She's the Key

She's the Key
Ian

Fennec turns my hand over to inspect the blistering on my palms, but I’m watching Juliette tend to Oakley a few yards away, against the far side of the sunny, but smoke scented, clearing. Both women are kneeling, and Julie is taking extra care while braiding Oakley’s hair. 

“That’s her, then?” Fennec asks, his silver eyes searching mine until I finally meet his gaze. 

I nod, at a loss for words. 

My three cousins arrived less than twenty minutes ago, and Naomi immediately took control. I can say with certainty this was the first time I wasn’t happy to see her. 

It’s not that we didn’t need her. We did. Badly. But her arrival was during a moment when things finally felt somewhat right. 

“Do the clothes fit?” Fennec says, tugging on my shirt. “You’re only an inch taller than me. I figured it would be fine.”

“It’s fine. Thank you.” My throat feels torn raw. 

He follows my gaze to Oakley, who has fresh bandages on her hands, and the wound on her face has already healed to a shocking silver scar. I have vague memories of that wound and finally finding her on the river bank, but the images are blurry and distorted, like I dreamt them. 

Kissing her is still fresh and vibrant in my mind. 

Fennec parts his lip to ask something else, but his soft, frustrated sigh fills that space instead. A rustling of footsteps sounds through the clearing, and Oakley looks up at the shadow stretching through the smoky sunbeams, then quickly looks down at her lap. 

“Well,” Naomi says, picking a twig out of her long, undone brown hair. “There’s no one around for at least a mile, so we can camp here and rest for the rest of the day, and–”

I turn to Naomi, who bristles when I cut in, “No. Oakley needs to be returned to Silverhide immediately. Now, preferably.” I can’t bring myself to look at Oakley. I can feel the bond between us trembling with a sudden, sharp tinge of disappointment, and it guts me. I can feel the bond more than ever, like the beast is leeching into my true self. Like I’m precariously balanced between this form and the beast right now. 

“Are you joking?” Naomi huffs a frustrated laugh. “We just spent three entire days traveling from Moonrise to here. All three of us have expended our powers to the quick. We need rest as much as you do.”

“You cannot be here when I shift into my beast form again, which could be… any moment now.” I motion to the clearing around us. “You need to leave–with her.”

“I’m not going anywhere without you,” Naomi argues, shooting daggers with her bright, sea-green eyes. “You’re lucky we even found you when we did, although I’m more sorry for myself when it comes to seeing you butt-ass naked and in a compromising position.” She crosses her arms over her chest and arches a brow. “Is that why you’re so bent out of shape, Ian? Was I interrupting something?”

“Stop,” Fennec grinds out. “Do not taunt him.”

Naomi ignores him completely and steps toward me with a mission glowing behind her eyes. “Do you realize how far you are from any kind of established village? Hundreds of miles, Ian. Close to a thousand, if my math is correct. The only reason we found you is because Fenn noticed smoke when we were preparing to camp for the night on the side of one of those mountains.” She points in no particular direction. “We followed it, didn’t rest our powers like we should have, and by the Goddess’ grace, found you within hours. You should be grateful.”

“And I am grateful,” I seethe at her. “But you’ve walked into a war zone.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, what do you mean?”

Juliette is watching with faint interest, but Oakley remains looking at her lap, her eyes squeezed shut and her cheeks burning bright red, which makes my stomach turn. “Enough. I need to speak to Oakley. Alone.”

“Not until we’ve cleared this up.” I step into Naomi’s personal space, which startles her. She rears back and gives me the dirtiest look I’ve ever seen. “Excuse you!”

“Go set up your camp, Naomi, and sleep, because you’re leaving with my mate within the next three hours, or I swear, I will make your life a living, breathing hell.”

She rolls her eyes and jabs me in the chest with her finger, which alights, sending a sharp beam of her silver fire through my skin. I hiss out a breath but stand my ground. 

Fennec, having had enough, yanks Naomi away and gives her a good shove toward the far side of the clearing. “We’re done here. Everyone’s exhausted. Do what he says, Naomi.”

