Chapter Thirteen

 

Foxfire

 

It’s late afternoon when we hike back to Daisy. The foxes provide an escort to the edge of their land, but only Jordy walks with us.

“Hey,” I whisper to her as we go single file through a dense thicket. “You’re not in trouble, are you? I mean, it’s not your fault we found you. We would’ve sniffed you out one way or another.”

She shakes her head, but I don’t quite believe her.

When we hear the sound of cars on the highway, Tank and I find ourselves alone.

“You all right?” he asks as we climb into Daisy.

I barely nod. My father is missing, and has been for most of the year. My kin are a bunch of backwoods, inbred, wolf-hating hillbillies. We didn’t see any females other than Jordy, but if she’s their example of a liberated woman, I don’t even want to know what they think of hippie feminists who dye their hair and own businesses. No wonder Johnny didn’t bring my mother into the fold. As much as she might dig the homemade clothes and living in caves, she couldn’t give up coffee shops and modern plumbing.

“Foxfire?” Tank has pulled over. We’re at a diner on the edge of town.

“We should call Sunny,” I say. My mom might be worried. Or, knowing her, assume we snuck off to make love in the woods all day. I pull my phone out and shoot her a text, asking if we can bring her dinner. She replies right away that she made friends with a few local market people and is going to a vegan potluck and meditation session with them tonight.

Tank guides me into the diner and orders food. When it comes, I pick at it.

After polishing off his huge order, Tank bumps my foot. “So, you met your kin. Pretty smart of them to hide out like that.”

“Did you know there were… people… living like that?”

“No. But I’m not surprised. It’s dangerous for the weaker species. They lie low.” He frowns. “You gonna eat the rest of your burger?”

I shake my head.

“What do they do if they have to go to the doctor?”

“Shifters don’t need much medical care.”

“What about food? Schools?”

“They don’t trust any outsiders. They take care of their own.”

He signals to the waitress and asks her to box my food up, along with a few extra orders.

Halfway to the car, he stops and pulls me alongside the building. He crowds me against the wall and frames my face with his big hands. “Foxfire, talk to me.”

“They didn’t know he had a daughter,” I say around the lump in my throat. “They had no idea…”

Tank searches my face.

“He didn’t want me.” My voice wobbles.

“Baby.” He hugs me. “You know that’s not true. He sent your mom money all these years.”

“Why didn’t he ever come to meet me?”

“He thought you were human, remember? Maybe he wanted to protect you.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you think he wanted to expose you to those people? Risk their laying claim to you, demanding you be raised among them?”

I shake my head. Life with Sunny was definitely better than with the extras from the cast of Deliverance.

“Sounds like he was trying to escape them himself.”

“But what about what they said?” I ask. “Shifters disappearing?”

Tank straightens. Shadows move across his face. “I don’t know,” he says finally. “I can’t say whether their claims are true or not. Your father could’ve just run and escaped them. We may never find out.”

“It just sucks. I finally have a reason to seek out my father, and I’m a year too late.”

“I know, baby. I know.”

I head into the diner for a pitstop while Tank loads the food into Daisy. When I return, a soft voice calls my name.

I whirl and peer into the shadows. “Jordy?”

My female fox kin inches away from the wall where her bike leans.

“You came to find me?”

“I wanted to give this to you.” She holds out a small brown object, a wallet. “It’s Johnny’s. He left it hidden at the market stall, the day he disappeared. I found it in the locked money box. I was the only one who had a key.”

I flip the worn leather open and peer at the driver’s license. A solemn faced man, light-haired, with freckles, looks up at me.

“Johnny,” she confirms. “He was my brother. Older by a bunch of years.”

I close the wallet, hiding my father’s picture away. “That makes you my aunt.”

“Yeah.” She smiles shyly. She doesn’t look that much older than me, maybe five years.

“Foxfire,” Tank calls. Jordy startles.

“It’s okay.” I step into the light and wave at Tank to wait a minute. Jordy cringes against the wall, the whites of her eyes flashing in the dark. “He doesn’t bite, I promise.”

“Wolves are so dangerous,” Jordy whispers.

“You get used to him.” I shrug.

She shakes her head. “The clan doesn’t want him around, even if he is your mate.”

“My what?”

“He marked you.” She jerks her chin at my neck. I put a hand over the place where Tank bit me. “That’s what wolves do when they find their mates.”

“So?” I say, not certain what she means by mate. “I’m still one of you.”

“No, you ain’t. And that’s the way it’s gotta be.”

“But you’re my family.”

“You’d better just forget all of us. Johnny would want you to. Johnny wished he could sometimes.”

“Everything all right?” Tank walks slowly toward us.

“I gotta go.” Jordy grabs her bike and climbs on, poised to flee.

“You going to be okay?” Tank asks her.

“Yeah.”

I add, “You’re not in trouble for coming to talk to us?”

“I had to come. Johnny would’ve wanted it.”

“Jordy…” I want to tell her she doesn’t have to go back, that she can come and live with me. But I don’t even know what I’m going to do. I thought I’d find my father and things would magically make sense.

