FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 1

I sat on the strange, low, couch-like piece of furniture in my brother and his wife's home. I was weak, still recovering from blood loss. That alone was enough to be upsetting, to cause just the right mix of sadness and frustration. But my problems were bigger than that.

Quaz sat down next to me and pulled me into a hug that almost put me in his lap. I sighed and nuzzled against him. We were quiet at first, and I took as much comfort from the quiet affection as possible. These moments weren't rare compared to how leopards lived for my brother and I, but they were more rare than they had been when we'd lived together in our parents' pack. He'd started to look guilty sometimes when we were friendly too, especially outside the house, and I didn't understand that.

Quaz had tried to explain it to me, but I was being stubborn. I didn't want to understand this difference that meant we shouldn't touch. He'd explained that among wolves, you could tell when I pair was sleeping together by the way they nipped at each other's necks possessively and yet gently. Or by the way in which they rubbed against one another, a subtle, but for us very obvious difference. For Snow Leopards, hugging, snuggling, petting, licking ... they were all affectionate gestures inappropriate for people who weren't mates or children. Children had the leeway to be more affectionate, and people could be more affectionate with them, but then for some reason children were gradually trained out of it as they grew up.

"The counsel is supposed to decide if you'll be getting a foster home today, and I think they're going to approve that measure." He said, voice a mix of emotions he was trying to control.

My chest tightened. On top of being injured when I'd arrived, and still now weakened by the blood loss, I was undeniably weaker than my brother. They saw me as fragile, helpless. And compared to Quaz, and their own women, that was true. I was technically still a child to them, and because I was as I was, they were going to put me into a foster home like I was a little girl.

"You're my twin, why can't I just stay with you and Eve?" I asked, voice carrying the light whine of trepidation I felt. I knew the answer though. Eve didn't want me there, and all the leopards thought Quaz and I had an inappropriate relationship. It was making life harder for him and Eve, and it would for me too if I couldn't prove I could be a normal person who wasn't obsessed with her brother.

Quaz sighed, and I did too.

"I'm sorry. I understand. Well, I understand well enough. But we can still see each other, right?" I asked, rubbing the fur on his chest.

"Of course. But for a while, it might be better if we see less of each other, if they see you engaging with others socially. Let them forget what they've been thinking about us, and hopefully when they see us acting ourselves around each other again they'll gradually adjust. Eve needs a little time too, I think. She doesn't say so, but I know she's feeling jealous, left out when you and I are together. Maybe when you're not living here, you can try to make friends with her." He said. I could the distress for me in his voice, but his words still stung. He didn't want me here either. He didn't want to see me.

"Ok." I forced out, but I knew he could hear how upset I was. I withdrew my arms from him.

"Quay, it's not like that. I love you, the leopards just need some time to adjust, and they need to see you as a person, not just a threat to Eve." He stroked up and down my arm, trying to be comforting without taking me back into his arms.

"Alright." I said, with almost the same amount of distress.

Quazee sighed. "I love you. You'll be fine, we'll be fine. They won't hurt you." I knew what he wasn't saying, that I could have stayed home. I could have accepted the news he was alive and happy as good enough. But I hadn't wanted to stay, not when Quaz had found acceptance and happiness in a place that celebrated magic. If I could ever work up the courage to use mine in front of these people, perhaps it wouldn't have been a waste. I had just hated living in fear of being found out at home, even if my control over the abilities were nearly absolute. They'd said some people could just see it on you, or smell it. That if you were one of the vile people carrying the hated genes for magic, you would be found out and dealt with. Now I'd traded one kind of vilification for another. I didn't feel like a villain.

Later that night the council made their decision, and it was decided that I would be placed with a foster home on the opposite side of the village from Quaz and his mate lived. The transfer happened quickly. My new family was at the meeting, there to greet me.

"These will be your new parents until you are of-age to be out on your own." An older female said. She pointed to a male Leopard standing nearby. He was tall and thin, even for one of his kind, with silvery-blue eyes and large rosettes that were a bit faded on his fur that looked particularly soft. He bowed his head a bit and smiled. "This is Oke. He's a caregiver here in the village and has been raising kittens for years now. He's very good at it. I think you'll find him a loving, and supportive role model."

The female pointed to the female. "This is his mate, Ala, and she's one of our Spirit Walkers. Your brother's mate was one of them as well. They're very highly honored amongst our kind, and she will see that your home is always safe, and you need never fear for your life. She will protect you as readily as she would her own kittens."

Ala smiled and nodded as well, though her demeanor was far colder than her husband's, probably because she was one of the people who fought mine constantly. It made me wonder if she hadn't been trusted as one of my caregivers specifically because she knew how to fight my kind should I end up being something other than what I seemed. She had green eyes that were bordering on blue, and was short, but looked powerful and compact. She had stripes instead of spots, which seemed very strange for one of her kind.

"The two kittens are your new siblings, Nal and Wit." She pointed at a female and male in turn, both looking like a good mix of their mother and father. Nal, my new sister, had her father's markings with her mother's shorter fur, and Wit, to be my new brother, had his father's softer looking fur with a mix of the patterns of his parents. He had stripes that ended in rosettes. His eyes were also a captivating blue with streaks of green in them. For a moment I found myself a bit caught up in them.

Oke approached me, his smile still warm. "Quay, it is an honor to have you living with us. Your brother helped save our home, and has since helped us expand upon it as well. We hope you will be happy and always think of our home as your home, even after you have moved on."

Ala approached next. "I'm away much of the time, but I welcome you as well. Your brother is honorable, and I trust that holds for you as well. What is ours, is yours, kitten." She reached out and touched my shoulder, a single squeeze, and then she stepped away and looked at my two new siblings.

"Nal, Wit, take your sister home and show her where she'll be staying. We still have business to attend." Ala said, and Nal and Wit came up quickly.

Wit approached confidently, but Nal hung back a little, giving me a slightly fearful look. Wit took my hand and tugged me towards the door. "Come on, do you like to run? I'll race you back to the house. I'll probably win too, since you don't know where it is."

