Fox Rematch (The Madison Wolves Book 10) Read online

  “Yes, but I do not expect all of you to match my tattoo. At least two fox tracks on each of you, and if anyone wants longer than just four wolf tracks, then the fox tracks should be much more subtle than mine will be.”

  “I have a counter-offer,” she said. “I will match the length of yours. I will add fox tracks periodically to represent you in my life as my sister.”

  I started to cry, and she hugged me.

  “But everyone else has the option of what they want. They will get a tattoo based on this motif, but it may be small and there may not be fox tracks.”

  “I want that discussion off camera, please.”

  “Yes. We’ll do it upstairs.” She looked at me critically. “I do not know what to do with you while we are gone.”

  “I’m not exactly going anywhere.”

  She smiled. “I don’t want you on camera unattended.”

  “Turn them off, gag me again, hang me from the hook, bring me with you…”

  “We’ll hang you and turn the audio off. People can watch your face slowly turn red.”

  “Someone needs to listen in case I get sick.”

  “Gia will watch the feed. Scream if you become distressed and are able to do so.”

  “All right,” I said. “Let’s do it.”

  Elisabeth opened the bathroom door and carried me out. “Get her in the harness,” she said gruffly.

  “She’s letting us spin her?” Ava asked.

  “Put her in the harness. We have something to discuss as a group and I want to know she can’t cause mischief. Gia, once she’s hanging, turn off the audio feed, leave the video feed, and monitor her.”

  Gia nodded. They put me in the harness, then they lifted me and hooked me up by my feet to the ropes which in turn were hooked to the ceiling. Soon I was dangling upside down, the harness distributing my weight throughout my body, not just my ankles. My head was two feet above the floor.

  “Does this count against my time limit?”

  “Not hardly,” Elisabeth said. Then she lifted me by the shoulders until I was at a forty five degree angle and released me, causing me to swing around uncomfortably. “Let’s go.”

  I closed my eyes and tried not to get sick. I concentrated on Lara. I wondered if she was watching, I wondered if she had watched while Elisabeth had questioned me. She hadn’t paid my ransom, so she must be handling it.

  The swinging stopped eventually. I wasn’t sure that was better. The swinging had actually been kind of fun. I tried to get it going again, but all I ended up doing was wriggling and sending too much blood to my head.

  Karen came down, sat in front of me, and asked, “Are you sick?”

  “No,” I told her.

  “You were squirming around. Is everything all right?”

  “I was trying to get the swinging going again. It was kind of fun. Could you swing me?”

  She stared into my face. “You aren’t serious.”

  “Absolutely. Please? I’ll kiss you on the cheek later, after I throw up, if you don’t.”

  She laughed. “All right.”

  “I have a question first. You left earlier. Will you tell me why?”

  “None of us enjoys hurting you. Some of this is fun. And we’re proud of you for doing it. This is duty for us, not pleasure. The games in between are fun. The tattoo is fun. Very clever of you. But hurting you isn’t fun. I needed to compose myself.”

  “The pack needs to see this, don’t they?”

  “Yes. You are a kidnap target. They need to know you are tough.”

  “I break easily.”

  “Your body does, but you aren’t giving us anything except paying for favors with favors. This is what you should do: trading favors with your kidnappers give them a vested interest in keeping you alive.”

  “Please don’t spin me; just let me swing.”

  “All right. Then I have to go upstairs and change my mind.”

  I laughed.

  “You shouldn’t look like you’re enjoying this.”

  She stood up, lifted me like Elisabeth had, and released me. I closed my eyes and swung back and forth, back and forth.

  Angel came down and asked me, “More?”

  “Swinging? Please.”

  She lifted me, and I swung.

  It was some time later that they all returned.

  “Turn the audio back on. Unhook her,” Elisabeth said.

  They carried me back to the sofa.

  “May I have a tiny amount of water?” I took just a few sips.

  “If you want fox tracks in your tattoo,” Elisabeth said, sitting down on the coffee table. “Then it will extend from your ankle up the outside of your leg to your hip.”

