Fox Afield (Madison Wolves) (33 page)

We called Serena. "Start pouring beer into him until he passes out," Lara ordered. "Then dump him back in his own bed."

We found out later she had to use the funnel we left her, but she got twelve cans of beer into him. He passed out on the drive back to his house.

We dropped Virginia off and pointed her to the police station, then we watched her until she walked in the front door.

I called Gia. "She's free."

"Really?"

"She's at the police station right now. I suspect there are going to be a large number of sirens in about fifteen minutes."

"Oh thank god," she said. "Robert is asleep."

"When the police show up, he has to act like he wasn't expecting a rescue. Do you think he can do it?"

"Yes. Both of them can. I'll let you tell them."

I heard her climb a set of stairs. She knocked then there was a pause. I heard her say, "Robert, it's Michaela. She wants to tell you something."

When he came on the phone, I said simply, "She's free. She is unhurt
and at the police station. Gia has the rest."

He started screaming and crying saying over and over, "Thank god! Thank god!" Then I heard Bree's voice, and Robert told her, "Your mother is coming home!"

Gia took the phone back. "Brooke and I will handle this end."

"Thank you, Gia. We'll see you soon."

We watched the police station. Thirty minutes after Virginia had gone in, all the off-duty cops from three towns around started showing up. We smiled. A half hour later, with no sirens, they took off in two directions.

Serena reported she barely got out of Tim's house before they showed up.

Gia and Brooke later reported the reunion at the Callahans' as tear-filled. The police spent hours taking statements. Gia and Brooke were there for comfort along with Robert's assistant.

The rest of us went back to the motel and collapsed. I waited until morning then presented myself at the police station. "You may be looking for me," I said.

"And you are?"

"I was with Tim Anderson last night."

I was immediately handcuffed and ushered into an interview room. They read me my rights. They asked if I wanted a lawyer.

"No thank you.
I'm ready to answer your questions if you ask them promptly, but if you don't, I'll demand my lawyer. You have ninety minutes, and you do NOT want her involved. She's a real bitch, but she's very good."

They asked their questions. I told them our story.
I'd had a fight with Lara and had gone to the bar to cool off.

"What was the fight about?"

"She broke into my computer. Tim seemed nice and I told him about it. He said he could show me how to improve my security. He was kind of grabby, but I could handle him. I let him take me home to show me the computer thing, but then he got real grabby, so I left. End of story."

It was an easy story to remember. I deliberately hadn't practiced it, so I told it slightly differently each time they ran me through it, but the gist stayed the same.

They kept looking at my face, both sides of my cheeks. "We have a different story," they said finally.

"Oh?"

"Timothy Anderson claims you and he were kidnapped last night and tortured."

"Excuse me? Maybe he was kidnapped and tortured after I left,
but if so, I was long gone. I walked home, my girlfriend came home, and, well, the rest of that is none of your business."

"He claims you got slapped around hard enough to bleed."

"I see. If I'd been hit that hard, would there be marks the next day?"

"Yes," said the cop.

"Where did I supposedly get hit? My face?"

"Yes."

"Look closely. You won't find any marks."

They did look. They looked very closely. They even took photos.

"He said your face was burned."

"I'm pretty sure that would leave a mark," I said. "And that I'd remember. I think Mr. Anderson is perhaps lying to you."

Hadley Smith showed up. The cops had no reason to doubt my story, and she had me sprung ten minutes later, but I had to leave contact information for them. They tried the whole, "Don't leave town" line, but Hadley told them off and pulled me from the building.

"Thank you," I told her.

"You're welcome."

"I'm sorry you had to drive all this way just for that."

"I drove all this way in case you all got caught and I had to get you all out of the slammer."

I laughed. "We didn't, but we sure made Tim Anderson look like an idiot."

She joined my laughter.

I had to arrive at the Callahans' in fur. It wouldn't do for the police to see me there. Lara held my leash. Bree answered the front door and pulled us in.

"Thank you! Thank you!" she said throwing herself around Lara.

She led the way into the family room. Robert and Virginia were sitting on the sofa together, clutching at each other, but they rose for us. Robert shook Lara's hand. Virginia wanted to know who the strange woman was, and what an unusual dog.

Lara knelt down and removed my collar. "Does someone have a blanket?"

Gia held one out.

