by Robin Roseau
"Can you tell when someone has a good poker hand by their heart beat?"
"Only those who get really excited, but all I can tell is excitement. That can be excitement from attempting a bluff. Or excitement from looking at someone attractive in the room. It can be hard to tell them all apart. And by the way, your heart rate just increased."
"What does that tell you?"
"It suggests that you are thinking about something you find stimulating," I said.
"What do you think I might be thinking about?"
"You are hoping I will start a tickle fight. You were thinking about lying very still while my fingers explore all your most ticklish places."
I started moving on top of her. I knew she wouldn't allow me to stay on top, but she would let me be playful for a moment or two.
"Where do you think you're going?" she asked.
"Climbing the mountain. Oh look, I found the twin peaks." I lowered my mouth to a nipple and nipped playfully. She gasped. I brought a hand up to play with the other breast.
I pulled my lips from her breast. "Oh, and your heart rate went up another twenty points."
"You know you smell different than you did three minutes ago, too." She breathed deeply. "God, that's intoxicating."
I moved my lips to the center of her chest and began kissing my way to her neck.
"Don't do it!" she warned me.
I nipped her, and she flipped us over. She shifted in an instant, and her entire furry wolf lay across me, pinning me to the bed, and then she lowered her head, taking my entire neck in her mouth.
She held me like that, gently, and chuffed, a wolfy laugh. Then she tightened, and I whimpered immediately. She pulled her mouth from my neck and licked my face.
"Eww! Stop it!" I complained. In response, she settled more heavily on me and licked me, over and over. "Stop it, Lara!" Pushing against her had no effect at all. She continued to lick until I went limp, surrendering to her. Then, in an instant, mid-lick, she shifted again, and it was her wet human tongue that slipped between my lips and into my mouth.
She chuckled as I moaned and clutched at her.
* * * *
Saturday morning, Marty, one of Greg's enforcers, gave us a status update. The Grants were in Chicago and appeared to be going about their business. We had a growing collection of photographs, and Greg's people were watching the photos from Chicago to see if any particular faces disappeared for any period of time. He set up security systems around the house in Madison and the compound, with software that automatically caught faces and compared them to the collection of photographs.
The information experts continued to pull in information. I had nailed it when I had predicted the state of their finances.
"We think we could get them arrested for tax evasion," Marty said. "But it's not like a wolf would do time."
We hadn't approached anyone to subvert yet; we were still gathering information. But so far, that information gathering was yielding a vast amount of data.
"In short, we feel you are probably currently safe. It may be that your ruse has bought you the full two months. We will of course, remain fully vigilant."
"Thank you," Lara told Marty. "Is Greg working with Gia back at the compound?"
"Yes," he said. "She is helping with digging through financial information. We have paired her with our other information specialists. They say she is untrained, but a delight to teach."
Lara smiled. She took pride in all the pack members.
"One more thing," he said. "Greg recommends a proper security system at Ms. Redfur's home. We know you won't use that home until this is resolved, but he is uncomfortable with the thought of leaving her unprotected over the long term."
"I am not opposed to that, but I would need to be there."
"Rest assured," Marty said. "We can install a secure system without damaging your house."
"I have no doubt," I said. "But my house is trapped. I would rather disable the traps."
He smiled. "The silver over the front door was ingenious. The trap at the back door was flawed. We fixed it for you. Are there others?"
"No. Just caches of weapons."
"They're a little crude, but effective. I liked your super soaker, but the switch on the kitchen sprayer to route the silver nitrate through the hose was especially genius."
I sighed. "I wasn't as clever as I thought."
"You prepared to be ready for invasion, not for a very well prepared security team."
"Did you make Angel's bed for her while you were there?"
He laughed. "Yes, actually. We wouldn't have investigated the house so carefully, but we were doing the study for the security system, and that's when we found the trap over the front door. That got us curious."
I looked at Lara. "You know I can't pay for it."