“Write down our numbers,” Tank decides for me. I fumble in my purse for a pen and paper and take down the digits. “You get in trouble, you call.” He holds the paper out to Jordy. “We’ll get you out.”

She snatches the paper and folds it so it disappears among her clothes before pedaling away.

“You okay, baby?” His hand rests on my neck, stroking.

“Yeah,” I whisper, watching the lone figure ride into the wilderness.

 

~.~

 

Tank

 

Foxfire’s quiet as I drive to the hotel. Jordy gave her something. I can smell it in her purse, but she doesn’t mention it, so I don’t bring it up.

Back in the room, she disappears for a few minutes in the bathroom. I give her space, touching her lightly when she leaves and I take my turn to wash up.

When I come out she’s lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling. The bag of food sits by her, untouched. I don’t like how little she’s eaten, but I understand. It’s been an intense day.

I lie down beside her.

“What do you need?”

A little sigh escapes her. Her scent changes. Before I can analyze it, she rolls to face me, blinking her large gray eyes.

“Make love to me, Tank.”

I don’t know what to say, so I stay silent. Her whole world is upside down. I’m the only one she has to talk to. I’m happy to be there for her, I’m just not sure I deserve her trust.

“Please.” She wriggles closer, her head tilting up to mine. “I need to be touched.” She lifts her hand, hesitates, and then touches my hair. “I need you.”

I swallow, hard. I thought resisting Foxfire, the crazy-haired sex kitten, was hard, but seeing her hurting guts me. Nothing on the planet would keep me from giving my mate what she needs. Even if I haven’t wrapped my brain around the fact I’ve marked her.

As in, she’s mine forever. And I’m still not sure that’s the best idea.

What am I saying? My wolf fucking loves the idea. I just have this itchy feeling about how this will all fall out with the pack. I’m up here in Flag when I should be keeping an eye on Eclipse and Garrett’s businesses in Tucson. Have I forsaken my pack for a female, just like my father did?

But I can figure that out later. Right now, my babygirl needs me. I wrap my hand around her nape, pull her close, and kiss her.

We don’t talk. We don’t have to.

I’m not rough, this time. I give it to her sweet. Not quite tender—I don’t know if that’s possible for me—but as gentle as I can. I stroke my tongue into her mouth, suck at her lips. Pull her shirt off and drag down the straps of her bra. I worship her nipples, sucking, pinching, kissing. I move down her belly, divest her of her pants.

She starts begging for my cock the minute my mouth is on her core, and I don’t have the heart to delay her orgasm. I stand up and yank off my clothes.

“You want this, baby?” I grip my cock.

“Yes, Tank. I need you.”

I climb over her and rub my cock along her glossy slit. For once, I use some restraint, inching in slowly, doing my best not to turn this into another bed-breaking slam fest.

She arches and squeezes me tight.

Fuck. Maybe it will be another bed-breaker. I rock into her, holding her gray gaze, lacing my fingers over the tops of hers.

“Is this what you need, little fox?”

“Yeah,” she chokes. She’s popping her pelvis up to meet me on every stroke, rubbing her sweet spot over my cock. “Yes!”

I keep our bodies connected but roll over. Let her drive, for once. She straddles me, and I grip her hips, sliding her up and down the length of my cock. Her breasts bounce, color flushes her cheeks. She drops her hands to my chest and digs her nails into my skin. I let her take over the rhythm.

Her eyes glaze, lips part. She’s already shot to outer space, but I don’t make her stay with me. She needs this. “Take it, baby. Take what you need.”

She rides me fast, making the sexiest little grunts until she comes. I hold her hips in place and jack mine up, fucking her deep until I go off like a firecracker.

She hums and settles on top of me, naked, her cheek cradled on my chest. I run my hand up and down her back, soothing her, listening to her heartbeat slow.

“Whatcha thinking about?” I nudge her.

“My kin.”

“Ah.”

Yeah, there are no words.

“At least I found them.” It’s an obvious attempt at a silver lining, and it makes my chest tighten for her. “And I guess we know why I’m such a freak.”

“Don’t do that,” I say immediately.

“Do what?” She raises her head.

“Nobody calls you a freak. If I catch anyone calling you names, I’ll make them pay.” I waggle my eyebrows. “Even if it’s you.”

Her lips quirk with a reluctant grin. “You’re going to spank me for calling myself names?”

“Yes.”

She snorts, but I let her see I’m 100 percent serious. Not about punishing her, but about defending her. Because, despite my father’s advice, I will choose Foxfire over pack, if it comes to it. Any one of my pack brothers judges her, and they’re going to swallow my fist whole.

I roll on top of her, holding most of my weight while still covering her slender body with mine. She doesn’t move, doesn’t breathe, looking up at me like I hung the fucking moon. I want to bottle this feeling forever. The glory of being her lover, her protector.

“No one insults my baby.” I nuzzle her neck, right over the mark I gave her. I haven’t explained it to her yet. I still had to wrap my own mind around it, and she has way too much on hers. But I will.

She’s mine, now, whether she likes it or not.