“It might not remain awe,” she said after a moment. “Michele Lassiter uses the word ‘joy’.” She smiled then spoke more loudly. “Well. It appears to be time.”
“Did you make a game?” Lara asked.
Michaela glanced at me. “No. Just a run.” She loosened her clothing then took two steps towards her mate. She jumped at Lara, and midair, she shifted to a fox. Her clothing fell off her as Lara caught her, laughing.
I stared. I couldn’t help it.
She was just so beautiful.
Michaela gave Lara a quick lick, and then the big wolf set down the fox. Michaela bumped Lara’s leg then stepped over to me and began pushing me towards the stairs off the porch. I laughed and went where she pushed. A moment later, we were jogging towards the woods, the wolves all around us.
Michaela appeared to have several paces she could travel as a fox. In a flat run, she was much faster than I could run. But she also seemed to have a natural pace that was about my jogging speed. I could keep up with her. Unfortunately for me, she could maintain that speed a lot longer than I could jog, but at least for a while, I could keep up.
The wolves were faster, much faster, and I could see what an easy, slow speed this was for them.
We barely made the trees before the pups were dashing around us, chasing each other, chasing the other wolves, and even from time to time, chasing after Michaela’s tail. A couple of times one of them dashed past me, and I worried I would trip over one of them, but I didn’t.
And then Lara was there, loping alongside Michaela. On my left, Elisabeth bounded past me, but the path grew narrower, and I knew we wouldn’t be able to run side-by-side very far. I didn’t worry about that. I jogged along the path and let everyone else decide what they were going to do.
Some of the wolves ran with us, ahead or behind us on the trail or dashing through the underbrush to either side. They were streaks, visible by the movement more than anything. Light streaks, dark streaks. But just streaks. Some of them ran ahead then came back, three or four in a group, an arrow of wolves.
Some ran close to the ground. A few liked to make great, leaping bounds. I’d seen both Lara and Elisabeth leap like that, and it was amazing to watch.
“I wonder how far they can jump,” I panted. “And how high? Elisabeth, can you actually jump over me?”
I shouldn’t have asked.
She dashed away down the path, well in front of us. Still beside me, sharing the path with me, Michaela grunted several times, and then she looked up at me, her tongue lolling to the side. I wondered if she was laughing at me.
From ahead, I heard a brief howl, and then coming down the path was a wolf — Elisabeth — running as fast as I’d ever seen her. She was running straight at us. Then, still a good twenty yards away, she made a leap, a small leap. I was sure she could jump higher and further, but she still ate five yards.
But when she landed, she came down in a coil of muscle, and then she released that coil, and she was flying through the air straight at me.
I screamed and ducked, burying my head with my arms and collapsing to my knees, curling into a protective ball.
She didn’t hit me, of course. Instead, she flew well over my head, coming to the ground behind me. I heard skidding, and a moment later, she was beside me.
“Oh my god,” I said. “You scared me.” I wrapped my arms around her neck. “I know. I asked if you could.” I held her for a minute, and she stood still for me as my heart slowed. Finally I said, “Wow, you were magnificent. Are you going to do it again?”
She grunted then shook lightly. I released her and stood up.
Michaela and Lara had come to a stop, waiting for us a short distance away. Some of the other wolves had also stopped, and I heard more running around in the woods nearby.
“I know,” I said. “Scaredy-human.”
All the wolves grunted at me, a few with tongues lolling. Brats. They were all brats.
I set off down the trail again.
Michaela spun around and ran in front of me, Lara scrambling for a moment to keep up with her, then loping alongside her mate easily. Elisabeth ran next to me, then she dashed ahead, and I knew what she intended. Lara made a few big jumps, pulling out ahead of Michaela and chasing after her sister. Michaela, in turn, slowed down and then began running beside me again.
“They’re both going to do it, aren’t they?”
Michaela grunted twice.
“I’m probably going to scream again.”
She grunted some more.