"Do it," she told him. "Michaela, this falls under future favors that we talked about last fall."
We wrapped up the briefing, and it was time to begin the morning activities. Everyone took their assignments from me and we all spent several hours in the field. Lara and Elisabeth joined me, and we had a lovely time.
* * * *
People finished their tasks for me at different rates, and the boats we had rented were used to ferry people back to the island.
About 11:30 while we were driving to the last site I had hoped to hit that day, Lara started playing with her phone. She was texting someone. Then she turned to Elisabeth, who was driving. "Take us back to Bayfield." Lara was smiling.
"We have one more site," I said. "Then we're done. We'll be back for lunch."
"Take us to Bayfield, Elisabeth," Lara said. "Sorry, Michaela."
Parking at the marina was limited, so we parked in my driveway and walked down the hill, all the wolves alert. I used my ears, but it was nearly impossible to pick much up in town. I traveled in the center of a square of four very dominant wolves. "She's just as much at risk as I am," I muttered, nodding towards Lara.
"She's not as fragile," Elisabeth replied.
"Bite me," I told her.
"Later," she said. "I'm busy right now. Stop fussing."
We arrived at the marina. Our large ferry was tied up with Serena watching over it, but we stayed on land, waiting for something. Lara wouldn't comment, and Elisabeth didn't look concerned, but all four wolves remained alert. I kept my ears going too.
Then I heard the distinctive sound of an SUV crunching on my gravel driveway three blocks away. I stiffened and edged up between Lara and Elisabeth. "I thought everyone else was back. Someone just pulled into my driveway."
Lara glanced at me. "You can hear that over the noise?"
"SUVs on my driveway are distinctive. I couldn't explain it. There were two of them."
I heard a variety of car doors slam, and I was sure they were also from my driveway. After that, I didn't hear anything specific, and it was my eyes that identified the wolves approaching us, not my ears.
"Shit," I said. "Alpha, wolves, and I don't recognize them."
She glanced over at me. "That's why I am the Alpha and you are the Omega."
I counted the wolves. There were eight, only one male. Then I realized one of the females was human. I relayed that. Lara turned around and smiled. "I know. Her name is Michele. She is very sweet."
"You invited more people."
"Who did you think they were?"
As the group got closer, I realized that four of them were teenage girls; one of the girls appeared to be 13 or 14, the rest were 16 or 17. Lara had solved Derek's problem from last night.
"You did this since last night?" I asked her, incredulous.
"Heavens no," she said over her shoulder. "I've been planning this for a while." She turned to face me. "As I said. This is why I am Alpha." She grinned at me, and I immediately felt a fresh rush of love. I pulled her to me and kissed her soundly. When I released her, she seemed particularly pleased.
Our enforcers watched the approaching wolves warily. "They're pack," Elisabeth sai
d, and the enforcers relaxed only marginally, but I realized they were watching far more than the approaching wolves. I was happy to have them.
"Elisabeth, I hate to say this-"
"I know," she said. "They're good. Really good. They make me feel like I can actually relax."
"You know I feel safe with our enforcers," I said. "I know that they will stop any random attack. But Durian represents an attack by organized crime, and that's a whole new level of threat."
"I know," Elisabeth replied. "Greg and I are talking about that. We're going to get everyone some pretty solid training. But alertness like this is hard to maintain when nothing ever happens."
The eight wolves finally reached us, stopping several paces in front of Lara. The male nodded to Lara. "Greetings, Alpha." I was still behind Lara, flanking her, so I didn't see if she offered any expression, but the male said, "Um. Greetings, Lara." I caught Lara's nod.
"It's good to see you, Donald," she said. "It's good to see all of you." Lara handled greetings. Donald Lassiter was married to Michele, the only human in the group. They had two daughters, Abigail and Chloe. Abigail appeared to be about Angel's age, 16 or 17, and Chloe was a few years younger.
