For Fox Sake: A Reverse Harem Shifter Romance (The Chaos of Foxes Book 1)

by Emma Dean

  “No, I don’t want you to skin him alive, but I appreciate the offer,” she told him gently…like she knew how close to the precipice he was.

  Ash wanted to set the world on fire for her just so they could watch it burn.

  He needed to get ahold of himself. Ash released her and took a step back, and then another. The bright sunshiny day bothered him in his current mood and state. He wanted darkness and despair. He wanted more pain.

  Finnick placed his hand on Ash’s shoulder but kept his gaze on Kenzie. It grounded him like it always did and Ash shot him a grateful look. Finnick knew the draw, he knew Ash, and he was still vibrating with the strength it took to keep from tearing everything apart with his bare hands.

  But Hunter was in charge now. It was the definitive click of his glass on the table. The way he turned so precisely and then focused one hundred percent of his attention on Kenzie.

  Ash had never seen him like this before so – murderously calm.

  For the first time Hunter reached out and actually touched her. He took her hands in his and looked into her eyes, unblinking. “I’ve never challenged an Alpha before. I’ve never needed or wanted to. But I would for you.”

  Everyone stopped breathing. Ash didn’t know if Hunter could actually win against Samuel, but for some reason it wouldn’t surprise him if he could.

  Kenzie took a shaky breath. “Why?”

  Hunter narrowed his eyes as though he were annoyed she was being purposefully obtuse. “Whether we accept the bond or not, you’re my mate and he threatened your life. That demands retribution unless you say otherwise.”

  She squeezed Hunter’s hands, reassuring him. “If you want to challenge him for your own reasons I’ll support that choice, but not for this. He was cornered, and angry I was smarter than him. I’m more annoyed he caught you, and then me after finding out you were mated.”

  Hunter searched her eyes and nodded once. “I won’t challenge him then, though he deserves a good stabbing.” Then he leaned forward and gave Kenzie a chaste kiss on the cheek. “Call us if you ever need anything. I’ll make sure we’re there. And I don’t want you to work for him. We can take the blame for what we’ve done.”

  At that she pulled her hands out of his and Ash twitched. She was angry again. Geez, he couldn’t figure out what she would do next and it was incredibly disconcerting.

  “I may be working this contract with you, but you can’t tell me what I can and can’t do. If this job keeps you three from Fates know what, I’ll do it. And he lets us keep the potion.”

  Hunter smiled and slipped his hands in his pockets. “So it is because you like us and not just the potion. Good to know.”

  Ash couldn’t help his smile. Hunter was always so good at these games. He’d purposefully provoked her into telling him the truth.

  Kenzie sputtered when she realized it too. “Fine, maybe. But I need that potion. Selene and I can’t make Samuel tech magic without it and he’s not going to wait six months.”

  This again.

  At this point he just wanted to hand it over if it meant she’d trust them. From the looks of it so did Finnick. But they weren’t the leader of this chaos.

  Hunter shrugged. “I’ll think about it.”

  Instantly Ash started gathering the dishes. This wasn’t going to go over well.

  “What’s there to think about?” Kenzie demanded.

  Even Finnick didn’t want to be a part of this. He disappeared upstairs when Hunter didn’t say anything.

  “You’re not contracted. You could leave the moment you get the potion and we’d be one man short.”

  Ash knew this wasn’t the reason. Hunter wanted her to stick around, he wanted to know her. But he wasn’t the best with people. “Hunter, maybe we could…”

  “I said I’d think about it.” His voice whipped through the air and they all flinched. Then Hunter walked downstairs to the gym as if none of this really mattered to him. Ash could tell it did, but…Hunter had a hard time with certain things. He didn’t trust anyone outside of Ash and Finnick, and he didn’t like making snap decisions.

  “I’m sorry Kenzie,” Ash said. “He just needs to think things through.”

  She glared at him and he sighed. “You know women love me and Finnick?” he said, changing the subject.

