Fox Mate (Madison Wolves) (12 page)

They were both bloody now. If it looked gruesome before, it was even more so now. Angel nursed her paw for a moment.

"Let me see it," Lara said. Angel gave Lara her paw. Lara looked at it carefully. "Extend your claws, honey." Angel's claws slowly extended to their three-inch length. Lara manipulated the paw. Angel winced once. "I think you'll be fine if you shift a couple of times," she said. "Even on three paws, you shouldn't have any trouble keeping up with the fox."

"Hey!" I said.

Lara looked over and grinned at me.

"Scarlett," she said. "Finish cleaning it out. Don't repeat Angel's
'trick'."

Lara stood up and walked over to me. I stared at her. She was so beautiful, with rippling muscles that I never got enough of. She sat down on my left, her left arm the messy side.
"You knew where the deer was long before I smelled it."

"Yeah," I said. "Almost ten minutes, but I wasn't positive it was a deer, and I didn't have the range until about when you smelled it."

"That's amazing," she said. "You made it easy."

"You guys were probably bored, doing it my way. You've never watched me hunt before. I never let you watch because you scare the rabbits."

"I loved watching you," Lara said. "I knew when you found it. I couldn't smell anything except forest, but you shifted direction. I thought you were taking us straight to it."

"I
took us directly downwind," I said. "I wanted you to smell it and him not to smell or hear us. I doubt we found it any faster than you would have, but I got to be a part of it. I've never helped hunt a deer before."

She leaned against me. "Thank you for taking care of your own safety."

"Hey, an adult deer can kill me almost as fast as a wolf can," I said. "Were Scarlett and Angel in real trouble?"

"I was going to let them struggle with it, but he got a real good kick
at Scarlett."

"That's evasive," I said.

Lara thought about it. "I don't think it was life threatening, but they weren't winning, either."

"You drove it to them."

"Yes. And it was a good take down. I think their first, and it was beautiful to see them in action together." She bumped me. "What was that game you tried to play with them at first?"

"I really thought I could knock them over, especially if I surprised them. They were both like brick walls. Was it okay I played with them?"

"Yes. It was fun to watch. But honey." She paused. "Don't do the fake hurt trick again. If you sound hurt, you need to be hurt."

"All right," I said. "I almost had Scarlett."

"Almost, but she got you."

"She did. I was proud of her." I put my head on her bare shoulder. "Lara, the truth. Is the reason no one catches me because you're all trying too hard not to hurt me?"

"It's a factor," she said. "But you are damned hard to catch. In open ground, Elisabeth and I can catch you easily, even without hurting you. Karen, too, and probably Eric. Don't get too cocky."

"So if I were as tough as Angel but as small and agile as me, I'd be easier to catch?"

"Yes. Every time I trip you, I worry."

"I notice it doesn't stop you from chasing me."

She laughed. "No, it doesn't."

I cocked my ears. "They're coming," I said.
"Damn, the four-wheeler is loud. It's going to destroy the vegetation."

"All right," Lara said
loud enough for everyone else to hear. "Shove the good bits back in, then the girls can drag the deer a short way." Lara pointed. "Back to the open field."

Still sitting, I watched. Angel and Scarlett took hold of the deer with their mouths and began dragging it, walking backwards
. They dragged it ten feet then each went around opposite sides of a sapling. They kept trying to drag it. I immediately started laughing.

"Oh for heaven's sake," Lara said. She rose to her feet, still naked in human form, took four steps to the
deer, bent over, and with a grunt, heaved it onto her shoulders. "Pick a path for me, Angel," she said. "If you run me through some poison ivy, you will not be happy."

I shifted to fox and followed along behind. Elisabeth ran off, and I listened to her as she set an intercept course with the four-wheeler. We reached the clearing, and I tracked Elisabeth until her track merged so closely with the four-wheeler I couldn't hear her anymore. Then it shifted direction, and two minutes later, it burst into the clearing, driven by Rory, Elisabeth in the lead. He drove straight to Lara and came to a stop, then jumped off the back and helped Lara lower the deer onto a rack mounted to the front of the four-wheeler.

"Nice one!" he said. "Who found it?"

"The fox," Lara said. "Scarlett and Angel took it down."

"Oooh!" he said. "Congratulations!" He turned to them. "First kill, isn't it?"

They both huffed displeasure.

"Not first kill?" he asked.

"First deer kill," Lara declared. "But their technique needs practice."

They huffed again.

"First kill," Lara said firmly. "Congratulations girls. You had him, I just made sure."

At that, they chuffed.

"All right," Lara said. "Get this thing to wherever you're meeting the car. Michaela, go with him. We'll catch up at the road."

I backed away from the four-wheeler. It was loud, and I didn't see anywhere for a fox to sit. I wasn't going to climb on behind Rory in my birthday suit.

"Oh for heaven's sake," Lara said. "Michaela, come here." She pointed to the ground. I slinked over to her. She bent over and picked me up, which was okay. Rory climbed onto the four-wheeler, and Lara set me down on the seat in front of him. "Rory won't let you fall off, Michaela. Will you, Rory?"

"Absolutely not," he said.

I whimpered and jumped off.

"Michaela!" Lara said. "What's the matter with you?"

I lay down in the grass and put my paws over my ears.

Lara sighed. "He'll go slow enough it won't be that loud. Get back up there."

I huffed, but did what I was told. Rory gave the obnoxious machine some gas, and soon we were bouncing away to the southwest. I whimpered, but I didn't try to jump off again.

Rory knew where he was going, and he brought the machine to a stop thirty yards away from the road. "Go see if it's clear. Yip once if it's safe, twice if it's not."

