Wolf Watch (The Madison Wolves Book 8) (26 page)

What I really wanted to tell her was that when they killed me, they were going to prove I was wrong to believe in protecting them. But I didn't think telling her I should have mailed the video to eve
ryone on the GreEN mailing list was going to ensure my survival.

"Please eat the fruit."

"Why?"

"So that I can say you cooperated."

"I cooperated for a week. I'm done."

We stared at each other for a while.

She finally asked, "If I promise a visit from one of the alphas, will you eat?"

I thought about it then nodded. "But no animal products."

"The fruit. And I'll try to get whatever else you need."

I nodded.

"All right. I promise to get one of the alphas here before bed tonight. You have my word."

"Just like that?"

"I'll get my ass reamed for making the promise, but one or the other will come."

"You would do that just to get me to eat a few pieces of fruit?"

"No, I would do that to prove you were wrong when you called my alpha a coward."

I ate the fruit and drank the water she gave me.

Elisabeth brought dinner. She sat down with it. I'd been napping, but I sat up. I glanced at the food. It looked like things I could eat.

"I am going to ask you to release Portia from her promise."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because both alphas are pissed, and the meeting isn't going to go well. If you force a visit now, it will either hasten an execution no one wants or dramatically lengthen how long it takes me to secure your freedom."

"What else do you want?"

"I want you to eat. Portia went to your restaurant, that vegan place. She found someone there and explained she had a sick friend who was vegan, and she didn't know how to cook for you. That person called three friends, and then the four of them brought her to one of their homes. She spent the entire afternoon getting an education. These are the results."

"She did that for me?"

"She did that for you. She also risked banishment from the pack by making that promise at lunch."

"I don't deserve being kept in here."

"I know you don't."

"I don't deserve the distrust."

"I know."

"I won't tell."

"I know. Please release Portia from her promise. Eat your dinner. Then we can play cards or go to the gym."

I stared at the food. "Did Portia make it?"

"She bought everything. My aunt made it."

"Angel's mom?"

"Yes."

"I release Portia from her promise. I kindly request one of the alphas to come down here and give me a final answer in the next twenty-four hours."

Then, slowly, I began eating the meal.

"Thank you," Elisabeth said quietly.

I finished the meal and drank the water. I didn't look at Elisabeth even once. Then I turned away from her, pulled the blanket up, and lay down on my side, facing the wall with the blanket up over my head to shield me from the light.

Elisabeth said nothing for a while, then she stood up, collecting everything. "If you would like company, knock at the door. Someone will be outside."

* * * *

I slept, and then there was noise at the door. Several people stepped into the room and sat down facing me. I ignored them.

"You requested us," Lara said. "It would be rude not to sit up."

I hadn't actually thought she would come. I slowly sat up and brushed my hair from my face. I'm sure I was a mess. I thought if I looked like a mad woman, it would make it easier for her to order me killed. I didn't care.

I turned around and leaned against the wall.

Facing me were Lara, Michaela, and Elisabeth. They were all seated with their backs to the opposite wall.

"Do you need a bathroom break before we talk?" Lara asked.

"No."

"If I release you, I would like to know your intentions."

"We both know you have no intentions of releasing me."

"If I release you, I would like to know your intentions," she repeated.

"I don't know what my options would be."

"Desired intentions, then, if I were to place no restrictions."

"Go home. Lick my wounds. Find out if my business reputation is destroyed. Will I have my computer back?"

"If I release you? Yes. You would have everything returned to you except the videos and photos you took of us."

"The cameras?"

"Everything. We've erased the video on them."

"Should I presume my apartment would be bugged?"

"Let's not talk about restrictions yet. That would be a form of restriction. I want to know your intentions."

"I don't know. I won't tell anyone. I guess get on with my life."

"Would I see you again?"

I cocked my head. "Are you asking me whether I would snoop around, or are you asking me how I feel about your sister?"

She smiled. "Both."

"No, I would not snoop. And I don't know. I don't think I want to see her while I still believe you're going to have me killed."

She cocked her head. "That doesn't make sense."

"Yes it does," Elisabeth says. "She's afraid of a bullet from a distance."

Lara's eyes narrowed, but Michaela put a hand on her arm. "Lara is very direct," Michaela said. "She wouldn't work that way."

"I wouldn't know," I said. "I haven't been treated with much honesty since I met all of you."

"And what have you done?" Lara asked in a cold tone.

"Tell me, Alpha, if you were in my shoes, would you have burst out with, 'Hey, I know you're a werewolf'?"

She studied me. "No," she said finally. "And if you were in my shoes, would you have been afraid of exposure?"

"Yes," I said.

"What would you have had me do differently?"

"Decide sooner."

"Is that it? That's all you're mad about? That it took me a week?"

I looked down. "It was an awfully long
and terribly frightening week for one of us. Maybe that doesn't mean anything to you, but I'm not built like you are."

No one spoke for a moment, then finally Lara said, "Fair enough. I would like you to look at me."

"I thought I wasn't supposed to look a dominant wolf in the eye." But I looked up.

"Perhaps that is a discussion for another time," she said. "I am sorry for the stress this time has caused you. When it became obvious it was going to take me some time to decide what to do, I tried to arrange things to be somewhat less unpleasant. I am sorry I could not alleviate your fears. I presume that is the main source of your distress."

I nodded once.

"You should know that everyone I trust told me I should accept this risk."

I stared at her. Then I looked at Michaela.

"She was the first," Lara said. "You were barely out of the room before she was telling me she believed you. My sister has repeatedly pleaded for your life. My other enforcers have, in one way or another, told me they were ready to trust you. Some wish restrictions."

