Fox Afield (Madison Wolves) (18 page)

Virginia took the coffee cup from me and set it aside. She pulled me into a fierce hug. "Please do not be embarrassed. You are an amazing woman, and I terribly want us to be friends. Please, Michaela."

"I-" I said. "I haven't had any friends in a very long time."

"Well, you have three now," she said. "All right?"

"All right," I said. "I'd like to be friends." I paused and grinned. "Do friends get to use your shower?"

She laughed. "As often as she wants."

After that, she showed me what she was making for breakfast. She was making something she called pancakes. I didn't know what they were. She also was making fried potatoes. I'd never had those, either. She asked me what I normally ate.

I looked away.

"Tell me," she said kindly.

"Whatever I can catch," I said.

"So, fish?"

"Sometimes. Or other things."

"Meat."

"Yes."

"Any fruits or vegetables?"

"Berries from the bushes," I said. I paused. "Or from trees."

"From the orchards?"

"Yes. Please don't tell."

"I won't," she said
quietly before speaking in a normal voice. "Robert, go to the store. Come back with fruit. Fruit that might grow locally if it were in season. Apples, berries, whatever they have."

"Yes, Virginia," he said. It was a phrase I would get to know. He didn't even pause but immediately left the house.

"You didn't have to do that," I told Virginia.

She smiled. "We were out. He'll be quick and get back just as the rest is ready." Then she set me on a stool and I watched while Bree made pancakes and Virginia made the fried potatoes and bacon. She put a piece of bacon on a plate and set it in front of me. "Try that."

I did. It was crunchy. I had never had crunchy meat. But it was really good.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Bacon," Virginia said. "And these are the potatoes."

Bree was looking between us. "You've never had bacon?" Bree asked.

"No," I said. I was embarrassed again.

Bree got excited. "Oh, so you've never had a bacon cheeseburger! Oh my god, please say you're staying for lunch. Mom, can you get Dad to grill?"

"Yes, honey," she said. "But I think a cheeseburger might be a bit much."

I looked at Virginia. "I don't eat much. Are they very big?"

"They're huge!" Bree said.

"We can make smaller ones," Virginia said.

Bree started asking me about the foods I knew, growing more and more excited as she discovered the limits of my culinary experience. I grew increasingly embarrassed.

Finally Bree asked
, "How come you've never had a Slurpee?"

"Same reason I never had bacon or a cheeseburger or pancakes," I said. "I don't steal unless I have to, and there are plenty of other ways to get food that don't involve stealing."

"You don't have a job?" she asked. "Where are your parents?"

"No," I said. "No job. My parents are dead."

"Enough questions," Virginia said. I heard a car noise and realized Robert was home.

"Robert is back," I said.

Twenty seconds later he stepped into the house. Virginia set Bree to washing the fruit, and then she began moving a banquet to the table. She whispered into Robert's ear; I heard every word as she explained a few more things about me. I tried not to show I had heard. I helped Bree carry more things to the table. Virginia and Bree set the table, then we all sat down.

I had eaten at a table before. Virginia watched me carefully but relaxed when she realized I knew how to use knife and fork.

They tried to pile my plate with food, but I convinced them I didn't eat that much, and they let me make my own choices. I took a little bit of everything available, then I watched as Bree slathered her pancakes with butter and syrup.

"You may not want to do it quite that way," Virginia said. "Bree has a sweet tooth." I watched Virginia and then tried to emulate her.

Everything was amazing.

I finished my tea and started drinking water. Bree had a glass of something orange. Virginia saw me looking at it, so she poured me a small glass. "This is orange juice," she said. "If you like it, we have plenty."

It was too sweet for my taste. "It's good," I said. "But only a small glass. It's very sweet."

"You don't have to finish it," Virginia said.

"No, this much is good."

"Perhaps more tea then?"

I smiled. "Could I?"

"Same kind or did you want to try something different?"

"Maybe your favorite?"