  Kenzie didn’t follow him into the kitchen, but he kept talking anyways while he put everything away. “We’re quite charming when we want to be and I’m an excellent dancer.”

  When he came back out she was sitting next to her sister with her legs crossed at the knee. It took him a moment to remember what he was going to say next because he was too busy eyeing those legs of hers.

  Selene cleared her throat and his eyes snapped to Kenzie’s. She didn’t smile but the blue twinkled at him, telling him she’d noticed where he’d been looking.

  “Aside from being a good dancer I also happen to love a good book and a fun viral challenge. Women love that about me.”

  Kenzie’s sister covered her mouth with her hand to hide her smile when Ash shook his ass a little to make his point.

  “You do not do viral challenges,” Kenzie said in disbelief. “Did you do the lip-sync one?”

  He gave her a wink. “Look up foxyman325. But what I’m trying to get at is Hunter doesn’t do these kinds of things. He doesn’t date. He can’t connect with people in the same way others do. He’s going to think about every possible consequence to handing over that potion. And then he will decide. This is how Hunter is.”

  Ash knew it was hard to understand, but it made Hunter into a very cunning predator. It’s why he’d survived as long as he had, and how he’d saved Finnick and him.

  Kenzie huffed but she didn’t smell as mad as she had earlier.

  Selene gave her sister a look. “We should get home. I’ll meet you in the car?” Without waiting for an answer the witch stood and waltzed down the stairs to the front door. Ash could hear the car still running as it waited for them.

  Then it was just him and Kenzie.

  “Do you really do lip-sync challenges?” she asked.

  For some reason Ash really liked that he’d surprised her. “I do.”

  Kenzie stood and he also liked that she was still shorter than him in those heels of hers. She tilted her head up and studied his face. “I can’t wait to see them.” Then she turned to leave and Ash couldn’t help himself.

  He reached out and took her hand, tugging just hard enough she spun around and he caught her in his arms, her whole body pressed to his. “Are you okay?” he asked, eyes skimming over the bruise again.

  It was difficult not to see red when he thought of Samuel’s hands on her throat like that.

  “I am thanks to you,” she murmured.

  The sound of her husky voice made his heart race and Ash’s eyes widened at the response. When he met her blue gaze again it seemed like she was waiting for something, but he wasn’t sure what.

  “Kiss me already, stupid.”

  Ash grinned at that, happy to oblige. He bent down, but then hesitated when his lips were a fraction from hers. This would be a step down a path he didn’t think he could take back. Kenzie consumed him – body, mind, and soul.

  If he kissed her, he was committing. That’s just how this was going to be.

  “Tell me you’ll go out with me first.” Their breath mingled and he could feel the whisper of her lips when he spoke.

  Kenzie looked surprised at that. “You want to go on a date with me?”

  “I want my own date with you, yes. Finnick can have his and then it will be my turn.” Ash closed his eyes and breathed her in. There were so many things he wanted to do to her.

  She chuckled at that. “Fine, after Finnick and I do ours we can do something. Maybe in a few days?”

  Ash gripped the back of her neck and took her mouth. He wanted to nip and play, but he kept it gentle until her nails dug into his arms. Her burnt sugar smell and that reaction…Ash slid his tongue into her mouth and tasted her.
His hands gripped her hips and he pressed his hard cock against her.

  Fuck, this was so much more than he’d bargained for. One taste and he wanted it all. He had to practically tear himself away from her. “I’ll figure something out. Enjoy your date tonight.” Ash kissed her on the cheek and he had to leave.

  He wanted so much more, but he could wait. Ash was patient in his hunt. It made the catch so much tastier.

  The scent of her arousal made him grin and he gave Finnick a wink as he passed him on the stairs. “Be good to her.”

  “Only if she doesn’t ask me to be bad.”

  And that was why they all liked her so much. She wanted them to be bad, to be what they already were, but for her.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Kenzie

  I loved that dress, but you looked just as devastating in your sweats.

  Kenzie read the text again and again. Finnick had a way with words that simultaneously turned her on and irritated her. It was all she could think about as she got ready for their date.

