Authors: Robin Roseau
"I wouldn't mind your mouth on me later," I told her. "Without an audience."
She hugged me tighter. "Let's go settle in, then we can shift for a run."
* * * *
It was unusual, but we actually got a solo run, just Lara and me. Normally a run involved every wolf who could possibly join us, but for some reason, they all declined this time. We shifted and ran together, Lara holding herself back to a fox's pace. We'd been running for twenty minutes when Lara suddenly bounded in front of me and came to a stop in my path, facing me, her head down and tail up in the traditional invitation to play.
I knew exactly what game she wanted to play, the "Catch the fox" game. It wasn't as bad as it sounded. I was remarkably difficult to catch, and evading the big bad wolf had become quite a bit of fun. However, I was tired and not at my best, so the likelihood of her catching me easily was pretty high. That might be fine, too, but who won the game tended to set the tone for our bedroom activities later, and it was easier to wear her down when I kept her off balance.
I wanted to know why I was really here, and I didn't want to wait until I was being forced to think on my feet. She knew what was going on, and wasn't telling me, so I needed every advantage to work it out of her, one little hint at a time.
I sat down and yawned, declining the offer.
She huffed her displeasure, inching backwards several inches to suggest a minor handicap, and then her muscles tensed. She was about to leap whether I wanted to play or not.
I almost just let her catch me, but then my stubborn side took over. She leaped and I did the last thing she expected. I ran straight towards her, reaching up to snag a rear paw as she flew over me. I actually managed to trip her, causing her to stumble slightly, and then I was off, dashing through the woods.
I was better than Lara at the close game, evading her pounces, and at the long game, obscuring my trail and hiding. She was better than I was at the medium game, running much faster. I could usually evade her pounces, but actually shaking her from my trail long enough to put up false trails was very difficult.
I managed to get some distance from her, then used one of my normal tricks that frequently lost her. This time it failed. I dashed under a fallen tree and immediately spun around to come back out the same side. Normally she jumps over those trees and then tries to figure out where I went, but this time she actually came to a stop and I ran right into her.
Wow, I was even more tired than I thought.
She caught me in her claws and teeth and rolled me onto my back before I could even register my mistake. A large wolf mouth closed around my throat while her paws held me pinned in place and she settled her weight over me.
I went still, but I didn't whimper in submission. She gave me a few seconds to submit before growling lightly and closing her mouth slightly tighter. Then she settled even more weight on me.
She wasn't hurting me, and she would be very careful with me, but the message was simple: submit before it hurt. She wouldn't stop or let me up until I submitted.
She tightened again, and I whimpered. She didn't let go right away, so I whimpered twice more. Then she relaxed, licked my face thoroughly, which she knew I hated, and then let me go.
I stood up and batted her face in thanks for the lick. She licked me again, very slowly and thoroughly, and I stood there accepting it. I'd learned if I didn't, she would make me submit again, and then she was ruthless.
I hated being bathed by wolf tongue.
Once, when I'd been particularly obnoxious, she'd held me down and let half the pack bathe me. I'd come away from that experience as sodden as if I'd gone swimming and twice as slimy. She had finally released me, and I had shifted to human and started bitching, so she had simply pinned me to the ground again and had them repeat the performance on my human body. At least she'd used her own body to offer me a modicum of modesty, but I had been deeply embarrassed.
Later, in private, I told her how I felt about it. Her only response was, "It was a cuffing." Alpha wolves cuff the other wolves for misbehaving, and she needed to be ruthless to maintain her position in the pack. I was normally outside of that, but it wouldn't do to flaunt it, so I realized I hadn't offered much choice.
"You're right," I said. "I shouldn't have complained publicly."
After that, I was very careful to avoid criticizing her in front of an audience. In private, however, things were different.
After having lost the game of catch the fox so quickly, I needed to gain some respect back. Lara recognized that, so when I started moving quietly through the brush, she followed me nearly as quietly, then waited while I caught us both a rabbit. I had stopped hunting them on pack lands because it was too easy to deplete them, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to take one now and again.