"Virginia," Lara said. "I am a friend of Michaela's. I was upstairs last night, making sure that Lane Brook didn't interfere with your rescue.

"I didn't see you."

"You did, but you didn't know it," Lara said.

"Is Michaela coming over?" Virginia asked.

"Yes. We're going to show you something very surprising. This is something you must never tell anyone. Even when the three of you talk about it, you must be very careful."

I shifted
to human and let Gia wrap the blanket around me. Virginia stared at me.

"Where- where- where did the dog go?"

"Fox, actually," I said. "That was I. Want to see again?"

She nodded, and I shifted to fur, then jumped up on the sofa next to her and sat down where she could look at me.

"Michaela?" she asked.

I chuffed. Lara translated. "That means 'yes'."

Virginia reached out to touch me. I leaned into her touch, and she began petting me like a dog. It wasn't quite what I liked, but that was okay. Lara stepped forward. "She likes it if you dig your fingers in her fur like this."

Lara knew exactly what I liked.

"But be gentle," Lara added. "She is very delicate."

Virginia was understandably stunned and needed reassurance none of this was a dream. Robert and Bree helped to convince her.

Virginia pulled me into a hug. "Michaela."

I licked her face, then when she released me, I jumped down, shifted human, and wrapped myself in the blanket.

Lara was next. Lara scared the crap out of her. Then understanding dawned.

"That dog last night?"

"My friend, Angel," I said. "My maid of honor at my wedding."

"And the woman?"

"Elisabeth, Lara's sister. She's a werewolf too, but I wanted her human in case I needed her strength. Wolves are a lot stronger than I am."

It took a while for her to absorb everything, but finally she asked, "May I pet you, Lara?"

Lara moved closer and received the same attention I had received.

We stayed for a couple of hours, receiving countless thanks. Finally we wrapped up. "Just remember, we were never here," I said
. "We'll go now. But I hope you will come down and visit us soon."

I shifted back to fox. I growled when Lara tried to put the collar back on me, and she laughed and said, "Michaela, I may be sufficiently well-behave to go off leash, but I'm not sure you are." But she didn't try to collar me again.

Gia, Brooke, Lara and I climbed into the car and drove slowly away.

The drive to Madison was festive.

The videos of my escapades made it to the pack web site while I was visiting the Callahans, and the teasing started the minute we stepped out of the car.

I was so glad to be home.

That's when I stopped. I turned to Lara.

"What?" she asked.

"I just had a thought."

"You have a lot of those. What was this one."

"I thought how nice it was to be home."

Her smile couldn't have been bigger.

It was after dinner, too late to schedule a celebration party, but Lara declared, "Party tomorrow night, whoever cares to make it."

"Lara," I said. "How about a run?"

"A run would be wonderful. Fifteen minutes, everyone. Brooke, I hope you will join us."

"I wouldn't miss it."

We showed Brooke to the guest room and told her we'd collect her on the way back downstairs. I allowed Lara to draw me to our bedroom. I began shedding my weapons, leaving them on the dresser. Lara prowled around me.

"I love you," she said.

I turned to her. "I love you, too."

"I know I go crazy sometimes."

"Yes, you do. I go crazy sometimes, too."

"I promise, my craziness will always be temporary."

"
It may be a while before I can say that, honey." It was a bad joke and Lara ignored it.

She stepped closer, looking down into my eyes. "I know you're worried I'll lock you up and throw away the key."

I lowered my eyes. "Yes."

She lifted my chin. "I won't. How could I? You, my love, are amazing, and you would
suffocate and die in a cage."

"And kill you," I said. "Don
't forget that I'd kill you, Lara. Or myself."

"I know. It won't happen. I'll be overprotective a lot, but it will pass. I'm sorry, but I don't think I can stop myself."

"I understand, Lara. I like knowing you care this much about me."

She smiled and, slowly, kissed me.

"We haven't done enough of that since we got back," I said when the kiss was over.

We snuggled a little, standing there next to the dresser.

"I'll want a shower later," I said. "And your hands on me."

"I want to talk to you about something before the shower," she said.

I smiled. "All right."

I kicked off my shoes and socks then grabbed Lara's arm. We collected Brooke and headed downstairs.

Everyone was there, waiting for us, and I do mean everyone, and they were all in fur.

