by Cara Wylde
“May your union be blessed, my children. May you love and cherish each other for the rest of your long, beautiful life.” Roman’s kind gaze fell upon them. If anyone present had looked closely, they would have noticed the sadness and regret in his eyes. This was not what he would have wanted for Blake, his only child. He would have loved to bless her union with a partner she truly loved, but alas, it wasn’t possible. Blake understood and had forgiven him a long time ago for putting the fate of the clan way above her love and happiness, but Roman knew he would never forgive himself. He had grown to like Amelia a lot since she had come to live in his house, so now he felt even guiltier for having ruined two people’s lives. Two people he cared about. He sighed imperceptibly and decided to get it over with. “Blake, my son, you may now kiss your lovely bride.”
Blake looked into Amelia’s brown eyes and pulled her closer. Amelia could barely conceal her smile. This was incredibly awkward, and she struggled to keep her composure. Bursting into laughter would have ruined the moment and confused the audience. She tipped her head when Blake’s lips sought hers and closed her eyes when she felt them press against her mouth. She forced her hands to travel up Blake’s chest and rest on her shoulders, thus allowing her to squeeze her waist and press her body flush against hers. If she were kissing Seth, Amelia would have felt his rock-hard erection trapped between their bodies, but with Blake the experience was entirely new and different. The kiss ended before it really began, and they pulled away.
As everyone cheered, Blake turned towards Roman and nodded. “Thank you.”
The old man pursed his lips and said nothing. He couldn’t trust his voice not to crack. Instead, he nodded back, letting Blake and Amelia know the mating ritual was over.
Blake took Amelia’s hand, squeezed it, then walked her between the two rows of fox-shifters, shifter brides, and children who were applauding, cheering, and congratulating them. Roman’s brothers shook Blake’s hand and kissed Amelia on both cheeks. When they finally managed to get out of the crowd, they found Seth waiting for them.
“Congratulations!”
“Why, thank you,” said Blake.
“You take good care of her, all right?”
Amelia laughed at how ridiculous the situation was, not realizing Seth was actually being serious.
“You know I will,” said Blake. “We both will.”
The gravity in Blake’s voice caught Amelia’s attention and she looked at her, then at Seth. They were holding each other’s gaze, barely aware of her presence. Then Seth nodded and the moment of tension passed, leaving behind a silent agreement between the three of them: they would all take care of each other and see their plan to the end. Amelia realized she had, in fact, gained two best friends: her fake husband and her handsome, devoted lover.
“Wanna get out of here?” Blake asked Amelia.
“Shouldn’t we stay until the end? Celebrate with the others?”
“I’d rather not. They won’t even notice we’re gone, and if they do, I’m sure Damon will make one of his dirty jokes about how we couldn’t wait to get into each other’s pants.”
Amelia laughed. Truth was, she couldn’t wait to get into someone’s pants, and that someone was Seth. She looked at his broad chest and marveled at how well the black suit hugged every bulging muscle. Even though she knew his body like she knew her own, her imagination still ignited. Seth was studying her just as carefully, lust shining in his eyes. He definitely appreciated the long, white dress which delicately highlighted her curves.
“Hey! When I asked if you wanna get out of here, I was talking about me and Amelia. Knock it out, you two! You don’t know who’s watching.”
Seth took a step back and forced out a smile. It was rather difficult given the raging erection Amelia’s tight dress had just caused.
“Well, talk to you later,” he told Amelia, then nodded towards Blake and went back to the party.
Amelia waved after him, a deep sigh escaping her chest. Blake rolled her eyes and pulled her by the hand. “Come one, lovebird. I wanna show you something.”
***
Everyone was on the shore, so the streets of Ekviknuna were deserted. When she was sure they were too far for anyone to notice, Blake let go of Amelia’s hand and walked faster, taking the lead.
“You don’t expect me to keep up with you in these heels, do you?”
“Well, if you’re just a bit curious about what I want to show you, you’d better,” the smile in Blake’s voice was obvious. However, she stopped in the middle of the narrow street.
Amelia thought she was waiting for her, so she lifted her skirt a tad higher and picked up the pace. When she saw Blake had started to remove her jacket and unbutton her shirt, she stopped in her tracks and took a deep breath. She wasn’t going to turn right here, was she? She looked around them and strained her ears to catch any noise which might have betrayed someone was watching them, but there was nothing there… just the dark windows looking down upon them, and the soft night breeze playing in her brown curls.
“You’ll have to hold this for me.” Blake handed her the cloth strips she had just unwrapped from around her chest, and Amelia took them and folded them neatly. “We’ll leave the rest here. The fox-shifters need to know their future Inari does turn from time to time.”
It did make sense, but Amelia was too busy staring at Blake’s beautiful, athletic, and very much naked body to think of the logic of her actions. She would see her turn for the first time. That was the only thing her brain could process at the moment.
“Don’t look at me like that,” said Blake in a low, soft voice. “I know I’m not very feminine…”
“What?” Amelia was taken by surprise, and for a few seconds she didn’t know what to say. “I… I wasn’t looking because of that… I think you have an amazing body! I mean, I could diet and work out for years and never get so fit and strong.”
