Fox Run (7 page)

I shrugged at David then reached across the bar and grabbed an empty glass and the soda fountain dispenser. I poured myself a soda, replacing the dispenser. The male wolf was there immediately, growling at me. "That will be ten bucks," he said.

"For a soda?"

"Ten bucks."

I fished two fives out of my purse. The bartender pocketed them and moved on.

Someone bumped me from behind. I didn't see who it was, but I got a good elbow across the back of my head. I wasn't drinking at the time, so I avoided spilling. When I turned around, whoever had hit me was lost in the crowd.

I glanced around, making sure I was temporarily safe, and quaffed down a slug of my soda, setting it down quickly, almost to the far edge of the bar. I tried to make myself as small as I could.

A female wolf stepped up to the bar next to me. "You don't belong here," she said. "Get out while you can."

"I'm not bothering anyone," I replied. "I am sitting here, minding my own business."

"You're a fool," she said. She walked away, never having ordered a drink.

Not all wolves are assholes. She had just done what she could. I didn't expect she would interfere again.

I got bumped again. There was no need for it, which meant it was intentional and not caused by close quarters. Besides, no were is so clumsy to bump someone unless it is indeed intentional.

So far, however, nothing had been horribly overt. I'm sure Lara by now knew how uncomfortable I must be, but she needed to watch the situation degrade. She needed to understand how low her beloved wolves would go.

I already knew.

I hoped she would stop it before it went too far.

A group of female werewolves joined me at the bar, consuming the available seats on both sides of me. "There aren't enough stools," one of them said. There were more stools at the other end of the bar.

"Sure there are," another said. She grabbed the back of my stool and dumped me out of it. I actually hadn't expected that, and I bounced off the bar. Another wolf grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the bar and gave me a shove away. Only my were reflexes kept me from getting shoved to the floor.

I glanced up, and Lara was standing up, glaring down. I shook my head just once, and she sat down.

But I was in trouble now. I was now in the middle of the room, and the wolves began herding me. I turned towards the entrance, and there were two large males standing in my way. I turned towards the bar, but there was a female standing in my way, and when I tried to step around her, she stepped into my path and growled.

I backed away and bumped into another wolf, who growled and gave me a shove.

After that, it quickly turned into a game of pinball. I was the ball.

At first, the only wolves involved were the ones who were intentionally playing. They kept giving me a false route to safety, but one of them always managed to step into my path every time I took a step. If I had more room, I may have been able to out-maneuver them; my fox reflexes were faster than wolf reflexes. Across open ground, they could easily outrun me, but in tight quarters, I should be able to react faster.

But the quarters were a little too tight, and there were a lot of wolves.

The ones playing with me were not the dominant ones. These were the submissive wolves, the ones who have to take it from the rest of the pack. They finally had someone weaker than they were, and they were enjoying it. As long as I left them alone, the dominant wolves actually weren't the problem. But even the smallest of wolves could snap me like a twig.

Eventually I got shoved into a dominant wolf. He growled at me and grabbed me by the throat. "You spilled my beer," he said. Then he looked past me and shoved me away.

It went downhill from there.

I managed to stay silent through all this, but the wolves herded me out onto the dance floor. I made a dash for freedom, but was cut off. Another dash, and I was cut off. And then I got shoved into one of the dancers, a dominant female, and she turned to me. Before I could react, she had me by the hair, pulling my up and backwards and growling.

It hurt, and I yelped. I tried not to, but I couldn't help it. And in that, I went from frightened, weak victim to frightened, weak prey.

That was when I heard the growl, rising over all the other growls in the room. The female yanking on my hair had turned me to face back the way I had come, and I saw Lara in all her fury, her growl increasing in volume until the entire room grew still.

She leapt from the balcony, landing cleanly on the floor amongst the tables, then took three more bounds, screaming out, "Mine!" before landing in front of me.

The wolf holding me backed up suddenly, not releasing my hair, and I yipped again from surprise and pain.

"Mine!" Lara yelled again, glaring at the other wolf. "Release her!"

