by Robin Roseau
Angel reached up and removed my blindfold. I blinked in the light, then hugged her.
"I'm free?"
"Almost," she said. "You need to clean up first," she said. "And a little business to take care of. Then there's a party. You may take as long as you want in here, but we all need to clean up, and it might be deemed mildly petty if you used all the hot water."
I laughed.
"I'm not going to rush."
"No one expects you to, Michaela. Please do not escape though. I know you could, but let us take you to Lara. Come downstairs when you're done."
"All right."
She left. I climbed out of the clothes, verified there were things waiting for me to wear, and climbed into the shower.
I washed thoroughly. It wasn't true that I didn't heal when I shift, but I don't heal as much as a wolf does. I shifted to fox, and that eased some of the tenderness. A shift back to human, and a soak under the water, clean hair, and I felt good.
I took my time in front of the mirror, trying to determine where they had taken the hair. I could tell by feel, two small spots, but not by looking at it. I couldn't tell where any had been pulled out. I dressed and partially dried my hair. I tidied the bathroom and headed downstairs.
Several of the girls had gone home to clean up. "We'll wait for them here," Angel said. "Your turn, Ava."
Angel and Sophia continued to pamper me, giving me anything I wanted and talking about any subject I brought up.
Ava finished her shower quickly and called down to Sophia. "Shower is free." And it was just Angel with me.
"Are you upset?" she asked me once we were alone.
"Not with you guys."
"But with Elisabeth?"
I nodded. "She let me know I'm not good enough for her sister."
"She did not."
"Yes, Angel, she did."
Angel didn't respond to that "But we're good?"
"We're good." I paused. "Did Lara really ask for all this you did to me? The-" I blushed. "The piercings and stuff?"
"She didn't ask. She was drunk and admitted a bunch of things she thought were sexy. It was a few years ago, before she had met you. She mentioned things we couldn't have done to you."
"I'm not her perfect woman?"
"You weren't what she imagined back then. I bet she's changed her opinion on what is perfect since she's met you."
"When did you first want me to give in?"
"When we threatened to spin you. And then once we knew it freaked you out so badly, we kept coming back to it. Everything before that was for Lara, but I bet she'll still be surprised. We didn't go out of our way to show her some of the things. She doesn't know we waxed you."
"Barbaric custom," I said.
She smiled. "You see how Lara responds and decide what you think about it after that."
Ava and Sophia came downstairs together. Angel got up. "Please stay here until everyone is together, Michaela."
"I will."
Angel ran upstairs. While she was in the shower, Scarlett, Abigail and Chloe rejoined us, arriving together. Angel was quick in the shower, and soon our original group was together.
Chloe hugged me. "Abigail said you were very brave."
"Not as brave as a wolf," I said.
"Not true," Abigail said. "I think you were brave."
"All right," Angel said, and suddenly the girls were crowding me, all of them except Chloe. Angel faced me, and four pairs of strong wolf hands clasped my arms. "Michaela, Lara has technically not paid for you yet, and you have technically not paid for her yet, either. You have both only agreed, but sometimes people try to back out once they feel safe."
"You know neither of us would do that!"
"Of course not, but traditions must be met." She smiled. "It's more fun if you struggle now."
"Oh god," I said, and I immediately tried to pull out of their hands. I was giggling though. It didn't do me any good. They picked me up until my feet were waving in the air. Angel dropped down in front of me, grabbed my swinging legs, pulled them into a hug, and then wrapped rope around them, tying them off. They set me back down and made me cross my wrists in front of me. Angel tied my wrists together, and her knots were tight. Scarlett pulled the blindfold over my eyes again, and they picked me up, carrying me on their shoulders.
"I wouldn't struggle anymore, unless you don't mind being dropped," Angel said. "I promise, it wouldn't be on purpose."
I went limp immediately, and, all of us giggling, they carried me from the house.
They made a point of spinning around in circles several times, and I swear they took me the long way to where ever we were going, but eventually we stepped into another building. I immediately heard multiple other heartbeats. They lowered me to my feet and held me steady in one place.
Then the blindfold was removed, and I was staring at Lara at the other end of the room. We were in our own living room. She had just had her own blindfold removed. She looked worn out but whole.
"Hello, Love," I said.
"Hello, Little Fox. Are you well?"
"I am. And you?"
"I am as well."
Angel and Elisabeth looked at each other for a moment, then Angel nodded. "Alpha. We have brought your mate. You have agreed to certain terms. Will you honor your agreement?"
"I will," said Lara.
I looked around the room. The enforcers that had held Lara were there as was Hadley Smith. I was surprised to see her. She passed a packet of papers to Angel. Angel opened the packet and began reading through them. It took her several minutes. Finally she said, "Yes, everything is in order." She returned the packet to Hadley. Hadley crossed to Lara's side of the room. One by one, she presented the papers for Lara to read. She glanced at each and nodded. Lara was led to the table where she was allowed to sit down. With both hands still bound, she signed the papers where Hadley indicated. She finished, and Hadley separated the papers into two stacks, one stack smaller than the other. From her briefcase she removed another manila folder and put the small stack of papers in that folder. Then she put several sheets of paper from the larger stack into envelopes. Finally, she slid the first folder to the place in front of Lara and passed out the remaining papers to my kidnappers.
