Fox Afield (Madison Wolves) (26 page)

"Yes," she said. "When have you been wrong about something like this?"

"Elisabeth, we always have to believe I could be wrong."

She glanced over her shoulder at me and nodded.

"Pull over somewhere, I need to ask you both something, and I want your attention for it."

Elisabeth found a spot and put the car in park.

"This alpha thing," I said. "I need to know whether I really hold that sort of authority."

Elisabeth looked pained. I sighed.

"Then stop calling me that," I said.

"No, that's not it. I'm worried where this is going."

"How about this? If I offered orders that Lara would not override, would they be followed?"

"Yes," said Elisabeth. "But it may be a while before we all get used to it. You might have to remind us you are Alpha."

"It isn't your natures to take orders from someone my size."

Karen laughed. "No."

"All right, thank you. I will strive very hard to never put you in the position of deciding which alpha's orders to follow. If I ever push it, tell me."

They both nodded.

"All right. I am going to ask a few other questions. I am asking as the alpha. I expect honest answers or you may refer me to Lara."

"What is it?" Elisabeth asked me with caution in her voice.

"Karen, did you take photos at the park?"

She laughed again. "Yes. A lot."

"Video?"

"Yes. Are you going to order me to delete them?"

"No. I am going to order you to send me copies. I do not believe Lara would override that order."

Karen snickered. "No, I don't believe she would interfere. Do I need to send them now or may I send them after I have downloaded them into the computer."

"Whatever is easiest," I said. "I would ask you to send me everything without filtering them, but I am not going to check up on you."

"Of course, Alpha." They were both smiling.

"A pink bow? Seriously?"

"You looked so cute," Elisabeth said.

* * * *

We arrived back at the motel, and once I reported in, I was again faced with nothing to do.

Karen downloaded everything from her phone into a laptop, and bored wolves clustered around to laugh at the images.

"Are my copies on the way, Karen?" I asked.

"Yes, Alpha," she told me.

"Carry on, then."

Angel looked at me dubiously, but then I heard a video playing featuring me running around, yapping, and everyone cracked up. Even Lara wandered over to watch, and I caught her grinning. She tried to hide it when I glanced at her.

I waited until they'd had their fun. I didn't comment, just took an aloof expression when they tried to tease me. Once they started to wind down, I asked in a casual fashion, "So, Elisabeth. This was your plan. Did I carry off my role to your approval?"

She studied me for a moment before replying. "Yes, Alpha, you did."

"Your plan was for me to go undercover as a yappy little dog."

"Yes."

"The pink bow was a good touch," I said. "Nice costuming. It detracted attention from my otherwise far-too-foxy features."

Elisabeth didn't say anything.

"Clearly, we can't share those pictures with the entire pack just yet," I said. "Operational security must be maintained. But when this is all over, I do hope we have somewhere to put those up for everyone else to see." I smiled sweetly. "I think I did a good job playing my part. And we all know how vain I am."

There was another round of viewing the photos and videos. Lara joined me, seated on the bed.

"Did I ruin their fun?" I asked quietly.

"Maybe some of it. Elisabeth was deliberately trying to push your buttons. I think she is disappointed she didn't get a rise out of you."

"She thinks I intentionally embarrassed all of you yesterday," I said. "I didn't. I intentionally made you all look tame and well-behaved. It's not the same thing."

"I know," Lara said.

"I think we need to leave her out of the operations if she's going to get her back up," I said. "I'm not trying to push her buttons. I have only tried to stay in character. That's what I was trying to show her now."

"Let it remain her decision," Lara said. "If you drop her from the operations, it will look petty." Lara studied my face. "You're really not embarrassed?"

"Why should I be? I agreed to play a role. I think I played that role well. Elisabeth took steps to make that more challenging, and I think I took them in stride. What do I have to be embarrassed about?"

Lara hugged me.

"But we have a problem," I said.

She sighed. "What?"

"I'm bored."

She laughed. "There is nothing for us to do until after dinner, unless Greg's people find more information for us."

I pulled out my phone and checked the time. "I know where there is a kayak with my name on it, but I don't even want to look at my old house."

"I'll drop you off at the marina and you can wait for us there."

I smiled at her. "I love you."

* * * *

Kayaking turned out to be me, Lara, Elisabeth, Angel, Karen, Serena and Eric. We called Scarlett and asked permission to use her kayak, which was readily granted. Benny rented the rest of what we needed.

I didn't get pulled into any of the competition the wolves engaged in. Instead, I fished. I didn't catch anything, but it gave me something to do.

We had been out for an hour before Elisabeth smoothly paddled over to me.

"Alpha," she said.

"Enforcer."

She sat in her kayak, studying me. I cast my line again.

"I am sorry," she said.

I glanced at her. "For what?"

She didn't have an answer.

"I think I should apologize," I said. "You felt I embarrassed you, and you felt it was intentional."

"I did. I was wrong."

"Yes," I said. "You were. I may have been a little playful about it, but I was thinking on my feet and trying to play a role. I am sorry I didn't find a way to play that role without embarrassing you."

"I shouldn't have been embarrassed, and I know you weren't doing it intentionally."

"So I accept your apology for being embarrassed, and you accept mine for not finding another way?"

"Yes."

I cast the line again.

