by Robin Roseau
I wondered if he was filling in for her father.
Lara looked at Elisabeth, and she immediately joined in, her voice fitting between Lara's and Mr. Berg's. Then Lara found Francesca, and she stood up, and her voice was higher than Lara's, Francesca substituting for Lara's mother. Then Lara looked at me.
I couldn't howl, and they had all laughed whenever I had tried in the past.
But then I heard two new voices, and I turned to see Angel climbing to her feet, pulling Scarlett with her. The two stepped forward, flanking me, each wrapping an arm around my waist, and it was clear they were singing my part for me.
They howled like that for a minute or two, then Lara looked into the assembled wolves, still howling when it was her part, but it was clear she was looking for someone. She finally located Eric and pulled him to his feet. When he began to howl, I understood he was taking the place a brother may have taken.
But I didn't have a father here, and I didn't have a brother or a mother. But Lara grabbed Rory. He didn't start howling but instead he walked until he was standing behind me. He put a hand on my shoulder, and then he joined in, an adoptive brother, at least for the duration of the song.
Scarlett stepped away from me, but put her hand on my shoulder, and she took a different place in the song, and I knew I had a sister. Angel stayed plastered to me, singing my part for me.
Lara was looking around, wondering who to fit as my father and my mother, but I caught her eye and smiled. I had her, and I had my friends. We could share Francesca as our stand in mother. We could share Ron Berg as our stand in farther. I held out my hand, and Lara came to me.
The voices began to drop out, one by one. Eric and Rory dropped out together, then Scarlett and Elisabeth. Ron Berg and Francesca, Lara and as my voice, Angel, continued to sing. And then Ron and Francesca dropped out, first growing quieter before becoming silent.
I realized then I was crying, and so was Lara, tears steaming down both our cheeks, and when I looked at Angel, she was crying too, right along with me. Lara stepped very close to me, looking down into my eyes, and slowly she and Angel grew quieter and quieter. And then their voices were still.
I turned to Angel, kissed her cheek, and said, "Thank you for being my voice, Angel."
I looked back to Lara. She pulled me into her arms and kissed me. The pack picked a human expression of approval this time, clapping enthusiastically.
Lara's kiss lasted a very long time, and then she hugged me. "I didn't have any doubts, Little Fox," she said. "I was just so nervous."
I squeezed her in understanding, and slowly she released me. I became aware of the people clustered around me. I hugged Angel again, offering another kiss to the cheek. Then I grabbed Scarlett. "You were my sister's voice?" I asked her.
"Yes. I'm sorry-"
"No." I interrupted. "I haven't had a sister in a very long time. I'd love to think of you and Angel as my little sisters. Thank you."
After that, I turned to Rory. He looked a little embarrassed. I pulled him into a hug. "You make a good brother," I told him.
"You realize a brother gets to tell his little sister what to do."
I laughed. "You're free to try, but you know I'll kick your ass."
He laughed and made a point of checking my wrists. I was still wearing my silver daggers. "I believe you," he said.
"I wouldn't use the silver ones on you," I told him. "The ones at my ankles are steel."
He laughed.
Elisabeth was next, and then Francesca and Mr. Berg. "Do I call you Ron now?"
He laughed. "I should have invited that some time ago."
Lara and I spent the remainder of the evening accepting our congratulations. I didn't notice a single false look. Everyone seemed genuinely pleased we were getting married. During a lull, I asked Lara about it. "Surely someone isn't happy the alpha is marrying a fox, and a female fox at that."
"They're wondering about pups," she said. "And kits."
"No kits, Lara."
"But-"
"You'd kill the fox that tried to mate with me," I told her.
"There are other ways."
"And I'm not bringing more foxes into this world, Lara. I won't do it. I will help you raise pups. But they better be conceived through those other ways you mentioned."
She laughed. "They will be."
Elisabeth disappeared for a while then reappeared, visiting briefly with wolf after wolf. They looked chagrined as she walked away from them. I watched when she found Scarlett and Angel. As soon as she moved away from them, they headed to Lara and me. "We actually lost money!" Angel said. "Worst kept secret in the history of the pack."
