Chapter 9
TIPPY
I’ve spent the last two days working on potions. Scrabbling through recipe books and mixing weird bubbling concoctions on the stove.
They don’t taste great, probably because they’re even more potent than the quit-smoking elixir I made for Jax. I’m going to have to smother the taste with banana or blueberries or something, but I’m confident they will work.
If Jax complies.
He has no choice, right? I mean, we have three days together, it will be intense.
I’ll make him go running, do a couple of workouts too. From my understanding of his ectomorphic body type, he could strain ligaments, and he needs to balance strength and fluidity. Mind you, he’s bulked out a lot lately.
Damn. I’m thinking too much about his body.
I’ve always loved his build. Tall, rangy, fluid. But now he’s got a lot more muscle, more strength. I felt it when he… he… pinned me down.
Admit it, you loved it.
I groan out loud.
How will I resist this new Jax? Sure, I was pretty besotted by him before, but it was controllable. Now, this feeling; it’s like I’m going into heat, and I’ve got no-one to talk to about it.
I’ve read through my books on wixen heat. It sounds like exactly what I’m feeling.
Horny as hell. My nether regions are so juicy and swollen that when I walk, even the friction of my thighs against each other is a turn-on. I have to squeeze my legs together at every opportunity to relieve some of the pressure.
Add to that, I keep having vivid dreams of being chased and thrown to the ground.
Of Jax, towering over me and, oh shame, of me dragging him closer, my legs wound around him.
I even use my tail to bind him to me! I feel his cock enter me—every—single—thrust, as his green eyes laser into mine.
And I wake up a hot mess in a tangle of sheets.
Nggggggggg.
I’m rocking against the bench top just recalling it, subconsciously pushing my toosh into the hard surface.
Realizing what I’m doing, I mutter an expletive, then rush around and pack my bags, clean up the kitchen and double check the windows and doors are all secured.
I know the sheriff’s office has put extra security in place, but with a human spy having recently descended into the Labyrinth, you can’t be too careful.
At least it takes my mind off rutting.
Soon there’s the little toot-toot of my aunt’s car.
I grab my bags and run out to meet her, put them in the trunk and jump in.
“You look like you’ve been busy darling, with all those bags. Have you got some good potions?”
“I think so—at least, I hope so.”
“Excellent.” She pats my hand, all her bangles jingling.
“I’ll be picking up the Silver Book from Traggar when I drop you off.
I’ll study it this weekend and match up runes with the Red Book.
I’m confident that combining the spells from both will help stabilize the portal cape’s energy.
” She side-eyes me. “And that will help to keep Jax safe.”
I glance at her profile and see a smug little smile playing on her lips. And then she delves into her large purse.
“Talking of books, I have something for you, a little light reading.” She hands me a slim volume. I glance at the cover, then do a double take. I turn and stare at her, wide-eyed, my skin prickling.
“The legend of Agdar and Leonora!”
“Yes, dear, it’s on the wixen curriculum. Now you are drawing to the end of your first year, it’s high time you read it.”
“I never knew there was actually a book written about it.”
“There’s still a lot you don’t know, darling.” She pops her eyes at me. “I’m sure you’ll get a quiet moment during the weekend to read it. I think you’ll find it… enlightening.”
I sink back into the seat, my mind reeling as we drive through the tunnels toward the elevator. Why has my aunt given me this story to read now? Does she suspect I’m about to go into heat? The idea is too preposterous to even consider.
Luckily, she starts prattling on about other things. “When we get there, we’ll settle you in your den, then I’ll go visit Sammy and check on her pregnancy.”
“How is she?”
“Flourishing. The youngling is strong inside her. She’s very excited about your imminent arrival. She’s looking forward to seeing someone who is not wolfen.”
“Is she finding it hard down there?”
“Not at all, she has been welcomed with open arms. And she and Arlo have been given a lovely den, not far from where you’ll be staying. But you know, being human… it’s a big adjustment. I’m sure she wishes it was Clem coming down to level three for the weekend, not Jax.”
“I’m sure,” I agree. Clem was Sammy’s best friend up in Sparkle. It’s such a shame that just as Clem arrived in the Labyrinth, Sammy had to go into hiding.
My aunt continues chatting brightly. About Sammy, about the runes, about how she knows I have a part to play in saving the Labyrinth. “I sense that it’s all coming together, Tippy-Anna,” she says.
I murmur agreement and remind myself it’s not just about Jax and me. It doesn’t matter if I’m pissed at him or so horny for him that I can barely see straight.
This is bigger than us.
This is about saving the Labyrinth, and all the monsters who live here.
The thought strengthens my resolve as we enter the elevator and my aunt reaches out the car window and presses the buttons to take us to level three.
We judder and creak our way down slowly, but when the doors open and we drive into Wolftown, I find my nose is plastered to the passenger window.
Up until recently, no self-respecting vixen shifter would go near this place.
But now… now that it’s being endorsed by Aunt Felicia, and her visits to Sammy, I let myself be fascinated.
I peer eagerly out the window. So this is Wolftown.
