Crookshollow foxes box set: The complete fox shapeshifter romance series

by Steffanie Holmes

  “What do they want?”

  “Three guesses,” Marcus stared at me. “You made it pretty clear that you’re not going over to his side. He’s probably here to take you by force.”

  “But this is ridiculous,” I said. “We’ve got the hotel room protected. We can send up for food and drinks. We don’t need to go outside. What are they doing here?”

  “It’s a good old fashioned stand-off, Wild-West style,” Kylie yawned. “Come on, let’s get some breakfast.”

  Even though it was a Sunday, I should have been at the gallery, working on Ryan’s exhibition. But there was no way we were going outside with Isengrim and the shifter brigade waiting for us. Kylie found a pack of cards in one of the drawers. We divided up the minibar between the three of us, and passed the time playing poker and drinking away our concerns.

  Day faded into evening. We ordered pizza, watching the car park anxiously as the van pulled up, certain Isengrim would somehow sabotage our dinner. After scarfing down an entire cheese supreme each, we turned on the TV, only to see more reports of people mauled by animals in Crookshollow forest. The police force was working with the local wildlife organisations in an attempt to trap the offending animals.

  “We could give the police a call,” said Kylie. “We could tell them they can find several of the beasts sitting in the bushes outside the Dancing Cherub Inn.”

  Neither Marcus nor I dignified that with an answer.

  That night, I tossed and turned while Kylie and Marcus snored around me. I slept fitfully, awoken twice more by dreams of running through the forest, of Ryan’s voice in my head.

  As soon as the sun peeked through the windows, I called the gallery and left a message for Matthew that I was very ill and wouldn’t be in the office that day. Thankfully, if Matthew tried to call my cellphone to berate me, all he’d get was Isengrim.

  The hours dragged on. We’d long since drunk our way through all of the booze, and when Kylie reviewed the pricelist, her eyes bugged out of her head and she refused to pay for any more. My own credit card balance was looking pretty grim, and Marcus, as usual, was no help. Without alcohol to numb my thoughts, they kept turning back to the dreams. Why couldn’t Ryan leave me alone? Why couldn’t I get him out of my head?

  Lunchtime arrived, and my growling stomach started to distract me from the game. Marcus went down the hall to grab some snacks from the vending machine. When he came back, he knocked on the door. Before Kylie could reach it to move the protective charms, he pushed the door open and stepped through, his limbs moving slowly, as if he were pushing his way through butter.

  “I thought you couldn’t cross those,” I said.

  “I couldn’t before,” he said. “Perhaps their magic is fading.”

  Kylie picked up one of her crystal books, and flipped through it, a concerned expression on her face. “Oh, no.” she said.

  “What?”

  She tossed the book down on the bed in exasperation. “That stupid bitch in the crystal shop didn’t tell me that crystals have to be cleared and charged to retain their full powers. Apparently, we’re supposed to take the crystals outside each day and charge them under the light of the sun and moon.”

  “They’ve been sitting in the windowsill all day and night – what other charging do they need?”

  “I think …” Kylie looked upset. “I think that doesn’t count, because their magic is working to protect us. It’s not like a cellphone, where you can use it while it’s plugged in at the wall. While they’re charging, they’re not working. Since we haven’t charged any of our crystals up again, they are running down. But if we try to charge them, it’s like turning them off completely. We’d be exposed.”

  I buried my face in my hands. “Isengrim knew this. He knows he’s got us trapped in here. He’s just waiting for our protections to wear down enough that he can storm in and pick us off like fish in a barrel.”

  “What are we going to do?” Kylie asked, her knuckles white as she clutched the book.

  “It’s obvious that we can’t stay here. I’m going to go out there and talk to him. Kylie, your car is parked on the other side of the lot, yes?” She nodded. “While I have Isengrim distracted, you and Marcus run for your car. I’m going to make him believe I’m thinking of going over to his cause. He wants my genetics, so he won’t kill me if he thinks there’s a chance I’ll join him. Once you’re in the car, spin through the lot and pick me up.”

  “What about all the vulpines and other shifters hiding around the lot? They’ll maul us as soon as they see us.”

  “We have to make a run for it now, while our protective objects still have some power. We’ll bring them with us. Hopefully, they will hold enough power to keep the creatures at bay until we’re safely inside the car.”

