Fox Run (9 page)

Lara looked down at me as I cringed underneath her, then she looked at Elisabeth and began growling.

Holy shit that was a serious growl!

Elisabeth immediately dropped to the ground and rolled over, submissively exposing her throat. And I instantly dashed out from underneath Lara, clamping my jaws over Elisabeth's exposed throat.

Point to Michaela!

I held my position for just a two count, then bounced away before the wolf could react. She'd just exposed her throat to the little fox, and I found it unlikely she would find it as funny as I did.

I bounced backwards then dashed around to hide behind Lara.

Lara stopped growling and looked over at me. I sat down, panting up at her, a foxy laugh. And Lara cuffed me.

She pulled it. I know she did. But she sent me flying several feet, then I tumbled over twice, yipping until I came to a stop. I lay there in the short grass for a moment, dazed, and immediately Lara was standing over me, sniffing at me and whining.

I sat up, shook my head, and then nipped up at her. I rose to my feet and nipped at her again, then bumped my body against hers. No damage done, and she was forgiven. I peered around her to look at Elisabeth.

The wolf had rolled back onto her tummy and was watching me, panting. I stepped around Lara and approached her closely. Elisabeth let me walk right up to her, and I gave her a quick lick before bouncing back. We were all friends.

What a strange concept.

I walked back to look at Lara. I was surprised to see that Lara was slightly more compact than Elizabeth, although to a fox, still absolutely huge. I walked around her, then made a point of setting one of my paws next to hers. I looked between the two paws, and Lara gave me a quick lick.

Then, Lara barked twice and bounded away, the rest of the wolves in hot pursuit. In seconds, they were all out of sight.

David hadn't shifted. He was still standing on the steps of Lara's house. He had laughed when I'd nipped Elisabeth's neck. Now he looked at me.

"We're on the southern portion of the land we own," he said. "We've been buying it up for years and own everything for five miles north, three miles east, and six miles west. But there are roads, so be careful."

I took off after the wolves, tracking them by their sound. They were loud, even when they weren't barking and howling.

There was no way I could keep up with them, of course, and the noises grew more distant. I decided it was time for a snack, and I veered off the path. These were unfamiliar grounds to me, so I slowed down and began moving quietly. Once the wolves were far enough away, I would be better able to hear my prey.

It didn't take long to find a rabbit. I don't usually hunt rabbits. Frankly, they're much more than a meal for me, and I hate wasting an animal. But I thought perhaps Lara would appreciate a gift. I listened carefully, crept closer, and then pounced.

I got lucky. Perhaps the rabbit was too used to much louder predators. It only got a half step before I landed on it, immediately breaking it's neck. I picked it up and proudly went in search of the wolves.

They made it easy. They began barking. From the sounds, they were moving very quickly, east to west in front of me, and I set an intercept course.

I came to a road and stopped just inside the bush, watching. A minute later, I heard crashing in the trees, and then a deer dashed across the road. Moments later, two dark streaks followed. I thought one of them was Lara.

I turned to parallel their course, not wanting to be right on their path in case the other wolves were right behind them. The chase only lasted another half mile, and I could have told the entire story just from the sounds. Then there was silence before the howling started.

All the wolves arrived before I did. I was tired from carrying the rabbit around. I broke into a small clearing and saw the wolves clustered around a deer carcass.  I stopped, staring at them from perhaps thirty yards away.

Lara had already eaten. She lay in the grass watching the other wolves. She turned to face me.

I stopped, the rabbit still dangling from my jaws. I had caught a rabbit and thought to offer it as a gift. Lara had gotten a deer. I walked up to her and dropped the rabbit in front of her. Then, embarrassed by my meager gift, I turned tail and ran back into the woods.

No one followed.

I didn't run long, just long enough to put some distance between me and the wolves. Then I slowed down and immediately turned west, moving silently.

Instinct kicked in, and I began all the fox tricks for throwing off a pursuer. I circled back to the road, then followed it in the ditch. When I arrived at a small culvert, I went past it a dozen steps then backtracked and ducked into the culvert, coming out the other side. It was too small for a wolf, and one following could go right past it without noticing it.