Wow! It draws me in. The lumen lights are remarkably bright, shining into large cavernous spaces.
Fires burn and the smell of smoke from some ancient wood that has likely been petrified down here is fragrant.
The wolf men are huge, muscular, some in army gear.
The women are tall and strong, with babes on their arms and children running around their feet.
Sure, they are in human form right now. I wonder what it is like here when they shift.
I don’t even know when they do. Many eons ago, weres responded to the full moon on Earth.
None of that gets to Wolftown, and yet I know they do have their shifting ceremonies and, word has it, can also shift, like Jax did, when emotions are high or danger is present.
I can’t help comparing it all to Vixenville, where I grew up, with its neat little rows of cottages, their pastel painted doors and windows.
Vixenville is predominantly female folks, who knit and crochet and sew for their livelihood.
The fires we burn are always inside a burner, and cubs are never allowed to get too close.
Everything is carefully controlled and monitored. Neat and tidy.
Only at our bi-annual festivals, when we drink special mead, do we allow the untamed side of our nature out for the day. At such times, we get to shift into our vixen form and taste the freedom of old.
But this is altogether different. More powerful. I feel like I’m being seduced by wolfen energy as we wend our way through the colorful streets. Soon we arrive in a cavernous area that is even more brightly lit and full of thick bushes and small trees, and areas that look like a green carpet.
“This is stunning,” I gasp.
“The Wilds, wolves call it,” my aunt explains. “It’s the park area where the Trojan pack take recreational time. Where they can run and play and… court one another. Isn’t it pretty?”
“That’s an understatement,” I breathe, trying not to focus on the word “court”.
We drive past a stream, and a play area with swings and a slide. Two wolfen women are sitting on a bench drinking milkshakes, chatting as their children play happily.
I hate to admit, I didn’t expect it to be so… family focused, so civilized.
Suddenly my aunt pulls up her buggy.
“Okay, we’re here.”
I gawk. There’s the sweetest—well, den, I guess you’d call it.
It’s facing some of the parkland. The style is completely different from the buildings on level one.
Criss-crossed petrified wood holds up mud bricks that, in classic Labyrinth fashion, are built into the rock walls.
At the front is a garden, with a white picket fence. And so many flowers.
As I’m unpacking my potions and bags from the trunk, a shadow looms and I look up to see Traggar, his hands out to help me.
“Here, let me take your bags, Miss Honeywell.” He smiles warmly. “Hello Felicia.” His deep baritone is warm as my aunt joins us.
“Hello Traggar.” She bats her eyelashes.
Again, I detect that my aunt and Traggar have an attraction. I have a strong sense this goes back further than just the last week or so.
“Jax will be here shortly. In the meantime, let me welcome you to your den,” Traggar says.
“It’s best if you put your potions in the fridge before he gets here and has a panic attack seeing them.
” He laughs heartily. “Come, let me show you inside.” And he strides through the gate, my luggage swinging easily in his big hands as he leads us inside.
Standing in the entrance, I blink. It’s beautiful.
But small. There’s a central living area, a dark red leather couch and rugs patterned in rich bright hues.
There are stag horns on the wall. Some other abstract paintings perfectly mix with the colors of the couches.
There’s a fire in the fireplace, bringing warmth to the space.
The den’s energy is like a cocoon. Like it could envelop two lovers and let them forget the outside world existed.
Lovers! What are you thinking?!
“Here is your room.” Traggar swings back a goat skin, revealing an entrance. “And over there is Jax’s.” Traggar points.
The rooms are only partitioned by fur skins.
Gods, if Jax wanted to, he could just walk in on me.
And I could walk in on him.
I focus on the kitchen layout to calm myself. There’s a vitamizer. Fruit-laden bowls on the table. A big fridge where I can put the potions I’ve prepared. A stove to cook on.
I busily start to unpack. Then something strikes me. I turn to Traggar. who is chatting to my aunt. “Where’s the bathroom, and the shower, please?”
“Outside.” Traggar points through the window. There’s a hidden toilet, I can see the screen around it, but the shower… The shower is in full view of the window, draped with vines. There’s no curtain. Anyone standing there would easily be visible from the den.
I swallow hard.
How am I going to have any privacy when I wash? I lick my lips, about to ask if there’s a curtain, a screen, anything, but then I wonder if this is the wolf way. Letting it all hang out, so to speak.
Before I can ask, my aunt says briskly, “We’ll leave you to settle in.”
Traggar nods. “Jax will be here shortly. Otis is bringing him to my den and I’ll walk over with him.”
I nod.
I haven’t seen Jax since the Bait and Tackle incident. It all feels so weird.
Like a bride on her wedding day waiting for her groom.
It’s a stupid thought, and I bin it immediately.
Traggar smiles his dazzling smile. “Come, Felicia. The moment you’ve been waiting for is here. It’s time to hand over the Silver Book of Runes.”
“I am understandably excited,” my aunt purrs.
I watch them leave, noticing how, as Traggar shows my aunt through the door, his hand rests lightly on the small of her back, as if to guide her out.
Lightly.
Yet—almost—possessively.