The Fox and The Wolf
Chapter 6: Paying the bills

Avery

We have been running for about 2 hours now. I don’t know where I’m going, but about 15 minutes into the run, Lilly spotted a road off to the side. So here I am, a giant fox with a 6 year old riding on my back running along the side of the road. Nothing to see here! (Sorry, that part made me think of Jeremy Clarkson off of Top Gear. The British version of course.)

But we are still running in the woods because I don’t want anyone driving down the road to see us. That would be very….very….VERY bad.

“Avery.” I heard Lilly’s sleepy voice. I stopped running and stood there and looked at her so she knows to continue talking. “I’m hungry.” I felt her stomach growl and I let out a fox laugh. My laugh sounds very strange in this form. It sounds like I’m coughing and growling at the same time. “Don’t laugh at me.” She said hitting the top of my head. I nodded and kept on running to find her some food.

I saw some houses so I thought it would be best to change back.

After I changed back, we continue walking up the road to the town. “Hey.” Lilly said looking around. “This is our town.” She said with a huge smile.

I looked around and noticed it was. “Come on. Let’s go talk to mom!” I yelled.

We made it to the hospital in record timing and ran through the halls.

When we got to our mom’s room, we opened the door and saw Susie, Earl, and my mom crying. Did her test results get worse? I started to panic.

“Mom, are you okay?” I asked frantic.

All three heads snapped to me and their eyes opened wide. “Av-Avery?” My mom stuttered.

“Ya?” I asked. Why are they crying?

“You’re alive!” Susie screamed and ran towards me and Lilly.

Susie pulled me into a tight hug and Earl ran towards Lilly.

“Oh my gosh. I was so worried. You didn’t show up for work at the diner last night, or at the library today.” Susie rushed out and squeezed me harder. Oh shit! I forgot about that!

“I’m so sorry I didn’t show up. Some things…..uh came up.” I told her.

“Your mother almost sent out a search party.” Earl chuckled.

Susie let go of me and I ran towards my mom. “Mom.” I laughed at her.

“Avery Lynn Williams. Do you know how worried I was?!” My mom screamed at me. Crap, the full name came out.

I looked down and twirled my thumbs. “Sorry mom.”

She laughed and pulled me in for another hug. “It’s okay.”

“Why didn’t you tell us that you could turn into a fox?” Susie said crossing her arms at me.

I froze. My mom didn’t…. I turned to look at my mom and glared at her. “Mother.”

“I’m sorry Avery. But they are your godparents. They deserved to know and what if something ever happens to me, they would need to know this.” My mom tried to explain.

“That’s not the point mom. You promised to not tell anyone.”

“I know and I’m sorry.”

I groaned. “Sorry Susie, but Red told me I couldn’t tell anyone. And my mother was an exception.”

“It’s alright dear. But who is Red?” Susie said.

“My fox. She’s inside of me.”

“That’s uh…..strange.” She laughed.

“I know. But please don’t tell anyone.” I pleaded.

“We won’t.” Earl smiled. “But what happened?”

“Uh.” I turned to Lilly and she looked scared just like me.

“Avery.” My mom warned.

“Umm. Well……”

“Now.”

“Lillyandiwerekidnappedbythreeguys.” I rushed.

“A little bit slower please.”

I took a deep breathe. “Lilly and I were kidnapped by three guys.”

My mom gasped and Susie and Earl looked shocked. “What happened?” My mom asked terrified.

“I honestly don’t know.” I told them. “I was at the library doing my shift and this guy came up to me and asked me to get a book for his friend’s little sister. His name was David. Then later on when we were walking to the truck…oh no. I forgot the truck at their house!” I groaned.

“It’s okay. Just continue.” My mom said rubbing my back.

I nodded and continued. “Well, when Lilly and I were walking to the truck, David and this other guy Liam saw us and were talking to is. I got this weird vibe from them. They smelt….different.”

“Like how?” Susie asked.