“Am I embarrassing Elisabeth?” And the fox didn’t reply. I thought that was my answer.
We ran for perhaps a half minute before I heard a wolf racing down the path towards us. Lara appeared.
Elisabeth had done a double jump, but Lara did it her own way. I watched her muscles coil and then she sprang.
She wasn’t pointed straight at me, and I realized she wasn’t leaping at me; she was leaping at Michaela. Still, I shied away from her path, and she was a blur as she passed through the air to my right, directly over Michaela but only about my eye level. I looked over my shoulder to see her land and come to a skidding stop before turning around.
“Oh please,” I said. “Even I can jump over your mate, Alpha.”
Beside me, Michaela jumped ahead, did a summersault when she landed, and she came up on two feet in her human shape. “You shouldn’t have said that, Zoe. Wager, and you can’t say ‘no’.”
“Damn it.”
She raised her voice. “Elisabeth, Lara. Get over here.” With a hand out, she brought me to a stop, and moments later both wolves were beside us.
“Zoe has challenged the alpha,” Michaela said. She looked at me pointedly, and I realized I had done just that. Furthermore, I immediately realized that challenging the alpha was probably not the best choice. I nodded understanding. She looked at the wolves. “You each get five leaps. The first two will be over me, not Zoe. The last three are over her. Your leaps must be high enough to clear her.” She smiled and turned to me.
“You may react in joy or awe, but you must not react in fear or act startled. No screaming, screeching, ducking, or covering your eyes.”
She looked at the wolves. “You mustn’t touch her. Point to Zoe if you touch her more firmly than a brushing of fur.” She looked at me. “It doesn’t count if you touch them or alter your path.” I nodded. “Point to the wolves if you react poorly. Point to you if you just keep jogging along as if nothing happened. Or if you laugh.”
And I laughed, nervously.
She looked at the wolves. “If either of you knock her over, it’s an automatic major favor from the alpha or head enforcer as appropriate.” She looked back at me. “Do you understand?”
“It’s a favor. I’ve had to give away several on pack play nights.”
“Ah. But these are major favors, which can mean anything, and they are from the alpha, which is different than coming from Lara. Do you see?”
“I’m not sure. I think so.” I paused. “They aren’t going to knock me over, so it won’t matter.”
She smiled. “True. You have to keep running. You lose a point if you don’t keep up with me.”
“I can’t run as fast as you can.”
“I know. I’ll set a pace you can maintain. Now, I’m the only judge, and anyone arguing with me gives up an extra point. I’ll chuff for a point to Zoe and huff for either wolf.”
“Chuff?”
Beside me, Elisabeth made the grunting sound of agreement.
“Oh,” I said. “I called it a grunt.”
“It’s a chuff,” Michaela said. And then Elisabeth made the snort. “And that’s a huff.”
“It sounded like a snort to me.”
Michaela barked a short laugh. “I suppose it did.”
“Chuff and huff,” I said. “Got it.”
“All right. If Zoe beats either wolf, then that wolf owes her help on future GreEN events. The number of points she earns more than she loses is how many days of help. Zoe, if you beat both wolves, then I’ll help alongside Lara.”
I thought that was a good wager. “What if I lose?”
“Then you owe the wolf that many days of tasks she assigns.”
“If they both beat me, do I owe you a bunch of days, too?”
“Of course. And that’s on top of your pack duty.” She looked between the three of us. “Does everyone understand?” There were two wolf chuffs, and I tried to make the same sound. All three of them looked at me, their heads cocked.
“What was that?” Michaela asked.
I hung my head. “A chuff?”
“No, it wasn’t,” she said. She laughed briefly again. “I’ll take it you understand. Let’s go.” She turned down the trail and jumped, coming down as a fox, then she looked over her shoulder, waiting for me to catch up. I began jogging to Michaela’s pace. A moment later, both wolves dashed past us, one on either side.