I jumped off and ran the rest of the way to the road. Eric was standing next to one of the SUVs with the rear gate opened. I looked in both directions and tried to listen, but my hearing was shot from the four-wheeler.
I didn't hear any cars, so I yipped once. Rory gave the machine some gas and was on the road moments later. He and Eric promptly tossed the deer into the back of the SUV and closed the gate just as I heard a car approaching. I yipped twice and dashed down into the ditch, out of sight.

The car didn't even slow as it went past. Eric got into the SUV and drove away. I ran back up and looked at Rory.

"Want another ride?" he asked me, smiling.

I growled at him and backed away.

"Does it hurt your ears, Michaela?"

I chuffed.

"Even human?"

I chuffed again.

He knelt down so we were near the same level. I approached. "Michaela," he said gently. "How good is your hearing?"

I stared at him. He knew. I turned away, hanging my head.

"Michaela," he said. "I won't tell anyone, but everyone is starting to suspect. It can't be avoided. Your ears are delicate, and you can tell things when no one else can. Two and two, Michaela. If I figured it out, you know a lot of the others already have."

I looked back at him, hanging my head.

"No one will use it against you, Michaela. But if we know, we can protect you better."

I shifted to human, turning my back to him and looking over my shoulder.
The wolves thought nothing of casual nudity, but even after a year with them, I wasn't entirely used to it. I looked at Rory sadly.

"I don't have many advantages left, Rory," I said.

"How good is your hearing?" he asked softly.

"I can hear a mouse at a hundred yards, if there isn't too much other noise. As a human. I can hear your heart beating. I can hear the blood rushing through your veins. I can tell you that Lara is four hundred yards and closing. Angel is limping slightly, so they're moving slower for her."

"Is she all right?"

"She will be. Rory, I can hear that after your infernal machine destroyed my hearing for the next hour. Can you hear them?"

"No, and I don't smell them, either."

"The wind is left to right," I said.

"The alpha-"

"She knows. It's how I knew the Chicago wolves' plans. I told her and Elisabeth. Lara told Vivian. How long have you suspected."

"It just came to me, but suddenly it all made sense."

"So others might know," I said. "And the
rest will figure it out."

"Yeah," he agreed.
"Am I the first you know of to have figured it out?"

"Lara suspected. I was good at misleading her. But I'm around a lot more now. I guess I couldn't keep it secret forever. It's not like you could have hidden your sense of smell from me."

Lara was coming closer.

"What do you want me to do, Michaela?" Rory asked.

"Pretend you don't know," I said. "Don't change anything. For heaven's sake, don't jump to my defense if anyone is loud."

"All right," he said. "Now I realize some of the things Lara does to help you, too. I can do some of those."

"If I let you wrap your arms around my ears, people are going to suspect. When she does it, it just looks like an awkward hug."

Rory laughed. "I guess."

I turned to see Lara emerging from the woods, the other wolves following behind. Angel was limping, Francesca and Scarlett walking next to her. Lara saw me standing there, talking to Rory. I never stood around in my birthday suit, especially not in front of the guys. She bounded up the incline to me and began sniffing me over to see what was wrong. She tried to stick her cold nose where it didn't belong, and I pushed her away, then knelt down and wrapped my arms around her neck. "He knows about my hearing," I whispered into one ear. "I bet everyone does."

She chuffed and licked me. I pulled her close, her head hanging over my back. "I don't know what to do, Lara."

The rest of the wolves walked up. Angel nudged me, then on the other side, Elisabeth. I reached over and scratched their ears. "Scarlett, Francesca," I said. "Come closer. There's something I need to tell you."

Lara chuffed gently at me.

I told my closest friends about my hearing. Angel immediately sat down and yawned. I looked at her. "I can't tell if that's a wolf yawn or a human yawn, Angel. Are you telling me to calm down? Or did you already know?" She chuffed at the second one.

I turned to Scarlett. She yawned. Francesca yawned.

"You all knew?" They chuffed. "You didn't say anything."

Angel looked at me for a moment, then she rolled over and exposed her throat for me. She'd never done that before.

"Oh Angel," I said. "I am Omega and happy to stay that way." I reached over and scratched her fur. "But thank you."

I looked around. "How's your foot? Can you keep up with a fox, Angel?"

She rolled upright and held her paw to me. I took it in my hand, marveling at how big her paw was. "Look, Angel, your paw is as big as my human hand. Do you want to ride back with Rory?"

She growled at me.

I laughed. "I guess no one trusts your driving, Rory."

"Yeah, yeah," he said. "Honestly, it's the smell they don't like. Why do you think I had to ride the four-wheeler and Eric got the car?"

"Oh," I said. "It does kind of stink, doesn't it?" I wrinkled my nose.

The wolves all huffed.

"Well," I said. "We need a new game for the trip back to the compound."

Lara chuffed, then backed away and bowed to me. Then they were all bowing to me, demanding to play.

"Five minute head start!" I demanded. Lara huffed. "Two!" Huffed. "One!" She chuffed for that.

"I'm timing!" Rory said. "Go!"

I shifted and immediately began to run.

I gave them a good race. We were far enough from the compound
that they would have easily caught me if I had run straight for home, so I used my normal tricks to hide from them. Lara gave me a quick howl when they started after me, although she wouldn't have needed to. I could still hear them.

Bunch of elephants.

I ran into the woods heading towards the compound but then left a few false trails and turned to parallel the road. I listened for Rory on the machine, but he didn't start it up. Once the wolves were firmly in the woods, I ran back onto the road and immediately doubled back towards Rory. From the sounds, I knew I'd lost the wolves twice, but I only gained a few seconds; there were so many, they simply fanned out and found my fresh trail nearly immediately.