Nal was frowning. "Wit always cheats." She said, but the she took off running at a reckless pace. "But I'm faster!" She called after her, and then Wit cursed and went chasing after her.

That meant I had to run or lose them, and I wasn't really sure I didn't want to. My ears were tucked back and my tail pressed into my ass, pretty much as they had been since I'd arrived. I was afraid of Ala, and upset to have been giving a new family as though I'd grown up without one. As though I was a little girl who still needed one, and at the same time I felt helpless.

I ran with my head down, trying to keep Wit in sight and look out for threats the whole way. That was why I soon found myself lost. I hadn't gotten a good sniff of either sibling, so after sniffing around a little I just wandered from one place that seemed mildly safe to the next, feeling tired and spent as had been happening easily during my recovery. I came to the forest edge, but I didn't run into it. I thought about it, but I had nowhere to go and I didn't want to be seen as having run off. The foot traffic around here was light though, not many eyes that wanted to linger on me with emotions I didn't want to read in them. So I sat down in some grass and waited for someone who knew who I was to find me.

I considered the two siblings I found myself tied to now. Wit was handsome, and I felt a stirring of desire for him, but I was pretty sure that they would claim I'd just simply left them. I understood children, the way they would lie to cover up their mistakes sometimes, and I wasn't sure when Snow Leopard children got over that particular tendency. So I would probably get in trouble for my 'vanishing' act.

"What are you doing here?! Are you here to steal my rabbit?!" An old woman came out, brandishing a broom at me.

"No. No I just wanted to sit down, I got lost." I tried to explain.

"Go away you filthy wolf! I was a Spirit Walker a long time ago and I can still vanquish a foe or two before I'll let them steal my supper!" She said, and I got up, backing away from her and her still weapon.

"I'm going." I said softly, and started walking back toward what felt like the center of the town or village or whatever this qualified as.

I was so intent on getting away that I barely saw Wit when I ran into him. He caught my hand as I was falling and pulled me back up into place. "Where'd you go!?" He said, sounding relieved. "I thought you were right behind me. I'm the slowest male in the village. I figured you'd probably have no trouble keeping up. I guess I got carried away." He said, looking embarrassed and shrugging. He still had my hand. "Come on, I'll walk you home."

"I was ..." I didn't know how to tell him I had been looking out for danger without being offensive. "I was afraid." I said, keeping his hand if he was willing to give it to me. It might be all the contact I had besides shoulder pats for a while. Strange people. I offered him a small smile, but mostly looked at the ground. "Sorry."

"Nah, you don't have to be sorry." He said, bumping into me a little. "I imagine this place is scary for you. We're the big bad cats that have been nipping at your people's heals for years." He laughed as though this was delightful. "Do they tell stories about how ferocious we are?!" He asked excitedly. Then he made a squeaking roar sound. "Ferocious!"

I snorted, but I nodded too. "They do, actually. The worse you guys are, the bigger and badder, the better our elite look when they come back claiming all sorts of stupid so-called heroics. I was never interested in war, it seemed terrible to me." My ears rose a little and I bumped into him back, enjoying the contact and wondering what passed for flirting among snow leopards. "So how old are you?"

"I'm eighteen." He said with a smile. "I'll be nineteen come the new summer. You?" He asked, and then he held up a hand. "Wait, let me guess, you're . . . seventeen?" He raised his eyebrows expectantly. "You look about the same age as Nal."

My ears flushed. "19. I probably only look young because I was going to be an artist and not some kind of warrior. I'm the same age as my twin, Zee." I only just remembered to call him the shortened version he gave people here. Supposedly I was supposed to have a longer version than 'Quay,' I didn't, but I figured I could add in my middle name. At least it was finally going to come in handy.

"Oh wow, I didn't know you were older than me! I don't know Zee that well. He helped my family during the flood, but I've never really talked to him. I didn't know much beyond the fact that you were his sister. So, it's kind of weird that they declared him an adult and you are stuck with us kittens, eh?" He grinned. "It's not so bad really, adults don't take us that seriously, but we still have a lot of fun, and there is a good deal to learn. What sort of art did you create?" My new brother seemed a bit prone to jumping topics. His mind seemed to move faster than his words.

"I've liked all the art I've tried, but I'm best with ice sculpting and paints. I make them myself too, the paints." I said, excited but also shy about talking about it. "Art was kind of considered a silly pastime. I'd have been stuck creating things celebrating warriors, past and present heroes."

"Really?" He looked surprised. "We tend to value our poets and artists. North of here, further up into our lands, there is village called Nostrum that a good number of our artists make their home. We have a large gallery up there. Maybe your work could be displayed?"

I smiled at him, a bit disbelieving. "Maybe when I'm dead. Everyones appreciated when they're dead and can't disappoint anymore, and I have a feeling everyone is going to expect great disappointment from me if not outright betrayal." My ears went back again. "At least you don't seem either angry with me or disgusted by me. I like the idea of a place like that though, Nostrum."

He bumped me again. "You worry too much about people liking you here. There will probably always be folks who aren't happy you're here. You're different, and that scares a lot of people, especially older people, but if you keep just being yourself and doing what you love to do, most folks will accept you. Most everyone likes your brother." He looked back over his shoulder at the old woman's house.

"Now Err, she doesn't like anyone, especially around dinner time, and I think that has a lot to do with me and my sister when we were younger. We used to steal pies off her sill once or twice a month." He laughed and shook his head. "She's always been snipey, and she loves to pick at what she knows will get to you. She calls me stubby whenever she sees me." He swung his tail around and held it up for me, and for the first time I noticed that it ended abruptly about two thirds down. "I caught it in an elk trap when I was little. It's why I don't run too fast. My balance isn't so great."

"Oh I'm sorry." I said. "It's still beautiful." I reached out and stroked it before I even considered if that was appropriate. "I love your markings. Wolves don't have anything like that, and I have even less. I'm just white." I gave him another smile and my ears blushed again. Why did it feel so much more embarrassing to compliment a person I really liked?

