Fox Dish (Madison Wolves #6) (3 page)

BOOK: Fox Dish (Madison Wolves #6)
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"Is that the fishing contest?" Lily asked.

"The fox is running the fishing contest," Lara said.

All the eyes turned to me. I stared at Lara then said, "I will determine rules after further discussions with Lara," I said. I needed to get a more complete view of the schedule.

Lara grinned at me. "Daytime activities will include skiing, snowshoeing, fishing, and maybe snowball fights."

Everyone chuckled at that.

"We'll have running, games and bonfires in the evenings," she continued. "Angel, did you prepare a game?"

"Scarlett and I made one together," she said.

"Then you may pick which evening you wish to share it."

"Today will be an introduction to ice fishing," I said. "After that, we will have a minor contest each day and a grand overall winner to be declared during the New Years Eve celebration. There will be prizes for mos
t game fish caught and biggest game fish caught. There will also be a booby prize for worst thing caught."

"So if I hook Monique?" asked Lily. "Would I win?"

"Hey!" her sister said.

"No," I said quickly. "It must be caught from the water, and pushing her in first doesn't count either."

Monique stuck her tongue out at Lily.

"Is that part of the enforcer sign language, Elisabeth?" I asked.

"No," said Elisabeth. "That particular gesture goes back much further."

"All right," I said. "Are we ready to go play? Give me Celeste, please." I began stepping out of my clothes, laying them neatly on the sofa then accepted Celeste from Lily. I sat down on the floor, the baby cradled on my chest, and looked into her eyes. "Are you ready for something new, my little love?" I asked her.

I reached inside her, found her wolf, and pulled her with me into an instant shift.

"Oh, she's so cute,"
Lily said. "I don't know if I'll ever get tired of seeing them like this."

Wolf pup and Mommy Fox stared into each
others' eyes. Lily reached down to take the pup from me, but she scampered away.

I shifted back to human. "She'll let you hold her later," I said. "Rebecca now,
please."

Catherine gave me Rebecca. I pulled her to wolf, and she immediately went chasing after her sister. I shifted back to human, laughing, and pulled my clothes back on. "Girls," I said. "Let's go outside."

They didn't really understand words, of course, but they recognized my tone. I pulled on my winter clothes and stepped to the door, Lara following, and immediately there were two wolf pups waiting for us to open the door.

"Shift and join us," Lara said to the teenagers.

I opened the door, and two small wolf pups poked their noses outside and froze. They hadn't ever seen snow.

I bent down and scooped up Rebecca then turned to Elisabeth and handed her a squirming pup. Lara grabbed Celeste, and we all stepped outside.
I heard a yip as I was about to close the door, so I held it for Angel and Scarlett, already in fur.

"If you can't get the door open
," I said to the other girls, "howl and someone will come open it for you." Doors that belonged to pack had handles a wolf could open, but the resort wasn't quite as accommodating.

Lara and Elisabeth carried the babies down the steps. Then they set the girls down slowly. Neither pup knew what to make of the snow. Rebecca began whining, trying to pull her feet away. Celeste jumped at Lara, trying to get picked up again.

I walked a few feet away and sat down in the snow. "Girls," I said. "Come here."

Celeste didn't stop jumping at Lara. Rebecca turned to face me but whined.

"Come on, baby," I said, holding out my hands. "Come to Mommy Fox."

Rebecca took a tentative step, sinking into the snow. She jumped back, bumping into Elisabeth's legs.

Scarlett and Angel were hanging back, watching from the steps, but then jumped down and ran over. They each flopped down in the snow, one on either side of the path between the babies and me.

Rebecca looked over at
Angel, saw her tail waving back and forth, and immediately pounced on it. Celeste was immediately distracted from jumping at Lara, saw her sister gnawing at Angel's tail, and decided that looked like fun. She jumped on her sister.

"Celeste," I said in a firm voice. "Come to Mommy Fox. Now!"

Both girls froze. Celeste turned to me and began plowing through the snow to me. She crawled into my lap with her ears back and tail down. I picked her up and looked into her face, then kissed her nose and set her back down in my lap. She licked my hand.

Celeste jumping on her had distracted Rebecca from Angel's tail. Seeing her sister get a kiss, she wanted one too. She bounced over to me, leaping nearly straight up with each step, trying to avoid the snow. Angel and Scarlett both chuffed their amusement. Lara was beaming broadly at our little girls.

Finally Rebecca was close enough and she made one final bounce, landing on my feet, and then she crawled into my lap next to her sister, looking up into my face. I picked her up and gave her a quick kiss.

Then I picked up some of the snow and said, "Girls, this is snow. It's fun to play in. And you can eat it." I took a bite of the snow,
then offered it to the girls. They each took a bite, but then reared back. They hadn't expected a cold bite of snow. Both of them lapped at their mouths. Then Celeste leaned forward and took another bite.

"Angel and Scarlett, do you want to play in the snow?"

They both chuffed and immediately climbed to their feet. Scarlett threw herself at Angel, and the two of them began chasing each other around, biting at the snow, throwing a lot of it around, and occasionally tackling each other, rolling over and over in the soft snow. I turned the babies around to watch them. When Angel ran past, Scarlett on her heals, Celeste leaped from my lap, chasing after Scarlett.

"You have a tail, Scarlett," Lara said immediately.

Scarlett looked over her shoulder and saw Celeste gamely chasing after her. Scarlett slowed down and let the wolf pup catch her. Celeste made a pounce for Scarlett's tail, but Scarlett spun around, grabbed the squirming pup, and rolled over with her, shielding her inside her legs, coming to a rest with Celeste perched across her chest.

Angel ran to me and bowed to Rebecca, then turned and flicked a tail at her. Rebecca leapt from my lap, and Angel kept her busy, pulling her tail to safety only at the last moment.

