Jaguar (The Madison Wolves Book 12)

by Robin Roseau

“Tricky,” I replied. “You’re just as likely to hurt yourself.”

  “But effective,” she replied. “And I’d rather take a silver burn than watch Michaela get shredded like that again.”

  “I’d rather be in fur.” I paused. “I suppose you couldn’t pierce the brainpan in a bite.”

  “No. Are their necks as tough as a werewolf neck?”

  “No, but they can heal a hell of a lot faster. If you’re going to do it that way, you have to do a hell of a lot of damage, and keep doing it until they’re dust. It’s not even enough to separate the head. You have to keep it separate.”

  “Until it’s dust.”

  “Yeah. If it’s a master, they box the head and burn the body. If they’re not real old, like the ones you faced, they’ll dust fairly quickly.”

  “Days?”

  “Oh, no. Buffy got that one almost right. Stake the heart, and they’re dead, but it takes another, oh, ten or twenty seconds for them to dust. Take the head, same thing. Swords are good.” I paused. “How about your claws?”

  “We use them for slashing, but I don’t know if I could actually take a head off that way.”

  “Well, I think you should forget most of what you saw on Buffy. Forget getting fancy. Okay, the silver squirt guns aren’t bad, but you’re going to hit each other, and you’d have to soak a vamp down to kill one that way.”

  “It slowed them down.”

  “Yeah. I suppose they’re good for defense. Look, I’d get some swords. They don’t have to be long. And they don’t need to be silver. Go for decapitation. But you can cut them into pieces. If you don’t kill them, they’ll pull back together, but that takes them time. I’d rather fight in fur, but I bet you fight real well on two feet.”

  “I’m not bad,” she said. “God. Swords. How medieval.”

  “Real swords,” I added. “None of that Renaissance Festival crap. Or a katana, if you want to go Japanese. But I don’t know where you’d get a real one, and I don’t know how you’d carry them.”

  “I don’t know how we’d practice.”

  “Wooden swords and a well armored opponent, I suppose, and pull your strikes besides.” I paused. “If there’s one, you can overwhelm him. They’re strong, but even Carissa isn’t necessarily stronger than you are. Hold him down and gnaw his neck off.”

  “You gnaw,” she said, and I heard her swish her beer. “I need another one. You?”

  “Yeah, but them I’m for bed.”

  I let her wait on me, just this once. She even popped it open for me. “Thanks,” I said. I waited until she was seated and taking a big swig and asked, “So. Want to spar tomorrow.”

  I hoped she’d spew. She didn’t. “With you? I’m not sure my ego could take it.”

  “Yeah. I heard the little fox is more your speed.”

  She narrowed her eyes at me, then she smiled. “Care for a wager?”

  “It depends,” I said carefully. “What are we wagering over?”

  “You and the fox. She’ll take you, three out of five.”

  I laughed. “Elisabeth, there’s no way either you or Lara would ever let me spar with the little fox.”

  “I tell you what. We can add that to the wager. She wins if you back out or she beats you. You win if there’s no match, or you beat her. Think you can pull your punches?”

  I stared at her. “You’re not serious.”

  “Sure I am.”

  “God, Elisabeth. I wouldn’t know how to avoid crushing her. You probably get experience sparring with pups or something. I’ve never done that. I’ve never fought anyone who couldn’t handle it.”

  “So we’ll give her odds. You can grapple only. She’s tiny. You can give her odds.”

  “She’s going to have her knives, isn’t she?”

  “Practice knives. Yep.”

  “A scratch isn’t a point.”

  “Nope. Has to be a killing blow if she didn’t pull it. But you simulate a shredded muscle if she manages to do it.”

  “And she’ll simulate broken bones?”

  “Imagine you’re trying to kidnap her, not kill her. You get a point if you subdue her or she needs to heal. But you will avoid intentionally causing real damage.”

  “God, Elisabeth,” I said. “You’re serious.”

  “Yep.”

  “I don’t want to lose a wager because I’m afraid to touch her.”

  “You were right. I spar with her. I pull my strikes, but otherwise, if it’s not practice, we go all out.”

