Vixen’s Run (2 page)

He pried her hands off his crotch and edged away from the dance floor. He bumped into a few women on his way out, but it was all too much for him. He bolted out the door and into the darkness, looking for an empty space to be alone.

The meadow he found was surrounded by forest on all sides and it was concealed enough to take off his clothing and let his bird walk free.

He tried to remember how he used to be, how he strutted and fanned his tail at the peahens. It was an effort, so he simply paced, flapped and twisted. There was a rock in the centre of the meadow and he hopped on top of it, spreading his wings and screaming to the night.

A small bit of red-brown fur jolted into motion, and Davus remained on the rock as the creature scampered around in a panicked circle before it settled and stared up at him.

To his shock, the fox transformed into the woman with the tumbled hair that he had seen in the Meditation Centre was sitting right in front of him.

She seemed to have no embarrassment about her body as she stood and walked toward him. In his mind, she was perfect—glowing skin, a wealth of hair that nearly hit her waist and eyes that had the golden green of a leaf in sunlight.

“Hello. You would be the mysterious Davus. I am Tiff.” She paused, “May I touch you?”

He ducked his head.

She ran her fingers across his head, neck and shoulders. When she approached his spine, he turned and flicked his tail to one side, out of her reach.

“Fair enough. You should be beautiful, glowing, but you are pale and dull, Davus. You need to work on improving yourself if you are going to catch and keep a girl.”

He was mildly perturbed. Who was she to tell him that he was dull? He shifted into human form and confronted her. “What do you mean, dull?”

“Your feathers. My guess is that you have had some trauma recently and you are still in it. It happens often enough, but in shifters, it comes out in our other forms. You just need to recover your sense of self.”

He sat on the cold stone, his body covered in moonlight. “You think I have lost myself?”

“I think you suffered and it has marked you, body and soul. Your soul isn’t healing and so it is showing in your body. Makes sense?”

“How are you so confident in your assessments?”

She smiled. “I live my life, say what I mean and believe it with everything in me. I commit to my reality and shape it to my purpose, for the most part. My grandmother has her own reality and it rides over mine now and then.”

“You aren’t swayed by my appearance?”

“Really? You are fixated on that?”

“I am. It is the basis of my personality and all that of my kind. We thrive on our appearance.”

“Well, then you are in rough shape. Your physical body is recovered but your attitude is that of a beaten dog. Do you want help with that?”

He cocked his head. “How will you help?”

“I will start from scratch and train you to be yourself again.”

Davus ran a hand through his hair. “Train me like a dog?”

“Well, like a trained peacock. Once you have a grip on what you are, you will know what you need to become. Fake it until you make it.”

“What form will this take?” He reached out to stroke her creamy cheek.

* * * *

She pursed her lips and stepped back. “Fight training, mostly.”

The look of shock in his lovely eyes was amusing.

“I am quite serious. You suffered damage and you need to get in touch with your body in a way that hours of masturbating just can’t manage.”

The rapid blinking said that she had surprised him again.

“You need to fight or at least to practice. You need confidence again and physical confidence is the easiest to acquire. We can start there.” Tiff smiled. “When do you want to start?”

Davus ran his hands through his hair. “I don’t know if I want to.”

“It is up to you. I will be here in the woods. You need only call me and I will come so that it can begin.”

“Why are you offering me this help?”

She grinned and slowly began to shift, wrinkling her nose. “Because I think you will be prettier when you are whole, and then you won’t let strange crows shove their hands down your pants.”

Tiff yipped and finished her shift, running back into the woods and enjoying the feel of the night on her fur. The Crossroads had all the charm of an old western town, but it kept the wilderness all around it for the use of the creatures who visited in search of love.

She curled into a ball of fur at the base of a tree and listened to the woods until the music of it lulled her into a deep sleep. Nothing here to hunt her, nothing here to hurt her, she could sleep and let the world turn.

Her nightmares wouldn’t find her here.

