For Fox Sake: A Reverse Harem Shifter Romance (The Chaos of Foxes Book 1)

by Emma Dean

  “I’ll think about it, Alpha,” Kenzie finally said. “Would you like something to drink, Selene?”

  “Wine, thank you.”

  Kenzie left to let her sister make nice with the Alpha so she could breathe. Holy fuck. Thank god for her enchantments or he’d know for sure she was hiding something from him.

  Martha grabbed her wrist and Kenzie looked up to see her parents glaring at her. “How dare you speak to the Alpha like that?” she hissed, face contorted with her hatred.

  Kenzie glanced at her aunt who looked bored, but had no intention of stopping her daughter. Then she looked to her parents.

  “You should be more grateful,” her mother snapped.

  Kenzie was stronger than anyone remembered. She ripped her arm out of Martha’s grasp and her cousin stumbled forward, falling in a heap on the ground when her heels got caught on the grass.

  “I’m grateful every day that Edith saved me,” Kenzie said. She wasn’t loud, but every shifter in the backyard could probably hear her. “I’m grateful I have more brains than power, and I’m grateful you left Selene to me to raise otherwise she might have turned into the nasty bitch Martha is. Don’t forget, Mother,” she spat. “You should be grateful your mother kept my death from staining this family’s reputation.”

  Her scars were white with age, but they glittered under the summer sun and she stalked through the crowds of people she didn’t know until she found the bar. Kenzie tried not to think of the weight of everyone’s gaze and attention as she ordered two shots of whiskey.

  “My friend Jessica would approve of your choice in beverages,” a cultured male voice stated. He reached for one of the shots, but Kenzie’s hand shot out and she gripped his wrist hard enough to break it if she wanted.

  When she looked up she saw a man with tight brown curls and a gentle face. His white linen suit was tailored perfectly to his muscular frame. “Demon,” she stated, recognizing the feel of his power instantly.

  “Eisheth,” he responded with a smile. “May I please have one of these shots? Shifters make me gag, but I’m here at the request of a queen.” He sighed laboriously. “It’s not a good idea to make her mad right now. The hormones alone, gah.”

  Slowly Kenzie released him. So many times she’d prayed for a demon, wishing she knew just one name to beg for the power she should have been born with.

  It was like he knew. He sipped the drink instead of downing it and looked at her over the rim of the glass. “Still want to make a deal?” he asked, tilting his head slightly. “I can make that happen if you’d like.”

  Kenzie threw the shot back and ordered two more rounds. She downed the second before bothering to answer. “I didn’t think there was anything I wouldn’t give up a few years ago. But now? I think I’m okay.”

  Eisheth patted her cheek like she imagined a father would, pleased with his child. “You’re more than okay, my little forest fire. I’m glad you made it. Now where’s my little queen?” He turned around and searched the crowd. It was strange, he spoke like they were all his children.

  Kenzie had no idea who he was talking about, but she didn’t bother to ask. Eisheth was the first demon she’d ever met, but he wasn’t anything like she’d expected. He was a thousand times better.

  “Ah, there she is. Piper darling! Let’s drink these right up before she sees us, and then bitches that she can’t drink.” Eisheth downed his shots like a husband caught cheating on a diet.

  Kenzie snorted and downed her own when she caught sight of the pregnant woman with three big men around her. She’d never seen Piper before in person, but she recognized her instantly from the article on the Witchly News.

  This was the one Circe had tried to sacrifice to curse an entire pride. Samuel had not been pleased from what Kenzie had gathered from all the chatter on the internet. This one was another survivor.

  There was something she recognized in the female. It was bone deep and strange. Kenzie knew she’d never really be friends with someone like Piper, but this girl had fought for her life and won.

  Piper studied her from head to toe while her leopards bristled at Kenzie. Whatever thread the Fates had connected them with, Piper felt it too because she grinned wide and opened her arms for a hug.

  It was so unexpected Kenzie found herself awkwardly hugging the pregnant Alpha female around her belly before she knew what she was doing.

