Wolf Ways (The Madison Wolves Book 9) (5 page)

“But-” said the other girl.

Michaela put a hand on her hip, and the girl immediately drew silent. But the other one said in a quiet voice, “We want to play with Zoe and Aunt Lisbet.”

“And when Zoe is more comfortable playing with wolves,” Michaela said, “then maybe she’ll invite you to play with her. But you can’t play with her like you play with everyone else.”

“We play with Ms. Lass-ter.”

“Ms. Lassiter is far more accustomed to playing with wolves,” Michaela said. “We can talk about it during your baths.”

“Yes, Mommy Fox,” they both said.

I kept my mouth shut. I wouldn’t have minded playing with them, but tonight was my time with Elisabeth. I’d talk to her about it later.

“All right,” said Michaela. “Say goodnight to Zoe and Aunt Elisabeth, and then you two go get ready for your baths. We’ll be up in a minute.”

“Good night, Zoe,” one girl said. “Good night, Auntie Lisbet,” said the other. A moment later, they were running up the stairs, and then there was a blur, and I saw a furry tail just as it disappeared out of sight.

I stared after them. “They’re so cute.”

Lara chuckled. “They’re hellions.”

“They are not!” Michaela said. “They’re darlings.” Then she looked pointedly at the bag over Elisabeth’s shoulder. “Staying the weekend?”

“Um. That hasn’t been discussed. Maybe the night.”

“Well, I’ll have Karen drop off your diving materials at Elisabeth’s,” Michaela replied. “In case you want a head start. Classes start at four, so be here by three-thirty or so.”

I nodded. “Yes, Alpha.”

“All right. You two go enjoy yourselves. Zoe, I can’t promise you there won’t be other wolves out there. But no one here will hurt you.”

I nodded. “I’ll be fine, but if anyone interferes with our game, I consider it a win for me.”

Elisabeth chuckled, and then she led me from the house. Once outside, she took my hand and tugged me towards her place.

It was all so weird, so amazingly weird. I’d been coming here since early summer, but my mind still hadn’t caught up with everything.

They were werewolves. Werewolves! Real, honest-to-goodness werewolves. And everyone was so careful around me.

And this was the first time I’d come here that I wasn’t afraid, although I felt myself beginning to grow excited and nervous about my pending game with Elisabeth.

“Are you all right?”

“Excited,” I said. “Nervous.” I paused. “Excited,” I repeated.

“Scared?”

“No.”

“Good.” We walked quietly after that, still holding hands, until we arrived at her house. We dropped off my bag then stepped out onto her front steps. She pulled me down to sit on the steps.

“Do you want several quick games or do you want them longer?”

“I don’t care.”

“Then how about quicker games?” she suggested. “Five minute head start, ten minutes to find you.”

“Is it going to take you that long?”

“Probably not, but if I have to manage my own competitiveness. Honey, I play to win. You understand.”

“Of course.”

“If we make this too difficult for me, then I’ll play too hard. I’d rather we kept it relaxed.”

“Oh. I see.” I didn’t, not entirely, but I trusted her to know what was best. “Where am I allowed to go?”

“Let’s agree tonight: no crossing roads. Once you know the pack land better, we can play in a bigger area. And you can’t go anywhere that involves a doorway or window.”

“No hiding in the car.”

“Right. But you could hide on top of it or underneath it if you wanted. Not that I wouldn’t find you, but you could.”

“And I can climb trees.”

“Right.”

“That doesn’t seem fair.”

“Why not?”

“Because. Um. Wolves don’t climb trees.”

“Furry wolves don’t. Unfurry wolves do. But let us agree that if I can see you in a tree, you have to come down voluntarily.”

“If you can’t see me, but can smell me?”

“Then I have to climb until I can see you.”

I nodded. I didn’t think I had a chance of winning, but I was here to play. To prove to her I was willing to play. Eric told me playing was important, and honestly, it sounded like fun.

I decided to tell her that. “I just want to have fun, Elisabeth. I don’t mind if I win or lose, although I don’t want to disappoint you.”

“There’s something we haven’t done.”

“There’s a great deal we haven’t done.”

“You’ve seen Lara make Michaela submit to her.”

I had. She’d catch Michaela, roll her onto her back, and then wrap her mouth over her throat. The first time I’d seen it, it had shocked the hell out of me, but Michele Lassiter had stepped up next to me and explained what was happening.

“When I catch you, I’m going to do the same thing. Are you going to freak out?”

I looked away, and I knew my heart began pounding harder. “I don’t know.”

“You should whimper. Zoe, I am a dominant wolf.” She paused. “We can just go for a walk.”

“I want to play,” I said. “I’ll be fine, Elisabeth.”

“Zoe, you need to understand. I play to win. I can’t help it. If you fight me, I’ll still play to win. You have to decide how you feel about that and respond accordingly.”

I nodded. “I want you to hold me for a few minutes first.”

She pulled me against her, wrapping her arms around me. I leaned into her. She kissed the top of my head, and we sat quietly on the steps.

It felt good. It felt safe.

How weird was that?

“If you get to have your way with me when you win, what do I get when I win?”

“So you want a wager after all?”

“Nooo…” I said slowly.

“You get bragging rights,” she replied. “Unless you want to make it a wager.”

“No, no.” I said. “I’ve been very careful when you’re a wolf. Am I allowed to hug you?”

“Yes, but don’t try pulling me around, and don’t try to force me to do anything, not even make me turn my head to face you. It may be very hard to hold back my automatic response.”

“Biting?”

“Putting you in your place.”

“Oh. Where is that?”

“Underneath me, pinned to the ground, with my teeth over your throat, and unlike when we’re playing, it will be a little rougher.”

I nodded understanding.