She smiled and rose from the table. She made a fresh cup of tea in a new mug. "Give it a few minutes then try it. If you don't like it, I'll drink it and we can try something else."

I liked it. As soon as she realized that, Virginia made an entire pot, and the two of us ended up splitting it.

We finished eating. I was stuffed. Virginia turned to Bree. "Honey, I know this isn't fair, but will you clean up and put everything away? Your father and I need to talk to Michaela."

"All right," she said. She looked at me. "Could we- Um. Later-" She licked her lips. "Hang out?"

"Bree," Virginia said. "Do you think you could stand going to the mall with your mother? Would that embarrass you horribly?"

"Of course it would," Bree said. "But if you buy me some new jeans, I'd get over it."

Virginia laughed. "I thought you might."

She and Robert rose from the table and asked me to follow them. They led the way into the living room and asked me to sit down. I looked around, then did what they asked. "I should go," I said. "Thank you for everything. Um. Where are my clothes?"

They sat down facing me, and looked at me warily.

"You aren't used to accepting help from anyone, are you?" Virginia asked.

"No. You've been very kind. Thank you for the shower and the food. Everything was wonderful."

"Michaela," Robert said gently. "You saved our daughter, at great risk to yourself."

"Not so much risk," I said.

"And now you are suggesting you think we are so ungrateful that we're going to let you live in a cave in the forest?"

I controlled my response. They were trying to be kind. But the idea that they had to let me do anything got my back up. "Where else would I live?" I asked. "It's not so bad. It's a nice cave, warm and cozy."

"We would worry terribly about you," Robert said.

"I can take care of myself," I said.

"I know you can," Virginia said. "Did you enjoy the shower?"

"Yes, but-"

"Do you like how your hair feels?"

"Yes, but-"

A tear started crawling down her face. I didn't know it at the time, but that woman could shed a tear on demand. "Please don't leave," she said. "It would kill us."

I looked between the two of them, wondering if they were really serious.

"We would like you to live here," Robert said. "We have a spare room. It's a big house with plenty of space."

"You don't even know me," I said. "I can't."

"Why not?" Virginia asked.

"Benjamin Franklin said
guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days."

They both stared into my face. "How is it that you've never had half the foods we gave you today, but you can quote Benjamin Franklin?"

"I read a lot," I replied. "But apparently, the books I read don't talk about showers and never describe what coffee is."

"You won't start to smell," Virginia said. "I'm pretty sure you'd be in the shower three times a day."

"I don't think that's what he meant," I said, smiling.

"No," Robert said. "It wasn't. Do you enjoy living in your cave?"

"Does that matter?"

"Do you want a job?"

"Who would hire me?" I asked.

Robert smiled. "Do you want a job?" he asked again. "One that pays you well enough you can afford your own place? It won't be this big, but it wouldn't be a cave."

"It would have a shower," Virginia said.

I looked between them. "What's the catch?"

"No catch," Robert said. "If you want to live in your cave, of course we won't stop you. But I wonder if perhaps you wouldn't like something more comfortable. Winter is coming."

"I'm not afraid of winter."

"No," he said. "I imagine there's not much you're afraid of."

I shook my head. "I am afraid all the time, Robert. Just not of the weather. Bad weather is my friend."

"Please," Virginia said. "Stay for a few days. Let us take care of you. Then decide what you want. Robert can get you a job. If you aren't comfortable living here with us, we can help you find somewhere you might like."

I looked away. I thought about the food and the shower. I thought about dry hair.

"Have you ever slept in a bed?" Virginia asked.

I nodded. "A long time ago."

"We have very soft beds," Virginia said. "And warm blankets."

I thought about everything, smiled weakly, and said, "I would love to, but I can't. I-" I didn't want to tell them. "I have nightmares. Bad nightmares. Almost every night."

"Nightmares of what?"

I looked at my hands. "I can't tell you. It's not every night, but some nights I scream."

The pity that filled their faces embarrassed me as everything else had.

"Please don't look at me like that," I said.