“I don’t really know. They smelt like the woods. But it was strong. Even Red got a weird vibe from them. She didn’t know what to think either. And that Liam guy kept on looking at me weird. Then when we walked away I used my hearing and heard them talking about me and said that they needed to tell Jake something about me.”

“Jake who?” Earl asked.

I shrugged. “I never found out their last names. But Lilly and I got the park and David, Liam, and Jake were there. They saw me and walked over to me. Jake kept on smiling at me and the next thing I knew, I was running away from them and they tackled me to the ground. I was fighting back as best as I could.” I paused tears were coming out when I remembered Jake grabbed Lilly. “Then Jake grabbed Lilly.” Everyone gasped. “He told me if I went with him, then I could have Lilly back. So I told him yes and that’s when he took us back to his house.”

“You guys didn’t get hurt did you?” Susie asked quietly.

I shook my head. “No. But Jake always kept smiling warmly at me and it wasn’t a creepy or evil smile. It was more of a warm, loving, caring smile. But something was off about them. They had more speed and were a lot stronger than your average human. And their eyes would glaze over and they seemed to be zoning out. But I managed to get Liam tied up before I escaped and his eyes glazed over. Then they went back to normal and he smirked at me like he knew something I didn’t.”

“That’s weird.” My mom said thinking.

“Ya. But I don’t know where they live. All I know is that they are deep in the woods, and their house is huge.”

“They must be in the mafia.” My mom thought out loud.

“That’s what I said!” I told her causing her to laugh. “But they laughed at me and said no.”

“Sorry to interrupt you girls and Earl.” Missy laughed. “But we have to get your mother ready for some more tests and see if we can so anything else to help her kidneys.”

We nodded and told my mother bye before walking out.

“Would you like to stay at our house tonight?” Susie asked.

I shook my head. “No thanks. They don’t know where Lilly and I live, so we should be fine.” Hopefully. I added in my head.

“Okay.”

“But I might spend the day at the library. I want to read some new books.” Susie and Earl laughed at me.

“You are a total bookworm.” Earl chuckled.

I stuck my tongue at him and we walked to their car since they offered to take me to the library.

“I hope my mom is gonna be okay.” I stopped walking and looked back at the hospital.

Susie gave me a small smile. “She will be fine.”

“She’s strong.” Earl reassured me.

“I know. But something inside of me is starting to doubt. She can’t live on life support for the rest of her life.” I felt tears starting to form but I didn’t care. “We need money and that is something I don’t have.”

“It’s gonna be okay dear. How much do we need for this surgery?”

“Well for the surgery and medical care we would need $90,000.”

Susie and Earl froze. “Oh wow.” Earl said shocked.

“That’s a lot.” Susie finally got out.

“Ya. She and Lilly are all I have left.” I broke down. “I don’t know what I would do without them.” I heard a low growl and I looked up to try and find the source. I’m guessing no one else heard it because they didn’t say anything. I shook it off thinking it was someone’s stomach.

“We are gonna get the money. Don’t worry.” Lilly spoke softly to me.

I smiled and picked her up. “Okay.”

Jake

I ran into the house with David and 5 other wolves with me.

I saw Liam tied up to a chair. I would have laughed at the situation, but seeing as how my mate escaped, I was really not in a laughing mood.

“What the hell do you mean she got away?!” My voice boomed.

Liam flinched and stopped struggling. “Sh-she escaped.”

I groaned and ran over to help him. “Why are you tied up with my rope.” David asked.

“Ew this is yours?!” Liam asked horrified. “Get it off of me! Get it off of me!”

“Dude calm down. Why are you freaking out?” David asked trying to help get it off of him.

“Lilly found this is your room. So I don’t even want to know why you have a rope in your room.” Liam said still horrified.

It took a moment for that to register. Once it did, I stopped what I was doing and jumped back. “Ew! That’s nasty dude.” I told David.

“What?” David asked. It took some time, but once we finally realized what we were talking about, his eyes opened wide. “Oh gosh no! That’s sick. This rope is for when we capture rogues. There’s silver in here. And besides that shit is nasty.” He refuses to the rope in the room thing. “It was in my bag when I was done with patrolling and forgot to take it out.”

