Fox Mate (Madison Wolves)

by Robin Roseau

  One of the girls, maybe Abigail, adjusted her grip on me, and then she dug her hand into my shoulder, squeezing. I gasped, and she squeezed harder.

  And then I screamed.

  They let me scream for a few seconds, maybe two or three, then they released me, and my screams faded.

  I sat on the sofa, gasping with the residual pain. Slowly they released me, their controlling hands turning soothing. I accepted a few more kisses on my cheeks, and someone cleaned my face for me. I opened my eyes, and Angel was staring into them.

  I smiled. "Please tell me you have something really fun planned now."

  She returned the smile. "We do. We're going to play five truths and a lie. We'll go around in a circle. It's us against you."

  "That doesn't seem quite fair."

  "Wait," said Scarlett. "You're going to like this. If you guess my lie, then you may either ask for a favor from me or demand a punishment for me."

  "What kind of punishment."

  "Spin her," Angel said. "Until she pukes. And we'll clean up afterwards, before your next punishment."

  "So, the last person I catch lying is going to have the hardest time of it?"

  "Yes," said Scarlett. "Please, may I go first?"

  "Oh no, Scarlett, you're second to the last." I looked at Angel. "You're last."

  Angel laughed. "Once we've all gone, then you go. Anyone who guesses your lie gets a promise of a small favor."

  I smiled. "If I skunk all of you, I want an extra reward. Come up with something."

  Angel grinned. "All right. What do you want?"

  "You'll free my hands for future bathroom breaks."

  She grin faded. "No. Don't ask for anything that will make this easier for you, Michaela."

  I studied her. "All right. Make an offer."

  They huddled. I could hear every word. Then they broke up and looked at me. "If you skunk all of us, then between us we'll wash your car for a year. And we'll handle other wash up duties you have when we're doing things together, like cleaning your kayak after a day on the lake."

  I smiled. "That's a good offer," I said.

  "But-" Angel said. "If we all guess your lie or we all skunk you, then the favors you owe are major instead of minor favors."

  "Medium favors if it's one or the other and major if it's both," I counter-offered.

  Angel laughed. "All right. Pick who is first."

  "Abigail. And I get to watch your body language. The hot seat is directly in front of me."

  The girls shifted around. Abigail sat on the coffee table facing me. Scarlett handed her paper and pencil. She wrote on it, then faced me. She told me six things. The fourth was, "I cheated on a recent homework assignment, but I won't tell you which one."

  I let her finish her statements then said, "You didn't cheat, Abigail. You're all going to need better lies than that."

  She sighed. "I was hoping you'd be angry enough about that one you would believe it."

  "Do we spin her first or do we do everyone else?"

  "Spin her," Angel said. "Unless you're taking the favor."

  "I wouldn't suppose the favor gets me out of punishments?"

  They all laughed. "No."

  Then I asked quietly, "If I have you all spun, will that make it worse for me later?"

  "Oh honey," Angel said. "No. Absolutely not."

  "All right," I said. "Move me so I can watch but out of the splatter range."

  I was watching Abigail. She looked nervous, but not horribly so. Sophia and Ava moved one of the easy chairs so it was facing into the next room, and then they moved me to it. I giggled when they picked me up.

  All the wolves stepped past me. Abigail stood still with her hands by her sides while Ava and Sophia taped her arms to her sides.

  "We found that at some point, our self-discipline breaks," Angel said.

  "Do you need to take me out of this harness?" I asked.

  "No. We made that to save your ankles."

  I watched as instead, Ava and Sophia used rope to tie Abigail's ankles firmly together.

  Angel and Scarlett moved next to Abigail. Abigail looked at me and made a kissing sound with her lips. Then she closed her eyes and intentionally fell over backwards, Angel and Scarlett catching her. Ava and Sophia grabbed her legs, and the four of them hooked her up to the ceiling by her ankles.

  "Anyone who lasts longer than I did gets to be taken down," I said.

  Angel grinned at me and they wound Abigail up. She was stoic about it, not saying a word, but she was sick long before I was. As soon as the heaving started, the other wolves immediately stopped her, lifting her off the hook and holding her while she was sick.

