Jaguar (The Madison Wolves Book 12) Read online

  "Yes, Head Enforcer. Will you tell Serena I've been reassigned, or should I?"

  "I'll do it," Elisabeth said.

  At that, we climbed from the cars. I kept my laptop, but I didn't worry about the other things.

  The enforcers had loosely dispersed around us, remaining vigilant, but somewhat more relaxed than they had been. But I could see the dynamics this weekend were going to be interesting. Carissa had claimed Michaela's arm, and Lara didn't seem happy about it. I moved closer to Elisabeth.

  "Does Lara know Carissa wants a friendship to work?"

  Elisabeth set a hand on my arm, drawing us to a stop. Then she leaned close. "She treats Michaela like a possession."

  "She doesn't intend it that way," I countered. "But if Lara hates her so much, why were we invited?"

  "Lara doesn't hate her. Lara is also trying to make the friendship work. But Michaela's greatest asset is her brain, and it goes to mush when she hears Carissa's voice."

  "I had words with Carissa about that," I said. "She was self-effacing about it."

  "She should be," Elisabeth replied. Then she sighed. "If she hadn't made the choices she made, we wouldn't have made all the choices we made, and I believe Deirdre would be dead now. Michaela would say it was worth the cost."

  "Is that leftover thrall talking?"

  "I don't believe so."

  "What do you say about it? Or what does Lara say?"

  "I say we all nearly died saving Deirdre's life. Michaela's life was in the balance." She shook her head. "It was the thrall that saved her."

  "I don't understand."

  "She was ready to give up, but Carissa had ordered her to obey my orders, and I ordered her to fight for her life and to heal her legs."

  "It was that close?"

  "At the end it was," Elisabeth said. "Her legs were ravaged from the knees down, her feet barely still attached."

  "Oh, good lord," I said. I looked at the fox, laughing at something Carissa had said, then turned back to Elisabeth. The fierce wolf brushed a tear from her eyes.

  "We nearly lost her," Elisabeth said, her voice rough. "Serena was bad, too, but not as bad as Michaela. If Michaela had died, Lara would have declared war on Carissa."

  "She would have destroyed you."

  "I know. So does Lara, but her grief would have been boundless. Our pack would have been destroyed, Anna." She gestured. "Watch how everyone treats Michaela this weekend. Not everyone in the pack would have supported a war, but nearly everyone who knows Michaela would have." She huffed once, then again. "It didn't happen that way."

  "Do I need to suggest to Carissa she tone down her affection for Michaela?"

  "Watch the fox."

  And darned if Michaela didn't shake her head slightly.

  "Oh hell, she's listening to us."

  "I suspect Carissa heard every word as well," Elisabeth said. "If you want a conversation the fox can't hear, you don't have it within a half mile of her."

  I laughed. "Got it."

  "I mean that literally, by the way," Elisabeth said.

  "Got it," I repeated.

  Elisabeth stepped forward again, and I moved alongside her. We'd closed half the distance to Carissa and the alphas when the door of the lodge opened and two wolf children burst through the door.

  "Mommy Wolf! Mommy Fox!"

  Carissa dropped Michaela's arm. The fox didn't need to bend down to greet her incoming daughter, although Lara did. But I saw Serena step forward, closer to the fox. I wondered if it was to intercept the child. But when the young girl launched herself at her mother, Serena simply provided additional support to prevent the fox from tumbling end over end.

  "How long were you gone?"

  "Oh, a little over an hour. They're just excited."

  We closed the distance, coming to a stop beside Carissa. The vampire was smiling as she watched the family greeting. Lara held her daughter easily. Michaela spun hers around in her arms before setting her down, delivering a kiss before trading daughters. The second daughter received a spin and a kiss, and then both alphas turned their daughters towards the vampire.

  "Darlings," Michaela began in introduction. But the girl whose hands she was holding pulled away. She stepped right up to Carissa and looked up at her.

  "Are you a vampire?" she asked in a little girl voice.

  "Yes, young wolf," Carissa said. "I am. My name is Carissa." She held out her hand. The girl looked at it for a moment before accepting a perfunctory shake.