They all began to grin wildly.
Lara was pulled out of her seat and away from the table.
"Release my mate," Lara said with a growl.
"Not quite yet," Angel said. "She made promises to us that must be fulfilled before we will release her." They helped me to the table and sat me down. Hadley presented me with a set of money transfers to sign as well as notes covering the other promises I had made. I glanced through them then signed everywhere she told me to sign.
"Cut her ropes," Angel said. They didn't cut them. Scarlett untied my feet. Sophia untied my hands. And then Angel said, "You are free, Michaela."
I immediately jumped to my feet and began to run to Lara, but Elisabeth intercepted me. "Not so fast. We have business as well."
Hadley gave a folder to Elisabeth. She read through it, taking several minutes, then nodded. "This is as agreed."
Hadley led me to the table to sit down, and she sat beside me.
"I understand you weren't expecting any of this," she said very quietly.
"No."
"You gave up your house."
"Yes."
Hadley went through the papers. The first were to sign over the deed to my house. I reached for the pen, but she stopped me. "Not yet." Then she showed me the remaining papers. "These are all the same, just with different names. They are the favors you promised. You can read them all, but they are the same."
I read the first one. It was simple. I scanned the rest.
"You need to understand, these are not transferrable. The people who have these will present them and tell you what they want. They may hold them for a very long time. Favors like this can become more valuable as you become wealthy or more politically powerful. I guarantee you no one is going to present o
ne prior to tomorrow's wedding."
I smiled weakly.
"They should ask for a medium favor, per pack custom. Elisabeth said she explained."
"She did."
"If you feel the favor asked is significantly outside the purview of a medium favor, you may deny the request. The person asking may agree and alter the request. You are certainly allowed to negotiate the favor in a manner that best serves both of you. In the case of disputes, normally appeal is to the alpha. Due to your relationship, appeal instead will be to the full council. It is considered exceedingly bad form for them to be drawn into these types of things. I would strongly encourage you to solicit my advice, Lara's, Elisabeth's, or that of any member of the council before you deny these favors. It is also bad form to submit the favor in a fashion that doesn't allow you a chance to seek counsel unless the request offered is so clearly reasonable there can be no dispute."
"Thank you, Hadley. Do I start signing?"
"Yes, if you agree everything is in order."
"It is." I began signing, the favors first, then the deed to my house. I stared at that one for a minute before signing it.
"This has been quite a lot for you to absorb," Hadley said quietly. "I heard a few of the details. You can be proud."
"No," I said. "Lara can. I was treated softly."
"Still, you were perhaps treated in a fashion you never expected."
"Yes."
"And you gave up something important to you."
"Yes."
"Thank you for honoring pack traditions, Michaela. I am proud to have you marrying my alpha, and I am proud to have you teaching my daughter."
I looked into her eyes, and I thought perhaps her words were heartfelt.
Then we stood up, and she gave the packet of materials to Elisabeth. Elisabeth glanced through, passed out the favors to June, Gia, Karen, and Serena, keeping hers.
"I have paid the ransom," I said. "Free my mate."
"As soon as she completes her final obligations to us," Elisabeth said. I was pulled away from the table, Lara returned to the table, and I watched her sign a set of money transfers similar to the ones I had. I bet hers were bigger than mine had been.
Elisabeth smiled. "Free her."
The enforcers untied Lara's hands and ankles, and then we were in each other's arms. She picked me up and said, "Start the party without us. We'll be down when we're ready."
I shrieked as she carried me up the stairs.
* * * *
As soon as the door closed behind us, Lara set me on the bed and began searching my body, making sure I was whole.
"I am fine, Lara. The only real damage, beyond my pride, is two tiny locks of hair. You can feel." I guided her fingers. "There are other changes, but you absolutely are not allowed to look for them right now.
"What changes?" she asked with a growl.
"You will see the next time I allow you to remove my clothes. That may not be soon."
"Little Fox?"
"You should have told me!" I said. "And I should have been wearing pajamas last night."
"I'm sorry," she said immediately, looking down. "Michaela, I'm so sorry. I forgot. Can you believe it? I entirely forgot until I smelled Elisabeth in the doorway. Little girl wolves grow up thinking about this; it's part of the wedding tradition. When I finally realized I would never have a groom, I stopped thinking about it. It just never occurred to me I would have a bride to ransom. It should have. I'm sorry."
"Had Elisabeth talked to you?"
"No, no one did. I didn't have a clue."
I thought about what she had said. "I will consider forgiving you."
Lara pulled me to the bed. I resisted at first. "Please, I need to hold you, Michaela. You can be mad at me if you want, but I need to hold you."
I let her pull me to the bed, not saying anything. We lay together quietly for fifteen or twenty minutes, Lara caressing me gently.
"Did they hurt you?" I asked her.
"Michaela," Lara said. "Did they send you a single video of what they did?"
"No."
"When we talked, did I sound upset?"