"Are we ready to run?" I asked. I was answered by a mix of chuffs and howls. "I don't have any games or wagers tonight," I said. That was met with huffs. They liked my games. "I'm sorry, but I can't think of any tonight that we haven't played too much lately."

"What games?" Brooke asked.

"We play a lot of games when we run. Many of them are pure wolf games, and I am primarily a spectator. But some of them are very much geared around a fox."

She smiled. "For instance?"

"Well, they used to leave me behind all the time, so I made a game that they had to touch me periodically. If I went more than five minutes without at least one of them touching me, I won. Otherwise they did."

"What did you typically wager?"

"Favors. I usually win, but with this many running, well, I can't afford to hand out this many favors, and I wouldn't stand a chance."

"Well then," Brooke said. "Perhaps I have a game you may find interesting. We divide into two teams. The first team is given something to hide. We usually use tennis balls. We write our names down on them. We have five minutes to hide the ball, then we have to run back here. Then the other team gets a certain amount of time to find the tennis balls. Anyone whose tennis ball is discovered owes a favor to the person who discovers it."

"And those whose tennis ball remains hidden?"

"They pick someone who didn't find a tennis ball, and that person owes a favor. We usually limit two favors to be owed by one person, so you couldn't all pick on one person and expect twenty favors from him. We usually let the youngest pick first."

"Who wants to play Brooke's game?" I asked. Everyone chuffed.

"All right, do we have tennis balls?"

"We do," Lara said. She did a quick count. "I'll get them and something to write
with. You can arrange teams while I am gone."

"You and I should be captains," Brooke said. "Will you treat me honestly to help me pick my team?"

"Of course."

"Who picks first?"

"I will give you a choice. You may choose first or you may decide if you are hiding or finding."

"You may choose first," Brooke said. "I do not know your land, so I think I would be at a distinct disadvantage hiding. We will be finding."

I smiled. "All right. Elisabeth."

Brooke was surprised. "Not Lara?"

"Lara enjoys competing against me," I said.

"Very gracious of you. I will take the alpha then."

"Angel."

"Tell me," Brooke said. "Which of these are enforcers?"

I pointed them out, naming them. She knew some, but I pointed them all out. "Karen," she said immediately.

"Scarlett."

One by one, we split into two teams. We had an odd one remaining.

"It is best to have more hiders than finders," Brooke said. "That way everyone has a chance to find a tennis ball."

Lara returned with tennis balls and several markers. "You are on Brooke's team, Lara, and you will be finding." She nodded.

We wrote down names on the tennis balls, passing them out.

"Now," Brooke said. "You must cover your ball in your scent. You get five minutes to hide your ball and you have three minutes more to return here. We then get fifteen minutes to find the balls. We are each limited to one find, so we return here when we have found one. At the fifteen minute mark, we'll call you back, and you have three minutes to get back here. Anyone whose ball is still hidden after that must go retrieve it, and you have eight minutes to get it and bring it back. If you are unable to retrieve it, you forfeit a favor to be awarded by the team captain -- that's me -- to one of my players."

She turned to me. "You may not hide your ball where a full sized wolf can't reach it. The alpha or I to judge."

"That's fair," I said.

"Greg, will you time for us?"
she asked.

"The alpha will howl at the five minute mark and howl again
at eight," Greg said. "Anyone who is late is forfeit."

"Then I believe the alpha should howl once at three minutes, o
nce at five, and once at eight," I suggested. I wanted people to know when they needed to get serious about hiding their balls. I could see them all running for five minutes and then not making it back in time.

"That is a good rule," Brooke said. "Shift to fur, fill your ball with your sent, and give us a howl to get started."

The pack all chuffed, Lara chuckling. They had heard my howls in the past.

"I'll yip to start, not howl."

I shifted to fur, climbed out of my clothes, retrieved my ball from where it had rolled under Brooke's foot, and then proceeded to slime it up, spreading my scent on it that way.

"Good," she said. "Whenever ready."

I yipped twice through the ball and took off for the woods. I headed straight for the culvert, ducked through it, ran to the pond, left a false track off it, then ran into the woods again. I shifted to human, catching the ball in my hand, and clambered up into a tree. I climbed as quickly as I could, deposited the ball in a notch, out of sight from the ground, descended rapidly, shifting in the air at the bottom, and ran off.