I broke it's neck and then turned around and dropped it at Lara's feet. She howled a victory for us then dismembered the hapless creature, offering me first meal. I took as much as I wanted, and Lara finished the rest in a few bites. We cleaned each other a little, then Lara lay in the grass. I prowled around for a minute while she watched me, then I walked straight to her, ducked under her head, and curled up into a tight fox ball between her paws. She lowered her head to rest across me.
I was warm and happy and so in love.
We stayed like that for a while. I had worn the sugar and stress from the car ride off and, in a rare moment for me, I rolled over onto my back, offering her my throat again. I didn't usually do that without prompting. Lara kissed my throat and I batted her muzzle lightly. She chuffed her pleasure and we both climbed to our feet.
I ran under her and headed back towards the house as fast as my little fox legs would carry me. Lara lifted her nose to the air, howled for a long, long time, then ran after me, catching up to me easily. Together we ran into the compound.
* * * *
In the house, I shifted human while still on the stairs. Lara was still wolf but she shifted behind me, and I pulled her into the bedroom. She closed the door then a glint appeared in her eyes. I had learned that look, too, and I immediately ran for the bathroom door.
She beat me there, putting her back to it and holding her arms away from her sides.
After that, with me shrieking with laughter, she chased me around the room. She could have caught me a half dozen times, but she seemed content to simply cut off my escape. The rule was simple: if I got into the bathroom or out into the hallway, I won. If she caught me, she won. There weren't any prizes, but we were both very competitive.
We never played the game the other way, with me chasing her. If I chased her, she just caught me.
She chased me around for several minutes, then slowly began herding me closer and closer to the bed. Finally I made a dash to get past her, but she caught me easily about the waist, picking me up in both hands and holding me upside down from my hips. I shrieked but instantly stopped struggling.
"Please, Lara," I said immediately.
"Please wait, little fox?" she asked.
"Please-" I was tired of playing. I wanted to feel her touch. "Please be gentle."
"Of course, little fox," she said softly. She set me on the bed and stilled me. I lifted my chin, and she accepted the submission.
And then she showed me just how gentle the big bad wolf could be.
* * * *
Later, we cuddled with her arms around me, my face buried against her as she held me lightly. She was musky from leftover excitement, and I loved how she smelled. I cuddled in as tightly as I could.
"Is something wrong tonight?" she asked.
"I'm just... I don't know. I think the alpha's phone call left me unsettled, and I want my girlfriend to assure me everything is going to be okay. I can't figure out what the alpha wants. I can't imagine what is so important she would call me down on short notice; she's never done that before. And she doesn't like when I play poker, but now she nearly commands me to play, and for far higher stakes that I am at all comfortable. It might be pocket change to her, but it isn't for me. If there is a political reason she wants me there Wednesday, I don't know why she isn't bankrolling me."
Lara pulled me closer, almost to the point of hurting me. She was suddenly tense. I whimpered a little, warning her of her strength, and she relaxed her muscles. She switched to stroking me gently.
"Do you trust the alpha?" she asked.
"Yes, with my life."
She kissed the top of my head. "You understand she can't always tell you everything she wants to tell you."
"I know she believes that, but why doesn't she trust me?"
"Oh, little fox, she does. Perhaps you should consider reasons why she wouldn't tell you something."
"A surprise, like a present."
"That's one. Do you think that's what is happening this time?"
"No. She may have promised someone else she wouldn't tell me."
"She may have. And if that's the case, she is probably very sad about that. She probably wants to tell you desperately, but told someone she wouldn't. If that's what happened, there are probably politics involved as well."
"I hate politics."
"I know. But you would be exceedingly good at them."
"No one would trust me. Wolves are too direct, and would hate being on the opposite side from a fox. They would be tempted to bite first and ask questions later."