His ears blushed too and he flicked them. "Thank you." He gave me an embarrassed smile. "Well, you'd be the first who liked it. I'm not particularly popular, so I'm happy to have a new sibling, one who doesn't already dislike me." He grinned and squeezed my hand as we walked up a little walkway to a house that was near enough to a river that I could smell the water.

"This is our home!" He said excitedly, and then he was pulling me inside. He gave me an embarrassed smile. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be touching you so much. My parents have been telling me that I need to grow out of it, but I like touch. It's warm, and soft!" He laughed and stuck out his tongue. "They're not home, so they can't yell at me."

"It's alright, really it's very nice. Wolves touch a lot more than Snow Leopards, adults too, so it's been very nice and reassuring that you've been touching me." I explained, though my ears flushed as I looked around a bit.

He looked at me with his green and blue eyes. Then he smiled. "Well, I do like this." He said, holding my hand up as his inner ears colored a little. "Come on, let me show you your room." He took me through the house to a hall. "That's mom and dad's room." He pointed on one side of the hall. He pointed down the hall to another room. "That one is Nal's. This one," He indicated the one behind us. "Is mine, and that one at the end of the hall, is yours." He took us the rest of the way and pushed open the door.

It was a simple room with a large window that allowed in a lot of light and had a view of the water beyond. There was a bed, a wardrobe, and a desk in the room. "It's nothing fancy, I suppose, but our beds are really comfortable. They're goose down stuffed."

I let go of his hands finally to run and jump into the bed. A pounced in it a few times, and then flipped over with a giggle and a grin back at him. "It is nice." I rolled around a bit. "My brother already told me snow leopards don't sleep together." I told him, and then realized he wouldn't have known I was used to sleeping with people if I hadn't told him. My ears burned up so I buried my head into the bedding and rubbed my neck against it, pushing along the bed, happily marking it with my scent.

He was blushing himself. "We sleep together, I mean, my parents do. A lot of adults do. I guess it comes with having a mate." He said, tail flicking nervously behind him, but he came and sat down on the edge of my bed. "Can I ask you something that might be strange?"

I sat up, ready to take him seriously. "Of course." I said, and realized my ears were up again, comfortable.

"Well, there are rumors that . . . " His ears flushed. "That you and your brother are mates. Is that true? I mean, it's okay if it is, I'm just curious is all. We don't really do that here. Even the thought of my sister, eww." He stuck his tongue out.

My ears flattened and I looked away. "No! He's not. Wolves don't do that either. I just ... it must be because we're both wolves, and we touch more, and then he and I are twins too so we'd generally touch more than other wolves do even." I sighed and shook my head, then flopped backward to be laying in the bed again. "He loves Eve a lot, she's his wife."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I upset you?" He asked, laying down next to me. "I didn't mean to. Rumors have been going around. I was just curious." He reached out and put a hand on my stomach. "You're not mad, are you?"

I considered a moment. "No. At least you asked instead of just assuming it was true and making life hard for me and them." I smiled at him again, relaxing a bit. There was something about his expression that did seem a bit young, at least compared to the wolves I knew of our age. It was strange how the way or societies were set up could change our attitudes and when we grew up. It suddenly felt a bit inappropriate for me to be alone with him as we were, especially considering snow leopard prudishness. But now I'd sparked my curiosity.

"So you're 18. Do you do anything sexual with other people? I mean, I can't imagine not to have, by 18, but I know things are very different here. I guess I'm trying to figure ... things out." I said, flushing. I seemed to do that a lot.

His ears colored and he tucked them down as if trying to hide it. "I kissed Wen. She lives a few houses down. Her mom caught us and I got in a lot of trouble." His tail flicked nervously. "That was before I lost my tail though. Girls just make fun of me now."

I frowned. "That's not nice of them. You seem like a perfectly wonderful man, and it's barely noticeable anyway." I said, irritated on his behalf. It was only compounding my unease about girls my age for the reason that I was different and didn't think they'd accept me. He'd only ever kissed a girl? And he'd gotten in trouble for it?! That seemed bizarre. "You get in trouble for kissing?" I asked for clarification.

"Well, we were only sixteen at the time." He said seriously. "I probably wouldn't get in trouble for kissing anymore, I mean most kids my age are kissing by now. I mean, not anywhere where we might get caught, but you know, it happens." His ears were still blushing. He looked at me a bit more closely. "Did you want to kiss?"

"Eww, you better not, or I'll tell our parents! She's pretty much our sister now, Wit!" Nal called from the doorway. "And what has mom been telling you about being so close with people! You can't just lay on her bed like that."

I flinched and coward a bit from the sudden appearance and condemnation of Nal. "Hello." I said awkwardly to her. I wanted to keep talking to Wit about slightly more personal things, but not with Nal around. "Where I'm from, we're considered adults at 15. We can do anything adults do, though we're allowed more leeway than adults because they expect us to make mistakes. Some packs do have a few extra rules and stuff for young adults, but those all go away by the time a person is seventeen."

"Fifteen?!" Nal sounded shocked. "That's so young. When you say 'adults' you mean just war and stuff, right? I mean, you're not allowed to do . . . like, other stuff?" Her ears were blushing, but she'd come forward and was kneeling in front of me, attention fixed on me.

It was strange not to be touched in greeting. I felt like she should have hugged me, but I pushed the feeling of her arrival being incomplete away. She wasn't being rude, it just was as it was here. I tilted my head at her. "You mean sex? Marriage has rules based on a person having to prove themselves first, but sex is allowed at 15 in most packs. There's a lot of social rules about sex though. Who and how, why and where." I shrugged a shoulder.

She turned red in her ears. "Like full sex?" She asked, shocked. "Guys can . . . well, they put their . . . like" She seemed flustered. "Don't you get pregnant? Mom says if a boy puts his thing in me I'll get pregnant."

"Nal, geez, do we really need to talk about this now?" Wit asked, groaning. "The last thing I want to do is talk about sex with my sister."

