KNIGHT

 

“Please… Let me know if you feel any pain… I can take you back to the camp and have Baron tend to you if you need it.”

Listening to Oliver’s concern put a smile on my face.

“The pain won’t go away for a few weeks,” I replied. “You heard what he said. The medicine he gave me numbed the pain enough for me to walk.”

“There’s no telling how long it will last though.”

“Then I suppose we’ll find out.”

“Such a proud Alpha…” he sighed.

“Hey, I can’t help it.”

I grinned at Oliver, forcing him to do the same.

It was early in the morning when we headed out of the camp with some of the other skulk. We marched out into the woods to a place where they said the fruits and nuts were plentiful.

Oliver and I were at the back of the crowd of about a dozen foxes. I was by his side when the twins, Silas and Eva, turned around and glared at us. I didn’t care much for them but it was Oliver who loathed them more than anything.

“Ignore them,” he sighed. “They’re already angry.”

“Angry?”

“Yes. With you out here, they know they’ll have to do their fair share of the work. They won’t be able to take what you or I gather because they know you’re an Alpha.”

“What about the others? Do Silas and Eve take what the others gather?”

“No,” Oliver sighed again. “It’s just me. I’m the lowest Omega in the skulk. The only one Anita has no interested in pleasuring, as I’m reminded of so often.”

“You may not be able to enjoy Anita’s company but I can think of another Alpha who’s more than willing to pleasure you.”

Oliver’s cheeks started to blush as they always did when I expressed my interest in him.

“Or do you need another reminder of last night?” I said.

“Not now,” he said, snickering softly. “We need to gather food. The snow is coming, remember?”

“We can only bring as much food as we can fit in our bags. I say…”

I leaned in close to Oliver and wrapped my arm around his shoulder.

“…We fill our bags as quickly as possible and then I fill you up.”

Oliver’s cheeks were so red that the freckles on his pale skin disappeared.

“What do you think, Oliver? Does that sound like something you’d be interested in?”

“Thinking about gathering food so quickly so I could present myself to you would distract me so much… I would end up gathering slower than I usually would because I wouldn’t be able to focus.”

“You’ll gather enough food eventually… It’s still early in the morning.”

“We can’t finish soon enough,” he sighed.

We marched away from camp. The group of foxes started to scatter as the nuts on the ground and the fruit bushes became more plentiful. Everybody separated as they did their part to find something to stuff into their bags.

I stayed by Oliver’s side. It was tedious work to find the nuts and acorns on the grass. Every now and then, we would find a fruit bush that hadn’t been plucked yet. It was nice to be able to help myself to some of the fruit and fill my stomach while I worked. The rain last night meant it wasn’t as warm as it could have been with the sun shining so brightly.

I sighed as I picked the berries from a bush.

“One for me and the rest for the bag,” I said.

I couldn’t help but smile as I worked. Oliver looked up at me and smirked.

“You seem to be enjoying this,” he said.

“Why wouldn’t I? I’ve never done anything like this before.”

“You said you grow crops in the city. There are farms.”

“Yes. There are acres of land dedicated to growing fruit like this.”

“But you’ve never done this before.”

“No. Most of the jaguars in the city do other work.”

“Like what?”

“We oversee things. We’re managers. We’re advisers.”

“Managers? Advisers? What is that?”

I could see why Oliver didn’t understand what I was trying to say, considering how different life was out here.

“Let me see…” I said. “How do I put this? Okay… I think I got it… We’re all out here gathering food. Every one of us is tasked with filling our bag and returning it to camp, right?”

“Right.”

“What if somebody doesn’t fill their bag?”

“If you’re Silas or Eve, you just take it from me,” he sighed. “But I suppose what you probably meant is that it would be frowned upon by the rest of the skulk. Anita would likely scold them. If it kept happening repeatedly, it would eventually lead to banishment from the skulk. But it would have to happen many times for that to happen.”

“Then you understand.”

“I do?”

“Yes. I make sure that people do their task. I make sure that everybody’s bag is full. In my case, I make sure that the people who mine minerals and log lumber and drill for oil do their fair share. When they don’t, I banish them from the pack, or in my case, I fire them.”

Oliver stopped what he was doing. I could see him working it out in his head as he stared off into the distance.

“Does that make sense?” I asked.

“I suppose it does. You’re an Alpha tasking the rest of his pack. Mining minerals or logging lumber isn’t much different from what we’re doing right now.”

“It’s different in some ways but similar in many others.”

“You make it sound like life in the city is the same.”

“It is. Perhaps one day you’ll be able to experience it for yourself.”

Oliver looked at the fruit bush he was picking from as he responded to me.

“Perhaps,” he sighed. “If I could mate with a jaguar, anything is possible.”

Even though he had his head down, I could see the grin on his lips. I chuckled softly before going back to work with him.

The sun continued to shine in the sky as we worked. There was no need to push myself because Oliver was able to find an abundance of fruit bushes to pick from. The other foxes kept to themselves as they roamed the trees. It was so peaceful and quiet that I didn’t even think of the pain in my knee. Even Silas and Eve seemed to be minding their own business.

“I think I might be finished up soon,” I said.

I held up my bag to show Oliver how hefty it had become.

“It’s still only the afternoon and you’re almost finished,” he said. “You worked faster than I expected.”

“Your bag is filled almost the same as mine. You know what that means?”

“What?”