Lara laughed.
"Sorry, Angel," I said.
They moved away, and I said to Lara, "Please tell me Elisabeth is your best man, or whatever the title is going to be."
"Two maids of honor." Lara smiled. "Yes. You already asked Angel?"
"Yes. I assumed Elisabeth was already taken. I'd feel terrible if I'd guessed wrong, but I didn't think about it until later."
Eventually everyone who was going to congratulate us had done so. I pulled Lara towards our house. Reaching the front step, I held back as if I were waiting for her to open the door. When her back was turned towards me, I loosened my clothing and said, "Lara. Catch me."
I jumped away and shifted to fox, slipping out of my clothes easily and immediately bounding away, back towards all the other wolves.
Lara laughed, then I heard a chuff after she had shifted and began chasing me.
I was well amongst the pack by the time Lara was fully on my tail, but it only took her a few leaps to close most of the distance. I used the wolves, all of them still in human form, as obstacles for her, quickly searching for Elisabeth.
Everyone noticed the ruckus almost immediately. I thought some of them would try to help Lara, but Elisabeth said in a firm voice, "No interfering!"
I led her on a merry chase amongst the pack, weaving in and out of legs, hiding behind Vivian for a moment, ducking under a chair that Dominick was sitting in, and getting Lara tangled up in more than one wolf. I dashed behind Elisabeth then turned around and peered out from between her legs.
The pack was clearly amused by our antics.
Lara would catch me eventually. She would guess one of my feints and I wouldn't realize it in time to shift direction. But with this many obstacles, I thought I could keep this up for a while. Lara chased me out from behind Elisabeth, chuffing at me, and I ran her around for another minute. Then I heard her shift back to human. I dashed behind Ron Berg, looking around him at Lara.
"Michaela," she said. "Care to add a wager?"
I chuffed, offering a foxy affirmative.
"Think you can last five minutes?"
Easily. I chuffed twice.
"Does that mean you think you can last ten minutes?" she asked.
I growled at her.
"Okay, okay. Five minutes. If you're still free five minutes from now, you win one large favor from the alpha. If you lose, I get to pick your dress."
I stared at her, considering it, then chuffed agreement.
"You have to stay in this field, Michaela," she said. "No running away." I chuffed. "Ron, will you time it? Start it when I shift back to fur."
"Certainly," he said.
"Oh, one more thing," Lara said. "Anyone, twenty years old or younger, who can catch the fox and give her to me wins a favor from me. You'll share a favor if it's an assist in the catch, such as helping to corner her."
I stared at Lara. She cheats!
She grinned at me and shifted back to wolf, immediately leaping towards my position behind Ron.
"Five minutes!" he said immediately.
I scanned the crowd quickly. All the teenagers were looking at me, advancing towards me, even Angel and Scarlett. Oh shit.
I took off, dashing back and forth for all I was worth. Lara was closest on my tail, but the kids were all helping to herd me, cutting off my escape routes. Jeremy m
ade a grab for me, then Derek. I headed straight for Angel. Time to see whose side she was really on. She crouched down, waiting for me, with Scarlett to her side, both of them holding their arms out.
I barked at them. Traitors!
Lara made a leap at me. I cut to the right, but Scarlett was right there. She got a hand in my fur, but I pulled away and dashed past her.
"Four minutes!" Ron yelled.
I ran around behind Elisabeth, who was bending down, laughing. I shifted to human. "Alpha! You cheat!" I yelled.
Lara shifted to human and said, "You have most of the pack helping you. I only recruited..." she counted. "Twelve of them." She continued to walk slowly towards me.
"Council ruling!" I yelled.
"Looks like a great game to me," said Vivian. "I think Angel and Scarlett are trying to sneak up on you, Michaela."
"Those two couldn't sneak up on an elephant," I said.
All the kids were fanned out, spread equally on either side, cutting off my routes of escape.
