fun at her, and Elise was glad to have something to laugh about.

They lived through the ordeal, it was terrifying, and now they could laugh about the stupid mistakes they made because they were alive. It relieved tension Elise wasn't aware of, and she named Lilly first because she was the first creature Elise truly believed to be at the very tip top of the food chain. Everything else to Lilly could be food. Even Rexy.

So Lilly was named food because it was easy to remember, and Elise didn't know any other words that would be appropriate.

"It's nothing, she was just answering your question. Lilly is the one who did that."

Bridges raised an eyebrow as he asked, "Lilly?"

Claire felt her mouth pull up in a smile as Elise and Owen shared a mischievous glance, but she answered, "Our Mosasaur, Mr. Bridges. She has a name."

Owen had never thought twice about it, but apparently it seemed shocking that their Mosasaur was named Lilly. He didn't see much irony in it. It was a water flower, and the Mosasaur was a creature of the water. He would see irony if Lilly had been name Cuddles, or Squeaker, maybe even Nemo, but he let people think what they wanted.

Owen shut the hose off before making the seemingly long trek down the stairs. Elise garbled at him, and Owen only patted her nose before walking over to the large foot. It looked better without the dirt in it, and he didn't think it would need stitches. It would certainly hurt, and he glanced up as he asked, "Want it covered like your hand?"

Elise nodded, and Bridges crossed his arms when he asked, "What's wrong with her hand?"

Claire walked over before stretching an arm up, and Elise gently pushed her talon into the hand. Claire smiled as she pulled the hand down before the palm splayed to reveal the single slash, and Owen answered, "Elise is a smart girl; she lured Lilly away with blood."

Bridges looked legitimately impressed, but Elise didn't think she liked this man. There was something wrong with him. He looked hungry for lack of a better word. She didn't care for the dangerous glint in the icy, blue eyes.

Claire didn't like him either, and Elise trusted Claire to know good from bad. This human was bad, but Claire gestured to him as she said, "Elise, this is Mr. Bridges; he's in charge of InGen."

Elise narrowed her eyes as she snorted; it was no wonder Claire didn't like him. He was leading the people who wanted to take her away. Now Elise really didn't like the man, and she felt a growl bubbling up her throat when the sly man purred, "A pleasure to finally meet you, my dear. I am Daemon Bridges; CEO of InGen."

Elise was very suspicious of this man; he was not normal. He was not in fear of her. He was in awe of her power, and she didn't care for the way he seemed to scooch a little closer when he thought she wasn't looking. He wanted her power; craved it.

He didn't respect her.

But the man had shown absolutely no reason for her to kill him...yet. He had been very polite, and she would play his little game. Bridges paused when Elise extended a long talon towards him with an unreadable expression, and he almost smirked as he grabbed it fearlessly before shaking it.

"If only half the people I've met were as friendly as you."

Elise wasn't sure if he was really buying her 'friendliness', but she had no intention of giving herself away. Elise would feel better if he was out of the loop. She didn't like the air around him, the way he stood, talked, acted, and she lowered her head to get a good look at him.

Claire paused when Elise's pupil seemed to slit more thinly than normal as she assessed Bridges. She didn't blink, and kept her gaze on him as she took in the scent.

Elise wanted to curl her lip; he was what had died. Bridges smelled like a rotting corpse.

He was a liar.

Humans always carried the scents of their strongest emotions. Elise had quickly learned that much from her interactions. Children smelled clean, warm, and happy adults still carried that scent. Angry humans smelled like ash, they smelled hot, and the sad ones smelled bitter. Liars always carried the putrid smell on their breath like poison, but Elise had never smelled anyone like this.

She was smelling a walking corpse that had yet to decompose; she wanted to bury him, and she was disturbed by the perfectly white teeth the man possessed when he smiled at her. It was wrong; he was wrong.

Bridges was bad.

But Elise wasn't allowed to kill humans here; it was wrong, and Owen would get in trouble. She wouldn't trust this man, but she would tolerate him. She hoped he would go away, never to return.

Bridges kept his relaxed posture as he said, "Now, I'm sure Miss Dearing here has explained to you how there was a possibility of you being taken away from this island, but we've settled that. I've seen the videos of you interacting with the guests, but the deal was sealed when I saw you rescuing Mr. Grady. I think it's very clear that you wish to spend the rest of your life here."