I found a small pond. I walked up to it, took a few drinks of water, washing away the taste of rabbit, then set a path leading from the water. Again I doubled back, then ran along the shore halfway around the pond before heading in a new direction.

About ten minutes after I'd left the rabbit, I heard a series of yips from Lara. I thought perhaps she was asking me where I was. I didn't answer her.

I caught a rabbit, and she caught a deer. I had never felt more inadequate in my entire life. What made it worse was that a rabbit was close to the biggest thing I'd ever killed. I was capable of killing opossums, but that was about the biggest I'd go. Groundhogs and raccoons were right out. And a deer? No way.

I ran across a fallen tree, then ran back the way I'd come, leaping over the large tree root.

I found a small stream and followed it briefly.

I laid several other false trails.

And then, finally, I climbed a tree.

It is rare for a standard fox to climb a tree, but of course, I was a were fox. I wasn't as comfortable in a tree as a squirrel was, but I held my own.

I waited in the tree a long time. I tracked Lara. Every few minutes, she yipped for me. At one point a dark shadow passed below my tree, and I wondered if it was her, looking for me. A minute or two later, she yipped again, then she doubled back, coming to a rest almost directly beneath my tree. She sat there for several minutes, then yipped twice.

I didn't answer her.

Eventually she moved on. I tracked her progress as she headed back towards the house.

I waited another hour before climbing down.

If it hadn't been so far, I would simply have run home. But Bayfield was on the other side of Wisconsin, five hours by car. I didn't even want to think about how many days it would take me to run there. I had no choice but to find mechanized transport home, which meant lugging my embarrassed body back to Lara's and begging for a ride.

Perhaps she would be asleep when I got there, and I could stave off further embarrassment until morning.

It didn't take that long to return to the compound. I circled to the far side. I didn't see any scouts, but I entered the compound from the opposite side, coming to the back of Lara's house then slinking along the edge until I turned the corner towards the front door.

Lara was on the steps, back in human form, staring right at me. I stopped in my tracks, watching her.

"Are you all right?" she asked.

I held back, then lowered my head and slunk to her, coming slowly up the steps. She reached out and grabbed me, pulling me to her, and I didn't resist as she pulled me into her arms. Her fingers began working their way over my body.

"You seem fine," she said after a minute. "I thought we would run together, Michaela."

I pulled away from her, lying down on the porch with my head between my paws.

"Were you mad because I cuffed you? I'm sorry, I tried to be gentle. That was a dirty trick to play on Elisabeth. I could have hurt her, thinking she had hurt you."

I air nipped at Lara's hand, then laid my head on her knee, looking up at her. Her hand moved to the back of my neck, and she dug her fingers into the fur, massaging gently.

We stayed like that for a while. "I'd like to understand. Let's go upstairs. You can shift and we can talk."

I huffed. I didn't want to talk. I wanted to go home. But I stood up and waited for her to hold the door for me.

Once in the house, I ran ahead of Lara to my room. I shifted on the run, coming to two feet and looking around for my clothes. My duffle bag was sitting on the bed, and I pulled clothes out and slipped them on. I was decent by the time Lara arrived.

"There's a sofa in my room. Will you come talk to me?"

I nodded. "All right." I followed behind her slowly. She waited for me inside her room, closing the door behind me. She gestured to the sofa, and I crossed over to sit in it. Lara sat down at the other end and turned to me.

She stared at me. I stared at my hands.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Nothing. I'm fine."

"Why didn't you run with me?"

"I couldn't possibly keep up, Lara. Three bounds and you were gone. I followed, but after about ten minutes, you were well out of my ability to hear you, except when you barked or howled."

"So you were angry at being left behind?"

"No. I knew I couldn't keep up. That wasn't a problem." I still wasn't looking at her. "You fed me earlier. I veered off the path you took; you had scared away the game. But I found a rabbit. Then I tracked you down. I wanted to give it to you. I saw you when you crossed the road after the deer. I heard you take it down. Who was with you? I saw two wolves."

