Fox Opponent (The Fox Shorts Book 3) Read online

  Angel laughed. "Just the light." She flipped the switch, and high overhead, directly above the parking lot, a light lit up.

  It wasn't a bright light, but as soon as Angel flipped the switch, Michaela turned to look into the sky. Everyone else's eyes followed her, and it was unmistakable. The beach ball was floating in the air, high above the compound.

  "How did you get that thing up there?" Lara said.

  Michaela just laughed. "Want to double the wager, Lara? By the way, shooting it down is cheating. I think we all can agree it currently is not perforated. I believe causing it to float away would also mean I win."

  "I don't think I care to double the wager," Lara finally said. "You're looking far too pleased with yourself."

  "Before you send your troops out," Michaela said. "I am just going to suggest people think long and hard whether they think they can figure out my trick in the time they have. If not, you may want to search for someone else's token."

  Scarlett was laughing quietly.

  Lara sent her troops out. About a third of them began looking for a tether directly below the balloon. Michaela followed them into the parking lot, so the rest of the team followed her.

  "Whose token did you win?"

  "A plastic token from Janice's cousin," she said.

  "I couldn't find Aunt Francesca's tennis ball," I admitted.

  "She had one of the plastic tokens," Michaela said. "They're hard to find. I almost didn't find the one I was looking for, but she hasn't played this game before and didn't engage in subterfuge."

  Lara was still in human form, but the other people searching for the tether to the balloon were all in fur. Then Lara found a string floating in the air. She had to jump for it, but she managed to snag it.

  "Double the wager, Lara?" Michaela immediately offered.

  Lara turned to look at her. "What happens if I pull this string?"

  "Double the wager and I'll give you the choice of pulling it or asking me. Or pull it and find out."

  "Double," she said. She eyed the string. "Something bad happens if I pull, doesn't it?"

  "Not for me," Michaela said immediately. "It releases the ball from the tethers."

  "No one pull this string!" Lara said immediately. She released it, shifted to fur, and began looking for Michaela's trail. It took her a few seconds only, and soon she was rushing towards the northwest. Michaela didn't appear concerned.

  Aunt Francesca returned to the compound carrying a beach ball. "Damn it," I said.

  Michaela followed my gaze. "It's not like you were going to be able to hide it."

  "Yes, but my aunt is going to make me put in a vegetable garden or something equally odious."

  "Maybe she'll ask for a promotion for one of her daughters."

  "That wouldn't be a personal favor," I explained.

  "Ah, true," said Michaela. She cocked her head and smiled. "Ah, Lara is climbing a tree."

  "The right tree?"

  "As if," Michaela said. "If she climbs high enough, though, she'll find where I stashed the evidence of how I did this."

  "What was in the backpack?"

  "A small net, a small helium tank, and the cord I used to tether the ball."

  "How did you know?"

  "Angel loaned me her computer last week. She stepped out to the bathroom, and I snooped. As soon as I found the beach balls she had ordered, and then heard they were asking to run tonight's game, it was obvious."

  She cocked her head again. "Ooh, she found the right tree."

  "Are you about to lose?"

  "Maybe," she said.

  We watched the beach ball. It bobbed around a little, but it didn't begin to descend.

  "What's your side wager?" I asked her.

  She laughed. "Personal. Are you sure you want to know?"

  "No, I don't."

  "I'll tell you," she said, teasing me.

  "No, forget I asked."

  "You'll be able to hear later, anyway," Michaela said.

  "That's quite all right," I told her. "I can sleep ignorant."

  "I don't think you'll be able to sleep," Michaela replied.

  "Damned exhibitionists."

  Michaela looked at me with a frown. "I thought the pack liked knowing-"

  "Ignore me," I told her. "Yes, it's good for morale. I'm just, well..."

  "Horny?"

  "Yes."

  "That itch isn't that hard to get scratched, from what I can tell. Find someone willing."

  "No one interests me," I told her.

  She studied me carefully. "Are your standards too high?"

  Just then Lara went streaking across the edge of the compound, following the road.

