by Robin Roseau
The videos of my escapades made it to the pack web site while I was visiting the Callahans, and the teasing started the minute we stepped out of the car.
I was so glad to be home.
That's when I stopped. I turned to Lara.
"What?" she asked.
"I just had a thought."
"You have a lot of those. What was this one."
"I thought how nice it was to be home."
Her smile couldn't have been bigger.
It was after dinner, too late to schedule a celebration party, but Lara declared, "Party tomorrow night, whoever cares to make it."
"Lara," I said. "How about a run?"
"A run would be wonderful. Fifteen minutes, everyone. Brooke, I hope you will join us."
"I wouldn't miss it."
We showed Brooke to the guest room and told her we'd collect her on the way back downstairs. I allowed Lara to draw me to our bedroom. I began shedding my weapons, leaving them on the dresser. Lara prowled around me.
"I love you," she said.
I turned to her. "I love you, too."
"I know I go crazy sometimes."
"Yes, you do. I go crazy sometimes, too."
"I promise, my craziness will always be temporary."
"It may be a while before I can say that, honey." It was a bad joke and Lara ignored it.
She stepped closer, looking down into my eyes. "I know you're worried I'll lock you up and throw away the key."
I lowered my eyes. "Yes."
She lifted my chin. "I won't. How could I? You, my love, are amazing, and you would suffocate and die in a cage."
"And kill you," I said. "Don't forget that I'd kill you, Lara. Or myself."
"I know. It won't happen. I'll be overprotective a lot, but it will pass. I'm sorry, but I don't think I can stop myself."
"I understand, Lara. I like knowing you care this much about me."
She smiled and, slowly, kissed me.
"We haven't done enough of that since we got back," I said when the kiss was over.
We snuggled a little, standing there next to the dresser.
"I'll want a shower later," I said. "And your hands on me."
"I want to talk to you about something before the shower," she said.
I smiled. "All right."
I kicked off my shoes and socks then grabbed Lara's arm. We collected Brooke and headed downstairs.
Everyone was there, waiting for us, and I do mean everyone, and they were all in fur.
"Are we ready to run?" I asked. I was answered by a mix of chuffs and howls. "I don't have any games or wagers tonight," I said. That was met with huffs. They liked my games. "I'm sorry, but I can't think of any tonight that we haven't played too much lately."
"What games?" Brooke asked.
"We play a lot of games when we run. Many of them are pure wolf games, and I am primarily a spectator. But some of them are very much geared around a fox."
She smiled. "For instance?"
"Well, they used to leave me behind all the time, so I made a game that they had to touch me periodically. If I went more than five minutes without at least one of them touching me, I won. Otherwise they did."
"What did you typically wager?"
"Favors. I usually win, but with this many running, well, I can't afford to hand out this many favors, and I wouldn't stand a chance."
"Well then," Brooke said. "Perhaps I have a game you may find interesting. We divide into two teams. The first team is given something to hide. We usually use tennis balls. We write our names down on them. We have five minutes to hide the ball, then we have to run back here. Then the other team gets a certain amount of time to find the tennis balls. Anyone whose tennis ball is discovered owes a favor to the person who discovers it."
"And those whose tennis ball remains hidden?"
"They pick someone who didn't find a tennis ball, and that person owes a favor. We usually limit two favors to be owed by one person, so you couldn't all pick on one person and expect twenty favors from him. We usually let the youngest pick first."
"Who wants to play Brooke's game?" I asked. Everyone chuffed.
"All right, do we have tennis balls?"
"We do," Lara said. She did a quick count. "I'll get them and something to write with. You can arrange teams while I am gone."
"You and I should be captains," Brooke said. "Will you treat me honestly to help me pick my team?"
"Of course."
"Who picks first?"
"I will give you a choice. You may choose first or you may decide if you are hiding or finding."
"You may choose first," Brooke said. "I do not know your land, so I think I would be at a distinct disadvantage hiding. We will be finding."
