Wolf Ways (The Madison Wolves Book 9)

by Robin Roseau

  “You broke up with me!”

  “I wasn’t enough for you, and you even admitted it.”

  “Stay focused, Enforcer,” Lara said.

  Elisabeth froze for a moment, then she offered a flash of a smile. “I’m not here as your former lover,” she said. “I am here as the Head Enforcer for the pack. What do I have to do to convince you to never run from an enforcer again? Are you going to make me beat you? What?”

  “Go ahead!” I spat. “You’re just looking for an excuse to put me in my place. Go ahead! I can’t stop you.”

  “Enforcer,” Michaela said. “She’s not a rabbit, and you have her cornered.”

  Elisabeth shook the arms of the chair for a moment then straightened, stepping back a half yard. “No, Zoe,” she said, “I am not looking for an excuse to do anything to you. I’m looking for an excuse not to.”

  I glared at her before turning away. “I was afraid,” I said. “I panicked. Given the circumstances and everything that has happened since, I think my reactions were fully justified. It’s called fight or flight. Look it up sometime.”

  She leaned back into my space, but not as close as she’d been before. “When an enforcer tells you to do something, you will do it.” She punctuated each of the last three words. “When an enforcer shows up on your doorstep, you will open your door and smile. Or else.”

  “Or else?” I said. “Or else?” I squeaked that time. “Were you watching when I was carried in here? I wasn’t half out of my mind; I was fully out of my mind. And you think threatening me is going to help?”

  Elisabeth leaned forward with her hands on the arm of the chair again. She glared into my eyes from a few inches away. I glared back.

  “You’re not the frightened mouse they carried in here.”

  “Also called fight or flight,” I said. “You really should look it up.” But I lowered my gaze. “I get it. Assuming I’m not in a full-out panic, I’ll do what I’m told. On the other hand, if I’m in a panic, you can expect the same reaction you got today, and all the threats in the world won’t change it.”

  Then I looked up. “But if you lay a hand on me, you better be prepared to kill me. I will not tolerate abuse. And if you try putting me in that cell, I will go with the understanding I won’t be leaving again.”

  “God damn it, Zoe!” she spat. “Shut up!”

  “Go to hell.”

  “Well, this is productive,” Michaela said. “Elisabeth, back off.”

  “I’m handling this, Alpha,” Elisabeth said.

  “You’re treating a human like a wolf,” Michaela said. “And if you threaten her one more time, she’s going to say something that’s awfully hard to forgive. Do you want her to start threatening back? She only has one threat, and if she says it, we have to kill her. Now back off!”

  Elisabeth shook my chair again, but she stepped away. Michaela moved between us. She pointed at me. “You sit there and shut up.” She didn’t wait for me to respond, but she turned to Elisabeth.

  “She needs to learn her place,” Elisabeth stated before Michaela could say anything to her.

  “We’ll discuss it later, Elisabeth,” Michaela said. “Was there anything else you needed to tell her as Head Enforcer?”

  “I need to know if she’s going to do what she’s told,” Elisabeth replied.

  “She told you she would.”

  “She told me she’d run after nearly running over one of my enforcers!”

  “That was her own fault!” I blurted.

  Michaela spun to me. “I told you to be quiet. And don’t even think of talking back to me.”

  Again she didn’t wait but turned back to Elisabeth. “She said she’d obey if she wasn’t in a blind panic. That’s the best you’re going to get from her. The trick now is to keep her from future panic.”

  “She had no reason to panic,” Elisabeth said.

  Michaela didn’t even wait for my outburst. Without even looking, she pointed a finger at me. “We’ll talk about that later as well,” Michaela told Elisabeth. “Anything else?”

  The two stared at each other for several heartbeats. “No, Alpha,” Elisabeth said finally.

  “Good. Wait right there.” She turned around to face me. “You.” She pointed at me. “Apologize to the head enforcer.” She stepped sideways so I could see past her to Elisabeth.

  “Her first,” I said sullenly. “She’s the one who threatened me.”

