Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
~ Shade ~
“Why aren’t we taking Kazer, Arizak, and your other animali,” I ask as we walk along a shadow pathway, shadows slithering away from our boots like black snakes. “Couldn’t they hunt some of the foxrets down more easily?”
Galen holds out his hand as we reach an exit, indicating for me to follow the others and remaining close behind me. “Ordinarily we would, but it’s too risky tonight.”
I turn my head toward him as I step out into a forest. “Risky? Why?”
“This is the one night of the year that the foxrets are consumed by their animalistic need to mate,” Galen replies.
“It’s not simply instinct, either,” Raith explains with a lopsided grin.
“The need runs deep in their shadow magic, and it’s fuckin’ infectious.
All a foxret needs to do is claw a creature who is not of their species, and that creature would also be consumed by the same breedin’ needs and desires the foxrets have.
For a few hours, their own instincts would be replaced with an insatiable need to mate and procreate.
Our bonds with our animali are strong, but it’s not worth risking them losin’ control. ”
I stare at him. “So you’re saying that just for tonight the foxrets will turn into sex-craved hornbags?”
“Yes,” Galen replies like that exactly sums it up. “But it shouldn’t be too hard for us to capture a few foxrets in a relatively quick timeframe.”
A large metal cage follows behind us, carried by their shadows. It settles onto the ground with a thump, then it disappears from sight, cloaked by the guys.
I stare around at our surroundings. This forest is different to the one we were in when we captured the nemins.
The trees are still ghostly, but instead of leaves the color of ash, the leaves are heart-shaped and colored a pale indigo with flecks of red branching through them.
The moon shines down from above, silver rays penetrating the forest, and I’m just thinking about how peaceful everything seems, when a blood-curdling scream pierces through the trees.
I jump, accidentally bumping against Raith’s chest. “What the hell was that?” I hiss.
Grinning, Raith curls an arm around me, squeezing my waist. “The mating call of a vixen,” he chuckles. “A female foxret. She’s tryin’ to attract a mate.”
“Oh. Right,” I reply.
The haunting scream is followed by barking noises, growling, and howls that sound like they’re coming from multiple locations in the forest. I’m guessing more than one foxret went to join the party. Not much time passes, and there’s a sharp whimper before another howl rings out.
“Once a male foxret has claimed a vixen, he will take her to his burrow where they will mate for days to ensure he leaves kits in her belly,” Thane explains, turning his attention to the forest.
“Okay, but what if she doesn’t like him?” I question.
Knox blinks at me, looking irritated. “What?”
“Well, what if he fights and kills for her, but she doesn’t even want him,” I answer. “Maybe he’s got a small dick or something, I don’t know.”
There’s silence for a moment as my mates stare at me, and then Raith bursts out laughing.
“What?” I defend innocently. “It’s a valid question. Or is this like a fated mates situation where they don’t get to choose? But if that’s the case, then why even fight in the first place?”
Galen’s lips quirk up at the sides. “As far as we know, the foxrets don’t have fated mates. They fight for the right to claim. As for the matter of what happens if she doesn’t want him…well, there are cases of rejection. The vixens are just as feisty as the males.”
That makes me feel a little better. “Okay, good.”
“Half the time you can’t tell if they’re fightin’ or fuckin’,” Raith adds. “But tonight, the vixens will want to breed as much as the males. I don’t think they’ll be saying ‘no’ too often.”
My cheeks flush as Raith draws circles on my waist with his thumb, and I shuffle on my feet. He’s looking at me like I’m a vixen he’s hunted down, and suddenly I’m finding it hard to breathe.
I clear my throat. “So, we’re just going to stand here and wait for some male foxret to come to us?” I ask. “That seems kind of silly.”
Raith winks at me, and he squeezes my waist before releasing me and taking a step away. “No point huntin’ when we can get the foxrets to come to us,” he replies, grinning.
I’m about to ask him what he means, when a high-pitched scream explodes out of his mouth, exactly mimicking the call of a vixen.
Clapping my hands over my ears, I gape at him, and I don’t pull my hands away until he finishes. “You can speak to them?” I say in disbelief.
Raith gives the others a look before answering me. “There’s still a lot we can do that you don’t know about, sunshine, but no, I can’t speak to them. Not in the way you spoke to the nemins. But I can mimic some of their sounds. At least, enough to trick a few foxrets into thinkin’ I’m a vixen.”
