KNIGHT

 

All of the men and women in the skulk looked similar to one another. Pale skin. Freckles. Red hair that shimmered underneath the sun. Their bodies were bare with nothing but a cloth to cover their bottoms. They were lean and toned from living the lives they did out here in the woods.

Anita was like the others but it was clear she was the Alpha. Her muscles were larger and more clearly defined. Every inch of her, from her calves to her shoulders, was more muscular than the others. Just a quick glance was enough to tell me she was a strong woman.

“You’re a long way from home, jaguar,” she said.

“I am. But I wouldn’t come here without good reason.”

“It had better be a good reason. We have a good life out here. We live in peace and harmony with nature. We’re just an honest group of people trying to live our lives.”

It was clear Anita was sincere. I could see it for myself.

As I walked through the camp with her, I saw all of the foxes peacefully working. It was a simple life for all of them. They had small huts they’d constructed from wood and stone. They could make more clothes if they wanted to from the skins they’d gathered. They made due with everything around them.

“I’m not here to disrupt the harmony of your camp,” I said. “I come here to ask you a favor.”

“You ask a lot.”

“You don’t even know what my favor is.”

Anita stopped in her tracks and raised an eyebrow at me. Her brown-eyed stare was so intense. It was as if she were trying to intimidate me. But I wasn’t going to back down. Not after I’d come so far.

“You being here is asking a lot of me and my people,” she said.

“I won’t be a burden. I can promise you that.”

“…We shall see.”

She walked forward into a tent and held open the door made of fabric for me.

“Come,” she said. “We have business to discuss.”

I nodded and stepped into the tent.

“Welcome to my humble dwelling.”

Her dwelling was more comfortable than I expected it to be. The ground was lined with fur. Clay sculptures were set along the walls. A bed made of soft cotton was at one side of the room. It looked just as comfortable as anything I would find in the city.

A small bonfire burned in the center of the tent, illuminating my surroundings just enough to lighten the room for me to see her. The rest of the area was covered in shadows.

She threw something at me and I caught it.

“Here,” she said. “Something to cover yourself with.”

After the encounter with the fierce wolves, I was completely naked.

“Thank you.”

She provided me with a pair of pants made from the cloth I’d seen earlier in the camp.

After I put the clothing on, I stood there and watched as she paced back and forth in front of me.

“Something to eat?” she asked. “Something to drink?”

She grabbed a sack and pulled out some berries for herself. She eyeballed me as she noisily chewed on them.

“For someone not interested in doing me a favor, you’re being quite hospitable,” I said.

“I’m not interested in doing you a favor but that doesn’t mean I won’t allow you to be uncomfortable. I’m a kind person. My people didn’t get this far without compassion. It’s taught to us by the elders. The ancient wisdom has guided us for centuries. The one thing we know for sure is that peace has always been a part of our skulk.”

She stuffed another handful of berries into her mouth. Even with the tent so dark, I could still see the intensity in her brown eyes.

“What are you doing out here, jaguar?” she asked. “What do you want?”

“What do you know about the city?” I asked in response. “What do you know of Dirge?”

“I know that it’s a place where many of the packs have gone. I know it’s a place where many seek refuge. I know there are many who wish to live ordinary lives as individuals, away from the life of packs they’ve lived for so many years.”

“You would be right. Everybody in Dirge is just an ordinary man or woman trying to get through life.”

“If I’m right, then the one thing I know for sure is that I never want to go there.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because I know how violent it is. I know about the poverty. I know about the suffering. Why would a man want to leave his home in the woods when he has everything provided for him? Why would he choose to live a life in the city and struggle just to survive?”

“Because there’s a chance at a better life for some. Omegas who have been outcast by their packs and have no place.”

“Omegas who are not fit to mate with should have no place.”

“You’re wrong. In the city, there are shelters that house Omegas.”

“I see… But I know there are Omegas in the city who are suffering. They may have a chance at a better life but they do not have a better life.”

She stuffed another piece of fruit into her mouth, her eyes still locked on me as she chewed.

“Tell me, jaguar. Am I wrong?”

It was hard for me to admit that Dirge was a rough place to live for some. But I couldn’t get what I wanted from her without telling her the truth.

“That’s why I’m here,” I said. “I want to create a better life for those in the city who sought it. I need resources—”

“There it is. You wish to pillage the food and supplies from my camp and take it back to your city.”

“No,” I said as I shook my head. “We have food and water available already. We need other resources.”

“Other resources?”

I nodded.

“Oliver told me there is a mine near here,” I said. “There is a cavern with metals inside.”

“The metals that shine?”

“Yes. The iron. The gold. The silver. I need to bring that to the city. We use that for construction. We use that for trade.”

“What good is a piece of gold?”