“Ohhh.” Liam and I said. That’s good to hear…

“Now can you please get me out of here?” Liam pleaded.

We came to the town where we got Avery and Lilly. “So how did she manage to get you tied up?” I asked Liam. “And outrun 5 of my best fighter wolves.”

“Sorry alpha.” Scott apologized. I sighed. This is so frustrating. “We were on her trail, but a fox was blocking the way.” He told me.

I looked at him. This caught my interest. “What?”

“Ya.” Blake said nodding. “We were on her trail, but when we went to go walk forward, a giant fox popped out and growled at us. Later we found out she had a burrow and Scott here almost got attacked by her.”

“Why?” I asked laughing.

“He was being an idiot.” Cory told me. “He wanted to go see her babies. She didn’t like that very much.”

Trent and Levi nodded. “So how big was she?” I asked as we continued driving.

“I have no idea. But she was huge. She has to be at least the size of a full grown wolf.”

“Wh-what?” David stuttered in disbelief.

“He’s not lying.” Levi told him. “She was literally that big. No joke. Even I was scared.”

“She got pissed off at me though. I accidentally called her a guy.” I laughed at Scott. “But for some odd reason my wolf got hurt when the fox was pissed at me. I asked him about it and he didn’t know. He was just as confused as I was.”

“That’s weird.” I muttered to myself.

“But she had amazing eyes. They were this cool glowing amber color.”

Liam’s head snapped up and looked at Scott. “You okay Liam?” I asked.

He looked at me and nodded. “Ya. I just think that’s pretty cool to have eyes like that.” He looks so focused so I just decided to let it go for now.

“Jake.” David said. I watched as he pointed to a hospital and I saw Avery, Lilly, and a couple walk out talking to each other.

“Park the car.” I told Trent. We parked the car on the other side of the parking lot close to them, but not close enough so they would know we are here. I rolled down the windows so we could hear them.

“I hope my mom is gonna be okay.” I heard Avery say. She stopped walking and looked back at the hospital.

The lady gave her a small smile. “She will be fine.”

“She’s strong.” The man said to her.

“I know. But something inside of me is starting to doubt. She can’t live on life support for the rest of her life.” She sounded so sad. “We need money and that is something I don’t have.” I looked at the guys and they all looked sad too. I smiled at them. They do really care for their Luna.

“It’s gonna be okay dear. How much do we need for this surgery?”

“Well for the surgery and medical care we would need $90,000.” The guys and I froze.

“Shit that’s a lot of money.” Scott said. I nodded.

“Oh wow.” The man said shocked.

“That’s a lot.” The women agreed.

“Ya. She and Lilly are all I have left.” Avery said and she broke down right there. “I don’t know what I would do without them.” I let out a low growl. But I stopped once I saw her looking around. There was no way she could have heard that. Right?

“We are gonna get the money. Don’t worry.” Lilly spoke softly to her.

I watched Avery pick her up. “Okay.”

They got into a car and were pulling out. I turned to look at he guys. They all looked sad and I think David was about to cry. “Listen. I want David and Scott to come with me. The rest of you need to follow them around. Do not let them out of your sight. Mind link me if you guys find something out. David, Scott, and I are going into the hospital to see if we can find her mom.” They nodded and we separated.

We finally got in. Took long enough too. The lady at the front desk wouldn’t let us go see her but after we told her it was very important and we used our charm on her, she finally agreed.

“Hello. You’re Avery’s mom right?” I asked after I closed the door.

“Are you boys friends with my Avery Williams?” She asked.

Avery Williams. That sounded nice.

‘Focus!’ Kaydon yelled at me.

I snapped out of it and nodded. “Yes, we all met her at the library.”

Her moms face turned hard. “What are your names?”

‘Don’t tell her your real ones. Avery is smart. She probably told her something.’ Kaydon said to me.

“I’m Seth. This here is Cameron, and Toby.”

