Chapter 2

• ~Foxy~
• Nineteen years later in the town of Blue Moon, Kentucky…
• A fox in the wolf's den. That’s exactly what my life is like with danger around every corner. It’s not easy, but here I am, living with those who would rather see me dead than look into the face that reminds them of the depth of their communities’ corruption.
• I’m the first known red fox shapeshifter to live amongst the wolf clan of Blue Moon. Actually, if I’m being completely honest with myself, I’m probably the only fox ever to live with wolves of any kind. I don’t even know any other red fox shifters because our kind is almost extinct due to the California forest fires. I can barely remember the fires that consumed my pack’s forest home or the murders who set it. I was just a child when it happened, but I remember my mother’s last words; I’ll love you forever, my little fox. Forever…
• I was adopted by a wolf tribe couple when my parents were killed in a forest fire when I was just a pup. My adoptive father, who is the former Blue Moon Warrior General, saved my life. He and his second in command, Damon, tried to save my mother too after she was attacked, but she didn’t survive. They are the most noble men I know, and I owe them my life.
• I was about three years old when they moved me from the Redwood Forest to the Ohio Valley in a river town about half an hour from the city of Louisville, Kentucky. Our little American town is hidden in plain sight from human existence. The best way to stay hidden from humans is to live amongst them. Wolves in this area work hard to stay undetected by humans because no one wants to become a science experiment in some human military lab. After all, they’re not indigenous to this area, so they must keep low-key.
• Humans often don’t see what’s in plain sight because they are too caught up in their own selfish lives. It’s hard to be observant of the world around you when you’re staring at a cell phone all the time.
• My birth parents were traditional wilds. Wilds didn’t live amongst humans like most shifters. They live most of their lives in the forest and stay in their true animal form along with natural animals. I can’t imagine foraging for berries and chasing rodents for the rest of my life, so I guess in that sense, I can be thankful. Much respect for my hippy parents, but I much rather have a cozy warm bed, and be able to have pizza delivery any day of the week, rather than live in a musty old cottage den.
• The downfall of being a wild offspring is I can’t fully shift, so my tail and ears stay completely visible in my human form. It’s a rare defect in the shifter community, but one I’ve never been able to overcome. A fact which as you can imagine, gets unwanted attention from guys in the kink scene. A woman with a human body, who has ears and a tail, is like kink gold to these weirdos. They think I’m like a prize pony or something, but I use it to my advantage when the time is right.
• Due to my shifting issues, I can only go out in human society at night, or if I attend some sort of event where my tail looks like a costume. Other than that, I’m stuck on the wolf compound so that humans don’t find out that I’m a real fox shifter. Very few of them know about us, and I don’t want them to start bringing out the lynch mobs with pitchforks to slay a beast that they would probably think would be dangerous to their kind.
• The most fun I manage to muster up is when I go into the city. I’m a burlesque dancer as my night job, and guys love the cute little fox girl who can also shake her ass like a pro. The tips are great and I’m a headliner in my dance troupe. The club I work at is wolf-owned, so it’s not like I’m exposing our kind. I don’t think humans even want to come near that place because it’s such a rough club. As a matter of fact, I’m fairly sheltered and haven’t been outside the wolf community that often, other than on a few rare occurrences.
• Here’s the downside of living as a fox in the wolf world. I may be a huge hit on stage, but I’m a loser to my tribe. My dream is to be included in the Alpha’s circle, known to our clan as the Bluegrass Elites. I’m not even accepted in the regular wolf community, so being on the council with an Alpha whose head is so far up his own ass he can’t breathe is a pipe dream. He’s so smug and self-righteous that he only wants the best of the best in the wolf hierarchy.
• It’s bad enough that I’m constantly teased in the pack houses, and can’t be an Elite, but I’m also bullied by a group of mean girls who make my life miserable. I can’t get attention from the council either, so I’m stuck shaking my fuzzy ass to horny shifters for a living. I know I can be worthy of more than they allow me. I’m a sly fox and I could really be an asset. Maybe I could be an undercover spy or something cool. Double-O-Foxy—at your service.
• Oh, yes. Let’s get back to the mean girls who make things even more miserable for me here than not being able to shift fully. I call them the pack puppies. The girls who hang around the Alpha’s warriors and Elite’s, just hoping to get mated and become some sort of wolf princess. If they strike gold, they could get mated to the Alpha, Beta, or Omega themselves. These bitches already think they should be worshiped like the moon goddess, so why not be some rich guy’s gold-digging, trophy wife.
• Ugh... I really can’t stand those girls.
• Today I’m hoping to avoid them, but I doubt I’ll be that lucky, being today is a big event.
• Sitting at the clubhouse for a pack meeting is my least favorite thing to do each week, yet here I am. It always smells like wet dog and testosterone in here because the pack wolves are always showing off their strength to get attention. Besides that, I never get assigned to a good job and end up doing dishes, cleaning, or folding linens at the pack houses. They can’t freaking accept me, but they don’t mind me being their little servant girl. Stupid jerks.
• The riverfront main compound, deep in the Kentucky woods, is secluded with a five-star luxury hotel feel, mixed with a few office spaces that surround it. The outlining area is average homes, shops, and everyday things you would see in human communities that keep the outside world from finding us out. There are a few outlining pack houses and each one harbors a new set of jackasses to harass me.
• Today, I’m in the main gathering hall waiting for the new warriors of the Blue Moon Warrior Tribe to be announced. They just arrived from the pack training grounds and most of them usually come back looking like hell after fighting daily at the battle compound to earn their spot in the pack. Sometimes it makes my stomach turn at how gnarly they look after all those fights.
• Sitting alone, I hear the click of stiletto heels tapping across the tile floor, making me cringe at the very sound. It’s the annoying intro music of the bitch that has become the very bane of my existence and an alert to my deepest trauma responses.
• “Ooouch!”
• Damn it! That one hurt. I grab my tail, trying to protect it from whoever pulled it this time. It’s either people wanting to pet me because I’m fluffy and cute, or bullies pulling it. It’s so bruised that I can barely stand to use it when I dance at the nightclub. All I wanted to do today was read a book in peace; but nope, someone has to ruin it.
• “Daydreaming of being an Elite again, Foxy?” she says, yanking the book out of my hand. “Ewe! Are you reading wolf erotica again? You’re so gross.”
• “Leave me alone, Sable. Give me my book back,” I say, jerking it from her hand. “Why are you bothering me? I was just sitting here minding my own business and you came over starting problems.”
• She and her three minions are standing there looking like they just came off the street corner and they’re judging me on reading romance novels. I dress sexy during my performances at my shows, but not here. They have no self-respect for the tribe leaders. It’s all about gaining the attention of some asshole elite with the biggest ego.
• I just want to get this night over with so I can go home and work on my new dance costume and maybe finish reading my book.
• Sitting across from me, she taunts, “This is our table. You need to move.”
• “What are you, twelve? The mean girl act went out in high school. Besides, I don’t see your name on it.”
• Taking my pen, she writes her name on the table. This bitch. I want to knock her out.
• “It is now,” she says, throwing the pen back at me, and hitting me in the face with it.
• Grabbing my purse and the book I was reading; I moved across the room to another table. I just want to be left alone, but I know there’s no chance of that. As usual, she follows, doing the same thing all over again.
• “Sable, I’m not playing this game today. Go back to your table.”
• “I want this one.”
• “Well, I want you to go fuck yourself and leave me alone, but somehow that never seems to happen.”
• “Bitch, I’ll kill you for talking to me that way!” she growled.
• “Oh, yeah. If you feel froggy, bitch, jump!”