What The Fox? (Completely Free!)

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

I ended the torture after Alix made that revelation. I knew werewolves bred for life, but I never imagined they could mate someone who wasn't their own kind. I went to see Alix after nightfall because I wanted answers. How much did he know of who I really was?

I decided to play nice and to bring him some warm food. I figured he hadn't eaten since that morning, and perhaps he could be bribed to tell me how to undo this mating ritual.

I found Alix sleeping in an unused stall in the stables. The other servants probably threw him there because he was a bloody mess, and no one wanted to witness his suffering. Alix winced as I approached with a paper lantern and a satchel of food. As he pushed himself into a sitting position, I saw that the bleeding had stopped. Large purple welts graced his back, but purple meant his skin was already in the process of healing itself. It would take a human weeks to heal from what I had inflicted on him. He looked as though it would take him less than half that time.

Despite his pain, Alix was able to squirm away from me in fear.

"Don't worry," I told him in my reassuring voice as I opened my bag and withdrew a bowl of rice with roast pork. What do werewolves eat? I figured they ate mostly meat. Too bad I didn't have any wild boar to steal from the kitchen. I also produced a small sweetheart cake, and handed it out to him in my open palm. I hoped the candied wintermelon inside would melt his frozen beastly heart.

Alix took it from me and took a large bite out of it. He made a face as in the dim light. He thought I had offered him a piece of bread. I watched him spit it out and reach for the gourd of water inside my satchel. How did I know that he didn't want sweet treats and that he would prefer plain bread? Could I read his mind now as he could read mine? As I stared at him, I heard only silence.

I watched Alix stretch his shoulder after finishing the water. He leaned against the wall and pretended to turn his nose up at the rice and meat that I had brought. He refused to be bribed with rich food. Yet, I could hear his stomach growling from across the room.

He wasn't going to give in.

No, I could sense things about him, but I couldn't read his thoughts.

I prayed that he couldn't read mine.

"Go ahead, and eat," I said, offering him a pair of chopsticks. "I don't care if you eat it hot or cold, so you might as well stop being stubborn."

"So, you believe what I told you about the mate garbage?" Alix asked with a smirk. "If you are planning to take down an empire, you better work on becoming less gullible."

I tried not to let my thoughts show on my face. Even so, Alix knew I was up to something. I wasn't just here in the general's house for the expensive clothes and the soft beds. Did he think I was here to assassinate the emperor? Oh, he was clueless, as men typically were — werewolf or not.

"Eat," I said and nudged the bowl toward him. "If you can read my mind, you know that my goal was never to kill you."

"Just to beat me half to death."

"I didn't even push you to the point where you lost control, to use your own words," I retorted. "We both know that you could have shifted and killed us all."

"No, and if I did, I would have a spear in my back before I made it halfway out the front of your manor. This is the general's residence."

"Oh, you poor Alpha, afraid of the general's second-rate guards that he left behind while the real fight is going on up north."

"I don't like killing when I don't have to," Alix replied and finally gave into the smell of the roast meat. He picked up the bowl and inhaled its contents in three large bites. The boy had such a healthy appetite; he even shoved the remainder of the formerly rejected wintermelon cake in his mouth. At least I could be sure that he was going to live. Not that there was any doubt of that. To be completely truthful, I was curious to see him shift. I wondered if back in my hey-day I could wrestle him into submission even in his true form.

"Sounds like something only a well-beaten slave boy would say," I retorted. "Maybe I didn't need to cut your organ off; you're already pretty much a eunuch."

"Have you killed Selene?" Alix asked, with his eyes narrowed. I saw a glimmer of florescent blue in his irises. Yes, Lycans and their like had cat-like eyes in the fire. But only to those they chose to show it to. Or, rather, when they were infuriated. He was starting to relax around me, to let me see his true self.

"If you know my name, then you know the answer to that question."

"Who hurt you?" Alix asked as he stopped me from taking the water gourd away as I cleared the empty bowls and utensils back into my satchel. I didn't want the servants coming by tomorrow and realizing that their mistress was sneaking the unruly slave boy food. He continued sipping on the gourd with a relaxed air as though it contained wine instead of plain water.

"If you don't want to be taken back into the flogging room, you will never ask me that question again."

"I have a feeling I'm being punished for another man's crimes."

"Why don't you focus on nursing your wounds instead of worrying about mine."

"Did you love him?"

"Shut up!" I snapped. I raised my hand to slap him, but Alix caught my wrist and squeezed it so hard I nearly screamed. His eyes seemed to stare at me with the ferocity of a hungry mountain wolf.

"Do you think I can't hurt you?" Alix asked as he loosened his grip. "It's night now. I could rip your throat out and be miles away from here by morning."

"So, do it!" I snapped. "Stop threatening me and do it."

"Did you love him?" Alix repeated the question and settled back down. He winced as one of his bruises rubbed against the dirty stable walls. "I can't kill you until you tell me. I'll wonder about it for the rest of my days."

"Why should I care? I don't care about your wretched hide. Why would I care about your psychological unrest?"

"What was his name?" Alix chuckled at me. "Come on; I suffered twenty-five lashes for him. Tell me his name."

"Julong," I replied and bit my lip. "Don't you ever repeat it."

"Was Julong handsome?" Alix asked, blatantly ignoring my commands. "Was he as good-looking as I am?"

I sighed and snatched the water gourd back from Alix's dirty hands. "He had the face of a pig-farmer."

"Ah, so he was good-looking."

I didn't know how to make Alix shut up. All I could think of was throwing the lantern on his face and setting his ugly, cocky face on fire. As my fists clenched, he leaned in and kissed me.