Zero Fox to Give (Misfit Shifters Book 1)

by Rae Foxx

  Lym Fang, the Alpha of Puritan Village.

  It was before the crack of dawn for fuck’s sake and everyone was here. Me fucking a pair of twins must’ve been high-priority crime around here.

  “Let’s begin,” Lym announced as he sat back in his chair, steel-grey eyes digging into me and making my spine twist as though he was spanking me all over again. “Scarlet, it has been brought to our attention that you, a pack member, have violated one of our most sacred laws.”

  The Alpha stared down his long nose at me, the look the same as my father’s. Did the men of Puritan Village go to scowl school or some shit?

  God, if they thought I was going to roll over and take this they were wrong, I was hours away from getting out of here anyway.

  “Really?” I taunted, pulling at the restraints that were tied around my wrists, wondering if I could loosen them enough to shift. “Which one? You guys are like the fucking Old Testament around here, up to our eyeballs in arbitrary rules. Be a little more specific, please.”

  The room full of old men gasped and murmured like they were all women at the gossip table. Even the Alpha jerked as though he had been slapped, his eyes growing dark before he smirked and leaned forward in his chair, chin resting on his fingers.

  “Control your daughter, Eric.” Lym didn’t look away from me as he spoke to my father, his eyes held me in place even as my father’s palm collided with my jaw and sent me swaying to the side. The Alpha just smiled.

  “Scarlet, you have been found mating outside of the marital bed, outside of the bed of the one who was chosen to be your life companion.”

  No one around him looked surprised as he spoke, they just looked from me to the twins in curious fury, jaws twitching as tongue darted out to lick chapped lips.

  Sick.

  “What do you have to say for yourself?”

  When I was a girl, it had been drilled into me that obedience to the Alpha was the most sacred rule. Well after obedience to Oberion.

  Oberion.

  The Alpha.

  I wanted neither.

  When I refused to answer, the Alpha’s steely stare turned to my father. “Eric, present your evidence.”

  I screwed up my mouth thinking about what kind of evidence they expected. Did they think my dad took pictures or did a live video of the crime? My dad looked at me as he stepped past me, that look of disappointment returned, although this time it was mixed with something else.

  Hatred.

  The black hate in his eyes burrowed into me, that one flash serving more as a warning than I think he intended.

  Shit.

  We were all tied up.

  The twins had already been beaten.

  Shit was about to go down. I needed to get us out of here.

  “Alpha,” my father began, not even looking at me now. “I heard some noises in the middle of the night, coming from Scarlet’s room. I ran down to her room, thinking maybe she was in trouble or was hurt…” His voice trailed off like he really wanted to stop there.

  “And then?” The Alpha leaned back in his leather desk chair and tapped his nails against the end, the blood-tinted nails long and foul. “Come on Eric, what happened then? We don’t have all day.”

  My Dad shook where he stood before me, his body trembling as his fists knotted against his pants, beat against his legs. Even from here the red on his neck and ears was clear, the color brighter than when he’d caught us.

  “I walked in, and these two...felines...were having mate-relations with my daughter,” his voice had begun to shake as the peanut gallery whispered and gasped like old ladies. “In her bed.”

  He finished and they all exploded in feigned shock, the old men talking in full volume as words like ‘whore’, ‘bastard’, and ‘woman of the night’ were thrown around.

  I rolled my eyes.

  “At the same time?” The Alpha asked, leaning in to let his eyes drag over me. His chair squeaked as though it wanted the details just as much as he did.

  Gross.

  For worshipping false gods and preaching purity, they really did want the details on what I do with my mates behind closed doors.

  “Explain,” the Alpha demanded, the twins both growling and struggling against their bindings as the old man stood, walking toward me while my father fidgeted.

  My dad put his hands on his hips and then let out a long, weighted breath. “Um, yes. One was ummm… underneath. And the other, ummm, was holding her…”

  My father’s voice faded off as he shook in anger, the shock of the pack having faded to curious whispers.

