by Robin Roseau
And so I did.
Discovery
Sunday morning we slept in. Well, we woke early, made slow, mutual love, our orgasms arriving moments apart, then slept again, drenched in sweat and insanely in love.
When next I woke, Lara was awake. She was reading; I don't know where the book had come from. Perhaps she'd had it in her nightstand. But she held me in her arms at the same time. I burrowed closer.
"I love you," I told her. "Please, if I ever get angry enough at you I forget, keep me your prisoner until I remember again."
She kissed my forehead. "What else could I do?" she asked. She set her book aside, and we snuggled together.
"I would not have thought you would be a snuggler," I told her.
"Nor I, you," she said. "I haven't been with anyone else."
That was when her stomach grumbled at me. I laughed. "They're vocal!"
She laughed with me. "That wasn't the babies," she said. "Honey, have you decided their names?"
I looked up into her eyes. "No," I said. "Did you want to name one after your mother?"
"No," she said. "They should have their own names, not names borrowed from another."
"All right," I said. "How about if we name the eldest Celeste Elisabeth Burns and the younger Rebecca Angel Burns? We honor our friends while giving them their own names as well."
Lara smiled. "I like the second names. Where did the first names come from?"
"I don't know," I said. "But I think they sound good together."
"Celeste and Rebecca." Lara rolled it around on her tongue. She kissed me. "You have two months to decide for sure." She grinned at me, tightening her hold on me, and I knew I was in trouble.
"Lara," I said warningly.
"Time to shower," she said. "And then you must go have a little talk with Scarlett."
"If I allow you to do what you are about to do, will you trust me to handle Scarlett without interference?"
"Yes."
I kissed her, and then she pulled me from the bed, carrying me to the shower with her.
* * * *
I texted Scarlett after the shower. "We need to talk."
"Alone," she sent back.
"Agreed," I replied. "Your house?"
"No. The house in Madison. Angel is flying. I am here alone."
"Lara won't let me go without enforcers."
"They may search the house and then everyone waits outside," she wrote back.
"So mysterious. One hour."
I called Elisabeth. "I am going to the house in Madison as soon as I have dressed and eaten."
"Just you? Why?"
"Just me, and I am not answering the second question, Enforcer."
"Yes, Alpha," she said immediately. "Are you going to fight me on your protection detail?"
"No."
"We'll be ready."
Lara was looking at me quizzically.
"You told me you would trust me," I told her after hanging up.
"And so I shall," she said. "I was only curious."
We descended the stairs together. Breakfast had come and gone for everyone else, but the refrigerator was well stocked, and I cooked for us. We ate and bantered, then I kissed her and went in search of my guard detail. Karen and Rory were in the living room and informed me the rest were waiting outside. When we stepped out, Elisabeth and Serena were waiting.
"Good morning, Enforcer," I told Elisabeth.
"Good morning, Alpha," she said.
"I am ready," I said.
"This way," Elisabeth said, leading the way to one of the SUVs. "Or did you prefer the limo?"
"I prefer to go to the house in Madison," I said. "I would enjoy conversation during the drive. How we get there does not matter to me."
Elisabeth opened the back door for me then followed in after me. The other enforcers climbed in, Eric driving. Once we were on our way, Elisabeth said, "You are being remarkably complacent and a little more formal than normal, Michaela."
"I promised I wouldn't fuss about this anymore," I said. "I need the formality to remind myself of my promise. I would rather drive myself."
We drove quietly, the enforcers talking around me. Halfway there, I looked around, putting a hand on Elisabeth's leg to silence the conversation. "I will stick to my promise and will make no effort to escape from all of you, but I need one thing in return."
"You already promised," Elisabeth said.
"I promised not to complain."
"Michaela," Elisabeth said. "Don't do this."
"Hear me out first, Enforcer."
"All right," she said, a little tight lipped.
"I can not have you reporting what I do to Lara."
She stared at me.
"I can't promise that," she said.
