The Queen Of Tricks

The Foxes Game

The younger wolves of the pack were in the downstairs rec room playing video games. The sound of their constant banter making its way upstairs. Ribbing each other on their skill, or lack of skill from what I heard. I could also hear the background noises of the football game they were playing.

They were getting ready for their real football game that would start in a couple of hours. I heard their laughs of joy as one team beat the others, and the sound of fists flying as one team did not beat the others. It had been a while since I had been inside a packhouse while no one was trying to kill me or torture me, but the day was still young. Goals were still set. The pack house was big, three floors, lots of space.

The top floor had about ten bedrooms, six in permanent use, and four for guests. One of those I slept in last night. The second floor was a huge kitchen, where I was currently making myself a snack for the past twenty minutes. The other half of the second floor was a sitting room, littered with chairs and tables. The basement was a fully furnished rec room that the young wolves seemed to have claimed.

Not many people were in the pack house, most of the members of the Algoren Pack were in their own homes that were not too far away. It was still early and only the Alpha and his family, along with a few stragglers actually lived in the house. The younger members were only here for their video game practice. There was still a little bit of action happening though. The pack house

still acted as pack headquarters, with mothers and babies coming in and out to visit one another, warriors training outside, people making meals, important alpha meetings happening in the alpha's office only a few feet above my head. It was stupid for Alpha Soren to invite me here in the first place. He thought he was being kind and generous, trying to woo me into being his personal spy. But all his efforts were futile and stupid. There was no way I would end up working for only one guy, when I could easily make twice the money working for every guy.

But I was used to important rich creatures try to win my trust with pointless bargains, persuasions, and bribes. It seemed to me, that I was the only one who knew I could make a hell of a lot more money freelancing than working for one person. Who was I to hide my talents from the rest of the world? I wasn't that selfish.

For now I would stay in their pack, letting them think there was a chance. In the meantime I could deal with eating their food and slowly stealing their money when they weren't looking. The Algoren Pack just didn't know about the last part.

With a final whoop from downstairs, I finally heard the sound of thudding feet come flying up the stairs. I had only been waiting for twenty minutes.

A young male, the same age as me stopped abruptly as he saw me sitting on the counter facing him. I tilted my head as I looked him over, a smile forming on my face.

"Hello." I waved my hand that wasn't holding the peanut butter jar.

The male kept glancing between my face, my jar, and the spoon that was shovelling peanut butter into my mouth. He was clearly not expecting a stranger to be in their kitchen. I raised my eyebrows at him in questioning. That seemed to snap him into focus a bit.

The male called down to his friends in the basement, "SJ, do you know there's a chick eating all your peanut butter?"

I laughed as I heard SJ jump off the couch from downstairs, and start climbing the steps. "Yeah, that's V. She's the Betas niece from Ontario."

That was my cover. Only the Alpha, and the Beta knew who I really was. Now I was just a simple wolf girl from Ontario Canada. Up visiting my uncle and aunt I hadn't seen in years.

How the pack would believe we were related? Beats me. Him standing at six feet tall, looking like a professional bodybuilder. While I stood my five foot two inches of tiny glory. Not a single feature matching in the slightest. Definitely family, should have went for twins even.

The Alpha didn't want the rest of the pack knowing he was trying to convince a known spy and thief to join his pack. I didn't want the whole world knowing who the Silver Fox really was either. So I used some of my tricks changed my scent, and told the Alpha's son SJ I was from Ontario.

The young male shrugged and continued walking closer to me. SJ shoved him aside to come stand beside me. I rolled my eyes as the territorial side came out. It wasn't SJ's fault, it was just part of being a wolf.

He saw me first, so of course, he would have dibs on me. His father asked him to personally make sure I was having a good time, so of course, he had to keep me safe.

I was sleeping under the same roof as him, so of course, he was now my guardian. Wolf logic.

Soren Junior was a year younger than me at 22. From what I could tell, he was the exact replica of his father. They looked the same, both having light blond hair and dark blue eyes. Their alpha blood making them bigger than the average male wolf. They had the same personality too. They were both kind, honestly kind. Not the fake kind, but they actually cared about people. Kinder then any Alpha I had ever run into before.

