That was one way to kill a girl’s self-confidence. She might be naked, but she’d also bled all over the man’s kitchen while ogling him. As if Cody didn’t have enough embarrassing stories about her, she had to add one more.
“Okay, tell it to me straight. How bad is it?” Misty asked after Cody reappeared carrying some bandages and Neosporin. The question seemed to startle him, and he stared at her cheek for a moment before replying.
“Uh…”
The hesitation made Misty groan. “That bad?”
“No.” The waver in his voice belied the words. “No,” He stated with a firmer tone. “The guy got you pretty good, but it’s already starting to heal. Tomorrow you’ll be good as new, but I want to put something on it to be sure.”
“I actually think it was the ground.”
“What?”
“The gash. I think it’s from sliding on the ground. He tackled my other side. See?” Misty pointed to the darkening spot on her side. “This is where he tackled me. The bruise on my shoulder and gash on my face is from the ground.”
* * * *
Cody fought the urge to growl as he examined the wounds on Misty’s pale skin. Everything inside him wanted to find the bastard in the town jail and beat the living crap out of him. The cat might outweigh his fox, but the rage he felt assured him of victory.
Even though her shift earlier had likely healed some of the damage, the wounds Cody saw would take a couple days to heal completely. Which proved how bad the damage had been.
Without thought, Cody moved to Misty’s side, his hand bushing the mark on her shoulder where she claimed she’d hit the ground. Blood pooled under the skin, giving the area a bluish tint. By tonight, the area would turn black, and by tomorrow, it would already be yellow. He leaned down and placed a gentle peck above the offended flesh.
Emotions rioted inside him. He’d almost lost her tonight. If they hadn’t gotten the beast off when they did, or if her asthma attack had been worse… He shuddered. He now understood what it had cost Jason to release the man who’d captured his sister. He’d thought he knew before, but these emotions were much worse than he’d imagined.
It wasn’t until he leaned away from her shoulder that he realized his hand had been absently stroking her thigh. Her inner thigh. Snatching it back, he cleared his throat and reached for the Neosporin.
Since the first time they’d met, Cody had always felt a special connection to Misty. Being an only child, he used to fantasize about Misty being his sister. But the feelings crashing through his chest right now didn’t feel very brotherly.
“I should have insisted you stay at the bar,” he muttered under his breath as he cleaned the gash on her cheek.
“You aren’t my father, Cody. Besides, who would have guessed a second man lay in wait, or that he’d attack from behind?”
“We didn’t know what to expect. If you’re going to keep putting yourself in these dangerous situations, I have to insist you learn how to defend yourself.”
“And how am I supposed to do that? Besides the yoga classes I teach in town, there’s a youth ballet class, and a step aerobics class. What kind of self-defense am I going to learn, how to sashay the bad guys to death?”
Cody frowned at her words. She was right. There was nowhere nearby to learn self-defense classes. Most shifters developed a natural instinct to fight, but somehow Misty had missed that day in Shifter Instinct 101. Although, now that he thought about it, developing a class in self-defense for the town wouldn’t be a bad idea. It would be a great way to protect his skulk when he wasn’t around.
Cody glanced back at Misty. She needed to learn now. It would take time to develop a full class and find an instructor. They couldn’t wait that long. He wouldn’t wait.
“I’ll teach you.” Cody twitched. Had he just said those words? He’d been thinking of asking one of the senior members of the skulk to teach her, but the thought of another man putting his hands on Misty, even to teach her self-defense, made him want to throw a blanket over her and shield her nakedness.
What was wrong with him? This was Misty. His friend-who-was-like-a-sister Misty.
He looked down at the thigh he’d been absently rubbing earlier. Maybe not quite like a sister. No, he couldn’t teach her. Right now, the emotions rolling through him were too confusing. But he couldn’t let any of the other male foxes teach her, either. They’d have to figure something else out.
His gaze moved up, stopping at the growing bruise on her side, the skin there already darkening. Once again, instinct warned him not to wait. And he always trusted his instinct.
