Wolf Women (The Madison Wolves Book 10) (34 page)

December came, and then the new year. It was a bitter, cold winter, and I spent most of it hiding inside. The wolves didn't seem to care that it was so cold, but I did.

March arrived, still cold and blustery.

Portia and I didn't talk about children. I wasn't ready. I didn't know when I would be ready.

It was the second Tuesday in March, shortly before dinner, when my phone rang. I expected to see Portia calling to tell me she was running late, or ask me what the dinner plans were, or invite me to dress up because she was taking me out. Instead, it showed a different name.

Ember.

I snatched up the phone, nearly dropping it, then finally got it to answer. "Honey!" I said into the phone. "How are you?" I began crying. "Portia and I miss you terribly. Everyone misses you."

"It's not Ember," said the woman. "This is Crystal Mann. I presume this is Zoe Fleming."

I grew cold. I grew deeply cold. This was the woman who had taken my baby!

"It is," I said. "How is Ember?"

"She's a little bitch is how she is!" Crystal said. "Whatever did you teach her? What the hell is wrong with werewolves? She's a complete slob; her room is a mess, and she leaves her shit everywhere. She won't raise a finger around the house, and she's getting into trouble at school. She beat up a boy and was suspended for three days for it. She has no manners and won't do a thing that I tell her to do. And she never stops eating! I thought sure, she's a teenager, my grocery bill would go up. But it didn't just go up; it went through the fucking ceiling."

I began to smile, a cold, dark smile.

"But to top it all off, my girl, the girl who was so sweet, when I got home from work tonight, she was drinking one of my cans of beer. I tried to take it away from her, but she growled at me. She growled at me like a rabid animal! What the hell have you been teaching her up there?"

She paused, and I thought it was to give me a chance to speak, but then she went on. "And then there's fur everywhere! It's like living with a dog. I hate dogs. They shed on everything. She's doing it on purpose! She keeps giving me this shit about how it starts to hurt if she doesn't shift. I tried forbidding it, but she waits until my back is turned and does it anyway. And then last week, I caught her in the back yard, marking the bushes. Marking the bushes! Like an animal!"

"Where is she now?"

"Hell if I know," she said. "She stormed off."

"Well, Crystal," I said, "I'm not entirely sure why you're calling me. She never did any of those things around here. Did you see her room? It was spotless. The house was spotless, too. We have teenagers in here all the time, and they're all deeply respectful."

"Well she's a little bitch, and I want her gone!"

"I can be there tomorrow to get her," I said calmly. "Just tell me where."

"Oh, no," she said. "That bitch has eaten me out of house and home. You want her, you can pay for her."

"How much?"

"Ten grand. Cash."

"Fine," I said. "Ten grand. But for ten grand, you are signing her over to me. Portia and I are adopting her, and you will sign whatever our lawyer gives you to sign."

"Perfect," Crystal said.

She gave me the number I could reach her at, and I told her I'd call her back in an hour.

As soon as we hung up, I called Michaela. She answered on the second ring.

"Alpha," I said immediately. "I need your help. We need to go save my daughter. Right now."

One Year Later

"Oh, Portia," I said. "She's beautiful! She has your eyes, and your nose."

Portia moved onto the bed, cuddling against me.

And then I looked around. "You! Get over here!"

The girl approached. Over the mask, her eyes were wide. I turned the baby so she was facing outward.

"Fiona," I said. "Fiona Grace Fleming, this is Ember Louise Fleming. She is your big sister. The two of you are to be the best of friends."

While writing Wolf Women, I wasn't sure whether I should include the ransom night scenes. You already saw Michaela's ransom night, and I worried this was more of the same.

But I needed to write it. I needed to see for myself Zoe's strength. I needed to see this for the reasons that Ember outlined. Zoe saw herself as "only a human", but the wolves saw more than that. They saw strength in her they could admire.

Zoe needed to see that. More importantly, I did.

I expressed my concerns to one of my readers. She said something very simple. She told me to write what I want. Doing so has worked well in the past.

This is advice I get over and over. Sometimes it's hard. Sometimes I worry about what you, the readers want.

This time, I took her advice.

Robin Roseau

November, 2014

A writer by avocation, Robin has a renaissance interest in many areas. A bit of a gypsy, Robin has called a few places home and has traveled widely. A love of the outdoors, animals in general and experimenting with world cuisines, Robin and partner share their home with a menagerie of pets and guests, although sometimes it is difficult to discern who is whom.

Robin can be reached via email as
[email protected]
. Robin's web site is
http://www.robin-roseau.com
.

Fox Run

Fox Play

Fox Mate

Fox Afield

Fox Revenge

Fox Dish

Fox Lost

Wolf Watch

Wolf Ways

Wolf Women

Fox Rematch (set after Fox Mate and Fox Afield)

Hunting Pups

Fox in the Water

Fox Opponent

Familiar

Seer

Seer: Thrall

Blood Slave

Emergency Claus

Fitting In

Free to Love

In Custody

Lost in the Words

Privateer

Stark's Dell

The Interrogation

Tresjolie

Captured by the Raptor (writing as Rosetta Robins)

Cooking for Love

Southern Night

Wolf Women

Copyright
2014 by Robin Roseau

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, copied in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise transmitted without written permission from the publisher. You must not circulate this book in any format.

This is a work of fiction. Names, places, businesses, characters and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, actual events or locales is purely coincidental.

* * *

License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Amazon.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.