"Sisters!" Nal said, emphasizing the last 's.' "And she already knows all of this . . . wait, have you had sex already?" Nal asked, eyes going wide.

I felt distinctly uncomfortable. How much trouble did leopards get in for having sex before they were of age? And was this going to be a problem for me socially here? I debated lying to them, or telling them I didn't want to answer which I supposed was an answer in itself. "A few of the ways, but I haven't had straight intercourse yet. Wolves only get pregnant when we're in heat, isn't that the same for leopards? So it probably would have happened soon if I was still home. It was already a little odd I hadn't yet, but I was a bit secretive for a wolf, and my desire to be an artist isn't the most appealing or of interest to others. If I'd been a dominant female I'd have probably had a lot more sex, it's often about control where I'm from, a way of asserting dominance, but since I'm pretty submissive no one had felt the need to wrestle me for it." I was trying to judge both their reactions as I spoke.

Nal had tucked her ears down and was wiggling a bit as though she had to pee, or perhaps out of arousal? It was difficult to tell. "Did it feel good?" She asked eyes fixed on me as she scooted a little closer.

Wit had sat up and tucked his hands into his lap. "I'm not sure if I should be hearing any of this." He said, but his attention was clearly fixed on me, his eyes a little hazy, and I could smell masculine arousal.

They were kind of cute, being so curious and embarrassed by their reactions. I was caught between thinking of them as adults or children, well, older children. Among wolves, children gradually learned about sex through observation so this entire conversation was strange. Wit's arousal was sparking my own a bit. "

"Well, I've had to suck some cock. That got better as I got accustomed to what I was doing, and watching and listening to them react as you pleasure them is arousing. I did that twice as them showing dominance over me, and once while putting a slightly younger man in his place by taking control of his member, it all depends on positioning and who's in control." I said, starting there though I'd certainly done more than that. "Typically though, oral is considered submissive to the one giving."

Nal's mouth had fallen open. "You put there thing in your mouth? Wasn't it gross?"

"Do they put their mouth on you?" Wit asked, then blushed. "I mean, you don't have to answer that."

"No one would do that, Wit, that's disgusting! It's all wet and slimy." Nal said, angry at the suggestion.

I tried hard not to laugh, but couldn't completely suppress a smile. "Yes it does. And yes I have. Don't damn it so fast Nal, it's very pleasurable, very." I squirmed a little thinking about it. "I've actually had a cock in my mouth while someone's done that to me, though it was damned hard to concentrate. The man holding me down put his cock in my mouth while the other wolf I'd offended pinned my hips and licked me."

Nal was rocking against the ground some, rubbing herself there, and I could hear her purring. She stood up suddenly. "I think I need to . . . um, I have to . . . we should talk more later!" She said quickly, and then she was running out of the room, the scent of female arousal following her out the door.

Wit was quiet, ears tucked down, looking at me very intently. "Is . . . that's all true then? Was it good? I mean, you seem like a good person, so it didn't hurt you or feel bad?"

My ears flattened and my stomach tightened. "Goodness no. I think I'm a good person. I think I'm fine. But it is a different way of thinking among my people. My brother really tried to make me understand how ... closed off and not sexually charged snow leopard interactions are. I think maybe because it could be harmful to people who haven't grown up seeing, expecting, and understanding that behavior. I mean, eventually I'm sure all that stuff with be pleasurable for you, when you feel ready for it. I guess." It was confusing to me to say the last bit because wolves weren't often concerned with if a person was ready, though of course if someone burst into tears I could guess things would change in the encounter. I'd never seen that happen though. "And it was all pleasurable, even if I was nervous the first few times things happened."

"This is all . . . well, it's a lot to take in. I suppose our cultures are very different." He leaned in a bit. "I know we haven't known each other long, but do you think I could . . . " He looked at the door again to make sure his sister was gone. He leaned in closer, his eyes passing over me as his stubby tail twitched beside him. "Could I kiss you?"

"Alright." I said, smiling. Kissing was affection, a behaviour that indicated actual romantic interest, and for that reason I was a little nervous and excited, though I couldn't be sure how much or what it meant to these people. I leaned forward a bit and started to close my eyes.

He leaned in close as well, and I could feel the warmth of his face against mine. His breathing was a little unsteady and nervous, and then his tongue passed over my muzzle, lingering on my lips. He kissed me the first time, and then once more softly, on the side of my mouth before he drew back a bit. There was a soft rumble coming from him.

"Was that okay?" He asked.

I nodded, it had been thrilling and arousing to have him so close, and then I decided to follow my impulses. I leaned forward again and kissed him. I knew how to nuzzle my muzzle against his even as I slipped my tongue across his lips and into his mouth briefly. My style of kissing had been described to me as 'sweet' and 'cute' with a little bit of spice to it by the few people I'd kissed in my lifetime. I pulled back and smiled shyly at him as I looked over his face for his reaction.

His eyes were a bit wild, his ears still pink inside, but he was smiling. "Oh, that was was very nice." He said, his arousal heavy in the air. I knew cats didn't have nearly as sensitive a nose, and I guessed he didn't know he was giving off such clear signals of his excitement. He still had his hands tucked into his lap. "I think I'm going to like having you for a sister." He said with a bit of a smirk.

It was hard to resist his arousal, but I did. He seemed rather innocent, and I didn't know him all that well yet. I didn't even think of him as pack yet really. I laughed. "It doesn't seem to be as a sister that you're most enjoying my company." I said, good natured laugh in my voice.

Chapter 2

"You need to take care of her, watch out for her like you would Nal, alright?" My father said after we'd gotten done cutting wood for the night. "She's new here, and I bet she's scared. She doesn't have family other than her brother, and . . . well, we don't know what's going on there exactly, but she needs parents right now, stability until she is an adult. That's what we're here for."