  I didn't laugh. My heart went out to her instead.

  The girls were raucous about it, although gentle with Abigail. They cut the tape, and Ava helped her to the bathroom to clean up. She looked a little green when she came back. They had moved me back to the sofa.

  Abigail sat down next to me. "You weren't laughing."

  "No," I said.

  "You didn't enjoy getting even a little?"

  "No," I said. "If I were angry at you, I might."

  She smiled. "So you're not angry with us?"

  "No. Not anymore."

  "Then if my getting sick helped with that, it was worth it."

  I searched her face. "You're a sweet girl."

  She frowned. "Do you think maybe you could start thinking of us as women?"

  "You're a sweet woman, Abigail. I'm glad to have you as a friend."

  She hugged me. "Who is next?"

  "Ava." When she was seated in front of me, I told her, "If your lie is about something illegal or unethical, I won't believe it. Please try to fool me."

  "Are you kidding?" she said. "I might have made it easy for you when I was going first, but not now. Eww!" Her lie was that her favorite color was green. "Damn it," she said. She stood up. "Hook me up."

  "No," I said. "I didn't enjoy watching Abigail. I'll take the favor. Write it out now, please."

  She sat back down. "It's okay, Michaela. You can spin me."

  "Would you rather we spin you instead of owing me a favor?" I asked.

  "Well, no," she said. "But we want you to have fun."

  "The game is fun," I said. "And being owed favors is fun, too. I'll take the favor. But please write it out before the next person goes."

  They had note cards. Ava wrote out her favor and showed it to me. I thanked her, and she slipped it into an envelope. "We'll keep these for you," Angel said. "Who is next?"

  "Sophia."

  Sophia's truths were outrageous, and I had a hard time believing them. By comparison her lie was tame. She tried to get me to believe that she was lying when she told me her mother had introduced her to pot "to get past the mystique". That was actually true. Her lie was about her mother's middle name. I didn't know what it was, but it wasn't Sophia.

  She sighed when I guessed. "You may spin me if you want," she told me when I guessed.

  "May I have the favor instead?"

  She smiled and nodded and wrote it out.

  Next was Scarlett. All her statements were racy, very racy, and I wouldn't have been able to single one out if I hadn't been watching her very carefully. I was surprised to find out she'd recently let Angel tie her up, and that she had enjoyed it. I was ready to pick that one, but I noticed Angel's pleased reaction. In the end, her lie was that she'd slept with Derek last year, and thus wasn't a virgin when she and Angel had hooked up.

  Angel was shocked when I picked that one as the lie. "She got you!" Angel said to me.

  Then Scarlett turned the pad of paper for Angel to see.

  "Holy shit!" she said. She looked at Scarlett. "Really?"

  "Yes, honey," she said. "You were my first."

  Scarlett looked at me. "Spin or favor?"

  I pursed my lips. "Medium favor or spin, your choice."

  "Medium favor!" she said immediately and wrote it out.

  "You're up, Angel." When she sa
t down I told her, "You are going to spin."

  "Oh god," she said. "We'll see." Then in a deadpan face, she delivered her six statements, all of them self-deprecating or embarrassing. I had hoped to shake her by threatening to spin her, but it hadn't worked. Instead she had accepted embarrassment, hoping her reaction to telling an embarrassing story would override any reaction she had to lying.

  "Wow," I said when she was done. "You might have skunked me, Angel." I searched her face. "I think it's between the car accident and the bed wetting." She grimaced. "Care to raise the stakes?"

  "What did you have in mind?"

  "If I guess right," I said. "You agree to never again willingly help Lara cheat me during a wager."

  She laughed. "And if you don't, you owe me five get out of trouble cards to be used in the future."

  "I can get you out of trouble with me," I said. "But they aren't binding on Lara."

  She nodded and I smiled. I wouldn't have guessed except that Scarlett gave it away for her. "You know, I was shocked when Scarlett admitted she liked when you tied her up. But that was nothing compared to finding out you let her tie you up first."

  "Damn it!" she said, laughing.