"But I was intentionally trying to embarrass you," she said finally. "And I endangered the operation because of it."

I looked straight into her eyes. "Are you going to do it again?" I asked.

"No."

"All right then. But you still feel guilty?"

"Yes."

"Then, perhaps I should let you make it up to me." I turned away, reeled my line in, and cast again.

"How?" she asked.

I looked back at her. "Continue to keep me safe. Continue to help me find my friend. And try to understand that sometimes I will need to do things that are contrary to you keeping me safe. Work with me when those times come up. If you work with me, I will work with you."

She smiled hesitantly. "You're really not going to get mad?"

"And throw a fit?"

She nodded.

"I have reacted badly to some things in the past, and you have been a voice of reason for me. I think you
reacted badly this time, but your response was exceedingly tame in comparison to some of my past behavior. I knew the pink was an attempt to push my buttons, especially the bow. I figured the heel was, too, but I may have brought that on myself when I wrapped the leash around you."

She smiled. "No, I
had already planned the heel. And throwing the ball into the dirt. Wrapping the leash around my legs was pretty funny, actually."

"It was supposed to be," I said. I smiled at her. "Elisabeth, you take very good care of me. I appreciate
it. And I love you, Sister." I held out my hand, and we clasped for a minute. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, Michaela," she said. "Thank you."

"Good. Now, my wife has been getting excessively cocky and needs to be taken down a peg or two. Will you please go beat her in one of these races?"

Elisabeth smiled. "Honestly, I don't think I can.
"

"Well, go give her a run for her money at least," I suggested. "These fish aren't going to catch themselves."

"Are there really any fish here?"

I laughed. "I doubt it, but if I'm fishing I can decline racing. You guys have enough fun at my expense."

Lara went undefeated, but she took it as her due and was gracious.

It was inevitable, of course, for someone to say, "Lara and Michaela next!" At first, I pretended to ignore them, then Lara paddled over to me and said, "Come on. Our turn."

I looked up at her and smiled. "You go ahead. I'll wait right here for you to get back."

"I think perhaps you don't understand the concept of a race," she replied.

"Sure I do," I said. "You start with two reasonably even racers and set a course. First one to complete the course wins."

"Exactly," she said. "Come on."

"What part of 'reasonably even racers' don't we agree on?" I asked. "I've trained all of you too well."

Her smile faltered. "You're afraid of losing?"

"Of course not," I said. "I don't know how to make it a proper race. It would be a complete joke."

Her smile finished its route to a frown. "You've beaten me before."

"Before you knew all my tricks," I said. "And then after that, only when someone cheated on my behalf. Go on. Angel has been getting cocky and misses Scarlett."

"Michaela," she said. "If you don't race me now, they're going to think you're a poor loser."

I sighed. "How quickly they forget the pink bow."

"Fickle crowd," she agreed.

"All right," I said. "If you haven't crossed the finish line by the time I turn around, everyone is going to know you were babying me."

I reeled my line in, stashed the pole, then made sure I could reach the other rod I had available. I had extra heavy duty line on that one and it was a sturdy rod and reel.

Elisabeth called the start. I took two strokes, then pulled the heavy rod out, cast quickly, and laid the line over the stern of Lara's boat. I reeled in quickly and the hook caught on the carry handle on the back of Lara's kayak. After that, I hung on.

The reel screamed in protest at first, but then I started moving faster, towed behind Lara's boat.

"What the hell?" she yelled. "Angel!"

She turned around and saw me with a big grin, the rod in my hand, getting towed behind her.

"The line will break!" she said. She faced forward and began paddling as hard as she could. I held on and let her drag me.

She towed me all the way down to Eric's position. I had to let line out and paddle a couple of strokes to turn around, then I reeled in again, and I let her tow me all the way to the finish line. I paddled the last few strokes, then paddled up to the back of her boat and unhooked my line. It took a minute to work it lose.

All the wolves, including Lara, were laughing.

"You won, Lara," I said. "But I hung in there the whole way."

"You sure did," she said, still laughing.

"Is that the biggest fish you've ever tried to land?" Elisabeth asked.

"I believe it is." I leered at Lara. "She's definitely the best catch I've ever seen."

"Wow,"
Angel said once she got herself under control. "Michaela, you're sure a drag."

Lara held up her hand. "If anyone talks about stringing me along, I am tipping her over."

"Lara, we knew Michaela had you hooked-"

"Enough!" she said. "No one is going to come up with a single comment that is funnier than what Michaela did. So let's not compete with the fox."

I preened.

"How long were you planning that?" Angel asked.

"I brought a second rod," I said. "What does that tell you?"

"Aww," Lara said. "You brought a special fishing rod just for me?"

"Don't let it go to your head, Lover," I replied. "It was for whoever pressured me into racing her."

Lara laughed. "So that means me."

"Elisabeth and Angel were likely targets too. But I admit, it was funnier with you."

After that we paddled back to the marina. It felt weird storing my kayak at Benny's. Elisabeth and Karen looked uncomfortable about it, and I think I would have had questions about it if Lara hadn't headed them off. Lara left her kayak on the rack with mine. The rest of the gear went back to the enforcer's house, my old house, while I made an excuse to stay downtown; they picked me up a while later.

Elisabeth wouldn't look me in the eye for the next couple of hours, but I pretended to be fine.