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.
Chapter Three
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.”
Chapter Four
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.”
“You have known me for one day.”
“True. I will ask again tomorrow.” He smiled.
Tiff felt a tension headache coming on. “There are a lot of very nice women here who would love to go home with you.”
“Yes, but I have to earn my mate and get her interest in my health and physicality. You are the only one who saw the actual me, so I pick you.”
“Wait, because I noticed that you were having a problem, you have fixated on me like a baby duck?” She leaned back as her plate was taken, the dessert wine was served and the dessert was placed on the charger.
Davus cocked his head. “Sort of. Among my kind, the male will posture for hours trying to get the attention of the female of his choice.”
“Huh. Here, I always thought that the peacocks were in charge.”
“Nope. We live a life of chasing and begging, keeping our bodies fit so that our mate won’t lose interest. With my…injury, I was no longer of interest to them, so my father shipped me here simply to find a mate, any mate. I wasn’t happy with that idea, so I began looking for a partner and your face kept coming to mind.”
Tiff cocked her head. “A fox is a really bad choice for one of your kind.”
“Well, I know you are not looking for a mate, but what are you looking for, if you wanted one?”
Tiff poked at her pistachio-crusted ice cream on a warm peach cobbler. “I guess I would like a sense of humour. Handsome wouldn’t be bad. He would have to let me run when I needed to run and let me figure out how much affection I could handle. I haven’t been with a guy since…” she shrugged.
Davus winced. “You seem so at ease in your own skin.”
“I am. I don’t think about myself as sexual, so when I meet another shifter, we are just talking in the only way available. I don’t hide my body, but it is just what I use to get around in.”
“You are lovely.” His amazing eyes were sincere.
She shrugged off his compliment. “Most vixens are. We have to get the attention of a male fox, and they are egotistical bastards for the most part. They come and go in a lot of relationships, so the women just get by on their own.”
“Were your parents together?”
“They were, most of the time. My father dipped out now and then. Your family?”
“My father and mother are devoted to each other. They raised me and my sisters together with only a few rough patches.”
“You have sisters?”
“Four of them, I am the youngest in the family. I had little responsibility and far too much time to enjoy myself. That is when I was snagged and imprisoned.”
Tiff noted his sudden seriousness and she stilled her normal quips.
“I was in the cage with the bladed collar for a year with them stripping my feathers from me. I was released and healed a few months ago.”
Tiff felt tears welling in her eyes. “I heard about that. One of my second cousins was retrieved, but she had only been in the lions’ custody for a week.”
He sighed as if a weight had been lifted from him. “I have been dreading telling someone about that.”
“It explains a lot. You aren’t in touch with yourself because your mind defended you by disconnecting your attachment of mind and body. Those collars were brutal units.”
Davus cocked his head. “You actually do know about it. I thought you were being kind.”
Tiff shook her head. “Nope. My cousin was returned to her mate and kits, but she was a little off. We don’t like being caged.”
“How did her mate take it?”
“He is dealing with it but he keeps taking off. I don’t think they are going to last long.”
Davus blinked, “What will she do?”
“Her sisters and mother will take care of her. It is our way.” Tiff finished her dessert and set her spoon down.
He looked as if he was mulling something over, and finally, he asked the question that had been obviously been burning in him. “Why are you here?”
* * * *
Davus watched the emotions flow across her features. There was dismay, anger, disappointment and finally resignation.
“Thank you for reminding me. I am here to find a mate so that my brother can get married. I am the eldest, so in our family, I have to wed first. He’s stuck if I don’t make a move.”
Davus nodded; it was tradition in a lot of shifter families to have the eldest children settled first. “He has found love?”
She shrugged. “That is what my gran says. I hope so. He is a little too attractive for his own good.”
Davus grinned. “Maybe he found the right woman.”
“It is possible. Or, perhaps, he has just found a woman that satisfies what he feels is his position. My brother is a bit of a snot.” She grimaced.
“That is what I used to think of my sisters, but they all turned out all right.”
“Foxes get worse as they age.”
He loved watching the expressions flit across her features and the gleam of fire in her hair. Just looking into her leaf green eyes, he wanted to strut, to prove that he was worthy of her. He wanted to capture her attention so that she never cast that devastating smile toward another waiter.
The suddenness of his attachment to her shocked him, but he had never had a woman look at him and see into his soul before. Her clear green eyes were bright and unflinching. When she had mentioned her own trauma, there had been shadows in that gaze and he wanted to clear it so that joy overtook her instead of darkness. He also wanted to do more than bite the men that had hurt her.
The darkness in his thoughts surprised him. He had never imagined that meeting the right woman would bring out a protective instinct. His own issues were forgotten in his urge to keep Tiff safe and happy.
Davus wanted Tiff to want him; he wanted it more than anything. If she were a peahen, it would have been easier. He would show off his feathers and she would either ignore him or be receptive.
With a fox, it was different. She was direct and had no problems being at close quarters with him, but she was cold. The pett
y masculine part of him wanted to kiss her until she responded, but the intelligent part of him mentioned that it was the wrong tactic to try with her.
He was going to have to wait until she made the first move. After the year of being cooped up, he was tired of waiting, but he was going to have to fight his own instincts to win his mate. That was not in doubt. Tiff was destined to be his.
He just had to convince her.
Chapter Five
Dawn the next morning was fun. She played hide and seek with him in the forest. If she dodged him for more than five minutes, he would buy breakfast at the café.
Tiff ran through the trees in her workout gear and found the waterfall that she had located on the second day. She eased in behind it and checked her watch. He would be looking for her right about…now.
He had cheated a little by providing her with a lymon yellow shirt for the game but that just made it more fun. Nothing in her home territory ever hunted her. It was why she teased the neighbour’s hounds. Sometimes, a girl wanted to be chased.
She kept her mouth shut as the roar of the water didn’t quite mask the approach of footsteps.
The sight of Davus caused her to sit down hard on the rocks with surprise, but it was the lithe woman next to him that sent a previously unfelt sensation through her. Jealousy.
The woman spoke to him and inclined her head with a grin.
Tiff seethed.
* * * *
Lee whispered to him. “She is inside the waterfall, but I can’t say that she will be happy to see you with a woman.”
“Thank you, and thank Jim for not getting bent out of shape when I asked to borrow you, but you were spoken of while I was recovering. You were thought of very highly by a few of the other lions who came to help.”
“I am so sorry for what you went through there. I am glad to see you moving forward with your life. From what Teal has told me, Tiff is one of a kind.”
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