The whole pack was nice. Since the moment I set foot on their territory, I had not felt an ounce of hostility. Maybe some shock, but that was expected when you find a strange girl eating all the peanut butter. That was why Alpha Soren believed so strongly I would stay. That I would choose his pack over any other kind in the world. He probably thought I had never really felt true kindness before.

He wasn't totally wrong.

"That's cool, I'm Christan. I didn't know the Beta had a niece from Ontario." The boy looked over at me, giving me a smile. I grinned back at him.

"Yeah, I'm the side of the family he doesn't like to talk about." I joked. Christan and SJ laughed lightly.

"When did you get to the territory?" Christan asked out of curiosity. He stood on the other side of SJ.

"My flight arrived late last night." Which was a total lie because one, I hadn't been on a plane to get here, and two, I had been in the territory for days. Just no one knew that.

"How long are you here for?"

SJ beat me to answering, as he looked over at me grinning. "Hopefully forever, right V?"

Soren had to throw that in there while he was at it. I smiled, playing along, "Maybe, maybe not. I haven't decided yet."

"What do you mean?" Christan asked as more young wolves climbed up the steps into the kitchen to see who their friends were talking to.

As each one came up, I smiled at them.

"My uncle wants me to stay here permanently. But I don't know if I could handle your guy's... rules." I grinned. The rules of never being allowed to steal, cheat, or lie for another person other than one alpha. Definitely too strict."My pack is a lot more lenient."

"It's not as bad as you think. It's just a little training at six. Bed by Ten. You have to show up at every pack meeting. You get used to it." SJ gave me a wink, laughing at my face.

"Six? In the morning?" My eyes widened at just imagining the pain of trying to wake up that early.

The pack members who were around laughed at my expression, nodding their heads. My face went blank. I sure as hell was not sticking around for long if he thought I was going to wake up anytime close to six o'clock.

"So you don't like to train?" A young female wolf asked. Her eyes narrowing at me. Not in a 'you suck' way, but a 'what kind of pack do you come from' way.

"Oh, I do. Just not in the morning. Never in the morning." I shuddered at the thought. "I love to run. That's my main form of training."

"Nice, I hate running. It makes me feel like I'm just trying to run from my own death." I laughed at the tall wolf on the other side of the room because most of the time, I was running from my death.

"Do you shift V?" One of the members who had come up the stairs asked me. It wasn't a strange question to ask a new female in town. For some reason as powerful as wolves seemed to be, their bloodline was not that strong. It was very rare for a female to have a wolf form. The non-shifting wolves still had the body of a shifter -strong, fast, smart- but no wolf body to shift into. Only 2 out of 10 females can shift, but when they did shift their wolf forms were usually tougher than the males.

"No, unfortunately, I don't." That was my cover, so in case I 'decided to stay', as Soren said. An excuse for me to never reveal my true identity.

Which was another reason Soren was stupid. I loved to shift. I loved my fox form more than I loved my female form. I did love to run, but only when I was in my fox form. I would never give that up. Not in a million years.

"Neither do I." The female who was standing beside me said. She was a lot taller than me, with her hair styled in two thick braids going down her head. We looked at each other in the eyes, she had a slight ache in hers. My eyes had their own ache for the female. Not because I knew the pain, but I had seen the effects it had on females. I couldn't imagine what it would be like not to shift.

Your animal form was what made you a shifter. It wasn't the super strength or speed. It was when you could change your body into something else. That fact that you can just be something else for as long as you wish. Not having to deal with human drama, but be completely controlled by your animal instincts. Not having that made females feel like dirt, like they were nothing, they weren't special. It sucked.

The silence in the room got thick as a few other females nodded their heads. SJ sensed the silence growing in the room. Cutting through the awkward air, SJ smiled and looked at me, quickly changing the subject.

"Are you going to come to our game?" SJ asked me.

"You should! Most of the pack is going to be there." Christan spoke up, getting the hint.

"What kind of game is it?" I furrowed my brows in question. I already knew the answer, but they probably shouldn't know that. Might think I am creepy or something.

"American Football. We are playing the Viribus Pack. Their territory connects with ours to the North. Have you ever heard of them?" The whole pack looked at me expectantly. They seemed like they really weren't sure if I knew who the Viribus Pack was.

