Jaguar (The Madison Wolves Book 12)

by Robin Roseau

  “Oh, you can already guess. You already know what I expect if anything like this ever comes up again, don’t you?”

  “Tell you.”

  “That’s right,” Michaela replied. “But if you want a second chance, you’re going to prove you’re worth it.”

  “I don’t know how to do that.”

  “Attitude. You can actually act like you’re happy to be here, that you enjoy what we’re doing here, and whom we’re doing it with. You can act like you enjoy hanging out with the other kids and even with the adults. You can smile. You can laugh. And I don’t mean fake smiles or fake laughs. You can decide that staying here is the absolute coolest thing you could be doing in the entire wide world, and you can then act like it.”

  “That’s it?”

  “Not entirely. You are also going to volunteer for absolutely everything. You’ll not only spend your share of time in the kitchen, but if we need extra servers, you’ll be the first one with her hand up. And the competition around here for that is stiff. If any of the adults need an assistant, your hand is in the air first. If I say I need someone to let me do something terribly embarrassing to her, your hand is the in the air first. Do you get me?”

  “I get you.”

  “So,” Michaela said. “You get to decide. Is this the coolest thing on the planet, or do you want to go back to Madison and hang out at the mall?”

  “I want to stay.”

  “Not good enough. Can you think of anything that’s cooler than this?”

  “No.”

  “So it’s the coolest thing.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Say it.”

  “Staying here is the coolest thing I could do,” Alexia said. “You’re really going to let me stay?”

  “I don’t always expect teenagers to make the right choices, but when they make the wrong ones, it’s because they didn’t know better. I never want another conversation with you where you made the wrong choice when you knew the right one. Am I clear?”

  “You’re clear, Alpha.”

  “Good. Now, you’re going to start this new and improved version of Alexia by making a few right choices, even though they can be really hard.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “And that’s why you have adults around to guide you. You weren’t the worst, but you inconvenienced a lot of people. And you are going to apologize to them. That means me, Lara, all the enforcers, the student enforcers, Cassie, and Parker.”

  “I’m sorry, Alpha. I won’t do it again.”

  “Head Enforcer!”

  “Yes, Alpha?” Elisabeth responded, stepping closer.

  “Alexia has things to say to you and your enforcers, including the students. And then I need her returned to Cassie’s care. Can you see to it?”

  “Yes, Alpha.”

  * * * *

  And that was that, or almost, anyway.

  Alexia did make a 180-degree turn in her attitude. She became everything Michaela hoped she would become.

  It was several weeks later that Michaela and I next talked about it. Alexia and Parker had both just volunteered for a particularly unsavory task, but they were laughing and kidding with each other while engaged in it. Michaela moved to my side. “Sometimes it works out,” she said. “I’ve been lucky. I get good kids. Not every kid is going to respond to a second chance, but when they do, it’s encouraging.”

  “You represent unique opportunity.”

  “That’s why I’m so lucky,” she said. “The programs I run are expensive for the pack, but we believe they’ll give us long term positive gains.”

  “Plus the good that you do for the kids in your program.”

  “Yeah,” she replied, her voice a little dreamy. “I’m lucky.”

  Warnings

  August arrived, and with it, an unexpected summons.

  It was mid-afternoon, and I was working from Elisabeth’s house. We had one more trip to Bayfield planned and then the kids would have a couple of weeks of freedom before the start of the new school year, but for now, we were at the compound outside Madison.

  My summons came in the form of Angel. “Anna?”

  I hadn’t even heard her come in, and was a little surprised she just let herself in. But this was the head enforcer’s home, and she was an enforcer.

  “What’s up?”

  “The alphas have asked me to retrieve you.”

  “Sure. Should I bring anything?”

  “No.”

  “Is something wrong?”

  “I’ll let them explain. We should hurry.”

