Wolf Ways (The Madison Wolves Book 9) (33 page)

“She thought she was settling.”

“Not shifting to fur was a litmus test she couldn’t get past,” Michaela said. “She was more than satisfied in every other way.”

“My being vegan?”

Michaela waved that away. “That’s minor. It adds amusing character to the relationship. Yeah, it might be a pain in the ass for both of you from time to time, but she wasn’t going to let that get in the way. Were you?”

“No, as long as she wouldn’t make me cook the flesh of dead animals.”

“Elisabeth may think about what she’s lost and ask for another chance. If she does, I hope you’ll consider it. Not that I think she’s going to, so don’t plan your life around it. But she might.”

I didn’t answer that, as I no longer wanted anything to do with Elisabeth anymore, not after her behavior towards me yesterday. I wasn’t even sure why I’d asked my question. “Thank you for answering, Michaela. I wouldn’t suppose you’ve stopped meddling?”

She smiled. “Don’t hold your breath. Feeling better?”

“Let me rephrase myself,” I said. “I would rather you stop meddling in my love life, Michaela.”

“I’ll think about it,” she replied. “Feeling better?” she repeated.

I thought about it and nodded.

“Good.”

“I don’t know if Monique waited. Am I allowed to find Portia without an escort?”

“Go see if she’s waiting. If not, I’ll call her and find out where she is.”

I rose from the chair, poked my nose out, and found Monique had indeed waited. “Ready?” she asked.

“She’s here,” I said to Michaela.

“Then you’re all set.”

“Wake up, sleepyhead.”

“Mmmm. It’s Sunday, Portia!”

“I know,” she said. “And it’s going to be a beautiful day. Now, do you want a repeat from yesterday?”

I sat bolt upright. “I’m up! I’m up!” Yesterday I had fallen back asleep, and she made good on her threat to return with ice, and not just a couple of cubes, either.

“That’s better. We’ve been invited on an outing. You may come with, or you may spend the day in the cell.”

“Oh there’s a choice for you,” I said. I opened my eyes to see she was grinning. “Would you really make me spend the day in the cell if I didn’t want to go?”

“Yep, but it’s not my fault. There’s no one to leave you with, and I have some leeway with you, but not that much.”

I rolled away from her, my mood growing sour.

“Where are we going?” I asked quietly.

“I’m not sure I should tell you.”

I didn’t respond.

“It’s something humans do,” Portia added. “It’s outdoors. It’s a beautiful day. We’re going to have a barbeque. And I think there are plans for a movie this evening.”

“Am I going to wish I picked the cell?”

“I think you’re going to have fun,” she said. “I’ll pick your clothes while you’re showering. Please hurry.”

I rolled to face her and narrowed my eyes. “Barbeque. That means burnt flesh.”

“I wouldn’t let you starve,” she replied. “Francesca is going, and she is already assuming everyone on the compound is going. Well, except the pups. They’re too young.”

“All right,” I said. “Fine. It’s not like I have a choice.”

She helped me from bed then said, “Zoe, have the last few days been as bad as you thought they would be?”

I looked down. “No.”

“Why is that?”

“You know why.”

“Tell me anyway.”

“Because you’ve been with me.”

“Would you really rather stay here than spend a glorious day outdoors with me?” she asked. “Monique will be there, too, and she’s looking forward to you coming.”

“No,” I admitted. “I’m not upset about that. I’m upset you think you have to put me in the cell if you can’t keep an eye on me.”

“I don’t,” she said. “And Lara hasn’t flat out said anything to me about it, but I think she wishes she hadn’t added that stipulation to your sentence. But it’s hard to take things like that back. Zoe, I’m sorry about that. But I’ll do what I can to make sure you have a nice time today. We all will.”

I nodded and hugged her briefly before heading to the shower.

* * * *

A half hour later, it was clear everyone else knew where we were going, and they all seemed excited. There was a fair amount of trash talk going on, some of it directed at me. It was hard to fight back when I had no idea what we would be doing.

Everyone seemed to know I didn’t have a clue what we were doing and seemed amused by it. I tried to get Monique to tell me, but she simply locked her lips and threw away the key.