"Please stay," Virginia said. "If the nightmares keep everyone awake, we'll figure something out. Robert and I are exceedingly good at figuring things out."

I felt very uncomfortable accepting what I thought of as charity. But Virginia kept mentioning the shower. She mentioned how beautiful my hair was. I wasn't as vain then as I've become, and my vanity was limited to my appearance as a fox, but thinking I was beautiful as a human was intoxicating for me.

They told me how much they would worry about me. They told me how guilty they would feel if they couldn't repay what I had done for their daughter.

Finally I looked them both in the eye. "Will you be honest with me?" I asked.

"Yes," Virginia said immediately.

"If I start to smell like a fish, will you promise to tell me?"

She smiled broadly. "Yes. And if that happens, we'll figure something out." She bounded to her feet and pulled me into a hug. "Thank you."

"Shouldn't I thank you?"

I finished my story. The wolves were all looking at me with a mix of
expressions that could be summed up as sympathy and love.

"That was the worst day in Bree's life," I said. "But it was the second-luckiest day in mine."

"Second-luckiest?" Gia asked.

"The first luckiest was the day Lara held me by my scruff," I said, smiling at her. She bent down and kissed me quickly.

I looked between all of them. "You don't have to help," I said. "But I do. I was living like an animal, and they gave me everything that became my new life."

"How long did you stay with them?" Elisabeth asked.

"A week and a half. My nightmares weren't every night, but about every-other. They were starting to look a little haggard so on a Saturday morning I told them I should go. But they begged to show me something first. They had found a small apartment for me. I told them my screams would wake the neighbors, but they grinned. The apartment was over a store, and the store was closed at night. There would be no one to hear my screams. Then I said I didn't have any money, but Robert said he had three different places that would hire me, and I only had to pick one. One of them was for the Fish and Wildlife Service, and as soon as I heard that, I knew I wanted it. I didn't care what the job was or what I'd get paid. If I agreed, they would cover the rent for me for the first few months, but I would continue to have dinners at their home. Robert pulled more strings and got me a social security number and even a passport. I don't know how he did it."

I looked around. "I owe them everything. You understand? Everything."

"You are pack," Lara said. "You will have all the help the pack can offer."

"Are you just saying that because I'm your mate, Lara?"

"No," said Gia. "She's not. You are our friend. And you are pack. And they are your family, as far as we're concerned. Now, let's figure out what we can do."

After that, I let them talk it over. I answered what questions I could. They went around and around, but they didn't really know what to do.

Finally I interrupted. "Look, if you can narrow them down to a single house, great. But find one. Just one of the kidnappers, get me close enough to use my ears. If I get a lock, I won't lose them. Put a tracker on me and you can follow from a few blocks away. If they get into a vehicle, you can pick me up. If we find the right neighborhood, I'll roam the streets listening. Just get me close, I'll find her."

We made our plan for the approach. "Robert thinks the house is bugged," Elisabeth said. "We'll need to deal with that first."

We planned.

* * * *

We touched down at ten AM. The jet had barely come to a stop before I was out of my seat, but Lara yanked me back. "Security first," she said. "Brooke, you are not part of security."

"Yes, Alpha," she said.

"Hey, I'm Alpha, too," I said.

"Yes," Lara agreed. "And the Alphas are going to let the enforcers do their jobs."

"I'm an enforcer," Brooke said.

"Knock it off! Both of you! One general," Elisabeth said. "And that is Lara."

"Yes, Enforcer," Brooke and I said together.

"But I'm the spy," I said. "No arguments."

"No arguments," said Lara. "But remember, your silver isn't going to be effective against humans."

"No, but all my silver is attached to something strong and sharp, and those pierce human skin even more easily than werewolf skin."

"Yes," she agreed. "Just don't grab your squirt guns."

We had a sudden conversation. "These are humans, aren't they?" Brooke said. "We can't kill humans."

"If they're holding Virginia we can," I said.