  I closed my computer, stood, and followed her from the house. We didn’t run, but we jogged along the sidewalk, heading towards Lara’s house. But then instead of turning right, we turned left, and a moment later Angel was holding the door open to the barracks. I hadn’t been here before.

  “Here?”

  “Upstairs,” she explained. “There’s a conference room.” Again she took the lead. We ascended a set of stairs, and in front of us was a double door. Monique and Nash were parked outside, guarding the door, staring straight ahead.

  I grew grim. This was serious.

  Angel led the way between the enforcer students. There was a short hallway and another set of doors. Once inside, we came to a stop.

  It was a conference room. Actually, it looked like it could be a boardroom anywhere in corporate America, although there were no windows.

  The alphas were both there along with Deirdre and nearly every enforcer in the pack. When Angel and I stepped in, they all turned to us, and expressions were grim. “I see,” I said, not really seeing at all.

  “Anna,” Lara said. “We’ve received some news we need to share with you. Please take a seat.” She gestured to a place beside Deirdre, and I moved there carefully, unsure what was going on.

  But I took the seat and asked, “Has something happened?”

  “Not exactly,” Lara said. “As you can probably guess, we have grown increasingly alert to potential threats. This one may mean nothing, but it’s not the sort of thing we ignore. Word has come to us that someone has hired two Black Hawk helicopters to be used somewhere in Wisconsin.”

  “That’s awfully vague,” I said after a moment.

  “It is, and so far, it’s all we know.”

  “That’s not literally all you know,” I said. “You must have an idea of who this someone is.”

  “Not with any accuracy. We presume some sort of paramilitary organization.”

  “Mercenaries, you mean.”

  “Right. There are limited reasons why anyone outside the United States government would require a Black Hawk.”

  “Are any of them legitimate?”

  “Sure,” Elisabeth said. “A corporate function, perhaps, or someone with more brains than money putting on one heck of a fiftieth birthday party.”

  “How does someone get a Black Hawk?”

  “An excellent question we were just discussing,” Lara said.

  “I find it hard to believe anyone got his hands on an actual Black Hawk,” Karen said.

  “They might have an S-70,” Portia added.

  “What’s an S-70?”

  “The Black Hawk is made by Sikorsky,” Portia explained. “It’s a variant of their S-70 civilian helicopter. The military model would be exceedingly difficult to acquire and even harder to safely operate inside the United States. But anyone can buy an S-70 if they have the cash.”

  “How much cash?”

  “Used? Maybe a million or two.”

  “And the difference?”

  “They’d have similar performance,” Karen explained. “Civilian versions might not have the same hardening and wouldn’t have hard points for weaponry.”

  “Hardening? Hard points?”

  “Bulletproofing,” Portia said, but she winced. “It’s not really bullet proof. It’s hardening.”

  “Ah.”

  “And hard points are mounting points for machine guns and other crew operated w
eapons.”

  “So you don’t think whoever has these two helicopters is going to ride in and gun us down?”

  “Well, we didn’t say that,” Karen said. “Anyone who can afford a couple of million-dollar helicopters can afford other weaponry. Small arms are certainly easy to get, but if you’re careful, you can get some serious equipment. It’s not legal, but that’s beside the point, isn’t it?”

  “So. Someone has a couple of helicopters because one isn’t enough?”

  “It depends on what they intend,” Portia explained. “You can transport crew plus eleven geared troops in a Black Hawk. I don’t know what the civilian models can do. If you want to bring in more than that, you need two machines. Or maybe whatever plan requires multiple touchdown points? Maybe there are two targets. You see?”

  “I see. So, what are we doing?”

  “Not very much,” Elisabeth said. “No other chatter has made it to us. No one is talking about werewolves. We haven’t done anything to threaten anyone lately. And frankly, this is far too large to really be about our normal fear.”

  “Which is?”

  “A kidnapping attempt on me,” Michaela said.

  “If it were just the helicopters, that would be one thing,” Elisabeth said. “But two helicopters require a crew of four plus whoever they’re transporting.”