  "Carry me to the other chair," I said, smiling. "And hook her up."

  "Oh god," she said. "You sure you won't take a favor instead?"

  "Oh Angel," I said. "Misery loves company."

  She helped them carry me to the chair, and she gave me a kiss on the cheek before stepping into the next room.

  "Oh god," she said. "It stinks in here." She looked at me. "A major favor?"

  I looked at her like I was considering it. Then shrugged. "No thank you."

  They taped her arms, Scarlett taking extra care with it, then taped and tied her legs. Scarlett was grinning. "I like seeing you helpless, Angel," she said. "If I talk her into letting you pay favors, will you let me do this to you whenever I want?"

  Angel laughed. "Limit once a month."

  "Twice," Scarlett counter-offered.

  "Only if my price to her is a medium favor," Angel counter-counter-offered.

  Scarlett grinned, turned to me in my chair, then picked me up and carried me back to the sofa. It wasn't even difficult for her. She spoke into my ear.

  "Please."

  I turned to her. "Is this because you don't want me to spin her?"

  "No, it's because she's always dominant, but I'm not a submissive wolf. I'm just not as strong or dominant as she is. I really had fun that night."

  "You girls are a little young for this type of play," I replied.

  "Women," she said, looking into my eyes. I returned her gaze, undecided. "Michaela," Scarlett went on. "She liked it. It's just hard for her to let me be in control."

  "What are you offering me?"

  "Her medium favor and a major favor from me."

  I smiled. "Plus your support on any other proposals I make today."

  She frowned. "Only on the fun games," she said. "Not the punishments."

  I nodded. "Deal."

  Scarlett smiled. "Thank you." She turned to the other girls - women, I guess - and said, "Carry her in here so she can learn her fate!"

  Angel dropped into their arms, and they picked her up, setting her on her feet in front of Scarlett and me. Scarlett stood up and crossed to her lover. She caressed Angel's face. "There will be a few changes in our relationship," she said, smiling. She pulled Angel into a kiss, clasping her ass while doing it. When she was done with the kiss, she asked a dazed Angel, "Got a problem with that?"

  "No, Scarlett," she said. She smiled. Scarlett cut her loose, and the two of them wrote up my favors. The other girls cleaned up the other room and sprayed air freshener around, eliminate the signs of Abigail's earlier experience spinning from the ceiling.

  "All right," I said. "Where do you want me?"

  Angel and Scarlett moved me until I was sitting on the coffee table. It was difficult to remain sitting that way, bound as I was. When I almost tipped over twice, they brought the easy chair back and put me in it.

  "Are you having fun carrying me around?" I asked them.

  They grinned. "Yes. Quite a lot, actually." Then Scarlett added. "You seem to have become comfortable with it, too."

  Angel's phone buzzed. I stared at it and asked quietly, "Would it be possible to have my turn first? In case the punishment is really bad?"

  Angel nodded. She picked up her phone and called Elisabeth. "We'd like a few more minutes here to finish a game. We'll call you back."

  "Give me a minute," I said. "I need to think about them all." I decided what I would say and then said, "Okay, how do we do this?"

  "We trust you to be honest," Angel said. "We'll write down our guesses and go one after another."

  "All right. One. I have decided to wait a year or two before staring a college degree." That was true. I paused so they could write their notes. "Two. I used to dye my hair black." That was true as well. "Three. I dated, very briefly, a couple of human guys shortly after moving to Wisconsin." That was also true. I had given in to pressure at work, trying to fit in, but my coworkers figured out I was gay and stopped trying to set me up with guys. "Four. I haven't dated any human women beyond one-night stands." That was the lie. I'd had a few relationships with human women since moving to Wisconsin and didn't do one-night stands. "Five. I am looking forward to my next punishment, although I am nervous at the same time." That was true. I couldn't have explained why. I waited for them to finish writing. "Six. Lara and I are planning a special school session over winter break for anyone who wants to do some winter camping." We were, and it was going to be out on the ice of Lake Superior, if the ice was sufficiently safe.