The air stirs around me as Thane manipulates his shadows, making them spin around me faster and faster. Black shadow claws tug lightly at my hair and clothes, and then he sends the shadows into the forest and out of sight.
“That should do the trick,” Thane growls. “With Raith’s call and Shade’s scent out there, we’ll have company in no time.”
I smooth my hair just to give my hands something to do. I’m not sure why, but I have a really bad feeling about this. “So, what’s their deal?” I ask Raith. Considering he’s the one who teaches creatures, critters & tracking, it seems logical that he would know the most about the foxrets.
He frowns. “Their deal?”
“Yeah, you know, considering what the nemins can do, I’m guessing the foxrets can do something equally as horrifying.”
Raith’s answering smile makes my stomach churn, and it does nothing to ease my nerves. “So you know how the nemins have a toxin they inject you with?”
I nod, wishing that was something I absolutely didn’t know.
“When a foxret bites you, their saliva is like acid,” Raith replies. “It’ll burn through a limb in no time.”
I wait for the laughter, convinced Raith must be joking, but my stomach plummets when my mates simply stare at me. “Oh, you’re serious?”
“They’re also incredibly strong. It can be a gruesome sight encountering the prey of a foxret,” Galen eventually says, solidifying the terrifying image that has now popped into my head.
“But it’s nothing compared to what Thane—” Before Galen can finish, one of Thane’s shadows flicks out, moving across Galen’s mouth and muffling his words so I can’t hear them.
“Compared to what?” I ask, curious about what Galen was going to say.
“Galen,” Thane growls in warning.
Galen rolls his eyes. “She’ll find out eventually.”
“Find out what?” I ask.
Before I can pester the information out of them, my guys grow still and silent as they scan the forest around us. Awareness prickles along my skin, and I press my lips together as fear whispers down my spine.
“There are at least three foxrets advancin’ on our right who have come to investigate,” Raith says, his voice lower as he uses his shadow whisper power to speak to the rest of us.
“Four more are coming from different locations on our left,” Knox adds. “They’re all moving quickly.”
Raith’s brows lower as he scrutinizes the trees like he can see something I can’t. All humor is gone from his face, and all that’s left is the hard, shadow warrior.
“What’s wrong?” I say, not sure why all the guys seem so tense. “This is what you wanted, isn’t it?”
I don’t miss the uneasy look the guys give each other, and it doesn’t exactly help my nerves.
“Why would there be so many?” Thane growls.
My mates all stare at me like I’m the one responsible.
“Times must be even more desperate than we thought,” Galen answers. “They’re drawn to her scent like bears searching for honey.”
Yeah, it’s at that point that I back up a little. Before I can make it too far, Raith grabs me. “Relax, sunshine. We can handle the foxrets. And we’ll head out the moment we’ve captured enough to keep the queen satisfied.”
“Remember what we discussed. You stay with her,” Thane orders Raith, drawing his sword.
Shadows dance along the blade, moonlight revealing the bear’s head that decorates the pommel, complete with glittering blue gems for eyes.
“We’ll circle around them from behind. Call us if you have any trouble. We should get this done quickly.”
I fidget with my hands. “So now that the foxrets are on their way, do you even need me?”
“If you leave or cloak yourself, the foxrets will assume you’ve been mated and claimed,” Raith answers. “They would quickly abandon their hunt for you to pursue another unmated female, and it would be harder to capture them. But don’t worry, you’ll be safe with me.”
I give him a small smile, but as much as I want to believe him, an unsettling feeling still stirs in my gut.
Knox disappears into the forest without a single word, and Thane and Galen give me reassuring looks before they disappear into the trees as well, my mates quickly swallowed by the darkness. Raith stays beside me and curls of fog drift around our feet.
The mating calls and barks of the foxrets sound throughout the forest as the moon rises higher, and I stay still, listening to the noises.
After the others have been gone for a little while, I talk to fill the silence.
“So, what exactly will the foxrets be used for during the games? I mean, you’ve told me what they can do, but I still don’t know what the queen’s plans are. ”
Instead of answering me, Raith draws his blade, and he steps in front of me protectively as he stares into the forest. “How?” he breathes, his chest rumbling.
That’s all it takes for me to go from feeling uneasy to downright terrified. Crap. “What’s going on?” I whisper.
He cocks his head, eyeing the dark shadows between the line of trees behind us.