I brushed away a tear. I was tired of crying.

"Will you leave Wisconsin?"

"Was that a request?"

"No. I am asking if I have frightened you so badly you wish to put several states between us."

"I don't have the money to go anywhere."

"If you did?"

"At this point, I just want to go home and curl up in a ball and cry. I don't know what I'll decide tomorrow."

"As you said, you need distance?"

"Yes."

She watched me for a minute. Neither of us said anything.

Then she looked over at Michaela, who clasped her hand and nodded. Lara turned back to me.  "I am releasing you. There are a small number of restrictions. You will accept them. They are reasonable. First, you are moving. You have your choice from four places that I own. They are all very nice, two-bedroom apartments in exceedingly secure facilities."

"I can't afford it."

"The rent is one dollar a year with a five year lease."

I stared at her.

"And they are furnished," she added. "Rent includes all utilities including very high speed Internet."

"Why?"

"We will discuss that shortly. Two. You will do absolutely nothing to make me ever regret this. The list of things you could do is lengthy."

"Give me an example."

"Take unauthorized photos. Be found on or near pack lands without an invitation."

I nodded. "Is all of Bayfield off limits?"

"No, but if you are going, you will inform us, and there may be additional restrictions."

I nodded.

"Three. Because you know our secrets, you will accept membership in the pack, with all the rights and responsibilities therein."

I found myself staring again. "You're inviting me into the pack?"

"I an invitation you will not refuse," Lara clarified.

"What rights and responsibilities?"

"Elisabeth will explain, but it includes treating the alphas with respect, even when you disagree with them. There is also a tithe."

"You want money?"

"Tithe can come in the form of money, which is usually ten percent of income, or service. From you, I want service."

"What service?"

"I haven't decided, but I am sure it will be related in some way to your environmental activism. You should expect to spend approximately two days a month in pack service. I believe if you combine restrictions one and three, you will find you're coming out ahead."

"She's glossing over a responsibility," Elisabeth said. "You will obey any of the three of us if we issue an order. We do not treat the members of the pack as servants, but if you receive an order from one of us, you will obey it. Period.
You may also receive orders from the enforcers -- Karen, Eric, et cetera. If so, they are speaking with my authority, and you will do what you are told."

The
y let me absorb that, and finally I nodded.

"And we've already tal
ked about the last restriction," Lara said. "You will alter your activism to avoid drawing too much negative attention. Attention on you is potential attention on the pack. At least for the foreseeable future, you will submit your plans to Elisabeth and accept her authority.

I nodded. "Anything else?"

"Yes. Tonight, you will accept whatever hospitality Elisabeth offers. She is going to give you your choice of a few places to sleep here or put you up in a hotel. Tomorrow she will show you your choice of apartments. Once you have made your selection, I will have your things delivered. And you may, as you say, curl up in a ball and cry for a few days. And then, next Saturday, you will present yourself here for dinner at three PM. Consider it a command performance from your alpha. What you do between now and then is your concern."

"I need to hear you
tell me you aren't going to have me killed, assuming of course I do not break my restrictions."

"I am not having you killed. There will be no bullets in the night or poison in the air vents."

"I would like to know if the apartment will be bugged."

"No, it will not. I'd have to assign a team to you around the clock to prevent you from sneaking off, and I don't intend to do that."

I stared at her. It slowly started to sink it. I wasn't sure I believed her. But Elisabeth was smiling cautiously, and so was Michaela.

"You're really letting me go?"

"I'm really letting you go."

"And..." I looked between them. "I'm an honorary pack member?"

"No. You're a pack member. No honorary about it."

"I-" I looked at my hands. "Thank you," I said in a small voice. They let me absorb it, and then I looked up. "Alpha, may I ask a question?"

"I dislike that question. Do not waste time with it again. If you want to ask, ask."

I nodded. "What helped you decide?"

"You mean, beyond absolutely everyone telling me to trust you?"

"You said they've been doing that for a week, but now, tonight, you decided. And I'm
pretty sure the answer yesterday was different. Wasn't it?"

"Yes. If I'd been forced to decide
yesterday, the answer would have been different. Do you understand why?"

"Fear."

"Yes."

"What happened?"

"Portia. She made that promise, which made me so incredibly angry. Then she disappeared before I could really get my anger going, and she spent the afternoon learning how to cook vegan. Later, I heard her in my kitchen with my aunt. I listened, and I heard what it really meant. And then I realized what Portia had gone through to learn all that, and now she was in there helping to cook. Portia doesn't help cook the food she eats, but she was in cooking yours." She smiled. "And then you let her out of her promise, and you ate the meal, and then you asked politely. And I realized I had to answer you, and I wasn't going to come down here and tell you I was going to have you executed. So I had to do the right thing."

"Thank you for explaining," I said. I closed my eyes, trying to hold the emotions under control. While I was doing so, they stood up, and then Elisabeth reached down and pulled me to my feet. We stood there for another moment, all of them looking at me.

"You asked about the apartment," Lara said. "I am treating it like a donation to GreEN. But that's not why I'm doing it."

"Then why?"

"Several reasons. First, my sister asked me to, and if I'd said 'no', she'd do it herself. But this is cleaner. Just as importantly, because you know our secrets, and because I believe those secrets from time to time may be discussed in your home, I want to know that none of your corporate enemies can bug you. They won't bug you in this apartment."

I nodded understanding.

"And finally, you didn't deserve the way all this happened. Consider this my apology."