“You’re forgetting who got us here,” she snaps, and with a swish of her dark green cloak, she stalks away from us, but then stops dead in her tracks. 

Three foxes wait in the shadows on the far side of the clearing. 

Fennec stares blankly at them, tilting his head ever so slightly to the side. Naomi takes a step back, holding her hands out, but not in surrender. 

I leap forward and grab her by the shoulder. “Don’t. They’re friends.”

Silent tension floods the clearing as the foxes back into the shadows and disappear in a flurry of brush. Juliette rises beside Oakley, her hands neatly knitted together, but her big green eyes lock on Fennec. 

Naomi slowly turns to face me. “Start talking. Now.”

“We were taken in by a den of fox shifters,” I admit, glancing at Fennec before holding Naomi’s gaze. “Taken in is a loose term for what happened, actually. We were forced into their den, taken against our will.”

Naomi narrows her eyes. “You’re joking.”

“Do I look like I’m joking about anything, Naomi?” 

I glance at Oakley, who’s now watching the showdown. Her gaze holds mine for several seconds. I don’t look away until she blinks and looks down at her feet. I take a deep breath and face my cousins, giving them the explanation of events they’re looking for. Fennec and Juliette are pale and confused, which I expected. So far, their family line is the only known foxes left in Eastonia, and they’re still a very well-kept secret. The idea of an entire den existing, tucked away in the mountains that separate Eastonia and Crescent Falls, is unheard of. It’s honestly hard to fathom, even having seen  it myself. 

Had they not just seen the other foxes, who are, no doubt, scouts sent by Wren, which fills me with a massive sense of relief to know he’s still alive, they wouldn’t have believed me. 

Words trickle from my mouth so quickly, I’m not even sure what I’m saying as I tell them the story.

Naomi looks from face to face before settling on mine. “Are you fucking kidding me, Ian? You killed an Alpha?”

“Of course I did.”

She steps in my direction. “You’ve broken at least a dozen Allied Kingdom covenants in the past ten hours. You realize that, right? You’ll have to speak in front of the Elder Tribunal to plead your case, regardless of your standing as a prince!”

“We are not in the Allied Kingdoms, Naomi,” Fennec says under his breath. 

Her neck snaps in his direction. “It doesn’t fucking matter. Not now. Not unless this entire experience is kept under wraps. No one can know. Not our parents. Not the public. No one.”

“We would prefer that, as well.”

The four of us whirl to a man’s voice. Wren steps into the clearing, dressed in clean clothing but in rough shape. Burns and injuries mar his skin, and he’s pale with an exhaustion that seems endemic to the forest. He holds his hands out in surrender, but his green eyes suddenly slide past me, Fennec, and Naomi, and stop on Juliette. His nostrils flare slightly, and a rush of color floods his cheeks. 

He looks at the ground for several seconds, takes a few breaths, and looks at me, continuing, “Ian.”

“Wren,” I reply, nodding in greeting and a silent attempt to convey exactly what the look on his face says: We fucking did it. 

“Who are you?” Fennec asks sternly, his hackles raised as he sizes up a man of his same kind. I wonder if Wren can tell. I assume he can, given that most people can simply sense the differences between wolves, witches, and the occasional biological outlier pretty easily. 

“My name is Wren. I am the Alpha of–” He glances at Juliette again. “I’m the Alpha of Vulpecula.” He motions toward the clearing. “This is my territory.”

Naomi throws me a look I refuse to interpret, but her anxiety and frustration is clear. She huffs and steps toward Wren, bows just enough to show her acknowledgement of his status, and straightens to her full height, which for a woman is rather impressive. “Alpha Wren of Vulpecula.” She drops into a rather dramatic curtsey that has Fennec rolling his eyes. “I am Naomi, Princess of Eastonia, heir to the Firestone Queen, Maeve.”

Wren’s eyes widen for a split second. “Did you say Firestone?”

Naomi brushes invisible dust from the shoulder of her cloak. “Yes, we’re back, and it’s a very long story that I deduce neither of us have time for as it stands. I am Ian’s cousin, and I am here to take him home, once we’ve rested. We require safe harbor in your territory until tomorrow night, at least.” She throws me a sharp look in challenge. 

