Fox Play (26 page)

The students carried my things to my room then took great delight in unpacking for me. Alan opened the suitcase that contained my more personal clothing. Sophia saw his expression before I did and chased him away, taking care of my things for me. She offered me a smile, which I returned in gratitude. I hadn't asked them to put everything away; they just did it, and I'm not sure I could have stopped them if I wanted to.

It was nice to be taken care of.

Afterwards I collected them all in the living room. "Interviews start tomorrow. I am going to ask about your background. I am going to get a feel for your current abilities. And I am going to try to get a feel for what you are hoping to accomplish. Do not stress about this. If you belong in my program, then you will get in. If this is the wrong program for you, we will discover it together. Don't worry about what I want to hear; worry about giving me the truth. Any questions tonight?"

They had a few, easily answered. I sent them packing, then showed Ava and Sophia their rooms. They were upstairs on the opposite end of the hall from Lara and me. I had gotten used to having Angel around a lot, and I was hoping that I wouldn't suffer culture shock having twice as many teenagers underfoot. Little did I know.

Suddenly, there was no one around. Ava and Sophia were upstairs helping each other unpack, giggling together. I tuned out their conversation. If they were talking about me, I didn't want to know.

And suddenly, I was at wit's end. I had spent the last week and a half with every minute scheduled, and suddenly I had nothing that I needed to do. I wanted to go for a run, but I wanted to go with Lara.

But we had just spent a week and a half collecting data for US Fish and Wildlife. I had an amazing amount of raw data, none of it correlated or in remotely the right format for reporting. I may as well work on it. I lost myself in solving the little puzzles buried in the data.

Ava and Sophia came downstairs sometime later. I was so buried in my work, I didn't realize they were there, standing side-by-side and looking at me expectantly. They must have stood there for some time before Sophia said, "Michaela? Ms. Redfur?"

I looked up. "Sorry. I get a little focused. At school it's Ms. Redfur. At home it's Michaela."

"Michaela," she said. "We were wondering. What are the rules?"

"Rules?" I squeaked. Oh god, suddenly I was supposed to act like a parent. It had been easy with Angel. I treated her like an adult and she acted like one. An excitable adult, but an adult nevertheless. I had no idea how to be a parent. Then I realized I didn't have to know. These two had parents; they had rules. I fished two pads of paper and pens out of my laptop case and handed them out. "Sit. Write down the rules you have at home. I will feel free to check with your mothers, so I expect you to be thorough."

The two girls sat down and began to write. They each filled two sheets of paper, slowing down as they stopped to think between each rule. "That's all I can think of," Ava said finally. Sophia wrote down one more and said, "Me too." They handed their pads back to me and I compared them.

The first rule they each wrote down was the same: obey mom and dad. I smiled at that. They each had a "no boys" rule, worded somewhat differently. They each had a curfew with similar but not identical hours. There were rules for homework and keeping the house clean. I tore off the three sheets Sophia had written and handed the pad back to her. "You can write," I said. "Rule One: Obey those adults in a position of authority over me." She wrote it down and I asked them if they understood.

"That means you and the alpha," Ava said.

"Your parents, me, the alpha, Francesca, Elisabeth, and probably some of the enforcers. Is that a problem?"

"No, Michaela."

"Two," I said. "Treat everyone in the household with respect." I waited until Sophia had written around. "Tell me who that rule excludes." They looked at me with confusion. "Does that rule offer an exclusion for Chloe Lassiter?" Chloe was thirteen.

Both girls understood. "No," Ava said.

"Is that a problem?"

"No," they agreed. I smiled. These were good girls.

"Three. Homework before fun." They expected that as well. "Four. Keep your rooms neat and clean and do your share of household chores."

"What are our household chores?" Ava asked.

"You know, I don't know. I think the vacuum cleaner works automatically." I received quizzical looks. "I have never touched it. I have never seen Lara touch it. I have never seen anyone in here cleaning the house, although the kitchen gets used by almost everyone living on the compound, and it's always spotless afterwards. I have no idea who is cleaning the house, but it is always spotless. Someone is doing it while I am not here."