"Then whenever I need to do something I don't want Lara to know, I have to slip away from you."
Elisabeth pulled out her phone and gestured to it. "Go ahead, call her," I said. She called Lara and relayed the conversation.
"She's right," Lara said. "You will honor this request but only when she specifically asks for it."
I took the phone from Elisabeth. "And if you order them to tell you?"
"I won't," she said. "Give the phone back to Elisabeth." I handed it back to her, and she told Elisabeth, "If I ever order you to divulge her secrets, you are to refuse me and remind me of this order. You will remind me that the fox has agreed not to hide from you if I allow her as much privacy as possible."
I smiled. "She's good at manipulating me."
"You manipulate each other," Elisabeth said. "Whenever it is important to you that Lara not know where you are going, you must warn me so I can pick enforcers who can stand up to Lara."
I nodded. Over the phone, Lara was laughing. "How long will you be gone?" she asked.
"I don't know," I said to Elisabeth, answering Lara's question. "A few hours. Not all day."
Elisabeth relayed it, and the two hung up. Elisabeth then gave fresh orders to the enforcers.
"To be clear," I said. "I do not mind if Lara knows where we went today. But she is not to know what happens. She knows I am meeting with Scarlett. You will search the house or do whatever you need to do, then you will give us utter privacy."
"How much is 'utter privacy', Alpha?" Elisabeth asked.
"You may wait outside the house," I said.
"It is a big house," Elisabeth said. "I will want to know what room you will be in."
"You may do whatever you must, Elisabeth," I said. "As long as my conversation with Scarlett is private."
She nodded.
After that, I zoned out of the conversation again. We pulled up to the circle in front of the house, parking behind Scarlett's car. Elisabeth stayed with me, sending the other enforcers into the house. They were inside for nearly ten minutes before Serena appeared. "It's clear. Scarlett is here. No one else."
Elisabeth climbed out then led me to the house, her hand on my back.
"I will only have this conversation with privacy," Scarlett said immediately upon seeing us.
"Which room do you prefer?" I asked.
"Any room we will be neither observed nor heard," she said. She looked pointedly at Elisabeth.
"I have their promises nothing that happens today will be reported to my mate, Scarlett," I said to her.
She looked dubiously at Elisabeth. Elisabeth returned her gaze calmly. "Any of the rooms upstairs should suffice," Elisabeth said. "Or there are several downstairs with no windows. If you close the doors and we wait outside, you couldn't have more privacy."
"Basement," Scarlett said.
"I'll show you," Elisabeth replied, leading us through the house. "The rest of you wait outside, two in the back, one in the front."
Elisabeth brought us downstairs then to a rec room in the back of the house. There was a pool table and two pinball machines as well as a television, wet bar, and plenty of seating. "Will this do?" she asked.
"Yes," said Scarlett. "Thank you."
Elisabeth looked at her. "I know I don't have to say it, but I'm going to say it. If the two of you do anything to betray my sister, I will not keep any promises to you that I have made."
"No betrayal," Scarlett said immediately. "I swear. I don't want to say anything else."
"We're fine, Elisabeth," I said. "And if I ever do anything to betray Lara, you may do anything you deem necessary to stop me."
She nodded. "Thank you for understanding, Michaela."
She turned around smartly and left, closing the doors as she passed through them. I turned to Scarlett. "Dramatic much?" I asked her.
She smiled wanly. "Please sit." She gestured to a spot on the sofa. I sat down and watched her pace around the room.
"It's me," I said. "Stop being nervous. Just tell me."
"Last night, when you shifted underneath me," she started to say, then stopped, looking at me with confusion and uncertainty.
"Yes?"
"I felt it."
"Of course you did. I went from a thirty pound furry fox to a hundred pound naked woman. And then back and forth a few times. I hope you felt it."
"No, I mean. Yes, I felt that. But-"
She paced around then stopped in front of me. "When you shift, how do you do it?"