  I looked at her, considering. “That is excessive unless you all match me.”

  She pursed her lips. “No.” She paused. “I will match your length.”

  “I will match half your length,” Angel said. “And Scarlett will.”

  “The rest are only on their ankles,” Elisabeth said.

  “I see. And what about fox tracks on each of you, hmm?”

  Elisabeth sighed. “I will take one pair of fox for four pair of wolf.”

  “I’ll do one for two,” said Scarlett.

  I glanced at her in surprise.

  “Mine will be a mirror of Scarlett’s,” Angel offered.

  I looked at the other women. “I am your alpha,” I said. “Am I not?”

  Elisabeth smiled. Her back was to both cameras, so they wouldn’t see it.

  “You are,” said Ava.

  “And you are not all willing to show your love and devotion to your alpha while I show mine to you?”

  Oh, that got them. They were all silent. Elisabeth grinned though.

  “Furthermore, fox feet are far smaller than wolf feet, and a fox steps a much shorter distance per step, so the steps are closer together. If you wish to show your pride, love and devotion, you will offer more than you have. Perhaps you are not proud of me. Perhaps you do not love me. Perhaps you have no devotion.”

  I closed my eyes. “Spin me. I will show you pride. Then I will accept whatever tattoos you wish. They are your bodies, and I will not dictate how you adorn them.”

  “We only have one tattoo artist,” Elisabeth said. “The tattoos you are suggesting will take one person far too long. You will, after all, break when we swing you.”

  I laughed.

  “You will spin me. We will all take a small tattoo we each feel is appropriate. When that has been done, then you will finish mine. The rest of you may adorn your bodies as you feel is appropriate. Will your artist fill me with pride in her work?”

  “Yes,” Elisabeth said. “You will be very pleased, Alpha.”

  “Spin me,” I said. “Or tattoo me first, if that is your pleasure.”

  “We will spin you first,” Elisabeth said. “We will begin the tattoos on ourselves while you spin, if you last more than a few minutes. If you beg to be ransomed, or if Lara ransoms you, you will accept the entire tattoo we have agreed.”

  “Yes.”

  “Spin her,” Elisabeth said.

  Many strong arms picked me up from the sofa. They attached my feet, and before they released me, Scarlett whispered in my ear, “I will wear fox feet to match yours, to my hip.”

  “Oh Scarlett,” I said. “You don’t have to.”

  “I will.”

  Then they lowered me until I hung from my feet. I closed my eyes when they began to wind me up.

  I tightened my stomach, attempting to hold the bile at bay, and clamped my mouth closed.

  They turned me around and around, twisting the ropes from which I hung, twisting the ropes around and around themselves, and when they released me, the ropes untwisted, causing me to spin in a circle, slowly at first, but then faster and faster. The ropes would become untwisted and then my own spinning inertia would cause the rope to twist in the other direction until I came to a stop. Then the rope would untwist, and I would start to spin in the opposite d
irection, going past the untwisted point again, but not as far, and I spun this way, and that, until finally I came to a stop, my breath heaving.

  They spun me, and they spun me. I didn’t count. I tuned them out. I thought about fox tracks entwined with wolf tracks. And I spun.

  There was talking around me, but I ignored it. I thought perhaps the world had grown still, but I was so amazingly dizzy, I couldn’t have told you.

  I felt arms on me, and I knew the spinning was to start again. But then I was lifted and carried, and I was almost sick. They lay me on the sofa, and I willed my body to be still. I was dizzy, very very dizzy, and I ignored them.

  Someone slapped me. Not hard. I ignored her.

  There were voices in my ear, my name was called, and I ignored them.

  Then there was Lara’s voice. “Little fox. Talk to me, little fox.”

  “Lara?”

  “You are scaring them, Michaela. You need to come back to them now.”

  “Good. Let them know, I am alpha, and I am not to be bested.”

  She was silent.

  “Lara, are you here?”

  “I am home, waiting for you,” she said. “You need to respond to Angel. She is scared.”