  Other than the way Ash’s lips had felt on hers.

  Ash’s request had surprised her, but what had been the biggest surprise was her reaction to him. Kenzie hadn’t realized how much they all got under her skin until he’d held her, kissing her like he was dying and she had the only cure.

  She smiled a little as she buckled her belt and then bent down to pull up her socks. They went over the knee and Kenzie loved how it looked with her knee-high boots and burgundy booty shorts. It was still hot outside so she wore a loose tank top and grabbed her favorite chunky cardigan for when the sun finally set.

  The wind coming off the bay was always far colder than people suspected. The Pacific Ocean was rarely warmer than sixty degrees. People who liked to swim in it were crazy because the best beaches were warm and tropical in her opinion.

  Kenzie also liked the effect she had on her foxes even if she’d never admit it out loud. Even Hunter had reacted to seeing her in that dress. He hid it better than the others – Finnick outright staring while Ash tried to look anywhere but at her curves – but she could tell when she stood nose to nose with him that he wanted her.

  It was the tiny inhale when she poked him in the chest and how his pupils dilated. There had been a tic in his jaw and a twitch of a finger, but that was it.

  Ash was right about Hunter. The guy didn’t know how to connect to other people and he didn’t like admitting he had anything close to an emotion. Kenzie wondered why.

  Then the doorbell rang and her heart leapt into her throat.

  Kenzie really liked Finnick and she was very attracted to him, but she was still nervous. She had no idea what to expect from this date or where the hell it was all going to go.

  She checked her makeup in the mirror real quick, nothing too fancy, but she did a damn good smoky eye if she did say so herself. Her charms went up and down her right ear again and a few in the other.

  Her long necklace was more than something pretty as were the stacks of rings on her right hand. Kenzie didn’t like wearing any on her dominant hand. Writing with her left was hard enough without adding to the difficulty.

  So the watch and a few charm bracelets were on her right wrist as well. It may be overkill to wear so many enchantments and charms, but she was living in the paranormal world. Existing among them wasn’t easy.

  “Kenzie! Your fox is here, come fetch him before he gives your mother a coronary!” Edith screeched down the stairs.

  She ran up the stairs two at a time, wondering what fresh hell was waiting for her now.

  No one but Edith should even be home. Selene had some coven meeting to deal with and the rest of them were supposed to be there as well, but from the chatter it sounded like her mother and Martha were home.

  Dammit.

  When she reached the main floor Finnick was grinning at her mother, but it wasn’t the cocky fun-loving grin she’d come to love. No, it was dark and glittering and hungry.

  “Finnick!” she said brightly, getting his attention away from her mother. “I didn’t expect you to be on time.”

  “There’s no traffic on a motorcycle, babe.”

  Of course he had one. Kenzie rolled her eyes and then studied the way Martha hovered and how pale her mother’s face was. “What did I miss?”

  “Oh just Auntie here telling this one foxes aren’t allowed in the Kavanagh mansion,” Martha smirked. “He smells like dirt.”

  “That’s what I like about him,” Kenzie snapped, grabbing Finnick’s hand a little harder than someone would on a normal date. “Run along Martha, it’s not like you care what I do anyway.”

  Her cousin scoffed and rolled her eyes, but she turned and left, already bored.

  “Mackenzie, you cannot date a fox,” her mother huffed, the pale skin giving way to a red flush when her anger came to the surface. “It’s not appropriate.”

  “No,” Finnick cut in before Kenzie could say anything. “It’s not appropriate that you kept custody of a child you tortured.” He flicked a look at Edith who only raised a brow and smiled. “The universe has a way of keeping the balance, Mrs. Kavanagh. Remember that. Gram-Gram, it was lovely to see you again.”

  Kenzie covered her smile with her hand when he bent down to kiss Edith on the cheek and her grandmother actually blushed. Her mother sputtered, but Finnick just ignored her.

  “Kenzie, you ready to go shoot some stuff? I brought pictures of your family.”

