Blood & Carrots Ep. 23

He grumbled and started brushing his hair out. "I suppose I should take that as a no."

"You are correct. I hold the same stipulations. Please do not claim any others but me and your rabbit. So long as you do that, I hold no ill will if you lay with others." I moved to my fox and hugged him from behind, purring as I pushed into his back.

"Then simply talk to the wolf and see what you two come up with. Alice is not a cherub and though I do not assume her intentions to be self-serving..." Elias gave me a knowing smile. "Well... if you two started sleeping together, you know what her next suggestion would be."

I grinned and nuzzled at my fox while hugging him from behind. "What a troublesome rabbit..." We stayed like that for several moments as I mulled over thoughts in my mind. I had almost let her name slip and old feelings came rushing back in. I hesitated before speaking out. "Master... I want to talk about her a moment."

Elias tensed, his teeth showing in a snarl before he shifted his gaze to me with a mixture of remorse and hatred. "I can see no benefit to it, the answer is no."

A glare was my answer before I put a hand to my chest, feeling my heart start to beat again both in anger and frustration. "I understand why you hate her, but-"

"I do not hate her!" He practically shouted the words at me with a snarl and whirled on me to face me directly. "Over five centuries and even now, my love has not waned in the slightest!"

My ears folded as I looked away. "You think mine has? You are not the only one that misses her, Elias."

He grunted and pushed a palm to his forehead, his ears drooping heavily. "Katrina... I know you also had unresolved feelings for her, but... we both know that ship has sailed."

I hissed out through my teeth and rolled my eyes. "Is that a joke because she used to captain a ship with you?"

The fox cast his eyes downward for a moment, as if reliving old memories, then shifted back to my gaze and shook his head. "No, it had nothing to do with that... She told you those tales eh?"

"She spoke fondly of her days as Captain Silverpaw, yes." I folded my ears and smiled. "I was always jealous... I always wanted to ask her to teach me to sail, but..."

"Yeah... she did well to hang on at all those days..." Elias growled the words and turned from me. "Katrina... I will not offer her my throat, I gave my word on that. However you must understand that I never wanted anything but for her to be happy."

I frown and look away, "I wish I could have helped..."

"I thought that very thing for the last few centuries. I knew she was suffering even before she came out with the full extent of how much it weighed upon her." Elias clenched his teeth and shook his head. "I want to cease speaking of this now, we've expunged it enough, Katrina."

"I understand... just know you're not alone in missing her." I nod then click my tongue, putting my hands on my hips. "But if she hurts you or Alice..." The fox said nothing but just gave me a nod of understanding before turning from my gaze, returning to his post-shower grooming.

#

We met down in the training facility at my request. I asked him to come ready to practice with me. Alex showed up in his stretchy workout pants that wouldn't shred apart if he shifted, as well as one of his cheap white T-shirts that hugged his chest and arms in all the right ways.

"It's been a while since we trained together, Kat." The wolf showed me his teeth in an excited grin as he rolled his arms and neck.

"Well, you've been spending so much time on my rabbit..." I hummed the words and smiled at the wolf.

"Kat... you're not upset with me are you?" He frowned and folded his arms, looking worried.

"Don't be silly you dumb dog." I spoke the words and blinked a few times. I found my eyes wandering his form. I suppose I never tried to pay his physique much mind, but now that I had him here to talk about the issue, I could see just how well built he was. He was larger and stronger than Elias in every way, even if he didn't have the same air of power the fox did.

Alex had always been a carefree sort around me, but his recent activity with both my rabbit and his new dog girlfriend must have heightened his awareness. He clued in right away to my staring upon him and looked away, his tail awkwardly wagging. "Ah... are you okay, Kat?"

"Of... of course I am!" I snapped back, feeling the heat in my cheeks before I hissed and turned my back to him. I shivered and glanced over my shoulder to see the wolf looking my figure over in my workout tights. He had playfully mentioned my rear several times in the past and I knew the wolf was very much an ass guy.

"So... we gonna spar?" Alex asked me with some hesitation, his brown ears lifting curiously.

"Ah... in a minute... actually, I wanted to talk to you first. A-and... this seemed the most private and comfortable place for us." I spat the words out awkwardly and clenched my teeth, hating the way I was handling this so far.

