Fox Afield (Madison Wolves)

by Robin Roseau

  "I'm sorry, Mom," she said. "But I wanted to see the fox."

  "And now you have seen her. Do you think perhaps the rest of us could receive our proper introductions?" She stepped forward, holding her other child, a boy of twelve years, by the shoulders.

  Daniel spoke. "Lara, Madison Alpha, this is my wife, Ysabella, and my second son, Cory. Ysabella, Lara and Michaela Burns."

  Ysabella held out her hand to Lara, then to me, and she smiled warmly, her smile larger for me.

  I looked at the boy. He was a little shy, staring at me uncertainly. He was just at the age when boys start to notice girls, and he did not have the unabashed freedom of his little sister.

  "Would you care to shake hands, Cory?" I asked. "You need to be very gentle, even more gentle than you would with a young wolf pup."

  He nodded uncertainly, and I held out my hand. He took it awkwardly, but he was gentle. He was missing the roughness I'd grown accustomed to with other wolves. He snatched his hand back and faded behind his mother, never taking his eyes from me.

  Ysabella offered a welcome to Boulder and hopes for friendship between our two packs. I wouldn't have wanted to depend on Glenn's friendliness, but the rest of the Bancroft family seemed to be offering a genuinely friendly greeting. I tried to determine the dynamics between everyone. Why was Brooke introduced first rather than Ysabella? More importantly, why was Glenn?

  We exchanged a few additional pleasantries. I had retreated to Lara's side but was watching everything. Ysabella had reasserted management of her younger children. Cory was fine to remain in the background, but Casey appeared to be a delightful handful of energy.

  Finally Daniel spoke. "I am sure you are anxious to be on your way, but perhaps we could lure you to an early lunch first. I am afraid Glenn cannot make it, as he has urgent business to attend to for me."

  "An informal lunch would be lovely," Lara said.

  "Excellent," Daniel said. "Greg, will you attend with us?"

  "I would love to," he said.

  "I do have one small request," Lara said. "My wife knows nothing of our upcoming plans, and I would rather they remain a surprise to be discovered one at a time rather than all at once."

  Ysabella laughed. "Daniel attempts to keep things from me in such a similar way, but it rarely works out, does it Daniel?"

  "No," he said. "And I rather suspect it is not so easy for you, either, Lara?"

  "No," she said, glancing down at me. "Michaela is much more clever than I am, and so I must recruit the support of the entire pack to stay even a half step ahead of her, and even then I must ask her to cooperate with keeping secrets from her."

  "Well," Daniel said. "We shall not interfere in your surprises for each other. Brooke, if you could attend to the enforcer assignments, I shall talk briefly with Glenn." He pulled his son away, and I listened as he directed Glenn to some task I was sure was busy work designed to get him away from us. Greg watched me critically but didn't comment.

  In the meantime, Brooke gestured to two of her enforcers, and I heard her tell them, "You two stay with Glenn. If you lose him, you call me. I want to know where he is at all times, and under no circumstances do you allow him within a hundred miles of our guests."

  "Yes, enforcer," they both said.

  "The Alpha does not want an incident," Brooke added. "He almost caused an incident with their alpha, and we can't let him near the little fox. I think she is far more dangerous than she looks."

  I stifled a grin.

  "If he tries his macho bullshit on the fox, I don't know which of the alphas would kill him faster: the wolf or the fox."

  "We understand," the enforcers said again, and she released them.

  Daniel turned and led us to a sea of SUVs. Greg's people had arrived in theirs. Daniels' people had arrived in theirs. And there were two for us to use while we were in Colorado. Daniel mentioned the restaurant. Greg knew where it was and describe the location to Karen. But then Casey said, "Can the fox ride with us?"

  "If she wants to," said Ysabella immediately.

  Daniel and Lara both stiffened. Ysabella noticed her husband's reaction and suddenly realized she had put everyone on the spot.

  "Lara," I said very quietly into her ear. "Trust starts somewhere. We trust Greg, Greg trusts Daniel. And I liked what Brooke told her enforcers. I am willing to ride with them, but this is your call."

