Fox Fate (25 page)

* * * *

In the house, I found Nora playing with the kids. The three of them were assembling a puzzle on the dining room table. Emanuel and Rory were on duty, which meant Emanuel was standing at the dining room window and Rory at the living room window. The girls looked up.

"Mommy Fox!" said Celeste. "We're making a picture."

"I see that," I said.

"You could help, Mommy Fox," Rebecca suggested.

I crossed the room, setting my things aside for a moment. I pulled each girl into a quick hug and a kiss, but they were deeply focused on the puzzle, and they didn't decide it was time to run around.

"I'm going to change clothes," I said. "Then we'll finish the puzzle together. Who wants to go for a run before dinner?"

"I do!" both girls said together.

"Keep working on the puzzle," I said. "I'll be downstairs in a few minutes."

I was actually a little surprised. My house was often teenager grand central station. But none of my students were hanging out in the living room, and when I listened, the only heartbeat I heard from upstairs was Portia's, doing a quick security search. I had long gotten used to those, but they were ridiculous. Emanuel and Rory wouldn't have let anyone in the house, after all. I wondered where all the teenagers were then set it aside. I had enough to worry about.

I grabbed my things and headed for the stairs. Serena tried to shadow me, but I turned to her. "Portia has already searched. You can guard from down here."

With me on the first step of the stairs, our eyes were at about the same level. She stared into them for a moment then nodded.

"Thank you," I added.

Portia was at the top of the stairs, pointedly not looking at me. "You, too," I said. I hooked my thumb over my shoulder.

"Of course, Alpha," she said. She stepped past me and was two steps down the stairs before she said, "Alpha?"

I turned to her, my hand on the bedroom doorknob.

"I was wondering if we could count on you for movie night this Friday."

"Are you sure I'm welcome?"

"Michaela, we would be deeply hurt if that's even a serious question."

I paused a moment longer before answering. "I do not know if Nora has plans." Nora almost certainly had plans. "Nor do I know if my mate has made alternate plans for us."

"If you don't want to come," she said gently, "there is never an obligation. But we both know finding a baby sitter for the girls won't be a problem."

"I don't like to assume, Portia," I said. "If Lara hasn't other plans or objections, and the kids are covered, then we'll be there. I can let you know later."

"Zoe and Ember will be pleased for you to come."

I nodded, and we both turned away, but then I interrupted her. "Portia?" We turned to each other again. "Would you put up with it, if you were in my shoes?"

We stared at each other for a while before she answered. "I don't know. Life has compromises, Michaela. You know that."

"You mean, like leaving my home?" I asked. "Like being cooped up inside all the time? Like having no privacy? Having to ask permission to do anything?"

"Michaela, some of those are self-inflicted. You know this is my first pack, but I've been around. I know of a few alpha's mates who are businesswomen, but I don't know of any that have a job that didn't involve running either their own businesses or those of their mates'."

"You're recommending I resign as teacher and live off Lara's money?"

"No. My daughter would be devastated if you did. However, if you don't enjoy teaching, you should resign as teacher. I think you enjoy teaching, Michaela. I think it's important to you. As for the rest?" She shrugged. "I didn't hear you ask if you could go for a run. I heard you inform us what you were doing, and Serena said
okay
."

"Do you have any idea how often I don't do the things I want because the enforcers won't let me?"

"I have never told you that you couldn't do something. I don't recall hearing Serena do so, either."

"She laid hands on me at Carissa's party."

"Two minutes, Michaela. The entire incident was two minutes. And you met the wolves in question. What exactly did she stop you from doing?"

We both stared at each other.

"Michaela, I'm not trying to argue. But it comes back to something simple. Life is full of compromises. We all make them."

I didn't say anything further on it. Instead I said, "I'll be downstairs in a few minutes."

I turned back to the door and let myself into the bedroom. I leaned against the door and listened as Portia made her way downstairs.