"We won't have to," Lara said. "There's not a human alive that can stand up to Elisabeth and me.
We don't have to kill them. Just get Virginia back."

The enforcers secured our exit. We climbed out of the plane in time
to see Rory and Eric throwing our luggage into a couple of SUVs. Angel was driving the third.

"I expected Emanuel," Lara said.

"Someone has to watch the compound," Eric said. "Ron Berg insisted."

"Good choice," Lara said.

We climbed into the SUVs and set off.

"We have a motel in town," Eric said. "It's cheap but out of the way and not far from the Callahan residence. Greg's group is on the ground at Madison and should be at the compound soon."

Lara nodded and called Greg. "Alpha," he said. "My expert thinks he'll have a final trace on the emails in an hour or two. After that, we want them to demand proof of life."

"Right," she said. "Anything else?"

"I'll call you."

"Right."

We had several rooms at the motel, all at the end, around back and out of sight from the road and the front office. We parked and all headed in. We assembled a backpack for me while Eric ran to the pet store. Everything we would need initially went into the backpack including light clothes, some electronics, and several cell phones. When Eric got back, he was grinning.

"I got extras," he said. "But isn't this going to be a little obvious? We won't pass for dogs."

"People see what they expect. They're going to see one small women walking several large dogs on leashes." I smiled sweetly. "Very, very well behaved dogs. Lara, that means you."

We discussed a few more details then Lara, Elisabeth, Gia, Serena, and Brooke shifted into fur. I wrapped collars around each of their necks and clipped on a leash. Eric stepped out, made sure no one was looking, and we stepped out, the wolves all trying their best to look like dogs.

We got a half block and I hissed, "Knock it off. You're pulling my arms out of the sockets."

It was a twelve-
minute walk to the Callahan's. Elisabeth and Lara made a point of watering several trees along the way.

"Not funny," I said.

Lara chuffed at me.

I walked up to the Callahan's front door, rang the doorbell, and waited. A woman answered I didn't recognize, barely opening the door when she saw all the dogs. They were all sitting, very well behaved.

"Hello, I am Michaela. We may have talked on the phone. I am here to walk Red." Red was Bree's golden retriever. "If he's not ready, maybe we could come in. It's a hot day and the dogs wouldn't mind getting out of the sun."

She eyed me suspiciously.

"Look, go get Robert or Bree," I said. "I am coming in, one way or the other. Lara."

Lara was closest to the door. She took two steps forward and shoved with her shoulder. One large werewolf in fur is more than a match for a human woman, and the door opened.
The woman's eyes grew wide.

"Be gracious," I said. "I have five of them, and they are a lot smarter than they look. Open the door, smile, and let us in. We're here to help."

She nodded, smiled, and opened the door, standing aside. We stepped in and closed the door.

"Get Bree and Robert," I said. "We'll wait in the kitchen. I think the dogs are thirsty. Where is Red?"

"Back yard."

"Leave him there for a minute. Get Bree and Robert."

I ignored her after that and moved through to the kitchen. Once we were out of sight of any windows, I removed all their collars and Brooke shifted. She was pulling on clothes when I heard Robert and Bree descending the stairs. The woman wasn't with them.

I turned and had my finger over my mouth by the time they entered the kitchen. I was holding a sign that said, "We think the house is bugged."

Robert and Bree both nodded understanding, looking past me.

"Thank you for letting me walk Red," I said. "The dogs need
a rest first, then we'll grab Red and go."

"No problem," Robert said. "He'll enjoy the exercise."

I pulled Bree into a hug. "Trust me," I whispered into her ear. "I am going to show you something amazing." I hugged Robert and said the same thing.

"It's very hot," I said. "We should close these blinds. It will help." I went around the kitchen, closing the blinds over the kitchen window and to the patio doors. Then
I turned the water on at the sink, filling water bowls for the dogs. When I turned around, Brooke held up a sign that said, "I am Brooke. We are friends."