I smiled. "All right. Elisabeth."
Brooke was surprised. "Not Lara?"
"Lara enjoys competing against me," I said.
"Very gracious of you. I will take the alpha then."
"Angel."
"Tell me," Brooke said. "Which of these are enforcers?"
I pointed them out, naming them. She knew some, but I pointed them all out. "Karen," she said immediately.
"Scarlett."
One by one, we split into two teams. We had an odd one remaining.
"It is best to have more hiders than finders," Brooke said. "That way everyone has a chance to find a tennis ball."
Lara returned with tennis balls and several markers. "You are on Brooke's team, Lara, and you will be finding." She nodded.
We wrote down names on the tennis balls, passing them out.
"Now," Brooke said. "You must cover your ball in your scent. You get five minutes to hide your ball and you have three minutes more to return here. We then get fifteen minutes to find the balls. We are each limited to one find, so we return here when we have found one. At the fifteen minute mark, we'll call you back, and you have three minutes to get back here. Anyone whose ball is still hidden after that must go retrieve it, and you have eight minutes to get it and bring it back. If you are unable to retrieve it, you forfeit a favor to be awarded by the team captain -- that's me -- to one of my players."
She turned to me. "You may not hide your ball where a full sized wolf can't reach it. The alpha or I to judge."
"That's fair," I said.
"Greg, will you time for us?" she asked.
"The alpha will howl at the five minute mark and howl again at eight," Greg said. "Anyone who is late is forfeit."
"Then I believe the alpha should howl once at three minutes, once at five, and once at eight," I suggested. I wanted people to know when they needed to get serious about hiding their balls. I could see them all running for five minutes and then not making it back in time.
"That is a good rule," Brooke said. "Shift to fur, fill your ball with your sent, and give us a howl to get started."
The pack all chuffed, Lara chuckling. They had heard my howls in the past.
"I'll yip to start, not howl."
I shifted to fur, climbed out of my clothes, retrieved my ball from where it had rolled under Brooke's foot, and then proceeded to slime it up, spreading my scent on it that way.
"Good," she said. "Whenever ready."
I yipped twice through the ball and took off for the woods. I headed straight for the culvert, ducked through it, ran to the pond, left a false track off it, then ran into the woods again. I shifted to human, catching the ball in my hand, and clambered up into a tree. I climbed as quickly as I could, deposited the ball in a notch, out of sight from the ground, descended rapidly, shifting in the air at the bottom, and ran off.
At the three minute howl, I cut back towards the compound, leaving as many false trails as I could, each of them ending somewhere good to hide a ball. I even dug in the grass a few places. At the five minute howl, I made sure I was within a hundred yards of the compound, left two more false trails, and ran for the compound, arriving well early.
No one was late, but Elisabeth barely arrived before the last howl.
I shifted to human, grabbed a blanket, and verified my entire team was here. "All present and accounted for."
"All right," Brooke said. "I'll shift and howl. Michaela, howl at five and ten minutes. Three howls at fifteen, and we get three minutes to make it back after that."
"Elisabeth will howl for me," I said. "You really don't want me to do it."
She smiled, pulled her clothing off, and shifted, Lara doing the same. She howled, and she and Lara, side by side, began chasing after my trail.
"Damn," I said to Greg. "They're going to work together. And Lara knows all my tricks." I smiled.
I listened to the two of them. They made it to the pond quickly, and I listened as they searched around it.
"Will they find yours?" Greg asked.
"I don't know. They're the only two who could. I think Brooke wants a favor from me."
"She told Lara she's happy with a favor from either of you, and Lara wants one from you."
I smiled. "So if they come back with a tennis ball, it will be in Lara's mouth?"
"That's my guess."
Five minutes arrived. Greg called the time and Elisabeth howled once. Lara and Brooke had searched the area near the pond as well as my first false trail and were moving on my main trail.