I shrugged, uncertain about this. "She seems like an adult to me." I told my father honestly. "She knows more about life than I do, and I'm not sure I'm the best to protect her really. You know I'm not that popular already. I don't mind standing up for her. She's nice, but she might actually do better without me. A lot of the kids are already interested in her." Ever since she'd come into the village they'd been talking about her. The boys were interested in knowing what she looked like, and if it was true that wolf girls were easy, and the females all wanted to know why the boys were so interested in her.

Having spent a few days with her already, I could see why the boys were interested in her. She was pretty, and she was sweet. I supposed, by our standards at least, she was easy, but I didn't think it worked that way for her people, or that her enjoyment of sexual things was at all a bad thing. I still remembered that kiss the first day, and thinking about it always sent blood right to my cock. I'd relieved myself while imaging her mouth on me more than once, and a few times while imagining my mouth on her. I knew what a girl's thing looked like well enough. I'd seen my sister naked a few times. I just pictured the same basic thing, only on Quay instead of Nal, and for some reason that made it instantly much better.

Since that first day we really hadn't gotten too much time alone. Dad was around her most of the time, telling her about our people, and offering to help her learn and explore things. It took me a while to come to terms with it, but finally I realized that I was actually jealous of the time he was getting to spend with her, which was ridiculous. She was just a child to him, but to me she was much more. I wasn't sure exactly what that was yet, but she was at least my friend, and maybe . . .

I sighed and dad took that as me being bored with his talk.

"Fine, go ahead and go, but look out for her. She needs friends here, and we didn't just adopt her so your mother can look after her, we also did it because we believe she deserves a chance to be happy." He said, and with that he was up and off to work, his first day back since Quay had arrived. I parted ways with him and headed inside to get some food and then a shower.

I was off lessons for the winter break so I had lots of time to myself, and intended to spend some of it with Quay if she was interested. I ate quickly, my memory going back to that first conversation I'd had with her in her room, and by the time I was done eating I was as hard as I could ever remember being. I ran for the bathroom, pushing my pants down as I approached the door which I swung open quickly, and then I came face to face with my sister, who was in the shower, legs spread, two fingers shoved in her sex. When she saw me she froze, her ears turning dark red quite quickly.

My cock was hard, barbed tip twitching and leaking as I stared at her and what she was doing. Her eyes fell to my swollen tip and she slid her fingers part of the way out, and then back into herself once, and then again. She kept this up and I reached down and grabbed my shaft, stroking it as I watched her fingers vanish into her body. As I watched her, I just kept picturing Quay, wondering if she looked the same.

Nal stopped and looked up at me. "We should stop this before we go too far." She said, her eyes serious, though she hadn't stopped fingering herself. Her ears were getting redder and she was breathing hard.

"Yeah, I'll go. I'm sorry." I told her, stroking myself a few more times.

She shook her head. "No, it's alright." She said, and then I slipped out the way I'd come in, pulling my pants back up as I pulled the door closed. I heard Nal begin to moan through the door and I let out an uneven sigh and headed for my room. That had been close. I wasn't even attracted to her, and I was pretty sure she wasn't to me either, but we'd both been aroused, and that moment had put us close at a bad time. I waited for her to finish up in the shower, and then I slipped in and cleaned myself up, but not before I'd gotten off quite vigorously. I started off thinking of Nal fingering herself, but I couldn't get myself to the end that way. The moment I changed Nal to Quay in my head, though, I came quickly.

I dressed after my shower and went looking for my new sister, deciding I'd have to keep what had happened between me and Nal today a secret until the day I died. I guessed she'd probably do the same. Some things were just understood without needing to be spoken about.

Quay was sitting on the floor of her bedroom in just get underwear and bra. They were plain and white, and the bra was tight to bind back her chest when doing work. It took me a moment to realize she was painting. Dad had gotten her supplies when he'd found out she was interested in art. She was faced mostly away from the door, so I could see the painting she was working on. It was of two mountain peaks that looked almost exactly the same with a lush valley between them. It was stunning in many ways, even unfinished. She was touching up the mountains, and as I watched I realized she was subtly making the rocks on one mountain look like snow leopards. After looking hard at the other mountain I realized that one had wolves hidden over its surface.

With her not fully dressed, and given that she was working on something that might be private, it took me a long moment to decide whether or not I should say anything at all. I kept looking at her and noting how the white bra and panties almost vanished against her white fur. She looked nude, and that got me thinking of sex again. Even so recently spent I couldn't help but feel aroused. I grabbed my arousal and put it in check.

The artwork was incredible,and that was what I wanted to focus on. "What you're working on is amazing." I said softly, not wanting to startle her.

Her ears shot up from their relaxed, concentrating position, but her atm didn't jerk so that was good. "Thank you." She finished the few strokes she'd been making with a little brush and then sat back and half turned to smile at me. That gave me a better view of her breasts, the tops round and soft looking at the top of her bra. One foot have a splash of light blue paint across it. "You can come in, sit down. If you want to actually do anything though I'll have to get cleaned up." She laughed. "I'm a messy painter, especially when I work on large projects like this, so I usually wear little when I paint."

"I noticed that." I said, and then blushed again, realizing that was probably not the smoothest thing to say in that moment, but I came into her room and sat down across from her, crossing my legs to hide the erection that was quickly forming. I had a momentary flash of her naked, finger deep in her body like my sister had been when I'd walked in on her, and that certainly didn't help my arousal. "I thought we might spend some time together today." I said, smiling. "We don't have to go out though. Here is fine too."

"Ok." Quay said, going back to her work but glancing up at me often. "So how come there are so many women warriors?" She asked. "You're mom kind of scares me." She added quietly. Actually, by how she acted, my mom rather terrified her. She avoided her whenever possible and made appeasing gestures and expressions whenever they were close to one another. Many of them were recognizable, but a few were strange, like sometimes Quay's tongue had a habit of slipping out and up towards her own nose that was very like but also somehow didn't look at all like she was licking her lips.