They smiled. "This is the alpha's house," said Ava. "The younger members of the pack takes turns. It's considered an honor to clean the alpha's house."

"All right. For now, that means whatever your judgment says it means, but one thing it definitely means: do not mess up the common areas of the house." I indicated the papers I had spread around. "I will clean up after myself when I am done, and you won't be able to tell I was here. I would expect you to both do the same. Also, you are sharing a bathroom. Do not give the other cause to complain to me. And do not embarrass the alpha by letting your rooms become messy."

"No, Michaela," Sophia said. "Absolutely not."

"Good. Five. Curfew. Ava, you seem to have an earlier one than Sophia by a half hour on school nights, and you both have the same curfew on weekends. Do you know why?"

She looked pained, and I didn't understand.

"It's because she takes longer in the morning than I do," Sophia said. Suddenly I understood why Ava hadn't wanted to answer. She hadn't wanted to point out the differences in their appearances. "Michaela, I know I'm not pretty. Ava's tried to, you know, fix me up, but it always just looks fake."

"I think you look great," Ava said.

"No you don't," Sophia said. "But it's nice of you to say so."

"Well, I notice the boys pay more attention to you than to me."

"The new guys always go straight to you," Sophia said. "Ava, I'm okay with it. Do I wish I were beautiful? Doesn't everyone? Most of the time I am okay with who I am. It's okay, Ava."

"All right," I said. "Are your current curfews based on being home or being in bed with lights out?"

"School are lights out," Ava said. Sophia agreed. "Weekends are home, in my room, and reasonably quiet."

"All right. Sophia, write down Ava's hours as curfew for both of you, same meaning, except Sophia, if you want to read for an extra half hour before you turn your light out, that is your choice. Does that work for both of you?" It did.

"Six. No boys in your rooms. Period." Sophia wrote it down. They were expecting it. "Don't write this down, and please don't repeat this to your mothers. Please, please, please don't do anything that has a risk of getting pregnant. Promise me."

They both looked at each other, comparing notes, then Sophia asked me, "Does that mean no sex or don't get pregnant?"

I was not qualified to have this conversation. I really wasn't.

"You wouldn't tell Angel no sex," Ava said.

"Maybe we should hook up, Ava," Sophia said. "That would take care of it."

I buried my face in my arms and the two of them started to chuckle.

"Is there a rule in this house that you have to scream during sex?" Ava asked.

"Enough!" I said, coming out from my hiding place. The two of them looked amazingly pleased.

"You are blushing, Michaela," Sophia observed. "You're almost the same color as your hair."

"You two are enjoying this far too much," I said. "We're not done writing down rules, and I bet I can come up with some you'll both hate."

"We know you've never had kids," Ava said. "We know this is new to you. And we know why you made us write down our current rules. But we're both on the pill. We've been on the pill for two years. So far, for me, it hasn't been necessary."

I could not believe I was having this conversation with them.

"It has for me," Sophia said. "I don't have any steady boyfriends, but I've had unsteady boyfriends."

"My mom was actually worried about me for a while," Ava said. "But then the alpha started dating you, and suddenly she stopped making little comments. I think she thinks Sophia and I really are hooked up and are hiding it from her. We aren't, by the way, but I think if we were, she would be okay about it."

I sighed. "Ava, call your mother for me."

"Am I in trouble?" she asked.

"No. I'm going to ask her what I'm supposed to do."

Ava laughed. "All right." She fished her phone out of her pocket and hit speed dial. "Hey mom. Michaela wants to talk to you."

"Is she in trouble already?" Hadley asked immediately.

"No. We were going over household rules, and we got to the 'no boys' rule. From their reactions, they were deeply amused."

Hadley started laughing.

"It's not funny," I told her.

"Yes, it is," she said, still laughing. "You tried to tell them something about no sex, or don't get pregnant, or don't get caught, or something like that, didn't you?"

"Yes," I said in a small voice. "Why is that so funny?"

"Michaela, an important rule in parenting. Never set a rule you can't enforce. Tell them 'no boys' and then look the other way. They won't get pregnant and they can't catch a social disease."

"I told them 'no boys in their bedrooms'. Am I supposed to disallow dating, or having friends over?"