  I stared at her for a while. “There were five of you in North Carolina.”

  “Six, counting both Michaela and Deirdre.”

  “Four vamps.”

  “Five, but the one ran. Coward. He should have defended his territory.”

  I thought about it. “Elisabeth, this is foolish. Lara will kill me if I scratch her mate.”

  “She won’t be able to watch, but she won’t kill you.”

  “What are the winnings?”

  “Something small. The beer. For the duration of your stay, loser buys the beer, and I don’t drink cheap beer. And fetches it.” She gestured. “That could be the last one I get for you.”

  “For events?”

  “No. Just here, but at the lodge, you fetch for me.”

  “If she beats me.”

  “Right.”

  “Lara’s never going to allow this.”

  “Then you win.”

  “We aren’t doing it behind her back.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of it,” she said. “I did something like that once. I got my ass reamed, even though it was the right choice. Long story.”

  “Elisabeth.” I shook my head. “There’s no way. I’m faster and stronger than you are.”

  “Bigger target, too.”

  I stared at her, then shook my head.

  “Are you afraid of being humiliated, or are you afraid of hurting her.”

  “Hurting her.”

  “If you don’t kill her, she’ll heal.”

  “Like she healed from the vampires?”

  “They were trying to kill her. You’re just trying to catch her. Look, she’s strong enough I’ve seen her break an arm using her muscles too strongly. But she’s brittle as a bird, or it seems that way, anyway. You get hold of her, and she’s not getting free.”

  “I grab one hand and she stabs the crap out of me with the other, and I have to let her go. So instead I have to play rougher than that.”

  “Fine. You catch her and you win. Secure one limb, and you get the point. That’s her handicap.”

  “This is crazy, Elisabeth.”

  She leaned forward and held out her hand. “Tomorrow morning, before breakfast. We can get a good workout before heading north.”

  “So you and I will spar?”

  “Hell, no. We’d kill each other.”

  “Yeah, probably.” I leaned forward and took her hand.

  “Excellent.” She pulled out her phone. “Alpha. How would you like to kick some cat whiskers in the morning? No, no, two feet. No, we talked about that.” She described our rules. Then there was a pause. “Excellent. Text me when you’re ready.”

  Elisabeth grinned at me as she hung up.

  * * * *

  I slept poorly, and morning came early. Elisabeth was in a cheerful mood, which didn’t help. But I got up and changed into workout clothes.

  How did I get clothing there? We shipped ahead.

  The pack had a gym, a very well-equipped gym. We met there. And while it wasn’t the entire compound, it was a large number of wolves, one cat, one fox, and one fae. And most of them were grinning at me.

  Lara was there. She walked up to me, and I looked her in the eye. “This wasn’t my idea.”

  “Oh, I know whose idea it was,” she said, offering a look at Michaela. “Elisabeth, is anyone wagering on whether I allow it?”

  “If so, they haven’t come to me. Anna and I agreed if you don’t allow it, it’s a win for her.”

  I shook m
y head at that. “No. That’s what we agreed, but I want us to withdraw that part. I think this is a bad idea, but...”

  “It’s hard to back down when Elisabeth goads you on,” Lara said. “She’s my big sister. I know all about that. Elisabeth, tell me the rules again.”

  Elisabeth repeated them. I listened carefully, nodding at the end.

  “I can’t watch,” Lara said. “Karen, pick three more and get me out of here.”

  “Lara,” I said.

  “My mate is very surprising,” Lara said. “But if you need to get away from me, pick a tree. There are some big ones to choose from.”

  “I hear you can climb trees.”

  “I won’t be in any shape to remember that.”

  Karen stepped over, Eric, Rory, and Angel with her. They surrounded Lara and then led her from the gym. I didn’t see where they went after that.

  “God. She was supposed to say ‘no’.”

  Elisabeth laughed. Michaela stepped up to me and smiled. She showed me her wrists. “These are practice blades. I replenish between points.”

  I nodded.

  “They still hurt. I’ll pull critical strikes, but you’re going to get hurt. Will you lose your mind?”

