by Robin Roseau
"I am only waiting for you," I told her.
"Then what I want is this. If I win, for the next year, whenever we go shopping, you will buy for yourself anything I pick for you, and for the next year, if I order you to wear a particular outfit, you will wear it."
I grew silent. "That could be a very expensive and very embarrassing wager for me."
"You have to decide whether you trust me."
"Agreed," I said immediately.
"My interpretation of this wager," said Elisabeth, "is also that if I ask you to go shopping, you will agree unless you have a legitimate scheduling conflict."
"All right. Lara?"
"If I win, you will not complain about any of us licking you for a year."
I laughed. "All right. I want to learn to scuba dive. I don't know how to turn that into four individual wagers, and I while I think I can beat some of you, I don't think I am going to evade all of you. I don't want to have to beat all of you for permission to go."
They grew silent.
"If you beat me," Elisabeth said, "Then I will cooperate to the best of my ability in arranging the first three dive vacations, subject to reasonable security."
"If you beat me, little fox, I will buy your gear and mine," Lara said.
"Lara, if I beat you, will you buy Angel's and Scarlett's, and pay for their classes?"
She laughed. "All right."
"Michaela," Karen said, "I am an experienced diver. If you beat me, I will become a certified dive instructor. I can't promise to be ready by the time you go for your initial training, but I will be able to conduct a variety of classes in the future."
"That leaves me," said Serena. "I don't know what to offer you, Michaela."
"I'll take the same wager from you that Elisabeth offered, Serena," I said. "For the record, when I say I want to learn to scuba dive, I hope that means the rest of you are going to learn, too."
"Of course it does, Little Fox," Lara said.
"Well then," I said. "We're agreed. I get a fifteen second head start, and anyone I tag with teeth or paw is frozen if I get more than five feet away from you."
"You must get more than five feet away within the next ten seconds," Lara said. "Frozen for fifteen seconds."
"We agreed on thirty!" I said. "You promised no cheating."
Lara laughed. "My mistake."
"And if anyone catches me, I get fifteen seconds of all of you frozen before anyone else can catch me."
"Agreed," Lara said.
"And you have to actively chase me," I said. "You can't all just go guard the car!"
Lara laughed. "Agreed, but anyone who catches you may, at her discretion, drag you up to fifty yards away from the car. I presume no one will bother unless you are very, very close to the car, and you would get there during the fifteen second freeze time after she releases you."
"I don't like being dragged," I said. "Give me the choice of going willingly. Drag me a foot or two and then I'll follow after that."
"All right," Lara agreed. "What does it mean someone can help herd you after catching you once?"
"Hmm. No holding me down for someone else. You can try pushing me in a particular direction, but then you have to let me go again."
Lara smiled. "You are so going to lose, Little Fox."
"My head start begins when I shift to fur. Oh look, a bear!" I pointed up the trail, and sure enough, they all looked. I shifted to fur, ran between Lara's legs, spanking her with a paw on the way past, and ran off the side of the trail.
"That does not count as a freeze, little fox!" she yelled after me.
It was worth a try.
Fifteen seconds later, they were all after me, chuffing happily. I had dashed under two pine trees, jumping on top of a boulder next to the second one, then jumped off the other side, flying a good ten feet before hitting the ground and rolling. I took off in the wrong direction -- north -- and then listened to them.
I felt good, and I was running faster than ever.
I leapt for a tree, the lowest branch six feet off the ground. I caught it with my paws, pulled myself up, and ran to the trunk, then around the other side, shifting to human in a leap to grab a branch, and then didn't touch ground until I was ten feet from the trunk, now traveling west.
I did that twice more, and by the time I encountered our back trail again, I had gained at least another fifteen seconds. I set off along our old trail, tracing the same path we'd already been on. I ran like the wind, and when I got to the location of our discussion, I turned east again, taking the same path I'd already been on, but this time when I came out from under the evergreen tree, I turned south, running for all I was worth.
I came to several trees that were very close together. I ran past them then backtracked, leaping into one, then I ran out along one branch, leaping into the next tree and then the next, jumping down to the west of my prior path. I ran fifty yards west before turning south towards the car.
I listened to the wolves. I could tell when they found my trail, and I could tell when they lost it. Right now, they were a minute behind me, but it only took then fifteen or twenty seconds to catch me with that sort of lead, if I didn't keep them confused.
I lost them at the trick with the trees, and it took them two minutes before Serena howled she had my trail again. I ran, ran, ran, but then I set a false trail east before jumping between two boulders towards the west, then turned south again.
But they were closing the distance rapidly.
I ran south along the edge of a shallow cliff then backed up twenty yards before dropping off the edge of the cliff, sliding down the rock while dragging my claws through the dirt. It stung, but I arrived at the bottom otherwise unhurt. I healed the minor damage to my paws then buried myself in the rocks, listening to them draw closer. All four of them ran past me, fifteen yards over my head, and I chuckled to myself with my cleverness. They got another forty yards before they realized they had lost my trail.
They spent ten minutes looking for me, but they never moved far enough away I was willing to slink out of my hiding place. Finally the four of them congregated on the ledge above me. They all shifted to human.