  "I guess she gave up on that side and is going to follow my trail around," Michaela said. "Are your standards too high?"

  "Maybe," I admitted. "To be honest, I met someone."

  "Since Zoe? Really?" she said. "Do tell."

  "This someone isn't available."

  "Oh. That sucks. I'm sorry."

  "Yeah. I've been trying to find someone else, but now I have this person on a pedestal, and no one else measures up."

  "Male or female?" she asked. "You're carefully avoiding gender pronouns."

  "I'm not sure I want to say."

  "Come on, Elisabeth," she said. "It's not like I'm going to judge."

  "I've always preferred big, strong male wolves," I told her.

  "There are plenty of those around," she replied.

  "None that interest me," I said.

  She studied me then turned away, cocking her head. She smiled. "Poor Lara. When is she going to stop trying to beat me?"

  I laughed. "You aren't seriously asking that question."

  That was when the fifteen minute howls went up. Everyone collected back at the porch.

  "I presume everyone wants to see how I did it," Michaela said.

  "Yes!" was the overall agreement.

  "All right. You guys go retrieve your tokens first, then we'll start a fresh timer for me."

  Lara joined us on the porch. "I found your backpack. It's waiting at the base of the tree."

  Michaela smiled. "Figure it out?"

  "Helium. That's all I know. And you climbed several trees, but I can't figure out how you tethered it there. It's not between any two trees you climbed."

  "That would have been too easy," Michaela said.

  "It is tethered, isn't it?"

  "Yes."

  "It's not just magically floating in place."

  "No."

  The wolves brought their tokens in, and favors were assigned. "All right," Michaela said. "My turn." She shifted into fox and ran northwest to the edge of the woods, the rest of us following. She shifted back to human and said to Lara, "The trick to getting it back down is that tree," she said, pointing to a tree deeper into the woods. Care to triple the wager?"

  Lara shifted to human as well. "You didn't climb that tree."

  "Are you sure? Go sniff some more."

  Lara ran over to the tree and sniffed it carefully. "You didn't climb this tree," she said eventually.

  "Triple?"

  "No."

  "Backrub?"

  "All right," Lara said. "Backrub."

  Michaela shifted to fox on the run, jumped at the tree, scrambled up to the first branch, then shifted to human and began rapidly climbing the tree. She was soon out of sight in the gloom.

  A minute later she descended the tree, holding one end of a thick cord, the other end disappearing into the night sky.

  "Damn it!" Lara said. "How?"

  "Ancient foxy secret," Michaela said. "I'll let you tickle it out of me though."

  Then, careful to avoid the other trees, Michaela walked into the open field and moments later was hanging onto her beach ball. She held onto the net carefully, released the tethers holding it, and walked into the compound with plenty of time to spare.

  "Who is up for a run?" Lara said once Michaela was fully congratulated. Scarlett and Angel looked a little up
set.

  "What's wrong?" I asked Scarlett quietly.

  "We were sure we had her," she replied. "We were sure!"

  Angel, Michaela and Lara stepped over to us. "Don't be sad, Angel and Scarlett," Michaela told them. "It was a valiant effort, and at least you got Lara and Elisabeth."

  "A year of free babysitting," Angel said.

  Lara began to chuckle. "She made a wager with you?"

  "She approached us three days ago and said she would win the game tonight."

  Michaela was smiling while shaking her head. "I don't get it," she said. "How often do you guys actually outfox me?"

  "Never," Scarlett said.

  "Not quite never," Michaela said.

  "She's like a slot machine," I said.

  "Only for Lara," Michaela pointed out.

  I blushed. It was glad it was dark. "I mean-"

  Everyone laughed at my discomfort.

  "I mean," I started to explain. "People play slot machines because just often enough, they pay out. We outsmart Michaela just often enough to keep coming back, even though the house, or in this case the fox, wins most of the time."

  "You are all bigger and stronger than I am," Michaela said. "And there are a lot more of you than there are of me."