"I did not know, Alpha," the other wolf said, releasing my hair with a shove. I fell to the floor with another yip, then curled up, quivering at the alpha's feet.

The alpha growled, and I quivered, my flight mechanism shut down, and all I could think of was "hide, be small, hide, be small." I made myself as small as I could and tried to draw no further attention.

I listened to Lara berate her wolves. "You should all be ashamed. Is this how we treat a visitor to our city?"

"She's just a-" someone started to say. It didn't get finished. There were still humans in the bar, so no one said, "fox" loud enough for the humans to hear.

"She is a person," Lara said, "and she deserves to be treated with respect. It is our job to protect people like this, not victimize them. I am ashamed right now."

And then she knelt down to me. "Are you all right?"

I couldn't answer.

Then I felt her touch. She reached underneath me and lifted me into her arms, easily picking me up off the floor. I clung to the alpha as she carried me out of the now silent bar. Along the way, David stepped in front of us to lead the way, holding the front door. I saw Eric and Jason settle in behind us, flanking the alpha.

"Shhh," Lara said to me. "You are safe now, Michaela. I'm so sorry. Shhh."

I clung to her and continued to quiver. She was strong, and I realized that I felt safe with her. When had that happened? Maybe safety was a relative term. She was still a wolf.

David led the way to the limousine, opening and holding the door for us. "Get in," Lara said. "I'll hand her to you." David slipped into the car and Lara tried to pass me in to him, but I clung to her. She pried my arms from around her neck like she might a child's, and I felt strong, male, wolfy arms taking me from her.

My panic started to return, and as soon as David had drawn me into the car, I jerked away from him, retreating as far as I could in the car. Lara climbed in afterwards and tried to make soothing noises.

"Shh, Michaela, David would never hurt you."

"Wolf," I said quietly. "Wolf. Wolf. Run. Hide. Wolf!"

Lara moved to my side of the car, sitting next to me as I tried to shrink into the corner of the seat.

"Please, let me go. Let me go." I made a quick grasp for the door handle, but Lara caught my hands and pulled me into her arms.

"Shhh," Lara said again. "Breath deeply, little fox. Remember me now. Shhh."

I couldn't help it, I breathed in her scent, that scent of safety I had learned earlier, and suddenly I found myself clutching at her, allowing her to hold me to her, my face buried in her neck, breathing in her scent.

And then Eric climbed into the car with us, and my panic went through the ceiling.

"Wolf!" I yelled then began keening. I tried to hide behind Lara, tried to burrow into the seat like I could dig my way to safety, but she pulled me more tightly against her, holding my head against her neck, and I keened and whimpered in fear.

"I'll ride up front," Eric said gently, and then he slipped back out of the car. The door closed. But David was still there, and the car reeked of wolf. I continued to tremble, hiding against Lara.

"I don't know what to do," Lara said to David. "I am so angry! I promised her she was safe."

I whimpered.

"She knew what she was doing," David said. "Even if you didn't. She was terrified of five of us, but she walked into an entire building full of wolves. She did it with her head held high, and she kept her cool right up until she was about to die."

I made myself even smaller in Lara's arms.

"I have never seen anyone braver," David added.

I pulled my face out of Lara's neck and looked over my shoulder at David, shrinking away from him.

"I will never hurt you, little fox," he said. I didn't believe him. Hurting foxes is what wolves do. I knew it. He knew it. And now Lara finally understood it, too.

I buried my face against Lara again and tried to push the panic away. She pet my hair soothingly, holding me tightly against her.

"Take us to the compound," Lara said eventually. "Have someone bring her overnight bag. She should feel safer there than the house."

"Take me home," I said. "Let me go home."

We rode in relative silence, punctuated by soothing words from Lara. I slowly calmed down, my panic replacing itself with embarrassment. I was clinging to her like a kit to her mother. The only reason I didn't retreat is that it felt so good.

From time to time I glanced at David. He was looking at me with something that might have been concern. Or was it pity? I couldn't tell.