"She lost us," Serena said. "How the hell did she lose all of us?"
"She's hiding," Lara said. "I can still smell her. She's not very far away. She's probably in one of these trees, laughing at us."
"I've been checking the trees," Karen said. "I smell her, too, but she's not in any of the nearest trees. I'm sure of it."
They grew quiet, and then Elisabeth said, "She wouldn't. That's way too far to jump. Even I wouldn't want to do it."
"It's not straight down," Karen said. "I wouldn't jump. I'd slide."
Oh hell.
"You would tumble head over heels," Elisabeth said.
"Go backwards, dragging your claws," Karen said. "I'd do it."
"Are you sure, Karen?"
"I might get hurt. I won't get killed. I could leap and not get killed."
"Go," Lara said.
I heard her shift back to wolf, and then I heard her sliding down the hill. I listened carefully, and as she was about to slide right past me, I reached out and smacked her with a paw then ran south.
Karen huffed loudly then howled a pursuit howl, but when she came to a stop at the end of her slide, she froze. However, I heard the other wolves all repeating Karen's performance, sliding down the hill.
So the next chance I got, I ran back up the hill. Lara saw me and howled, but she couldn't stop her downward slide, and I bounded up the hill and out of sight before they could set off in pursuit.
I immediately turned right, following my back trail, then when I got to the same cliff, I pushed a rock over the edge, hoping Karen wasn't in the way. I ran north, hoping they would hear the rock going down the hill and think it was I.
I heard when Karen began chasing me; I hadn't hit her with the rock. But soon I had all four wolves on my tail, three of them only a few seconds behind me.
It was dark en
ough, they couldn't see me, so whenever I cut sharply enough, I tended to lose them for a few seconds as they overran my trail, and it took them a moment or two to find it again. I was able to maintain a scant lead, but I was tiring more quickly than they were.
The three most closely behind me fanned out, which was really a good strategy, as they could readily catch my trail whenever I changed direction, and they were very good at communicating. We'd played this game before, after all, and these were the elite of the pack. And so I dashed around a tree and came to a stop, hunkering down and waiting for someone to run past me.
It was Serena, and I pounced at her just as she would have run past me, batting her rear haunches. I bounced off of her, but she traveled another ten feet before she could stop, and thus was frozen. I climbed to my feet and ran.
But Lara and Elisabeth were right on my tail, not quite able to catch me, but they were able to cut me off from the south. Working together, they pushed me back towards Serena, and then both Serena and Karen arrived from the north. I tried to cut west, but Elisabeth cut me off. I batted at her, but I couldn't shake her enough to freeze her.
A few seconds later, one panting fox found herself surrounded by all four wolves. Lara chuffed, and Serena pounced at me.
I dashed under her, and she missed me, but Karen cut me off, and when I bounced away from her, I rolled right into Elisabeth.
She immediately settled her weight over me, rolled me onto my back, and plunged her mouth to my throat.
I whimpered, then lay there panting heavily. She stayed on top of me, pinning me in place, but letting me catch my breath.
The wolves were winded too, and they were all smiling at me. Lara chuffed happily, and I chuffed back at her.
Finally I struggled to my feet, and Elisabeth climbed off of me. I gave her a lick and ran.
I turned my fifteen second lead into twenty, and then I leapt from a boulder into the lower branches of a tree, a leap much further than I'd ever done before. I scrambled up into the tree and hid.
I lost the wolves completely.
I waited until they were past me, then I moved down, crawled out on one of the branches, then jumped down. I ran fifty yards up my back trail and turned west. I did a big circle around the wolves before turning south.
It took then five minutes to find my trail, and they only found it because Serena stumbled across it. She let out a howl.
But five fox minutes is only one and a half wolf minutes, even with the two false trails I had left. I left a clear trail to the east, following it a hundred yards before backtracking and heading west, bouncing high into the air between each step in hopes I would leave a fainter trail. I did that for fifty yards west before turning south and running full out again.
They narrowed my five-minute lead down to about a minute, but by my estimate, it was only another two miles to the car, and only Elisabeth had caught me so far.
I ran past another ledge, backtracked, and slid down it again. I ran full out to the east for thirty seconds before turning south. And then I came over a ridge, and I could see the road below me, no more than a mile away.
I ran for the car. I was halfway to the car when I realized I wasn't going to make it. They were on my trail, and they were closing the distance quickly.
I huffed and put on more speed.
I made it to the road a quarter mile from the car. I turned towards it and had it in sight when all four wolves ran past me and cut me off. They turned together and arrayed in front of me. We all came to a stop, perhaps ten yards apart. Lara could close that distance in two leaps.
It suddenly became the close game. One on one, I was better at this game than they were, but against four of them, it was going to be tough. But if I could freeze at least two of them, I might make it.
The four of them crouched down and, step by step, began stalking me, attempting to push me away from the car. I tried to dash right, but together they shifted along with me and continued to push me further from the car.
I feinted left, pulling Elisabeth and Karen out of position. I feinted right, and Serena leapt into my path. Then I surprised Lara and ran straight at her. I watched her muscles and when she leapt for me, I jumped straight at Serena and swatted her, then dashed back underneath Lara and ran for the car.