  "Yes," Lara said. "And when we try to get you to play the game in a fashion that fits our strengths, you manage to turn it around anyway."

  "Much to the detriment of our cell phones earlier today," I added.

  "Do you all want me to just let you pick on me?" she asked. She looked exasperated. "Fine. New wager. Me against you guys. I owe a medium favor to any of you who beat me." She grabbed Serena and pulled her into the game as well. "First one to the northern edge of the property and back here wins." She didn't even wait for us to agree but shifted into fox, the blanket fluttering from around her, and began running north, yipping happily.

  The rest of us looked at each other. "What got her angry?" Serena asked. "I think I missed something."

  Scarlett looked at Michaela as the fox disappeared into the trees, paying no attention to whether we were following. Her top speed was about a third of ours. We could let her get to the northern boundary before leaving the compound and still beat her.

  "There's a trick," Angel said. "There has to be."

  "No," Lara said. "No trick. But she is making a point."

  "You guys can stick around discussing it," Serena said. "I am going to go do my job and protect the fox." She shifted into fur and bounded into the woods on Michaela's tail.

  "Come on," Lara said. She shifted into her wolf, paused long enough for the rest of us, and the four of us began to chase down Michaela.

  It only took a minute to catch up with her. She was running along on her little fox feet as fast as she could. Serena padded along easily beside her. The rest of the pack was well out in front of her, having a good run.

  When Lara caught up on Michaela's right, Michaela bumped her with a shoulder but kept running. We all slowed down to match the fox pace, an easy gentle lope for a wolf.

  We crossed a couple of roads. At the first, Michaela didn't even slow down or look for traffic; I presumed she had been listening. We all ran along with her. As we approached the second road, she huffed twice and came to a stop, her ears swiveling. We all stopped with her, then we heard a car drive past. Michaela waited another fifteen seconds then started running again.

  The northern edge of our territory is marked by another road. For races of this nature, we treat the turn around point as the center of the road, although technically pack territory ends at the setback from the road. That's harder to define, and sometimes in a race, a few feet matter. It wouldn't today, of course.

  Michaela slowed as she approached the road, then put on a foxy burst of speed, exited the trees, ran down the ditch, then up onto the road. She stopped when she got there, panting. The rest of us clustered around her. She looked at us and huffed her displeasure, pointing her nose to the compound. She huffed again.

  We waited for her.

  She shifted into human. "Do you not recognize the meaning of a race?" she asked. "You are supposed to run from the start to the end, following the prescribed course, as quickly as you are able. You are not doing so."

  Lara huffed at her.

  "Acting as if I'm not worthy of a proper race is insulting," she said. "Get going."

  Lara huffed at her again.

  "Go!" she yelled, and she swatted Lara on the nose. She put a lot into it, too. Lara yelped in surprise.

  "Go!" Michaela yelled, and she swatted my nose. She may just be a fox, but she could hit hard when she wanted to. Then she swatted Angel. She aimed for Scarlett, but Scarlett ducked her nose, so she got a swat on her butt instead.

  "Go on!" she yelled. "It's so important to put the fox in her place. Go do it!" She spun around, swatting each of us, but skipping Serena.

  Lara and I backed away from her. Serena stood to the side, watching for danger, doing her job. Angel and Scarlett took the swats, then they both fell onto their backs, exposing their throats and whimpering.

  Michaela stared at the two of them for a moment, then her expression softened. She stepped over Angel to stand between the two of them, then knelt down. She took Angel's throat in her mouth briefly, then, leaving a hand on Angel's chest, Scarlett's throat. Then she pulled both wolves closer to her and put her head down between them, whispering into their ears. She finished, took each of their throats again, then straightened up, still kneeling between them. The two wolves rolled to their feet then shoved their chests against Michaela, hanging their heads over her shoulder. Michaela reached around each of them and hugged them both. She accepted wolf licks from each of them, laughing, then said, "Go on now. Make me proud. Let me know later which of you won."

  The two wolves took off to the south, howling.

  Michaela climbed to her feet and looked at Lara and me.