  “Foxes only have one mate,” Lym said, standing over me now, “that fact is one of the pillars of our moral code. The code of this pack. You have violated it.”

  “Well,” I said and winked at my mates who had finally stopped thrashing about. “I have two.”

  I swore I heard Evan say, “Fuck yeah, you do.”

  “No, you do not. You have no mates, only sin!” Lym boomed, his palm wide as it slapped against my jaw and sent both my boys growling and mewing behind me. “You have no mates because we do not mate outside our species. You mock the standards that have kept this community and pack solid for almost a century, Scarlet. What do you have to say for yourself?”

  Whatever they were expecting me to say to them they weren’t going to get it. Maybe the Scarlet before Bloodwood would’ve done that. She might’ve crumpled in half like a weak piece of paper in their presence.

  Maybe.

  I wasn’t that Scarlet anymore. Not by a long shot.

  That Scarlet faded away somewhere in between battling hybrids and grilling wild meat over an open fire.

  And I’d be damned if I apologized for what I knew my fox wanted and, moreover, needed. Her mates.

  “I am not a part of this pack,” I said as loud as I could, even though my jaw ached from its most recent impact. “My mates and I are leaving.”

  I was firm, confident and determined.

  I was also tied to a chair, which meant that I went absolutely nowhere.

  “Hmm,” Lym gave a heartless laugh. “You have sinned, Scarlet. You and the outsiders you have brought here have sinned. We cannot let this stand. You must face punishment.”

  “What are you going to do? Banish me?” I would have laughed, but the look he was giving me trapped the sound in my throat.

  “That happened the moment you spread your legs, you whore,” Lym leaned closer to me, his eyes only inches from me as he grinned, as the acidic smell of his breath wafted over me. “You are no longer part of this pack, and you will find no other pack that will accept someone who has been thrust out for such insubordination.”

  My heart sunk, all of the sass failing as I stared at him, as the truth hit home. He was right. A banished shifter had a black mark on them. No other pack would want them.

  He had to be wrong. There had to be places we could go.

  “You are being cast out, but before you go, you will face your punishment.” The peanut gallery erupted at his words, all of them stomping and cheering as though this whole thing had turned from a trial to a gladiator showdown.

  Something that only grew worse when the doors opened again and Lym’s mate walked in, a giant rusty sword in her hand.

  “What the hell?” I shrieked, fighting against the chair again. “What the fuck are you doing? Just let us go!”

  “You must face the bitter pain of sin, and since you have been deemed unworthy, you will never again feel pleasure,” Lym swung the sword around, the old metal slicing the air with a whine as the crowd went silent again. “You will watch as I cut off the bits of the males that have defiled you, and then you will be mated by a fox that is suitable for you. You will be bound to the future that Oberion, our creator has decided for you.”

  “Fuck that!” I shrieked, slamming my hands against the ropes to loosen them enough that I could shift. So close. “I’ve met that bastard and guess what… he’s a douche canoe of the finest sort. Your god is a douche!”<
br />
  I yelled at full volume, screaming as I fought against the binds and pulled Lym’s focus away from the twins. They were fighting and screaming against their captors, trying to hide the junk that the sword was pointed directly at.

  Well, until the snarling Alpha turned it right on me instead.

  “Blasphemy! All you have brought to our home is blasphemy!” Lym was screaming, the sword was swinging through the air, aiming right for my head. Well, that certainly had escalated.

  Sucks to be him. I slammed my wrists against the ropes, giving myself just enough space to be able to shift.

  The sword swung through the air where my head had been, sending Lym off balance and to the floor, where the sword was already falling and had flopped around, the point now facing him.

  Where the sword slid right into his chest.

  Oh my god!

  I just killed a man! I just killed an Alpha. I was so fucked. So, very, very fucked!