  “What lost soul have you found this time, Eisheth?” Piper asked.

  The demon grinned and kissed her on both cheeks. “She’s a forest fire, little queen. Kenzie will burn the world down and make a new one.”

  Kenzie narrowed her eyes at the demon. His powers were beyond her comprehension, but she didn’t like prophecies regardless of who gave them. “Or I will finally irritate everyone enough they leave this world and I can enjoy the silence,” she snapped.

  Piper chuckled and introduced Kenzie to her three mates. “Caleb, Xavier, and Niko. Are you a witch? I don’t meet many who smell like nothing.”

  Kenzie looked away and searched the crowd for her sister. Selene was laughing and chatting with Samuel. She narrowed her eyes when the Alpha placed his hand on her sister’s waist. There was no way she was going to let that happen.

  “Kind of,” she finally replied. “When are your babies due?”

  Kenzie loved babies. There were so few of them in witch families.

  “Six more months,” Piper beamed. “Would you like to feel?”

  Her eyes widened when the leopard grabbed her hand and placed it on her round belly. With twins she already looked like she was nearing six months, not three. Kenzie glanced at her mates, but two were smiling at her shocked face and the third, dark-skinned one just looked uncomfortable.

  Another shifter who didn’t like witches. What a surprise.

  Kenzie removed her hand, trying not to think about the little feet she’d felt kicking at her hand. “Congratulations. I should go. I know relations between our kind are…strained. This is a pride function. I’ll leave you to it.”

  “Xavier can be an ass, but you should stay,” Piper insisted. “I don’t know anyone here and I like you.”

  Kenzie glanced at Xavier and he stared her down. She bared her teeth at him. “I can’t do magic. Get over yourself.”

  Xavier blinked in surprise. “You can’t do magic?”

  “Geez, where are you guys from?” Kenzie angled so she could see Selene and ordered her sister the wine. Things like legal drinking age didn’t matter in the paranormal world when one was the matriarch of an entire witch clan.

  “Crescent City,” Caleb responded, his deep voice surprising her. “We’re pretty secluded up there, but we come down for most of these events. The last eight years we’ve been overseas every summer though.”

  Kenzie glanced at the quiet one, Niko, who had his arm wrapped around Piper so he could rub her belly. It reminded her of the way the fox had held her.

  Instantly she looked away, embarrassed she’d even had the thought.

  “Ms. Kavanagh, here’s that wine,” the shifter behind the bar said quietly. He gave her a nod of respect and Kenzie thanked him.

  “You should stay out of the sun in this heat,” Kenzie told Piper. “Get your mates to bring you some iced lemonade with mint. It’ll help with the nausea.”

  Before anyone could say anything more she left with the wine. Something about shifters and their mated bliss always made her uncomfortable. And if Kenzie were honest with herself, she was a little bit jealous.

  With her auditory charm she listened in even when she didn’t want to.

  “I like her,” Piper said.

  “Let’s find you a comfortable seat in the shade,” Niko told her.

  “Don’t worry, little queen. That one can take care of herself,” Eisheth promised.

  Then they moved away and Kenzie couldn’t hear anything more over the general murmur and chatter of a hundred other voices including whatever atmospheric music the West Coast Pride had playing.

&nb
sp; Kenzie elbowed through the crowd and then put herself between her sister and the Alpha. “Your wine, dear sister.”

  Selene thanked her, but she only had eyes for the Alpha.

  “We should go greet the rest of the coven,” Kenzie said pointedly as she glared at Samuel’s back.

  “Yes, thank you Kenzie.”

  Selene followed her down to the lower level of the grounds where tables and chairs were set up around a small dance floor. Most of the coven was there already. Kenzie couldn’t wait to get this shit over with.

  “Kenzie,” Selene hissed.

  “S, I don’t care how gorgeous that man is, you’re not dating a white tiger shifter who has a seat on the Council of Paranormals, who runs not only a massive company, but also rules over every cat shifter on the West Coast.”