Lara leapt at me and I cut right, but she guessed correctly and came down right on top of me, her front paws landing on the ground on either side of me. She wrapped me in her paws and tumbled over.
But I shifted into human, got my arms under her, and heaved. She flew off me, huffing in surprise. I shifted to fox and dashed left, barely evading Elisabeth, but Karen cut me off.
Lara and Serena were both frozen, but it wouldn't last long. I feinted, I feinted, I tagged Elisabeth, and then Karen grabbed me and rolled until I was under her on my back. She didn't waste time but immediately wrapped her mouth over my throat and squeezed until I whimpered.
Then she held me pinned while Lara and Serena's timer wore down. Lara walked over, grabbed me by the scruff, and when Karen climbed off me, Lara dragged me five feet from the car. I huffed at her, then finally got my feet under me and let her push me fifty yards further from the car. I lay down and panted for a minute, then chuffed, stood up, and licked her. She licked me back.
I finished catching my breath. The four wolves watched me, Lara practically standing on top of me, the other three interposed between me and the car. They were all grinning, and they'd been panting as well.
I decided whatever happened, it had been a good game.
I didn't give any of them a warning. I feinted underneath Lara, and when she ducked her head, I jumped on top of her, landing with all thirty pounds right between her shoulder blades, bouncing off her immediately. Elisabeth was next behind her, and I feinted the same maneuver, but Elisabeth rose up expecting me to leap over her, and instead I dashed under her, tagging her with a paw on the way past. I dashed to the left, tagging Karen as well, then bounced twice, putting my five feet between both of them, and three wolves were frozen.
I was sure I could avoid Serena, and I dashed for the car.
She pounced; I cut left. She pounced and I bounced backwards, then cut right to dash around her. I missed my tag, but I had halved the distance to the car, and the other wolves were still frozen for at least another few seconds.
At twenty yards from the car, I heard Serena leap for me. I leapt as well, but then two wolf paws wrapped around me in the air. She wrapped her paws around me, twisting, and we landed on the road, bounced, and then Serena's back bounced off the car. We came to a stop four feet from the car, and I had never touched it. She wrapped her jaws around my throat.
I whimpered, then lay still. She held me until Lara grabbed me by the scruff and began dragging me away from the car. I huffed, and Lara let me meekly follow her to a point fifty-five yards from the car.
I looked past her at the distance.
I leaned up and licked my mate.
She licked me back, then I looked at the car. Lara turned to look over her shoulder at it, and the moment she did, I cut around the other side of her and ran for the car, but all three enforcers cut me off. I cut left, and then Lara bowled me over, wrapping around me and ending with me on the bottom.
She took her time settling her weight over me and taking my throat.
I took my time before I whimpered.
Lara held me pinned after that until everyone else had thoroughly licked me.
She had won, and so I didn't complain.
Finally she let me up, and chuffing, the four of them herded me the twenty remaining yards to the car.
* * * *
"Alpha," Serena said five minutes later, and when she turned around, she was looking at me, "that was the most fun I've had in a while. Thank you."
"So close," I said, laughing. "I was your body width from the car."
She laughed with me. "I was so worried I was going to body slam you into it."
"I could have shifted human and you could have t
aken a hundred pounds instead of thirty."
Elisabeth chuckled at that.
"Little Fox," Lara said, "Everyone is very careful with you."
"I wouldn't really do it," I said. "It's not any fun if someone gets hurt."
We laughed and compared notes the entire way to the hotel, but when we arrived, I said, "Lara, I still want to learn to scuba dive."
She smiled and caressed my cheek.
But the wolves were all business as we stepped from the car.
* * * *
I lost count of the number of ways Lara took me in our bed that night.
Fly By
I barely woke when Lara's phone rang, sometime in the early hours. I heard Elisabeth tell her, "They're here."
Lara hung up the phone and rolled over to face me.
"Wake up, Little Fox," she said.
Immediately my eyes popped open, and I stared into hers. It had been an order.
"Oh honey," she said. "I'm sorry."
I put my hand on her cheek. "Who is here?"
She smiled. "Our breakfast companions."
"You're not going to tell me?"
"Nope." Then she grinned. "Our new companions do not know what we are doing here and do not know about your obedience compulsion."
"Don't you dare, Lara!" I said.
She grinned. "What should I make you do, Little Fox?"
"Are these new companions more pack members?"
"What will you offer me to answer that?"
"I promise you'll like my response if the answer is 'yes'."
"Yes, they are pack members."
I thought about it then leaned forward and kissed her. "I don't have any specific ideas, Lara, but it better be something really embarrassing to me and really amusing to everyone else, with no way for anyone to figure out I am forced to obey you. If you come up with something lame to tease me, I'll be deeply disappointed."
And with that I flounced into the bathroom to take my shower.
She came in five minutes later and poked her nose past the shower curtain.
"Did you really tell me it was okay to tease you?"
"Yes, Lara."
"You won't get mad?"
"Are you going to make me embarrass myself in front of strangers?"