by Robin Roseau
"Oh for heaven's sake," Lara said. She rose to her feet, still naked in human form, took four steps to the deer, bent over, and with a grunt, heaved it onto her shoulders. "Pick a path for me, Angel," she said. "If you run me through some poison ivy, you will not be happy."
I shifted to fox and followed along behind. Elisabeth ran off, and I listened to her as she set an intercept course with the four-wheeler. We reached the clearing, and I tracked Elisabeth until her track merged so closely with the four-wheeler I couldn't hear her anymore. Then it shifted direction, and two minutes later, it burst into the clearing, driven by Rory, Elisabeth in the lead. He drove straight to Lara and came to a stop, then jumped off the back and helped Lara lower the deer onto a rack mounted to the front of the four-wheeler.
"Nice one!" he said. "Who found it?"
"The fox," Lara said. "Scarlett and Angel took it down."
"Oooh!" he said. "Congratulations!" He turned to them. "First kill, isn't it?"
They both huffed displeasure.
"Not first kill?" he asked.
"First deer kill," Lara declared. "But their technique needs practice."
They huffed again.
"First kill," Lara said firmly. "Congratulations girls. You had him, I just made sure."
At that, they chuffed.
"All right," Lara said. "Get this thing to wherever you're meeting the car. Michaela, go with him. We'll catch up at the road."
I backed away from the four-wheeler. It was loud, and I didn't see anywhere for a fox to sit. I wasn't going to climb on behind Rory in my birthday suit.
"Oh for heaven's sake," Lara said. "Michaela, come here." She pointed to the ground. I slinked over to her. She bent over and picked me up, which was okay. Rory climbed onto the four-wheeler, and Lara set me down on the seat in front of him. "Rory won't let you fall off, Michaela. Will you, Rory?"
"Absolutely not," he said.
I whimpered and jumped off.
"Michaela!" Lara said. "What's the matter with you?"
I lay down in the grass and put my paws over my ears.
Lara sighed. "He'll go slow enough it won't be that loud. Get back up there."
I huffed, but did what I was told. Rory gave the obnoxious machine some gas, and soon we were bouncing away to the southwest. I whimpered, but I didn't try to jump off again.
Rory knew where he was going, and he brought the machine to a stop thirty yards away from the road. "Go see if it's clear. Yip once if it's safe, twice if it's not."
I jumped off and ran the rest of the way to the road. Eric was standing next to one of the SUVs with the rear gate opened. I looked in both directions and tried to listen, but my hearing was shot from the four-wheeler. I didn't hear any cars, so I yipped once. Rory gave the machine some gas and was on the road moments later. He and Eric promptly tossed the deer into the back of the SUV and closed the gate just as I heard a car approaching. I yipped twice and dashed down into the ditch, out of sight.
The car didn't even slow as it went past. Eric got into the SUV and drove away. I ran back up and looked at Rory.
"Want another ride?" he asked me, smiling.
I growled at him and backed away.
"Does it hurt your ears, Michaela?"
I chuffed.
"Even human?"
I chuffed again.
He knelt down so we were near the same level. I approached. "Michaela," he said gently. "How good is your hearing?"
I stared at him. He knew. I turned away, hanging my head.
"Michaela," he said. "I won't tell anyone, but everyone is starting to suspect. It can't be avoided. Your ears are delicate, and you can tell things when no one else can. Two and two, Michaela. If I figured it out, you know a lot of the others already have."
I looked back at him, hanging my head.
"No one will use it against you, Michaela. But if we know, we can protect you better."
I shifted to human, turning my back to him and looking over my shoulder. The wolves thought nothing of casual nudity, but even after a year with them, I wasn't entirely used to it. I looked at Rory sadly.
"I don't have many advantages left, Rory," I said.
"How good is your hearing?" he asked softly.
"I can hear a mouse at a hundred yards, if there isn't too much other noise. As a human. I can hear your heart beating. I can hear the blood rushing through your veins. I can tell you that Lara is four hundred yards and closing. Angel is limping slightly, so they're moving slower for her."