  “And once we’re inside the car, where do we go?”

  I sighed. “Probably back to Raynard Hall.”

  “Alex, you can’t be serious.” Kylie looked stricken.

  “It’s the only place I can think of that’s still safe. Besides,” I stared at Marcus. “I have a few things to clear up with Ryan.”

  “What about …?”

  “Don’t worry about me. I can handle him.” I hope.

  As quickly and quietly as we could, we gathered our meagre belongings. I pulled the jumper on over the jeans and t-shirt I’d been wearing for the past two days, deliberately avoiding looking at the mark on my neck in the mirror. Marcus gathered up all the clothes we’d brought him. Kylie swept all the crystals and herb sachets into her bag. She lifted her mace over her shoulder, and pushed my sword into my hands. I cringed as we stood in the doorway and took one last look at the room. We’d left the beds unmade, pizza crumbs trampled into the sheets, a table littered with used tissues and empty liquor bottles, and Marcus’s fur all over every surface. Kylie was in for one whopping hotel bill.

  I squeezed Clara’s protective charm as I led the way down the stairs and stepped out into the car park. It appeared empty of human or shifter life. Cars zoomed past on the main street, completely oblivious to the showdown about to take place. I stepped out onto the tarmac, feeling like the Man with No Name. I only wished I was as good with a pistol. Hell, I wished I had a pistol.

  “Isengrim,” I said into the air.

  I heard rustling in the bushes. A giant red fox stepped out, raising its nose in the air and sniffing me, then curling its teeth back into a snarl. Another fox stepped out beside him, growling low and long from his throat. I whirled around, my breath catching in my throat as two more foxes approached me from the opposite side. They had me surrounded.

  And suddenly, there he was. The wolf. He stalked across the tarmac, saliva dripping from his canines. I could smell the rank, dead stench of his breath from across the empty lot. The other foxes backed up as he approached, crouching low with their bushy tails raised in a sign of submission.

  Isengrim. The wolf who lay in wait.

  As Isengrim stepped toward me, his body changed. His hind legs lengthened, the paws stretching and forming feet. His snout shrunk back into his face, and the golden fur pulled back from the skin, leaving a smooth, flawless surface behind. But the grin, that sadistic, hungry grin, remained.

  “Hello, Alex,” he said, his willowy figure unfolding itself from the shadows of the building. He smiled, baring his gleaming white teeth, and reached out a cold, clammy hand to shake mine. “We meet again.”

  When he shook my hand, I noticed a flicker of pain pass across his face. Clara’s charm was working. But as soon as he caught my eyes, the flicker disappeared. “Nice blade,” he said, smirking. “Looking to slay a dragon?”

  I lifted the sword a little, my face burning. I felt foolish for brandishing such a huge, ungainly weapon I didn’t know the first thing about using. “A princess has got to look out for herself.”

  “Is she afraid of the big, bad wolf?” He grinned, revealing a row of pointed canine teeth, and smacking his tongue against his lips in a vulgar way. I cringed.

&n
bsp; “I see that you have nothing better to do than stalk me in my hotel room.” I said, with more bravado than I felt. “What do you want, Isengrim?”

  “Oh, I’m just passing the time until your lover shows up. Have you thought any more about my proposal?”

  Out of the corner of my eye I could see Kylie and Marcus sneak out the side door of the hotel restaurant, and creep around the edge of the car park, staying low behind the bushes. I prayed Kylie’s crystals would be enough protection to keep the shifters in the bushes from noticing her. The fox nearest me growled, and I whipped my gaze back to Isengrim.

  “I have,” I said. “I must admit, I’m intrigued. But I have some questions.”

  “You may ask them.”

  “This offer you made me, is it contingent on Ryan’s cooperation?”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “I left Ryan,” I said. “He and I are finished. That’s why I’m hanging out in this hotel.”

  “Is that so?” He cocked his head to the side, a strange expression crossing his face. “I don’t think Ryan knows that.”

  “Well, it’s true. And I understand that may alter the situation. But I am making you a counter-offer. I can come over to you, and be a vixen in your pack, but I can’t do anything to influence him any longer.”

  “You’re lying,” he said. “He claimed you.”