“Did you already forget about what I spoke about earlier? About getting our work done early so you could let me mount you…”

I said it without shame or hesitation. But even though Oliver should have been used to my attitude by now, he still shook his head and looked away in embarrassment.

“We’re not done yet,” he said. “There’s still plenty of room in my bag.”

“And what if I say your bag is filled up?”

I set my bag down and grabbed him by the arms. He gasped and giggled as his bag fell down to the ground next to him.

“What would you do if I took you right now, Oliver? Would you refuse?”

His throat shifted with a swallow. He looked up at me, his eyes unblinking, and shook his head.

“I would let you have me,” he said. “I would let you ravage me as often as you—”

He gasped as I turned him around suddenly. I enjoyed the sound of him giggling as I worked his cloth down to his knees. He fell down on all fours before me.

His ass had never been so inviting. And at the center of it, I could see all of the fluids lubricating his opening.

“Look at you,” I whispered. “You’re already so wet.”

“It’s all your fault… You did this to me.”

“You’re right. I suppose it’s only fair I do something about it.”

My cock was raging hard inside of my pants. There was something about taking Oliver with so many of the other foxes nearby that turned me on even more than it should have.

I pressed my tip to his asshole and watched his body shudder.

“Just relax,” I whispered.

I gripped the sides of his waist and held him close. But just as I was about to plunge myself into him, I lost my grasp of Oliver as he suddenly pulled away.

“Wait,” he said as he turned around.

“What? What’s wrong?”

There was a sudden look of concern on his face that left me confused.

“There’s someone here,” he said.

“What does that matter? Let them see—”

“No. Not the rest of the skulk. Someone else. Can’t you sense them?”

I knew that Oliver wasn’t joking. The look in his eyes was more serious than I wanted to believe.

But it was just as Anita said to me earlier. The city had dulled my senses. I was a man more than anything else.

“Oliver, I don’t—”

I shook my head in confusion but he cut me off. I watched him as he worked his way back to his feet and covered himself. I did the same, my eyes locked on him as he continued to appear worried.

“Oliver…”

He looked off into the distance and closed his eyes. He held his nose in the air and sniffed. As soon as he did, his eyes shot open.

“Oh, no…”

“Oliver?”

“Fierce wolves. They’re here.”

I shook my head in confusion.

“What?” I said. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, they’re here. They’re close. I can smell them.”

“But this isn’t fierce wolf territory. We’re miles away from—”

“I don’t know why, Knight. I can’t explain it. But they’re here.”

“I…”

I cut myself off.

I could never forget their scent. Not after my encounter with them. And when their familiar smell finally filled my nose, I knew that Oliver wasn’t joking.

“Quickly,” I said. “Gather the others. We have to get out of here and return to the camp.”

Oliver nodded and quickly started calling out to the others. They were all scattered through the woods, so it took him some time before he finally gathered them all into the same clearing.

“What’s this all about?” Silas said.

“Yeah, what kind of stupid trick is this?” Eve said.

“This isn’t a trick,” Oliver said. “Can’t you smell them? The fierce wolves are here.”

“Fierce wolf territory isn’t for miles,” Eve said. “What business would they have—”

She stopped and looked off to the side. Everybody else turned in the same direction. There was some movement between the trees. I squinted my eyes to get a better look.

Without warning, a black and white wolf leaped from the darkness and snarled at us.

“Run!” Oliver shouted.

The foxes all shifted and sprinted in the direction back toward the camp.

I shifted into a jaguar and roared at the lone wolf. I turned to the side and saw Oliver had stayed by my side.

“What are you doing here?” I said. “Go! I’ll hold him off!”

“I’m not leaving you,” he said. “Not again!”

“Oliver—”

“No! I will not leave you here alone!”

Now wasn’t the time to argue with him. I turned my attention back to the wolf and roared at him again.

I stood my ground and dug my feet into the grass. With Oliver by my side, I wouldn’t let the wolf get anywhere near him.

I waited for him to attack. His fangs sharp, he bared his teeth at me to show how vicious his bite was.

But he didn’t move from the spot where he stood. He just stayed there and stared at me.

I looked around to see if there were others who were going to flank me but there were none. Even with my dulled senses, I knew the wolf before me was alone.

“Jaguar,” he said. “You’ve been found. Running with the foxes in this area.”

“What do you want?” I shouted. “We are not in your territory. Let the foxes be.”

“It’s too late. That one trespassed. His entire skulk must pay the consequences.”

“What are you saying?”

“Prepare yourselves. You will offer us tribute for the fox’s transgressions. Before the snow comes. If you do not, you, jaguar, and all of the others who associated with him will suffer the consequences.”

“Wait. What—”

Before I could get an answer from him, the wolf leaped back between the trees and disappeared.

I turned to Oliver to try and figure out what just happened.

“What did he say?” I said.

“We trespassed on his territory. Now they want us to pay tribute.”

“Tribute?”

“Food. Water. Who knows what else they want?”

“But why? We’re not in their territory.”

“I don’t think that matters to them. They attacked you and you escaped. That means they want more than just blood. And if they’ve left their territory, that means they’re serious.”

I didn’t want to think it had come to this. I thought that I’d seen the last of them when I raced out of their territory. But the threat of the fierce wolves was greater than even the coming snow.

“Let’s go back to camp,” I said. “We have to warn them before it’s too late.”