"Is she all right?"
"She will be. Rory, I can hear that after your infernal machine destroyed my hearing for the next hour. Can you hear them?"
"No, and I don't smell them, either."
"The wind is left to right," I said.
"The alpha-"
"She knows. It's how I knew the Chicago wolves' plans. I told her and Elisabeth. Lara told Vivian. How long have you suspected."
"It just came to me, but suddenly it all made sense."
"So others might know," I said. "And the rest will figure it out."
"Yeah," he agreed. "Am I the first you know of to have figured it out?"
"Lara suspected. I was good at misleading her. But I'm around a lot more now. I guess I couldn't keep it secret forever. It's not like you could have hidden your sense of smell from me."
Lara was coming closer.
"What do you want me to do, Michaela?" Rory asked.
"Pretend you don't know," I said. "Don't change anything. For heaven's sake, don't jump to my defense if anyone is loud."
"All right," he said. "Now I realize some of the things Lara does to help you, too. I can do some of those."
"If I let you wrap your arms around my ears, people are going to suspect. When she does it, it just looks like an awkward hug."
Rory laughed. "I guess."
I turned to see Lara emerging from the woods, the other wolves following behind. Angel was limping, Francesca and Scarlett walking next to her. Lara saw me standing there, talking to Rory. I never stood around in my birthday suit, especially not in front of the guys. She bounded up the incline to me and began sniffing me over to see what was wrong. She tried to stick her cold nose where it didn't belong, and I pushed her away, then knelt down and wrapped my arms around her neck. "He knows about my hearing," I whispered into one ear. "I bet everyone does."
She chuffed and licked me. I pulled her close, her head hanging over my back. "I don't know what to do, Lara."
The rest of the wolves walked up. Angel nudged me, then on the other side, Elisabeth. I reached over and scratched their ears. "Scarlett, Francesca," I said. "Come closer. There's something I need to tell you."
Lara chuffed gently at me.
I told my closest friends about my hearing. Angel immediately sat down and yawned. I looked at her. "I can't tell if that's a wolf yawn or a human yawn, Angel. Are you telling me to calm down? Or did you already know?" She chuffed at the second one.
I turned to Scarlett. She yawned. Francesca yawned.
"You all knew?" They chuffed. "You didn't say anything."
Angel looked at me for a moment, then she rolled over and exposed her throat for me. She'd never done that before.
"Oh Angel," I said. "I am Omega and happy to stay that way." I reached over and scratched her fur. "But thank you."
I looked around. "How's your foot? Can you keep up with a fox, Angel?"
She rolled upright and held her paw to me. I took it in my hand, marveling at how big her paw was. "Look, Angel, your paw is as big as my human hand. Do you want to ride back with Rory?"
She growled at me.
I laughed. "I guess no one trusts your driving, Rory."
"Yeah, yeah," he said. "Honestly, it's the smell they don't like. Why do you think I had to ride the four-wheeler and Eric got the car?"
"Oh," I said. "It does kind of stink, doesn't it?" I wrinkled my nose.
The wolves all huffed.
"Well," I said. "We need a new game for the t
rip back to the compound."
Lara chuffed, then backed away and bowed to me. Then they were all bowing to me, demanding to play.
"Five minute head start!" I demanded. Lara huffed. "Two!" Huffed. "One!" She chuffed for that.
"I'm timing!" Rory said. "Go!"
I shifted and immediately began to run.
I gave them a good race. We were far enough from the compound that they would have easily caught me if I had run straight for home, so I used my normal tricks to hide from them. Lara gave me a quick howl when they started after me, although she wouldn't have needed to. I could still hear them.
Bunch of elephants.
I ran into the woods heading towards the compound but then left a few false trails and turned to parallel the road. I listened for Rory on the machine, but he didn't start it up. Once the wolves were firmly in the woods, I ran back onto the road and immediately doubled back towards Rory. From the sounds, I knew I'd lost the wolves twice, but I only gained a few seconds; there were so many, they simply fanned out and found my fresh trail nearly immediately.