  “No, I think I’ll go back to the hidden place,” I said.

  “No, Michaela. These are your friends, come back to them.”

  “Do I have to?”

  “Yes.”

  “If they spin me again, I will go away and I won’t come back.”

  “I don’t think they will spin you again,” she said. “I love you, little fox. Please, open your eyes now.”

  I took a breath and opened my eyes. I lay in Angel’s lap, and she was looking down at me. I saw other concerned faces.

  “I love you, Lara.” I sighed. “Don’t pay.”

  Elisabeth snatched the phone from my ear. “Gag her!” she screamed.

  “I’ve paid for my hair to be protected,” I said, then accepted the gag graciously. Scarlett wrapped my hair in the scarf and they wrapped the tape around and around.

  Elisabeth had long since hung up on Lara and was storming around the room. I would have apologized; it just slipped out. But all I could do was watch her.

  “Where are her knives?” Elisabeth finally asked.

  “Upstairs,” Abigail said.

  “Get them,” Elisabeth said.

  Abigail ran upstairs and returned a minute later carrying the bag they’d put my things in. Elisabeth snatched it from her hands, dug through, and found one of my knives.

  “Hold her down,” Elisabeth said. Strong arms held me, still lying across Angel’s lap, and Elisabeth pressed the silvered blade against my cheek.

  Of course, I tried to pull away, but they held me firmly. And then I looked Elisabeth directly in the eye as the silver burned me and I pushed my cheek more firmly against the blade.

  I would have been smiling sweetly if I hadn’t had my mouth taped. I was healing the silver burn as fast as I could, and when she finally removed it from my cheek, the girls gasped. I felt the last of the burn fade away in the seconds after Elisabeth pulled the blade away.

  “Shit!” she said. She tried the blade against her own skin and hissed, then showed the silver burn to the cameras.

  She leaned down, her mouth inches from my ear.

  “Did those words just slip out? Not planned?”

  I nodded.

  “If I hadn’t gagged you so quickly, would you have apologized?”

  I nodded.

  “I have to punish you. Let this burn. I need to leave a good mark on each cheek.”

  I nodded.

  She grabbed a second knife.

  “Hold her down now!” she said firmly, then both blades were pressed into me, one across each cheek above the tape from the gag.

  I could smell the burn this time, and I couldn’t have healed both fast enough to keep up. I began to whimper, just lightly, and Elisabeth finally pulled the blades from my skin.

  She smiled. “Do not do that again, Michaela. Or the next time it will be worse!”

  I nodded understanding then concentrated on healing my burns. I closed my eyes and zoned out while doing it. I didn’t notice when they removed the gag and pulled off the tape, but concentrated on healing my burns.

  “Come back, Michaela,” Elisabeth was saying in my ear. “Come on. It’s time for more fun.”

  I opened my eyes and turned my head to face her. I smiled. “How long did you spin me?”

  She offered me a look of gratitude, then she stood up and set her leg on the coffee table where I could see it. She had a set of wolf tracks on her ankle, and next to it, a smaller set of fox tracks.

  “Ah,” I said. “Very lovely. You honor your alpha.”

  Gia showed me her ankle. Wolf and fox tracks. Then Karen, then Ava. All the women had wolf and fox tracks on their ankle.

  “Mine too,” Angel said. “But I can’t show you until you get up.”

  “I have to wait,” Scarlett said. “I’ll get mine done when I can.”

  I nodded understanding. I didn’t think Scarlett could do her own tattoo. “You all honor your alpha,” I said. “That is good. I feel honored. Thank you. My turn?”

  “We did yours to match ours,” Elisabeth said. “Our artist requested a break.”

  I nodded understanding. “How long did you spin me?”

  “Two and a half hours.”

  I began to laugh. “Lara told me she didn’t think you would bother again. Was that the time limit?”

  No one answered.

  “May I have a little water?” I asked. I took a few sips through the straw. “Now what?” I asked.

  “A new game,” said Scarlett. “More poker after your next punishment.”

