Fox Run

by Robin Roseau

  She smiled and continued to hold it for me.

  "Bitch," I told her. Her gaze faltered for a moment, but she shook the towel once, inviting me to step into it. I stepped sideways into it, and she wrapped it around me.

  "Are we talking here in my bathroom then, me wrapped in a towel, wolf?" I asked sullenly.

  "We can, if that's what you want, Michaela," she said. "Or if you promise to behave, we can step into the bedroom and you can get dressed first."

  "I would prefer to be dressed," I said.

  "All right," said the woman. "You understand I will need to watch you. I don't want to go through all this again. On two feet, I am faster than you are. And if you take the time to shift, I will catch you while you are vulnerable."

  "You wolves are all alike," I told her.

  "How is that?"

  "Bullies."

  She sighed. "I only want to talk to you, Michaela."

  I glared at her. "Does it matter what I want?"

  "No," she admitted. "It doesn't."

  "So, like I said. Bullies. I won't try to run. As you have pointed out, it would be futile. You would just catch me again."

  She nodded once, then opened the door and backed out, watching me. I followed at a distance. She glanced around the room, then backed away to the patio door, closing it.

  "You may dress," she said.

  "You're going to watch?"

  "Yes."

  "Fine." I spat it out. I crossed to my dresser, which gave me a view out the bedroom door into the hallway. Two of the males were standing there. I reached over and slammed the bedroom door closed. I heard chuckles from the other side.

  As I dressed, I glanced at the woman. While a fox, I hadn't recognized her, not exactly. I should have, but I had been too lost in fright to think clearly. Now, with the time to think, I knew who she was.

  Wolf packs are typically run by an alpha male. The alpha is not always the biggest or strongest wolf in the pack, but that would be common. Some packs are smart enough to follow the best leader, and the strongest males support the leader, even those males who could win a fight. Those are typically the most successful packs, as wisdom goes further than brute strength and fighting ability.

  Rarely, a pack is ruled by an alpha female. This is almost always the surviving female of an alpha pair after some mishap has happened to the male half.

  The Madison pack, however, was led by an alpha female who had never been mated. She was the daughter of the last alpha pair, and she had assumed leadership of the pack through intelligence and wisdom far more than brute strength. Oh, she had strength, and I dare say she could best most of the males in the pack. But certainly not all of them. No, she ruled the pack because the other wolves trusted and respected her.

  Standing in my bedroom, watching me dress, was the alpha of the Madison pack.

  I'd seen her before. She'd been in Bayfield in the past. She had always been distantly polite, never bothering me, but we had never spoken. I guessed that was to change.

  I finished dressing in jeans, a light shirt, and tennis shoes. I ran my fingers through my hair. Assuming they left me alone, I would shower after they had left. I imagined for now I was a mess.

  I turned to face the alpha. "So, what brings the Madison alpha to my door, and what right do you have to break into my house and handle me like an errant pup?" I spit out the last, angry with her. I wasn't a member of her pack, and alpha or not, I wouldn't submit to her. Not willingly.

  "Perhaps we can go downstairs," she said. "I smell tea brewing."

  "So your males have invaded my kitchen?" I asked. "Uninvited?" Have I mentioned how arrogant wolves are?

  "If you had been a gracious hostess," she said, "this would have been much easier."

  "If you had waited for an invitation," I spat back, "maybe I would have been in the mood to be gracious."

  By now, both our backs were up. We had actually stalked towards each other, and I was looking up into her eyes. She glared at me with an alpha's glare, but I returned it in spades. I was my own alpha. She might be bigger than me, and she might be stronger than me. And she might scare the crap out of me. But I wasn't one of her pups, and damn! but I was not going to act like it.

  "You are very brave for a tiny fox," she said gently.

  I shut my mouth on my retort, studying her.

  I had to admit, she was beautiful in a dark, feral way. She had short, black hair, deep brown eyes, and a muscular, athletic body. But she also had all the right curves, and as someone who hadn't been with a woman of any sort in a while, I had to admit she was attractive. To myself. I certainly wouldn't have admitted it to her.