  She snickered and followed him out of the house and into the warm evening. The sun still hung heavy in the sky, but slowly and surely it was dipping beneath the ocean. “I know how to shoot a gun,” she told him.

  Finnick grinned at her, his green eyes blazing as he handed over a spare helmet. “I never said anything about guns.”

  Kenzie put on the helmet and couldn’t help her curiosity. Then she stopped and shoved the visor up. She’d been on a motorcycle before, but the accident had been a terrible experience. The things were the only way to get around in places like Chiang Mai or Bangkok, but people were also terrible drivers.

  “Are you all right?” Finnick asked. His eyes narrowed and he reached out but Kenzie yanked the helmet off and shoved it at him.

  She had to tell herself to breathe. The palm trees swayed in the light breeze. They looked black against the purple and orange sky.

  “Kenzie, we don’t need to take the motorcycle.”

  But she wanted to. They were fast and efficient and far less harmful to the environment. It had been long enough. She needed to get over this.

  The deep breath she took helped settle her a bit and Kenzie turned back to Finnick. He hadn’t moved from where he was standing, but the way he watched her…Kenzie took the helmet from him again and tied it on properly, jerking her head at the bike.

  Finnick assessed her and then nodded. He slipped on his own helmet and sat on the motorcycle, tying it as he waited for her.

  This bike was nothing like the crotch rocket she’d owned. It wasn’t a Harley exactly, but something in between. It had the same sleek look hers had but a more relaxed design. Kenzie flung her leg over the seat and settled behind Finnick, placing her hands on his waist.

  The contact instantly calmed her and Kenzie scooted forward until her body was flush against his. It wasn’t necessary but she liked how it made him tense, how his pulse raced when she wrapped her arms around him, one palm flat on his chest so she could feel his heart.

  “What are you doing?” Finnick asked. She was impressed with his playful tone. If she didn’t know how tense he was she’d never guess.

  “Being close to you makes me feel safer,” she admitted.

  There was a pause when she knew he was listening to her heart, assessing the truth of her words, smelling every nuance to her scent.

  “You didn’t wear your scent charm.”

  “No, I didn’t.” It had taken her hours of agony to decide what the right choice was. But it felt weird and dishonest to wear one when they were supposed to be gettin
g to know each other. Shifters relied on scent more than almost anything. They could read her emotional and physical state and react accordingly.

  Kenzie also wanted him to know when she liked certain things. Or if she didn’t. It would help them both decide what to do about the mate thing.

  Without another word Finnick started up the motorcycle and adjusted her grip. “Ready?” he asked, still sensing her trepidation as her heart pounded.

  “Ready.”

  He eased into the ride. The wind instantly whipped away the heat from the summer day and Kenzie breathed deep as a thousand smells went by, but left her with the impression of leaves and asphalt. She’d forgotten what this could be like.

  She felt Finnick’s body loosen up when her heart rate settled into something a bit more rhythmic. This was what riding was supposed to be.

  Kenzie had no idea where they were going, but she held on tight and watched cars whiz by as he wove smoothly in and out of traffic, always keeping an eye on everything around them in case he had to make a split-second adjustment.

  His confidence gave her confidence. He clearly knew what he was doing and it gave her the freedom to look around and take in the view. Then she realized where he was taking her, but she didn’t know why.

  Golden Gate Park was massive and beautiful. There was always a lot going on there. It could honestly be anything, but she was exhausted enough from the day she really hoped they weren’t going to go on a walk or something equally boring.

  Finnick parked and then waited for her to get off, removing his helmet. When she locked hers to the bike he grinned at her and ruffled her helmet-hair. “You did good. You’ve ridden a bike before.”

  “How can you tell?” she asked. Adrenaline flowed through her and she was a bit jittery. Her legs felt a little unstable as she followed him across the street.

  “You leaned with me perfectly and anticipated everything I was doing. It didn’t feel like I had a passenger on the back of my bike.” He took her hand and pulled her towards a storefront that had ‘San Francisco Archery Shop’ above the door.