"Oh, that's because women can hear the song of the wind. They can use magic. That makes them better suited for combat. Some men fight as well. There are some great male warriors, but the strongest fighters are always women. Men make for better caregivers." I nodded. "Mother wouldn't hurt you, though. I'm pretty sure you were put with us so she can keep an eye on you, make sure you don't attack anyone, but she wouldn't let you into the house if she believed that was a strong possibility, and she went back to work, so that means she trusts you." I tried to assure her.

"My brother has magic." She said, and then her jaws closed tight and she looked worried. "I do too." She said very quietly, ears flushing and going back. Her eyes darted up to me fearfully.

"Oh wow, that's amazing! You could probably join the Spirit Walkers if you wanted." I told her, reaching out and touching the soft fur of her leg. I could feel her warmth against my fingers and it sent a rush of pleasure through me. I really liked touch. I knew it wasn't typical for my people, but I'd always liked touch, and touching Quay seemed extra pleasant. "When we were little kids mom used to make puffs of wind to blow us up into the air a little and then she'd catch us. You know, it stopped working when we got bigger, but I still remember her doing it to my sister. Can you do stuff like that?"

"Well I don't know all I can do probably, with practice I could get stronger, but I have ice magic like my brother, not wind." She picked up her glass of water she was using for her paints and held it high before dumping it into her other hand. As it hit her hand she froze it carefully, her fingers working and shaping the water as it fell until it was a small frozen statue of a wolf pup carrying a doll. Because the water had been full of her paints the ice was dark with different colors sticking out in places, but it was very detailed. She held it out to me, blushing, and i recalled that she'd said one of her favorite mediums was ice sculpture.

It was incredible, and I told her as much. "This is just amazing." I said, coming forward to look more closely at it. "You did it so quickly, too." I smiled fondly at her. "You should show people this! Everyone will be impressed, and having magic will make people respect you more, especially when they see how you can use it."

Quay shrugged nervously. "I still half expect a few wolves to leap out of the woodwork and do horrible things to me when I do it, so maybe not just yet." She said, giving me a small smile. She visibly tried to relax as she put the little ice sculpture into the water she hadn't used to make it and went back to painting. "I only just recently showed my own twin I could do that." She told me, flashing me a more genuine smile. "He and I seem to be opposites. He can do large scale things and control is very hard for him, but I can only really do detail work."

"Maybe you two should work together on something. He can bring the large portion, and you can define it all with your skills. Up near the peak of the mountain there are places where the ice never melts. You guys could make something massive and incredible." I was excited by this idea, tail flicking about behind me as I attempted to keep the surge of emotion in check. "I mean, you know, sometime later when you're both settled in more." I scooted a bit closer to Quay, wanting to feel her warmth against me, but embarrassed by the desire as well.

Quay slunk down. "I'm not sure I'll see much of my brother anymore. I know he thinks it's better for both of us to be separated with those rumors going around, and he's right aside from the fact that he's my twin and I want him in my life. We're not mates, not at all, but he's still very important to me." She seemed to unconsciously make up the difference in the distance between us until we were touching, but the contact didn't distract her in the least from how upset she was, though she tried to push it away. "Water that's already frozen is a little harder to work with." She tried changing the topic a little, but it didn't seem to brighten her so she nuzzled her head against my shoulder.

I laid my head against hers, a purr rising up inside my chest without any effort. "Well, I still think it's amazing. Your art is really beautiful, and I'm glad you're still pursuing it." I hesitantly slipped an arm around her, pulling her closer to me, but not interfering with her work as best as possible. I liked this closeness a lot. "My dad things I should be taking care of you, protecting you, but I tried to tell him that you're already more popular than I am here." I told her, a small smile on my lips.

Quay laughed. "Really? You mean among people our own age? All I see is a lot of middle aged people that dislike me on sight." She considered. "Well, there were a couple people our age that talked to me when I went out with your parents to buy a few pieces of clothing. They were alright, but they seemed kind of predatory." She giggled. "I kind of kept expecting them to pin me or tell me to groom one of them or suck one of them off, but they never touched me at all."

I blushed fiercely. "They would never tell you to do anything like that!" I said, shocked, then I laughed. "The boys do find you attractive though. You're different and interesting to them, and they've heard . . . well, even those that don't believe the stuff about your brother, they think you're easy to bed." I shrugged, embarrassed to tell her this. "I've thought about it, and I think it's just a cultural difference. Yes you're more likely to do sexual things, but it's because your people are more open. It's not a bad thing. Besides, I think we're just as interested in sex, but we've been told we shouldn't think about it." I wanted to add that we did anyway, a lot. I remembered my encounter with my sister and how close we'd gotten to doing exactly what everyone was accusing Quay of doing with her brother. I didn't think it would have come that close if we'd have been allowed more sexual expression. We weren't even supposed to get off really, at least it was always sort of frowned upon.

Quay was a little stiff and very quiet for several moments while she thought that through. "So for my people, we only actually mate with one person to have children and very rarely besides that. It's an expression of affection, and care, and whatever" She sounded somewhat angry and flustered. "But we will do many other sexual acts with one another for a variety of reasons and purposes, and touch each other in public a lot to signify our alliances and feelings. And because of that, your young men think that I would, comparatively speaking to my culture, breed with any or all of them if they expressed interest. Well, that's wonderful."

"Now as soon as I let anyone touch me they'll think they have permission to breed me." She shot me a suspicious, angry look, but then looked away, upset. "At least you haven't been acting like you own me, and you haven't made any sexual move on me really. Well, except kissing, which it seems that's also considered a sexual act here. It isn't really by wolves, we kiss pretty often among family members. Though I didn't kiss you before because I think of you as a brother, I did it because I like you and I'm attracted to you." She said, so frank and open about her interest in me that it was startling.

I was a little flustered by this outpouring of information from her, but I gave her a squeeze, feeling a little guilty for being so interested in her sexually now. I made a mental note not to act on any of my pent up feelings of want lest I lose Quay as a friend.