Three days passed in the Crossroads with Tiff taking on her human shape half a dozen times to get food. Once she got her sandwiches and retreated to the woods, she sat on a fallen tree and ate her meal.

The surprisingly light step caught her attention. She looked up and saw Davus approaching her.

“I will take you up on that offer if it is still open.” He sat on the tree next to her. His shoulders were down and his head was low. He was a defeated man.

“If you are sure, I will just get something to drink and then we can start.”

She wadded the paper of her sandwich wrapper up and tucked it into the tree. She would retrieve it later and use it in one of the fire pits scattered through the woods.

With him following her, she bent over a stream and scooped water up. With her thirst taken care of, she stood up. “Come on. There is a quiet clearing where we can start this. Just a warning, this is going to hurt.”

“I have heard that anything worth doing is worth the pain. I put myself in your hands.”

She nodded and headed for the clearing. She was wearing jeans, a t-shirt and sneakers and so was Davus. They were fairly quiet as they went through the woods and when they arrived in the clearing, she took off her shoes and socks.

He mimicked her but asked, “What are you doing?”

“You need to work on your balance. That is best done in bare feet. We are shifters, we are in touch with the land. No matter what is done to us, we are the wild and the winds and the earth itself.” She knotted her hair and walked to the centre of the meadow.

She turned to face him and waited.

“You seem to know an awful lot about this.”

She shrugged. “I have a wide range of hobbies. Now, face me and do as I do.”

Tiff went through postures, movements and holding their positions until they both gleamed with sweat.

“This is a good workout, but when do we get into the fighting?”

Tiff snorted and attacked, knocking him to his back and pinning him by the neck. She knew her eyes glowed green, but she waited for his initial panic to calm.

“You are not ready for the fighting. Your body looks whole, but it is just a shell. You need to fill it.” Tiff relaxed and pulled back.

Davus shoved upward and flipped her onto her back. He held her there and smiled with triumph. “Better?”

She fought her own panic response at being held down. It had taken years of practice to cover her expression.

“Better. Now, try it standing up.”

His small act of impulse was already helping. Davus smiled easily and got to his feet, offering his hand to her.

She took it and got up. When she was standing, she faced him again and extended her hand. “Time for balance exercise.”

They gripped forearms and pushed and pulled at each other for a few hours until Tiff finally called a halt. She smiled, “The sunset is almost upon us and I want to run around in the woods for a few hours.”

He paused, “I would be honoured if you would join me for dinner.”

Tiff shrugged. “Let me get a shower and get changed. I can meet you at the café.”

“I was thinking the restaurant. I would like some time to talk.”

Tiff sighed. “That sounds lovely. I can meet you in half an hour.”

He raised his brows. “You won’t need more time than that?”

“Why? Five minutes to shower, ten to pick out one of the two dresses I brought along, fifteen minutes to walk across the gravel to the restaurant while wearing heels.”

He chuckled. “I will make the arrangements, see you in half an hour.” He kissed her cheek and ran off with purpose.

Tiff smiled. One sweaty afternoon with him and he wanted to take her to dinner. It was adorable, but she was getting him ready for a woman of another species. Her own impulses didn’t matter. Soon, he would be gone and she would have to look for her next man to make over. Perhaps she could find a nice tortoise who needed dance lessons or something.

Tiff ran through the woods and stripped off the moment she hit the hostel. She had the small-predator space to herself so she didn’t worry about being seen.

The shower got rid of the sweat and grass stains. She blow-dried her hair, weaving it into a coronet while she tried to decide on the little black dress or the emerald silk.

It was a fun day, so she picked the green silk.

She slipped on the matching shoes and slid on the dress. She put on some lip gloss and a flick of mascara and headed out of the hostel.

Her grandmother had tried to get her to bring her gems, tried to get her to advertise her wealth, but she refused. She was here to be herself and to hell with the men who would be interested.