Wolves started entering the compound proudly carrying their tennis balls. They brought them to me, and Greg recorded who won from whom. There were huffs from my team.
Sophia arrived with Scarlett's tennis ball.
Lara and Brooke were past where mine was hidden. I grinned.
"You're safe?" Greg asked.
"I think so."
Emanuel returned with Serena's ball. She walked over and cuffed him gently.
Lara and Brooke shifted into human and began talking. They didn't have a clue where it was. Then Lara said, "You know, she has a penchant for trees."
"That wouldn't be fair. An adult wolf can't climb a tree."
"Brooke. You and I can both climb trees right now."
Brooke used a naughty word. "It could be anywhere!"
I turned to Greg. "They figured out how I hid it, but not where."
"Look for claw marks," Lara said. "Work backwards from here. If she climbed a tree, she'd have done it quickly."
I smiled broadly. "I'm safe."
"One more minute," Greg said.
Two more wolves came back with tennis balls, and then Elisabeth howled the fifteen minutes. Wolves, sans tennis balls, began filtering into the compound.
Lara and Brooke showed up empty-mouthed. I grinned at them.
"Nice try," I told them.
All in all, about half the tennis balls had been found. "All right," I said. "If your tennis ball isn't found, you have to go get it." I looked around. "Scarlett, will you howl for us? One at five minutes, three at eight minutes."
She nodded. I shifted to fur, yipped twice, and ran straight to my ball, Lara and Brooke both running behind me. I shifted to human, climbed into the tree, and grabbed the ball. I climbed back down to find Lara and Brooke, human, waiting for me. I tossed the ball into the air and Lara caught it while it was still out of my reach. She checked for my name, then turned to Brooke. "So, she has to return with this within about another four minutes."
"Yep."
"And if she doesn't, she loses, and you get to award her favor to someone on our team."
"Yep."
I looked at Lara. The two of them began playing catch with my ball.
"This is very childish," I told them both. "Do you really intend to cheat?"
"I didn't hear any rule about this," Lara said. She tossed my ball to Brooke.
"I don't recall saying anything about this," Brooke agreed.
I didn't even bother chasing after them.
The five minute howl went up, and still they played catch with my tennis ball.
"This is only a thirty second run for you, but it's a minute and a half for me," I pointed out. "I figure you have about another thirty seconds before I can't get back in time."
When I had about a minute left, Lara gently handed my ball to me. I dropped it, shifted to fox, grabbed it, and made a mad dash for the compound. Brooke and Lara shifted behind me and immediately passed me, racing side by side for the compound.
I ran for all my little fox feet were worth. The compound was in sight when the eight minute howls went up. I finished running in.
"Everyone was on time except Michaela," Greg said.
I shifted human, grabbed a blanket, and didn't say a word. Lara and Brooke did an inventory of whose ball wasn't found, and the remaining favors were recorded. They came to me last.
"You were late," Lara said. I didn't say a word.
She turned to Brooke. Brooke nodded.
"Of course," said Lara. "You were only late because Brooke and I interfered with you. Whom do you want your favor from?"
"Is Brooke eligible?" I asked.
"I am," she said.
"Well then. Lara, I believe I need your permission to ask the favor I have in mind. Do you have a moment? But none of you shift yet; we still need a proper run."
I pulled Lara to the side and told her what I wanted to ask from Brooke. She was pleased and told me it was a lovely favor to ask.
"Brooke," I said, and the entire pack quieted. "I would like to ask my favor immediately, if that pleases you."
"It does, Michaela."
"My favor is this. I would ask you to remain as our guest for-" I thought about it. "How long do you feel a favor like this could extend?"
"Perhaps two weeks," Brooke suggested.
"Then, I would like you to remain as our guest for another two weeks, sharing your friendship and your experience with us. I have a topic or two I would definitely like to discuss with you."
She bowed. "I would love to grant this favor, Michaela. Thank you."
"All right," Lara said. "Who enjoyed Brooke's game?"
There were chuffs and a few howls.
