Wolf Ways (The Madison Wolves Book 9) (12 page)

Lara grunted.

“I’m game for more,” I said.

“No,” said Elisabeth.

I turned to her. “This is too rough,” she added.

“That could have happened last night. So I take it we’re not playing at all in the future?”

She snorted, studied me, snorted again, and then backed away. Michaela went with her. The wolves moved away as well, then began circling me slowly.

We played for perhaps five or ten minutes. I got knocked down a lot, and I was sure I earned bruises, but I didn’t get hurt. However, I did get worn out, and after Lara took me down one more time, I lay there, not getting up.

I was pooped.

Lara sniffed at me, but I just said, “I’m done. But that was fun.”

Elisabeth came over and helped me to my feet. I sagged in her arms, breathing heavily, and said into her ear, “I really need to go home, but I don’t want anyone to think I’m leaving because I’m upset. I’m worn out, and I have to get up early.”

“Zoe,” Michaela said. “What did you think?”

Elisabeth and I turned to her.

“Work on the rules,” I said. “I’d play like that, but I’d want my opponents picked carefully.” I gestured. “They were being as gentle as I think is possible, weren’t they?”

Lara flowed into human and stood up. Someone threw a blanket at her, then she turned to me. “Good job. I’m proud of you, Zoe. And you did better than I expected.”

“I had incentive.” I paused. “Angel and Scarlett, may I hug you both before I go?”

They both grunted, and so I knelt down but let them come to me. I hugged each one of them in turn, exchanging a kiss on their furry foreheads for a quick lick on my face. “Thank you,” I whispered into their ears.

* * * *

We were quiet in the car. I leaned back and closed my eyes.

“Are you hurt?” Elisabeth asked after several minutes.

“Wiped out. I probably have bruises. I might be stiff tomorrow.”

“Take some ibuprofen and more when you wake up. If you get here a little early, I can help you loosen up.”

“Is that a euphemism?”

“No.”

“Damn.” And she laughed.

We didn’t talk much after that. Once we arrived at my apartment, she parked and then walked me in. Once inside, she said, “Were you going to shower? You’ll sleep better.”

“You can’t join me, Elisabeth.”

“I wasn’t going to. I’m going to get your things ready for the morning so you can’t forget them. I’m going to pile them in front of the door. Show me the suit you want. Then I’ll tuck you into bed.”

So I took my ibuprofen, showed her the suit, and headed for the shower. By the time I was done, she had all my things packed, most of the lights turned out, and my sheets pulled back. I moved to her, and we kissed. There was passion, but not too much passion. Then she walked me to the bed.

I then spent the next twenty minutes moaning in pleasure as she gave me a deep, wonderful massage.

She kissed the back of my neck and let herself out.

I actually felt okay in the morning, a little stiff, but not too bad. I had a few bruises, but they weren’t bad, and I’d had fun.

More importantly, I thought I was starting to fit in.

And other than one moment of panic, I wasn’t afraid.

I wasn’t afraid.

I woke with that thought, and it was a wonderful thought.

I believed Michaela. And Lara and Elisabeth and Karen.

I was safe, probably safer than I’d been since, well, forever.

I managed to get out of the house by seven, and I texted Elisabeth as I was getting into my car. “Leaving now. You said you could loosen me up?”

My phone rang five minutes later. I used the hands free to answer it. “Good morning.”

“Good morning, Zoe,” said Elisabeth. “Park in my driveway. There are gym clothes in your bag. You can change into them, we’ll do a short workout, and I promise you’ll feel great.”

We chatted most of the way during my drive, and she was waiting in her driveway when I pulled up, her phone in her hand. We smiled at each other. Then she met me at the side of my car, handed me out, and then pulled me into a deep, lingering kiss.

God, she could kiss.

She left me breathless and had to steady me for a moment afterwards. She chuckled.

“Shut up,” I said. “Damned wolves.”

That just caused her to chuckle harder.

Her little workout did wonders. She had me do just a dozen of very easy reps with empty bars, and she helped to support the bars at the same time. It was just enough to move me through my range of motion and warm me up, and I felt really good afterwards.

“I told you,” she said.

A while later, back in my casual clothes for class, she dropped me off with Karen. “I’ll see you later.”

* * * *

Class was fun. Karen was a good teacher, and it was a joy to be in class with such smart kids. They took the material seriously while taking life casually and I found the combination refreshing.

We got a break at ten and lunch at noon. The kids teased me a little about my food, but then Monique said, “Zoe, will you tell us more about what you do?”

“Only a few minutes,” I said. “We’re here for diving today. But we’ll have more time if you guys have questions.” So I explained about GreEN, and all five of them, including Karen, listened intently.