"Which may be why the alpha keeps you away from the politics."
I leaned away from her to look into her eyes. "Lara, do you think I make things difficult for the alpha sometimes?"
"I think when you don't let her protect you, that you do. But I do not believe the alpha would want you to change a single thing about yourself. I think she finds your spirited disobedience refreshing, if frustrating. And she loves you from the bottom of her heart."
We lay together, still, my fingers tracing patterns in her skin. She caught my hand eventually, stilling me, and said, "The alpha won't let me tell you what is going on, little fox, but she said I could tell you a few things that are not going on."
"All right," I said.
"You are not in any trouble. Tomorrow, you may feel like you are, or that you are being put on the spot, but you aren't. You need to remember that."
"Lara, I'm not sure that is reassuring."
"I bought you some new clothes."
"Is that a change of topic?"
"No. I bought you a business suit and everything to go with it."
"You don't have my sizes."
"This suit will fit. I was going to get it tailored, but then this came up on short notice and you'll have to wear it the way it is. The alpha will be in meetings all day beginning at nine. You will be invited to the meeting on short notice, perhaps ten minutes. You should dress and then perhaps Francesca could use your help in the school."
"Trying to keep me busy?"
"I need you ready, so you can't be outside in grubby clothing, and you'll sit here and fret if you don't have something to do."
"You know me too well." I reached up and pulled her mouth to mine for a kiss. It was a sweet, gentle kiss. "I only have one question. I understand if you don't answer. Should I be worried?"
"No."
"All right, then I won't."
After that, she pet me gently until I fell asleep in her arms.
Right where I was supposed to be.
* * * *
We got up together. Lara wore her own business suit, tailored and expensive. The one she had bought me was nearly as expensive. There was a silk blouse, fine nylons, and stylish but practical shoes to go with it. I put it on and it fit well, but she looked at it and said, "We'll have to make minor adjustments, but it's close."
At 8:30, after we had eaten, Lara chased me out of the house. I walked over to the school and found Francesca teaching the students. When I arrived, she asked Scarlett to take over for a few minutes and pulled me out into the hallway, carrying a clipboard with her.
"The alpha asked me to help out today, but she made me put these on," I said, gesturing to the clothes. "I can't teach a lab like this, so I don't know what either of you expect."
She handed me the clipboard and she had a schedule for me. They were all with the older kids and were all things I could do without getting dirty. The first item was, "a history of conservation in the United States".
"I have notes if you need them," she said. "You can use this class room, I'll take the little kids across the hall."
"Do you know what is going on?"
"I have hints, but please don't ask me."
I sighed. "I don't like being in the dark."
"I don't like the alpha putting me in this position," she said. "But I am sure she has reasons. If you need me, I'll be across the hall."
Once Francesca had taken the little kids away with her, I closed the class door and turned to my four students. We knew each other well, and they had been good kids. I knew they all adored me, three because I had helped rescue them and the last because of a small moment of kindness that had been important to her.
"Francesca asked me to lecture on the history of conservation. Who here thinks that would be a deadly boring lecture?"
No one raised a hand.
"Seriously?" I sighed, then sat down and said, "I don't feel like lecturing. Can we please make it a conversation instead? Do the four of you care about conservation?"
It didn't take long before I got them into a spirited debate. I had learned long ago that the wolves were usually easiest to lead around if I asked the right questions, so I kept the debate heading in the direction I preferred primarily by asking questions. I managed to include the information Francesca had asked me to teach without turning it into a lecture.
It didn't take long before I forgot all about the real reason I had been relegated off to the school for the day.
When lunchtime approached, Francesca told the older children, "Ms. Redfur is wearing very expensive clothing today, and it wouldn't do for the little kids to maul her with sticky fingers. The four of you need to run interference." The kids took her seriously, and they set up what felt like a zone defense around me which only ended when all the little kids were deemed sufficiently cleaned up from lunch to accept a quick hug from me.