Hadley Smith was there with her 16-year-old daughter, Ava. Ava seemed shy, and she seemed fascinated by me. I guess I had a reputation.
Harper Armstrong had her arm around her daughter, Sophia, who was 15 or 16. Sophia was somewhat plain, although she had the physique that all the wolves seemed to have. She was also clearly very outgoing, with a quick, friendly smile and friendly personality.
With the introductions completed, we all moved to our work boat and had soon cast off.
The four girls all rushed to the front of the boat, standing at the rail and soaking up the sea breeze. Serena drove the boat, and the adults hung out in the open area at the back, talking over the noise of the engine.
I found myself fascinated with Michele Lassiter, the human. She seemed exceedingly relaxed around the wolves. Her husband was extremely solicitous of her, maintaining a level of watchful alertness even once we were out on the water. Michele caught me watching her and she smiled.
"We're the odd ones out," she said. "I bet you are still getting used to it. Congratulations, by the way."
"Thank you," I said. "And yes. There are times that I am struck by how odd this is."
"Imagine my first years. Donald and I met at college. He tried to remain aloof from me, but I pursued him with, if you'll excuse a pun, dogged determination. He didn't stand a chance."
"How long had you known him before he told you about his furry side?"
She smiled. "We'd been dating for two years. He didn't tell me. I caught him."
"You caught him?"
"I screamed my head off, too. I had stopped by his house to surprise him -- this was after graduation. His parents' house, really. He was in the back yard just starting a shift, and I stared out the window while he shifted. When that huge wolf stood up, I began screaming. It didn't get better when he stared at me and got even worse when he came in the house. I was never more terrified."
"What happened?"
"He stalked me into a corner of the kitchen, me backing away and screaming my head off, then he rolled over onto his back and presented his belly to me. I learned later it was really his neck he was offering me. Then his mother rushed into the house; she had been running errands. She took in the tableau and calmly said, He won't hurt you."
"What a way to find out," I said.
"Oh, it gets better. Then Dorine, that's Donald's mother, picked up the phone and said simply, This is Dorine Lassiter. We have a breach. Then she hung up. Dorine offered me a drink, which I took happily, and told me I should rub the wolf's belly."
I laughed. "Did you?"
"Hell no. I told her maybe I should leave, and she told me, I'm sorry, dear, but you need to stay. I thought she was a total fruit loop if she thought I was staying, but she was, shall we say, rather insistent. Twenty minutes later, five more men, very, very, very large men stormed into the house. It was the old alpha and four enforcers. The alpha took in the situation and said simply, We'll take her with."
"Oh my."
"They tossed me into the back of a panel van. Oh, they were very gentle about it and made an attempt to be polite, but there was no doubt I was going with them. Dorine kept saying, Don't hurt her, she's a sweet girl, and Donald is hopelessly in love."
"I was, too," Donald added. "I was out of my mind with worry. Mom and I went along as well."
"The alpha talked to me. Told me werewolves were real. Told me he was a wolf. Told me they were everywhere, absolutely everywhere, and I would never know when I was talking to one, but that if I ever told anyone about them, a werewolf would be the last thing I ever saw."
I glared at Lara. She glanced over and shrugged, then turned away to continue her own conversation.
"Then he became very kind," she said. "He asked me how I felt about Donald. He asked me if I thought I could handle this. He told me there were advantages to being in love with a werewolf." She glanced at Donald. "I was already aware of some of those advantages."
Donald was the one who began blushing.
"Then he drove me home. I spent three days thinking about all of it."
"The hardest three days of my life," Donald said.
"And then on the fourth day, I called Dorine and invited myself to lunch. I told her I hoped I could meet the wolf that had so startled me."
"She spent lunchtime treating me like a dog," Donald said. "And talking calmly to my mother."
"Then I told him, Donald, just to be clear. I wear the pants in this relationship."
"So I rolled over and offered my throat again."
"And now we have our little nightly ritual, don't we dear?" She patted his hand.
