Wolf Women (The Madison Wolves Book 10) (17 page)

"Who made sure you remained tied to the pack?"

"Michaela."

"Who has stated repeatedly she wants the two of you to be friends."

I sighed again. "Michaela."

"If you ever needed help, and you didn't want to ask me, who are you most likely to turn to?"

"Michaela."

"Zoe. Ask her."

And so, two evenings later, I found myself driving into Madison with Michaela. I invited her to dinner and told her to pick a restaurant we could both enjoy. She refused to tell me where we were going. But we had a complement of enforcers, including Portia. Michaela found that amusing, as the enforcers wouldn't be eating with us.

We arrived at a sushi restaurant, pulling up in the limo. We had talked about classes and an upcoming field trip the entire way.

"I called ahead and ensured there would be vegan choices," she said. We climbed from the car, and she took my arm. "This is where Lara took me on our first date. I almost went into a full melt down panic just entering the place then again when the owner approached our table rapidly. My past experience with wolves hadn't been good." She pulled me towards the restaurant, and we passed through the door without a second thought. We barely paused before we were led to a quiet table in the corner.

I had vegetable tempura and a couple of vegan maki rolls. Michaela ordered nigiri and a spicy tuna roll. I frowned at her.

"I know. The fisheries." She hung her head. "I'm a poor conservationist."

Our tea came, and we clinked teacups, then stared at each other over the table setting.

And stared.

And stared.

"Zoe, you invited me, and I think you have an agenda."

"I do," I admitted. "But I'm nervous."

"Are you about to ask me to take Ember back?"

"What? Over my dead body!"

She smiled. "Good. Are you asking me how to divorce Portia?"

"No. Michaela!"

She grinned.

"Are you-"

"Do you have time in your schedule to be my maid of honor?"

"Finally got the nerve to ask, did you?" she said with a grin. "I was going to give you two more weeks before I started bugging you about it."

"You were going to ask me if you could be my maid of honor?"

"Of course not. I was just going to remind you that you had to pick someone and suggest a teenager might not be the best choice. Or an ex-girlfriend. That didn't leave you with many other choices."

I sighed. "You have so many other things-"

She interrupted me. "Yes, I will be your maid of honor. I would be delighted and honored, Zoe. You should know that."

"It's just-"

"That there's no one you can ask who will do a better job than I will, or with whom you are closer."

I grinned. "Thank you."

We clinked teacups again.

"Do you have a date selected?"

"Portia wants to plan it around when the house is completed. That may complicate things. She wants the first night in the house to be our wedding night."

"Okay. We can work with that. Where?"

"The compound."

"Who are you inviting?"

"Everyone living at the compound."

"Well, we'll hold off invitations for now," she said. "I'm not done introducing you to people, so once we know the date, we'll do the invitations. What else do we need to plan?"

"I don't want any bridal showers."

"Wolves don't do traditional bridal showers, anyway. But why don't you want one?"

"They're for younger kids who don't have anything, a way for everyone to help the young couple get started. Portia and I talked, and we don't want wedding presents, either, for the same reason."

"All right."

"We haven't decided how to use Ember. I want her involved somehow."

Michaela smiled. "Will you let me handle that?"

"You have something in mind?"

"I do. Lara and I established a sort of precedence with our wedding. The bride doesn't have a clue what the ceremony is like."

I laughed. "Seriously?"

"You have to write and practice your vows. Otherwise, I'll walk you in, unless there's someone else you want to give you away."

I shook my head. "There isn't anyone."

"All right. A dress. Have you thought about that?"

"I want a simple, summer dress."

"Afternoon or evening?"

"Late afternoon, but we want a party into the evening."

"With dancing," she said. "I want you to let Lara, Karen, and me plan everything."

"But-"

She smiled. "Do you want to plan it? If you do, tell us what's important, and we'll include it. Otherwise, this is our gift to you. Even if you don't want gifts."

"Are you sure? You're volunteering Karen and Lara."

"Do you really believe I haven't already talked to them?"

"You are sneaky, Alpha. Very sneaky."

"I am Fox," she said. "Hear me roar."

We talked about some of the other details, but with Michaela insisting on handling everything, we shortly ran out of conversation. Then she said, "Now, we have to talk about ransom night."

I looked away.

"You don't have to do it," she added.

"What would you do if you were me?"

"I would do it."

"If you were human?" I looked back at her. She nodded. "Who will be there?"

"I'm not answering those types of questions."

"You said the tradition is, if I don't struggle effectively when kidnapped, that you get to cut my hair. I don't want my hair cut, but we both know your pups can probably catch me."

She laughed. "Maybe not quite yet, but I understand what you're saying."

"I don't know if I'm supposed to have a chance to get away."

"It's not whether you have a chance, it's whether you try, and how hard. What other concerns do you have?"

"Portia is designing a big house. I can't ask her to shell out more money for this tradition. And you said the enforcers took your house for Lara. Are you going to wait and then take Portia's brand new house away?"

"Oh Zoe, of course not. Elisabeth took my house in part because she didn't want me to have it as a safe retreat if Lara and I were to fight. And I would have used it, too. There were a few times that I would have run back to Bayfield if I'd had a place to go."

"We both know I won't last any longer than you decide to let me last."

"Zoe, Lara paid a big price for me, but she's filthy rich. But it was only about two percent of her net worth."

