by Robin Roseau
“You could…” I thought about it. “You could come over.”
She didn’t answer right away, and I had my answer. “Not tonight. I have to get up early.”
“All right. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”
We hung up, and I stared at the phone. “Well, that wasn’t awkward,” I told it.
I began getting ready for bed. I was just turning off the lights when my phone rang again. I ran to my bedroom and checked it; it was Elisabeth again.
“Miss me?” I asked.
“Actually,” she said. “Yes. Zoe, is everything all right? That conversation felt a little awkward.”
So she had noticed it, too.
I didn’t know how to answer. I didn’t want to be the whiny girlfriend. On the other hand, I didn’t want to be something she kept around for when it was convenient to her.
“I think we’re both just coming off the stress from the trip,” I said. “We didn’t really have much time together, and now we feel a little weird about it.” I paused. “Well, I don’t want to put words in your mouth.”
“I did warn you.”
“And I didn’t complain,” I retorted. “Not once. You said things felt awkward; I was trying to help with an explanation.”
Oh joy, more awkward moments. Lovely.
“It would have been nice if you could have come over, but you’re right. It’s a little late for that. Everything is fine, Elisabeth. But now I have to ask. Is anything wrong on your side?”
“No, Zoe. Everything is fine. Are you angry with me?”
“No. You’ll know if I’m angry.”
“All right. I’ll let you get back to your book. Good night.”
“Night.”
Again we hung up, and again I stared at the phone. Then I sighed, set it on the nightstand, finished turning out the lights, and climbed into bed, intending to read for a few more minutes.
A half hour later, I was woken by my doorbell. I jerked away, my heart pounding in surprise. “What the hell?”
I climbed from the bed, then jerked as the doorbell rang again.
“I’m coming, I’m coming.”
When I looked through the peephole, Elisabeth was standing there, a garment bag slung over one shoulder. I stared for a moment then began unlocking the door. A moment later we stood there staring at each other. Then she stepped forward, causing me to move backwards. She pushed me away from the door then closed and locked it before turning back to me.
“What are you doing here?”
She didn’t answer with words. Instead, she stepped into me and pulled me into her arms. My eyes were closed by the time our lips met.
It was a deep, long, lingering kiss, and I melted against her as it went on.
Then, without a word, she led me to bed.
* * * *
Our lovemaking was quiet and a little desperate, but Elisabeth left me entirely wrung out long before she was done with me. I lay there afterwards, flushed, panting, and entirely satiated.
“I thought you had to get up early.”
“I do,” she replied. “I told the alpha I’d meet her at the office.”
“Thank you for coming over.” I snuggled more tightly and pulled the covers up to my chin.
“You were feeling neglected.”
“I didn’t complain.”
“I know. And I appreciate that. I’m sorry about the trip. I have duties.”
I laid my fingers across her lips, silencing her. “I know. It was thoughtful of you to worry and come tonight.”
We murmured together for a while before drifting back into sleep. My last coherent thought was, “Everything is all right.”
* * * *
“Zoe,” I said, crossing the threshold.
The house — as was typically the case — was full. I glanced around. Rebecca and Celeste were sitting on the floor in front of the silent television. Two of the teenagers were with them, and the four were playing some game. I thought that was sweet.
Lara and Elisabeth were standing in the dining area together, talking intently. Michaela was at the dining room table with three more students; they had a textbook open, and it looked like she was helping with homework. Serena was nearby, leaning against the wall, and I saw Monique standing at the picture window, looking alert.
Serena noticed me and nodded in my direction. No one else paid an ounce of attention. That was fine.
I passed through the room towards the kitchen, intentionally walking behind Elisabeth. I brushed my hand along her ass as I stepped behind her. She shifted slightly, and I was sure she knew it was me, but she continued her conversation with Lara.
In the kitchen, I found Francesca directing more of the students in the dinner preparations. I was noticed almost immediately, earning me a brief hug from Kaylee before she returned to her tasks.