  "This is a race," she said, and her returned anger was evident. "Act like it. Now."

  Lara huffed, nudged me, then turned south. She took two steps, waiting for me, and then the two of us were running south.

  Michaela would be safe with Serena.

  Lara and I were fairly evenly matched. We haven't competed seriously with each other in years, especially in a fight. She still remembers when I was bigger than her, as I am the older sister. Nowadays, I don't know if she could take me or not. I hope to never find out.

  We raced together, not quite side by side; the forest prevented that. She would be ahead for a while, then I would be. It was, for all practical purposes, a neck and neck race. I knew Lara would put on a final burst of energy at the end, but so would I.

  We caught Scarlett a mile from the compound. Angel was another thirty yards in front. We passed them both, exchanging friendly chuffs as we did so.

  Lara's final burst of speed came further from the compound than I expected. She began pulling away from me with three quarters of a mile to go. I put on my own burst of speed, but wasn't able to close the small distance she had gained. She was ahead by twenty yards, then with a quarter mile to go, she put on another burst of speed. I was already giving it everything I had, and Lara beat me to the compound by a good fifty yards.

  Michaela and Serena arrived nearly fifteen minutes later, and Michaela almost dragged herself in. The fox could lope along for hours at a time, but a twelve mile run at her best speed wasn't how she was built.

  She climbed the stairs to the porch, panting, then shifted to human. "Who won, Angel?"

  Angel looked at Lara and yipped.

  "Yeah, that's not a surprise. But between you and Scarlett?"

  Scarlett rolled over onto her back, offering her throat to Angel.

  "Congratulations, Angel," Michaela said, still panting.

  About half the pack was in the compound, milling around, unsure what was going on. Michaela said, "Someone organize another game or go hunt a deer or something. I have favors to write out, and then I hope there's a bonfire. I could use s'mores
and a lemonade."

  Then she stepped to the front door of the house and slipped inside. Lara tried to follow her but got a door slammed nearly on her nose, and the sound of the deadbolt latching was clear.

  Lara turned around, shifted into human, and said, "Janice, can you organize something? Francesca, are we able to satisfy the fox's request?"

  Janice and Francesca both chuffed and set about their tasks. Angel and Scarlett tried to follow Janice, but Lara said, "You two. Come with me." Then she grabbed Serena and me as well. She wrapped herself in a blanket then tossed them at the rest of us. "Shift. Now."

  She gave us a moment to wrap ourselves in the blankets then said, "What did she tell you girls?"

  Angel and Scarlett communicated silently then Angel turned to Lara and said, "Frankly, Alpha, it's none of your business."

  I began to growl at Angel for her tone, but Lara put her hand on my arm to silence me.

  Lara studied them for a moment. "Before I ask you to go see if Francesca needs help, do either of you have anything to say?"

  "No, Alpha," Scarlett said.

  "Go on then," Lara said.

  Once the girls were dressed and off to help Francesca, Lara turned to me. "No repercussions to Angel for that. It took a great deal of bravery to tell me that."

  "Yes, Alpha," I told her. "Is Michaela still mad about the pool?"

  "Michaela was never mad about the pool," Lara said. "She's mad because we're poor losers."

  I studied my sister.

  "Furthermore," Lara added. "I don't think she's done telling us just how unhappy she is we're poor losers."

  "We're not poor losers," I objected.

  "Sure we are," Lara said. "I'm probably the worst."

  "You're very gracious when you don't win," I protested.

  "Am I?" Lara asked. "When she outsmarted us at the pool today, who ordered you to throw her in?"

  "Serena and I didn't exactly protest," I pointed out. "If you hadn't been there, we'd probably have thrown her in anyway. But you said she isn't mad about the pool."

  "She isn't. She's not mad we gang up on her, either. But she's one small fox amongst the big wolves, wolves that not only outnumber her three hundred to one, but wolves who are bigger, stronger and faster than she is. Have you heard her complain?"

  I shook my head.

  "When pack play night fits wolf skills, does she complain?"