Jaguar (The Madison Wolves Book 12)

by Robin Roseau

  Instead, she sighed. And Carissa stilled for a moment, letting the fangs settle into place. Then she was moving again.

  And that was when Iris gasped, clutching tighter at Carissa.

  Then Carissa reached up with one hand to Lindsey, standing behind her friend. She grabbed Lindsey by the front of her shirt, her collar, and dragged her down. Lindsey didn’t resist, and then her face was in front of Carissa’s even as Carissa drank from Iris. I knew Carissa captured her gaze, nearly immediately, as Lindsey froze, staring straight into Carissa.

  The vampire didn’t drink long. If that had been me, she would have drunk far more deeply. But it was enough, and perhaps more than enough to honor the gift, and I thought she might take more later.

  I knew when she withdrew her fangs and bathed the wound with her tongue, offering final pleasures and healing the twin wounds.

  And then she leaned back, releasing both wolves at the same time. She turned to us, and I knew she was doing it so everyone could see the fangs before they withdrew. She licked her lips, carefully avoiding the fangs, and then, slowly, the fangs retracted. The vampire closed her mouth and smiled. Then she turned back to the two wolves.

  Lindsey was just coming back to herself. Iris, well. She was wearing an expression of bliss. Carissa leaned forward and kissed her lightly, and when she withdrew again, Iris opened her eyes.

  “Oh. My. God!” she said.

  “Thank you, Iris, for this gift of life,” Carissa said ceremonially.

  “You’re welcome,” Iris said. “Oh god, you’re welcome.”

  People laughed nervously at that. Carissa ignored them and cuddled into the wolf, laying her head on Iris’s shoulder while tucking her legs up. Iris wrapped her arms around her, cradling the vampire to her.

  And behind her, Lindsey slowly straightened. “Did you bite me, too?”

  “No, Lindsey,” Carissa said. “But you can’t wait, can you?”

  “No,” Lindsey whispered. She stepped closer and set her hand on Carissa’s back, the other at the back of Iris’s neck. And then she stood there, looking down at the two of them.

  The tableau remained like that for several long heartbeats, and then Carissa gave Iris’s neck -- the unbitten side -- a quick kiss and pushed away. She turned to face the table. “Alpha, thank you for this gift.”

  “You are welcome,” Lara said.

  “This is an intimate time,” Carissa said. “A human might sleep in my arms now, and I would hold her while returning to the conversation.” She slumped back against Iris. “I do not wish to break this spell, so I hope no one is offended if I stay right here.”

  “Don’t go,” Iris whispered.

  “No one is offended,” said Michaela.

  “I can answer questions,” Carissa offered. “I would rather you not question my wolves tonight.”

  I glanced at Lara, expecting her to bristle. But if she did, it wasn’t apparent.

  “Anna, can you bring Lindsey her chair?”

  “I’ve got it,” said one of the wolves, and when I looked it was Kaylee. She collected the chair and brought it down to Lindsey, setting it down beside Carissa’s chair. And then two of the other teenagers brought water glasses down, one from Lindsey’s place, one from Iris’s. Carissa held her hand out, and the wolf gave her the glass. Carissa sipped from it, then offered it to Iris.

  “Were there questions?” Michaela prompted.

  “I don’t know where to start,” Zoe said after a moment. “But I think I might find another opportunity to pursue my curiosity, if Carissa doesn’t mind.”

  “Not at all,” she said. “Perhaps we could sit while they are running later.”

  “Oh, could we?” Zoe said. “You don’t mind, do you, Portia?”

  “Only to talk,” Carissa clarified. At home, she wouldn’t have had to say that, but it was best to do so here.

  “Of course,” Portia said.

  There was another pause, a long pause, and then the human male said, “I have a question.”

  “I thought you might,” Carissa said. “I didn’t catch your name.”

  “I’m Nick. I believe you know my daughter, Scarlett. My wife is Tara.” He indicated a female wolf seated beside him. “If I’m not mistaken, you said the Lord’s Prayer with me. Was that Latin?”