I watched for a while. Francesca was amazing. She taught school all day, but somehow she found time to cook all these meals.
The kids were equally amazing. They all cheerfully went about their duties, kidding with each other but showing Francesca an amazing amount of respect. I was also pleased to see Connor and another boy helping. They were outnumbered by the girls, and they got a little additional attention, but everyone stayed on task at the same time.
“Is there anything I can do to help?” I asked.
Francesca looked over and smiled. “We’ve got it.” That’s the answer I expected. I presumed somewhere in this mess was a meal I could eat, but my vegan sensibilities wouldn’t have been happy with what I could see them preparing. “Go ahead and get yourself something to drink.” She nodded to the refrigerator.
There was lemonade waiting, so I grabbed a tall glass then spent the next twenty minutes roaming amongst the groups, not really taking part in any of the conversations.
Francesca announced it was time for dinner. I hung back, waiting to see whether there was a place for me. It looked like the table was going to be full, but most of the teenagers took plates out to the living room, leaving the dining room for the adults. Elisabeth looked around for me, then gestured to a place next to her. I took the seat, and she caressed my arm. A moment later, Kaylee set a plate down in front of me.
Dinner conversation was primarily banter between Michaela and the wolves. I stayed quiet, and no one attempted to direct the banter in my direction or pull me into any conversations.
It all felt very strange.
Normally the kids handle the post-dinner cleanup, but I bustled around with the rest of them. One of the girls told me, “You don’t have to do that,” but no one tried to kick me out. As long as they didn’t ask me to do anything with their disgusting animal products, I didn’t mind helping to clean up.
And so I was at the sink when Elisabeth found me. “What are you doing?”
“Ritual sacrifice,” I told her. “I am praying to the goddess of cleanliness, asking her to take these remnants as a token of my respect for her.”
“Ha, ha,” Elisabeth said. “Hurry up. We’re going for a run.”
“Just a few more,” I said. A minute later, I was drying my hands. I had been tempted to dry them on her shirt, but I wasn’t sure how she would retaliate. I was sure whatever she did would be worse than a damp shirt she was about to take off anyway.
I let her lead me outside.
The wolves seemed to shift in two styles. Some of them could change from human to wolf in an eye blink. Others took time, from several minutes to as long as fifteen for some of the little kids. I’d asked about once and was only told, “It’s a long story.”
I wondered if it was something about being a pack leader, as Lara’s entire family shifted instantly as did the strongest of the enforcers. I wondered why Portia shifted slowly, but I didn’t ask.
When we arrived outside, I saw a few wolves in fur, more in their transition, and the pack leadership standing on the porch, chatting. Michaela saw me and said, “There you are.” She held her hand out, and so I closed the distance and let her take my h
and. She squeezed it for a minute. “Everyone needs a good run,” she said.
“Have a good time,” I replied.
“We want you to come with.”
“I don’t understand. I thought you said a good run, not a slow lope.”
“Don’t worry about that,” she said. “That’s their problem. We know you like seeing us in our fur and I think Elisabeth is looking forward to chasing you around.”
“It’s hard to chase if I don’t run from her,” I replied. I glanced over at her. “It’s not like I’ve been playing hard to get.”
There were a few scoffs at that.
“Alpha, am I doing it wrong?” I asked.
Elisabeth growled lightly, but Michaela laughed. “Well,” she replied. “The wolves do like a good chase.”
I didn’t say it, and all the bantering aside, but if Elisabeth wanted a good chase, I wondered why I was there.
A few minutes later, the last of the slow shifters were in fur. Some of the wolves spent time chasing each other around. I noticed the pups were busy stalking absolutely everyone. At one point, Michaela said, “Don’t look now, but you’re being hunted.”
I immediately dashed behind to the other side of her, using her as a shield from the pups. Michaela laughed then addressed the pups. “You two know the porch is safe territory. Go hunt down in the grass.”