  "What do you want?" I asked her.

  "Michaela," she said softly. "Let us go downstairs, sit, have some tea, and talk calmly."

  I sighed. "Fine." I turned my back on her and stormed out of the bedroom. In the lead.

  The alpha chuckled from behind me.

  I glared at the males when I walked between them. They didn't try to touch me, for which I was thankful. I started down the stairs, the alpha immediately behind me, the males following her. When I got downstairs, the other two males weren't in sight. I glanced at the front door, but she said from behind me, "Don't."

  I glanced up at her, two steps away, then turned to the right and proceeded down a short hallway to my kitchen. The other two males were there, including the one I had bitten. He glared at me from his post by the back door.

  My teapot was waiting on the kitchen table along with three cups. I glanced and saw a fourth cup was sitting on the counter. And the last male had his head buried in my refrigerator. I glanced at me when I stepped into the room.

  "Make yourself at home," I said. "Oh wait, you've already done that."

  "There's no food in here," he complained. "What do you eat?"

  "Mice," I replied.

  From behind me, the alpha chuckled. "I rather doubt that," she said. "But I imagine you don't eat like a wolf, either."

  I sighed. "Are you going to be here long enough I am obligated to feed you?"

  "Not necessarily, but it would be polite," she replied with a smile. "The guys are hungry."

  "Should have stopped on the way here," I replied. "There are excellent restaurants in town. The Rittenhouse serves an especially good breakfast."

  "We would have," the alpha replied. "But we wanted to catch you before you left for the day."

  I sighed. "Fine," I said frostily. "You! Get your nose out of my refrigerator and get out of my way."

  The male who had been digging through my supplies backed out, chuckling, and he didn't even try to crowd me when I replaced him. I pulled out a pound of bacon from where it was hiding underneath the eggs and set it on the counter. I then pulled out eggs and milk and set them out as well. I glanced at the wolves, then from the freezer pulled out a package of breakfast sausage links, then I considered how much they probably ate and grabbed the frozen sausage patties as well.

  I glanced over and saw the alpha taking a place at my table, watching me calmly. I turned to her. "I know you're the alpha. I don't know your name."

  "Lara," she said. "Lara Burns."

  "That one is Eric," I said, pointing to the one standing by the door. "The rest?"

  "David," said the one who had been prowling through the kitchen. The other two were Jason and Rory. They already knew my name.

  "David," I said. "Do you know how to cook?"

  "Yes."

  "Good." I tossed the tube of frozen sausage patties to him and pointed to the microwave. "Defrost that."

  The alpha smiled at the way I ordered her wolf around.

  David smiled at me and opened the microwave. I ignored him after that.

  "You," I said pointing. "Rory. There is a storage room downstairs with an electric griddle on a shelf. Bring it up and be careful not to scratch the surface. The cord should be with it.

  That one glanced at the alpha. She must have gestured something, but I didn't see it, and Rory found the stairs
to the basement and disappeared.

  "Do you eat pancakes?" I asked the room in general. I had no idea what wolves ate.

  "I love pancakes," said the alpha. "And bacon. And sausage. And anything that doesn't grow on a bush."

  I almost laughed. Almost.

  I stepped past David and retrieved my box of pancake mix then dug out measuring cups and a mixing bowl. I set them on the counter and mixed up a triple batch. I heard Rory come back upstairs, and I pointed to an open place on the counter. "Set it there and turn it on to 350."

  "Yes, ma'am," he said. I glanced at the alpha; she shrugged.

  While the griddle was heating, I pulled out a pan for the bacon, two more for the sausages, and then considered my choices. I had six eggs left. I sighed and pulled out my last skillet.

  "Rory," I said. "Do you know how to make pancakes?"

  "Yes, ma'am," he said again. So I handed him the bowl of mix, a spatula, and a plate to put them on. "Something to pour with?" he asked. I gave him a small measuring cup.

  David had finished defrosting the sausage and had found a cutting board and knife. The sausages were all sliced and ready for the pan. "Can I trust you to cook the sausages without eating them all?" I asked.

