Sly as a Fox {Book One}

Chapter 30

Chapter 30

A/N: The picture above is of Willow's brother, Dante. Just imagine him with pointed, elf-like ears because he's a Volpe

Wolfish

adjective

-resembling a wolf, as in form or characteristics

-characteristic of or befitting a wolf

-fiercely rapacious.

l woke up in a cold sweat, my stomach swirling with nausea. I opened my eyes with a yawn and felt something warm blocking me from stretching out my legs fully at the foot of my bed. Sitting up carefully with my stitches, I saw a large black mass sprawled out on my bed. For a second, I felt my heart lurch in my chest at the sight but quickly  realized it was Blithe in his wolf form.

He was deep asleep, his chest rising and falling with deep, even breaths as the air brushed his vocal cords to create the slightest snoring sound. He was big, but the way he had curled himself up made it so he fit on my bed without some part of him hanging off. Had my bed been a full instead of the queen that my parents bought me when I turned seventeen, there was no way he would have fit. He looked so peaceful, but, more than anything, he looked breathtakingly beautiful. The urge to sketch him filled me, but I knew I couldn't sneak out of the bed without disturbing him.

"Blithe?" I pushed to him through the mind-link, knowing he could still hear it if he was asleep.

His muzzle moved to the side and I saw the large muscles on his shoulder blades contract as he stretched. With a lazy flick of his long tail, his yellow eyes opened just enough to see. His voice was groggy through the mind-link, "Hey, little fox."

I lifted the corner of my mouth that wasn't tight with stitches into a smirk and sat up further, "Why are you in your wolf form?"

He blinked sleepily at me and moved his head so that it rested in my lap, staring up at me with blazing eyes, "I always sleep like this." The fur around his neck was longer and resembled a small, black mane as his head filled my entire lap. I ran my fingers through the thickened fur and he closed his eyes at the feeling.

"Why?" I had slept in my fox form quite a few times, but it was never even a real consideration to sleep in my human form versus my fox form; I just always slept as a human.

He pushed his head into my hand as I stroked his fur, enjoying the sensation, "I don't know, I guess it makes me feel less vulnerable or something." His large, bat-like ears swiveled back on his head, "I started doing it after my mom died."

I placed my hands under his jaw and forced him to raise his head to look me in the eyes, "Well I don't mind. You're just a big cuddly pillow." He put his ears back again and at first I thought it was an embarrassed action, but I knew it was playfully submissive when he shot forward and started excitedly licking at my chin. I laughed uncontrollably, though I tried my best not to stretch my mouth out too wide, and he eventually released me. "I'll get you for that." He was so close to me that he could easily rip into me if he wanted, his canines sticking out slightly from under his upper lip, but I wasn't uneasy in the slightest.

There was humor in his voice, "Sure you will, Will." I noticed him staring at my face again, studying me, and he brought his head closer to my face as the space between his eyes creased, "Well we both have super healing, apparently."

I reached up with my good arm and touched my face where I knew a claw mark was. The skin there wasn't swollen and puckered anymore and it felt flat, like I had had the chance to heal for a week. I moved to another claw mark and then another, confirming that they all were healing at the same rate. I looked to my mate worriedly, "What're they gonna look like by tomorrow?! I have to go to school! People are gonna notice that I'm already healed!" Panic poured into my body and I felt myself start to shake; I was on the verge of an anxiety attack.