Alex gave me a slow nod and simply took a seat on the floor, his tail lazily wagging against the training mat. "What's on your mind, Kat? You seem different..."

I frowned and put my palm to my face. "Ah... has Alice talked to you about us? I mean you and me?"

The wolf tilted his head and I saw a smile curl at the corner of his mouth. 'Sure... she thinks we have some chemistry, and that we should bang the hell out of each other."

He said the words so plainly and I felt my heart lurch into my throat at them. I glared at him and folded my arms inadvertently pushing my breasts out heavier into my workout top. "S-stupid dog... don't say it so plainly like that!"

His eyes averted as he pulled his gaze from my chest and body. "S-sorry... what do you want me to say?"

I felt my feet begin to pace as I moved back and forth before him. "I don't... I mean... what do you think?"

"Me? Well, Kat... do you promise not to claw my eyes out?" Alex gave me a direct look, his ears lifting.

"I don't! But... say it anyway." I showed my teeth as I hissed the words and flexed my right hand.

Alex snorted through his nose and clicked his tongue before speaking out plainly. "Sure. It's crossed my mind a few times. Tearing your panties off, tasting you... bending you over and having you like a bitch in heat." The wolf fixed me with a matter of fact glance. "Is that direct enough?"

I felt my cheeks flush and clenched my teeth, pushing my palm to my face. "Damn... you don't hold back these days do you?"

The wolf shrugged a shoulder and found his feet once more. After standing he walked towards me casually. "I won't lie. Between Alice and Gloria, my confidence has improved."

He drew nearer and I could faintly smell Gloria on him. I had never met her but I smelled her plenty of times on Alice. I felt myself take a step back, not wanting to get too close to his musky scent.

Alex dropped to his knees and I found his hands resting on my hips. He pulled me closer to look into my face. "But... what do you think, Kat?"

I bit my lower lip feeling his hands on my hips. I could feel him rubbing them and feeling my body, exploring my curves in a way I never thought he would do. His grip was strong and confident and I felt my body growing warmer by the second for him. "I don't know... I'm scared..."

That took the wolf by surprise and his large brown ears lifted. He looked right in my eyes, his amber irises meeting my green and copper ones. "Scared? I'm not going to hurt you, Kat... I would never dream-"

"Not that kind of scared you idiot!" I spat the words out at him and glared with a frown. "I... I'm scared of losing... us?"

"Us?" Alex frowned and tilted his head curiously. "Kat, I'm not going anywhere..."

"I know that... but can we survive something like this, Alex? Can our friendship?" I pulled from his grip and put my hands on my hips. "I love you, Alex. I love you like a brother in the family, like my best friend, and like a comrade in arms."

I showed my teeth and clenched my fist. "No one else... Not Alice and not Elias... There is no one else I would dream of asking to stand with me and watch my back in a fight."

The wolf showed me a grin and I could see the pride in his eyes. "Thank you. I feel the same. We've been through hell together and I would stand down the whole world with you at my back."

I sighed and shook my head, stepping before him once more, feeling his hands go right back to my sides. "But I will never love you past that... I do not want to be another girlfriend to you, Alex. I don't want to lose you as my best friend." I hissed the words, pushing my palm to his face, gazing into his amber eyes.

The wolf gave me a slow nod and smiled up at me. "Kat... I love you in all the same ways and I feel the same. I'm happy with how we are and what we are. I don't want us to date or be together like that."

Relief filled my chest and I felt myself relax. Then I realized he was drawing me close and before I knew it I was pushed to his chest. My hands brushed over his shoulders and I blinked into his eyes, biting my lower lip. "Y-yeah... but where does that leave us with this?"

Alex showed me a smile and pushed his forehead to mine. "Well... that's up to you Kat... I want you and I'm happy to please you. I can promise you, no strings attached and we stay friends even if you let me have you." He pulled back and I felt his hands ease their grip. "Or we can avoid the whole thing and go back to how we have been. I won't jeopardize what we have over this. I love the idea of laying with you, but not at the cost of losing us."

The wolf gave me a shrug and a gentle smile. "What do you think and want?"

"I want you but..." I frowned and thought about things, then I picked up her scent again, the smell of that other dog upon him. I pulled from his arms and raised a finger. "What would Gloria think?"