  “Shut up for a minute,” Selene hissed again. “Isn’t that Finnick?”

  Kenzie had a sinking feeling in her stomach when she followed her sister’s pointed finger to a bright redheaded man laughing with someone she didn’t know. Where there was one…yup, there was Ash, the black-haired fox, and then not far from him was Hunter.

  The burgundy haired male looked up and across the backyard the size of a football field at her and they made eye contact. Kenzie felt her heart start pounding. Was he going to out her to Samuel? Did they have the potion?

  Hunter crooked his finger and then headed towards the tree line.

  Kenzie shared a look with Selene. What the hell should she do?

  “Go,” Selene told her. “I’ll be fine. But stay safe and scream if you need to.”

  “You know I can take care of myself,” Kenzie muttered, already stomping towards the trees. She was going to find out what they wanted, and then she was going to find that potion before they could hand it off.

  They weren’t going to fool her twice.

  Chapter Five

  Kenzie

  Her heart pounded as she grew closer. All three of them had peeled off from the crowd and the barbecue to disappear among the trees. Kenzie’s hand strayed to the knives strapped to her thigh under the billowy dress. Her other thigh holster had a few nasty charms left over from Selene’s last batch.

  Kenzie had to use those sparingly. She didn’t know when she’d be able to get more – soon if she had anything to say about it.

  The second the leaves of the trees shaded her from the hot sun she stopped. Kenzie tilted her head slightly and unfocused her eyes, concentrating on the sounds of the forest. Her auditory charm made each note from the birds crystal clear, the shuffle of leaves loud, and the whisper of the wind told her secrets.

  If she wanted she could adjust it again and the whispers would be translated, but Kenzie didn’t have the time to listen to spirits and their secrets.

  The only natural thing she’d been born with was her mind and her nose. Kenzie sniffed. The wind smelled like wet soil and the pine of the evergreens. Underneath those strong smells were the flowers, a lingering smell of animal fur, and something electric. It was a hint of power and she turned.

  There they were.

  The one at the center – he was tall, but not the tallest. His burgundy hair looked like a jewel among all the green. Hunter. He tilted his head as he studied her. She could tell he was trying to get her scent.

  Then he pulled his hand out of his pocket and Kenzie clenched her hands into fists when she saw the potion.

  “Would you take off your charm?” Hunter asked. “It’s…strange not to know your scent.”

  Kenzie looked to the black-haired one, Ash. The memory of his arm around her waist made her cheeks heat and she hated herself for how badly she wanted him to do it again. Ash crossed his arms over his broad chest and his blue eyes sparkled when he gave her a mischievous grin, like he knew exactly what she was thinking.

  But these foxes looked more like really fit human men than the larger predator shifters did in their human forms. They were still gorgeous, but not massive like Samuel was. She wondered for a brief moment if the foxes had that brutal strength shifters whispered about. Like the Fates had taken pity on their size and made them strong enough to take on a wolf – sometimes stronger.

  Then Finnick ran his hand through his flame-red hair and walked forward. Kenzie knew she should keep her eyes on Hunter, but this one had been the first she’d seen. Something about his charm had an edge to it, but the way he grinned at her – it was infectious and she desperately wanted to know the joke.

  “Did you know foxes can feed on chaos and pain?” Finnick asked. His voice was serious despite the expression on his face and it made Kenzie jump, like he’d scared her. “I can taste your pain.”

  “What do you want from me?” she demanded, watching the way Finnick circled her.

  “We want to know what you smell like first,” Hunter told her. “Maybe I’ll give you the potion for it.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “What do you want with my scent?” She’d kept it a secret for years. No one knew her true scent. It was her only weapon against the shifters.

  “To know you,” Ash told her, stepping forward to circle in the other direction.

  Hunter smiled and tucked his hands back in his pockets. “Take off the charm, and I’ll tell you why we’re here. Maybe…maybe we can make a deal.”

  Hope flared for a brief moment before she crushed it. These were foxes. Stereotypes were true for a reason. Most avoided foxes because they were impossible to trust. But…if he’d give her the potion? What was she willing to do for it – for Selene?