  "I'm Celeste," said the girl. "That's Rebecca."

  "I can introduce myself," said Rebecca, pulling away from Lara. She stepped up beside her sister. "I'm Rebecca." She held out her hand, and Carissa shook it briefly. "I want to see your fangs."

  "Rebecca," said Michaela. "We do not make demands of our guests."

  The girl lowered her head immediately. "I'm sorry, Mommy Fox."

  "Did you come to bite us?" Celeste asked.

  "Did you come to suck our blood?" Rebecca added. "That's what vampires do."

  "No," Carissa said. "I came as a friend, and to meet the two of you. I only accept blood that is freely offered."

  "All right, you two," said Lara in what was clearly a mother voice. "What do we say to guests who come to visit?"

  Both girls looked over their shoulders at their mother then turned back to Carissa. "Welcome to our home," they said together.

  "Thank you," Carissa said.

  Then both girls looked around. They spied Anika and Joanna, hanging behind Carissa. They cocked their heads, and it looked almost exactly like Michaela when she cocked hers. What was cutest was they each had done it in opposite directions, Rebecca to the left and Celeste to the right. And I don't know how it worked, but I would see over the course of the weekend they did that a lot, but it wasn't always the same direction. It was, however, always opposite, and I had no idea how they managed that.

  But then they both turned and spotted me. And together, they moved past Michaela to come to a stop in front of me. I smiled at them.

  "You smell funny," Rebecca said. "You're not a wolf."

  "You smell..." Celeste took a big whiff. And then Rebecca leaned closer and took her own.

  Then, together, they both began growling, low in their throats.

  "No!" Michaela said firmly. She stepped up between them, and then Lara was there, too. I saw several enforcers in motion, and suddenly we were surrounded.

  Michaela turned her back to me, interposing herself between me and the growling girls. "I said no!"

  Both girls immediately grew quiet. By then, Lara had a hand on each shoulder. And then there was another wolf, female, perhaps mid-twenties. She wasn't an enforcer. But she stepped up beside Lara and set a hand on Rebecca's other shoulder. Another wolf, and I couldn't tell if she was an enforcer or not, stepped to the other side and had a hand on Celeste's shoulder.

  Neither girl looked away. They'd been glaring at me, but they had adjusted their attention to their Mother Fox.

  "Girls," Michaela said firmly, "This is Annabelle Delacroix. I know she smells... unusual. But she is a guest this weekend, and our friend besides. I want you to apologize to her. We do not growl at our guests."

  "She smells like..." began Rebecca.

  "A cat," Celeste finished.

  "She's not human," Rebecca continued.

  "She's really not a wolf," Celeste declared.

  "What is she?" they asked together.

  "Apologize for growling," Michaela said firmly. "Now."

  Neither of them looked remotely apologetic, but they glanced up at me and then down to their mother. "We're sorry," they said in small voices. I wasn't sure they were, but they were young, and I wasn't going to take offense.

  "I know I smell odd to you," I said. "But I am a friend. Michaela?" I asked permission to say more. She nodded, and so I continued. "Tell me, young wolves. If a human knew you were a werewolf, she might be afraid of you."

  "Zoe is human, and she's not afraid of us!"

&nb
sp; "All right," I said. I had no idea who Zoe was. "But a lot of humans would be. You are a werewolf and so you are different from a human. Is that a reason for her to growl at you, or for you to growl at her?"

  The two exchanged a look, but they didn't say anything.

  "I am different from everyone else here," I said. "Carissa is also different from everyone else here. Your Mommy Fox is different from everyone else here. It is possible to be different but to still be a friend."

  They were young, and perhaps that was too advanced for them. But I stepped forward and then knelt down beside Michaela, putting my eyes closer to a level with the girls. "It is good to be cautious around strangers," I said. "You would be cautious around a wolf that wasn't a member of the pack. And you should be cautious around people who smell like me. But I am not an enemy to your pack, and I'd like us all to be friends. How do you feel about being friends?"

  They cocked their heads again, this time the opposite direction. "What are you?" Rebecca asked.

  "I am a jaguar," I answered. "Do you know what that is?"

  They each shook their heads.