“We use it to build. But it has monetary value as well.”

“Of course,” she said with a laugh. “You use trinkets to barter with one another.”

She nodded in understanding as she sucked another piece of fruit into her mouth.

“I know of the mines Oliver speaks of,” she said. “Our camp has been here for generations and it’s a place some go to for recreation. The minerals can be a beautiful sight.”

“Then you will let me secure the mines and gather resources?”

Anita seemed reasonable up to this point. There was no indication she would refuse me. As far as I could tell, she didn’t care about the ore in the mines. But I couldn’t tell what she was thinking from the look in her eye.

“It’s of no use to you,” I said. “But with those resources, we can make steel and concrete. We can construct buildings. Shelter for those who need it. If you have any compassion—”

“I have compassion. I would have thought my hospitality to you would have made that clear.”

“Then I don’t understand. Surely we could come to some sort of an agreement. Your skulk would not be bothered.”

“This is the favor you ask of me?”

“Yes,” I said with a nod.

“Then you admit it is a favor.”

“I’ve already admitted that.”

She narrowed her gaze at me. It was clear that Anita was shrewd. Whatever it was she was up to me, Anita seemed to be trying to get something more out of me.

I had no choice but to play along.

“What is it you want?” I said.

“What is it I want indeed…”

She rolled another plump berry between her fingers before sucking it into her mouth. She set the bag of fruit down and slowly walked toward me.

Her wide hips shifted with every step. Her large breasts were bare but she suddenly removed the cloth covering her bottom.

She moved close to me and whispered in my ear

“I’ll let you mine the resources,” she said. “I’ll let you mine the resources if you let me mine you.”

I thought she was joking. I was so dumbfounded that I couldn’t even respond.

“I’ve never mated with a jaguar before,” she said. “And I’ve never been with another Alpha. I think it would be quite… interesting. Don’t you think?”

To make the point even clearer to me, she reached down between my legs and grabbed my cock. As soon as she did, I grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand away from me.

I clenched my jaw as I stared intensely into her narrowed gaze.

“Don’t think you can take advantage of me because of your hospitality,” I said. “If this is the price of the favor I ask of you, then I will not pay it.”

“Of course,” she said with a smirk.

She tugged her hand free and worked to cover herself back up.

“It’s what I expected,” she said. “After all, you are already fated to one of my Omegas. Why would you have anybody else, especially another Alpha?”

What?

She turned around, that same smirk still on her lips.

“What are you talking about?” I said as I shook my head. “What do you mean fated?”

“You laid with Oliver. You filled him with your seed, did you not?”

“Yes, I don’t see—”

“No, of course you don’t. Living in the city has dulled your senses. You’re an ordinary man, blind to the most obvious.”

I looked down at the ground, trying to figure out what she was getting at.

“I never had any intention of laying with Oliver,” she said. “I would only have been there in his most desperate heat. If a child were to come of it, I would have welcomed that fox with open arms.”

She reached down for the sack of fruit and stuffed another piece between her lips before she continued.

“But it appears you beat me to it.”

“Hold on,” I said. “Are you telling me—”

“Omegas are fertile when they are in heat. You’re a very virile Alpha. I can tell that just by looking at you.”

Pregnant… Oliver?

I wasn’t sure how to react. I should have known but the thought never crossed my mind.

“I’m sure that this is quite the revelation to you,” she said. “And quite frankly, I’m disappointed I was not the one who got to be the Alpha to Oliver’s child. But what’s done is done. Oliver has returned to his skulk. I will not allow you to mine the resources. That is not a favor I can give you.”

“But—”

“You’ve already asked too much of me. That is all I can do, jaguar.”

I didn’t get Anita’s permission to mine the resources.

I just discovered I’d become a father.

And I was out in the Timberlands, injured, and far away from the city I’d known my entire life.

“I’m not without compassion,” she said. “My hospitality is still available to you. You can stay in the camp until the snow has passed. I promise you that I nor my brethren will cause you any trouble. I will have one of the elders tend to your injuries. Don’t ask anything more. Unless… You wish to present yourself to me.”

That sinister smirk of hers told me everything I needed to know about her.

“I can assure you that we will never come to a compromise on that.”

She nodded to me.

“Steadfast. Just like an Alpha should be.”

She emptied the bag of fruit into her hands and stuffed the remainder into her mouth. She held the bag out to me as she swallowed it down.

“Here,” she said. “If you wish to be in this camp when the snow comes, then you’re expected to do your part. Go with Oliver and the others to gather. Fill our food stores so that we will not starve in the cold.”

At this point, I couldn’t refuse her.

I nodded and took the bag from her.

There was still so much I had to deal with. For now, my main concern was doing my part to prepare for the coming snowstorm.