At the three minute howl, I cut back towards the compound, leaving as many false trails as I could, each of them ending somewhere good to hide a ball. I even dug in the grass a few places. At the five minute howl, I made sure I was within a hundred yards of the compound, left two more false trails, and ran for the compound, arriving well early.

No one was late, but Elisabeth barely arrived before the last howl.

I shifted to human, grabbed a blanket, and verified my entire team was here. "All present and accounted for."

"All right," Brooke said. "I'll shift and howl. Michaela, howl at five and ten minutes. Three howls at fifteen, and we get three minutes to make it back after that."

"Elisabeth will howl for me," I said. "You really don't want me to do it."

She smiled, pulled her clothing off, and shifted, Lara doing the same. She howled, and she and Lara, side by side, began chasing after my trail.

"Damn," I said to Greg. "They're going to work together. And Lara knows all my tricks." I smiled.

I listened to the two of them. They made it to the pond quickly, and I listened as they searched around it.

"Will they find yours?" Greg asked.

"I don't know. They're the only two who could. I think Brooke wants a favor from me."

"She told Lara she's happy with a favor from either of you, and Lara wants one from you."

I smiled. "So if they come back with a tennis ball, it will be in Lara's mouth?"

"That's my guess."

Five minutes arrived. Greg called the time and Elisabeth howled once. Lara and Brooke had searched the area near the pond as well as my first false trail and were moving on my main trail.

Wolves started entering the compound proudly carrying their tennis balls. They brought them to me, and Greg recorded who won from whom. There were huffs from my team.

Sophia arrived with Scarlett's tennis ball.

Lara and Brooke were past where mine was hidden. I grinned.

"You're safe?" Greg asked.

"I think so."

Emanuel returned with Serena's ball. She walked over and cuffed him gently.

Lara and Brooke shifted into human and began talking. They didn't have a clue where it was. Then Lara said, "You know, she has a penchant for trees."

"That wouldn't be fair. An adult wolf can't climb a tree."

"Brooke. You and I can both climb trees right now."

Brooke used a naughty word. "It could be anywhere!"

I turned to Greg. "They figured out how I hid it, but not where."

"Look for claw marks," Lara said. "Work backwards from here. If she climbed a tree, she'd have done it quickly."

I smiled broadly. "I'm safe."

"One more minute," Greg said.

Two more wolves came back with tennis balls, and then Elisabeth howled the fifteen minutes. Wolves, sans tennis balls, began filtering into the compound.

Lara and Brooke showed up empty-mouthed. I grinned at them.

"Nice try," I told them.

All in all, about half the tennis balls had been found. "All right," I said. "If your tennis ball isn't found, you have to go get it." I looked around. "Scarlett, will you howl for us? One at five minutes, three at eight minutes."

She nodded. I shifted to fur, yipped twice, and ran straight to my ball, Lara and Brooke both running behind me. I shifted to human, climbed into the tree, and grabbed the ball. I climbed back down to find Lara and Brooke, human, waiting for me. I tossed the ball into the air and Lara caught it while it was still out of my reach. She checked for
my name, then turned to Brooke. "So, she has to return with this within about another four minutes."

"Yep."

"And if she doesn't, she loses, and you get to award her favor to someone on our team."

"Yep."

I looked at Lara. The two of them began playing catch with my ball.

"This is very childish," I told them both. "Do you really intend to cheat?"

"I didn't hear any rule about this," Lara said. She tossed my ball to Brooke.

"I don't recall saying anything about this," Brooke agreed.

I didn't even bother chasing after them.

The five minute howl went up, and still they played catch with my tennis ball.

"This is only a thirty second run for you, but it's a minute and a half for me," I pointed out. "I figure you have about another thirty seconds before I can't get back in time."

When I had about a minute left, Lara gently handed my ball to me. I dropped it, shifted to
fox, grabbed it, and made a mad dash for the compound. Brooke and Lara shifted behind me and immediately passed me, racing side by side for the compound.

I ran for all my little fox feet were worth. The compound was in sight when the eight minute howls went up. I finished running in.

"Everyone was on time except Michaela," Greg said.

I shifted human, grabbed a blanket, and didn't say a word. Lara and Brooke did an inventory of whose ball wasn't found, and the remaining favors were recorded. They came to me last.