"Will you help?" I asked Elisabeth quietly.
She nodded, just once.
"Spread your legs for me. But when you feel my hands on your shoulders, stand straight up as quickly as you can."
She nodded again.
Lara got closer, and Elisabeth spread her legs very pointedly. Lara smiled, shifted to wolf, and sprang at the obvious opening. She should have known better.
I jumped onto Elisabeth's back, put my hands on her shoulders, and pulled, shifting to fox just as Elisabeth stood up. I leapt over Elisabeth.
Lara anticipated the move. The dash between Elisabeth's legs was a feint. She shifted back to human and snatched at me with her arms, but she hadn't anticipated the extra height from Elisabeth standing up, and I sailed, barely, over Lara's head, my back feet actually kicking against the back of her head at the end.
It was a very high jump for me, so I tucked and rolled then ran amongst the adult wolves. I received claps of approval at my leap, as well as continued laughter.
I ran them around for another minute, but it was clear I wasn't going to last the full five minutes.
"Three minutes," Ron called.
They'd herded me to the edge of the pack again, and I was basically out of obstacles to use. I backed up slowly, eying my options.
Little Kaylee and Thomas were trying to help. They were the youngest kids present and were standing together in the mix of kids to my right. Lara was stalking me slowly, and we both knew this was the end of the game. She chuffed at me, then paused. I looked at her, chuffed once good naturedly, and made a dash to the left.
Lara leapt to cut me off, and I immediately turned right, barely slipping past her, letting her trip me as I went past. I controlled my stumble and came to a rest immediately in front of Kaylee and Thomas. The two of them immediately pounced on me, and I offered only the most token of squirms until Lara bounded over, flipped me onto my back, and wrapped her jaws around my neck.
Kaylee and Thomas were jumping up and down saying, "We caught her! We caught her!"
I whimpered in submission to Lara, but she held me there until she had me firmly pinned to the ground.
If she let everyone lick me, I was going to bite someone.
She licked my face thoroughly before climbing off me. I climbed to my feet, licked her once, and chuffed. She nudged me and shifted to human. Francesca appeared, wrapping a blanket around Lara, then held out a second one for me. I shifted straight into the blanket, pulling it closed around me.
Weres weren't prudes about nudity, but still, I was always a little self-conscious about it.
"You cheat," I said quietly to Lara.
She pulled me into her arms. I went, somewhat reluctantly. She kissed my head and said equally quietly, "I never would have caught you."
"I was going to let you, eventually."
"Before the five minutes were over?"
"Well, no, of course not."
She laughed.
"I'm not accepting any future wagers with you, Lara," I said. "You cheat."
"Can we talk about it in private?"
"All right. But you cheat."
"That was a nice thing you did for Kaylee and Thomas."
"Do you think anyone else realized it was intentional?"
"Probably, but the kids don't."
"Tripping me almost blew it for me. I almost landed right at Derek's feet."
"Well done then," she said. She released me and turned to Kaylee and Thomas. "You two have earned a favor. A modest favor."
"A favor each?" Kaylee asked.
"Yes, Kaylee," Lara confirmed. "A favor each."
"All the big kids get to go kayaking," she said immediately. "I want to go, too!"
"Me too!" said Thomas.
"Oh Kaylee," Lara started to say.
"That's an excellent favor to ask, Kaylee!" I said. "Alpha, when are we going?"
Lara turned to me, her brow furrowed in concern, but she smoothed her features and said, "Let's see how the weather looks next weekend."
"It will have to be a quiet weekend," I said. "Not too much wind. So we'll have to watch the weather. You two might need to be patient."
"We get to go kayaking!" Kaylee said, jumping around. She found her mother. "Mommy! The alpha is taking us kayaking!"
Kaylee's mother looked nervous, offering me an expression I interpreted as "are you serious?" But I said simply, "It will be fine." She studied me for a moment then bent down and picked up her daughter.
"Yes," she said. "I heard. You will have to be an especially good girl and do everything exactly like the alpha or Michaela tell you."