  "He better not eat them," Lara said.

  I turned to her. "Who is going to fix my window?"

  "Eric," she said.

  "I'll need tools," he said. "And a trip to the hardware store for a fresh pane."

  "Tools are in the garage, large red rolling chest to the left. Do you need directions to the hardware store?"

  "No." But he looked at the stove where David was starting to cook the sausages.

  "Measure the window," the alpha said. "We'll eat, then you can fix it while we're talking."

  "Yes, Alpha," he said. He stepped out the back door, and I watched him cross the yard to the garage. After that, I ignored him.

  I turned to the stove and busied myself with the bacon, then cracked the remaining eggs into the pan and began to fry them as well. The eggs finished first, so I set them on a plate with a paper towel over them and set the plate on the table.

  "Alpha," I said. "Plates are there." I pointed. "Silverware there."

  I didn't watch to see whether she would set the table. From beside me at the stove, David chuckled under his breath. "Ordering the alpha around now?"

  "I heard that," Lara said. But then I heard her rise and begin to set the table.

  "Will this be enough food?" I asked quietly.

  "Yeah," David said. "We'll be fine. Eric eats a lot, but the alpha won't let him fill a plate until everyone else has gotten something."

  I fiddled with the bacon for a while, glancing over to see Rory was doing fine with the pancakes.

  "I can smell your fear," David said quietly. "We aren't here to hurt you."

  "Could have fooled me."

  "You didn't have to run," he said. "Or struggle. You bit the alpha!"

  "She's not my alpha. Five super-sized tigers show up on your door step, waking you from a sound sleep. What would you do?"

  "Fair enough," he said. "But we aren't here to hurt you. Just talk."

  "Ever heard of the phone?"

  "We actually were trying to show you respect by seeing you in person."

  "Two wolves on my front step, two on my back, and the fifth waiting in case I snuck out a window, and that's respect?"

  "You did sneak out a window," he said.

  "I did not!" I replied hotly. "I snuck out the upstairs patio door!"

  "I rest my case," he said with another chuckle.

  "My neck hurts. My front door is broken. My house stinks of wolf, a disgusting smell that will linger for weeks. And now I'm feeding all of you a week's supply of groceries. And you think it's funny." I was getting myself worked up again. It was probably better than being frightened out of my gourd.

  David glanced at me with a disarming smile. "I like you, Ms. Redfur. You're feisty."

  "Well, for the record, I don't like any of you. You're a bunch of bullies. Don't you know that's not acceptable anymore?"

  He didn't respond, and we finished preparing breakfast in silence, depositing plates on the table. I kept possession of the bacon until I was seated at the foot of the table and had taken two pieces. I wasn't sure the wolves would leave me any.

  Eric sauntered into the kitchen as I was sitting down, taking a place at the table and reaching for the plate of sausage links. The alpha cleared her throat, and the men all froze. From her place at the head of my table she looked pointedly at me.

  "Sausage?" David asked me.

  "Half of one patty is enough," I said.

  "There is plenty here, little fox," he said.

  "Yes," I said. "Little fox." I stressed the little. "A half a patty, please, and two of the smallest pancakes."

  David, sitting to my right, speared one of the sausage patties, cut it in half, and transferred it to my plate. I slid my second piece of bacon onto his. He raised an eyebrow and said, "Very little fox."

  Rory carried the plate of pancakes to me, and I took the two smallest.

  "You weren't kidding about the week's worth of food, were you?" Lara asked.

  "No," I said. "But to be fair, I supplement."

  They all smiled. We all supplemented. For me, it was small rodents; I'd caught a squirrel last night. I had devoured it while sitting on a cliff overlooking the lake. Num! The wolves would go for larger prey, of course.

  The wolves, of course, ate voraciously. I kept my head down, ignoring them as best I could, but it was hard to ignore Lara, the alpha. She spent most of the meal watching me.

  "What?" I asked finally.