Elise gave a firm nod; Bridges seemed to be speaking the truth. She was glad he wasn't in the mood to try taking her off this island because she would swim right back. She didn't want to leave; she was staying right here with her family.

The blonde man in the perfectly pressed suit seemed to have a ghost of a smile on his face when he said, "However, I can't just walk away empty handed; the world doesn't work like that. I managed to convince my people to...back off if I could convince you to participate in some research we are doing."

Elise wanted to tell the man he was lucky to walk away period. If Owen wasn't so important to her, she would have smooshed this man without a second thought.

He needed to be buried.

Bridges didn't seem to notice the Indominus' quiet thinking, but he continued, "Now I had invested quite a bit of money in creating you and your sibling, but the point of my investment was to create a dinosaur that could be trained; plain and simple."

Owen stared at the man when he made the briefest pause; Owen didn't like any of this, but Bridges merely said, "If I can come up with research to prove that you are trainable, then I will get my investment back, and we can go our separate ways."

Elise didn't break eye contact with the man as she took that in. She supposed this human would be most concerned with dirty paper, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to dink around with this kind of training. Something still seemed off, but this human was good with his poker face; she would give him that much.

"I just wanted to meet you so I can provide men who will get along with you best. They'll prove you can be trained, I get my investment, and you'll become much more valuable to this park."

Elise flickered her gaze over to Claire. This was news she would have liked to hear sooner, but she wasn't going to give anything of her personality away. She didn't want this corpse to see her home or her family. She didn't like this.

Bridges was bad, and he needed a burial.

The man gave a hearty chuckle that didn't sound humored to Elise, and Bridges said, "Loosen up a little, Sweetheart; I know you probably aren't too keen on being trained, but it won't be bad, I promise."

Elise cocked her crimson eye at him when Bridges suddenly raised his hand as he innocently said, "I can go to my maker tonight, and tell him the same thing, Sweetheart. Nobody gets away with lying to the man upstairs."

The snowy dinosaur gave no reaction to the man as she stared at the raised hand. She had a feeling his validity was not quite where she wanted it to be, but Bridges smiled good naturedly as he added, "Sweetheart, I swear on my mother's grave, my first Bible, and holy Jesus' name that this is purely research, and then we'll probably never see each other again after it's done."

Bridges paused to give Claire a glance, and she clenched her jaw. Elise looked at Owen before lowering her head back down to Bridges' level. He seemed slightly confused when she carefully inhaled the scent around him; sorting through the decay.

A slight whiff a fresh air; by all things good, a truth had just passed by Bridges' lips. Elise could fall over, but she brought her head back up out of his reach. She didn't want to tempt him into trying to pet her; she just had a bath.

"I think we'll have fun with this, what do you think, Sweetheart?"

Elise wanted to tell Bridges to go bury himself; he needed to go back to the earth. It sent shivers down her spine how he smelled so wrong, so putrid.

So dead.

But Claire gave a pleading glance to the dinosaur, and Elise supposed this was the life she had chosen for herself. She would not be selfish when Alpha Claire asked for her help. Elise could not simply take from the pack, not when she was also an Alpha. She had a responsibility to this island as well. She had to work with the other Alphas to protect the island.

And she had caught the challenge in his tone; there was a battle of some sort between them. Elise wasn't quite sure what it was just yet, but she wasn't going to back down. She wouldn't yield to this man.

She would bury him.

Elise gave a single nod; they would have fun with one another.

Bridges gave a wide grin that seemed a little too tight, it was too practiced to Elise, but she only gave her own wide grin. She wished it would have scared Bridges, and she was disappointed when he only chuckled at her before waggling a finger for her playfulness. Elise knew her smile would have scared the life out of anyone when she wanted it to.

But she didn't think her malicious grin could exactly scare the life out of something that was already dead.

She never had to deal with a walking corpse before, and she wondered why the body hadn't decomposed with all the poisonous lies sickening the tissue.

Maybe she would get lucky, and Bridges would fall apart suddenly.

The wind shifted again, and Elise curled her lip as she turned away to press her nose into Owen. The good smells of earth, fresh air, and pack filled her nose. Owen smelled good, he smelled happy, alive, and warm.

Owen was good.

Bridges was bad.

Bridges needed to be buried.