"I'm attracted to you too." I said, embarrassed at the words. "You're very pretty, and you like me, and you're talented. I'm sorry that the boys in town don't understand your culture, how it works. I don't either, really. I'm trying to learn, though, and I think the others will learn in time too. Consent for sex is very important to us, so I doubt you'd find anyone who would push further than you wanted from them. I'm sorry I upset you, Quay. I leaned in to her a bit, my purr hesitant.

Quay turned and tugged me back, rubbing off a little of the paint on her chest and belly onto me. "No no, Wit, thank you for telling me. You should always tell me these things. I mean, I might have tried to appease our peers with something sexual and not known I was inviting them to breed me, which wouldn't be at all what I'd want. Among wolves that would be a terrible violation of trust in the offending wolf and I would have been taken care of and protected with compassion by the whole pack. But here, I think there'd be a lot of confusion about what I should have known and done or not, and what anyone else involved might have assumed by my actions. It's better to know. It was just a bit distressing." She licked my cheek, and then my muzzle in a kiss.

My desire for her flared to life and I gave her a soft lick back. "Well, just know that you don't every have to do anything you're not comfortable with. Telling someone 'no' means they must stop by law. Whether you're seen as easy to bed or not, people will still like you here. You're the new pretty girl. The boys will like you for that, and then more once they get to know you, and the girls will want to be your friend because you have the eyes of the boys. I suppose some will be jealous, but most will just want to know you. I think you'll do well here, especially with your talent as an artist."

"It all makes me so nervous. Community is important, and family, but I've been seperated from my family here and I think everyone will just think I'm awkward as I don't know how to behave." She sighed and nuzzled against me, shifting even closer. She was almost in my lap. "They don't like you because you're look a little different, and I look way different. I don't understand them not liking you, you're very kind and helpful, and warm and welcoming. I know snow leopards don't touch as much but I just can't get used to it." She licked at my upper chest and neck some as she nuzzled.

Desire was running through me hard now. I was so hard that my pantes were uncomfortable. "Well, it's not just my tail. I'm also more touchy than they tend to like, and I often say things that others would prefer to keep quiet." I laughed a little nervously. "I might make a better wolf than leopard, though I'm not really one for fighting either, so I'm not sure where I'd fit in well." I ran my hand up her back, pushing my fingers through her fur, and that image of my sister burying her finger deep in her sex assailed me again, though of course I was picturing Quay and not Nal.

"Wolves are silly. Not everyone can be a dominant, but right now that seems to be the way wolves want everyone to be. It makes for a lot of infighting." She said, sounding unhappy about it but distracted. One of her hands came around from my back to slide up my shirt and rest on my chest and she rubbed my fur there a moment before her hand started to drift back downward over my fur. "I think you and I are good friends." She said, sounding happy about the statement. "I like you a lot." Her hand was on my belly now, and one finger brushed the top of my pants.

I had to imagine she could tell I was aroused with how close her finger had come to me just then. "I like you a lot too." I told her, nipping lightly at her neck, a sign of affection that I really, really wasn't supposed to use on just anyone, but then Quay wasn't just anyone. "We are very good . . . friends." I wanted desperately to mate her in that moment My entire body was screaming for it, but she'd just commended me for not pushing her for sex, and I desperately wanted her to like me.

I reached a hand out and touched some of the paint in her fur. "Did you get a shower yet today?" I asked, a flash of what I imagined her naked body to look like going through my head. I pictured myself walking in on her instead of my sister, of her beckoning to me with a finger as her other hand pushed its fingers into her sheath, making a place for where she wanted my cock.

"Oh I rubbed some dry paint onto you didn't I?" She said, sitting up from me a little to look at the damage. "Well it's dry, most of it will just brush off." She said, though her eyes went down to my groin where my pants were managing the difficult task of keeping me restrained. "That doesn't look comfortable." She commented, tail wagging across the ground a little as she reached out and started to undo my pants. Her eyes came up to my face. Her ears were red, but she was smiling too as she licked her lips. "Sex isn't always about dominance between wolves, sometimes it's about having fun and bonding with one another through release. You clearly need some release."

I shook a bit, excitement warring with the morals I'd been taught growing up. "I . . . Quay, I don't want you to do anything you don't want to do. I want to be important to you. If what you're doing would lessen that, then I'd rather, um, wait, or . . . I just want to be close to you." I was confused, conflicting signals were difficult for me to understand. All I knew was I very much wanted what she was suggesting, and I wanted to hold her, and kiss her, and know she would be close any time I needed her. It was all very overwhelming.

Quay stopped and tilted her head to one side at me. "Do you think I'm going to hurt you by licking and sucking on your cock? If you don't trust me enough to have your member in my mouth we don't have to. I mean we don't have to for any reason if you don't want it. But I think it would be nice to bond with you some more, and I thought you needed release, and I know it's not what snow leopards do but I thought, with you ... I can't just stop being a wolf." She tried to explain. "You seem to be the only snow leopard I've encountered that understands that, and my need to touch, and I can't lose that. I like hugging and casually touching you. If you think this is wrong or it'll mess things up between us somehow, we won't do it." She waited for my answer, one hand moving away from the clasp on my pants while the other stayed hooked into fabric, knuckles against my lower belly and almost brushing against the tip of my penis.

I took her other hand and brought it back to me. "No, I want this, I'm just fighting with what I've been told all my life, and what I really want. You can do this for me, but in return . . " I felt my ears blush. "I want to do the same for you. Would that be alright?"

Quay seemed surprised but very pleased by the offer. Her tail wagged and she grinned as her fingers worked the clasp of my pants again. "That would be very nice." She said, and then continued. "I know we aren't wolves and everything, but if we were, I'd be about to perform a slightly submissive act. Only slightly because I'm mostly in control. But your desire to return the favor is confirmation that we're equals in your eyes, that we're friends who don't have to lose face with one another to enjoy each other because you're willing to give up the slight advantage that I'm offering you." She tried to explain to me, though it was a bit complicated and my mind was definitely more on her hands.

She got my pants open and tugged them down, needing my help to get them over my ass. "Oh! Barbs." She said, surprised but not displeased and certainly curious as she got my pants the rest of the way off. Her hand took my cock in a firm grip and she moved closer to investigate.