  "Perhaps, Daniel," Lara told him, "Brooke would care to drive our car for us, and Karen can drive the second SUV."

  Daniel glanced at Brooke, who nodded.

  "Excellent suggestion," he offered. "We can all get to know each other."

  It wasn't quite an exchange of hostages, nor was it quite an even exchange, but I really didn't feel we needed to worry. If they intended trouble, they already had the upper hand.

  I knew Lara would fret anyway.

  I allowed Casey to pull me towards their car, and then she asked if I would sit next to her. So we faced another point of protocol. It would be Daniel, Ysabella, the two children, and one enforcer in the car with me; asking me to ride with the children felt like a slap in the face, even if we were the same size.

  "I think Michaela will ride next to me," Ysabella said.

  Casey pouted, but she got The Look from her mother, the same look all mothers seem to perfect, and she meekly climbed into the back of the SUV. I exchanged glances with Lara, then Ysabella and I took our seats. The enforcer drove with Daniel riding in the front passenger seat.

  In the car, Ysabella asked about the wedding. "I didn't know what to expect," I said. I briefly explained the ceremony. We compared wedding ceremonies. Hers was a more traditional ceremony than mine had been, although smaller.

  I answered a few questions from Casey and accepted a few compliments from her, then asked Ysabella how she and Daniel had met.

  "It isn't very romantic," she said. "And I wasn't happy about it at the time. I am his second wife."

  "I thought wolves don't divorce," I said.

  "They don't," Daniel said softly. "My first wife was killed."

  "I'm sorry," I said. Daniel nodded acceptance.

  "I am from a pack in New Mexico," Ysabella said. "My brother was a hothead and came up here looking for trouble. He found it, and he killed Daniel's wife then fled back to New Mexico. He was trying to prove how tough he was. When my alpha got the phone call demanding reparations or war, he paid reparations." She glanced into the back seat, and I knew not to ask for details. "I was part of that."

  "I take it your brother didn't make any more trouble."

  "No," Ysabella said. "I hated him. What he had done was beyond redemption, and to put me at risk was unforgiveable. I arrived in Boulder as a prisoner, presuming the worst. Instead, Daniel ordered me to serve as governess for Brooke and Glenn. I am afraid that I did a better job with one than the other."

  "No," Daniel said quietly. "He was already on that path, and it is no one's fault but his own, possibly fueled by a few hothead friends I didn't have enough political clout to deny access."

  "How did that turn into marriage?" I asked.

  "You understand," Daniel says. "Wolves are driven by their emotions, and mine was grief. I had a very difficult time. She came to me in my study one night to offer a report on the children, took one look at me, and dropped to the floor in front of me. She put her head in my lap and told me over and over how sorry she was for what her brother had done, and how she wished she could have exchanged places so my wife could live."

  "That was the first time either of us had touched, even incidentally," Ysabella said.

  "But a seed was planted," Daniel said. "And it wasn't love, but it was an understanding that we were in a shared situation neither of us had made."

  "Love came later," Ysabella said.

  "I didn't realize how I felt about her until she told me she was pregnant with my third child," Daniel said. "She told me on our second wedding anniversary."

  "So," I said. "Perhaps not a romantic way to meet, but a roma
ntic story once fully told."

  "Perhaps," Ysabella said. "I am much happier than I ever thought I would be." She reached forward and clasped Daniel's hand, and the two smiled at each other. "We have told you our story, will you tell yours of meeting Lara?"

  So I did, and I made sure to include the children, who were soon giggling with delight. Once I was done, Ysabella asked me, "How much of that was true?"

  "Every word," I responded, loudly enough for Daniel to hear. "But of course, I didn't explain how terribly frightened I was nor why I would have been so frightened."

  "And so we have both met our alphas during frightening times," Ysabella said. "And we have both come through the better for it."

  "Michaela," Casey said from the back. "When may we see your fox. I've never seen a fox in fur."

  "I suspect I am the only fox you have ever seen, not counting my very distant, natural cousins. I am afraid I cannot answer your question, Casey. My schedule belongs to my alpha. You may ask her that question, with your mother's permission."

