by Robin Roseau
Lara laughed.
"We figure in the last two weeks, we've cut his long term income by fifty percent, give or take. The income from the office building would have been significant. We didn't find the office building the first time around. We thought it was owned by the law firm. Alpha, we have a few more employees we are luring away, and we think others will find ways to leave without our influence, but I am recommending we hold our operations for a while after that. Stick to information gathering and let things work on themselves for a while."
"A few things are possible," Lara said. "The enforcers will leave, kill each other, kill Durian and Avery, or get killed by them."
"Yes."
"Or they'll look for fresh income," she added.
"Yes."
"We're the nearest source."
"Yes."
"How is our security?"
"Strong," he said. "And we'll have advance warning if they head in this direction."
"All right," Lara said. "I wouldn't mind letting him become weaker before we have to deal with him physically. What else do you have for us?"
"Well, it seems Durian Grant isn't a complete idiot. Only mostly an idiot. He tried to hire private detectives to spy on you, Alpha."
"And you learned of this how?"
"He tried to hire one of my subcontractors. The man said yes and immediately informed me."
We all grinned. "So what sort of misinformation are we sending back?"
"I do believe we should discuss that," he said. "We can either make you look weak and ripe for the pickings or strong and a difficult target."
"And we can also make him believe Lara and I are having troubles, which increases the likelihood he'll believe her ruse about selling me," I added.
Lara bristled and pulled me into her arms. "Mine!"
"So predictable," I told her. "Are all wolves this predictable, Greg?"
"Most of them," he said.
"What are the risks, Greg?" Elisabeth asked.
"He's desperate, and my guess he doesn't have any choice. He's coming after you, Alpha," Greg predicted. "The question is when and how."
"I wouldn't mind him weaker when he does it," Lara said. "We should hold him off as long as we can."
"I don't want him thinking he needs outside forces," Greg said. "If he took every enforcer he has and stormed this compound tonight, he would lose badly."
"But what would we lose?" Lara asked. "Can't we use more time to prepare?"
"Alpha, I believe we are as prepared as you can be. I believe you would rather have him underestimate you and come in cocky than overestimate and build up before coming in."
"So, he needs to think we're weak and unprepared," I stated.
"That is my recommendation," Greg said. "There are risks either way. If he engages in a frontal assault with his current forces, we will win, but we will take casualties. But I believe that is a better choice than if he hires mercenaries, especially if he manages to hire smart mercenaries."
Lara considered her choices. "We really believe the pack leader and the pack itself have virtually no business income, it's all from tithing?"
"There may be other surprises," Greg said. "But if there are, they are well-hidden."
"Elisabeth, comments?"
"I don't mind being underestimated," she said.
"Michaela, I know how you feel."
"I absolutely love being underestimated," I agreed.
"Yes, that's what I thought. All right, Greg, do it that way. What do you need from us?"
"We can handle most of it. I think if we can get the two of you having a public fight, a very public fight, that wouldn't hurt."
I sighed. "Lara, I won't have any problem looking very upset if you take me to dinner tomorrow evening." We would be meeting with Vivian at five tomorrow. "It won't take much acting on my part."
"It's not your acting I worry about," she said. "It's mine."
"Oh honey, you know I can piss you off. Just remember I'm doing it for us, and forgive me later."
* * * *
The session with Vivian went pretty much as I expected it would. I told Lara I didn't want to spoil my memories of the sushi restaurant, so we went back to the steak house afterward my session with Vivian. In the car, I picked a fight.
"I can't believe I let you talk me into quitting my job," I told her.
"Excuse me?"
"You knew I loved my job. Maybe it was beneath your notice. Did my being a public servant embarrass you, Lara?"
I had warned her I would piss her off, but still she walked right into it. "You said you wanted to teach."
"What I wanted was an outdoor job. What I wanted was to stay in Bayfield with my beautiful view-"
"From the roof of your house?"
"I could see further from my roof than I can see from the tiny window in your bedroom. Wow. Trees. The lake is beautiful, and you knew how I felt about it, and yet you still made me move down here."
She gritted her teeth and didn't say anything. If I let it sit, she might calm down by the time we reached the restaurant. "I don't know why you couldn't just run the pack from Bayfield. How much does it really take, anyway? Seems to run itself. You hardly do anything."
"I hardly do anything?" she asked. "I work my ass off holding this pack together. I work my ass off making sure your precious Bayfield is safe for you. The least you can do is show a little appreciation."
I thought maybe that would do it. We sat quietly for the rest of the ride, but I made sure to rub my eyes so they would look nice and red.
As soon as we got out of the car, I draped myself over her. "Don't be like this, baby," I said.
The look she gave me was one of, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
I kept up the airhead routine, acting as clingy as I knew how. Then I demanded she take me jewelry shopping later, and by the way, when was she going to buy that sports car she promised me.
She almost lost it then. "Sports car?"
"It's not like the money means anything to you, baby. You promised." I dragged that last word out, turning it into a proper whine.
Shortly after we were seated, she started to giggle. "I can't believe you," she said.
