Wolf Watch (The Madison Wolves Book 8) (27 page)

I thought about that for a moment, then I offered a small bow. "Thank you."

Michaela opened her arms. I stared for a moment, then stepped into them.

It was a tentative hug.

From my werewolf pack alpha. Who wasn't a werewolf, but a werefox.

It was all suddenly very overwhelming.

Lara didn't invite a hug. Instead, she headed for the door.

"Alpha. I won't disappoint you."

"I know you won't," she said. "I'll see you next Saturday, if not before."

Then she and Michaela were gone. I turned to Elisabeth. "You begged for me?"

"Repeatedly."

I looked down. "I'm still scared."

"You're safe, Zoe."

"Yeah, but... it's a different world now. I... I'm so confused."

"I understand. This has been a lot. Will you accept some advice?"

"I'll listen."

"First, I think perhaps you should ask for a hug."

And I flew into her arms.

The apartment was amazing.

I had accepted Elisabeth's offer to stay in a hotel. She had fresh clothes already packed in a bag for me, and she drove me in her car. She checked me in and saw me to the room. Then we stared at each other.

"I need some time."

"I'm not sure either of us knows what she wants."

But when she lifted my chin, we kissed. It lacked passion, but it was not cold, either.

The next morning, she picked me up at the hotel and showed me all four places. Two were inconvenient for the grocery stores I visited, and I asked Elisabeth to pick between the other two.

She picked the one closest to the pack lands, although it was only about seven minutes difference. But it was symbolic, if nothing else.

There was underground parking with a special sensor that went on my car and a camera with a real, on site guard that had to approve my entrance. You couldn't get into the building without the guard's approval.

The apartment door was thick steel with good locks, and there were cameras in the hallways with motion detectors. "No one is going to sneak in here, Zoe."

"What if I have friends over?"

"Then you need to make arrangements with the guard."

"Does he report to you?"

"Yes, but we're not keeping an eye on you. Have over whomever you want. However, if you and I continue to see each other, don't even try to have a fling. You'll get caught."

I laughed.

She took me to lunch, and by the time we were back, all my things were there, except the old furniture.

"If there's anything you want, speak up," she said. "We can swap it in."

"The dresser was my mother's, and the rocking chair was grandma's. I don't need the rest."

We agreed I needed time. So did she.

But we talked every night, and she sent me flowers and other little gifts.

On Wednesday evening, I got a call. "Ma'am, it's Vincent at the front desk. There are four people here to see you."

"I wasn't expecting anyone, Vincent," I said. "Who are they?"

"Ma'am, three of them are enforcers. I have to let them up."

"Well then, I'll put on a pot of tea
."

I propped the door open and was brewing the tea when I heard Angel's voice. "Zoe?"

"Angel? Kitchen."

A moment later, she stepped in along with Scarlett, Portia and Karen. I stared at them.

"Are you here to revoke my freedom?"

Angel shook her head. "Housewarming
party."

"We were going to call," said Scarlett, "but we were afraid you would say 'no'."

"Especially about me," Karen added.

"Do werewolves like to hug?"

"They do," said Scarlett, and then they all demonstrated.

They brought a party game and proceeded to get the human a little drunk. They stayed late, and it was Scarlett who tucked me into bed before they left. I got a kiss on the forehead, which I thought was sweet.

I did find an opportunity to quietly thank Portia for what she had done.

"I'm glad it worked out."

Friday night on the phone, I asked Elisabeth what I should wear on Saturday.

"Very casual," she said. "It's a picnic. But shoes you could go for a run in the woods."

I stilled. "Elisabeth?"

"What?"

"Why would I need to go for a run in the woods?"

"Um."

"Am I showing up to be the entertainment? Feed me then tell me 'run'?"

"Oh god. No. God, we're not animals, Zoe." S
he paused. "You need more time, but Lara will be upset if you don't come."

"I'll be there. I just want to know what to expect."

"Expect to have a good time. Expect to be very worn out before you make it to bed. No one is going to hurt you. Some of our antics are a little rough for a human, but we won't engage in them tomorrow."

"Should I bring food for myself?"

"Nope."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

* * * *

I left early. I brought flowers. I was going to bring a bottle of wine, but I was sure no one would be impressed by anything I could afford.

And in spite of being told not to, I brought enough soybeans and other ingredients to make a big batch of edamame. If they didn't want to let me make it, that was fine, but I was going to offer.

Someone had put signs up for me. "Zoe," and an arrow for each of the turns. I was surprised and touched by that.

The signs led me to the area in front of the building where they had kept me. I parked then sat in the car. I wasn't sure where I was supposed to go.

That was answered by a rap on the window, almost scaring me out of my skin. Angel was there, smiling. And then she opened the car door.

"Hey," she said. "You made it."

"Angel," I said.

"Oh honey, what's wrong?"

"Um." I turned away.

"Hey. Come on." She reached in and unbuckled me. Then she didn't give me much choice. She basically pulled me from the car and hurried me along a path leading, well, somewhere. She pulled out her phone and spoke just two words. "My mom's."

She pulled me to a house. "This is where you live?"

"It was. Now Scarlett and I have an apartment together in the barracks. But I still have a room here. Come on."

She pulled me to the kitchen and set me down on a stool. Then she poured me a glass of cider. "Drink."

While I sipped at it, she put her arm around me, leaning against me. Then the front door opened, and I startled.

"It's Scarlett," she said. A few seconds later, Scarlett entered the kitchen. She took one look and hurried to my opposite side, also wrapping me in a half hug.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know," Angel said. "She's scared."

Scarlett shifted then lifted my face towards hers. "What's wrong? Tell me."

"I don't know why I'm here."

"Did Lara tell you she was letting you go?"

I nodded.

"Did she tell you that you're a member of the pack?"