  “She was doing her job, and you know it,” Michaela said firmly.

  “Bullying me?” I asked. “That’s her job? Don’t any of you know bullying isn’t socially acceptable anymore?”

  From past Michaela, Lara cracked a smile. I stared at her. “You think that’s funny, Alpha?”

  “After a fashion,” Lara replied. “Michaela said those very words to me the first time we met.”

  “Elisabeth’s job is to discipline wayward pack members,” Michaela explained. “Which you know. You were a wayward pack member, and a yelling is getting off lightly. Your continued tone isn’t helping your situation. I think you’re being intentionally belligerent because you’re goading us into proving to you we’re monsters.”

  I stared at her for a minute, then lowered my gaze. I wasn’t sure she was entirely accurate, but it was fair to say I was goading them.

  “Head Enforcer,” I said, “I apologize for my tone.” I didn’t mean a single word of it.

  No one responded. I wasn’t sure if they were expecting more, but it was as much as they were going to get.

  Finally Michaela said, “Elisabeth, accept the apology.”

  There was another pause, and then Elisabeth said, “Zoe, your tone is forgiven.”

  “Zoe, thank her.”

  I looked up. Elisabeth looked as upset as I felt. “Thank you,” I managed to croak out. I didn’t feel at all thankful. She should be apologizing to me.

  “Head Enforcer,” Michaela said firmly. “I will handle the rest of this. You need to calm down. Right now, the two of you don’t respond well to each other. I wish your permission to reassign one or two of your enforcers. Do I have it?”

  “Assignment of enforcers is my responsibility,” Elisabeth said.

  Michaela didn’t take her eyes from me, but from beyond her, Lara stepped up next to Elisabeth and whispered in her ear. Elisabeth nodded and said, “Of course, Alpha. Whatever you need.”

  “Thank you. Go calm down, Elisabeth. Perhaps a swim before dinner will feel good. We could meet you in fifteen or twenty minutes.”

  “I’d like that, Michaela.” She began moving to the door but then stopped beside me, looking down at me. She began to reach a hand out for me, and I stiffened, but didn’t pull away. She dropped her hand and fled the room.

  Michaela paced away from me for a minute while I sat in the chair, staring at the floor. Finally she came to a stop in front of me. “Are you going to try to run again?”

  “I can’t vouch for what happens if I panic,” I replied.

  “Are you about to panic?”

  I looked up at her. “I don’t know. I’ve been dragged from my car, kidnapped, carried up here, and been threatened not only with a beating but also with an execution. Fear and panic seem like pretty reasonable reactions to me.” I glared for a moment. “If you intend to toss me in that cell, just get it over with.”

  Michaela pursed her lips. “That is not my intention,” she said. She looked around. “Eric and Rory, I’m sure you can find something else to do. Monique, you have homework.” Then she stopped, her gaze on Karen. “You too, Karen.” She gestured with her head towards the door. A moment later, I was left in the room with the alphas, Serena and Portia.

  Michaela turned back to me. “I am not pleased with you, Zoe.”

  I returned my gaze to the floor.

  “Why didn’t you return my calls?”

  “I didn’t want to listen to you yell at me or remind me I had to come to Wednesday dinners.”

  “If you had listened to my voice messages, or
if you had actually called me the way you should have, you would know that’s not why I was calling.”

  I looked up at her.

  “I was calling to remind you that you have friends. I was calling to make sure my friend was okay. And I was calling to tell you I understood if you needed some time away from the compound, but I was only giving you one month. That ended today.”

  She let me chew on that for a minute. Then she leaned close, the same as Elisabeth had, her hands on the sides of the chair. “This had better be the last time you ignore my calls. Do I make myself clear?”

  “Yes, Alpha,” I replied in a small voice. I didn’t apologize.

  She straightened. “All right.” Then she began pacing again. She stopped by Portia and said something too quiet for me to hear, then she paced her way to Lara. “Alpha, I find I must press charges against this pack member.”