  I was sure I hadn't given away any clues with my body language, but I wondered if my body scent would sway them in one direction or another. Then I wondered if they could smell any changes in my scent after all these hours taped up, the crying I had done, and as scared as I had been.

  They all studied me for a while, then one by one, they wrote down their guesses on their paper. Scarlett collected everyone's pen and said, "Who wants to show hers first?"

  "I do," said Ava. She turned her paper around. She had guessed I was lying about dying my hair. "You're way too proud of your hair," she said.

  "Wrong," I said. "I used to dye my hair so I wouldn't stand out so much."

  Angel turned her pad around. "No way have you ever dated a guy," she said. "You are totally into women."

  "Wrong," I said. I explained about trying to fit in.

  "Damn it," said Ava. She had guessed the same.

  Scarlett and Sophia both guessed it was the upcoming punishment. "Sorry," I said. "I did say I was nervous about it, but I also want to prove your faith in me."

  Angel smiled. "Really? That was my second choice."

  I nodded. "The lie was about dating human women. I've had two relationships with human women that lasted more than a couple of months each, but it had been a few years by the time I met Lara."

  "Were they good relationships?" Ava asked. "I barely even know any humans, other than Abigail's mom and Scarlett's dad."

  "Yes, but I felt like I was living a lie, not telling them about my fox. If it hadn't been for that, either of them could have turned serious." I smiled. "I skunked all of you, and I guessed all of yours. Write that down. I am going to enjoy getting my car extra dirty for an entire year."

  They laughed and wrote it down, then they turned somber. "I know," I said. "Punishment time."

  Enough

  Scarlett sat on the coffee table facing me. "We're going to spin you," she said. "But we're going to tape your eyes open so you can't close them. And we're going to tape your hair so that when you're spinning you're twisting your hair. At the extreme ends, it will pull, hard, and you'll probably pull some out. Beg Lara to ransom you."

  "It hurts," said Ava. "I cried when they did it to me. No one else has long enough hair to try it."

  "Will it ruin my hair for tomorrow?" I asked in a quiet vo
ice.

  "Not too bad," Ava said.

  I sighed. "I'm not asking Lara to ransom me."

  Angel stood up and walked upstairs, walking behind me and squeezing my shoulder as she did so. She came back several minutes later. "Lara has declined to ransom you," she said. "Elisabeth wants to talk to you."

  I listened to Elisabeth's offer and politely declined.

  I was stoic while they prepared me. Scarlett perched over my lap and asked if I would cooperate. I nodded. She tipped my head back and told me to open my eyes widely. "You know this is going to hurt when we pull this off. It's not too late to change your mind."

  "Do it, Scarlett," I said. And very carefully, she taped my eyes open.

  "Try to blink," she said. I tried, but she had done a good job. "Michaela, if we see your eyes close, then we're going to take you down and pour lemon juice in them."

  "Oh god," I said. "Please make sure I can't blink."

  She pressed the tape down tighter, and I tried very hard to close my eyes, but couldn't.

  Then they picked me up and hung me from my feet, dangling upside down with my head near the floor. Ava disappeared upstairs but came down a short while later holding a piece of lumber and a bucket. She set the bucket upside down underneath my head and the piece of wood on top of it. Then they taped my hair to the wood.

  "We'll stop if you beg to be ransomed," Scarlett said. "Otherwise we're not stopping until you're sick again. And if we think you got sick intentionally, we're not stopping for a long, long time."

  I tried to close my eyes but couldn't. They wound me up, and I felt my hair grow tight. The first time they released me, it wasn't bad. They held onto the ends of the piece of wood so it wouldn't turn. The bucket was just to hold it somewhat steady, close to my head.

  The second time, they wound me up until my hair was tight, then they put on one more turn, letting the lumber turn with me.

  "Do you know what's going to happen?" Scarlett asked.

  "It's going to hurt."

  "Yes." And they let go.

  Not being able to close my eyes was tough. While I spun, the pressure wound out of my hair and then began winding up again. My hair grew tight, but I hadn't stopped spinning. My hair was tugged firmly, yanking me to a stop and twisting my neck hard. I spun back and forth a few more times, then hung there, panting.