I could hear all of them down there, of course. If I moved further from the door, their heartbeats wouldn't pound at me so loudly, and I could get away from it a little. And so I moved deeper into the room, shedding my clothes. I hung everything up then pulled on jeans and a blouse. I grabbed my phone and lay down on the bed.

I sent a text to Lara. "Going for a run with the pups in fifteen minutes. If you're here, you could join us." Then I lay on my back, staring at the ceiling, and trying to pretend my house wasn't full of
werewolves
.

They would never understand. They had each other. Who did I have? Sonya was back in Russia by now. My family was dead. My fox friends were all long dead.

My phone buzzed. "Wait for me?"

I sent back, "Wednesday dinner. Need to be back before people show up. Get here in time and you can catch up. Otherwise we can take another run this evening."

I closed my eyes, trying to shut it all out for a few minutes, a few minutes of relative quiet without the thump-thump-thump of all their heartbeats pressing on me.

But I was restless. It wasn't my nature to be sedentary. Lying on the bed wasn't relaxing. Hiding in my room wasn't relaxing. I wanted to run. I wanted to feel the wind in my fur. I wanted to hunt, to stalk. But mostly I just wanted to run, to run free, long and hard.

I couldn't remember the last time I'd been for a run alone.

I sighed and climbed from the bed, stashing the phone in my jeans pocket. I moved to the door, staring at it for a moment. From below, I heard a moment of laughter. I straightened, opened the door, and was assailed by heartbeats, so many heartbeats.

Thump-thump-thump-thump.

I took another breath, letting it out slowly, before I descended the stairs.

Several faces turned towards me as I appeared. I looked around. There were no new faces since I'd gone upstairs. I settled my eyes on Serena.

"Enforcers, out."

"Excuse me?" she asked.

"You can guard us from outside. We'll be out in a few minutes."

Serena and Emanuel exchanged a look, and a moment later, all the enforcers were heading for the front door. When it closed behind them, I continued to stare at it.

I hadn't actually expected that to work.

But I heaved a sigh of relief. Now the only sounds I heard were coming from Nora and my daughters. I smiled and walked over to them, giving the pups a hug before saying, "May I help?"

The puzzle was nearly completed. Nora and I helped the girls with the last few pieces.

"What a pretty picture," I said when they were done. "Good job, girls!" I hugged and kissed them both again, receiving sloppy kisses in return.

"Nora, do you have plans Friday night?"

"Yes, Alpha. I have a play date with my two favorite girls in the world!" She ruffled the nearest head. "I have a somewhat more adult date Saturday night though."

"We want to go on a date!" Celeste said. "May we go with you, Nora?"

"I'm sorry, darlings," I said, "but Mommy Wolf and I have other plans for Saturday. You're stuck with your parents."

They surprised me. I received a stern look from Rebecca, but then she said, "Are we going running now?"

"We are, indeed!" I said. "Let's get furry!"

I didn't have to suggest it twice. Both girls jumped from their chairs and were in fur seconds later. Nora and I bent down and helped them slither out of their clothes then folded the apparel and set it aside. The two of them took turns chasing each other around the living room.

I frequently disrobed in the same way, but this time I stripped before shifting, folding my own clothes and setting them with the girls'. "Will you get the door?" I asked Nora. I flowed into my own fur and was waiting at the door by the time Nora arrived. I barked twice.

The pups had long learned not to rush out the door ahead of me. Instead, they bounded over to me then followed me out. Nora closed the door behind me.

I stretched, looking around. We were short on enforcers, but I trusted they were somewhere. None were in fur. Well, too bad for them. They could catch up. I turned my nose north, barked twice more, and set off at a comfortable pace for a fox. Rebecca and Celeste followed along behind me but quickly grew tired of my pace. They began ranging ahead and running back to me.

It was good to let them wear themselves out.

Around me, I heard the enforcers. They were trying to maintain a circle around us, but that was a more difficult problem for them than it was for me. I could have been a few hundred yards out and held a circle, but the wolves didn't have the same way of keeping track of me. They could use scent to follow our trail, or they could watch us visually. And so periodically I heard a wolf moving closer to reestablish contact with us. I had wanted the appearance of a run with just the pups, and so I had asked Serena to maintain a more distant presence. But they flat out weren't capable of doing so in the thick forest.