  “You’re not going to hurt me.”

  “I am the co-alpha of a werewolf pack, Anna, and I don’t hold my position by being cute and cuddly. Unless you’re a hell of a lot faster than I think you are, you’re going to get hurt. Now, will you lose your mind?”

  “No.”

  “You are not allowed strikes, only grappling moves. You will remain under complete control of your body at all times, unless I do something that prevents it. If you catch me, it is a point. If I scream, you freeze, and it is a point. But if you use a strike, someone will throw me a silver weapon, and you’ll be cleaning silver out of your blood. Clear?”

  “Clear.”

  She smiled, reached up, and patted my cheek. “This will be interesting.” Then she turned and headed for a door. I followed after her, along with Deirdre and the wolves.

  It was a workout room of some sort, the floor covered in mats, and the walls in even thicker mats. I looked around, and then Michaela stepped back up. “If you throw me hard enough, you’ll kill me.”

  “I’ll be careful, Michaela.”

  “I, however, won’t.” She grinned again. “You can take it, right?”

  “Right.”

  “All right then. Best three out of five.” She moved to the other end of the room. “Whenever you’re ready, Anna.”

  I looked at her. Her hands were empty, and she was in a slight crouch, but very light on her feet. So I began stalking her.

  She moved counter-clockwise, but I cut her off. She made a dash to get around me to my left, but I cut her off more, and in less than an eye blink, she cut across in front of me, and as she passed me, I felt something solid slide along my arm, all the way from my wrist to my bicep. When I spun, I had no idea what she had used.

  “What was that?”

  “Silver blade,” she replied. “Treat it as a long, bleeding scratch or a much shorter but deep cut. I couldn’t give you a long, deep cut that long in one slice.”

  “I don’t see a blade.”

  She moved, and a blade was suddenly in her hand. A moment later, it was gone again.

  “Oh shit,” I said. “Seriously?”

  “How’s the arm?”

  “Bleeding,” I said. “It’s not critical.”

  “No, but there’s silver in the cut, and it’s distracting you. If you don’t get it seen to, it will make you sick.”

  “Werewolf co-alpha-fox.”

  “You got that right,” she said. Then she made a “come to me” gesture.

  I did, and I was fast.

  She was faster. She let me rush her, then she dropped to the floor, pushing off straight at me, and she punched me in the gut, then slid between my legs and came up behind me.

  When I spun, she was holding one of her practice knives. “I turned it around,” she said. “But unless your physiology is distinctly different from a wolf’s, I got your heart.”

  I stared at her. “Seriously?”

  “Elisabeth, ever seen me kill that way?”

  “Twice. Hmm. They were about Anna’s size, give or take.”

  “Garth was a hell of a lot bigger,” said the fox. “But sure.”

  “Shit,” I said. “Point to the fox.”

  She grinned at me. “This is fun. Elisabeth, what do I win if I finish beating her?”

  “Damn it,” said Elisabeth. “Like you’d throw it.”

  “I might,” she said. “Anna’s a lot faster than you are.”

  “What do you want?”

  “I want one of the tennis ball favors she owes you.”

  “Michaela, I worked hard for those favors.”

  “Oh, please,” said the fox. “She’s going to catch me at least once. If I don’t break something, I’m going to be shocked.”

  “Fine. If you have to heal, you get one of the favors, but only if you still win.”

  “And if I don’t have to heal?”

  Elisabeth made a noise of disgust. “Michaela, it can’t be worth more than getting her to fetch a beer now and then. Or go ahead. Throw it. I don’t think you have it in you.”

  Michaela held up a finger to me, asking me to wait, and I nodded to her. She turned to face Elisabeth then walked up to the wolf. She put a hand on her hip and said, “Let me drive once in a while, without a fuss.”

  “Once in a while. What does that mean?”

  “Whenever I ask.”

  “You’re not talking about ditching your security.”

  “I miss driving. No one lets me drive. Am I bad driver, Elisabeth?”

  Elisabeth paused. “I wouldn’t say a bad driver.” Michaela narrowed her eyes. “Come on, Michaela, you hate driving around Madison.”

