Chapter 3

• ~Foxy~
• I shouldn’t have said that because I knew she could rip me to shreds in seconds. The only reason Sable hasn’t done it all these years is there was a rule set by tribe elders for wolves to not attack me. Not because they care, but because my father was the former general in their army and he threw a fit at one of the tribe meetings.
• The rule doesn’t help much because they still treat me like shit. The abuse happened so often as a kid that I have numerous residual scars to prove it. No one tried to kill me, but some of the dominant wolves used me as bait to practice their attack instincts. It sucks being the smallest shifter in the community. It’s like I was born with a target on my back.
• After my smart mouth calls her a bitch, she quickly shifts to wolf and shoves me out of my chair. From the impact, I tumble backward, and she jumps on top of me, snarling with her lips showing her teeth. I think she needs to brush those choppers because her breath smells like she’s been sucking dick. I can see a hint of slobber drip from her jowl and I’m not so sure she won’t act on her threats this time. She may just kill me right here and now.
• As I try to scamper away, I’m too scared to shift to my fox and I can feel Red trembling inside me. She’s as scared as I am. Red is my inner fox and she’s sort of become that little thorn in my side that gets me in more trouble than I do myself.
• “Calm down, girl. It will be okay,” I say internally to calm my inner fox.
• “Punch this bitch!” my fox scowls, knowing damn well we are too small to take on a wolf.
• I hate Sable. I know she just does this to be mean and to scare me, but she’s twice my size and it’s not fair. I grab my tail, holding on tight as I close my eyes, afraid this time she may go for the kill once and for all.
• Behind her, I hear her friends laughing. These mutts are grown-ass women in their early to mid-twenties and act like a childish pack of teen she-wolves.
• Before I know what happened, I see the pack’s head warrior standing over her, snatching her up by the scruff of her neck and throwing her two tables over. Serves the bitch right.
• Pointing at her, he yells, “Shift back, now! You know our rules. No shifting in the main hall during gatherings!”
• Shaking off her enchantment, she rolls her eyes at me, straightening her mini skirt. “She threatened me.”
• “Bullshit. I saw you harassing Francis again. She’s smaller than us. You can’t just try to dominate a fox. She’s too little. You’ll hurt her.”
• Whimpering, I pull my body against the cold cement wall, grabbing my ankle which is now throbbing. “My ankle. I won’t be able to dance.”
• “Well, maybe if you got a real job, instead of acting like a whore, and shaking your tail for perverts, you wouldn’t have to worry about that,” Sable’s friend Jenny snaps at me.
• “Jenny, get your friend and go find your table. All of you, leave her alone.”
• Turning back to face me, Warrior General Damon looks sympathetic. He’s saved my ass more times than I can count. Leaning down, he picks me up as if I’m weightless and puts me back in my chair.
• “Can you wait until we make the announcements before going to see the doctor?”
• I nod in response, trying to put on a brave face. I just want to cry, but I can’t let the pack puppies see they had any effect on me.
• “Good. I’ll help you there myself.”
• “Why are you always taking up for her, Damon? Are you trying to get some fox pussy?” Sable said with a growl.
• “No, smart ass. I’m trying to be a decent shifter by treating my pack with respect. And don’t fucking growl at me. Respect is something you need to learn quickly if you want to stay in this pack. Francis has done nothing to deserve all the bullying everyone gives her. Sure, she’s a fox, but she’s one of us. So, get back to your table and shut the fuck up before I banish you to your quarters for a week.”
• “But…” the other friend Tiffany quickly chimed in, “She started it.”
• “I did not!” I blurt out. “I was just reading my book and you four—”
• “Enough!” he rumbled so loud I was sure the earth shook. “I know who started it. Sable did, as always. Now, get going. If I see you bothering Foxy… I mean Francis… You’ll all be sent to your quarters and doing KP duty in the packhouse for a month. Understand me?”
• Sable rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her big fake tits. “Yes, sir. Come on, girls. We have new warriors to greet.”
• Damon has always been a great guy. There’s a reason he’s the lead warrior wolf on the Alpha’s council and took over after my father retired. He watches out for everyone, even me. He’s a big guy in his thirties and no one messes with him. Not even Sable and her band of pack puppies try anything to piss him off because if she did, she knows he’d rip her to shreds.
• “Are you okay, sweetie?” he asked, sitting beside me with a look of pity.
• “Why are they always so mean to me?” I say as an unwilling whimper escapes my lips.
• “You’re a weaker animal, doll face. I know you hate to hear that, but it’s in our instinct.”
• Shaking my head, I hate when people say that. I’m not weak. Besides, being an asshole is not an instinct, it’s a character flaw.
• “No, it’s because I can’t shift like everyone else. My tail and ears make everyone laugh at me. I’m twenty-two years old and treated like a child.”
• “Well, have you tried to shift completely? Maybe if you just shifted the rest of the way, it wouldn’t be so bad.”
• Narrowing my brows, I scowl at him like he’s the biggest moron on the planet. He knows damn well I have a condition that makes it hard for me to shift. “Oh, wow! You know what? I never thought of that. Thanks for the overwhelming insight, Mr. Obvious.”
• “Stop with the sarcasm. I’m just trying to help.”
• “Well, you’re not. The new warriors for the Alpha will be announced today, and it will be just more people I have to prove myself to. More dominant wolves who treat me like a lower life form. I hear new wolves are coming into the pack who are ruthless, too. People say that they’re even worse than the ones here now.”
• “I know it’s hard, Francis—”
• “Stop calling me that! My name is Foxy Wild. Get it right,” I say, with a little more pouting tone than intended.
• “No. Your stage name is Foxy. Your real name is Francis Wilder. When your adoptive father and I found you in that fire, your mother told me your name just before she died in my arms. I won’t disrespect her. She told me to take care of her daughter, Francis.”
• “Well, I like Foxy because that’s what I am, a fox. One day, this tribe will see exactly who I really am. I’ll be the first fox Elite in wolf history, with a mate who sees me for who I really am. One day, I will rule this place and show them all.”
• Dropping his head, he gives a slight chuckle while patting my leg. “Baby girl, I don’t doubt that for a minute. I need to get back to work. I’ll come take you to the infirmary after the meeting.”
• “Oh… Daddy wants you to have dinner with him and Mother. So, you might as well just take me home.”
• “Sure thing, Fran… Foxy,” he said with a kind smile.
• “That’s better,” I say, smiling back.