Glancing up, he gazed into Misty’s eyes. She looked downright giddy at the idea of learning how to fight. Knowing he was caught, Cody sighed. It appeared he would be teaching her. He’d just have to stifle these new, strange feelings for the time being. At least until he figured out what had caused them and put an end to it.
Chapter 3
Misty released the chipmunk she’d captured. She wasn’t hungry. Just restless. Cody was coming over tonight to begin her fighting lessons, and nervous energy filled her. If she hadn’t done something to burn off the excess energy, she would have started cleaning. And once she got started, she’d never be able to stop.
So she’d decided to shift and go for a run, especially since she still had an hour and a half before Cody was supposed to arrive. But now that she was here, surrounded by the forests she loved, boredom set in. Well, maybe bored was the wrong word, but she was still filled with the restless energy she’d hoped to dismiss.
After Cody had announced he would teach her, she’d been elated. After all, how could more time with the man she loved be a bad thing? Not to mention, there’d been something in his eyes and touch the night she’d been attacked. Some emotion she’d never seen before.
But a couple days away from him had allowed the doubts to set in. Yes, she hoped Samantha’s marriage to Jason would pave a path for her and Cody, and yes, she needed to spend time with the man in order to convince him she was perfect for him. But she knew what a miserable fighter she was. Her father had tried to teach her once, before declaring her hopeless and giving up. Having Cody watch her flail around like a landlocked fish probably wasn’t going to make her appear irresistible.
Too late now. Cody had already rearranged his schedule in order to meet with her tonight, even moving his weekly meeting with the elder members of the skulk. It would not only be rude to cancel, but outright inconsiderate. She’d just have to suck it up and look like an idiot. But she supposed if she’d managed to overcome Cody seeing her pathetic attempts to climb the rope in gym class, she’d get over him witnessing her embarrassing fighting skills as well.
A faint cry made her ear twitch as she meandered through the forest. Her ears swiveled, searching for the sound. It came again somewhere to the left. She froze, sniffing the air trying to determine if she was in any danger. The small mewling continued. The pain in the cry broke Misty’s heart. It sounded like a young fox.
Sometimes kids from the local middle school passed this area while playing. What if one of them had fallen and gotten hurt? Her imagination ran wild, picturing the young shifter’s friend running back to town for help, leaving the fallen child frightened and alone.
Her fox couldn’t sense any danger–not that her fox instincts were all that strong. For whatever reason, most of her senses and instincts had never developed as well as most other shifters’ had. The weeping continued, a constant cry of pain and fear. Misty could no more ignore that sound than she could ignore a lost child, which it might very well be.
Following the sound, Misty dodged through the trees until she came upon the source. The scene before her made her freeze. Horror and sympathy rose up inside her, tightening her throat. She swallowed past the lump, assessing the situation. It wasn’t some kids from her skulk, and no one would be coming to help.
Misty tramped down the urge to cry as she watched the baby fox, not a shifter but a full fox, curl up with its fallen mother. She
didn’t know what had killed the mother, maybe another animal, or starvation. Perhaps the mother had never recovered from birthing the youth, who looked to be no more than three weeks old. Whatever had happened, one thing was clear, the mother had done whatever possible to protect her child.
The baby fox nudged the mother’s head with its nose, causing Misty’s heart to thud heavily in her chest. No way could she leave the kit here. If he didn’t starve to death, he would be a sitting duck for every predator in the forest. The mother could no longer protect her child, but Misty could. Reason enough to take action.
With stilted steps, she approached the pair. The kit looked up at her, a pleading cry escaping as if asking her for help. Misty tramped down the tears that threatened to fall. She needed to be strong and get this baby to safety. She eased closer, giving the kit time to adjust to her smell so she didn’t frighten it. A boy, she realized, his scent becoming clearer the closer she got.