  “Fine. But here to our airport? Or around Bayfield?”

  “Serena?”

  “I don’t mind,” Serena said. “But not the way she put it. She can ask, but if we say ‘no’, then no arguments. Michaela, there might be reasons.”

  “Reasons you can’t tell me?”

  “Not necessarily, but it might just be a gut feeling.”

  “All right,” Michaela said. “But the answer should be ‘yes’ more than ‘no’.”

  “Or we’ll be able to articulate why, and you’ll understand.”

  She turned back to Elisabeth. “Well?”

  “Agreed. Go finish kicking her ass.”

  Michaela turned around, grinning. “In advance, I want to thank you, Anna. I’m really sorry about this.”

  “Cocky, Fox,” I said. “Very cocky.”

  She gestured, and I stalked her.

  * * * *

  I did catch her once, but when I wrapped my hand around her wrist, I found myself clutching the edge of a wooden blade. We both froze. And then Michaela carefully lifted her wrist so everyone else could see what had happened. I didn’t resist her.

  “Ouch,” Elisabeth said. “I don’t know what to call that.”

  “Was that intentional?” I asked.

  “Well, I wasn’t letting you catch me, but I prefer to hide the blades like this. It keeps people guessing. So yeah, if this had been a real fight, you just sliced the hell out of your fingers. What I don’t know is whether you could continue to hold me.”

  I still hadn’t let go, and I looked at it. “I don’t know, either.”

  Michaela grinned. “We could find out.”

  “Half a point each?”

  She shook her head. “This isn’t a half point to me. You’re not disabled.” She paused. “Elisabeth, you’ve seen me hold a silver blade like this. If I can do it, she can. I think she gets this point.”

  “Point to Anna,” Elisabeth agreed.

  I released her wrist, and we separated. It was my only point.

  Michaela was tickled pink and hugged me tightly when we were done. She wasn’t even breathing
hard, although I was.

  “How about it, Elisabeth?” she asked. “Want to get your blood moving?”

  “Sure. Scarlett, call Angel and tell her what’s going on.”

  “Rules, Sister?” Michaela called.

  “Rules? We don’t need no stinkin’ rules.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Have you even seen that movie?”

  “No, but it’s a great line,” said Elisabeth. “Skip your knives.”

  “No way.”

  “Come on, Michaela. Don’t embarrass me in front of the guest.”

  “Ha. Nice try.” But then Michaela bent down and began unstrapping the sheaths around her ankles. She tossed them aside, and then did the same with the ones on her wrists.

  “I was kidding.”

  “Throws only,” Michaela said. “We’ll play until you get five points. Anna, do you think I can throw my head enforcer?”

  I laughed. “No. Now what are you doing?”

  “Anna votes zero. Serena?”

  “Twice.”

  “Scarlett?”

  Scarlett paused. “You’re going to get hurt, Michaela.”

  “How many, Scarlett?”

  “Once.”

  “We’ve got zero, one, and two,” Michaela said. “What do you think, Elisabeth?”

  Elisabeth moved up to her alpha and stared her in the eyes. “You’re going to get hurt.”

  “I’ll heal.”

  “Are we playing to all five points?”

  “Or until I can’t fight.”

  “God. Fine. Two and you win.”

  Michaela nodded and backed away. She nodded, and Elisabeth rushed her. Michaela ducked away, and I thought she grappled for an instant, but then she released it and moved away, faster than Elisabeth could grab her. That happened twice more, but then they both went down, the fox underneath, but Elisabeth straddling her, slamming into the mat and not the fox.

  “Shit,” said Elisabeth. “Michaela.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” said the fox. “Point to Elisabeth.”

  The next point was cleaner, the fox going over Elisabeth’s hip and landing flat on her back, but Elisabeth controlled it, and the fox barely kissed the mat.

  “Two,” said Michaela.

  Elisabeth got the third point. I wasn’t surprised. This time the fox flew halfway across the room, slamming backwards into the wall, but she was well spread out, absorbing the blow. Still, she bounced off and fell to hands and knees, then knelt there for a moment before getting up.