In the end, it was a forty-minute drive. I rode with Portia, Monique, and three of Michaela’s students. The kids were ribbing each other and trying to tease me. It was clear there was to be some sort of competition, so I didn’t understand why Portia thought I’d have fun. Whatever it was, I couldn’t compete with the wolves.

As we drew closer to our destination, Portia said, “Monique, it’s time.”

I was in the passenger seat of Portia’s SUV. Monique leaned forward and said, “Don’t struggle.” And then she wrapped a blindfold over my eyes.

“Seriously?” I asked.

“Everyone wants to see your reaction,” Portia explained. “Let them have their fun.”

“Be honest, Zoe,” Monique said. “Can you see?”

“A little light out the bottom,” I said. “That’s all.”

“That’s fine,” Portia said. “Please don’t try to peak, Zoe.”

“I don’t believe I’m going to have the fun you promised, Portia.”

“I didn’t promise fun; I predicted it and promised to do my best to ensure it. I hope you’ll give it a fair chance.”

“You’re having far too much fun with this,” I said. I raised my voice. “You all are.”

They just laughed.

I laid my head against the back of the seat and turned to “look” out the window, although I couldn’t see anything. I didn’t like being the brunt of their humor. They weren’t picking on me any more than they were each other, but I still didn’t like it. I felt like they were ganging up on me, the token human.

I didn’t say anything else, and I stopped asking questions.

I realized I was nervous and it was making me crabby.

From behind me, Monique leaned forward and whispered into my ear, “We’re going to have fun, Zoe. Maybe Portia won’t promise, but I will.”

What did she know? She was only fifteen and a big strong wolf. She didn’t know what it was like being small, weak, and afraid.

Was I afraid? Not for my life, or even of getting hurt. But I was afraid of being the fool. I realized I was quite afraid of that. I’d been that plenty in school, and I suppose often enough since.

I turned my head towards Monique. “Is everyone going to pick on me?”

“Everyone is going to pick on everyone,” she replied. “But if anyone gets singled out, it will be the alphas and the enforcers.”

“And the token human?”

“You’re not the only one,” she replied. “Scarlett’s father is here.”

“How about your mom?”

“No. Everyone on the compound, basically. Even Francesca will play.”

Five minutes later, we left the highway and were bouncing along a rough dirt track. Then we came to a stop, and I could hear the sounds of the other cars’ doors opening and closing.

“Monique, take care of Zoe at least until we let her take off the blindfold,” Portia directed.

“Wait there,” Monique said. I listened as everyone climbed from the car. Then my door opened, and Monique helped me out. I took her arm.

“The ground is uneven,” she warned me. “Lift your feet; don’t shuffle.”

I nodded and let her lead me. I heard the other wolves all around me, and then Elisabeth said, “Okay, I think we’re all here. Everyone remember: there are humans here. Limit yourselves to human abilities.”

“Is that rule for me?” I whispered to Monique.

“No.”

Elisabeth continued to talk. “I want to see good sportsmanship.”

“Does that mean no ganging up on the head enforcer?” someone asked.

“Yes,” she said. “That’s exactly what that means.”

“As if,” I heard from several voices, and there was general laughter.

“We should have time for several games before lunch and then even more this afternoon. We’re going out for pizza afterwards. Zoe, we called ahead, and they know how to make vegan pizza.”

“Not just vegetarian?”

“Vegan. They promised.”

“Thank you,” I said. “That is very thoughtful. I know I’m a pain in the ass.”

“Yeah,” someone said. I thought it might be Rory. “But you’re
our
pain in the ass.”

That produced laughter, including from me.

“All right,” Elisabeth said. “We’re going to move inside. There’s a viewing area. We’ll let Zoe take her blindfold off there, then we’ll get signed in and grab our gear.”

Around me, the wolves teased each other. Monique kept me steady, even catching me once when I stumbled. We moved inside.

“Put her here, Monique,” Michaela said. We took a few steps, and then Monique turned me to face a particular direction. I heard milling around me, then Michaela said, “Remove her blindfold.”

I let Monique do it. I blinked a few times, then looked around.

We were in a rustic building with tall ceilings. I couldn’t see much of the building, as the big, tall wolves were crowded around me. But there was a large, panoramic window in front of me. Beyond the window was some sort of weird obstacle course.