I yipped once when I grew close to Rory. He turned to face me. I got close, jumped, and shifted to human on the run. "Rory! Start it up. Will the smell hide me?"
He laughed. "Yes. But you'll need a shower before Lara will want to get near you."
"Take me two hundred yards that way," I said, pointing the way I was running. I hopped onto the machine behind him, he hit the starter, and we were off. As soon as we came to a stop, I hopped off. "Thanks, Rory!" I shifted on the run and made a straight line for the compound.
They never found me, and I was in the shower by the time Lara got home. I didn't hear her over the sound of the water -- the four-wheeler had destroyed my hearing for a while. She burst into the bathroom, laughing.
"That was a dirty trick!" she said. "Very clever."
I turned to her. She was naked, having just shifted back to human. I pulled her into the shower with me and let her back me against the wall.
"Make love to me, Lara," I said.
I didn't have to ask twice.
She pressed me against the wall of the shower with her body, and a knee slid between my legs, spreading me for her. She pressed against me, my breasts fitting below hers, and I lifted my lips for a kiss.
Lara crushed our mouths together, her tongue invading, and I could tell she intended to possess every inch of me. I became wet with the thought. She growled in her throat, and I moaned in anticipation. I wrapped my arms around her, but she reached for me and shoved my hands against the wall, holding them over my head in one hand, her mouth never leaving mine.
I squirmed, rubbing my crotch against her knee. She let me do that. My need fueled hers, and even my nose picked up her scent of arousal.
She broke the kiss, and I tried to chase her mouth with mine, but she pressed me more firmly against the wall, then grabbed my chin with her free hand.
"Possess me," I told her. "Take me, Lara. I am going to fight you on this, but make me scream your name. Do it."
She smiled. "I will, Little Fox."
And then the teasing began, the delicious, lovely, exquisite teasing. She used her leg at first, pressing into me, but she shifted her weight so I couldn't grind against her, as much as I tried. And while her leg teased me, her eyes held mine captive. So I closed my eyes, and she stopped moving, pinning me against the wall, not allowing me to move, not moving.
"Open your eyes," she said.
I opened them, looking into hers again.
"If you close them again, I stop and I won't start again. Do you understand?"
"Lara-"
"Do. You. Understand?"
"Yes, Lara."
She smiled, and it was a feral smile. And then her leg shifted, lifting into my crotch, and she ground her knee into me, just right, and I tried to squirm.
"Alpha," I said, then gasped. "Did I win? Was it five minutes?"
"Yes," she said.
"Then for my favor, by morning, I want to be too sore to move from everything you do to me tonight. Don't hold back. Will you do that, Lara?"
"Honey," she said.
"Please, Lara," I said. "That's what I want. If you don't give me what I want, you know I'll push your buttons until you do."
She ground her knee into me, suddenly, causing me to gasp again. "Yes," I said.
"I won't hurt you," she said. "Will you allow me to pleasure you the way I want?"
"Please, Lara, I need to be yours."
"You are mine, Little Fox!"
To punctuate, she pressed her knee into me again, and I gasped. Again.
"Yes, Lara," I said. She began moving more rhythmically, and the more I squirmed and moaned, the more her own passion rose. She wouldn't finish me like this, but she could get me worked up to no end.
She continued to hold my hands with one hand. I knew from past experience I couldn't free my wrists, and physically she could do whatever she wanted to me. A year ago that thought would of terrified me. Now it drove me insane with need.
Her free hand moved down my body, caressing my wet skin and sliding over a nipple. I gasped with the sensation. She teased the nipple, causing it to stiffen.
All the while she stared into my eyes, and I couldn't pull my gaze from hers.
"Oh Lara," I said. "I love what you do to me."
She smiled, her hand moving lower, and she began to tickle me, very lightly, lovely tickles that I never wanted to stop. My whole body began to quiver from the sensations she was giving me.
"You are mine," she said again.
"Yes, Lara."
"Say it," she commanded.
I knew she loved when I pledged myself to her. "I am yours, Lara. All, entirely yours."