The two grunted and then leapt from the porch and began chasing one of the teenagers around but soon found themselves being chased instead.
I watched for a while. I was a little jealous. Okay, I was a lot jealous. It looked like so much fun, and they were so amazingly fast. Michaela stepped closer. “What are you thinking?”
“There’s a part of me that wishes the mythology were right.”
“You’d want one of us to bite you?”
I thought about it. “Part of me, yes.” I gestured with my nose. “Do you think I’ll ever grow past my awe at seeing this? Even when I was terrified to be here, I was filled with awe at the same time.”
“It might not remain awe,” she said after a moment. “Michele Lassiter uses the word ‘joy’.” She smiled then spoke more loudly. “Well. It appears to be time.”
“Did you make a game?” Lara asked.
Michaela glanced at me. “No. Just a run.” She loosened her clothing then took two steps towards her mate. She jumped at Lara, and midair, she shifted to a fox. Her clothing fell off her as Lara caught her, laughing.
I stared. I couldn’t help it.
She was just so beautiful.
Michaela gave Lara a quick lick, and then the big wolf set down the fox. Michaela bumped Lara’s leg then stepped over to me and began pushing me towards the stairs off the porch. I laughed and went where she pushed. A moment later, we were jogging towards the woods, the wolves all around us.
Michaela appeared to have several paces she could travel as a fox. In a flat run, she was much faster than I could run. But she also seemed to have a natural pace that was about my jogging speed. I could keep up with her. Unfortunately for me, she could maintain that speed a lot longer than I could jog, but at least for a while, I could keep up.
The wolves were faster, much faster, and I could see what an easy, slow speed this was for them.
We barely made the trees before the pups were dashing around us, chasing each other, chasing the other wolves, and even from time to time, chasing after Michaela’s tail. A couple of times one of them dashed past me, and I worried I would trip over one of them, but I didn’t.
And then Lara was there, loping alongside Michaela. On my left, Elisabeth bounded past me, but the path grew narrower, and I knew we wouldn’t be able to run side-by-side very far. I didn’t worry about that. I jogged along the path and let everyone else decide what they were going to do.
Some of the wolves ran with us, ahead or behind us on the trail or dashing through the underbrush to either side. They were streaks, visible by the movement more than anything. Light streaks, dark streaks. But just streaks. Some of them ran ahead then came back, three or four in a group, an arrow of wolves.
Some ran close to the ground. A few liked to make great, leaping bounds. I’d seen both Lara and Elisabeth leap like that, and it was amazing to watch.
“I wonder how far they can jump,” I panted. “And how high? Elisabeth, can you actually jump over me?”
I shouldn’t have asked.
She dashed away down the path, well in front of us. Still beside me, sharing the path with me, Michaela grunted several times, and then she looked up at me, her tongue lolling to the side. I wondered if she was laughing at me.
From ahead, I heard a brief howl, and then coming down the path was a wolf — Elisabeth — running as fast as I’d ever seen her. She was running straight at us. Then, still a good twenty yards away, she made a leap, a small leap. I was sure she could jump higher and further, but she still ate five yards.
But when she landed, she came down in a coil of muscle, and then she released that coil, and she was flying through the air straight at me.
I screamed and ducked, burying my head with my arms and collapsing to my knees, curling into a protective ball.
She didn’t hit me, of course. Instead, she flew well over my head, coming to the ground behind me. I heard skidding, and a moment later, she was beside me.
“Oh my god,” I said. “You scared me.” I wrapped my arms around her neck. “I know. I asked if you could.” I held her for a minute, and she stood still for me as my heart slowed. Finally I said, “Wow, you were magnificent. Are you going to do it again?”
She grunted then shook lightly. I released her and stood up.
Michaela and Lara had come to a stop, waiting for us a short distance away. Some of the other wolves had also stopped, and I heard more running around in the woods nearby.