Eventually, I pushed away from Lara. She resisted for a moment, then released her hold. I moved away from her, and she looked disappointed. "I liked holding you," she said quietly.

"I stink of fear," I said. "How can you stand me so close?"

"In your fear, it was me you clung to for safety, Michaela."

"Better the wolf you know, I guess."

She looked away. I had hurt her.

I looked out the window, wondering where we were. It was dark and the windows were deeply tinted. Even with my sharp fox eyes, I couldn't make out any features.

"I shouldn't have said that," I said after a time. "I'm embarrassed and was lashing out. I'm sorry."

"You shouldn't be embarrassed," David said. "You aren't a wolf. You are a fine fox, and you should be proud of who you are."

"A fine fox wouldn't have stepped into a wolf den."

"A fine fox needed to teach truth to the alpha wolf," Lara said.

I turned to look at her. "I liked it when you held me." Then I turned to look out the window again. But Lara took my hint and moved closer, touching me gently. I leaned away from the window and let myself lean against her. She wrapped an arm around me, and we rode together like that.

"I'm not flying home?" I asked. "We're driving all the way to Bayfield?"

"We're not going to Bayfield," Lara said. "We're going to the compound."

I didn't say anything. I wasn't any safer at her compound, undoubtedly filled with wolves, than I was in Madison.

But she felt good.

I glanced over at David. He looked relaxed. "Does this bother you?" I asked him.

"That you got roughed up at the bar? Yes."

"Not that," I said. I shrugged under Lara's arm. "This."

He laughed. "No."

"I suppose the alpha can have her playthings."

"You're not a plaything," Lara said.

I didn't respond to that. If not a plaything, what was I? Certainly I wasn't a viable mate or partner. She needed someone big and strong to help her lead her pack, not someone weak, someone frightened all the time.

No, I was her plaything, or that's what she intended anyway, and when she was done, then what? Then what of my safety?

I decided I didn't have any answers or very many choices.

We slowed down, taking a turn off the highway, and I could tell immediately we were on a dirt road. Then we took another turn and drove slowly along a narrow track, and it was clear the trees were just barely outside the car. We passed through a gate and drove for another three minutes before we pulled into the courtyard of a cluster of buildings.

David climbed out of the car first. As soon as the door opened, I could smell the other wolves, so many wolves.

"Lara," I said, glancing nervously at the door.

"We're going to get out together, Michaela," Lara said. "And everyone will see you are mine. You will be safe."

"That is awfully presumptive, Alpha," I told her. "Do the foxes belong to the wolves now?"

She sighed. "No, Michaela. But you are here with me as my guest. And are under my protection." She was looking away, so I reached up with one hand and pulled her chin towards me.

"Do you intend to bed me, Alpha?"

"If you will allow me to, little fox. It will be your choice."

I looked into her face. She returned my gaze with affection. She was very attractive, and it had been a long time for me.

"Will you hurt me?"

She looked away, and I could tell by the set of her jaw she was angry again. "No," she said.

I leaned up and kissed her jawline. She stiffened, then relaxed, and I kissed her there again. "I do not want our first real kiss to be while I smell of so much fear, Alpha."

She looked back at me, her face full of hope. I let her pull me into her arms, and we held each other. "Will you run with me, little fox?"

"I won't keep up."

"I don't mind," she said.

"I would like to run, but I would like to not smell so foul first."

She kissed me on the top of the head. "Well, let us see what we can do about that. She untangled herself from me and slipped from the car, then reached a hand in for me. I took it, following after her, slipping back under her arm. She held me possessively, and I wrapped an arm around her waist. The message was clear to anyone looking.

I looked around. There were nine other wolves standing around. Eric was talking to one group and David to another. I saw curious looks, some distrustful, but none were outwardly threatening.

"How many more?"

"Twenty, sometimes twenty-five total, including some pups and five very willful teenagers."

"Do they all know my name is not Snack?"

Lara laughed. "Yes. David and Eric are seeing to it."