"You paid a lot more than two percent for Lara."

"I did, and that was a source of strife between Elisabeth and me for a long, long time. And even, to a lesser extent, a wedge between Lara and me. You saw last summer I'm not fully over it. There is no way I would do that to you. The tradition is to ask a large price early on largely as incentive for the bride. But then we come down."

I looked away. "I don't know what to do. I don't like this tradition."

"Frankly, neither do I," she said. I turned back to her.

"But you did it twice?"

"Yeah, well, I'm stubborn," she said with a smile.

"You want me to do it."

"I think if you don't, you will eventually feel cheated. I think if you don't, there will be long term social repercussions we'll never fully identify. I think if you don't, you will make Portia's career a little more difficult for her."

"That's not fair," I said.

"No, it's not," she agreed. "I think if you do it, you'll earn respect within the pack. I think you worry that you aren't worthy of being a pack member, and I think feeling that respect will help."

"It won't help if I cave in ten minutes after you take me, or if I panic from the very beginning."

"You might panic, but the only people who would know are those closest to you, and then we'd calm you down. I panicked. I was a wreck. But that was because I didn't understand what was happening. And you won't cave at the beginning, because I won't let you."

I sighed. "I have to do it, but I don't like it."

"You don't have to do it."

"Yes, Michaela, I do. As you said, there are prices if I don't." I turned away. "What will you end up doing to me?"

"Actually, I don't want to tell you, Zoe. And honestly, I don't know yet."

I sighed. "Do it. When?"

"I won't tell you that, either. I'll tell you this: you won't see it coming."

I sighed.

"Zoe," she said, "this is run by people who care about you to show how strong you are, not to show how weak you are. No one is going to treat you like we would treat a wolf. But you have strength, and you have courage, and you have pride, and you'll be showing those. I have absolutely no intention of letting anyone believe you are weak or ill suited for one of my favorite enforcers. Trust me."

I nodded.

And then, somehow, I managed to put it all out of my mind.

* * * *

Movie nights became chaotic. The first after my lunch with Michaela, Michele and Hadley was startling and nerve-wracking.

They all came along with Lara and Donald. Monique brought Sebastian. Ember was there, of course, and she had invited Cassiopeia; the two were treating it like a date. Other than to tell me she had invited someone, she hadn't talked to either Portia or me about it, and I made a note to ask her about it later. Iris and Lindsey were both there, and they brought dates as well. Evangeline was with Iris, and Nash was with Lindsey.

I prepared baked ziti: a small vegan pan for me, and the ingredients for two large pans for the wolves. Ember assembled the wolves' versions so that I could pretend I wasn't helping anyone to consume animal products.

The line on that had been growing increasingly indistinct. I was able to keep my own diet vegan, although that was a challenge at times. And I didn't actually touch any of the meats and cheeses the wolves were eating. But I did the grocery shopping. Usually Ember went with me, but not always. And so I was buying the things on their list as well as keeping things like frozen pizza rolls, lunchmeats, and other such foods in stock.

Keeping two werewolves fed required a great deal of food, and we had encouraged Ember to invite friends over, so we were feeding them, as well.

They were always hungry. I didn't understand how they could eat so much and not get horribly fat.

No, I wasn't jealous. I swear.

Portia had made a sign for the house. It was wooden. She added a slot near the front door, and the sign could be slipped into the slot and removed later. It said simply, "Enter". If people were expected, we could put the sign into the slot, and everyone knew she could come right in without knocking. Everyone was so used to that policy at the alphas' house, it didn't take long before nearly everyone on the compound understood about the sign.

Hadley and Michele didn't live on the compound, and so they didn't know about the sign. When the doorbell rang, I had my hands full of edamame sauce. "Go get that, honey," I told Ember. "It's probably Hadley or Michele."

She was gone a minute. I had been slightly wrong. It wasn't one or the other; it was both of them, and Michele's husband, Donald, as well. Ember led the three of them back to the kitchen.

"Stir this, Daughter," I said.

She giggled; she frequently giggled when I called her that. But we both loved it, and so I did it often. Portia did, too.

"Yes, Mom."

I dried my hands then hugged Michele. I didn't know Donald well, so he got a handclasp. Then I turned to Hadley. We eyed each other. Then I decided I didn't care; I decided I wanted a certain style of friendship with her, too, and the wolves were very physically comfortable with each other, if not always tender. I wrapped my arms around her and gave her a tight hug, too.

She returned it, like it was nothing special.

"Thank you for coming," I whispered into her ear.

"I am pleased to be invited," she replied.

I returned to the stove. "Ember will help you with refreshments, but I need to know how this smells."

"Quite lovely," Hadley said from six feet away. I eyed her. "Oh please, do I need to make a show of sticking my nose over it when I can tell from here." But she sniffed pointedly. "But there are scents I do not recognize."

"Well, it's a vegan household," I said. "You probably have never eaten vegan before."

Ember snorted.

"Hush, you," I said.

Hadley eyed me warily. "You truly do not understand the sensitivity of a wolf's nose. I can smell cooking meat." She sniffed. "Beef. With pasta, garlic, and tomato sauce. And something else I do not recognize."

"Vegan cheese," Ember said. "It's made from crushed water chestnuts or something, but it's actually pretty good."