  "You have my apologies, Michaela. We got off on the wrong foot this morning, and it was entirely my fault. I am deeply sorry. This was meant to be a friendly visit."

  I stared at her for a moment before dropping my gaze to my food. I wasn't quite ready to accept any apologies, but I nodded once to let her know I had heard her. I believed it was an honest apology.

  We finished eating in silence. The wolves devoured everything on the table, but no one asked for more. That was good; I didn't have anything else. I got up to clear the table, but Lara spoke. "Please sit, Michaela. We can talk. Jason and Rory will clean up, and Eric can mend your front door."

  I sat back down and stared into my empty teacup. Rory, Jason and Eric rose to attend to their tasks, and David busied himself making another pot of tea.

  "Michaela," said the alpha. "Have you noticed any strange wolves about in recent weeks?"

  "Yes," I told her immediately. "I have."

  Her gaze sharpened, and I suddenly had the attention of everyone in the room.

  "Would you tell me when and where?"

  "Of course. Right here. This morning. Five of them invaded my home."

  Her lip quivered for a moment, and David chuffed gently. Lara smiled and said, "Perhaps I should rephrase my question. Have you noticed any wolves about who are not part of the Madison pack?"

  I thought about what she was asking and why she might be asking. "I work a large territory," I told her finally. "Did you care to narrow your question at all?"

  "I know your territory, Michaela," she said.

  "Bayfield is a tourist destination," I said. "And a frequent site of sailing regattas. I am not personally familiar with every member of your pack, Alpha."

  "I am not so much concerned with anyone who may have been here openly," she said. "But I would be keenly interested in knowing of anyone who may have been skulking."

  "Skulking?"

  "Skulking."

  "Do wolves skulk?"

  She smiled. "Not normally. When they do, it's not a good sign."

  "Alpha," I told her. "I have not seen any wolves skulking in recent memory." The key word was seen. I avoid the wolves, after all.

  Lara considered me. "You phrased that in an intriguing fashion. Do you think perhaps you could be a little more forthcoming?"

  "If you told me what was going
on," I replied. "I might be able to better phrase my answers to be of more help."

  She smiled. "There are packs that do not feel it is right for a female to be alpha."

  "I imagine there are," I said. "I avoid politics."

  "There are packs that may not be kindly disposed to a female were fox living in their territory," she said, the smile leaving her eyes.

  I looked at her coldly. "I have made my home as far as I can find from any wolves. I believe I would need to move into Canada to be more isolated. And still you claim my home and offer me nowhere I can feel safe? Get out of my house. Or kill me, I guess."

  I began to quiver, on the verge of shifting right there, my flight mechanism taking hold.

  "Jason and Rory, the doors," the alpha said. They immediately sprang to the exits from the kitchen, blocking any escape. I glanced at them, my gaze filled with fear.

  "Michaela," the alpha said softly. "I am not threatening you. I am trying to explain why it is in your best interest to help me. My wolves leave you alone, and they make sure any visiting wolves do the same. Everyone from my pack treats you with polite respect. Is that is not true, tell me now."

  I glanced wildly around the room, searching for escape, my hands grasping the edges of my chair.

  "You didn't," I told her, my voice cracking. "And now you're holding me prisoner."

  "Jason, Rory," the alpha said. "Go help Eric with the door. If Ms. Redfur chooses to leave, let her."

  As soon as the path to the back door was clear, I made a dash for it. The alpha beat me to it. Then she opened the door for me and said, "Go calm down. We'll wait."

  I shifted on my way out the door, my clothes falling to the floor of the kitchen as I raced away from my house.

  Running Free

  I ran.

  No one chased me. I disappeared into the woods that back up against my property and worked my way deep into the woods, using every trick in my foxy bag of tricks to elude any pursuers. Then I doubled back to watch.

  No one followed.

  I watched for a long time, my belly against the ground underneath a bush far too tight and small for a wolf. No one followed.

  Eventually, cautiously, I worked my way back home, approaching from a different direction. I approached cautiously, my ears working madly, my eyes alert to any movement. From well into the brush on the edge of my property, I crouched down and watched.