"A little bit." Shrugging my shoulders nonchalantly. Everyone has heard of the Viribus Pack. They were the largest pack on the continent. They might be the strongest pack in the world. Until the past couple of years, they no doubt were, but the late alpha really messed them up. The new one was trying to build it back up, but there were a lot of challenges. Regular folks didn't know that part. "Do the Alphas come to the games?"

"Dad might, but Alpha Cassar won't go." Good, he would just make things more difficult. "He never has before," SJ assured me as if I was scared of just the Alpha's name. Most would be.

The Alpha of the Viribus Pack was Cassar Salvateer. He had been alpha only for a couple of years, but he was already famous. Famous for a bad attitude, and a quick temper. He never showed mercy. They said he was just as wicked as his father. More so considering he killed his own father. They said that if someone ever pissed him off, he would personally gut them with his own claws. He turned his enemies inside out. If someone wanted to join his pack they had to break every bone in their dominant hand to prove their loyalty. He's the kind of guy that cuts the heads off of dolls. A real asshole from what I've heard.

"Will you come?" SJ looked at me hopefully.

"Maybe. First I want to call my family back home, let them know everything is going okay." Another way of saying I was going snooping when most of the pack was gone. When no one could disturb me.

"No worries, if you can make it, great. If you cant, that's great too." SJ smiled at me. So nice. They were all so nice.

"I can try. I would have to meet up with you guys later though." I smiled knowing that I was going to that game. I have a plan to follow after all. "What positions does everybody play?"

"Well, I'm obviously the quarterback." He replied while puffing out his chest mockingly. "Christan's our running back, and..."

He kept saying who did what, but I didn't care about those guys. I just needed to know who the running back. Poor Christan. He wouldn't even know what hit him.

As SJ explained what positions everyone played, I nodded along pretending like I was actually interested. They had about thirty players in total. Eleven were female, five of whom could shift. The game was strictly male and female forms. All the players were between the ages of 16 and 35. It was a decent size team for the small pack.

The Algoren pack was only about 106 wolves, not including anyone that didn't shift. Which were women and young children. Adding them the pack was 173. A very small pack compare to the Viribus Pack with 727 members. It was my job to know these things.

We all continued talking for a couple of hours until it was time for the game. They piled into cars and vans leaving for the northern part of their territory. SJ made sure to leave me a red Volkswagen in case I had time to come to the game.

Most of the pack was going to watch the game, the ones who weren't were on high alert. There had been a group of rogues that got through their border on the southern side last night. I heard they made a big mess.

The Alpha and Beta were there now hunting for the rogues along with some of their best warriors. They would be busy for hours. It was safe to say they weren't going to find any rogues.

The only mildly interesting thing I found was that the Alpha and Luna had some weird things in their closet. Some things that would make their son shudder and instantly vomit. It made me instantly vomit, and I barely know them. It was a shock to me that they only had one child, and that he was born normal.

I decided to not take the Volkswagen to the game. Instead opting for my fox form. I wasn't sure how long I would be in the area, the opportunities to shift would be few and far between.

I would just tell everyone I ran here. It wasn't my fault if they assumed I ran in my female form.

When I got close to the clearing that all the football games between the Algoren and Viribus Packs played, I could hear the cheering and booing of the fans and teams.

With a bright flash I shifted into my female form. My limbs altering from paws to arms and legs. The white and silver fur changing into tan skin and long multi-shades of brown hair. My fox's ears and snout transforming to human ears and a small pointed nose. My eyes were the last to change. My glowing silver eyes shifting back to normal sky blue.

Every species of shifter had a different eye colour. Foxes were silver. Wolves were black. Bears were auburn, lions were gold, and so on. For all shifters, the eyes were hardest to hide. With any small emotion they could easily flash into their true colour, giving away their true form, and true emotion.

Walking into the clearing, making sure my fox scent was replaced by one similar to a wolf. It took most foxes years to learn the scent trick, some foxes never did. It took me two weeks of living on my own.

As I shifted into my human skin my black tights, favourite hoodie, and white jacket appeared as if nothing had changed. When most creatures shifted into their animal form, the clothes they wore would rip from their changing bodies. Only a trained and highly skilled creature could master the ability to keep their clothes on their human form. I, of course, had been able to do it since I was a child.