  Ysabella smirked at me.

  "May I, Mom?" Casey asked. "May I ask her?"

  "If you behave like a proper lady during lunch," Ysabella said. "I will allow you to ask before the dessert."

  I glanced back, and the little girl was grinning madly. "I'll be good," she said. "May I sit next to Michaela?"

  "I'm sorry," Ysabella said quietly to me.

  "She is very sweet," I replied.

  "I believe Michaela's mate will want to sit next to her," Ysabella said. "They are freshly married and have been apart for nearly twenty minutes. That probably seems like an eternity right now."

  "She has two sides," Casey pointed out accurately. "I could perhaps sit on the other side."

  "But if you were to sit there," Ysabella said, "Michaela would feel obligated to entertain you and thus neglect her new mate."

  I turned around to watch Casey's reaction to that news. She scrunched her face for a moment, processing the news. "The Madison alpha is a woman."

  "Yes, she is," I said.

  "And you're a woman."

  "Yes, I am," I agreed.

  "And you're really married?"

  "Yes," I said. "We're really married. We were married just yesterday evening."

  "I didn't know girls could marry girls," Cory said.

  "They can," I said. "Some people think they shouldn't, but I think those people are wrong."

  "I do too," Ysabella said. I reached over and clasped her hand briefly in thanks of her support.

  "Do you and Lara kiss, like Mom and Dad do?" Cory asked.

  "I haven't seen your parents kiss," I said. "But I imagine the way I kiss Lara is very much like the way your mother kisses your father."

  "If girls marry girls," Casey asked. "Who do the boys marry?"

  "Boys marry girls, too," Cory said. "Only some girls marry girls. Most girls marry boys."

  "I'm sorry," I mouthed to Daniel. He laughed and said quietly, "If we had a problem with this topic, you wouldn't have met them."

  "I think when I grow up," Casey said, "I am going to marry a girl." She was gazing fondly at me when she said it.

  I turned to Casey and said, "When I was your age, I wanted to marry Jimmy Longtail. He was a fox that lived near where my family and I lived. He was much older than I was, and I thought he was amazing."

  "Why didn't you?" she asked.

  "He didn't want to marry me," I said. "He wanted to marry my older sister."

  "So did they get married?" Casey asked.

  "No, honey," I said. "They didn't. Sometimes life doesn't work out the way we want it to."

  "But what happened?" Casey asked.

  "Oh, I can't tell you that," I said. "If I tell you all my stories now, I won't have any stories to tell you the next time I see you."

  I was able to deflect her more dangerous questions for the rest of the ride, amusing both children with other stories that were safe to tell.

  The car came to a stop. The car didn't have a rear seat door on my side, so I waited for my opportunity to exit. The enforcers from all three contingents took their places first, then Daniel exited our car and I saw Lara emerge onto the sidewalk. Ysabella climbed out, then the kids dashed ahead of me, leaving me to exit last. Daniel offered me an apologetic look, but I smiled and turned to Lara.

  I could tell she was tense; her jaw was set and her back was straight. I smiled at her, then turned to Casey and took her hand. I turned to Daniel. "I do not know my schedule," I said. "But I am a science teacher. I teach a unique program focusing on the natural sciences, especially geology, biology, botany and wildlife management." I glanced down at the children. "I am more than happy to spend time with young ones and share what I know."

  "That is very gracious," he said. "And while you may have tried to coach your words carefully, they heard every word and will be pestering me in three, two..."

  "I really like science class," said Casey enthusiastically. "What is wildlife management?"

  "Well," I said. "I don't have time to tell you now, but maybe next time, all right?"

  "When?" she said, looking at her father. "When, Dad?"

  "Michaela and Lara are on their honeymoon, honey," he said. "We mustn't presume too much. But maybe there will be a little time together next weekend."

  * * * *

  "I asked you one simple thing," Lara told me when we settled at the table. "One little favor. And what do you do? You did the same thing you do to everyone. You were cute and charming and had them eating out of your hand. I can't take you anywhere."