  “Yes. Did I surprise you?”

  “Aren’t you. Um.”

  “Damned? A creature of the night? Burned by crosses and holy water?”

  “I wasn’t going to say that,” he said. “But I guess. Yeah.”

  Carissa didn’t answer. Instead, from beside me, Prudence said, “She’s not. I thought she was, but she’s not. Well, she’s not damned, and she’s not a demon.”

  “I walk in the daylight,” Carissa said. “There are different lines of vampires, and different lines have different strengths and weaknesses. In a way, it is like being different types of were. Some lines sleep through the day and cannot tolerate sunlight. Some cannot cross moving water without an insulation of dirt, and for some of those, it must be dirt from their homeland.”

  “What are your weaknesses?” Nick asked.

  “I don’t answer questions like that,” she said. “Not even with friends.”

  “I’m wearing a cross. Does it hurt your eyes?”

  “Not at all,” she said. “Did you wish to touch me with it?”

  “I wouldn’t want to hurt you.”

  “You wouldn’t, but you’re curious, aren’t you?”

  “Frankly, yes.”

  “Try it,” she said. She held out her arm. No one moved for a while, but then Nick stood up and pulled the cross from around his neck as he rounded the table.

  “Are you sure?”

  “You won’t burn me, Nick,” Carissa said. “Even if it’s silver.”

  “It’s platinum,” he said. “Silver would burn Tara.”

  “Try it,” she said. “You won’t hurt me.”

  So Nick did, tentatively at first, but when Carissa showed no reaction, he pressed it to her skin for several heartbeats before removing it. Of course, nothing dramatic happened.

  “Crosses have never hurt me,” Carissa said. “There are vampires whose lines are quite susceptible, but by the time they are as old as I am, such a touch would be nothing more than irritating unless wielded by a very powerful priest.”

  “So silver doesn’t burn?”

  “Not like it does most of the people here,” she replied. “Michaela, throw me one of your knives.”

  There was a flash across down the table, and then Carissa was holding a knife by the handle, pointed to the sky.

  “That blade is silver,” Michaela said. “One of my best.”

  Carissa held it out to Nick. “Try it,” she said.

  Nick was human, and so the knife was harmless to him. He took it from her, reversed it, and then pressed it to her arm.

  And of course, nothing happened, which surprised me. I was sure it would burn. But then I lifted my gaze to her lips, and I saw her features were drawn tightly. It hurt, but she wasn’t letting it burn.

  Well, well.

  Nick pulled it away. Carissa held her arm up for everyone to see. It was unblemished. “You may return that to Michaela,” Carissa said. “I’d throw it back, but I’m not as good at it as Michaela is.”

  Nick nodded and walked the knife down to the other end of the table, setting it down before his alpha. She picked it up carefully and slid it into a sheath inside her blouse sleeve.

  She did it casually, as if the blade wouldn’t burn her. Oh, she could be a cold one when she wanted to be, for all her delicate warmth.

  Nick sat back down. There was another long pause, and then Carissa said, “I have a question, and I hope people will be honest. Was anyone sickened by what happened here?”

  The room grew still until Cassie said, “I wasn’t. But...”

  “Yes?” Carissa prompted.

  “It didn’t look like something you would do in front of all of us.”

  �
��Ah. I am a vampire queen, and that makes me quite the hedonist.”

  “Oh,” Cassie said with a nervous laugh.

  “This was quite restrained to how some vampires behave,” Carissa went on. “I am from a different time and place, and so my manners do not match that of all the other vampires. But I was publicly offered a gift, and it is one that would be very difficult to turn down.”

  * * * *

  It was some time later that we ran. Carissa sent her wolves to run with us, but assured them she would be waiting. They both seemed to be in a daze, one I well understood, but shifting into their fur and letting the wind fluff them out would get their brains working again, at least a little.

  But I knew they belonged to Carissa until she released them, and I knew she wouldn’t be able to release them before we left, unless she had a replacement. Anika and Joanna wouldn’t do, either.