"I think about the form I want and then I sort of draw it out of me from inside," I said.
"And you can control your speed."
"Yes, although nearly instant is easiest now. Going slow hurts."
"Shifting always hurts for me," she said. "When I shift it's the same way. I pull my wolf on, sort of like pulling clothes out of a backpack."
"Yes, that's good," I said.
"Last night, I felt you pull," she said.
My eyes widened.
"You once said that you could teach your babies to shift by drawing them with you. That you had to go slowly, but then they could follow along."
"Right."
"But you had to hold them when you did it. You had to be really close."
I stared at her.
"Who else have you ever shifted under?"
"Just Lara-" I paused. "Oh my god." I thought about what she was implying. "I taught her to shift fast. She didn't figure it out on her own. I taught her." I eyed Scarlett. "Have you tried?"
"Yes. It's right on the edge. This is why I wanted privacy. Teach me."
"Oh god," I said. "Lara would kill us."
Scarlett nodded. "Maybe it doesn't need to be quite as, um-"
"Intimate?"
"Yeah."
It was my turn to pace. There was a blanket thrown over the back of the sofa. I grabbed it. "Strip," I told her. I turned my back on her and listened as she pulled off her clothes.
"Ready," she said.
"Lie down," I told her. "On your side." Once she was lying down, I threw the blanket over her. "Don't look." Then I stripped out of my own clothes and knelt down behind her, pulling her partly into my arms so we were spooning, the blanket between us, me partly on top of her.
"Shift fast, and I'll see if I feel it," she said.
I shifted.
"Shit," she said. "Not a thing. Shift back." I did. "Nothing."
"Roll over," I said. "Close your eyes." I climbed on top of her like I was going to take her neck, all my weight on her. I shifted.
"Nothing. I am going to roll us over. Maybe I have to be on top." She rolled us both over.
I shifted. "Nothing. I wonder if I have to be in fur. I was in fur last night."
"That might be better," I said. "Go ahead."
I waited for her to shift, then I wrapped the blanket around myself. I shifted back and forth several times from on top of her. She huffed after each one, then when I was furry, she rolled us both over and settled her full weight on me, just like she had last night.
"When I shifted," I said. "You had your mouth on my throat."
She took me gently and I shifted. She whined. I shifted back. She whined.
"Nothing?"
She whined.
"Climb off," I said.
She got off me and I ditched the blanket. "Under no circumstances do we tell Lara about this."
She chuffed agreement, and I shifted to fox, then lay down and let her settle back on top of me. I waited until she was fully settled, and I shifted to human.
She chuffed, just once.
"Really?"
She chuffed.
I shifted back to fox, and she whined. I shifted to human and she chuffed.
"Oh my god," I said. "All right, you felt when I went from fox to human, but we needed a lot of contact. Climb off. Lie down on your stomach." Once she was lying down, I spooned her from behind, pressing myself against her as much as I could. I shifted to fox, adjusted where I was, and shifted to human.
She chuffed, over and over.
"Can you do it?"
There was a pause, and she whined.
"All right. I want you to relax. Just go with the flow."
I shifted to fox, then I thought about bringing my babies through my shift with me. I thought of Scarlett as one of my babies. And then I did a long, slow shift to human, trying to pull her with me.
I finished my shift, and a very human Scarlett lay underneath me.
"You did it!" she yelled. "Michaela! You did it! Can you bring me back?"
I did a slow shift to fox, and I had a wolf underneath me. I brought her back to human, faster this time.
"Oh my god. Faster!" she said.
I shifted back and forth a dozen times, the last few at my fastest rate, and Scarlett shifted with me through every one.
I left her as wolf, pulling away from her, then shifted human. She stayed wolf. I pulled the blanket around me and said, "Try it yourself."
It took her a minute, but suddenly, from one breath to a next, Scarlett shifted from wolf to human.
"I did it!" she yelled. She jumped to her feet and bounced around the room yelling, "I did it! I did it!"