“Ready?” she asked. I nodded again. “You get a five minute head start. I’ll howl when I start. If you set a timer on your phone for ten minutes, then we’ll know when my time is up. I’ll use my watch for the first game, but after that, I’ll have to estimate the time. We get a lot of practice with that. You won’t get exactly five minutes, but it will be close.” She lifted her wrist and looked at her watch. “Time starts when your feet reach the grass.”

“And I should head that way?” I pointed.

“You may head any direction you want, but that’s south. If you go any other direction you’re more likely to encounter other wolves. They won’t hurt you, but they’ll want to play, too.”

I nodded then leaned over and kissed her quickly.

Then I ran.

I’d never been in the woods to the south of Elisabeth’s home before, and I didn’t know what to expect. There were well-traveled trails throughout the north. I found a trail in the south as well, but it clearly saw less traffic, and as I ran along it, I didn’t see any side paths.

My heart was pounding even before I started running, so it was hammering in my chest by the time I made it to the dense woods.

I knew in about four minutes, I was going to find myself chased by a werewolf. Hunted.

And I wasn’t scared. I was excited, and I was nervous I’d be a poor chase, that Elisabeth would be bored with me. But I considered that a problem for her to solve, not me.

And I was nervous I’d respond poorly when the time came, but I let myself think about what I’d do when she caught me. I thought I’d be just fine.

I wasn’t an athletic person. I was in reasonable shape, but I wasn’t much of a distance runner, and I soon found myself panting. I slowed down. I knew if I stayed on the trail, I’d be exceedingly easy to find. I also knew she ran a lot, lot faster than I did. I wondered if I should try to hide, but I didn’t know these woods, and I wasn’t sure how to find a good place to hide, anyway.

I kept moving, staying on the trail.

And then, from somewhere behind me I heard a wolf howl. I came to a stop. She howled a good, long howl.

And it was amazingly beautiful. Oh, it was a beautiful sound. I stood there listening until the last sound tapered off. Then I still stood there for a good ten or fifteen seconds, just standing in wonder.

Then I turned right and dashed into the undergrowth, running again, but slowed down while watching my step. It was early enough in the evening that the sun was up. I wondered what we would do as it grew darker.

I wondered how well she saw in the dark. I bet it was a lot better than I did.

It was only a couple minutes before she found me. I wasn’t surprised. She moved silently, or at least silently to my ears, but then suddenly a streak leapt past me on my right, and then there was a wolf skidding to a stop perhaps five paces in front of me. She spun around to face me, her mouth open and her tongue hanging out.

I came to a stop, panting, and then leaned down with my hands on my knees, trying to catch my breath.

I couldn’t recognize most of the wolves. They didn’t look identical. They weren’t even all the same color. Some were all black; some were almost entirely silver. There had been two that were pure white. The rest were some sort of patchwork colors. Both Elisabeth and Lara were largely silver with black streaks, although the patterns were quite different, and I could readily identify either of them. And Michaela, of course, was the only fox. Portia was almost the opposite color from Lara and Elisabeth. She was mostly black with wide streaks of silver.

They were all gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous.

This wolf was Elisabeth of course, and I found myself staring at her. She was just so stunning; I loved looking at her.

“God, you’re beautiful,” I told her.

She grunted agreement, but then she lowered herself a little bit in what was clearly a stalking posture and took a slow step towards me.

“Do you have to touch me to catch me?” and she grunted. “You haven’t touched me.” She snorted that time. “Then, technically, you haven’t caught me.” And she grunted again before taking another slow, measured step.

“Wait,” I said, and she froze. I pulled my phone out and made a point of stopping the timer. I held it out towards her. “Can you see? I stopped the timer.” A grunt. “If I run, you’ll still catch me.” She grunted several times. “And knock me over?” She grunted again. “Or I can just surrender.” She grunted.

I cocked my head, and then, in something I always found amazing, she flowed from wolf to human, standing slowly. She stood in front of me, entirely naked, and it was as if it didn’t matter.

“It’s your choice, Zoe,” she said. “If you run, it’s going to be a little rougher. I won’t hurt you, but the chances of bruises or sprained ankles is higher.”

“What do you want?”

“I want you to do what is natural to you. If you surrender, then you’re accepting one form of submission. If you run, well, it will still turn into submission, but it’s of another style. Michaela would run, and she makes it very, very hard to catch her. But we still catch her, at least sometimes, and we don’t hurt her when we do it. But I would be very, very surprised if you don’t scream.”

I eyed her, and then she went on. “You’re not making a permanent decision. I’ll always do what I did now — run past you and give you the choice. But if you run now, then I’ll tackle you when I catch you. If you don’t run this time but submit, you can still run next time.”

I nodded, then turned left and ran.

I don’t know if I surprised her, but I imagined that I did. But it was only a moment later before I heard scrambling behind me, and a second or two later, I heard her as she leapt. I tried to duck to the right, hoping to evade her, but large paws wrapped around me from behind as a heavy, furry werewolf body slammed into my back.

She bore me to the ground, but somehow she rolled us so when we landed, I was on top. I had a moment of glee and tried to take the advantage, but she was fast. Fast! And I found myself on my back with a very, very large wolf pressing me to the ground.

My heart was pounding madly. It wasn’t fear, but I could feel the adrenalin slamming through my body. I tried scrambling away from underneath her, but she settled her weight more completely, panting down at me with her forelimbs pressing my shoulders and arms into the ground.

I was reminded of the way I used to sit on my little brother before he was big enough to win in our occasional altercations.

It was clear I wasn’t going to crawl out from underneath her.

I expected her to bite my throat. That’s what she said she was going to do. Instead, she lay on top of me, pinning me to the ground while I wore myself out trying to escape.