I looked at the wolves. Most of them were watching my reaction.

“I have no idea where we are,” I said.

“Just watch,” Michaela said. “You’ll figure it out. There’s a game in progress.”

So from perhaps five feet away, I watched out the window. After a minute, a group of four people moved into view. They were carrying some odd sort of gun and wearing camouflage clothing, complete with some sort of face shield. They ducked behind two of the obstacles and then began firing over and around them.

“I still don’t know what this is,” I admitted.

“It’s paintball!” some of the kids said. “They’re shooting paint.”

“You guys play
paintball
?” I asked in surprise.

“This is only our third time,” Michaela said. “Well, some members of the pack are out here practically all the time, but as a group it’s our third time.”

“I heard it hurts to get hit.”

“If you’re really close it does,” Monique said. “But it’s not that bad, not even by. Um.”

“My standards?”

“Yeah.”

“What do you think?” Michaela asked. “Going to play, or are you a spectator today?”

“Are you actually going to give me a gun, or am I just the target?”

There was laughter at that. “It wouldn’t be fun if you couldn’t shoot back,” Michaela said.

“And I’m allowed to shoot um. You. And a few other key individuals?”

“Oh yeah,” someone said. I turned to see Angel, her arm around Scarlett.

“Well then, I’m definitely playing.”

“Excellent,” Michaela said.

* * * *

It was nearly an hour by the time we were checked in, had our gear, and had watched an introductory video. Then we got a chance to test our guns on a little firing range. That was pretty fun, and I found myself grinning.

Portia stepped up to me. “Everyone turns a little primal with a gun in her hand,” she said.

After that, we all gathered in a circle to pick teams. I expected Michaela to manage it, but she gestured to two of her older students, Iris and Lindsey. They moved to the center of the circle.

“Michaela said we get to organize the first game,” said Iris. “We’re not going to do teams in our usual style. Instead, if anyone wants to be on the same team, stand together holding hands. If you want to be on opposite teams from someone, we’ll work that out in a minute.”

Monique immediately grabbed my hand, and then Portia was on the other side, grabbing my other hand. Looking around, I saw perhaps a third of the group was partially partnered up. I was surprised that Michaela and Lara had put some distance between themselves.

“Are they fighting?” I asked.

“Lara likes competing with Michaela,” Portia explained, “although I’m surprised she doesn’t turn all protective for this game.”

“Okay, good,” Lindsey said. “Iris and I are the team captains for this game. I am team one, Iris is team two. We’re going to start with the groups. I’ll point to a group, and you say which team you want to be on.” She looked around then pointed to a group.

“Iris,” that group said.

“Over here then,” Iris said.

It only took a few minutes to divide everyone. We were on Lindsey’s team, as was Lara. Elisabeth and Michaela were both on Iris’s team.

“All right,” Iris said. “We’re on one of the medium sized fields, and our first game is Blob.”

There were some cries of pleasure at the choice.

“Raise your hand if you don’t have a clue what I just said.”

Mine was the only hand that went up. I was sure she asked just as another way of teasing me.

“We start at opposite ends of the field. It’s wooded with a variety of things to hide behind. If you get shot you raise your hands and say, ‘I am hit’. Then you run to the other team’s starting area. You’re now on the other team, so you switch your armbands and then reenter the game. We play until everyone is on one team.”

“How do you tell who won?”

“We don’t,” she said. “This is just a fun match, but you should still avoid getting hit.”

“My team is blue,” Lindsey said. “Iris’s team is the red team. Put on the right armbands but keep the others in a pocket.”

Then they passed out four armbands to each of us, two of each color. I pulled on the blue ones and pocketed the red ones.

As a group we walked to the proper field. The wolves continued to banter.

I was subdued and nervous. I wasn’t sure why. This was going to be fun, right?

“Are you all right?” Portia asked me.

“Sure,” I said.

“My recommendation is to stay under cover as much as possible and play defensively for a few games. You can expect nearly everyone else to play exceedingly aggressively.”

“What are you going to do?”

“As long as we’re on the same team, I thought we should stick together.”

“Me, too,” Monique said from my other side.