What The Fox? (Completely Free!)

Chapter 22

Chapter 22

At morning light, I went to the nearby lake to bring back a bucket of water. I didn't do it out of the goodness of my heart, but rather it was because I preferred not to sleep next to a half-naked sandman. I was kind enough to cover Alix's lower half with a moose pelt that night. Otherwise, he might have to fear the dreaded evil wind taking his life instead. I studied medicine once upon my mortal upbringing, and even though it was a distant memory, I knew that a man whose qi was as damaged as Alix's would need plenty of time to heal.

Even one who had the grace of the moon goddess at his side.

Then again, who needed a moon goddess when a fox demoness was at his back?

I knew I was in trouble as I lugged the old bucket a mile out of the camp to the nearby lake. First, it was the simple act of covering Alix's nether regions. Now I was fetching him water from the lake. I wondered if I was embarking on a dangerous path of caring about Alix's welfare.

The last time I cared, I ended up in the service, one very loathsome devil. I feared falling into that trap again. Alix was not Julong. He was not an Imperial Prince in disguise, as his wolfish form had proven without a doubt.

Yet, I saw every beautiful, supple, bright-eyed she-wolf in the full bloom of youth lick her chops in lust every time Alix walked by. I wondered how I could possibly compete with them when each of them probably wished me dead.

I tried to put the thought out of my head. The girl who had crowned Alix last night in the ring was at the lake, filling up a water basin for her family.

The water from the lake was fed from the melting permafrost that feeds it from an underground river. It is freshwater, which made it incredibly precious to the nomadic people who inhabit this region.

I saw her bend her head to thank the deities for the cold, life-sustaining spring water. She saw me bend down to fill my bucket, and she showed me how to leave a handful of pebbles as an offering to the moon goddess who rules from the summit of this mountain.

"She is a goddess who rides on the back of a white wolf," the girl instructed with a smile as though we were friends and not competitors for the affections of the same man. "She blesses this lake with life that lives in it. They say that this water has a healing quality to it. That's why the Imperials want to control it."

This girl seemed very knowledgeable for a teenager. I estimated her age to be nineteen at most. I supposed that she-wolves matured faster than humans.

"My name is Geriel. I was given to Alpha Zurui as an offering when he ascended to his throne. Now I've returned to my sisters until the village elders find a new place for me."

I nod as though her life story were utterly fascinating. I wondered if she was showing me kindness in teaching me the ways of the wolves so that I would invite her to be a part of Alix's household. Perhaps, I could assign her the job of being the daily water retriever. Her iris glowed like the sun that she had been named after. She wasn't simply beautiful. She also had a spark of intelligence behind her eyes.

I recognized that intelligence, that hunger. I felt it once, too, when I was her age. I was hardly an old, worn woman ready for the pasture, but I had enough wisdom to know that I didn't want an ambitious young she-wolf tending to my every need.

"I'm sure you'll find a suitable mate," I replied and gathered up my full water bucket. "I could ask the Alpha to assist you in finding a match, or you could simply choose one for yourself," I added that last part because I wondered if she had already chosen. Indeed, I saw how she looked at Alix last night. Unfortunately, Alix also had already chosen. He had chosen me.

"I would not dare," Geriel replied, her voice dripping with deference. "As our Luna, I would submit to your decision if our Alpha does not wish to choose for me."

Oh, there it was, that word — Luna.

Really? They already had me pegged as the female counterpart to Alix? This arrangement would prove most awkward if Alix died of his wounds before the next full moon.

I hastily excused myself and went in the direction of the settlement, dragging the bucket behind me.

As I made my way around the edge of the lake, the rocks became slipperier under my feet. I set the bucket down to rest when I noticed a strange tuft of smoke in the air. I left my bucket and climbed the mountainous path up to the higher ground. It was forbidden to climb these rocks because they were sacred. I didn't know much about the healing lakes of the moon goddess, but I did know that only the chosen could climb to the top to offer sacrifice to the gods.

I had a feeling that if I were seen by the rest of the females at the lake who were washing up and gathering firewood, it would be quite the scandal. Not only was my rank not nearly high enough to climb these hills, but I was also an outsider, a human.

Yet, I had to know. The smoke in the air seemed oddly familiar to me. I could almost smell the scent of mugwort mixed with incense that their shaman used to drive away evil spirits. Julong was near. And he was afraid. Their shaman was his last resort when fighting supernatural monsters such as us. They hated us and feared us. But most of all, they needed us. That's why they were here, seeking magical wolf pelts and sniffing around this enchanted lake full of healing waters.

They wanted our parts, but they didn't want us alive. That was why Julong had betrayed me and left me for dead. He knew that a fox demon like myself could never take the place of a mortal woman by his side.

We are the evil spirits the emperor wanted to eradicate from this world. Where he was, I knew Julong, in all his pride and stupidity, believed that he would chase us to the ends of the earth and drive all magical beings from his empire.

As I climbed up to a better vantage point, I saw a bird fly close to the foot of the mountain. As it came closer and swooped down to capture a rabbit, I saw that it was a falcon. It had a gold silk ribbon around its leg, marking it as one of the Prince's birds. It was all the proof I needed that Julong was near, and yet still, I climbed higher.

There, in the midday sun, many miles above the she-wolves down at the waterhole, I finally saw what I had come to find. There they were, the Imperial Army, led by the Sixth Prince, camped right outside our front door. I counted almost ten thousand men. They were here to defeat a pack of werewolves and to take back this sacred lake.

I didn't think Alix had more than a hundred able-bodied male Lycan at his command. And this was not to mention Julong's gunpowder, flame throwers, and exploding iron bombs. Even the most ferocious wolf would succumb to cold hard steel.

My knees were trembling as I descended the mountain. This wasn't my fight. I didn't care if the cruel werewolf or the equally obnoxious turtle egg of a prince won. I could escape into the woods right now before the cannons started to fire and the wolves drew their claws.

Yet, I didn't. I picked up my bucket and dragged it back in the direction of the settlement. Our peaceful dalliances and werewolf love triangles would occupy our attention no longer. War had come to our front door, and the existence of our kind was at stake.