  Slowly she reached up. Each earring was enchanted to help her exist in the paranormal world. Two were for scent, another to mask the sound of her heart and her breathing, and then the fourth was to enhance her senses like sight and smell. The last was to give her strength when she activated it – enough strength to take down a bear shifter if she needed to, but only for an hour.

  Without powers she was more vulnerable than she would ever admit. Without her charms she was defenseless against any paranormal being. Her hands shook as she removed them all. No need to give away which charms did what.

  Once they all twinkled in the palm of her hand she glared at Hunter and put them in her dress pocket, daring him to get closer so she could snatch the potion from his pocket.

  Her auditory charm still in her ear helped her hear the sound of the underbrush being crushed by Ash’s foot as he came up behind her. His hand brushed down her arm and she shivered.

  Kenzie knew they could hear the beating of her heart now, they could hear her breathing quicken as she felt Ash brush his nose against the back of her neck. She blushed, knowing they could smell how nervous she was – how much she liked the way he touched her.

  Clenching and unclenching her hands she focused on her breathing – control. That’s what she’d learned among the humans. Perfect, unwavering control. She’d spent too many years relying on her charms. Kenzie needed to practice more.

  Ash jerked back from her and growled. “Mate,” he hissed, baring his teeth.

  Kenzie bared hers right back. “No,” she snapped. “I am not.”

  Finnick’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “She’s your mate? How fun. Let me smell.”

  Kenzie wanted them to get the fuck away from her, but she wanted the potion more. How close would Hunter get?

  Ash got in her face, his blazing blue eyes searching hers. “Whether you like it or not, you’re mine.”

  “I can deny the bond.”

  He grinned then, slow and full of fire. “Sure, but only if you mean it.”

  A flicker of doubt ran through her.

  And then Finnick’s hand on her bare shoulder had her whipping around to smack his hand away. “Mate,” he said, grinning like he’d won the lottery. “You can hit me if you want. I like it rough.”

  “I am not your mate. Even if I wanted to, I can’t be both of yours.”

  Hunter strolled right up to her then, the toes of his boots brushing the tips of her Converse. He looked down at her, so close sh
e had to crane her neck up to look into those strange, glittering brown eyes of his. When the sun hit them they glittered like liquid gold.

  Despite her common sense she was entranced by him, by the strange musky scent he exuded with its hint of sharp citrus. “Foxes can mate in triads like the felines,” Hunter murmured, examining the line of her jaw like he thought it might hold the answer to whatever question he had. “It’s entirely possible, especially considering how close the three of us are.”

  Then his hand shot out, so quick she barely even registered the motion until his large, calloused hand wrapped around her throat. Her heart pounded so hard it was difficult to breathe, but when she had a second to evaluate the situation she realized his touch was so gentle it was barely there.

  His thumb brushed along the column of her throat and damn her, she shivered again, eyes closing as the touch filled her with a strange electricity.

  Kenzie’s eyes shot open when Hunter bent to run his nose from the top of her shoulder all the way to her throat until he was just under her jaw. His lips against her bare ear felt…delicious.

  “The taste of your pain is intoxicating, mate,” Hunter murmured against her skin.

  His words felt like a confession.

  And her heart raced in response. It was difficult to get her mind to focus, but she let him touch her; let him taste her while her fingers reached for the potion. Kenzie was deft and swift. The bottle was in her hand before anyone could make a move.

  In one smooth motion she knocked Hunter off of her and kicked back and up, her heel catching Ash right under the jaw. It wasn’t enough to drop him, but he was dazed. Finnick laughed as he reached for her, like they were playing a game and not brawling for her sister’s future.

  Kenzie didn’t like when people underestimated her.

  Finnick grabbed her arm and twisted it, spinning her around until her back was against his chest. Then he yanked back so her forearm choked her and Kenzie was painfully aware of how hard his dick was. It was more difficult than she wanted to admit to banish the thought of him naked in the vault.