Brooke dug into my backpack and pulled out some of the electronics. She began sweeping it around the room
. It took her a minute to find the first bug. I talked inanely at Bree while Brooke searched for bugs, and the wolves noisily drank the water I'd given them. Brooke found three more bugs in the kitchen and immediate areas, collecting them on the counter one by one.

"I'm going to rest for a minute," I said. "While the dogs settle down. It's a hot day."

The dogs all collapsed, panting. Silently, Brooke took a small, padded container from the backpack and set the bugs in it, then closed it. She held up a sign. "If we destroy them, they will know." Robert nodded.

The container wouldn't be soundproof, but it would be sound dampening. I took the container from Brooke, held my finger in front of my lips, then moved silently through the house, bringing the container into the basement. I shoved it in amongst the laundry, then crept back upstairs.

Brooke was talking very quietly with Robert and Bree. I put my head into the mix and said, "It's buried in the laundry downstairs. We'll need to put them back later so you continue to generate the right noise."

"The entire house is probably bugged," Brooke said.

"How did you get into the house?" Robert asked. "Sandy said it was just Michaela and several dogs."

"Who is Sandy?" I asked.

"My assistant," Robert said. "I sent her home. She didn't want to go."

"Robert, Bree," I said. "I have something very frightening to show you. I want you to know, you are perfectly safe. These are all my friends. No one is going to hurt you. But I need to know I can trust you."

"I owe you my life, Michaela," Bree said. "Of course you can trust me."

Robert pulled me into a hug for emphasis.

"Both of you," I added. "Do not make a sound. You are going to see something very startling. Do not make a sound, or they will hear."

They both nodded.

Lara got up from the floor, then, in front of both of them, shifted into human.

Bree squeaked and Robert's eyes bugged out. Lara pulled some
clothes on and stood up. I pulled Robert and Bree back into a group huddle and said, "This is Lara. My wife. She's a werewolf. She's here to help."

"They're all-" said Robert, his voice quivering.

"Yes, they're all my friends. We're all here to help."

Robert looked between all of us, eying the furry wolves the closest. Lara smiled encouragingly.

"Are you a werewolf too?" Bree asked me in a small voice.

"Oh no," I said. "Werewolves are all huge. I'm a fox."

She stared at me.

"Want to see?"

She nodded slowly. I loosened my clothes, crouched down, and shifted to fox, slithering out of my clothes. I walked up to her and sat down.

"Oh my god," she said.

"Quieter," Lara said.

Bree knelt down in front of me. "Michaela?" I licked her face. "Have you always been a fox?"

"Yes," Lara said. "From birth."

Bree put her arms around me and hugged me.

"Gentle," Lara said. "She is very delicate."

I chuffed and licked Bree's ear. She release
d me, and I did a slow circle so they could both get a good look at me.

"She's beautiful," Robert said.

"And very vain about it," Lara added.

Who wouldn't be? I was beautiful.

"You're telling us now," Robert said.

"Yes," Lara agreed. "We wouldn't have, but it was the only way to get some of us into the house. Michaela said we can trust you."

"You can," he said. "Bree, if anyone else finds out, it would be bad."

"I won't tell a soul," she said.

I hid behind the island, shifted back to human, then grabbed my clothes from the floor and pulled them on. I stood up and smiled. "We'll have a party when this is all over, and we'll show Virginia as well."

"She'd like that," Robert said. "I understand now why you called your wife the scariest person you know. Is one of these Elisabeth?"

Elisabeth stood up and chuffed.

"That's Gia," Lara said
, pointing. "And the last one is Serena. They don't shift as fast as Brooke, Michaela and I do. Gia and Brooke will stay here. Michaela is going to walk three large dogs plus Red, and anyone watching won't realize she left two of us here. She'll return Red in a little while, but we'll have left you with two of our best experts."

Robert nodded.

"We're tracking the emails," Lara said. "We're going to need you to demand proof of life. Email them and demand proof of life with every contact or you're calling the FBI. Do not back down. Other than that, continue to placate them."