  “I don’t know why you keep saying that to me like it means something. I’m a modern woman. I make my own decisions. No matter how many shifters bite my neck, I decide who I am with, and I’m telling you, I am not with Ryan.”

  “The bond cannot be broken. Even now my foxes can smell him on you, can sense thoughts passing between the two of you.”

  The dreams. Were they some kind of real, psychic connection that had formed between Ryan and I, ever since he’d bitten my neck? I supposed it was possible. I’d definitely heard crazier things in the last couple of days.

  Isengrim took a step toward me. Beside him, two of the foxes began to skulk toward me, backs arched, bushy tails stuck straight up in the air. They pulled their lips back and gave a low growl, revealing sharp canine teeth.

  “When I spoke to you yesterday, you seemed adamant that you did not wish to play any part in my war. What has caused this sudden change of heart, Alex? Could it perhaps be you’re trying to distract me while your two friends escape to the car?”

  Shit. I bolted across the car park, running in the vague direction of Kylie’s car. From the edge of my vision, a blur of red dashed from the bushes, barrelling toward me with impossible speed. From somewhere ahead of me, I heard Kylie scream.

  Something slammed into me, knocking me to the ground. The sword clattered from my hands and slid away as I skidded across the tarmac, tearing the knees of my jeans and skinning my palms. I slammed against the heavy wheel of an SUV, causing my head to spin and red spots to appear in front of my eyes. I turned just in time to see the fox, pressed low to the ground, back arched and bushy tail sticking straight up in the air, like a cat ready to strike. Its eyes glowed with malice as it crept toward me.

  The fox pounced. I lay with my back against the car, frozen in fear, unable to turn away. It flew through the air towards me, lips curled back into an ugly grin as its sharp teeth headed straight for my throat. If only I had my sword …

  Something slammed into the fox from the side, knocking it from the air and shoving it to the ground. It was another red fox, its familiar brown eyes filled with wild fury. Ryan. The two foxes tumbled across the car park, snarling and snapping at each other’s throats.

  “Alex, run!”

  It was Simon. He had pulled up to the entrance of the car park in a tiny red Volkswagen. He held the passenger-side door open for me. I could already see Kylie running for the car, the sandy fox Marcus hot at her heels.

  Ignoring the sting in my hands and knees, I pulled myself to my feet, grabbed the sword, and stumbled across the lot. I could hear Ryan snarling behind me as he subdued Isengrim’s fox. But I didn’t look back. I kept my eye trained on Simon’s car. I saw Kylie open the door and dive into the seat. There was a flash of grey, and the great wolf dived through the air and grabbed her boot. Kylie screamed and shook her foot, but Isengrim held fast, steadying his paws against the edge of the door as he tried to drag her back out of the car.

  I poured on speed, but I was too far away to do anything. Kylie’s eyes were wild with panic as Isengrim began to pull her from the car.

  Marcus grabbed Isengrim’s tail, chomping down hard. I saw blood squirt across the tarmac. Isengrim released Kylie’s foot, then turned and lunged at Marcus. The fox tried to duck out of the way, but he wasn’t fast enough. Isengrim rolled him over and with his powerful jaws opened a gaping wound in his chest.

  Marcus howled, his eyes swimming with pain as Isengrim tore at his skin. Blood pooled beneath him and splattered against the side of the car … too much blood. A sob rose in my throat. I lifted the sword, ready to swing it at Isengrim’s head, when two red foxes leapt on the wolf’s back, pulling him off Marcus. One sank its teeth into Isengrim’s neck, while the other – I recognised Ryan’s markings – bit his hind leg.

  Isengrim thrashed madly, his howl of anguish sending a chill through my body. He shook Ryan off his leg, and tried to shake the other fox loose. But it held on for dear life, its red tail whipping around as Isengrim slammed it against the pavement, splattering its blood all over me.

  Ryan grabbed his brother’s hind leg between his jaws, and began dragging him toward the car. I raced forward to help. He growled at me through his teeth, but allowed me to help him pull Marcus into the car. I clambered in after him, careful not to knock Marcus’s bleeding body.