"Oh, you are a woman after a lawyer's heart," she said, laughing again. "Your rule is fine. They're both good girls, Michaela. They know the right choices to make. The rules are for household harmony. If they don't know the right choices by now, rules won't help."

"Thank you, Hadley," I said.

"You're welcome. Anything else?"

"If there is, we'll call you back."

She laughed again. "I'll have my phone handy." She hung up, and I looked at the girls. They were smirking.

"Shut up," I told them. Then I scanned their rules. The rest seemed pretty specific.

"Next rule," I said. "Don't do anything that if your mothers found out will make them angry."

"Damn it!" said Ava.

Sophia wrote it down.

"Last rule," I said. "And girls, this is absolutely the most important rule. No leaving the compound without permission. You may talk to Derek, Alan and Jeremy if you want to know the reason for that rule."

"We know about that," Sophia said.

"I will tell you, violations of that rule will be met with the strictest consequences I can come up with. I know one little fox isn't going to be able to enforce the resulting consequences, but I think that little fox has an awful lot of influence over wolves who can."

"Don't worry, Michaela," said Ava. "We understand. We might break the no boys rule, but we won't break this one."

"Next rule. No teasing Michaela," I said. Sophia started to write it down. "Oh for heaven's sake, I was kidding."

She grinned at me.

"All right," I said. "If your mothers see those rules, are they going to accuse me of bad parenting and yank you both home?"

Ava grinned. "No."

"So if I call her back and read her the list, she'll be satisfied, Ava?"

"Yes."

"Do you both agree to follow those rules?" I asked.

"Yes," they said together.

"All right, sign it." Sophia signed at the bottom then passed it to Ava. She signed, then I took it from her and signed it.

"Now, you both know the alpha is dominant in this house, and she may not agree with this list. So this is the list subject to her review."

They nodded, then Ava said, "So, um. What's for dinner?"

I looked at her. "Oh my god," I said. "Not only do I have to buy you both chastity belts, but I'm supposed to feed you as well?"

"Like we couldn't figure out how to get out of a chastity belt," Ava replied. "Shift, slither, done."

"All right. Dinner. I wonder if I should have gone grocery shopping. You know, I don't even know where the grocery store is. I haven't cooked a thing in this house more complicated than tea."

They started to look a little nervous.

"I suppose I can go catch you each a rabbit."

"Now you're just teasing," Sophia said.

"Yeah, I am. Let's go see whether there's anything in the kitchen to make." We got up and moved towards the kitchen. Wendy spoke quietly to Karen, and my escort moved with me, Wendy taking a protective stance.

"Does she think the milk is so old she has to protect you from it?" Sophia asked.

"Ava, call your mother for me again."

"Now you did it," Ava told Sophia. "She's going to tell mom we dissed the milk." She handed me the phone without even talking to her mother.

"Michaela?" Hadley said, laughing again.

"Girls, take inventory," I said. Then I stepped away to the corner of the kitchen and spoke to Hadley. "The girls are curious about my security detail. Do they know what's going on?"

"Yes, but they don't think it affects them, so it's been in one ear, out the other."

"Do they understand why I need a personal protection detail? Do they know what a fox hunt is?"

Hadley's tone changed. "Who wants to engage in a fox hunt?" she asked coldly.

"Oh god, I thought all the parents knew."

"We know that asshole in Chicago is gunning for Lara. I'm already setting up shell companies that will be used to fight back. You're saying they want a fox hunt? I knew he was barbaric. Damn it!" She sounded pissed. "Let me think for a minute, Michaela."

I could hear her pacing and she swore from time to time. Then I heard her sit down. "All right. First, you are our fox, and there will be no fox hunts."

"Thank you, Hadley."

"The girls deserve to know. No, I don't think either of them has heard that phrase before."

"Hadley, if you know what's going on, why are you trusting your daughter here? This has to be the most dangerous place for them."

"We are pack, Michaela. My daughter is as safe there as she would be anywhere. All right. I think this is something I want to explain. Give me back to Ava and tell them to go up to her room. I'll take care of their questions. If they ask anything else, you may tell them whatever you think is best subject to whatever secrecy is necessary."