"Do it back and forth a few times," I said.
"Yes!" she said. She knelt on the floor, scrunched up her face, and shifted to wolf. She howled in victory. She shifted back and forth after that, faster and faster, and finishing as wolf. She ran over to me, chuffing and chuffing, then began licking my face.
"You did it, Scarlett," I said. "You did it. Turn around, I'm going to get dressed."
I pulled my clothes on quickly, then looked at her. "Shift human." She did it instantly, and I threw the blanket at her. "Wrap up."
She pulled the blanket into place.
"Sit over there," I said, pointing at another chair.
She sat down, but was bouncing with glee. "I did it," she said. "I'm just as fast as you and Lara now."
"Yes, honey, you are. Now we have to decide what we're going to do. We have four choices. Tell no one and you never let anyone see. Tell Lara. Tell Elisabeth and ask her advice. Or use it for wagers."
She laughed. "The last sounds like the most fun."
"Yeah, but it's probably not the right choice."
"Lara will kill me."
"Not literally," I said. "But she's going to need to do more to me of what she did last night."
"Was it horrible?"
"Are you kidding? I loved every second."
She laughed. "So that's not a problem."
"No, but it's stress the babies don't need."
"We should show Elisabeth," she said.
"Are you willing?"
She nodded.
I thought about it then pulled my phone out. I called Elisabeth. "You are needed downstairs. Just you. Everything is fine. We need your advice."
"Is she pregnant?"
"No. How would that have happened? This is much, much better than that."
"On my way."
Scarlett was still bouncing in her chair. "We need to find out whether you can teach other people," I said. "But this is now a pack secret. I am your alpha, Scarlett. You may not tell anyone how you learned this without permission from me or Lara. Not even Angel. Furthermore you may
not shift with anyone touching you that closely until Lara gives permission. Do you understand?"
"Yes. But please let me teach Angel."
"This decision is going to go to Lara," I said. "It's too big for me to decide. But we are not teaching the entire pack. I can promise you that."
"Brooke knows how," Scarlett pointed out.
"Yes, but she may not know how to teach it," I replied. "We'll have to ask her, somehow, without being obvious we're asking."
I heard Elisabeth descending the stairs, then she stepped into the room, closing the door. "Everything all right?" she asked.
"Take a seat, Elisabeth," I said. "Scarlett learned a new trick she wants to show you." Elisabeth sat down.
Scarlett stood up and said, "Don't blink," and shifted to wolf.
"Holy shit!" Elisabeth said. She jumped from her chair and started swearing. "I've been trying to learn how to do that for two years!"
I chuckled. Scarlett shifted back and wrapped up in the blanket again.
"You understand why she wanted privacy?"
"Not this much privacy," Elisabeth said. "Lara needs to see this."
"I agree," I said. "But I'm not sure Lara needs to see how I taught her."
Elisabeth sniffed the air suspiciously, then looked relieved.
"No, not through sex!" I said. "Get your mind out of the gutter."
She looked back and forth between us. "This has something to do with last night," she said.
"Yes."
She turned to Scarlett. "Did you learn last night?"
"No, but I felt it," she said. "Each time she shifted from fox to human, I felt it. I didn't feel it the other way."
Elisabeth looked at me. "So how did you teach her?"
"The same way I would have taught my babies to shift," I said. "I pulled her back and forth with me while cuddling her. It turns out it requires a significant amount of skin contact, and it took a while."
"Oh," she said. "Lara isn't going to like that."
"I know. What do we do?"
"You're asking me?"
"I know you're dying for me to teach you, Elisabeth."
"Dying might be the operative word," she retorted. "Damn." She turned to Scarlett. "Angel couldn't kill me. You teach me."
Scarlett looked at her dubiously. "Not without Angel's permission."
"Lara needs to decide if we teach Angel," I said. I pulled my phone out again and called my wife. "Lara, find somewhere very private."