  * * * *

  They slept in shifts, those awake tasked with keeping me awake. I made it difficult for them. I zoned out. I could feel them trying to wake me, but I ignored it.

  Then Elisabeth’s mouth was at my ear. “Come back, Michaela, or I shave your head.”

  My eyes snapped open.

  “There you are,” she said. “No sleeping.”

  “Just resting my eyes,” I said.

  “New rule. If someone asks you a question, and you do not respond in a reasonable fashion, we shave a portion of your hair.”

  I looked at her. I smiled. “I have paid to keep my hair. We had an agreement. You will honor our agreement or you won’t.”

  And then I closed my eyes.

  They left me alone for some time and then Elisabeth asked me a question. I didn’t respond. Her mouth moved to my ear. “If you sleep, we will not allow you food after noon today, at any price.”

  It took a while for my brain to process that. I opened my eyes later, and she was no longer next to me. “Elisabeth?”

  “She’s sleeping,” Karen said.

  “How long has she been gone?” Karen didn’t answer. “Karen, it took this long for the last thing she told me to register. I am now awake. I would like to know if I should bother staying awake. If it is too late, it is too late. But I will only accept an answer from Angel.”

  “Why should we answer you?” she asked.

  “Because you don’t want me to sleep, and you can’t stop me, so you can only bribe me. So. Bribe me or don’t bribe me. I will remain awake for ten minutes, and if I am unbribed, then I sleep.”

  “Watch her,” she said. I looked around, and the only other person there was Abigail. Karen disappeared upstairs. Abigail looked tired. She was sitting in a chair, watching me, her chin in her hand.

  “May I have some water and some food? Something mild.”

  “I have water here. Food is upstairs, and I can not leave for it until someone else returns.” She slipped over to sit on the sofa with me, offering me water. I drank sparingly.

  “All right,” I said. “But I believe it is well within the cutoff time for food, so I presume this delay will be short, and if I sleep without eating, I will expect mild food available when next I wak
e, whenever that is. I have paid for this food.”

  She nodded. “You’ll get it as soon as someone returns.”

  “Thank you, Abigail. You’re a good woman.”

  She smiled.

  “My eyes are sore,” I said. “I am closing them. I am not sleeping. You may talk if you want. I will answer.” I closed my eyes and relaxed. Abigail was silent for a minute.

  “What is two plus two?” she asked.

  I smiled. “You can do better than that. Pick a topic.”

  “What is your favorite thing about being fox?”

  “Ah. I am very vain. I love my fox appearance.”

  “You are a beautiful fox,” she said.

  “Thank you. I am very vain about it, and I never hear it enough. I love moving silently while hearing everything else around me. And I love that my reactions are so much faster than yours are. Well, probably not right now, my body is abused, but normally.”

  We continued to talk, and after some time, Elisabeth and Angel came downstairs with Karen.

  “She requested food,” Abigail said.

  “Did she sleep?” Karen asked.

  “No. We’ve been talking the entire time.”

  “And you were gone longer than ten minutes,” I said.

  “Cheeky fox,” Elisabeth declared. “Karen told us what you said. Repeat it.”

  So I did. I finally said, “I came awake as soon as my brain fully registered what you said. You made a threat. If I was gone so long the threat is activated, I would like to know. I have paid for food until noon today, and I will point out I have not received any per my latest request.”

  “Get her what she asked for, Abigail,” Elisabeth said.

  “I would negotiate now for food through noon tomorrow,” I said. “If we can not reach an agreement, I will respond accordingly.”

  “You will remain awake,” Elisabeth said. “The price is one major favor each and five thousand dollars.”

  The had asked for a few payments that would cost me money, but not an enormous amount. This was the first favor that had a significant cost. I was about to protest but then realized that was almost as much as I’d taken from them in poker so far.

  I smiled. “I will not strive to sleep,” I said. “But I may zone out during punishments. I probably can’t help it. The rest as you stated.”

  I opened my eyes and looked at her. Finally she nodded.