  “Elisabeth, I still disagree,” Karen said. “You’re right. We’re talking about a lot of people, and if you’re paying all of them, maybe you’re right. But who is to say it’s not another pack? You only need four with flight experience, and it’s not that hard to get. We know that for ourselves.”

  “You’re forgetting,” Portia added. “They don’t need to be former military pilots.”

  “Although if I were planning a mission, I’d want the two pilots to have had combat training,” Karen added. “I don’t think it’s as easy as people might think.”

  “So there’s a lot we don’t know. Have you called Carissa?”

  “No,” said Lara. “We were going to do it once you arrived.” She nodded, and a moment later, Michaela had her phone out. It took very little effort before we all heard Carissa’s voice.

  “How are things in Wisconsin?” she asked warmly. “How’s my favorite fox?”

  “Your favorite fox is good,” Michaela said. “But we have a situation, Carissa. I’m going to let Elisabeth explain.”

  So I got to hear it all. Carissa was quiet at the end, and then said, “You want to know if I have heard anything, and if this could be one of my enemies.”

  “It may be nothing to do with us,” Elisabeth said. “But yes.”

  “I haven’t heard a thing, and I have no reason to believe any of my enemies are focused on you. Do you need me to fly up?”

  “You’re welcome if you want,” Lara said. “But we’re not that concerned. However, we weren’t sure if you would want us to send Deirdre home.”

  “I’m not going anywhere,” Deirdre said firmly. “If this is nothing, there is no reason to go. And if it’s something, then maybe they need me here.” She paused. “Or are you sending me home, Alpha?”

  “You are welcome to stay,” Lara said. “But we do not care to be in the middle of a dispute between you and Carissa.”

  “There is no dispute,” Carissa replied. “Deirdre is not some sort of slave for me to command. Do you mind if I put out some feelers?”

  “We were hoping you would,” Elisabeth said. “I believe you have my direct number.”

  “I do, Elisabeth,” Carissa said. “Do you have any happy news for me?”

  “It’s been a great summer,” Deirdre said. “You should see Michaela with her students. She’s amazing! And I’m having a blast helping. Carissa, I love you with my whole heart, but I really needed this summer.”

  “I know you did,” Carissa said, warmth in her voice. “And I’m pleased for you. Lara, I host my Halloween event every year. Discounting those living in Louisiana, few attend so regularly, but you will be receiving invitations annually, and I hope you will come as often as it would please you to do so.”

  “We’d like that,” Lara said. “Probably not every year.”

  “You should come for Mardi Gras, at least once.”

  “It was discussed,” Lara said. “My enforcers went apoplectic, and I can’t say I blame them.”

  Carissa laughed lightly. “I suppose I don’t, either. Well, we have many events throughout the year, and you know you are always welcome.”

  “You are very gracious, Carissa,” Lara declared. “Thank you. We didn’t have any more for you today, but perhaps you had other questions?”

  “If I learn anything else, I will call Elisabeth. I ask that she call me if you decide I can help.”

  “I think we’re fine,” Elisabeth said. “We just didn’t think it was fair to ignore what we’ve heard.”

  “I appreciate that,” Carissa said. “Deirdre, Anna, I’ll see you in a few weeks then.”

  “I do miss you, Carissa,” Deirdre said.

  “And I miss you, too.”

  Michaela bid her good day and clicked off, and then we were quiet for a minute until I asked, “So. What do we do?”

  “For now,” said Elisabeth. “Almost nothing.”

  “Almost nothing,” Michaela muttered. “Right.”

  “I’m sorry, Michaela.”

  “I know, I know,” she said. “I just- Just. Fucking damn it!”

  No one else said anything, but Lara carefully set her arm across her mate’s shoulders.

  * * * *

  Elisabeth got home late that night, and she was exhausted. I heard her at the door and had a beer ready for her by the time she made it to the kitchen. “Thanks,” she said, accepting it from me.

