Clara fumbled with the display on her smartphone, trying to input the right numbers. The pads on her fingers normally worked just fine, even on the tiny screen, but today they seemed altogether too large -- or maybe her hands were just shaking too much. Finally, she managed to dial the number she wanted, and she held the phone up to one of her large ears, listening to it ring.
She muttered an urgent, whispered chant: "Come on... pick up, pick up!"
After far too many rings, a voice came over the phone's speaker: "Hi, you've reached Michaela's phone! If you'd like to leave a message... ha! Just kidding. How are you doing, my cute little fox?"
Clara let out a relieved breath upon hearing the feline's voice. "Thank goodness, Michaela, you scared me half to death."
"What's up? Is something wrong?"
Clara nodded, even though she knew that her girlfriend wasn't able to see it. "I think I'm being followed by a pred."
"Whoa, really? Where are you now?"
"In that coffee shop on Ninth Street. I ducked in here to try to lose her, but she followed me in. Now she's sitting at another table and she keeps looking at me."
"Is she hot?"
Clara paused at the unexpected question. She glanced over at the pred.
The big wolftaur's dark fur made her look like a spot of dark night sky in the otherwise bright room. Her powerful legs and muscular lower torso looked perfect for chasing down prey, but gave way to soft curves on her upper body, covered by a low-cut tank top that barely contained her large chest. Her bright blue eyes glittered like stars, even from across the room. She smiled, and Clara could see the white of fangs.
"Yeah, I guess she is, in a scary predator kind of way," Clara said. "But what does that have to do with anything?"
Ignoring her question, Michaela responded, "You should put her on!"
"W-what!?" Why did Michaela sound so excited? Shouldn't she be worried? "B-but then she'll..."
"If she's a predator worth her salt, she already knows that you know that she's following you. What could it hurt?"
Clara bit her lip. She supposed that did make sense; there was no way the wolf hadn't noticed Clara looking at her. Maybe Michaela was going to try to talk her out of it?
No sense in hesitating. She didn't think she could outrun this predator if she tried to flee. Clara steeled herself, then got up from her table and walked over to the booth where the wolf was lounging.
The wolf's smile broadened as Clara got closer, but she didn't say anything or react at all, other than to watch the petite fox and see what she did next.
Clara swallowed. "My... um... my g-girlfriend wants to talk to you."
"Does she now?" The wolf had a voice like honey sizzling on coals. She held out her hand to accept the phone and put it to her ear. "Hello?"
Clara strained her large ears, but she could only make out the wolf's half of the conversation.
"Yeah, that's me... yeah... I'm flattered, thanks... yeah, she's adorable... really?... well, sure, I guess that sounds okay... alright, it's a deal. I'll see you soon."
Clara's heartbeat thudded in her ears. It sounded like maybe Michaela had worked out some kind of deal with the predator? But what did "I'll see you soon" mean?
The wolf removed the phone from her ear, tapped the button to hang up, and handed the device to Clara.
"Th-thanks," Clara said, taking the phone. She started to back away -- only for the wolf's hand to come down on her shoulder.
"Don't thank me yet," the wolf said with a smile.
--------
The bell hanging over the door of the coffee shop tinkled as Michaela pushed her way inside. It didn't take her long to locate what she was looking for: the wolf cute a pretty striking figure. Michaela whistled as she walked up to her. "Wow, Clara was right, you are hot."
The wolf grinned, showing her fangs. "You're not so bad yourself, kitten," she said.
Michaela smiled at the compliment. She had thrown on a shirt that complimented her slender figure and a skirt short enough to show off her legs, which she had always felt were her best feature. She bounced over and sat down next to the wolf. "Name's Michaela."
"Celeste."
"Nice to meet you in person, Celeste!"
Celeste looked like she was about to respond in kind, but then she stopped. An audible gurgle made its way up her body, and she opened her mouth to release a large belch. Something flopped out of her mouth and landed on the coffee shop table. "Excuse me."
"No problem," Michaela said, gingerly picking up the soaked pair of shorts. They were black, with pink fringes and a pink heart on the front. She chuckled. "These were my favorite. The fact that she was wearing them means she probably meant to surprise me later."
"You want to keep them?"
Michaela shrugged.
The wolf gestured at her lower body. Its contents barely made a bulge, but occasionally a bit of movement could be seen under the fur. "Your girlfriend is still wiggling in there, you know."
"Oh, trust me, I know." Michaela fished her phone out of her pocket and held it up. The words "23 new messages" appeared on the screen, with the number still ticking higher. "You should read these some time; they're pretty hilarious. She thinks I made some kind of deal with you to let her go, and that you reneged on it."
Celeste shrugged. "I admit I was surprised to hear your offer. You're sure you aren't going to try to convince me to let her go?"
Michaela waved a hand. "Nah. I was planning on eating her myself pretty soon anyway. Honestly, I'm just kind of sad I didn't get to see it. How was she?"
"Delightfully squirmy."
"Glad to hear it."
"So," the wolf said, putting one hand around Michaela's shoulders. "Three dates in exchange for your girlfriend, huh?"
"Former girlfriend," Michaela corrected. "And a *minimum* of three dates. I'm hoping to convince you for more."
"Noted. I don't usually date other preds, you know."
"Me neither. I thought it could be a fun experience."
"I could end up deciding to just eat you too, you know."
"I know." Michaela sounded undeterred. "You'll find I'm a lot more slippery than you'd think."
Celeste grinned. "I think we're going to get along just fine, kitten. I'm looking forward to our dates."