  I leaned my head on her shoulder. "You were busy practicing handshake diplomacy. I was practicing child diplomacy. I think I did better than you did. Are you angry with me?"

  She kissed the top of my head. "No honey. What did you think?"

  "I think we can trust Daniel," I said quietly. "How's your hand?"

  "Fine," she said. "Would you have stabbed him?"

  "Only to maim," I replied.

  Ysabella was directing the seating. She had Daniel and herself across from Lara and me, but she put Brooke next to me and her children next to her with Casey closest. Elisabeth ended with the seat on the other side of Brooke from me. Greg sat next to Lara with Wendy across from him. It wasn't necessarily well-balanced, but it allowed for conversation.

  As she usually did, Lara ordered for me. Elisabeth and I shared Brooke, making small talk and generally getting to know each other. Brooke seemed bright and very considerate. She told us of Colorado and asked us of Wisconsin. We compared favorite outdoor activities.

  "My favorite is kayaking on Lake Superior," I said.

  She smiled. "I climb mountains."

  "Technical climbing?" I asked her.

  She nodded. "It's my one release," she explained. "Colorado is a great place for it."

  "I grew up in the White Mountains," I said, "and did my share of running through mountains, but we never did any technical climbing. I wonder if we'll get a chance to try while we're here."

  Brooke smiled and said, "I hope you do. It seems like something you might enjoy."

  The meal continued in the same vein, the two families getting to know each other, everyone amiable. Brooke and her parents were polite and charming, and even Elisabeth began to relax by the end of the meal.

  We wrapped up, and Lara began to wonder where the check was.

  "Already covered," Daniel said. Lara thanked him graciously, and we rose from our seats.

  "Daniel," I said. "As I remember, the National Center for Atmospheric Research is in Boulder. Is that true?"

  "Yes, it is," he said.

  "Lara," I said. "I suppose we need to be on our way."

  "We have a bit of a drive," she agreed.

  "I suppose it would be too much to ask for us to stop by NCAR."

  She glanced at her watch. "Maybe next time," she said.

  "All right," I told her.

  Once we stepped outside, Elisabeth and Karen ushered me into our car while Lara st
ayed to talk to Daniel. Elisabeth began grilling me about my ride with the Bancrofts, but I refused to tell her much. "I am just going to have to repeat it," I said. "Lara is going to want to hear. But Elisabeth, keep that brother away from me."

  "Wendy warned me about him," Karen said. "He isn't happy his sister is to be Alpha, but he is too stupid to lead."

  "We've seen that before," Elisabeth said.

  Lara climbed in the car and pulled me into her arms immediately. She began checking me for damage, even though she knew I was fine. I let her fuss at me; I knew she meant well.

  "I'm fine," I finally told her.

  "All right," she said. "We're going to follow them out of town so we get started in the right direction. In the meantime, tell me about the car ride."

  So I did. Elisabeth and Lara both asked me questions especially about my perceptions, which I summed up easily. "I like them and I think they're being honest with us."

  Out little convoy had begun climbing into the hills after leaving Boulder, but I wasn't paying any attention until we came to a stop. I looked out my window and could see quite a distance away, down the hills, but I couldn't really see past Lara to the other side, and that was when I realized she was intentionally hiding my view out her window.

  "Lara," I asked her. "Where are we?"

  She smiled sweetly. "Daniel has arranged a little tour for us."

  I feinted a peek past her, then managed to finally look. "I know those buildings!" I said. We were outside NCAR.

  We all climbed out, and Daniel was grinning at me. I offered a small bow to him, and then he led the way into the amazing structure.

  We were met by a human woman named Dr. Judy Enrud, who Daniel introduced as "having married into the family." I took that to mean she was a human married to a wolf, much like Michele Lassiter was. I didn't make myself any more known than the rest of our group, and she began to give us a tour.

  I immediately started asking questions, and slowly the two of us gravitated towards each other, everyone else giving us room. "You're not a wolf," she said quietly. "But you're not human either."

  "Fox," I explained.

  She asked my background. "I used to work for the US Fish and Wildlife Service," I explained. "Now I teach high school science. I'm probably wasting your time-"