"Uh..." His ears folded at the question and I could see I caught him off guard with it. The wolf folded his arms and gave it some thought. "I... don't know..."

"You two are dating now, are you not?" My arms folded as I tilted my head curiously.

"Y-yeah... we kind of are." Alex grinned and rubbed at his head.

"Alex... I'm not Alice, who is her girlfriend, and you're not an incubus." I gave him a shrug. "Could be she will not be okay with it. Do you want to show up to see her and stinking of me? I know how good of a scent you dogs have."

He frowned deeply and huffed out, his tail and ears drooping. "No... you're right. I should talk to her first. My situation is different from Alice's and she may not be okay with it."

I gave him a sad smile and flicked my tail, clenching my fists slowly. "Yeah... I don't want to cost you something special. You said it yourself, neither of us wants anything but friendship. Gloria sounds like a good dog though, I would hate to ruin that for you." I was lying to him though. The retriever sounded like an irritation more than anything else to me.

"Thanks for considering that, I will talk to her later and find out." Alex spoke the words with a grin and put his hands on his hips.

"Hey honey, you mind if I bang my long time friend? No, it's casual, I still only love you and our mutual girlfriend." I parroted the question and showed him in a grin.

The wolf flinched at the realization of the words and looked down awkwardly. "W-well when you put it like that..."

"I would say wait until you have a good lead-in, don't just barge in with the topic. Perhaps find a way to ask nonchalantly about it." I hummed the words and wagged a finger.

He nodded and smiled at me. "Thanks... I'm sorry to keep you waiting."

I laughed and gave him a grin. "I never said I would definitely sleep with you."

"That's true..." He growled the words and rolled his shoulder before giving me a challenging grin. "So are we still going to train?"

"Of course we are, silly." I rolled my neck and purred the words. "It's been a while, let's see if all your sparing and sex with my girlfriend has done you any good."

Alex gave me a cocky smile and flicked his brown tail. "Don't forget she's my girlfriend too..."

"Yeah, yeah... we know who she really belongs to though." I showed my teeth in a playful grin.

"Lorelai?" The wolf spoke out playfully.

I pursed my lips and looked away. "Ha... maybe so... she stinks of that sheep every time she returns from council meetings. Now she is off for over a week with her? Elias better watch out."

The wolf barked a laugh and shrugged. "I guess they thought multiple showers would hide their scent."

"Well, she lives in a house full of predators, of course we have a good sense of smell." I smiled and gave a shrug. "It seems important to them to hide it, so we should play along until they bring it out in the open."

"Yeah, I agree." Alex shifted his stance and clenched a fist. "Enough of that, let's do this!"

"Alright alright... impatient dog." I gave him a challenging grin and shifted my feet. "Don't hold back on me now!"

#

"I just finished checking in on every member of our house, my lord. Two members are overseas right now and Alice is on council business. The others are all accounted for." I gave Elias my report as I stood before his desk, both of us in our all council business mode.

He peaked his fingertips and nodded. "Well, that's one small relief then. It may be they came in from the outskirts of the city."

My arms folded and I lifted my ears. "My lord, how did you hear of this?"

"Believe it or not, that celestial contacted me about it." The white fox flicked an ear seeing my stance shift slightly.

"I didn't know she had your number." I spoke the words and shifted my gaze away in thought. That dog again, what was she up to? I would be lying if I said I trusted her.

"Neither did I. Apparently Alice gave it to her for emergencies." Elias drummed his fingertips together while he spoke the words.

"Are you upset with our rabbit over it?" I returned to gaze at him, my tail coiling and flicking.

He shook his head, hearing the concern in my voice. "No... like you, I do not put full trust in the celestial. However, she has done nothing to garner our ire. She has been nothing but forthcoming with us and treated our lady with the utmost respect."

"Could this all be some elaborate subterfuge to garner our trust and expose us to them?" I fold my arms, contemplating the thought of it.

Elias met my gaze and shook his head once more. "I've dealt with celestials on plenty of occasions in my life. That's not how they think or operate. Not to mention if that were their plan, she could have tracked Alice or Alex back to our home months ago."

I relented and sighed. "Fine... so what's the plan then?"

The marquis frowned as he spoke. "The attacks have been happening multiple times a week and she is certain it's one of our kind."