It wouldn’t be easy to tear him away from his mother’s body. Using her nose, Misty pushed the baby away. Even recognizing the futility, Misty took a moment to nudge the adult fox with her nose. Cold and stiff, as she’d suspected.
Poor baby. She’d lost her mother at a young age, too, but at least she hadn’t been in the car with her at the time. Hadn’t seen the destruction, or been left alone with a cooling body. And she’d had her father to love her.
With a deep breath, Misty turned away from the body, forcing the kit to walk in front of her. Without looking back, she started home. Every now and then, the young fox would cry, breaking Misty’s heart again.
When they got back to her house, she would make sure he had plenty of food and toys. If Cody arrived while she was at the pet store, he’d have to wait.
It was actually kind of perfect. She’d been lonely lately, and thinking of getting a pet. Although she’d never wish this pain on anything, what could be better than another fox to keep her company?
* * * *
The first thing Cody heard when he approached Misty’s front door was laughter. The kind of laughter that came straight from the gut, borne of pure joy. A sound he’d come to associate with Misty. He smiled as he opened the door and strode into her living room.
The text he’d received earlier had said to come right in, but his confident steps faltered as he saw the cause of her giggles. Misty in human form, sat on the floor with a beaver puppet, playing with a fox. The kit’s eyes were open, but he still possessed his black baby fluff. It couldn’t be older than a couple weeks.
“What is that?”
Apparently unaware of his presence until he spoke, she jumped at the sound of his voice.
“Oh, hi Cody.” She looked at her wrist as if expecting a watch to be there. Why she did that when he could count the times she’d worn a watch in the past two years on one hand, he’d never understand. “Is it time for training already? I’m not dressed, yet.”
Cody looked down at her clothes. Skin tight jeans that looked way too appealing and a black t-shirt with the words Foxy Lady spelled in big pink letters across her breasts. Perky breasts that would fill his hands perfectly.
Way too tempting. Those clothes had to go. Wait. He mentally back-pedaled, rephrasing his last thought. She had to change into different clothes, more clothes. Some nice baggy sweats would be perfect. Something to hide her figure. And tennis shoes, he thought as he watched her bare toes curl into the carpet, the bubble gum pink polish peeking out from under her jeans.
Cody shook his head and refocused on the problem at hand. “You can change in a minute. What is that?” he asked again, pointing to the animal at her feet.
“What’s what?” She looked down, as if unaware anything abnormal was going on. Apparently in Misty’s world, playing with a fox on the living room floor was business as usual. “That’s a fox. You know, one would think the Premier of fox shifters would know that.”
The teasing tone almost brought a smile to his face, but his curiosity wouldn’t let the subject go. “I know it’s a fox. What is it doing in your living room?”
“I adopted it,” she said.
“Adopted it?” Cody looked down at the animal again. There was no humanity in its scent, but the boy was still a baby. He hadn’t been around enough newborns to know the difference between a shifter baby and a fox baby. “It’s a shifter, then?” He hadn’t realized Misty was considering adoption. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized Misty would be a great mom.
“No. It’s a fox.” She spoke slowly as if to a simpleton. “I feel like we’ve been here already.”
Closing his eyes, Cody didn’t know whether to be frustrated or entertained. Part of him wanted to laugh while the other part wanted to shake a straight answer from her. Worse, he couldn’t tell whether or not Misty was serious. Sometimes she didn’t realize when she was being evasive.
“Why don’t you start from the beginning?” he suggested.
“Okay. I was hunting and found him with his mother. She had already passed away, and he was sitting beside her, crying. I couldn’t leave him there.”
No, Cody wouldn’t have been able to leave him there, either. And he wasn’t surprised Misty had gone out and bought the little scamp toys to play with, but…judging by the amount of toys scattered throughout the room, this wasn’t a stop over until Misty found a better home for the kit. She intended to keep him.
He rubbed his forehead, considering his response. During their friendship, he’d occasionally have to infuse logic into one of Misty’s hair-brained plans. It always made him feel like the bad guy. The killjoy. How to explain this to her without upsetting her?