"You're the dominant one in the relationship?" I asked her.
"Totally," David said.
I eyed Lara with a great deal of speculation. She turned to face me and said, "Don't even think about it. You know what happens when you try to turn the tables, little fox. Get used to it."
We grinned at each other.
Michele smiled. "What is it like to date the alpha, Michaela?"
"Challenging, Michele," I said. "Very challenging. She keeps thinking she's in charge."
"I heard that!" Lara said over her shoulder.
"See?"
* * * *
The boys were, to say the least, pleasantly surprised when we showed up with four teenage girls. The girls eyed them, then turned away dismissively. I knew the boys were in trouble. While I was watching the introductions, Elisabeth stepped up next to me.
"So, Michaela," she said in a calm tone. "Have you forgotten the lesson so quickly?"
I glanced over at her. "I don't know what you're asking." I didn't.
"I believe the words you used were 'bite me'. I am happy to oblige."
I laughed, but she looked serious. I stilled. "Are you mad at me for a little banter?"
"Not mad," she said. "Concerned. If there had suddenly been a real emergency, would you have kept your promise to follow my orders?"
I thought about it. "I'm making you worry about that?"
"Yes. And if you act like that in front of other wolves, you will force me to discipline you for it. I don't think that would be good for our relationship. Add to that, you embarrassed me in front of Greg's wolves."
"I'm sorry. I'll try to hold back the banter."
"Only when it's about security or how I do my job. We're friends, Michaela, and I enjoy bantering with you most of the time. Just not in a way that looks like you are undermining my authority. That tends to be catchy."
I considered it. "I'm sorry. I can't promise it won't happen again, especially when I'm nervous. I was put out by the change of plans, and whenever I get put out, I try to find ways to take control back. But if in the future you need to publicly discipline me, please don't hit me."
"I couldn't have disciplined you properly
with all the humans around, Michaela. I can now, but delayed discipline is usually much harsher than something that can be done right away. You understand."
"What are you going to do?" I asked in a quiet voice.
"Nothing, this time," she said. "But if there is a next time, you will crawl away from it feeling exceedingly humiliated. I think it would destroy our friendship, and I would hate that. But if I don't, then the effects will ripple throughout the pack. Eventually I will start receiving challenges. I don't think you want any of this, Michaela."
"I'm so sorry, Elisabeth."
She smiled. "Forgiven." She pulled me into a hug, holding it long enough I knew we were okay with each other.
After that, we had a lovely picnic and announced the afternoon activities. "Our little fox is taking us kayaking."
Michele tried to beg off. "I couldn't keep up, after all," but we offered her a seat in one of the speedboats so she could still hang out with us. We used all three boats to transfer everyone back to Bayfield. Benny had been warned, and he already had boats waiting for us. He was tickled pink; it was actually early in the season, and he wouldn't normally have more than the occasional rental yet.
Once the boats were in the water, Lara stated clearly, "Michaela is in charge. We will do what she says. Period." She looked specifically at Rory when she said it.
The first question I asked was, "Who would say they have significant kayaking experience?" I raised my hand as did two of Greg's people, Aaron and Rebecca. I asked them how much, and they each had more than I did.
"Do either of you want to run the safety seminar?" I asked.
"Nope. Just let us know if you want us to help demonstrate."
"How about if one of you tests out the advanced beginnings and the other helps me with the raw recruits?"
"I'll help with recruits," Rebecca said.
"Elizabeth, can you help as well? Angel, I know you know this stuff, but please demonstrate with Aaron. It's been six months, and you might be rusty."
"Will you teach me an Eskimo roll, Michaela?" she asked.
"Sure, when we get a break." She nodded, appeased.
I made sure everyone know all the procedures. Some of the advanced beginners had a little trouble, but Aaron and Angel got them straightened out. Soon we were paddling the waterfront, and everyone got in the groove. And after that, we were off to explore the Apostle Islands.