“Safe harbor is yours.” He bows ever so slightly. Fennec snorts a laugh that he chokes on when Naomi bares her teeth at him. Wren, however, rises and looks directly at me. “Are you well?”

“As much as I can be.”

He glances at the sunlight shimmering across the clearing. “You’ll turn soon.”

“I’m aware.” 

“And it’s not a big deal because the three of us have it handled,” Naomi says with a flick of her wrist. “He’s in good hands.”

“I find that hard to believe, seeing as you’re severely drained of your powers, and your fox companions are poorly trained.” Wren remains completely still, but an amazing kind of shock drifts between Fennec, Juliet, and Naomi. Naomi, who thought she was being slick by mentioning rest and not recharging the powers she wasted spiriting all across Eastonia to find us. Fennec, who backed her up with his Shadowsynger gifts, who is also, undoubtedly, a fox. 

And Juliette, who Wren is looking at right now so intensely I feel a sudden sense of urgency to step in his way. 

Oakley, who hasn’t spoken a word since my cousins found us, does it for me. 

“Did Amalie make it?” she asks, appearing right beside me. Her fingers curl into the bandages on her hands, and her eyes are wide as tea saucers as she looks up at Wren with so much hope I swear I’ll shift into my beast form right then and there if he disappoints her in any way. 

“She did. She’s safe and resting with the rest of the skulk.” He eyes Fennec and Juliette again before turning his attention back to Oakley. “She was worried about you. I’ve had scouts looking for you for hours. We weren’t sure where you ended up after tumbling over the falls.”

Oakley nods, but her eyes burn with fresh, exhausted tears. “She tried to save me.”

“I know,” Wren says with a soft sigh. 

“It must have been excruciating to send your own mate into that kind of peril.” The words leave my tongue before I stop them. 

Juliette abruptly turns away from the group and motions for Oakley to follow, murmuring something under her breath about putting more healing salve on Oakley’s burns. 

Wren’s gaze follows Juliette’s progress to the far side of the clearing, replying, “Amalie is not my true mate. She was Alpin’s mate, but she came to me for help before he found out. I imprinted on her to keep their bond hidden. She owed me for that, which is how Oakley is alive right now.” He turns back to me with a sharp, knowing nod and briefly glances at Fennec angling his body toward the forest. “My skulk is resting five miles to the south. We’ll be moving on in the morning.”

“And where will you go?” Naomi asks. “How have you managed to survive out here in these mountains for so long undetected?”

“We’re foxes,” he answers, and honestly, that’s answer enough. “Good luck tonight, Ian.”

His farewell is more of a warning, and all of us feel it. 

We watch Wren walk away. Fennec doesn’t move from his position and stares at the forest for a long time after Naomi and I have already turned to occupy ourselves with starting a fire. 

She watches him, her expression unreadable. 

“Are you done trying to assert your dominance enough to hear me out about how tonight needs to go?” I ask, hyper aware of how the sunlight is now retreating and burning a sharp gold as sunset approaches. 

“You’re insane if you think I’m leaving you here and taking your girlfriend back to Silverhide without you.”

“It’s more than that.” I toss a handful of fresh kindling into our sorry excuse for a fire. 

“If it is, in fact, more than just a fleeting infatuation, you’re absolutely fucking delusion. I’m not getting in-between a fucking beast and his mate, Ian. You cannot be that stupid.”

I rock back on my heels in thought. Oakley is still with Juliette, both looking solemn and worn thin on camping blankets against the tree line. At least they’re together. “I’m taking Oakley into the woods with me tonight. I’ll shift with her.”

“What? Why?”

“Because she got through to me last night while I was in my beast form. I heard her. I felt her. She’s the key. Give me this one night to try to fix this, to solve it, and if it works, I’ll go back to the Deadlands willingly.”

“And if it doesn’t?” Naomi asks with a snide laugh. 

The laughs fades when she sees the hidden meaning behind my eyes. “Promise me.”

She grits her teeth. 

“You know you’ll have to do it. I want you to promise me you will.”

Naomi stares at me for a long, long time. Then, she rises, and walks away.