"Eric. But it was my kill."

"So, I stepped into that little clearing, carrying my little rabbit. And you had just eaten venison. Who would want a scrawny rabbit after having her fill of venison? Two gulps and it would be gone, anyway. I almost just turned around and found somewhere to eat it myself, but I had caught it for you."

"It was lovely, Michaela. I shared it. I thought perhaps you went off to find another one, but you didn't come back. Didn't you hear me call for you?"

"Yes."

"When you didn't answer, I thought perhaps you were playing, and I was supposed to find you. I sent everyone else home, thinking perhaps all those wolves had you nervous, and you were hiding somewhere. And I tried to follow you."

"I know."

"I lost you four times."

I smiled briefly at that.

"Each time, I called for you, giving up. If it were a game, you won."

"But you found the trail again each time."

"Not easily. I had to circle around, looking for it. In the end, though, I lost you, and I never found your trail that last time. Why didn't you answer? I sat and called for you."

"I know. I was watching you."

"You were watching?"

I nodded.

"Why didn't you call back?"

"I was too embarrassed, Lara! Don't you understand? I was so embarrassed. I tried to offer you a rabbit after you had just taken down a deer. A rabbit. Like you would want a rabbit."

"You're a good hunter, Michaela," she said.

I looked away.

"But you're not here for your hunting prowess. Do you know why you're here?"

"No, Lara, I don't."

"You are here for the plain, simple reason that I want you."

She moved closer on the sofa.

"I admire you a great deal, Michaela."

"That's ridiculous," I told her.

"No, it's not. You are amazingly brave."

"I'm afraid all the time, Lara. You don't know what it's like."

"I know I don't. And yet even while you are so afraid, you move forward, doing what you need to do, whether that's your job or biting and scratching the domineering wolf holding you by your neck. You walk into a bar full of wolves to deliver a message I desperately needed to understand. And you stood up to Elisabeth, who frightens even me."

Lara moved a little closer.

"You are very cunning, Michaela," Lara said. "I had to cuff you for that trick, but that was the funniest trick I have ever seen. No wolf ever would have thought of that."

"I miscalculated, Alpha," I told her.

"How so?"

"I thought to get you to cuff her. It was a spur of the moment thought. I thought you knew we were playing, and I thought to pull you into the game. But then I heard you growl, and I knew I had taken it too far. When she barred her throat to you, after having done nothing wrong, I thought you would hurt her. I had to defuse the situation, so I did it in the funniest fashion I could think of."

"I could never hurt her, Michaela. She's my sister."

I processed that for a moment. "Is she angry with me?"

"She got a lot of crap for it. But she was laughing. She told me to tell you, point to the little fox. I think you impressed the hell out of her."

Lara moved closer, and our thighs were pressed against each other. Still, I didn't look at her.

"You are beautiful, Michaela. And your fox is gorgeous."

I smiled. "That's true. My fox is outstanding. Your wolf is beyond amazing."

"You liked?"

I leaned my head on her shoulder. "I'm so small I stood up straight while I was between your legs, and my back didn't touch your belly."

"You can go places I can't."

I didn't think that was of much value.

"You can see things I can't."

I clasped her arm with my hands.

"You can hear things I can't, Michaela."

"Did anyone eat my rabbit, Lara?"

She laughed. "Yes. We all shared it."

"That's ridiculous. It's two bites for you."

"Nevertheless, we all shared it."

"Why?"

"Because it was your first kill for the pack, Michaela. And pack shares."

I turned towards her, burying my nose against her neck, and breathed in deeply. She smelled wonderful, wild and strong. Then she lifted my chin, and our lips met.

Her lips were soft and full, and it was my first kiss in a very long time. I whimpered into the kiss and let her pull me more tightly against her. When her tongue flicked against my lips, I parted for her, but she ignored my invitation, choosing instead to simply tease me with her tongue. I whimpered again, and she tightened her hold before breaking the kiss.