  And so I knew I’d have to talk to Lara and Michaela again.

  But we ran, much as we had last night, although we took a different route before returning to the large athletic field. We gathered underneath the shelter, and that was where Michaela flowed back into her skin.

  They had planned ahead. There were blankets waiting, and she wrapped one around herself.

  “Tonight we will play,” she said. “And I have invited all the humans to play. Angel, will you and Scarlett go collect everyone who is missing.”

  They both ran off. While we were waiting, milling around, Michaela sat down on one of the picnic tables, pulling another blanket to her. Lara and Elisabeth both jumped up and sat down, pressed against her, clearly offering warmth.

  Monique was with me. Prudence had whispered earlier to me, asking if I would sit with her around the fire later. I liked that idea. But for now, Monique was my keeper again. I didn’t mind.

  It was perhaps five minutes before Scarlett and Angel returned, herding all the humans and Carissa too. We gathered around, and then Angel said, “We play many games. This is an important part of being a member of this pack. And at least for this weekend, we wish to consider our friends part of the pack as well.”

  “We’re honored, Michaela,” Carissa said.

  “Our guests do not well know our boundaries, and so we are going to modify an existing game. We are going to play with partners. If the numbers work out, we will have two in fur and one as a human. Carissa, I believe I know who your partners are.”

  The vampire smiled. She already had a hand on the backs of two wolves, standing beside her.

  “For the rest of you, if you are either a human, or you can perform a shift in less than one minute, cluster around this table. Otherwise move away from this table. Monique, remain with Anna.”

  There was a general shifting. Anika, Joanna, and Nick took places at the table as did about half the enforcers plus Francesca and the two pups.

  “All right,” Michaela said. “We’re going to handle our guests first. I need two of you to claim Joanna and two more to claim Anika.”

  It was a large male and a modest female that moved to Joanna and nudged her to the side. Two modest females claimed Anika.

  “Joanna, if you weren’t sure, that is Eric, as if that is a surprise. And Nora is the female.”

  “Hello, Nora,” Joanna said. “Hey, Eric.”

  “You can hug them if you want,” Michaela said. So Joanna knelt down and did that, giving them both a good hug.

  “Anika, those are Cassie and Ember. They like hugs, too.”

  So Anika hugged her partners.

  “Monique,” Michaela called out. “You may pick a partner, anyone here, but one of you will be playing in skin, so if you want to remain in fur, then pick someone at the table. Understand if you pick Lara, you know who is going to make the final decision.”

  Monique huffed for a moment. Then she looked over at me.

  I sat down and let my tongue hang out for a moment, doing my best to let her know she could pick anyone she wanted. So she turned, walked to the table of people, and set her chin on Michaela’s knee.

  “All right,” Michaela said. “I’ll join you after we’ve finished explaining the game. But are you playing in skin, or am I?”

  Monique added a paw to Michaela’s knee. The little fox laughed and said, “All right. Go back to Anna now.”

  Monique returned to my side.

  “All right. I need a pair to claim Nick.” A female wolf stepped forward and carefully collected Nick’s hand. She pulled him away. I didn’t see who the other partner was, but I assumed the female was his mate.

  “Excellent. The rest of us need to form into trios. I didn’t count, so if it doesn’t quite work, we can have one team of four, or two teams of four. Two in fur, one or two in skin. The two in fur to partner first, then select one of us. We’ll deal with clothes shortly.”

  It took a few minutes for the remaining partnerships to form. Michaela waited patiently then said, “Excellent. Whoever is to be the human should run and get dressed, then run back. Monique, will you go collect my clothes? Don’t forget my shoes and jacket.”

  The humans were already dressed, of course, and so there were streaks of werewolves running for the house.

  While we waited, Michaela talked about the importance of play. “Sometimes it is practice for life. Sometimes it is simply for bonding. Sometimes it is because we do not wish to forget our childhood innocence.” She talked about that for a while, and also about honor and integrity.