  The hall erupted in screams, panic exploding as people rushed to Lym’s aid, as they dropped my twins who instantly shifted and ran to my side. Blood mixed with screams as the order of the mock trial broke down. No one even noticed us, even though I had been the one to kill the Alpha.

  I had killed the fucking alpha!

  We needed to get out of here, and we needed to do it before they figured out what had happened, and I became the second murder of the day.

  No one looked down at our animal forms as we ran out of the room, dodging through legs and panicked women as we bolted down the hall and out of the chapel into the night, leaving behind the panic and the smell of blood.

  I had only come here to say goodbye and get my shit, and somehow, I had inadvertently gone Kill Bill on the Alpha.

  An Alpha who was trying to make my boys eunuchs and cut my head off, but still.

  Our bags were leaning against the tree on the ridge where we had prepared them last night, everything ready for our escape. It was apparently still happening even though nothing had gone to plan.

  “Now do you agree that it’s a cult?” Owen asked, throwing his arms around me as he shifted back to his human form.

  “I’m actually shocked I didn’t see it before!” I hissed as I too shifted, grabbing our bags and throwing on clothes before we all ran into the forest as fast as we could. Ran away from the town that would bring their cultish hellfire down on us once they realized what had happened.

  “I don’t care what they are,” Evan heaved as he ran, “I’m just glad they didn’t cut off my dick!”

  5

  “Airport chairs are the fucking worst,” I grumbled, attempting to cross my legs and somehow managing to bruise my tailbone just from shifting my weight on the rock-hard chair that had clearly been forged from the hot stones of Hades.

  It was hot enough to have been, anyway.

  The skin that my shorts didn't cover sizzled from the temperature that grew worse the longer we sat outside of gate B-4 of the Seattle airport. It was cloudy and overcast outside, and yet these chairs were in the only patch of sun, absorbing the heat as though they alone were responsible for heating the airport.

  “Maybe if you stopped checking the entrances every two seconds you wouldn’t hurt yourself. All that jumping and you’re going to pull a hip,” Evan said, opening one eye to peer at me from where he lay back in his own Hades chair. His pants slung low over his hips and with his arms up his shirt pulled just enough I could see the lines of his abdomen. See the tiny bits of hair poking out from his waistband that reminded me that he was ‘free balling’ down there. “They aren’t going to find us, Scarlet.”

  “You don’t know that,” I gave him a look before twisting back to the crowded entrance of the terminal, it was so busy I wasn’t sure I would see them when they got here.

  We were as far away as we could get in such a short amount of time. If you were going to hide somewhere it should be in a loud airport with thousands of other people also looking to get away from jobs and families. I didn't know how far behind the Puritan Villagers were with their pitchforks, but hopefully, before they tracked us this far, we would be in the air and on our way to the one sanctuary I knew of.

  “You could always come sit on my lap,” Owen offered, patting his balls more than he was his lap and earning us a look from the older couple that sat across the way. The woman gasped and placed her hand on her chest, looking so similar to my mother when she witnessed my 'sin' that I almost did a double take.

  Okay, maybe I was a little jumpy.

  "Let's not cause too much of a scene," I stated, shifting again and sending more shooting pain through my ass. I glanced at the clock, only about twenty minutes ‘til boarding.

  "Where's the fun in that?" Evan teased and scooted onto the chair next to mine, leaning over as he inhaled me.

  "The fun is in not getting caught," I poked him in the arm, leaning in as his nostrils continued to flare as he breathed. "And stop doing that, I'm not wine."

  "You sure?" He half-moaned, moving closer and letting his hand slide up my thigh. "Why don't you let me taste you and find out?"

  "Stop," I groaned, even though I was leaning in, ready for a kiss. Bastard didn't close the gap, however, he just grinned and pulled back.

  "Those weren't the lips I was talking about, kitten," Evan purred, and the old lady audibly gasped before leaning into her partner and relaying everything she had overheard. Good thing she was just a busybody and not a spy from the pack whose Alpha we had just murdered…

  Moving again, I twisted too fast in my attempt to check the entrance. Pretty sure I had pulled something this time.