I nodded.

"Are you afraid you're here so we can hunt you."

I lowered my head and stared at my lap. And nodded.

"Oh hell," said Angel. "Really?"

But Scarlett had her phone out. "Dad? I need you and Ms. Lassiter at Angel's. Can you get here right now? I mean right now." There was a pause. "No. Just you and her, and don't tell anyone else. Wait. Is Benny here? If so, bring him, too." Another pause. "Thanks, Dad."

Scarlett pulled my chin back up. "Do you think Angel and I would do that to you?"

"I don't know," I said in a small voice. "Everything is so much. All of you were so nice to me, but the entire time, you knew I'd been stalking Elisabeth. And I bet you knew Lara would at least consider killing me, but you acted like friends anyway. You seem really nice, but I don't know what to believe."

I looked back down. "I'm sorry."

There was a pause, then Scarlett said, "All right. I'm a tiny bit offended, but I understand. You're right. We all knew what was going on, and we knew we were getting you away so they could have all the time they wanted with your computer. But do you blame us?"

"No, but I don't know what to believe."

"All right," said Scarlett. "I'm going to tell you something about werewolves. You saw that we can be indirect, and sometimes some wolves are very sneaky. But if we have a choice of sneaky or direct, we take direct every time. If Lara was going to kill you, she'd have killed you. If she intended to hunt you, she'd have kept you here until it was time to hunt you. We don't play with our food and we don't play with our prey."

"Am I prey?"

"No. We don't hunt humans. You would have to be truly deserving of poor treatment for us to do anything remotely like that. I have never seen the pack hurt a human. Never."

"It must happen."

"It does," Angel said. "If they intend to expose us. But you don't. Lara and Michaela told us they trust you. They made you pack. We wouldn't do something like that to a pack member. Even if you betrayed us, we'd kill you cleanly. We wouldn't hunt you. That's horrible."

That was when the front door opened.

"No one knocks around here?"

"Knocks, maybe. Wait for us to go answer the door? Not when they're expected," explained Scarlett.

And then three normal-sized people stepped into the kitchen, two men and a woman. The woman was my size, more or less, and one of the men was small for a man. I thought of Michaela and wondered if he was another fox.

"Dad, Ms. Lassiter, Benny, this is Zoe," said Scarlett. "She's a little scared."

One of the men stepped forward and offered his hand. "I'm Nick Tate, Scarlett's father. Call me Nick."

"Hi, Nick." I paused. "You're human."

"The three of us are," he gestured. "Well, counting you, four. Right now, we outnumber the werewolves in the house."

The woman was next. "I'm Michele Lassiter. My husband is Donald. You'll meet him later."

"He's a wolf?"

She nodded. "My daughters went to school with Angel and Scarlett."

I nodded.

The other man was last. "I'm Benny. You look familiar."

I cocked my head. "You run the boathouse in Bayfield!"

"That's me," he said. "You're Zoe Young. Photographer."

'That's me," I agreed.

It was Michele who took over. "What's your worst fear?"

"That I'm tonight's prey."

The three of them stared.

"Well," said Michele after a very pregnant pause, "You can lay that to rest. There is no way this pack would ever do something like that. There are other packs that would." She paused. "And please, please, please do not mention that fear to Michaela."

"Why not?"

"Because some werewolves like to hunt werefoxes."

"What?" said Benny. "That's..."

Michele turned to her. "You didn't know? That's a long story. Don't ask Michaela about it."

"No. I think not."

She turned back to me. "Put that fear to rest. It isn't going to happen. What else?"

"I don't know. I guess... just that. Or maybe that Lara will change her mind. It's the same fear, I guess. I'm afraid I won't see tomorrow. And I don't want to be hunted."

"What if it were in fun?" Scarlett asked.

"Hunted in fun?"

"Yeah. I believe humans call it hide and go seek."

"T
hat's different.”

"Why is it different?"

"Cause you don't get eaten when you get caught."

"So it's not being hunted that frightens you," she said with a smirk. "It's being eaten."

"I'm not too thrilled at being torn to shreds by werewolf claws, either."

Michele asked, "Angel, does your mom have anything stronger than
cider in the house?"

Angel stepped away from me and turned to the fridge. "There's beer."

"Give Zoe a beer. Nick and Benny, do either of you believe your spouses could ever do what Zoe fears?"

"No way," they both said.

"Neither could my Donald," Michele said. "I'm more capable of that than he is. Angel and Scarlett are two of the sweetest girls alive. Look at their concern. It's not fake."

I looked between everyone then hung my head. "I'm sorry."

"You've been through a lot. Angel, give her that beer."

I took it dully, and then Michele said, "Tip it up, girl. We don't have all day."

It was hard to say 'no' to her, and I chugged down several deep swallows.

"Good girl," she said. "Girls, does she need a shower?"

"Yes, Ms. Lassiter," said Scarlett.

"All right, Scarlett. You're both adults. My name is Michele."

I glanced at Scarlett, and she smiled. "Thank you, Michele. Yes, she needs a shower."

"All right. You two get her up there, then I need any clothes that need laundering before she puts them back on."

"The jeans are probably fine," Angel said. "But the blouse definitely, and probably the panties."

I colored at the idea of them sniffing my panties.

Michele noticed. "Get used to it," she said. "Get her into the shower then bring me the clothes. I'll have them washed and dried in a jiffy, but I'll need a wolf nose to check them."

"I'm expected," I said. "The alpha said three. I'm late now."

"Nick and Benny," Michele said, "Go find either the head enforcer or either alpha and tell her that Zoe is with me. If they have a problem, they can call me. And I don't need to tell you not a word about her fears."

"Of course not, Michele," said Nick. "Zoe, I know it's a lot, but these are good people. It might take time, but if you give them a chance, they'll treat you well."