"Perhaps she has others she will share with us, and we'll show her a few of our own," Lara said. "And I believe we'll add this one to the pack repertory."
"This game can be played with a very small number of people or a fairly large number," Brooke said. "At some point, it becomes quite chaotic, but that can be okay, too. You can make it last longer if you allow for more time to hide the balls or use smaller tokens that are more difficult to identify. If you are playing with young children, you may want to hide something larger than a tennis ball. We've hidden half-length nerf sticks in the past."
Then she looked at me. "I also believe you may want to add a few more restrictions on where things may be hidden."
"Hey!" I said. "The rest of the pack knows not to tangle with the fox. I knew it would be you and Lara looking for mine, so I hid it somewhere the two of you could have found it, although perhaps it might have taken you an additional fifteen minutes." I paused. "I bet if I tried hiding it that way again, you'd find it right away."
"Nevertheless," she said. "Perhaps in the future, you will hide your ball somewhere that even the younger pack members could find it."
"I'll agree to that when my wife stops targeting me on every single game we play."
The wolves chuffed at that while Lara gave a "who me?" look.
"Or we can agree I am able to do things so that ONLY the youngest of you could beat me. Hide it in small culverts, for instance."
That was met with a chorus of huffs and a "Not going to happen" look from Lara.
"All right," Lara said. "Let's run!"
Lara, Brooke and I all took two steps, jumped, and mid-air, shifted into our fur. At a fox's pace, we entered the woods, but then the majority of the wolves ranged ahead. I enjoyed listening to them have their fun.
Lara, Elisabeth, Brooke, Angel and Scarlett all stayed with me. Angel and Scarlett chased each other around, but they never got very far from the rest of us. We followed the rest of the pack for a while, but then I turned us to the west and started hunting. Angel and Scarlett r
ecognized my changed posture, and they settled down, letting me hunt and being careful to not scare the game. I took us a mile to the west, passing several chances at small game, until I heard a deer, still a long way off.
I shifted to human and gathered them around. "Do we want a deer, or should I just get us a couple of rabbits."
Lara flattened herself to the ground, tail erect, in a really good facsimile of my hunting posture.
"You want to hunt, Lara?" I asked. She chuffed. "Because there's a deer about three quarters of a mile. Do you want the deer, Lara?" She chuffed. I hugged her then whispered in her ear. "Brooke's kill or Angel and Scarlett?" She glanced at Brooke almost unperceptively.
"I'll get us close," I said. "You'll be able to smell it in a few minutes. Brooke, this is a different hunting style than you're familiar with. It's how they pander to the little fox."
She chuffed.
I shifted back to fur and led them quietly to the deer. Lara chuffed when she could smell the deer. I got us to two hundred yards downwind and stopped, shifting back. "As usual, if it's young, let it grow up. The hunt is all yours, Lara."
Lara huffed and looked at Brooke.
"Your hunt, Brooke," I said. She chuffed.
I shifted back to fox and watched her deploy the wolves. Her communication style was different from Lara's, but she deployed Lara to the far side then tried to send Elisabeth north to cut off that direction. Elisabeth huffed and moved to a standing position over mine. Brooke chuffed and sent Angel that way and Scarlett west to cut off escape to the south.
After that, we crept closer. Brooke led Elisabeth and me, and she approached the same way I would, with a great deal of stealth. She was impressive to watch.
Then, in a rush, she was gone. She howled twice, and I heard Angel and Scarlett break their cover. Then Lara began howling and let the deer smell her.
The deer ran straight for Scarlett. I was worried it would be too much for Scarlett, and I tore off through the woods in that direction, bringing Elisabeth with me.
The sounds told the story. The deer didn't realize Scarlett was there until she was leaping at it. He tried to change direction. But she took him down in her first leap. There was a crunch of strong jaws, and then all was still.
Then I heard a beautiful thing. Scarlett raised her nose to the sky and began to howl a victory howl.