She was running a few minutes late, but the expression in Davus’s eyes told her that it was well worth the wait.

He swallowed, “You clean up exceptionally well.”

“My grandmother’s influence again.” Tiff smiled.

He offered her his arm and when she took it, he escorted her into the restaurant.

She sat in the chair the waiter held out for her and smiled brightly at him when she was handed her menu. He stumbled away, somewhat dazed.

Davus looked at her in shock. “I have not seen that smile before.”

Tiff snorted. “It is part of my kit to be charming. I also have a wink and a fluttering of eyelashes that would knock your socks off.”

“I confess that I am amazed.”

She grinned. “I am impressed with your progress.”

He sat back and looked relaxed. “Well, I feel better. More like the old me. This dinner is to thank you for your efforts on my behalf.”

“It was fun.”

The waiter returned and she asked for a pinot noir and ordered her appetizer. If she was going to get a dinner out, she was going to go whole hog.

She picked a meal that included slow-roasted meat, vegetables and croquettes.

He ordered something on the same vein, and when their appetizers were delivered, he leaned forward conversationally, “Pardon me if this is rude, but you have personal experience with the kind of pain I am in.”

Tiff looked at him and decided that he would trust her more if he knew her own problems. It also would make sure that he had no interest in her. Few men wanted women with her kind of damage.

“When I was fourteen, I was trying to be human. I hung out with humans, got drunk with them and one night, they drugged me. I woke up and my clothing was torn. I had been raped and I went to the local hospital. I tried to report the rape, but my mother decided that it was my punishment for hanging out with humans. She kept me from pursuing the charges and pretended that nothing happened. The rest of my family didn’t know and there was no one I could talk to for a long time.”

He looked green. “What happened?”

“My mother and father got drunk and drove into oncoming traffic. They died and the secret was now completely sealed. I was already out of school and that was when I met my mentor. Reygahn is a tiger who taught statistics at the local college. He taught me that even though my body was recovered, I needed to inhabit it again. I had lived for years as a tiny kernel of myself in the centre of my aura. I needed to get in touch with every inch of me. That meant pain and sweat.”

“You got over it? Just like that?”

She shook her head. “No. As I began to feel better, panic pushed me back. Every bit of progress was hard won. I tried to keep it. I start over every morning.”

He nodded. “What happened to the guys who attacked you?”

She grimaced. “I kept samples of the clothing that the hospital took so I had scent marks. They all walk with limps. Three had to get rabies shots, just in case.”

“Did that make it better?”

“Not really. It was the memories that came to me, chunks of horror that I have to count as part of my life. The nightmares don’t come when I am relaxed, so I tend to stay in fox mode as much as I can and run my furry feet off.” She sipped at the wine.

“I have never met a woman like you.” Davus smiled. “Would you be my mate?”

Tiff spluttered and picked up the napkin to check the damage. “What?”

“Would you be my mate? You are strong, charming, well spoken, very attractive and you don’t have a problem with my damage.”

Tiff felt panic in her chest. “I have just told you that I am damaged in the extreme, that I still have nightmares. I am a horrible choice for a mate.”

He grinned. “I have until dessert to convince you.”

Tiff threw every objection she could at him, but he seemed to have made his mind up.

On one hand, Tiff was happy to see another part of his lost self clicking into place, but on the other, his new confidence was exceedingly annoying.

“You do realize that I am a predator species and you are prey, right?”

He nodded. “I do. You could probably rip my throat out in a matter of seconds, but you wouldn’t. It wouldn’t suit your new affirmative life. If you are remaking yourself every morning, you are choosing to be affable, pleasant and goofy.”

“You want to marry goofy?”

He smiled, “It would be interesting and a cut above the snobs that I have to rub elbows with on a regular basis.”

“It would get boring after a while. I would embarrass you.” She nodded and crossed her arms.

“No, you would not. My family has already written me off. I welcome someone as a companion in life. I welcome you.”