It was Karen who asked, “Do you have a web site? A mailing list?” I wondered if Michaela or Elisabeth had primed her with that question. I wrote both my web sites and my email address down on the white board. I would find later than all four kids signed up for the GreEN mailing list.

I was deeply touched.

Karen taught for one more hour then said, “All right. Next, pool time!”

“Yes!” said Connor. He bumped fists with Layton.

“All of you should have mask, fins and snorkels. Raise your hands.” All five hands went up. “We’re going to head to the pool. You can leave your class materials here, but you’ll need your gear. Leave your gear in the pool area then use the locker rooms to change and shower. If there’s a qualified lifeguard on duty, you may swim for a few minutes while we’re fitting a few of you for some of your equipment. I think most of you are all ready, but I know we have to fit Zoe and Layton. Ready… Go.”

The kids ran. Karen and I walked at a more measured pace, talking quietly.

“You were good last night. Everyone was impressed. But I think that was still too rough for you.”

I shrugged. “I’m trying to fit in.” I paused and looked down. “Elisabeth is giving up a lot to date a human.”

“I thought that might be part of it.” She paused. “She knows you’re human, Zoe.”

“I know. I feel inadequate.”

“Do you want to know what I think? And actually, Portia and I talked about it last night.”

“You were talking about me?”

“Yes. I imagine you were quite the topic after you left last night. Portia and I think you’re trying too hard. Just relax. Don’t worry about any of this.”

“I wouldn’t want to play that rough all the time,” I said, “but I don’t want to come here and sit on the sidelines, either.”

“All right,” she said. “But you know you don’t have to play the rough games. Even Michaela sits out some of our activities, and Nick, Michele, and Benny play only the lightest of our games.”

I looked at the ground and said quietly, “I’m trying to fit in, Karen. And Eric told me it’s important to play. Wolves like to play.”

“Yeah, but we can break a bone and be healed an hour later. And you wouldn’t believe some of the things that have happened to Michaela, but she keeps coming back.”

“But-”

“If Michaela, Lara or Elisabeth tell you not to play, just don’t argue. Okay?”

“Of course.”

* * * *

“Hey!” I said. “What are you doing here?”

“Assistant instructor,” Elisabeth said. She gestured. Michaela, Lara, Angel and Scarlett were there, too, all in suits. Portia and Eric were also hanging around in clothes, and I presumed they were on duty.

I looked Elisabeth up and down. She looked damned good in her suit. All the wolves did. I felt inadequate. I asked myself what Elisabeth saw in me, but she eyed me appreciatively, and I decided she must see something.

I didn’t know what.

Then Karen called me over to collect the rest of my gear. She fitted me for a BCD — buoyancy compensation device — which is a fancy name for a life jacket used in diving. To that she added an air tank, regulator, and a weight belt with a few pounds of weights.

I could barely pick it all up.

“All right,” she said. “This is where you let wolves be wolves.” She looked around. “Who wants to be Zoe’s dive partner?”

Monique and Kaylee both ran over, which I thought was really sweet. They eyed each other. “I got here first,” said Monique.

“But she’s my table partner, so she should be my dive partner.”

“She’s your table partner, so you shouldn’t hog her. It’s my turn.”

“You’re going to get to go to Key West with her. So I think you should let me partner with her now.”

I laughed. I was sure they were just teasing. But it felt good they were fighting over me, even if it was in fun.

They both turned to Karen. “May we work it out?” Monique asked. Karen nodded, so she turned to Kaylee. “You get her today, and I get her tomorrow.”

“Deal,” said Kaylee.

And I had a partner.

“All right, Kaylee,” Karen said. “Zoe can carry her gear, but I’m a little afraid it’s on the edge of what is safe.”

“I’ve got it,” she said. “I’ll set it next to mine.” And then she picked everything up, one hand on the tank and BCD, the other on the weight belt, and like it was nothing, she carried it all to the edge of the pool, setting it down next to a similar set. I stared.

“So easy.”

“Yep, and you’ll find that these kids will go out of their way to help, if you let them. So let them.”

After that, Karen collected everyone together at the benches to one side of the pool. “Everyone here can swim, right?” We all nodded. “Well, you all get a chance to prove it. You each need to swim two hundred yards. The pool is twenty-five yards, so that’s four times, down and back. No stopping, no standing, no hanging onto the edge, and no kicking off the walls on the turns. The minimum standards allow for no time limit, but I want to see at least a side stroke, if you can’t go that far in a faster style.” She paused. “Zoe, is that a problem?”

“Nope. I won’t win any races, and I bet I’m last today, but I can swim.”