  "Well, in my fur, I am all black and about the size of a large tiger."

  Their eyes got wide. "Are you bigger than a wolf?"

  "Yes," she said. "If your mothers give permission, then maybe you'll get to see this weekend." I smiled again and held out my hand. "Do you think we can be friends?"

  They both looked at my hand for a moment, but then Rebecca shrugged away from her keepers and stepped forward. She shook my hand before retreating to Lara. Celeste did the same.

  "Please call me Anna," I said. "And I am sorry, but I do not know if I can tell you apart, so if I call you by the wrong name, I hope you won't hold it against me."

  "I'm Celeste," one of them reminded me. "I'm slightly bigger."

  "I'm Rebecca," said the other. "I'm older."

  "By three minutes," Celeste clarified.

  I looked between them critically. If Celeste was bigger, I couldn't tell.

  "Well," I said. "I'm not sure I'll be very good at telling you apart, but I'll do my best."

  "That's okay," Rebecca said.

  "Even Nora gets us wrong sometimes."

  "Who is Nora?"

  Both girls looked over their shoulder and pointed to one of the wolves, the smaller one who had helped Lara. "That's Nora. She's our nanny."

  "Ah. Well, I am pleased to meet you."

  At that, they retreated to safety, and I stepped back to let Michaela resume control of the situation. She introduced the girls to Anika and Joanna.

  And then there were fresh introductions of all the other wolves in attendance. I learned the other wolf who had helped Lara was Scarlett, the architect. And I saw Monique with two other girls her age named Cassie and Ember. And there was a petite human woman named Zoe. She was Portia's mate and Ember's mother.

  I decided to do my best to remember names but was sure I'd make mistakes.

  Finally we turned to the lodge. It truly was beautiful. We received a tour, ending in the three rooms assigned to our group. It would be a mistake to call the rooms identical. They were decorated differently, after all. But they were of a similar size and quality. And so Carissa took the center of the three rooms. Joanna and Anika took the room to the right, and I received the room to the left.

  I was pretty sure we were displacing people. Michaela introduced the rooms as "guest rooms", but it was clear not all the enforcers would stay in the main lodge. I hoped they were comfortable in the bunkhouses.

  I dropped off my computer, and as a group we headed towards the front room. It was on the way that Michaela cut Carissa and me from the crowd, pulling us towards a set of windows. It was clearly premeditated, as Lara moved everyone else towards a large seating area in the middle of the room.

  Of course, the enforcers took up different positions, but they were far more relaxed than they had been.

  But then I turned my attention to Michaela. She spoke quietly. "We have a few things planned this weekend, but we haven't filled it with activities. We're between seasons. It's a poor time of the year to enjoy the lake, I'm afraid. Today is informal. There is Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow, and we have reservations in town for dinner on Saturday. There is a small ceremony scheduled for tomorrow." She paused. "It wasn't scheduled at the time we invited you here." She paused.

  "What is it, Michaela?" Carissa asked. "Is our presence awkward?"

  "It's a private, intimate ceremony," she explained. "You briefly met Ember. She is the adoptive daughter to Portia and Zoe."

  "She seems like a lovely girl," Carissa said.

  "She is. There is a formal adoption ceremony."

  "Oh," Carissa said. "I see. Michaela, this is already an intimate holiday, and you have invited us for it. I am deeply touched. But this ceremony is for only the closest friends and family, and while we wish us all to be friends, it is not appropriate for us to be in attendance. How long would you like us to wander the town?"

  "The town will be shut down," Michaela said.

  "Perhaps you would loan us a car, and we can tour the countryside for an hour or two."

  "Thank you for understanding, Carissa."

  "Of course, Michaela. We are all being careful with our diplomacy. Perhaps we could relax just a little?"

  Michaela nodded. "Lara-"

  "Lara is protective of her mate, her family, and her pack," Carissa said. "But her smiles are not false, and the invitation was not false, and the hospitality is not false." She paused. "Michaela, we have not brought trouble to your doorstep. I have adversaries, but they will not trouble your pack."

  "That is a conversation for Lara and Elisabeth," Michaela said. "But I don't think the enforcers will relax for some time."