Blake smiled bitterly. “Why would you even want that?”
“I… because I think it’s sexy?” Did she sound pathetic? She was almost certain she sounded pathetic. “Every woman is different and beautiful in her own way. We’re never satisfied with our body, unfortunately. I’d love to have narrow hips… It’s like my butt gets bigger every time I look in the mirror. It’s not gonna happen, I had to accept that a long time ago. When I turned 18 and got my own page in the Vulpes Catalog back at Alma Venus, I thought no fox-shifter wanted to buy me because they didn’t find me attractive… I thought they preferred thinner, more athletic women, so I began working out. It had no effect on my curves whatsoever.”
“Curves? What curves? Your wide hips actually show you’ll be able to carry healthy babies.”
Amelia blushed and looked at her feet. Healthy babies… Whose healthy babies? Seth’s?
“Anyway, let’s not have this conversation,” continued Blake. “I hate my body. End of story. It’s something that will never change. I’m not feminine enough for a man to ever feel attracted to me, and I’m not strong and chiseled enough to impose myself physically. I would probably be able to take down any male werefox in a fight, but let’s face it: he’s not going to feel threatened when he sees me.”
“I think that’s an advantage,” offered Amelia reluctantly. She had had no idea Blake was so insecure. She had always seen her as this badass Alpha who was ready to turn the world over for the good of her clan.
“Yeah… might be…” She threw her socks on the pile of clothes and relaxed all the muscles in her body in preparation for the transformation.
The crack of bones made Amelia gasp. When Seth changed, he was powerful and majestic. When Blake changed, she was elegant and graceful. It took less than a minute, showing how experienced Blake was. Now, before Amelia stood a tall white fox with lithe legs, a strong body, and rather long, pointy ears rimmed with black hairs. That small trait probably came from her mother’s side, just as Blake’s dark hair, which made her stand out in a sea of white, arctic foxes. But that was not what fascinated Am
elia the most. The five tails, as white as snow with a bit of black at the tips, took her breath away.
“Oh my!” She covered her mouth with her hand as her eyes lingered on the long, thick, gorgeous tails. “Five… you’re a five-tailed vixen. I’ve never heard of a female fox-shifter with so many tails. Oh. My. God. You’re the only one in the world! If only they knew…”
Yes, Blake’s father did have five tails himself, but he was an old, experienced Inari. In a culture in which females, be they human or shifters, weren’t shown the same respect as men, a vixen with five tails was unheard of.
“I don’t… I don’t even know why I’m so shocked. Of course you’d be wise and powerful, capable of ruling over the clan at least as well as Roman. All those years of intense study… they certainly weren’t in vain…”
The white fox stepped closer to Amelia and tipped her head, as if she was trying to ask her something. Amelia realized Blake had no way of communicating with her while in her animal form, so she took advantage of the situation.
“I’m sorry you’ve lost so much. I’m sorry your father’s decisions and plans robbed you of a normal childhood and youth, of a possible relationship with someone special… I’m so, so sorry…” She reached for the vixen’s long snout, but the shape-shifter pulled back and frowned. “I know you’re tough and independent, and confident… I know you don’t need anyone’s sympathy, but I want you to hear this… I want you to know that I care. You’re my friend, my best friend. I care and I love you like a sister… We all do. Seth, Aaron, Elena… We’ll always be there for you no matter what.”
Blake had clearly gotten bored with Amelia’s ramblings, so she turned around and started walking towards the mansion. Amelia lifted her skirt again and did her best to keep up with the vixen’s wide steps, which was impossible. She smiled to herself and hugged the cloth strips closer to her chest. They were Blake’s secret. Her best friend’s secret. If needed, she would take that secret with her to the grave.
***
When Seth came to take Amelia out for a walk after breakfast, she was tired, but not for the reasons the whole clan presumed. She and Blake had drunk wine and played chess all night, until Amelia eventually passed out on Blake’s bed and slept for three hours. When she woke up, the vixen was there to laugh at her inability to hold her liquor and asked the maid to serve breakfast in their room.
Their room… Amelia smiled while walking one step behind Seth. They had left the docks behind and they were heading east, although they didn’t have a particular destination. They were just walking in silence, enjoying each other’s presence.
“Today I’m moving in with Blake,” Amelia said.
“Makes sense.”
“Yeah. It won’t be much different from Alma Venus, you know. Except this time I’ll have to share the same bed with my roommate.”
Seth was silent. He still couldn’t forget the way Amelia had looked in her long, white dress the night before. Her brown curls falling around her pretty face, the dark eye-shadow and long eyelashes making her eyes stand out, the nude lipstick plumping up her lips… He got a hard-on every time these images flashed into his mind.
“Are you okay?” Amelia picked up the pace so she could search his face.
“Not really, no.” He stopped and turned to her, but his eyes were fixed on the river behind her. The sun was slowly inching towards the center of the sky, announcing a warm, pleasant day. “We’ve been so reckless… Spending so much time together, going to my cabin two times in row… Even what we’re doing now is risky.”