  Would that plane just hurry up already?

  "Well, then I will just wait until we get to..." Evan paused as he searched for the word, looking from me to Owen who slid across the aisle to sit with us, patting his balls again. Yes, because sitting on his already apparent erection in the middle of an airport was the right choice.

  I gave him an exaggerated eye roll, but the guy just chuckled.

  You would think with all of us running for our lives they wouldn't be trying to wiggle their way into my pants...

  "Where did you say we’re going again?" Evan continued and I froze, giving the still-eavesdropping woman across from us a glare.

  “I didn’t,” I hissed between my teeth, my fox chittering in warning as I glared the old lady down. “Just know that it’s a place that doesn’t care if we’ve been banished.”

  Well, if I’ve been banished. That wasn’t the twins' pack; although with the way they had been tightlipped about their own I was starting to question if we were all in the same boat.

  The twins gave each other a look, “Didn’t we burn down one of those places?”

  He sure seemed proud of having burned down the school. Although we all knew he hadn’t done it himself, knowing him I’m sure he had wanted to for a long time.

  “I’m not sure the orgy school was one, because if it was, I doubt my parents would have let me go. This is a true sanctuary city,” I said, leaning back in my chair as the attendant began loading first class. We were going to make it! “My aunt lives in another one…”

  “She’s the one that bought us the tickets, yeah?” Owen asked, shifting his pants to make way for whatever was going on down there.

  “Yeah. I haven’t seen her since I was a kid. She was always kind of... weird…” I trailed off, I really had no idea how to explain my Aunt Nancy… or whatever she was going by these days.

  The last time I had seen her she was smoking weed on a chain, draped in sheets, and running off to marry her wife, a jaguar who was still married to her husband.

  None of that was too out of the normal for Shifters in general. But she had been born in Puritan Village where polyamory had been, you guessed it, a sin. I had agreed with that for years. Now, I was starting to understand just how beautiful it could be.

  We may not be polyamorous, but we were banished just the same.

  My aunt had been a little too excited to hear from
me, let’s just hope she wouldn’t smell like too much incense when we met her for the first time.

  “Well, as long as she’s not going to try to cut off my dick with a rusty sword, I’ll take any kind of weird she can throw at us.” Evan crossed his legs, adjusted his pants and gave one thrust towards the ceiling as if reminding us all that he hadn’t, in fact, been turned into a eunuch.

  The lady across the way was so pale I half expected her to faint.

  “You’re not going to get over that anytime soon, are you?” I rolled my eyes and nodded to his groin.

  “Hey, you didn’t have a sword pointed at your junk!” Evan sat right back up, turning toward me as he puffed out his chest. If he pumped up anything anymore, he very well might explode.

  “No, because I had one pointed at my head.” I kissed him and pushed him back into his chair, he grinned as though he was the one who had won.

  “As long as there are no swords, or people getting murdered by swords, or murders in general, I’m good,” Owen said, draping his arm over my shoulder, head beside mine as we stared at the still-grinning Evan. “It’s a new start for us. That’s what we need. A new place to call home and not worry about sneaking into your window at night. As long as we’re together.”

  He was right, this could be the freedom we needed in order to be who we were unapologetically.

  I leaned sideways and rested my head on Owen’s chest, getting swept up in glitter-filled fantasies of what this sanctuary town was going to bring us when a flight attendant’s voice bellowed through the loudspeaker above us.

  “We are now boarding the economy class of flight 182 to—”

  “That’s us!” I yelled so loud that even the flight attendant stuttered to a stop in her announcements, having lost her place.

  A few people even laughed at me, but I didn’t care, I was getting on that flight and getting the fuck out of dodge. Evan grabbed my suitcase before I could, all of us cattle-walking to the back of the slow-moving line made up of the economy passengers that had been hovering around since the attendant had begun boarding first class. After a few minutes of being jostled around, I was starting to wish we had joined them.