Their coming and going was actually more disruptive than their normal style of watching us.

I huffed, came to a stop, and barked three times.

The girls were well behaved. They ran back to me and then plopped to their stomachs. Just as importantly, Serena bounded up to us. I shifted back to skin and turned to her. "This isn't your fault," I said. "I wanted a quiet run with my daughters." I shook my head and said in a quiet voice. "I just wanted a simple, quiet run. This isn't working though. Guard us however you want or whatever is easiest."

I didn't wait for a response. I shifted back into fur and ran north, the pups scampering to keep up. Moments later, they were back to chasing each other around.

Serena howled briefly, calling the other enforcers in. After that, they surrounded us much more closely, with Serena never more than a few paces from me. Portia remained close as well. The other enforcers arranged themselves so as to keep track of the pups.

I ran us north another five minutes before calling Rebecca and Celeste to me. We turned west.

I knew they wanted to catch rabbits. My girls loved catching rabbits. But we didn't have time for a proper hunt.

In the distance, Lara howled. Rebecca and Celeste immediately came to a stop, sat down, and lifted their own noses, calling to their mother.

They were so cute!

I trotted over to them and plopped down, waiting.

We were less than ten fox minutes from the compound, and we hadn't been running at my fastest speed. And so Lara closed the distance quickly. Ever few seconds, she let out a brief howl, which the pups answered in unison.

I tracked Lara's progress with my ears. She had two wolves with her -- I guessed them to be Elisabeth and Karen. Only a few moments later Lara leapt in amongst us. The pups ran to their mother and greeted her exuberantly. She gave them licks before turning to me. I let her greet me, but I was still upset. I flowed into skin. "The girls need a longer run, but we have guests coming soon. I'm heading home, but you should spend time with your daughters."

Lara huffed disapproval, but I was in a mood. I jumped, shifting to fox, my nose turned towards the compound. A moment later Serena and Portia flanked me. I listened, and then I heard Lara leading the girls away.

Good. They needed a run, and Lara didn't often run with them without me. This would be good for them. They were growing up, and I could barely keep up with them now. In another year or two, they would begin to leave me behind on our runs.

The thought saddened me. I let out a huff of my own and continued to home.

Perspective

Thursday was a college day for me. The weather was still questionable. The relative humidity was high, and it was cool. I was worried about icing. And so we drove instead of taking the helicopter.

I used the travel time to study.

We got back home right at dinnertime, and then I spent the evening studying further, not heading to bed until well after midnight. Lara waited up for me, and she looked up when I entered the bedroom.

"Michaela."

"I'm tired, Lara."

"I'm worried."

I moved to the closet, changed out of my clothes, and pulled on pajamas. I glanced at Lara on the way to the bathroom. "Why are you worried?"

"I'm worried about you, Little Fox."

I grunted noncommittally before disappearing into the bathroom. I brushed my teeth and took care of my other needs then stared into the mirror.

I looked haggard. I never looked haggard.

I flipped out the light and returned to the bedroom. I didn't say anything as I crawled into bed. Lara was sitting up, and so I laid my head in her lap while pulling the covers up to my shoulders. She set a hand on my head and began petting my hair.

"I love you," she said quietly. "You know that, don't you?"

"I know," I said just as quietly.

"I'm worried," she said again.

"You already said that."

"I don't know what to do."

"My race is nearly extinct," I said. "Everyone believes I'm the last living fox in the lower 48 states. They think there might at most be one or two isolated bands in Canada or Alaska, but for all we know, I'm the last living red werefox. Sonya could easily be the last living white werefox. I didn't even know we came in white."

She bent down and kissed my hair.

"We're nearly extinct, but the world is filled with wolves that want to hurry the day the last werefox dies. What's wrong with those people, Lara? How can anyone want something like that?"

"I don't know, darling, but I'm not going to let it happen."