Not many creatures could. Some shifters never bothered to learn as a body was just a body. But I always found that when being hunted by my enemies, clothes made it a lot easier to blend in.

I walked through the bushes that surrounded the clearing. The clearing was as big as a professional football field. Along the edges, wolves of all ages watched as the teams tackled each other. There was probably a little over one hundred spectators ranging from toddlers to old grandmothers.

An even amount of people came to support their home team, which wasn't right. The Viribus Pack members should have dominated the Algoren Pack because of their size. I guess Viribus wolves weren't huge football fans. Or they just had better things to do.

The Viribus team had possession of the ball, Algoren side working hard on defence. The quarterback on the Viribus team looked a couple of years older than me.

He was tall with short rich brown hair, his mouth a firm line in concentration. He looked like a younger version of Aaron Rodgers, quarterback for the Green Bay Packers. Played like him too.

A team of unprofessional wolves could easily beat a professional human football team any day. Most packs didn't allow their members to join sports teams outside of high school. It could hurt the humans and draw too much attention.

That doesn't mean it doesn't happen though. The shifter just had to hold back a little when playing.

There was no holding back today. From the outskirts of the field. I watched the teams as they fought with everything they had to either get that first down or stop the first down.

My eyes roamed the field making eye contact with SJ. He gave me a huge grin and motioned me to come over.

I made my way over to the Algoren side of the field. Members from both packs staring at me as I walked past. I smiled at them all. I got a lot of weird looks from the people that didn't know me, but a few smiled back.

Almost every creature I passed towered over me. I kept my back straight, strutting the way wolves do. Adding my own touch of swagger. Proving to them I was one of them.

I had gained the attention of almost every wolf in the clearing as I walked along the Algoren bench. Which was exactly the plan. I made sure to grin at the team as I joined their small huddle.

"You guys are looking good out there." I drawled. No one seemed fazed as I put my arms around SJ and Christan. Effectively joining the group of big, sweaty wolves.

"A lot better than last time, that's for sure." The non-shifting female laughed from across the huddle. Her two dark braids shifting back and forth. She played wide receiver if I remembered correctly.

"Only behind by a touchdown." SJ beamed. "But not for long."

His optimism didn't deserve it but I rolled my head back with a laugh, "That's the spirit!"

SJ noticed. He gave me a small soft smile that I returned. He was starting to like me, which was exactly what I wanted.

Did I feel bad for playing with the boy's emotions? Not at all. Why? Because I was getting paid the big bucks to do it.

"V, we never asked. Do you play football?" Christan asked, forcing me to break eye contact with his soon to be Alpha.

I gave him my cheekiest grin as I looked him up and down, then winked at him. "If you need an extra running back, let me know."

Hinting that of course, I played football. He rolled his eyes at me with a smile on his face. Knowing that the only way they would need another running back is if something bad happened to the ones they had.

I give it five minutes.

I left the circle letting them finish their playmaking. Deciding what their next move on the field would be.

To get what you want, I learned you need two things. Be in the right place at the right time and let yourself be known. Be there for when they remember you.

The team yelled together, clapping their hands as they headed back on the field. The game starting back up.

While watching the teams, I saw wolf shifters make passes, run, tackle, intercept. They're faster than I expected. Stronger too. They move differently when they played in their human form. I had never actually seen a wolf game up close before. The crowd screamed for their team to win.

The teams and spectators getting intense. There had already been four fights between the two packs. One was between two passionate fans. It took four other wolves and SJ to use his alpha command to finally get them away from each other.

One was a downright brawl between a couple of mothers who's son had mouthed off. There were already a few injuries throughout the game. That wasn't even counting the players' injuries.

I saw how there would be a lot of injuries on the field though. No one wore any safety equipment, so every time a body made contact with another body, it echoed throughout the forest. When someone fell, they didn't just fall, they rolled. And tumbled. Some even seemed to fly for a bit before their bodies slammed into the ground. Most times the wolves just jumped right back up. Other times they didn't.

That's why it wasn't hard to believe it was just an unfortunate hit. Algoren Pack was on their fourth down, too far away to kick a field goal. It was their last chance before they lost possession of the ball.