"I will, Mommy," Kaylee said.
Lara and I separated for a few minutes, moving through the crowd. I had more than one friend tell me quietly, "Lara doesn't play fair."
"No," I agreed with each of them. "But it's all in fun."
One or two wolves told me, "That was a gracious way to lose, Michaela." Those I thanked.
I found Vivian. "A good game?" I asked her.
She smirked at me. "I had to back the alpha," she said quietly. "But it was a dirty trick. She never would have caught you without help."
"If she puts me in a horrible dress, I'll make all of you pay."
"What would constitute horrible?" Vivian asked.
"Something long and flowing," I said. "With lots of ruffles."
"I am sure you will be beautiful," Vivian replied.
I stared at her.
"You are marrying the alpha, Michaela. You can't wear a gunny sack. You will be beautiful, and you will be gracious. And if you can't be, then you are the wrong mate for the alpha."
I opened and closed my mouth repeatedly. She was looking at me kindly, but she was serious at the same time. "It's my wedding, too," I said finally.
"Probably shouldn't have abdicated planning it then," she said. "Or taken a wager you weren't willing to lose."
I sighed and turned away, but Vivian reached out a hand to my arm. "Think about what I said. If you can't resolve this for yourself, talk to me again, and I'll try to intercede."
I nodded, not looking at her, and scanned the crowd for my fiancé. She was talking to Elisabeth. I began moving in that direction. She saw me coming, finished the conversation with Elisabeth, then met me halfway. Lara took my hand and, without a word, began drawing me towards our house. We collected our clothes from the front steps and then ascended the stairs to our bedroom.
When we arrived at the bedroom, I dropped the blanket on the floor and stepped into the closet, pulling on the grubbiest-looking clothes I was willing to sleep in. When I stepped out, Lara looked at me, pursing her lips.
"You'll look beautiful, Michaela. I promise."
"I asked for two things. A simple ceremony and a simple but elegant dress."
She looked away, refusing to look me in the eye.
"I see," I said. "You are also training me not to trust you."
"What?"
"You repeatedly demonstrate to me yo
u don't play fair. If I can't trust you on the little things, how am I supposed to trust you on the big things?"
She didn't respond. Nor did she look at me but instead stood there, staring into space, the blanket still wrapped around her. I picked up the one I had dropped and folded it, setting it aside where it could get returned to the supply cabinet later. I fetched a robe for Lara and exchanged it for her blanket, folding that one and adding it to mine. I considered it a peace offering, letting her know we'd be all right.
"Lara, I was almost ready to let you catch me when you made the wager. You were starting to get desperate, and I wouldn't have wanted anyone to get hurt."
She turned to face me. "I wouldn't hurt anyone."
"You play to win, Lara. I know that. I wouldn't embarrass you in front of the entire pack."
"You know I can't catch you like that. With fewer obstacles, yes, eventually, but not with that many. Not when I have to be careful."
"I won't be taking any more wagers with you," I said.
"Honey," she said. "It was all in fun."
"Yes, if you had won the wager fairly, or if you had won the game without first suckering me into a wager, yes, it would have been in fun."
I headed into the bathroom, closing the door in her face. When I returned, she was sitting on the bed, waiting for me.
"Little Fox," Lara said. "Are you willing to admit a few things?"
"Depends on what they are?"
"I love you."
I smiled. "Yes, I believe that."
"I am better at politics than you are."
I stared at her. "Politics."
"Yes."
"Explain where you are going, Lara."
"If you walk down the aisle in a fifty-thousand-dollar wedding dress, what will people think?"
I said in a small voice, "That I picked out a fifty-thousand-dollar wedding dress."
"And now?"
"That you picked out a fifty-thousand-dollar wedding dress to try to please me."
She laughed. "You were right up until the end. Do you think anyone is going to believe I picked the dress to please you?"
I sighed. "I hate it when I lose arguments!" I paused. "Is that really what you were thinking about?"
"Yes."
"Why does the dress need to be something horrible, Lara?"