  “What?” I squeaked.

  She turned to me. “Shut up. Anything you say right now is going to make this worse. Just shut up.”

  She turned back to Lara. “One charge of insubordination for refusing my calls; one charge for running from the enforcers; one for refusing to stop when Monique ordered her to stop; another charge of insubordination for her tone with the head enforcer. And I’m not sure what charge to levy for nearly running Monique over.”

  “That was her fault!”

  She spun to me. “And a charge of insubordination for not shutting up!”

  I clamped my lips together.

  She turned back to Lara. “I believe you once charged me with endangerment of a valued pack asset. I don’t know if there is a more appropriate charge.”

  “Probably,” said Lara, “but that one will do. Ms. Young, do you understand the charges levied against you?”

  “I don’t know the punishments,” I said in a small voice. “Is there a trial? Do I get a lawyer?”

  “In this case, insubordination would be handled with pack service,” Lara said. “Endangerment of a valued pack resource is a more serious charge. There is a hearing, which we would conduct immediately. I have already heard the prosecution, so unless Michaela has more to say, you will present your defense and I will make a decision.”

  “No lawyer?”

  “No. You will speak for yourself.”

  “I see, so your wife will prosecute me, and then you’ll render judgment. That sounds like justice.” I lowered my eyes. “I understand the charges.”

  She ignored my first words. “Good,” said Lara. “Alpha?”

  Michaela paced around for another minute. She came to a stop near me. “Alpha, if the defendant will plead guilty to the other charges, I will drop one charge of insubordination. I don’t care which one.”

  “Ms. Young?” Lara asked.

  I looked up at her. “I didn’t do anything wrong, and I certainly didn’t endanger Monique. That was her own fault. I stopped as quickly as I could. It was entirely her choice to jump in front of my car. I’m not pleading guilty to something that wasn’t my fault.”

  “Alpha?” said Lara. “Do you wish to pursue this charge?”

  Michaela considered me. “Ms. Young,” she said. “I require you to answer my questions. Failure to do so will result in additional charges. Do you understand?”

  “Yes,” I said tightly.

  “And a bad tone will result in additional charges as well.” She paused. “Did you really think Monique would stand by idly as you drove off?”

  “If it were as friendly of a visit as everyone insists, yes,” I said. “And if it wasn’t, then I was right to run. In that case, it was self-preservation, and I’m not guilty of a thing.”

  “Do you admit that your actions endangered your own life?” she asked. “You could have had an accident in the parking lot. Were you clear-headed enough to even make it out onto the main road while looking both ways and evading the enforcers?”

  “If no one had been chasing after me, I would have left far more calmly,” I replied. “I will accept responsibility for my actions. I didn’t have an accident. I didn’t choose to step in front of speeding car.”

  “So you admit you were speeding?”

  “Oh please. It’s a Prius. I don’t think I drove more than fifteen yards before she jumped in front of me. If I was doing more than twenty, I’d be shocked.”

  Michaela studied me then turned to Lara. “If she pleads guilty to the insubordination charges, I’ll drop one of them. We can argue this last issue separately.” Then she turned back to me and leaned closer. “Do not give me a reason to consider additional charges. Watch your tone.”

  I nodded. “Yes, Alpha.”

  “Ms. Young, do you plead guilty to five charges of insubordination?”

  “So you call it insubordination to ignore calls from a friend?” I asked. “That’s your assertion? You were calling as a friend? And the enforcers were there as friends?”

  Michaela didn’t answer.

  “Call it was it is, Alpha.” I stressed her title. “If you were calling as a friend, then why is it insubordination to hide from the call? If the enforcers were there as friends, why is it insubordination to hide from them? And I don’t take orders from a 15-year-old, no matter what her title is.”

  Michaela still had no answer.

  “If you are charging me with insubordination, then you were calling as the pack alpha, not as a friend,” I stated. “If you are calling it insubordination, then the enforcers were there as enforcers, not friends.” I crossed my arms over my chest and glared up at her.