SJ passed the ball to Christan as he ran right through the open trail that the offensive line created for him. He ran fast, it didn't take him more than a second for him to get that first down.

It didn't take a second after that for the tall burly male to smash into him. Almost wiping Christan off the map.

It took a nanosecond for the crowd to hear the cracking of bone and the roar from Christan as his leg bent the other way. Everybody in a 10-mile radius cringed.

Did I feel bad for breaking Christan's leg? A little, even though technically it wasn't me. Then I thought about what those big bucks could get me. Then I had to stop myself from smiling on the outside.

I ran over to him along with a bunch of people on the sidelines. I managed to get close enough to squat beside the growling male, SJ on his other side. His teammates and spectators crowding around us in one giant circle.

My face was full of concern as I looked at Christan's bone as it broke through his skin. Having to swallow the bile that wanted to rise, I looked Christan in the eyes putting a comforting hand on the back of his neck. Removing any trace of the light purple wolfs-bane.

The wolfs-bane I rubbed on his skin in the huddle was mild, it was called Monkshood. It made him weak without him noticing. Making his bones weaker was part of it, so if he got hit really hard they would easily snap.

The amount I used would only last a couple of minutes. Leaving the perfect amount of time for him to heal at a normal speed.

"Dude you know you can't play anymore, right?" SJ looked from Christan's leg to his face, shaking his head. One of the pack doctors was at his leg already working.

Christan gritted his teeth, breathing heavily. He slowly looked up at me and gave me a shaky smile. "You said you were a running back?"

My eyes widened. "Christan, I said if you need an extra running back. Not when you need an extra running back."

"Either way we are going to need a new running back." He gritted out through the pain. I looked at SJ helplessly.

"We can't cancel the game," SJ shrugged at me. "and we do need another running back."

"Is there anyone else who can do it?" It was an act, that's why I asked. I already knew there was no one else. I made sure of that before I even set my plan into motion.

"No there's not. If you don't want to do it though, we can work with what we have. It's not that bad." SJ gave me another small smile.

I looked down at Christan, his face full of pain. Then I looked back at SJ, my face full of determination. "I'll do it. Let's beat these Viribus babies."

SJ gave me a wide smile.

Christan tried to cheer, but it sounded more like a hiss because of the pain. He did give me a thumbs up, saying, "Thanks V. You got this."

I did not deserve their kindness. I had to stop myself from cringing again as SJ and another pack member picked up Christan, each taking a leg, while the doctor supported his broken leg as they carried him off the field.

The safety who levelled Christan walked over to him apologising. It surprised me that the Viribus member would apologise. It was a game, accidents happened. 'Accidents' happened.

The male actually felt bad for the pain he caused. He walked with Christan to the bench where the doctor would continue looking at his leg.

The male was a big dude, tall like most wolves. He looked like he went to the gym a lot. He had kind eyes though, they looked soft. He kind of reminded me of a teddy bear I had when I was a kid.

It only took a minute for the players to get back on the field. As we got into position SJ looked over at me, "I guess I should have asked earlier. Are you any good?"

I shrugged my shoulders, smirking at him. "We'll see."

He gave me another hundred-watt smile seeing past my 'humility'. Quickly I threw my wild-looking hair into a ponytail while SJ told me the play. Taking up Christan's old position. Looking over the rival team, I started my plotting.

It did not take long for me to formulate my game plan. I looked back at SJ as he surveyed his team. This play I would listen to his game plan, but next was all mine.

With a hut, the ball was passed to SJ and the teams flew into action. Everyone moving from left to right. Jumping and diving. People were grunting and yelling. Hitting and dodging. It was hectic, it was beautifully hectic.

It brought a smile to my face. It reminded me of all those times I played football with my family. Our football games were a bit more mentally damaging than physical though.

SJ threw the ball in a beautiful spiral. Heading straight for his wide receiver. She jumped in the air arms open ready to welcome the ball. Then a player for Viribus Pack was there. He barely touched the ball, but just enough to send it sailing out of bounds. Ending the play. The crowd either groaned in disappointment or cheered in anticipation.

That's when I took my cue. I walked up to SJ with a small smile on my lips. Fluttering my lashes a bit, I said hesitantly. "I have an idea."