In response, I leaned across the table, nuzzling her, then whispered into her ear. "You're a shit actress. You need to react to me the way I'm behaving. This is real."
"Lara! You promised me that car!"
"Keep your voice down," she said. "And quit with the PDA. You know how I feel about it."
I ordered an expensive meal, then in fox fashion, I barely picked at it. I made her buy champagne and barely drank any. And every chance I got, I touched her, flirted with her, and was as clingy as I could be.
When she was kind to the waitress, I accused her, quietly, of having eyes for someone else. That caused a real flash of anger in her eyes, and I hoped whoever was taking photos caught it, and that we were at the right table. This one was supposed to have been bugged.
By the time dinner was over and paid for, she didn't want anything to do with me. I draped myself over her on the way out the restaurant, and she practically shoved me off of her. "Baabbyyy," I whined. "Don't be like that."
The thing was, I wasn't sure whether she was playing the role, or if I had really pissed her off. I thought perhaps it was a bit of both, and I was hoping I could cajole her back into a good mood by the time we arrived home.
We got into the car, and I tried to sit next to her, but she practically threw me into the other seat. We drove a block, and she began laughing.
"Shitty actress? I am not a shitty actress!" she said. She grabbed me and pulled me onto her lap, wrapping her arms around me and giving me a kiss that left absolutely no doubt in my mind how she felt about me. When we finally came up for air, she said. "Okay, maybe I was being a shitty actress, but following your lead made it almost easy."
We made love in the car on the way to the compound; she left me quivering with need before she finished me, then opened her legs and
allow me to taste her. I think she intentionally held back as long as she could, her own orgasm coming only as we pulled into the courtyard.
I reassembled my clothes hastily, barely pulling myself together by the time Karen opened the door for me. Elisabeth stopped me as I got out of the car and said, "You have something on your face," and wiped it off with her finger.
"I did not!" I told her.
She laughed. "Are you sure?"
We all assembled at the command center. Greg was on the phone when we arrived. He finished the conversation and was laughing. "I've already received the pictures and audio. Lara, I know it was an act, but even I was wondering whether you really were planning on selling Michaela."
"Don't worry," Wendy said. "They made up in the car."
"How would you know?" I asked.
"I have a nose," she said.
"Makeup sex is the best," Karen replied. "If I had a lover, I'd totally pick fights just for the sex afterwards."
I glanced over at Lara to see how she was taking it. She looked smug. I decided she was just like a man and stormed off, my escorts scrambling after me.
As I left the house, I heard Wendy say, "Alpha, you might get more make up sex tonight."
The door closed to Lara's pleased chuckles.
When I got home, I was somewhat taken aback; it was filled with teenagers. Every teenager in the compound, from Chloe Lassiter on up, was hanging out watching a movie and eating pizza and popcorn. I stopped just inside the door and stared at them.
Sophia noticed my expression. She popped out of her seat on the sofa between Alan and Chloe and crossed the room to stand in front of me. "Is this all right, Michaela?"
I was still stinging from the embarrassment and teasing. I couldn't understand why Lara insisted on flaunting our sex life to the entire pack, and I didn't understand why they felt it was any of their business. I didn't understand why people who knew I was embarrassed by it, and who otherwise treated me very kindly, went out of their way to enhance my embarrassment.
All of which meant I was ready to say no, it wasn't all right. There must have been something in my expression, because Sophia said, "We were done, anyway," and turned to tell them to go home.
"Wait, Sophia," I said. It wasn't her fault I was in a mood. "No, it's fine. I was just surprised. It's fine. Enjoy the movie. Try to limit the volume to a manageable level."
I passed through the living room into the kitchen, retrieved a bottle of wine and headed upstairs. By the time Lara got home, the bottle was empty and I was passed out.
* * * *
Lara woke me early the following morning, holding a glass of water and some aspirin. I mumbled grumpily at her but took them. Once the glass was empty, she took it from me, set it aside, then sat on the bed. I lay back down and rolled away from her.
"What's wrong?" she asked softly.
"Nothing is wrong," I said.
"What you mean to say," she said, "so that we don't get in the habit of lying to each other, is that something is wrong but you either don't want to talk about it or want me to drag it out of you piece by piece. Until I hear otherwise, I will assume the later."
Well, I didn't want to talk about it. I didn't want to think about it, much less talk about it. I didn't want to look at her smug expression.
"It's the former, then," I said. "Not the latter."
She sat there for a moment, not moving. "I am going to believe that you are back to telling the truth to me and that you wouldn't have said that if I shouldn't take you at face value. When you are ready to talk about it, I am ready to listen."
"Thank you," I said sullenly.
She sat there for a moment, then she lay down on the bed, cuddling behind me, her on top of the covers, me below them. "May I tell you something?" she asked. I nodded. "I love you, Michaela. Your happiness is paramount to me. Do you believe that?"
"I guess." I felt like a sullen teenager. I was certainly acting like one. But I couldn't help it. My own behavior was pissing me off, but I couldn't get my emotions under control.
I rolled over and told her all of that.