“I’m going to lose,” I said quietly. I glance down to my right at Michaela. She twitched an ear when I said it. And chuffed. “Are you teaching me a lesson?” Another chuff.
A moment later, there was a quick howl — I couldn’t tell from whose voice. And then a silver and black streak was aimed at us. I realized it was Lara. She leapt, and I cowered and screamed. With my hands over my head, I didn’t see where Lara went, but a moment later, I heard Michaela huff, and then Lara came up and snuck her nose in between my arms and bathed my ear with her tongue.
“I know,” I said. “Point to Lara.”
Lara chuffed then nudged me. I stood back up. Michaela gave me a moment and then set off down the trail again.
Twenty seconds later, Elisabeth appeared, running hard. She wasn’t quite as far away as Lara had been at her leap. I managed to avoid screaming.
But when a two hundred pound werewolf jumps at you from a running start, it is still a frightening sight. I shied away, stepping into the undergrowth to the side of the path and nearly tripping over my own feet. Michaela huffed.
The wolves were magnificent. I loved watching them. I couldn’t believe how high an far they could leap, and if I were just a tiny bit further away, I could enjoy watching.
We ran. Elisabeth and Lara followed along behind us, and then Lara ran ahead then suddenly, with no warning, turned around and jumped.
I screamed and ducked.
God, I was such a wimp.
Behind me, Elisabeth chuffed a few times. I looked over at Michaela, who was watching me. “Was that high enough?” She chuffed. “Does that chuff mean a point to me or a point to Lara?” Michaela lolled her tongue and huffed. I wasn’t terribly surprised.
Without warning, I turned up the trail and began jogging again. Michaela scrambled to catch up, and Lara went bounding ahead.
A moment later I jumped slightly as Elisabeth leapt over Michaela from behind us this time. She caught me entirely by surprised.
But I neither screamed nor cowered. Elisabeth disappeared around a bend in the path, and I looked down at Michaela to see how she would score it.
She looked up at me and then chuffed.
“Point to me?” I asked. She chuffed again. “Woo hoo! Point to Zoe.” I did a tiny little victory dance as we jogged down the path.
But I knew the little competition was going to heat up. Before, they’d been leaping over Michaela, but now they were going to be jumping over me, and I was pretty sure they would come as close as they could without actually touching me. I also knew Elisabeth played to win, and I presumed Lara would be at least as competitive.
Michaela and I turned the small bend in the trail, and there wasn’t a wolf in sight. Elisabeth and Lara had disappeared entirely. I was sure they each had something special planned for me. Michaela and I jogged along for another minute or so before I learned what it was.
Suddenly there was rustling from the underbrush to the left side of the trail. My head snapped in that direction in time to see a wolf leaping for me. I gasped, tripped over my own feet, and nearly tripped over Michaela as well. I went down as the wolf flew well over my head, although I got a good look at soft underbelly fur.
I landed hard, Michaela barely scrambling out from underneath me before I would have landed on her. I bounced slightly, coming to a skidding halt and banging the back of my head into the dirt. Then I lay there, stunned.
Michaela huffed — as if anyone wondered how I had done that time. And then she moved to my side. A moment later, a wolf was standing over me, sniffing at me. I stared upward, not moving.
Michaela shifted to human, kneeling beside me. “Are you all right?”
I turned my head to look at her. “Ouch.”
“I imagine,” she said. “Is anything broken?”
I wriggled my fingers and toes. Everything seemed to work, but my backside hurt. I rolled towards her, curling into a ball on the ground for a moment.
“Everything seems to work,” I said. “I didn’t see which wolf it was.”
“Lara,” Michaela said. “Three to nothing with Lara, one-one with Elisabeth. Are you ready to get up?”
I nodded. Michaela helped me to sit then brushed the dirt, leaves and twigs from my hair. I turned to her.
“I don’t belong here, Michaela,” I said quietly.
She frowned, and from beside me, Lara huffed repeatedly. “We’ll talk about it later,” Michaela said. “But you’re wrong.”