She looked at us for a moment but then smiled. “Nice to meet you.”

“You too Mrs. Williams.”

“Please call me Cathy.” She told us.

We all smiled and nodded. ‘She’s sweet.’ Scott mind linked me.

‘I know. I wonder if Avery is like this when she isn’t all mad and wants to kill us.’ I told him. David and Scott laughed and I turned my attention back to Cathy.

“May we sit?” I asked her.

“Of course.”

David, Scott, and I pulled up three chairs and were talking to her. “So that’s why she’s working two jobs.” She said sadly.

David was unusually quiet and Scott looked really depressed. “So it’s gonna cost you $90,000 for the surgery and the medical care afterwards?” Scott asked.

“I’m afraid so Toby. I told Avery to just let them take me off life support so the medical bills would stop adding up, but she won’t let me.”

“You can’t do that! Avery and Lilly love you!” David pleaded.

“I know that but, the bills are getting way to high and she already has two jobs. She barely has enough time for Lilly. And she’s already thinking about getting another job.”

Oh wow. My little mate is determined.

“But….No you can’t leave her.” Okay David is really starting to scare me. But it’s so cool how he cares for his Luna’s mom.

“It’s okay Cameron. But I have a feeling Avery won’t be able to make that much money. And if she does, then the bills will be incredibly high.”

I opened my mouth to speak but the door opened revealing the lady at the front desk. “Sorry but visiting hours are over.”

I nodded with a smile. “It was really nice meeting you Cathy.”

“You too Seth.” She smiled.

“Bye.” Scott and David waved before we walked out.

We were in the elevator when Scott looked at me. “Why are you thinking so hard?”

“I don’t know. I just can’t believe my mate is going through all of this.” I said truthfully.

“I feel bad.” David interrupted. “We kidnapped her and she already has enough shit on her plate. We caused her to miss work when she clearly needs the money.”

“I know.” I said feeling ashamed. “Wait!” I yelled smiling.

David and Scott both jumped. “What?”

“I’m gonna pay for her surgery and the bills.” I said.

“That’s brilliant!” Scott said.

“I like it.” David agree.

When we got out of the elevator, we ran up to the front desk.

“Can I help you gentlemen?” An elderly lady asked.

“Yes. I would like to pay for Cathy Williams surgery.” I told her.

She coughed and looked at me with wide eyes. “But sir… are you sure? That’s a lot of money.”

I waved her off. “Yes I’m sure.”

“Okay.” She said unsure as she picked up the phone and dialed a number. “Doctor Stream. Yes, can you please come to the front desk.” She hung up the phone and we waited for about 5 minutes before an older looking man came towards us.

“Can I help you Sarah?”

“Yes. These men would like to pay for Cathy Williams’ surgery.” She explained pointing to us.

I looked back and smiled at David and Scott which they returned.

“Oh my. Are you boys sure? That’s a lot of money.”

“Yes we are sure.”

“Fair well. Do you men know Mrs. Williams?”

“We just talked to her. But we know her daughters Avery and Lilly.”

He smiled at the mention of their names. “Those two girls are so sweet. They are thoughtful and would so anything for their mother. That’s why Avery is working two jobs. To pay for the bills and surgery.”

“Mrs. Williams told us that as well. That’s why I want to do it. Avery is the sweetest girl and Lilly is adorable and nice. They love their mom too much to watch her like this. So I would like to pay for the medical bills, the surgery, and the medical care she will need.”

“But son-” I cut him off with a wave of my hand.

“I know. But I want to do it. They don’t deserve this. Avery is working to hard. And no one deserves to go through this pain. So please, I would really like to pay for everything.”

He looked hesitant but nodded. “Okay.”

He told me how much money it would be and I wrote him a check for it all. He also told me that Cathy would go into emergency surgery tomorrow morning.

“Thankyou. And please don’t tell anyone that I’m doing this. I want it to be a surprise.” I asked them.

“Of course.” Doctor Stream and Sarah said.

“Thankyou.”

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