Lara reached out and caressed my cheek. "Vivian taught me something once. I've found it to be remarkably true. It seems obvious when I look back, but it wasn't obvious to me at the time." She stared off into space for a moment, then said, "There's a concept called resiliency. When we are at our most resilient, then it is easiest to take everything in stride. Little things don't bother us and we cope well with the big things. When our resiliency crumbles, than even tiny things, inconsequential things, can seem devastating."
She gave me time to think about it, and it made sense.
"The pressures of life chip away at our resiliency," she said. "Moving, changing jobs, starting therapy, and finding out someone wants to kill you, these things can do serious damage to your resiliency."
I started to cry from it all. I shrugged off the covers and reached for her, pulling myself to her and clutching.
"I'm tired of crying all the time," I told her while crying.
"I am sorry you are hurting, Michaela." She held me, caressing the back of my head. "I promise all the big things will get better. That will make the little things much more manageable. And I will tell you this as well. I don't like to see you cry. I don't like to know you hurt. But I can't tell you how much it means to me that you turn to me for comfort." She rocked me a little and slowly I calmed down again. "Would you like to go to Bayfield for a long weekend? We can leave Thursday evening."
I started crying again but nodded.
"This is probably the last weekend we can do this until after we finish dealing with the current crisis," she said. "But I would really like to go kayaking, honey. I have a little business on Friday to handle, but after that, I am all yours. We'll need to return early on Sunday."
I clutched at her and said, "Angel and Scarlett will be upset if we don't invite them."
"We'll invite everyone."
"Do you think Vivian would like to come?"
"I think she might."
She held me until I pushed her away and looked into her eyes. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me. I love it up there, too."
"We should reserve kayaks," I said.
"You find out who wants to come and then call Benny," she said. "If we go sailing Saturday afternoon, are you going to push me into the lake again?"
I laughed. "No. I promise."
She kissed me then said, "Michaela, today you are safe. I promise. Tomorrow you are also safe. I promise. With me, you will always be safe."
I started crying again, but I we feeling better. She kissed me once more then put on a playful expression.
"You realize you need a shower." She pulled me into her arms and picked me up. I tossed my arms around her neck, shrieking.
"Put me down! No! Lara!"
My squirms and struggles meant nothing to her. She carried me into the bathroom, turned on the shower, and I renewed my screams. "No!"
She was dressed already in a light shirt and jeans, and I was sure she was going to toss me into the shower. I was also sure it was cold water that was running. But then she stepped into the shower with me, and the temperature was perfect. She set me on my feet, but I kept my arms around her neck, plastering our bodies together.
I'd gone to bed in just my undies. I didn't remember stripping out of my clothes from our date, but I must have at some point. Lara kissed me, then I helped her out of her wet clothes and she stripped my undies from me. All the clothes landed in a heap in the bathtub with a soggy splat, and then I couldn't take my hands off her hard, amazing body.
She washed me. I knew she was late, but she took her time, and everywhere she touched me, she kissed me as well.
"How can it take you so long to wash such a small body?" I asked her.
"Good things should be savored," she replied. "Unless you would prefer I hurry."
"No," I said. "I do not prefer you hurry."
Soon I was clean, but she smirk
ed at me and pressed me against the side of the shower before lowering herself to her knees in front of me. She traced a line of kisses down my body, then nudged my legs wide and placed her mouth over my vulva.
"Lara!" I screamed immediately.
She pulled one of my legs up over her shoulder so I was partly sitting on her, partly standing on one foot, and her lips parted me, her tongue immediately finding my clit. She flicked at it twice, then ran her tongue up and down my slit, slowly. I felt myself grow wet with need.
"Oh Lara," I said. I clutched at her head, not directing her, just wanted to hold her, and it was all I could reach.
She brought my passions to the fore slowly, her tongue teasing me as the water ran over both of us. Finally she reached up with one hand and slipped two fingers inside me, and I screamed her name.
I could tell she smirked, but her tongue continued it's insistent dance against my clit, and then she pulled me into her mouth, sucking at me.
The orgasm arrived, hot and hard, and I pounded a hand against the wall screaming, "Oh god! Lara!" And I rode her mouth, her amazing mouth, as she gave me waves of delicious pleasure.
She pulled the last few shudders out of me with her fingers, then pulled away and looked up my body. I looked down at her. "You're amazing," I told her. "You make me feel so good."
And then I slumped, my leg sliding off her shoulder, and I would have fallen if she hadn't caught me. She held me up until I could stand, then washed briefly under the water. "I'm going to taste you for hours," she said.
* * * *
I had a great day, and it was poker night that night. I needed to win but was sure Janice wouldn't make that easy on me. My own scent would give me away every time I had a good hand.
Lara sat next to me and slightly behind me. We'd agreed she would trace circles on my leg with a finger when I was giving off my scent. The way we sat, Janice would see it, but the others wouldn't. Vivien had other commitments, but the table was filled out to six with four more members of the council. Violet was there again, and with her were Dominick, Dennis and Taylor. Dominick was relatively young to be on the council, but Dennis and Taylor were older wolves. They were businessmen, and I got the impression they were very good at what they did.