"No."
"All right. I made them vow to never tell you. And I am never going to tell you. Everyone there loves me. You must accept this. I want you to never, ever ask again."
I paused three heartbeats before responding. "All right, Lara. I won't ask anyone again. Will I be asked to partake in this ritual in the future?"
"If you are a maid of honor, you are expected to lead it."
"Will I be able to stomach it?"
"You will plan it better than anyone else," she said. "And then you may need to leave from time to time. And if I am the maid of honor, I will ask you to help plan, but when I ask you to leave the room, you must leave."
"All right," I said.
She squeezed me, kissed me, and asked if I was ready to join the party. But instead I started crying.
"Oh honey," she said.
"I'm sorry I didn't last longer," I said, crying quietly.
"Oh honey. You honored the tradition, and that's all that matters."
I cuddled into her, crying onto her chest. She caressed me gently saying over and over, "I love you," and "I am so proud of you," and finally, "thank you".
I cried myself out again and apologized. "I'm overly emotional," I admitted.
"I don't blame you," she said. "The rest of us have years to get excited about this. And you had it sprung on you without even understanding, and you're a fox. I can't imagine you understand emotionally, even if you do intellectually."
"No."
"Are you ready to go downstairs? They're waiting for us."
"I want to show you something first." I wriggled around, lowering my jeans enough to free one cheek, then I crawled across her so she could see the tattoo.
Lara touched my bottom, and when I looked over my shoulder at her, she looked happy. Then she began to laugh, placed me on the pillows, and lowered her own jeans, shifting so I could see.
Prominently on her butt was a tattoo that was clearly a red fox.
I bent down and kissed it, laughed, and said, "Now I'm ready for the party."
Party
The pre-wedding party ran very late. I was asked throughout the night if I was okay, and I told them each I was. I wondered if I was lying; I felt raw and vulnerable. But there was little to be done about it. All the adults living in the compound joined us, the young kids having been left with a baby-sitter.
I had purchased a maid-of-honor present for Angel. I found Francesca and asked her about it.
"Oh no," she said. "Angel is well gifted. Save it for her birthday or Christmas."
"Hell no," I said. "It's expensive. She is now worth far more than I am. I'm returning it and buying her a five dollar gift card for someplace cheap and horrible."
Francesca laughed and then asked me if I were okay.
"Everyone is asking that. I guess I need to go fix the impressions."
I stood up, moved to the center of the room, and said loudly while pointing at Angel. "You!"
The room grew still.
"Me?" Angel said.
"Yes, you. Get over here."
She climbed off the sofa, disentangling herself from Scarlett.
"You kidnapped me last night," I said firmly. "You knew I didn't understand. You knew I wasn't prepared. You didn't warn me. None of you warned me. While you made sure I wasn't truly physically damaged, if I had known the full custom, I absolutely positively guarantee you wouldn't have caught me."
"Michaela?" she said in a quiet voice. "I thought we were okay."
"Admit it!" I said. "No one in this room told me what I should have known until I had no choice but to go along. And while you asked Lara if she gave permission, no one asked me. Angel, as my maid of honor, it was your responsibility to make sure I knew any customs I am supposed to know."
"You wouldn't have let us do it?" she asked in a small voice.
"I didn't say that," I said
. "I would have played to win from the beginning. I went along because I didn't know what was at stake."
"You didn't go along," she said. "You did your best to escape."
"I did escape," I said. I pointed to Elisabeth. "She cheated and interfered. I got away from my kidnappers, and if I had been informed of the custom, I would not have been in the same room with the alpha's kidnappers. By all rights, I should be allowed to cut all your hair."
Then I pointed at Gia. "And that one wasn't assigned to me, either. She was part of Lara's contingent. But she is the one who caught me in the end, after I had gotten away from the rest of you. I submit I should be allowed to cut all your hair. Twice."
"She was waiting for you," Angel said. "She couldn't have stopped Lara."
"I believe the tradition is for my sisters, cousins, and closest friends to kidnap me. Is that correct?"
No one answered. I looked at Gia. "Is that correct?"
"Yes," she said.
"And my payment for a favor was to consider you a friend?"
She nodded. "Yes."
"So even you admit we weren't friends at the point you threw a net over me? And I don't think anyone in the room is going to argue we're sisters or cousins."
There were mild chuckles at that.
"I submit I got free not once, but twice, and the only reason you caught me either time was due to outside interference." I looked straight into Angel's eyes. "I get to cut your hair."
I laughed. It wasn't necessarily a nice laugh. "Furthermore, Angel, I keep two silvered daggers under my pillow and two more in my nightstand. I did not use them. If I had fully understood the custom, I had more choices available to me."
She blanched.
"I did not shift."
"That would be cheating," she said.
"Do you think that's more cheating than leaving me ignorant?"
She had nothing to say to that.
"Using my knives or shifting would have been playing to win. Given the clear disadvantage I have against so many wolves, I do not consider either of those choices as cheating in a situation like last night."
She looked into my eyes. "I'm sorry."
"Apology accepted." I grinned and pulled her into a hug. "I love you, Angel."