“I know,” I said. “Scaredy-human.”
All the wolves grunted at me, a few with tongues lolling. Brats. They were all brats.
I set off down the trail again.
Michaela spun around and ran in front of me, Lara scrambling for a moment to keep up with her, then loping alongside her mate easily. Elisabeth ran next to me, then she dashed ahead, and I knew what she intended. Lara made a few big jumps, pulling out ahead of Michaela and chasing after her sister. Michaela, in turn, slowed down and then began running beside me again.
“They’re both going to do it, aren’t they?”
Michaela grunted twice.
“I’m probably going to scream again.”
She grunted some more.
“Am I embarrassing Elisabeth?” And the fox didn’t reply. I thought that was my answer.
We ran for perhaps a half minute before I heard a wolf racing down the path towards us. Lara appeared.
Elisabeth had done a double jump, but Lara did it her own way. I watched her muscles coil and then she sprang.
She wasn’t pointed straight at me, and I realized she wasn’t leaping at me; she was leaping at Michaela. Still, I shied away from her path, and she was a blur as she passed through the air to my right, directly over Michaela but only about my eye level. I looked over my shoulder to see her land and come to a skidding stop before turning around.
“Oh please,” I said. “Even I can jump over your mate, Alpha.”
Beside me, Michaela jumped ahead, did a summersault when she landed, and she came up on two feet in her human shape. “You shouldn’t have said that, Zoe. Wager, and you can’t say ‘no’.”
“Damn it.”
She raised her voice. “Elisabeth, Lara. Get over here.” With a hand out, she brought me to a stop, and moments later both wolves were beside us.
“Zoe has challenged the alpha,” Michaela said. She looked at me pointedly, and I realized I had done just that. Furthermore, I immediately realized that challenging the alpha was probably not the best choice. I nodded understanding. She looked at the wolves. “You each get five leaps. The first two will be over me, not Zoe. The last three are over her. Your leaps must be high e
nough to clear her.” She smiled and turned to me.
“You may react in joy or awe, but you must not react in fear or act startled. No screaming, screeching, ducking, or covering your eyes.”
She looked at the wolves. “You mustn’t touch her. Point to Zoe if you touch her more firmly than a brushing of fur.” She looked at me. “It doesn’t count if you touch them or alter your path.” I nodded. “Point to the wolves if you react poorly. Point to you if you just keep jogging along as if nothing happened. Or if you laugh.”
And I laughed, nervously.
She looked at the wolves. “If either of you knock her over, it’s an automatic major favor from the alpha or head enforcer as appropriate.” She looked back at me. “Do you understand?”
“It’s a favor. I’ve had to give away several on pack play nights.”
“Ah. But these are major favors, which can mean anything, and they are from the alpha, which is different than coming from Lara. Do you see?”
“I’m not sure. I think so.” I paused. “They aren’t going to knock me over, so it won’t matter.”
She smiled. “True. You have to keep running. You lose a point if you don’t keep up with me.”
“I can’t run as fast as you can.”
“I know. I’ll set a pace you can maintain. Now, I’m the only judge, and anyone arguing with me gives up an extra point. I’ll chuff for a point to Zoe and huff for either wolf.”
“Chuff?”
Beside me, Elisabeth made the grunting sound of agreement.
“Oh,” I said. “I called it a grunt.”
“It’s a chuff,” Michaela said. And then Elisabeth made the snort. “And that’s a huff.”
“It sounded like a snort to me.”
Michaela barked a short laugh. “I suppose it did.”
“Chuff and huff,” I said. “Got it.”
“All right. If Zoe beats either wolf, then that wolf owes her help on future GreEN events. The number of points she earns more than she loses is how many days of help. Zoe, if you beat both wolves, then I’ll help alongside Lara.”
I thought that was a good wager. “What if I lose?”
“Then you owe the wolf that many days of tasks she assigns.”
