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Not such smart behavior for a kitsune either, I noted even as I continued elbowing my way closer to the refrigerator on which our uninvited visitor perched. Despite my snarky internal commentary, however, I was as in awe of this being as if it was a unicorn walking out of a rainbow and into my life.
Because I’d never met a kitsune who wasn’t a direct relative. Could count the number of fox shifters I’d come in contact with on two fingers of one hand. If I’d thought about it, I would have realized that my mother had to emerge from somewhere. And yet, I’d somehow just assumed that Kira and I were the last of our kind.
“Who are you?” I murmured, knowing my words wouldn’t carry over the yipping and snapping of the werewolves between us. But, somehow, the fox heard. Swiveled its ears. Gently inclined its head.
There was a spark in the center of the being’s eyes that made me stretch forward to lean in closer. And my existence must have been equally attractive to the midnight-furred animal. Because it crept toward me in perfect synchrony, still crouching low enough to protect its belly even as it strove to capture a better view of me.
Not it—she. After all, we were the same in every way that mattered. Never mind that I was two-legged while she walked on four paws. Never mind that her fur was black while mine was red. This was someone who would understand my deepest yearnings. This was another kitsune just like myself.
The tiniest hint of a whine emerged from the black fox’s muzzle, her eyes watery with trust and request. Could I help her escape these werewolves...?
And in that moment of inattention, the shifters between us struck. One minute they were pushing and shoving, trying to reach the fox on human tiptoes. The next, a two-legger had boosted a four-legger on top of the refrigerator, placing the kitsune’s ability to nod at me ever again into doubt.
Luckily, fridges aren’t made for werewolf perching; the tops are too small and slippery for claws to find traction of any sort. And while the wolf teetered, unable to snap up its prey while maintaining its own balance, I made a decision that I knew I’d later regret.
“Here!” I called to the black fox, letting my sword recede as I stretched out both arms toward her. “Jump! I’ll protect you!”
Because I couldn’t let an innocent being perish, even if the last thing this pack needed was two kitsunes facing off against a mob of angry werewolves.
And the fox trusted me. Leapt across the surging, seething shifters who separated us to settle into my arms as easily as Kira had done hundreds of times during our thirteen-year shared past. Only, unlike my little sister, the stranger tucked her paws inward to ensure she didn’t scratch me. And her eyes, when they met mine, were full of gratitude rather than snark.
The lump in my throat came from instant bonding. My arms tightened, my shoulders hunching over to protect the black-furred critter I hugged into my chest. I inhaled the soft musk of fox fur...and in that moment of calm and quiet, the wolves forgot I was Gunner’s and launched themselves at me en masse.
***
“Get out!”
Gunner’s roar was so loud it rattled the windows. Or maybe that reverberation was due to the thunder of a hundred feet as werewolves fled in the face of their pack leader’s wrath. Whatever the reason, I was no longer in danger of losing my throat to supposed pack mates and my nose was grateful for the abrupt cessation of sulfur. So I uncurled from around the black-furred kitsune and peered up at my rescuer...who held a very naked yet very human Kira against his chest.
The alpha’s arm was steely without denting my sister’s skin painfully. And at the same time he still managed to look so murderous he might have stopped his underlings’ breath with a single command. In reaction, the black fox nestled closer into my body, clearly terrified of the aura of electricity emanating from the wolf blocking her ability to retreat.
The fox’s fear I would deal with in a minute. For now, I rose while scanning Kira’s exposed limbs. “Are you okay?” I asked.
“Not that you care,” my sister answered, brows lowering. “I might have been dead. I might have been injured. And you ran off in the opposite direction without even bothering to check on me.”
“I’m checking now.” And I’d also seen both Tank and Gunner racing directly toward my sister, so I’d known she was better protected than anyone else in the house.
Still, the pout on Kira’s face promised she wouldn’t let me off the hook so easily. Meanwhile, my quick survey of her limbs proved that the werewolves in question had done their job quite well. So I sighed acceptance of the fact that I was currently incapable of pleasing my sister and returned my focus to the strange fox instead.
Was Gunner really willing to fold yet another kitsune into his faltering clan structure? And would the pack splinter further if I dared to ask?
“Gunner...” I started, not sure exactly how to explain the fact that I ached to help this black-furred kitsune. It wasn’t so much a humanitarian mission as a compulsion and a need as imperative as hunger.
But apparently explanations were unimportant. Because the skin around his eyes crinkled ever so slightly as he jerked his chin upwards in a promise. As long as I didn’t sneak off on my lonesome, this werewolf had my back.
So—“You can shift,” I told the fox, prying her away from my neck and placing her on the kitchen table beside me, the separation hitting me in the gut for just a second before it eased. “Gunner won’t hurt you. I promise. We’ll protect you from whatever drove you here.”
Of course, the kitsune didn’t regain her human form immediately. Instead, her dark eyes flickered back and forth between me and Gunner. She was assessing, gauging, calculating her chances....
In response, the rest of us kept our bodies relaxed and our gazes averted. And even though our body language was more lupine than vulpine, the black fox still gave a tiny whine of acceptance before shimmering into the form of a naked, redheaded girl.
“I’m Oyo,” she whispered, gaze trained on the floorboards as her legs beat against the side of the table she sat atop. She was younger than me but older than Kira. In human terms, I would have guessed she was just barely old enough to drink.
“My mate speaks for me,” Gunner answered formally. “Just as she’s promised, so do I promise. Tell us who’s chasing you and we’ll make sure they never find you again.”
His words were protective, exactly what you’d expect from an alpha werewolf. But his tone was still gravelly with rage from the preceding battle, and his fur-form self was almost visible as he took one step toward the girl.
No wonder Oyo didn’t realize his advance was an offer to guard rather than a threat of imminent danger. Squeaking in reaction to the vague menace, the redhead was a redhead no longer. Instead, she’d fallen back down into the skin of her fox.