Fox Afield (Madison Wolves) Read Online Free Page A

asking whether I was sure, and I nodded to her. She lowered her sister to the ground. "All right," I said. "It's easiest to check if we stand back to back. Are you ready?"
    She nodded.
    "All right," I said. "We'll each turn around and stand as tall as we can with our backs touching, and the alphas will judge which of us is taller."
    We both turned around, I backed up to her, and then said, "Alpha?"
    "What do you think, Lara?" Daniel asked. "It looks pretty close."
    "I agree, Daniel. I think perhaps the fox is the tiniest bit taller, but that could simply be her wild hair."
    "My hair is not wild," I said. "My hair is always perfectly well-behaved."
    "P erhaps the fox is the tiniest bit taller," Daniel agreed. "But the next time we meet, that will no longer be the case."
    I stepped away from the girl and turned around, and she turned to face me. "Well, there you have it. We're almost exactly the same height, but you're still growing, and I am not. Would you like to see something really funny?"
    "Yes!" she said.
    "Brooke, would you?" I turned around and then Brooke chuckled before standing against my back.
    "Brooke is a lot taller than you are, Michaela!" Casey said.
    I laughed and said, "Yes, and in a few years, you will be too, won't you?"
    She nodded sagely.
    By then her mother had stepped up, still holding onto their other child, and she was smiling at me. When I glanced at Daniel, he was, too.
    "All right, Casey," the woman said. "I believe that is enough breaking of protocol. You knew you were to wait for me."
    "I'm sorry, Mom," she said. "But I wanted to see the fox."
    "And now you have seen her. Do you think perhaps the rest of us could receive our proper introductions?" She stepped forward, holding her other child, a boy of twelve years, by the shoulders.
    Daniel spoke. "Lara, Madison Alpha, this is my wife, Ysabella, and my second son, Cory. Ysabella, Lara and Michaela Burns."
    Ysabella held out her hand to Lara, then to me, and she smiled warmly, her smile larger for me.
    I looked a t the boy. He was a little shy, staring at me uncertainly. He was just at the age when boys start to notice girls, and he did not have the unabashed freedom of his little sister.
    "Would you care to shake hands, Cory?" I asked. "You need to be very gentle, even more gentle than you would with a young wolf pup."
    He nodded uncertainly, and I held out my hand. He took it awkwardly, but he was gentle. He was missing the roughness I'd grown accustomed to with other wolves. He snatched his hand back and faded behind his mother, never taking his eyes from me.
    Ysabella offered a welcome to Boulder and hopes for friendship between our two packs. I wouldn't have wanted to depend on Glenn's friendliness, but the rest of the Bancroft family seemed to be offering a genuinely friendly greeting. I tried to determine the dynamics between everyone. Why was Brooke introduced first rather than Ysabella? More importantly, why was Glenn?
    We exchanged a few additional pleasantries. I had retreated to Lara's side but was watching everything. Ysabella had reasserted management of her younger children. Cory was fine to remain in the background, but Casey appeared to be a delightful handful of energy.
    Finally Daniel spoke. "I am sure you are anxious to be on your way, but perhaps we could lure you to an early lunch first. I am afraid Glenn cannot make it, as he has urgent business to attend to for me."
    "An informal lunch would be lovely," Lara said.
    "Excellent," Daniel said. "Greg, will you attend with us?"
    "I would love to," he said.
    "I do have one small request," Lara said. "My wife knows nothing of our upcoming plans, and I would rather they remain a surprise to be discovered one at a time rather than all at once."
    Ysabella laughed. "Daniel attempts to keep things from me in such a similar way, but it rarely works out, does it Daniel?"
    "No," he said. " And I rather suspect it is not so easy for you, either, Lara?"
    "No," she said, glancing down at me.