  Simon flung the car into reverse, and rolled down the passenger side window. The red fox unhooked its jaws from Isengrim’s neck and leapt through the open window, landing crouched on the seat, tail raised high in the air. Simon slammed on the gas, and the wheels screamed as we raced into the street. Luckily, it was late morning on a weekday, so there was hardly any traffic. Through the back window I could see the foxes running toward us, their paws pounding the pavement and mouths hanging open as they struggled to keep up. The slumped grey figure of Isengrim lay in the middle of the car park in a pool of blood. I knew better than to presume he was dead, but at least he wasn’t coming after us any time soon.

  Marcus wasn’t faring much better. He lay across our knees, his eyes wide with pain, and his flesh cold and clammy. Isengrim had torn a giant gash right through the centre of his belly. Blood bubbled from the wound, dribbling down the sides of his stomach and covering the seats and mine and Kylie’s jeans. Simon drove with one hand, while he tried to press a towel against the wound.

  “Let me do that,” Kylie took the towel, and managed to wrap it tight around Marcus’s chest over the back of the seat. She cupped Marcus’s head in her hands, stroking his fur and whispering to him in a cool, comforting voice.

  Ryan lay his head in my lap, his eyes looking up at me in concern. Unable to help myself, I stroked his soft fur, running my fingers deep into that rust-coloured hair. He was panting heavily, and his fur was wet with sweat. In the front seat, the other fox folded its paws beneath itself, and regarded us with wide, inquisitive eyes.

  “He’s struggling to breathe,” said Kylie, her head pressed against Marcus’s chest. “We don’t have much time.”

  “Take him to a hospital!” I cried, squeezing Ryan’s paw. Marcus’s head rolled against Kylie’s knees. He looked so weak, so close to death. Ryan pawed at his tail, his eyes distraught.

  “We can’t.” Simon said, as he yanked the wheel hard around a corner. “He won’t be able to shift back in his state, and no vet is going to operate on a fox. I’ve got some supplies back at Raynard Hall. We’ll do what we can.”

  We'll do what we can. Such an ominous phrase.

  Several ravens flew from a nearby bush, squawking madly as they circled the car. One dived at the driver’s side window, but Simon swerved in time and it h
it the rear-view mirror instead, bouncing across the road. The others seemed to back off after that.

  After a few more tense minutes, we lost sight of Isengrim’s pack entirely. Simon pulled into Holly Avenue, and hit the button on the dashboard to automatically open the gates. We took the drive at record speed and parked up beside the house. I glanced around nervously. The gardens were in disarray – statues toppled over, whole bushes torn out. Did this really all happen during my escape?

  “Help me get him inside,” Simon said to Kylie. Together, they managed to lift Marcus and carry him in. He stared up at them with glazed, pain-filled eyes, barely making a sound, which was a real concern. I followed them inside, my chest tight with worry. Ryan and the other fox padded at my heels.

  “What can I do?” The sight of all that blood was beginning to make me feel woozy. Simon laid Marcus out on one of the stiff couches in the west drawing room, then pulled a first-aid kit out of a gun cabinet.

  “Nothing,” Kylie was already dumping out the contents of the bag and filling a syringe with something clear. “Let us take care of him. You two need to talk.”

  “But he’s going to be OK?”

  “I don't know. I’m not that familiar with fox anatomy. But he’ll have less of a chance if you stay here yammering. Now, go!”

  Ryan scampered from the room. I followed him, secretly grateful I wouldn’t have to touch Marcus until he was all bandaged up.

  Ryan padded through the house, looking back at me with wide eyes, to confirm I was following him. His leg was still bothering him, for he limped a little, but at least he had the use of it. The other fox trotted along behind us, sticking to the shadows. I wondered who the fox was as a human. Ryan hadn’t mentioned any other vulpines he counted on, but then, he had lied about a ton of stuff already.

  Ryan entered his private suite, and leapt up on the couch, leaving pawprints across the cream fabric. The other fox jumped onto one of the chairs, and sat, curling its tail around its body, regarding me with piercing green eyes.

  “When you change back into human form, you can explain to me who this other fox is,” I address Ryan. He whimpered in reply. I went to the drinks cabinet and poured everyone a scotch. When I turned around, glasses in hand, Ryan was sitting at the plush couch in human form, his tanned skin gleaming in the dim light and his eyes meeting mine with trepidation.