"It's like that lycanthrope thing a few seasons back..." I sighed and shook my head. "Is this a sign of things to come, Elias? We dealt with things like this maybe once a year, this is the second incident in half that time."

"It could be our network of intelligence simply wasn't finding all the incidents. Perhaps the celestials and mages were snapping things up before they reached our eyes. Regardless here we are." He gave a shrug.

"This timing is awful, Alex is away on his full moon thing and Alice is off on council business." I muttered the words and showed my teeth, my black tail snapping about in agitation.

"I will accompany you to deal with it." Elias spoke the words calmly and nodded.

"Like hell you will." I showed my teeth and clenched my fist. "You've got to keep things running here and deal with council things, remember?"

Elias gave me a smile. 'Keep what running? There's nothing to do and regarding council affairs. Well the head of the council is on vacation."

"So it is a vacation?" I showed my teeth and purred the words.

The fox gave me a knowing grin. "Do not be too harsh upon them, my cat. They simply underestimate our sense of smell."

"Or underestimate their own stink of lust." I purred and folded my arms, giving the fox a curious look. "Still... Lorelai... damn... that sheep could have been the mascot for an ice queen."

"You and I were pretty closed off sexually before she came along as well." Elias gave me a grin while speaking.

"Yeah but... Lorelai is... she is on a whole other level... No offense my lord." I frowned and folded my ears, hoping I hadn't insulted him.

"No, you're right, Katrina." The fox nodded and smiled. "I already know I'm one of the young pups on the council and Lorelai is easily thrice my age. She is a walking force of nature, to say the least."

The white fox folds his arms and leans back in his chair. "Still... if I'm being honest. I'm happy about it. I like the idea of Lorelai being happy and enjoying herself for once."

"You guys have history, my lord?" I quirked a brow curiously, seeing I had caught the fox in a curious mood.

He waved a hand dismissively. "Nothing romantic or sexual. However, I've known her for centuries, since I was a puppy amongst our kind. I was a member of her house before she took the head position, some four hundred years ago. She gave up the position as head of her family to focus on the council."

"What house was that?" I asked curiously. I saw the reaction on his face and knew right away I wasn't getting my answer.

"We are derailing, my cat. Another time..." He waved a hand to brush the topic aside.

"As you wish my lord." I nodded and composed myself.

"I will accompany you, and we will deal with this accordingly." The fox rose to his feet, his tail flicking about.

"My lord... there is no need for you to soil your hands. I will go myself, it is within my capabilities." I hissed the words and met his eyes defiantly. Part of me loved the idea of hunting with him, however, part of me wanted to prove my capabilities for the family.

The fox gave me a long gaze before tapping his fingertips upon the desk. "Katrina... This is not a place for pride, we have a rogue on the loose and we don't know it's powers."

I frowned at his words but gave a nod, he was right of course. "Forgive me, I simply wished to show my reliability..."

"There is no question of that, my sister... my love." He gave me a smile and continued. "Be that as it may, we stand a better chance of-"

Both our ears lifted as the phone upon his desk began to ring. He picked it up and I could tell by the exchange it was council related. I gave him a knowing smile and stood there with my arms folded.

"Y-yes... I understand. I will make arrangements to leave within the hour. Yes, see you soon." Elias hung the phone up with a growl.

"Well, guess I'm hunting alone after all." I hummed the words and turned on my heel to leave.

"Hold your steps, sister." Elias growled the words out towards me. I froze in place and looked back over my shoulder. "Work with the celestial, I won't have you go alone."

My eyes widened and I turned to face him, my composure shattered. "Are you out of your mind?" I spat the words and showed my sharp canines as I hissed.

He folded his arms and I felt his will push out as he spoke the words. "Did I stutter my words, sister?"

My tail snapped about as I gave him a defiant glare. "I do not need that dogs help. Just because you all trust her doesn't mean-"

"I do not trust her!" He barked the words out sharply and I felt myself flinch. He moved around his desk to me as he continued to speak. "That is why you will work with her in this hunt. You will not be swayed by your emotions as Alex and Alice would be."

I blinked up at my fox and widened my eyes in the realization of his words. "Ah... so you mean to-"

"I mean for you to have a partner to keep you safe. However, yes. My intent is two-fold. See what this celestial is all about, see if you think she is a boon or a bane to our family." Elias folded his arms and showed me a grin, giving me a nod.