"Keep saying it, or I stop. Louder. Convince me you are proud of it. Convince the pack you are proud of it."
And so, over and over, I said, "I am yours! I am yours!" and I got louder and louder. And then her fingers entered me, and I gasped, loudly, and then all I could say was, "Yours, Lara! Yours! Yours!"
The orgasm hit me hard and fast, and every muscle in my body clenched, and I screamed I was hers, in time with the waves of pleasure, until it was little more than a continuous scream of pleasure.
And then I fell limp, Lara catching me in her arms, pulling me to her body and wrapping my arms around her neck. I draped around her, limp, unable to support my own weight, and she held me like that, chuckling, as she washed her hair one-handed. I clutched at her, almost sliding out of her grip three times, my body limp pasta, but each time she caught me and held me to her.
It took a long time to catch my breath and even longer before I could stand, leaning against the wall.
"Will you let me finish washing your stunning body, Lara?"
She grinned at me. "Are you up for it?"
"No, but I want to do it anyway."
She laughed and handed me the soap. Then she turned around, and slowly I washed her, everywhere I could reach. I didn't trust I could stand up if I knelt down, so I only got so far.
When I reached between her legs, she stopped me.
"But I want to-"
She smiled. "I came when you did, love." She took the soap from me and finished washing herself, then we rinsed together.
I let her dry me, barely able to stand, and when I almost fell over the third time, she sat me on the edge of the bathtub to finish it. She brushed my hair for me.
"It feels good wet for now," I said. "Don't dry it. Is there food?"
She laughed. "Yes. Everyone is downstairs."
"So they all heard me."
"Honey, everyone in three counties heard you."
"Good," I said. "Good."
She lifted my chin to look into my eyes. "You mean that, don't you?"
"Yes, Alpha."
"Only because I'm the alpha?"
"No, Lara. But you being alpha helped me understand."
She finished drying herself then helped me into the bedroom, sitting me down on the bed. "What do yo
u want to wear?"
"Anything," I said. "Whatever you want me in, Lara."
She grinned at me. "So if I told you to go naked?"
"For you? I'd go naked."
I looked up at her and climbed unsteadily to my feet, turned to the door, and almost fell over. She caught me, laughing. I draped myself into her arms. "God, you did me good. Oh, will you do that again later?"
"Yes, Love."
"Good. Kiss me."
And she did. Afterwards, she said, "How about jeans and a blouse?"
"All right," I said.
She found sexy undies for me, then slipped a camisole over my head. After that came the jeans and a blouse, which she buttoned halfway for me, allowing the camisole to show.
"I love you," I told her.
She laughed joyfully. "And I love you, Little Fox." I watched as she dressed, and then she helped me to my feet. Together, with her arm around my waist, we descended the staircase.
When we reached the bottom of the stairs, we received applause. Ava was laughing. "Do you two realize I was on the phone with my mother?"
I started to blush immediately.
"Alpha, she congratulates you on taming the shrew."
"She did not!" I said. "I have never been a shrew! Although I admit Lara has tamed me." I looked around. "Am I really a shrew?"
"No," Francesca said. "A pain in the ass, but I don't expect that's going to change."
I laughed. "Well, that part is intentional. Please, someone tell me I don't have to cook. Because I can't stand."
That gained me more laughter, and when I glanced at Lara, she looked exceedingly pleased.
I looked around. Angel wasn't in the room. "Angel?"
"Kitchen, icing her hand," Francesca said. "It will be fine by morning. Alpha, maybe set Michaela on the sofa. Ava, Sophia, please go check on dinner. It should be about ready."
Lara picked me up, causing me to screech and everyone else to laugh, and carried me to the sofa. She sat down, me draped across her lap, and that was fine with me.
Francesca, Elisabeth and Karen sat down facing Lara and me. "I knew," Francesca said. "So did Angel and probably Scarlett."
I nodded.
"The enforcers are figuring it out," Elisabeth said. "I've told them they are not to discuss anything about you with anyone else, and if they have questions, they are to see me, not talk amongst themselves."