“All right. Everyone pick a lane. Swim at your own pace, but stay in your lane. Start swimming whenever you’re ready.”

We all spread out, and a moment later, I began swimming.

I wasn’t a fast swimmer, but I was steady. I did something I called an energy-conserving crawl. Basically it’s just like the normal crawl, but I don’t flutter my feet so hard.

To either side of me, the wolves were much faster, and they lapped me at least once, probably twice, but I ignored them and just swam.

It felt good, and I could have gone a lot further by the time I was done. I finished my fourth lap and came to a gentle stop at the edge of the pool. I stood up and looked around.

The kids were together, talking, and the adults were standing on the edge, watching me. And I bet they were talking about me, too.

“Did anyone have any wagers on me?” I asked. “I bet you all thought I’d do some lame backstroke.”

There was nervous laughter at that. “No wagers that I know about,” Elisabeth said.

“Well done,” said Karen. “How are you doing?”

“I’m fine. Do we get to do it again?”

She laughed.

“All right.” She clapped her hands, getting the attention of the teenagers. “Now we need you to float or tread water by any style you want. Everyone make your way to the deep end and we’ll begin.”

After that, she got us all out of the water. She had us collect our mask, fins and snorkel. She reviewed how to keep the mask from fogging then had Angel jump into the pool and demonstrate the skills we were going to practice with just the basic snorkeling gear. Karen told us to “take your time and have fun. But I want you to swim around with your partners. Everyone grab your partner’s hand.”

Kaylee moved to my side and grabbed my hand, raising our hands above our heads. I saw Monique was partnered with Connor, and Layton was without a partner.

“I need a partner for Layton.”

“I will,” said Scarlett. “If you don’t mind, Layton.”

“Um,” he said. “Sure.” He grinned stupidly at her. Ah, teenage boys. Human or wolves, they’re all the same. Scarlett returned his grin with a friendly smile and moved to his side, taking his hand.

By his reaction, I wondered if he realized she was a lesbian. It was really cute.

Kaylee leaned over to me. “Scarlett’s really popular,” she said. “All the guys are half in love with her.”

“She’s very sweet, and I’m not surprised,” I replied. “You’re sweet, too. I bet the boys like you.”

“Boys are dumb,” she said. “Cute, but dumb.”

I laughed and had to agree.

“All right. You don’t have to hold hands in the water, but I want you close enough that you could. Keep track of your partner at all times. Carry your things to the shallow end and put them on in the water. Help each other if you need to, but you’ll need to get good at doing it yourselves. Swim around, get comfortable, and then move to the deeper end. Spend some time on the surface. Get used to breathing through the snorkel. Then practice diving down and clearing the snorkel the way you’ve been taught. The rest of us will be in the water helping all of you out, and I’ll be testing you on the basic skills.”

Then she turned to Kaylee. “Kaylee, your partner is human. You understand.”

“Yes, Karen. We’re here to have fun, anyway. It’s not a race.”

“That’s a good attitude.”

I leaned to her. “And your partner is kind of old besides.”

She smiled at me.

It was awkward pulling everything on. We all had booties, and we put those on while still sitting on the bench. Once in the water, Kaylee held my mask and snorkel and said, “Can you get your fins on?”

“I think so.” And then I demonstrated that no, I couldn’t. It was Michaela that moved over to me.

“Hop up on the edge. We’ll get them adjusted, then you can try.”

So I sat on the edge of the pool while she pulled my fins on me, doing something with the straps. She had me try it there, then she told Kaylee to take them away from me and have me try in the pool. It was easier now that I knew what I was doing.

Kaylee had less trouble. Then we donned our mask and snorkels.

“Try breathing just standing here,” Michaela said. “It looks dorky, but you have to get used to it.”

So we stood there, looking at each other through the masks. We looked like a couple of space aliens, but it was easy breathing.

“All right,” she said. “Put your faces in the water and try it that way.”

“All right,” she finally said. “Go have fun”

Swimming with the fins was a LOT easier. I felt so powerful. I barely had to move my feet, and I was thrusting through the water. That was great!

From around our snorkels, Kaylee and I grinned at each other. I took mine out of my mouth and said, “I’ll follow you around, just don’t go too fast.”

So we swam around the pool for a while, first on the surface, then underwater. I got a mouth full of water the first time I surfaced, and I spent some time coughing, but after that, I remembered to blow out lightly when I came to the surface each time.

I had a blast. Finally Kaylee and I went to the ladder in the corner of the deep end. I treaded water and took my snorkel out. “Let’s take a big breath then sit on the bottom. We can use the ladder to stay down.”

She nodded, so that’s what she did.

She could hold her breath longer than I could, but I counted to forty before I pointed upwards, and we surfaced.