  Michaela stepped away, turning her back on me. She paced back and forth for a minute. Finally she turned around, facing me from perhaps fifteen feet away.

  “Zoe, the punishment for insubordination is minor. I can’t let you get away with your behavior. Do you really believe your behavior wasn’t insubordination?”

  I looked between them. “How much pack service?”

  “I would pass sentencing when we’re done,” Lara said.

  I turned fully to face her. “Am I agreeing to a thousand hours a charge?”

  “Oh. No. Enough to sting.” She paused. “Michaela should have charged you with aggravated insubordination for running. If you were a wolf, the standard punishment is a severe beating. Michaela spent two months under house arrest for it a few years ago.”

  I looked at Michaela. “Really?”

  She nodded. “Long story.”

  I looked back at Lara. “If she was calling as a friend, as she claims, then it was not insubordination,” I said. “It was, at most, rude. It was not insubordination to run from the enforcers; it was panic. And I will talk to Elisabeth however I please if she’s going to threaten to beat me because I panicked. It was certainly not insubordination to refuse orders from a 15-year-old.” I paused. “Nor do I believe it is insubordination to defend myself from false accusations. It is unreasonable to expect me to remain quiet while I am being slandered.”

  Then I looked at Michaela. “Tell me. Who prosecuted you for ditching your security a couple of months ago? Wasn’t that insubordination?”

  She huffed.

  “The issues are not linked,” Lara said.

  “Of course not. Because just like in every government, those in power get away with breaking the rules while those of us with no power are trod upon.” I glared back and forth between both of them.

  Michaela huffed again then stepped away and paced back and forth a few times before turning back to face me.

  “My initial phone calls were made as a friend,” she said. “But I also made calls as the alpha to discuss your September pack service. Perhaps we should discuss dereliction of duty for skipping your September duty, and I believe you intended to skip October and November and every month thereafter. Do you want to escalate this, Zoe?”

  I sighed and looked at the floor, quite sullenly. “I’ll take the four charges of insubordination if she drops the other charges. I’m not taking responsibility for Monique’s actions.”

  “That is not the off
er,” Michaela said. “That one we’re arguing.” But she turned to Lara. “However, if you judge her guilty, I will ask for leniency.”

  I sighed. “I’m not pleading guilty to insubordination for refusing Monique’s order. She’s not an enforcer; she’s a student, and she’s only fifteen.”

  “I said I would drop one,” Michaela said.

  “Fine,” I said after a moment. “Four counts, but not the one about Monique. And I didn’t endanger her. She did that all on her own.”

  “All right. Thank you.” Lara paused. “Michaela, she has a point. Present your full argument.”

  Michaela paced again. She came to a stop in front of me. “You’re guilty of something, Zoe. Until you started driving, you hadn’t risked anyone. But once you got in the car, you had gone from a minor event to real danger. You risked your life and Monique’s.”

  “Monique risked her life,” I said. “She’s the one who stepped in front of my car. If you want to charge someone for that, charge her.”

  “What if there had been a child who wandered out from between the other cars?” Michaela asked. “Monique could handle getting hit, but some human kid could not.”

  “Make up your mind,” I said. “If she could handle it, then she wasn’t at real risk, and this charge is…” I paused.

  “Is what?”

  “Unfair,” I said. I had meant to say “bullshit”, but I thought that might be more insubordination. “And there weren’t any kids. You can’t charge me based on what-if. What if I have a heart condition, and I have a heart attack from enforcer-induced fear? What if I landed badly while the wolves are playing with me, and I break a rib, that then pierces my heart? What if…” I faded away, not having other examples.

  “I can certainly charge you if your actions create significant risk. You’re playing with the odds, and eventually they’ll catch up to you. Furthermore, it is the responsibility of everyone in the pack to maintain a low profile so as to avoid official interest. Racing out of the parking lot of a pack-owned apartment building is not maintaining a low profile.”

  Then she leaned closer. “And I can’t let you get away with this, Zoe.”