  "No," Carissa said somewhat sadly. "I suppose they won't."

  Michaela offered a smile. "Other than meals, there is no particular agenda today. If no one attempts to organize something, we'll fall into patterns. But if there are things you would like to do, feel free to suggest them."

  "Perhaps we'll see what emerges," Carissa replied.

  Michaela nodded and then offered a gesture. Carissa took her arm again, and we rejoined everyone else, coming to a stop on the edge of the circle they had formed.

  "Have y'all determined how we are to spend the time until lunch?"

  "Francesca grabbed some help," replied Lara. "And said lunch will be about forty minutes." She redirected her gaze to Carissa. "Lunch today is casual."

  "That sounds lovely," Carissa said. "Don't worry about anything special for us. We'll fit in."

  "Other than that," Lara said, "We were waiting for you, Michaela."

  "Yeah," said Michaela. "That's what I thought." Her gaze shifted. "Head Enforcer, we are all friends here. Are the enforcers able to relax?"

  Elisabeth turned to her alpha, but Lara said nothing, and so Elisabeth looked around for a moment before answering. "Yes, although I want adult eyes on the twins and two enforcers on the fox."

  Michaela nodded, looking around briefly, then tugged on Carissa and pulled her to a pair of open seats. I found my own seat, and then Michaela said, "Perhaps we can use this time to get to know each other a little better. Rebecca. Celeste. This is going to be an adult conversation. If you stay, you will learn something, but you might get bored."

  The twins exchanged a look then one of them asked, "May we go play?"

  They stood up and turned to Nora, their nanny, who took one hand each. She led them from the room, Emanuel and -- I wracked my brain to remember his name -- Rory following them.

  "We can go into town this afternoon," Michaela said, "Unless someone has a better plan. Carissa, Anna, everyone is curious about the two of you."

  "Anna, perhaps you'd like to go first," Carissa suggested.

  "I don't know what anyone wants to know," I said.

  "You told the twins you were all black and the size of a tiger," said one of the teenage girls. I thought for a moment and remembered this was Ember
, the adopted daughter of Portia and the human, Zoe, the one who would be the center of tomorrow's celebration. "But I thought jaguars were spotted, like a leopard, and significantly smaller than a tiger."

  "Ah," I replied. "You have heard of black panthers. I am still spotted, but in most light, it can be hard to see. At night, even to were eyes, I appear entirely black."

  "And even to my eyes," Carissa inserted.

  "And you're right. The largest natural male jaguar might come close to the weight of lion or small tiger. But in my fur, I am somewhat larger than expected." I smiled sweetly.

  "How much larger?" That was from the other teenage girl -- Cassie, I think was her name.

  "I am about the size of an average Siberian or Bengal tiger," I said. "Ten feet tip to tail and 460 pounds."

  There was an intake of air and a few exclamations at that. Once everyone settled, Lara said, "There are reasons wolves and the cats tend to avoid each other, but Anna is our friend."

  "And I'd like to point out," said Michaela with a glint in her eye, "Anna in fur is about twice the size of any of you in fur. However, the smallest of you are five times my size in fur. If she seems big to you, imagine how all of you seem to me." She grinned. "Anna, I am looking forward to seeing you in your fur later."

  "I would like that," I replied, offering a small bow to her.

  The girl had her hand back up. "Another question, Cassie?" Michaela prompted.

  "I'm not sure," said the girl. "It's just..." She bit her lip.

  "Are you about to ask something insulting?" Michaela asked.

  "What?" Cassie said. "No, Alpha. Well..."

  "Are you about to comment on my size?" There was an amused lilt in Michaela's voice. "Go ahead. I'm proud of who I am. You should know that."

  "You're just so small," Cassie said.

  "And you're wondering if I see all of you like you probably see your alpha fox?" I asked.

  "Yeah, I guess."

  I turned to Michaela. "You shrink in your fur?"

  "I'm about 30 pounds," she said. "Big for an American red fox, but not notably so."

  My respect for her rose. She was so small and delicate, but she held her own amongst these wolves. Their respect -- and love -- was clear. "I can't imagine being so small," I said slowly. I turned back to the girl. "Cassie, is it?"