  “Long day.”

  “They’re going to be like that for a while now. We’ve activated our watch network. We have people all over Wisconsin ready to tell us about any high performance helicopters they see. I imagine we’ll be fielding no end of calls about medical flights.”

  “That sounds like fun.”

  “I wish we had a radar unit,” she said, and I couldn’t tell if she was kidding. “We brought in a few semi-dependable wolves to camp in rotations on the barracks roof, watching the sky for us. The alpha family will remain in a single location at least until we decide there’s no threat, and there are no fewer than four enforcers with them, and two extra if they leave the house.”

  “So our final Bayfield trip is cancelled?”

  “No. Barring a more specific threat, Michaela had a cow, and I don’t blame her. But we’ll take special precautions.”

  “I’ve never really thought about any of this,” I said. “No one bothers us, and we don’t get involved in whatever security dealings Carissa has to deal with.”

  “It’s probably nothing to do with us, but I have to be careful.”

  I decided I was glad I didn’t have her job.

  Just then she cranked her neck around, and then rubbed at it. “Stiff?” I asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Finish that and go take your clothes off. I’ll see what I can do about it.”

  She eyed me carefully. “Did you just offer me a massage?”

  “I did.”

  “You don’t have to do that.”

  “Are you turning me down?”

  She smiled. “Hell, no.” She slammed the rest of the beer and turned for the stairs. “Give me three minutes.”

  “I’ll close up down here.”

  * * * *

  It was more like eight, and when I arrived, the hallway light was on, but her bedroom light was off. When I looked, she was flat on her bed, and she’d taken my offer to heart. She was buck naked and sprawled out on her stomach. She’d pushed the bedding down to the foot of the bed, waiting to be pulled back into place.

  I moved in, admiring her form, before sitting on the bed. “I don’t have any lotion.”

  “Neither do I,” she replied. “You don’t have to do this.”

&nbs
p; “You said that already.” I set my hands on her back. “Anywhere in particular?”

  “Neck and shoulders,” she said.

  I went to work.

  I have large hands, and powerful, as one might imagine. From past lovers, I knew I was at least halfway decent at delivering a massage. Now, I should admit, this might have been the first platonic massage I’d given in over a decade, but the principles were the same, right? I wasn’t trying to seduce her, just make her feel good.

  I wondered for a moment what the difference might be.

  She didn’t relax, not fully, but I could tell I was easing the knots away.

  It was Elisabeth who cut the massage shorter than I would have delivered. After about fifteen minutes, she turned her head and opened an eye. “Thank you, Anna. That was very kind of you.”

  “Are you going to be able to sleep?”

  “I’ll try,” she said. “God, I hate my job.”

  “I’m not sure you do, and I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t let anyone else do it.”

  “I suppose you’re right. I hate that my job is necessary.”

  “That I can believe.” I smiled. “You have a nice figure, Elisabeth.”

  “Did you check me out?”

  “Of course I did.” I stood and pulled the covers up for her.

  “I’m glad you’re here, Anna.”

  “I am, too.”

  Last Harrah

  The changes were subtle. Michaela still did most of the things she always did, although runs in the forest seemed more constrained. I saw more of the pups, as Lara and Michaela kept them very close. And there were always enforcers around.

  But we still packed up the SUVs and headed to Bayfield for the last trip of the summer. After this, there would be more trips in September, but the summer program kids would be back at school.

  Michaela made a change to the procedures, however. “All right. Everyone pair up, boys with boys, girls with girls. You can join in twos or threes, but remember the touching rule, so choose wisely.”

  Some of the kids partnered easily, but I saw some awkwardness. Cassie, Ember, Monique, Parker, Kimber, and Alexia all stood together, and no one seemed to want to make a suggestion. Alexia stood at the edge of the circle, watching the other kids, and I thought she was nervous, but none of them partnered up.