  And she filled the time until the wolves returned, now back in human form and dressed. Monique returned first, of course, carrying a sack, and dropping it in Michaela’s lap. Then she moved back to me, offered a small nudge, and sat down beside me. Michaela took a few minutes to get dressed, and by the time she was done, the remaining wolves had all returned.

  “All right. Everyone is in their teams. Now, we’re going to play a simple game of hide and go seek.” She explained a game that I’d once been taught as zombie hide and go seek, where once you were found, you were like an infected zombie who had to help find everyone else.

  “Partners need to remain together, and by together, I mean you must be touching.”

  She finished with the basic rules and then looked around. “Now, I’ve considered two variations on this game. That’s the simple form. We’re going to pick exactly one variation. In the first variation, if contact breaks, even for a second, then you must reestablish contact and freeze while the human slowly counts to thirty.”

  That resulted in a little grumbling, but I thought it was good-natured.

  “Okay, so you don’t like that one,” Michaela said. “Carissa, do you see that bin?” She pointed to a storage bin near one of the posts holding the roof over our heads. “Can you go look and tell us what you find?”

  Carissa left her wolves and walked over to the plastic bin. She opened it then knelt down and rummaged inside. Then she began laughing.

  “Leashes. They’re leather leashes, aren’t they?”

  “That’s the first sack. There are two others.”

  Carissa rummaged and then laughed again. “Collars. And in the other, little locks.”

  “Bring a leash and collar to me,” Michaela said. “Monique, come here.”

  I could tell Monique didn’t want to do it. Everyone knew what was coming, after all. She slunk to her alpha, her belly dragging through the grass, but she did what she was told.

  Michaela wrapped a collar around Monique’s neck then clipped the leash in place, She wrapped the other end around her own wrist. Then she said, “Carissa, there are two locks per leash. Come and see.” Carissa stepped over.

  “Two locks?”

  “One at each end,” Michaela said.

  “And where are the keys?”

  “I’m not telling,” Michaela said. “But once locked, short of breaking the leash or collar, these are staying in place, one end around my wrist and one end attached to the collar. We won’t need the constant contact rule because you won’t be able to separate further than the length of
the leash.

  “Oh, I like this rule,” Carissa said.

  “Will you help Monique from the collar?” Michaela asked. “That’s variation number two. In variation number three, the humans are unwilling captives. Rather than normal hide and go seek, it’s really more a game of keep away. The wolves must keep the humans away from the searchers, but the humans will be trying to escape and be found. Humans gain points for being first found and wolves lose points for losing their humans. A human is freed if touched by a freed human, at which point the human’s wolves become guards but may only engage other wolves. Or cat. We mustn’t forget the cat.”

  She looked around. “From this moment until the game is over, no one is allowed to shift except in case of an emergency. Carissa, I believe you should give yourself a handicap.”

  “I can limit myself to the capabilities of a human,” Carissa said. “Do the wolves out of fur offer the same handicap?”

  “They do,” Michaela said. “Questions?”

  “In the third variation, what options do humans have to escape?” Carissa asked. “And what options do wolves have to prevent that? I do not believe biting is in keeping with this game.”

  “Humans can do whatever they want to escape, but they must act as if they don’t want to be bit. Wolves shouldn’t actually bite, of course, but they can grab clothing and tug.”

  “I’m not sure Anna can actually do that,” Carissa said. “Anna?”

  I glanced at Monique then stood and padded over to Carissa. I tried to grab her sleeve, but I couldn’t really do that. But instead I wrapped my mouth around her entire wrist and held carefully. Carissa didn’t bat an eye.

  “Anna, I’m going to try to tug, but no harder than a human might.” She paused, and then she began trying to pull her hand away from me. I tightened slightly, but only enough to hang on.

  And she didn’t pull her hand away.

  “All right,” Michaela said. “But Anna, I am very, very easy to break. How sure are you of your control?”

  I released Carissa and stepped over to Michaela. Then I opened my mouth and waited.

  Slowly she set her wrist across my mouth. My jaws were so wide, when I closed, I held her from her wrist almost all the way to her elbow.