Soon the four of them were taking turns chasing each other.

I heard a camera clicking. When I looked up, Francesca was taking photos, a smile plastered on her face.

There was a howl from our cabin. Lara chuckled, and Elisabeth ran up the stairs to let the rest of the girls out. They stepped outside and all chuffed happily as Celeste and Rebecca both stalked Scarlett, burrowing through the snow rather than jumping over it. Scarlett feigned indifference, and we all watched as the two pups launched themselves at her at the same time.

We watched as all five teenagers played in the snow with the two little pups. The games had been going on for a while when Scarlett let the two pups catch her again, ro
lling onto her back with both pups on her chest. She looked at the pups for a moment, then growled at Angel, who was just about to leap at her. Scarlett gently rolled over, dislodging both pups, then grabbed Rebecca by the scruff and carried her to me, setting her in my lap. I immediately pulled the baby into my arms, finding that she was trembling.

"Game over!" I said immediately. "Angel, give Celeste to Lara. Let's go warm these two up."

* * * *

One of the advantages of being the alpha pair is a ready abundance of open arms happy to babysit. Thus, after
the babies had lunch, Lara and I took everyone cross-country skiing. About half the wolves already knew how as I had taught them over the last two years. Newcomers to the experience were my newest students and their families. Lara had rented equipment from Benny for everyone who didn't have any, which we would keep until it was time to leave.

We skied for a couple of hours,
then declared a break. There were pups to be fed. Then Lara had a surprise for me.

I actually didn't choose to ice fish very often.
I enjoyed fishing far more in the summer when I could bob around in my kayak, but I had done my share of sustenance fishing over the years, summer and winter. I, of course, had my own equipment, as did several other pack members; Lara bought enough equipment for everyone. We drove into Bayfield for bait and to pick up fishing licenses for those few who didn't have them.

Wisconsin Fish and Game should have been paying me a sales commission with all the fishing licenses I had made people buy.

But the surprise came in the form of ice fishing houses.

Lara bought outright two
icehouses and rented four more. She'd had them pulled to one of my favorite winter fishing spots, and they were arranged in a semi-circle, waiting for us.  The ice was already plenty thick for driving on, but there hadn't been all that much snow, so we were able to drive across the frozen water to the icehouses. Lara made me close my eyes during the drive.

I laughed when I saw the
icehouses.

Everyone climbed out of the cars and we huddled together while I described the rules to the fishing contest.
Once that was settled, I got a raise of hands for who already knew how to fish. We offered place in the icehouses or outside, and those who knew how to fish started boring holes through the ice.

I taught the basics to everyone else.

I didn't do any fishing that day myself, instead opting to work my way from group to group, offering advice or simply talking to people. Lara caught up with me during one of my circuits and pulled me into a hug. "I am so proud of you, Little Fox."

We caught fish. None of them were huge, but we had enough to supplement dinner tonight.

Partway through fishing, Angel and Scarlett disappeared. I didn't notice when they left, but I was standing outside when Elisabeth drove back up. She had driven them back to the resort. "Angel is going to sleep," she explained. "Scarlett is going to rest with her but join us for dinner."

We had a good time.

* * * *

Lara came out of our bedroom pushing a cradle. I was sitting on the sofa cuddling with a sleeping Celeste. I stared into her face; she was so beautiful. I whispered to my baby, "I will make you safe, Celeste. Mommy Fox will make you safe, honey."

Scarlett had Rebecca, who hadn't quite fallen asleep yet. I looked up when I heard Lara with the cradle, turning to face her. She had a smile.

"The babies can sleep out here," she said.

I looked down at Celeste and back at Lara. "Why?"

"Because Mommy Fox and Mommy Wolf have business," Lara said. She rolled the cradle to the corner then took Celeste from me and carried her to bed. I watched her take my baby, but she was Lara's baby, too, so that was okay.

Lara disappeared into our bedroom and came out with Rebecca's cradle, moving it next to Celeste's.

"Business?" I asked her.

"Yes," Lara said. "Business."

"Rebecca isn't quite asleep," Scarlett said. "I'll put her to bed
after she falls asleep. You two have fun."

I stared into my baby's face for a moment, but Lara walked around the sofa to me, reached for my hands, and pulled me into her arms. "You must be quiet, Little Fox," Lara said to me. Then she bent over and picked me up, throwing me over her shoulder.

I suppressed my usual squeals at her behavior, not wanting to disturb our babies. Lara carried me into the bedroom, closed the door gently with a foot, then lowered me equally gently to the bed. I tried to scramble away from her, but she grabbed an ankle and pulled me back to her.

"Oh no you don't," she said. She growled playfully. "Mine."

I pulled away from her, but she tugged me to her again, then held onto me as she climbed onto the bed, crawling her way up my body and pinning me to the bed. She leaned over me, staring into my eyes.

"Say 'yes', Little Fox," she ordered.

I studied Lara's face, the face of the woman I loved so much. I glanced past her to the door.

"They're safe, Michaela," she said. "You know they're safe. Now look into my eyes and tell me 'yes'."

I looked back into her face. "I love you so much, Lara. I'm sorry I'm such a pain in the ass."

"You're not a pain in the ass, Michaela," she said. "I know we haven't done this lately, but I don't want our marriage to end just because we're now parents. You are mine. Tell me 'yes'."

She let me reach up and caress her face.

"I love you so much, Lara," I told her again. Then I looked away.

"Hey," she said. "What's wrong?" She shifted her weight, pressing more firmly against me, which let her use one of her hands to turn my face back to look at her. "What's wrong, honey?"

"I miss you so much," I told her. I felt a tear slide down my cheek. "I want you to make me scream your name, but we'll wake the babies."

BOOK: Fox Dish (Madison Wolves #6)
7.87Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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