“Oh…” She wasn’t sure where this was going, but she had a feeling she wouldn’t like it. He was right, however. They had been rather reckless. They had allowed their lust and passion for each other to cloud their judgment.
“Still, I couldn’t help it. I had to see you this morning. I didn’t stay at the party until the end. I helped Roman back to his room, then went home and tried to get some sleep. It was impossible.” His eyes finally found hers. “I thought about you all night, fantasized about peeling that dress off your body… God, this is going to be so hard!”
Amelia stepped closer and buried her head in his chest. They were far enough from Ekviknuna, and the whole town was almost asleep anyway. The mating ritual and the party had drained them. Seth wrapped his arms around her small body and let out a deep sigh.
“We have to be careful, Amelia. We can’t make any mistakes.”
“Does this mean we can’t see each other anymore?”
Seth’s heart ached at the thought. “No, I wouldn’t be able to live if I didn’t see you every day. But we can’t spend so much time together, we can’t risk being seen alone. You’re Blake’s bride now, the future Alpha bride of Clan Sylfur.”
“As if they gave a toss about me…”
“They will. Blake will make sure they will show you the respect you deserve. When he takes over, he’s going to change so many things.”
Amelia chuckled. “It’s so strange that you refer to Blake with “he” even when there’s just the two of us…”
“It’s safer this way.” He kissed the top of her head.
They didn’t say anything for a long time, both lost in their tight embrace. They simply enjoyed the warmth of the other’s body. Seth inhaled the sweet scent of Amelia’s skin while her fingers drew small circles on his chest. They knew they had to pull away eventually, but neither of them had the courage to do it just yet.
“So, what do we do?” asked Amelia.
“I don’t know… I guess I’ll have to visit Blake more often.”
“We won’t be alone…”
“At least I’ll get to hold you.”
“And Blake won’t mind…?”
Seth furrowed his brows and held Amelia at arm’s length so he could see her eyes. “Why would he mind?”
“She… why would she mind?” She wasn’t sure what had gotten into her or why she was bringing this up, but once she started, she couldn’t stop. After all, it had been something that had tortured her thoughts for days. “Have you honestly never thought about it? That she’s a woman, a woman who likes men… She grew up with you and Aaron, the only guys her age who knew her secret.”
“Are you saying Blake might have like… a crush on me?” Seth struggled not to laugh at the blush spreading across Amelia’s face and neck.
“Not now, but maybe in the past? I don’t know… it’s possible.”
“Oh, you’re so cute when you’re jealous!” He pulled her back against his chest and squeezed the life out of her.
“I’m not jealous! I’m just concerned about Blake. I don’t want us to make her feel uncomfortable.”
“Believe me, Blake never had a crush on anyone.”
“How do you know that? You know it’s insensitive of you to dismiss it like this…”
“Well, has she told you anything?”
“No…”
“There ya’ go!”
“It doesn’t mean that…”
Seth looked into her eyes again. “Baby, trust me. I know Blake better than anyone. She’s always been like a little sister to me, and she’s always seen me as a brother. Aaron too. Anyway, Elena and Aaron discovered they were mates the second they hit puberty, and they’ve been inseparable ever since. Blake never showed a real interest in any guy in the clan, although we often talked about this girl or that boy, and later this woman, or that man… We’d joke around, rate them from 1 to 10 like the stupid teenagers that we were, then she would go back to her books. There, I’m even talking about Blake with “she” now, just to show you that, yes, I am perfectly aware of who she is. If she had ever looked at me differently, then I might have considered starting something… although that would’ve been a very bad idea.”
Amelia’s heart jumped at the thought, but she immediately realized it didn’t bother her. She cared about both of them too much to feel jealous of Blake. No, she hadn’t lied. She hadn’t brought this up because of jealousy, but because she genuinely
didn’t want to hurt Blake’s feelings in any way. She had to take all precautions, cover all grounds. Their situation was weird enough as it was.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s just that last night a saw a new side of her… She’s tough, and amazing, and… oh my God!… she has five tails, but she’s also insecure and scared. She’s lost so much…”
“… and gained a lot. She made her choice, Amelia, and she knew the consequences. Never pity her, that’s the last thing she needs.”
“I won’t! But I will worry…”
“Well, that’s something you’ll have to learn how to live with. I worry about her all the time, so do Roman, Aaron and Elena. But she doesn’t need to know that. The path she’s chosen is not an easy one, but she’ll make it to the end. You’ll see.”
Amelia nodded and pressed her body against his one last time before building up the courage to go back to the mansion.
CHAPTER THREE
The Blackmanes’ Trial
The month of August passed with no incidents, which was great in what their plan was concerned, but not so pleasant for Amelia and Seth. They spent time together almost every day, but always in the presence of Blake, Elena, or Aaron. They never dared do much than hold hands and steal a kiss or two when they thought no one was watching. Some days, it was enough. Other days, their lust boiled so close to the surface that they could barely hold themselves back. It was torture. Because there was simply so much they could take, they ended up at Seth’s cabin without even remembering quite well how.
