I had the sudden urge to take a drag on my vape pen. I wasn't a cigarette smoker, but there was something about the act that was comforting. Knowing that I'd soon be facing Bennett made me want a smoke. Or a drink. Or a really big gun.
Closing my eyes, I let the magic wash over me in a wave. The way Nix had shifted, that violent, ugliness of his transformation ... it was so far from what I did as a kitsune that I could barely relate. Even Shelbi had to shed her clothing to change. Not me. I could take my guns, knives, and my catsuit with me
The power of the fox deity, Inari Okami, goddess of fertility, food, prosperity ... and of course, foxes, wrapped over me like a blanket, this warm, easy feeling like taking a dip in a Jacuzzi. It was easier than breathing for me, and when I opened my eyes, I was a fuck of a lot shorter and on full-alert.
Usually, I felt more powerful in my fox form than my human one, but without my magic, I was basically a less powerful wolf. Glancing over, I found Shelbi standing next to me—towering over me because basically in every form, I was short as hell—with white fur streaked in gray. Her eyes were still dark, almost black in the shadows, and her doggy grin gave me serious chills.
Wolves were the natural enemies of kitsune, period. And then slap all my personal issues on top of that crap sundae? Not a good combination. But an alpha's word was everything, and Bennett had promised I wouldn't be harmed on pack property by either him or his pack.
The rabid wolves though ... those were another matter entirely.
'Shall we?' Shelbi asked, her voice booming in my head like she was on loudspeaker. Wolves were so damn loud. It was annoying as hell, but at least I could still hear her. I'd wondered if losing my magic would keep me from being able to understand other species while in fox form. I wasn't sure, exactly, what it was that let us communicate but I thanked the gods for it.
'Let's do it,' I replied, following my new friend through the trees. Such was my height versus hers that I had an almost perfect view of her butt hole, but I just ducked my head and tried not to look. Humans had this strange idea that being anything but human was automatically glamorous. Well, looking at wolf bums was hardly my idea of a good time.
As promised, Shelbi was much quieter in wolf form than she was in human. That is to say, not all that quiet at all. I was starting to see why she was not only so low-ranking in the Vail Valley Pack, but also found herself working a job. Most pack members lived and worked exclusively on their own land. To send someone out into the real world, they either had to be at the top of the pack and looking for leisure ... or rock bottom and almost useless.
For whatever reason, that made me like Shelbi more. She was normal. She didn't have all of this bullshit to deal with. As incredible as I knew my tails were, sometimes I wished I only had three or four, like Fin and Revel.
Fin and Revel.
Those names hit my brain and I immediately shut down my thoughts. I had a dangerous situation sitting in front of me, and letting my mind wander to romantic or ... whatever matters wouldn't do me any good.
In the name of Inari and her nine lovers, let this go well.
Technically, I wasn't supposed to be out here tonight. When—because there was no if—Mikhail found out about this, shit was going to go down. As long as everything went to plan, I'd have much higher ground to stand on when defending myself against him. If shit hit the fan, well, I could find myself out of a job and carrying a mortgage that would drown me in debt in three month's time.
Several miles later, I gave up on stealth. It was taking too much of my energy and even in wolf form, Shelbi was a bumbling bee knocking over all the flowers. I'd never seen a wolf that looked less agile in my entire life.
'Are you sure you know where we're going?' I asked as we headed further and further away from both the southern and western borders of pack property. To the south was my car, my escape route. To the west, was Vail Valley Earth land, sanctuary from wolves. But here? I was in the middle of enemy territory.
'Almost there,' Shelbi reassured me, and sure enough, in less than ten minutes, we found ourselves at the opening of a cave entrance.
I didn't waste a second before shifting back. No way was I going in there as I was, magic-less and vulnerable. Shelbi, obviously, chose to stay in wolf form. Even if she wasn't the biggest or baddest werewolf I'd ever seen, she was still the size of damn pony.
Lifting my nose, I closed my eyes and tried to scent the air for the smell of wolf. But this whole damn place was soaked in scent—fur, urine, feces, semen, alcohol, tobacco, pot. Yup. Definite party spot.
"Can you smell anyone you recognize?" I asked Shelbi instead, opening my eyes and pacing back and forth in front of the cave entrance a few times, shining my pocket-sized flashlight into the opening as I looked for the reflection of eyes in the darkness.
'Not a thing,' Shelbi said, her voice still clear and sharp inside my head. I wondered if it was a canidae thing? Would I be able to hear Riot if he were around? My heart clenched tight and I swallowed hard, shoving a few loose strands of hair away from my forehead. Oh, Riot. I missed him with a sudden ferocity that made my jaw clench. For years, I'd brushed aside those feelings with the self-made promise that they'd soon go away. And yet, they were only getting worse.
"Fuck," I cursed aloud as Shelbi padded up to stand beside me, tail wagging slowly, ears pricked forward, listening. I did the same with my fox ears, my tails dancing in a light breeze. In the distance, I could just make out the skitter of rodents' paws on the frozen leaves, scattered white pockets of snow lighting up the darkness. An owl hooted in protest at our presence, but other than that, all was quiet. "Maybe we should—" I started and then paused.
Something was coming.
Something big.
I felt movement behind me before I got a chance to duck, yanking out my mother's knife as a hand clamped around my throat and hauled me backward into a solid chest. The musky scent of male and wolf surrounded me as I plunged my knife into the thigh of my attacker ... and got a laugh in response.
"Oh, come on, is that the best you can do?" Bennett growled, licking my ear as I bent forward and used the counterbalance of his weight to throw him. He found his feet, but he also took my mom's knife with him, scrambling up and coming at me, this naked mountain of muscle.
Bennett slammed into me, knocking the air from my lungs and sending me backward into a pile of snow. Hot, crimson blood was spurting from his wound as he pinned me to the ground with one hand and yanked the blade from his thigh with the other. As I watched, he raised it to his mouth and licked it, nice and slow.
"Fuck, blood turns me on," he said, and I could very well see from my position beneath him that he meant it. He was straddling me, and he was hard as hell. Rightfully, I should've cut his dick right off. But, you know, he had my knife.
"If you don't get the hell off of me, I'll blow your cock off with my Ruger," I growled, yanking an arm from his grip and whipping out the pistol from my holster. A smile lit my face as I pressed the barrel of the gun against the tip of Bennett's dick.
He glanced down, his shaggy dark hair covering his face as he stared at my weapon, and then grinned big.
"And I'd thought you were boring," he growled as he thrust against the gun and groaned. "But I could really get into this." With a laugh, Bennett released me and stood up, glancing over at Shelbi with a scowl. He seemed ridiculously unconcerned with the massive amount of blood spurting from his thigh. Pretty sure I'd hit an artery or something. "What the hell is that flea trap doing here?" he asked as I stood up and snatched my knife back from his hand.