“Misty, I understand why you brought him home with you. You did a good thing. But you can’t keep him here.”
She tilted her head to the side, looking at him quizzically. “Why not?” Her tone wasn’t belligerent, merely curious. She honestly didn’t see a problem.
“It’s a wild animal. You can’t keep a wild animal as a house pet.”
Silence stretched out. He stared into her eyes, searching for the tears he expected his words to cause. When they didn’t appear, he breathed a sigh of relief. Since he’d never been comfortable with her tears, being the cause of them would have broken his heart.
“So you’re telling me, I can have a wild fox living inside me, sharing my body, but I can’t have one inside my home. Doesn’t that strike you as a bit...odd?”
Cody considered her words. Only Misty would make an argument like that. But it did make him pause. When he tried to think of a rebuttal, he realized she had a good point.
It really wasn’t his business. As long as her neighbors didn’t complain, he had no reason to force the issue. Besides, he didn’t want to see the joyful light in her eyes dim.
“Do you even know how to take care of him?”
“Sure I do. Well, okay maybe not. But I’ll learn.”
He took a deep breath, wanting to question her further, but it wasn’t his place. Tonight he was supposed to teach her self-defense. The whole afternoon, he’d researched teaching techniques and had come up with a lesson plan. But first, they needed to do something with the fox and she needed to change into clothes that didn’t cling to every curve.
“Fine, but what are you going to do with it while we practice?” he asked, looking around. The shiny new dog crate in the corner snagged his gaze. She wouldn’t…
Chapter 4
Misty didn’t see what the big deal was. The crate wasn’t too small for the baby fox. And she’d bought a soft pad for the bottom and a fox stuffed animal to put in there with him, so he could curl up and everything. But when she’d tried to usher the animal inside, Cody had acted like she committed a sacrilege.
Walking outside after changing into yoga pants and a tank top, Misty saw Cody putting the finishing touches on his makeshift fence. After seeing the crate, he had shooed her off to change, telling her he’d figure something out for her new pet. She glanced at the area he’d blocked off in the back yard by ti
pping her porch furniture on its side. The space in the middle wasn’t much larger than the area in the crate.
“How is that any better?”
Sweat dripped down his forehead as he glared at her where she stood by the back door.
“Because ‘crate’ is just a fancy way of saying ‘metal cage’. This way, he’ll be outside with grass beneath his feet and sky above his head. A fox needs to be free, to be one with nature.”
One with nature? She pursed her lips to hold back the giggles. He was so cute when he got all worked up. Whenever he was adamant about something, he’d emphasize his point by gesturing while he spoke. The dramatic hand movements were such a contrast from his normal personality, she always had to stifle the urge to laugh.
Years ago, she’d burst into a fit of giggles whenever he broke out in gestures. Then, one day, the laughter had pushed him over the edge. It had been one of the few times she’d seen him truly angry. The memory still made her uncomfortable. But it had taught her not to laugh at people when they were serious. Since then, she’d learned how to giggle on the inside. Now, she could tease him all she wanted just to see him get all intense. Which she did. At least once every other week. After all, someone had to keep the Premier sharp. Wouldn’t do the skulk any good to have a weak leader.
Walking over, Misty looked down at the enclosed area. The empty area.
“Where’s Oscar?” she asked, glancing around the yard before turning back to Cody.
“Oscar?” he asked.
“Small, black and red fur, baby fox.”
“He’s right…” Cody broke off as he stared at the ground behind him with a “huh.”
Panic set in. “You lost my fox?” Her voice rose to a shout, her eyes searching the small backyard. Oscar was nowhere in sight. “He’s still a baby, Cody. He can’t survive on his own, yet.” Not to mention the attachment she already felt, even though it had only been a couple hours.
A sense of failure assailed her. Oscar was hers to take care of. She hadn’t even lasted one day.
Worth Fighting For (Alpine Woods Shifters) Page 4