It jerked in her grip, precum dripping copiously down my shaft, trying to lubricate my length for penetration that I knew wouldn't be happening. Still, her touch was more than exciting enough. "Male wolves don't have barbs?" I asked, surprised. I was suddenly a little self-conscious. I wasn't the biggest boy, though I'd always considered myself average. I wondered if I measured up to wolves. "Is it . . . am I alright?" I asked, concerned.

Quay smiled and nodded as her head lowered further and she licked me from base to tip with her long, flat tongue, her hand hold the other side of my cock to keep it from bobbing away from her. The tip of her tongue found and toyed with one of the barbs, testing how sharp it was.

The barbs were an old adaptation we'd developed long, long ago in our history to allow us to force ourselves on females. They'd dulled a good deal over the years, though they were still quite an interesting texture. Well, I thought they were. I didn't get much time to think of this though, because Quay's tongue sliding over my length sent an impossibly powerful wave of pleasure through me.

A moan slipped between my lips and I reached out and stroked her head. "Oh, Quay, that feels so good."

"I'm glad." She said, and I was beginning to smell her own arousal, though she must have been getting aroused well before this point. She slipped her mouth over my cock, her tongue caressing it as it pressed against the roof of her muzzle and back towards her throat. She got more comfortable between my legs, and lifted her mouth off me and then pushed me in again.

I gasped, shocked at how much sensation there was with me inside of her mouth. My cock jerked between her lips and I slid myself around a bit so I was lying opposite of her, my snout close to her sex, and then I pushed my nose into her white panties and drank in the scent of her arousal. I nipped gently at her through the thin fabric and then pushed my fingers against her hidden lower lips. She was hot to the touch, much hotter than I'd expected.

Quay wiggled and gasped a little against my length. She was soaking through her underwear, which was probably why I'd started to smell her arousal. She started to bob up and down on my cock faster, and one of her hands went down to squeeze my balls in a firm but careful massage.

The position we were in kept me from pulling her panties off, but I grabbed the part covering her sex and pulled it aside. Her sex peaked out just a little from the patch of fur hiding it, and the smell was stronger without the cloth in the way. She was glistening. Seeing her made my cock jerk again. I was moaning with each breath as I pushed my face into her folds and traced them with my tongue. They were so soft and warm, and her taste was strange, but not unpleasant. It was the taste of desire, and I found it impossibly arousing. My hips thrust forward a bit against my ability to keep them in check.

Quay gasped and then moaned against my cock in answer. Then her mouth came off my cock. She was panting, but then her mouth dropped down to lick my balls with their soft warmth as one of her hands continued to stroke me at a fast, firm clip.

She was driving me higher and higher into my excitement, and I buried my mouth against the place on her body that my sister had been pushing her fingers. I dipped my tongue into her entrance and tasted her wetness before I slipped back up her folds and encountered a hard, small nub with I gave a testing lick to, watching her body for a reaction.

Quay's sheath tightened and her body shivered in response, and I heard and felt a huff of air pass from her mouth over my sensitive places. She pulled back from my balls and went up to my tip, licking up my precum before she put my cock back into her mouth and her hand went back to my balls.

I moaned into her sex and began to lick that nub at the had of her slit with deep, firm licks. I very gently pressed a finger against the hole lower on her body, the one like my sister had pushed her fingers into. I circled it with a fingertip. It was soft, wet, pink, and it pulsed a little as I stroked. I kept up the licking pressure and gently pushed the tip of my finger inside of her, worried she'd be upset that I was putting something inside of her.

Quay drew back from my cock, but it was to gasp not yell. "Oh, Wit." She said, voice hot and breathy. She licked at my cock, long lappings of her tongue against my sensitive shaft between pants for a few moments before she slipped me back into her mouth and moaned.

"Quay, I think . . . " I moaned against her clit and slid my finger further into her sheath. I was going to cum, and I wanted to warn her before it went in her mouth. "I'm going to . . . I can't hold it . . ." I managed to get the words out, but I was enwrapped in pleasure, and I just wanted to suck and lick her sensitive sex while I fingered her. The burning in my lower shaft began to flare up my length and my cock jerked heavily as I released the first burst of my load directly into her mouth.

Quay drew back enough that I wasn't choking her and drank in what I sprayed into my mouth, her tongue darting out to lick anything that missed or spilled down my length as her hand pumped me dry, her own sex quivering beneath my tongue.

I began to suck her with a bit more clarity as my finger pushed into her sheath, sliding in and out with quick, darting motions. I wanted her to lose herself as thoroughly as I had and it felt like she might be close, though I couldn't be certain. As I trickled the last of myself out I moaned against her hot, wet flesh.

Quay released my cock and laid back, panting. Her hands came down to my head and pushed into my fur. "Oh that's so good, Wit." Quay whined shortly, her body feeling tense, taut, then the tension snapped. She moaned, hips thrusting up and then back down between shivers. Her moan was long and shaky, her grip in my fur tightened and I felt her sheath grip my finger hard, tugging and pulling at it in turn as her thighs shook.

I could only imagine how it could it would feel to have her sheath doing that around my cock, but it was exciting and fun just the same. I kept up what I was doing until she began to relax, and then I slipped my finger from her body and gave her one last lick before I turned over and drew closer to her, lying directly next to her. Her bra covered breasts were pushed against my chest, and my cock, which had gotten hard again while I was finishing her, was resting against her thigh.

"I really liked that." I said, a grin on my face as I leaned in to lick her mouth, the taste of her sex still on my tongue.

Quay chuckled warmly, happily, and wrapped her arms and one leg around me as she grinned at me. "Good!" She licked my shorter muzzle back, and then seemed to start cleaning it of herself. "Goodness, are you hard again already?" She giggled. "I hope you're satisfied enough for now, I'd like to bask in post climax bliss."

I blushed. "Sorry, licking you got me really excited, but I'm fine." I assured her, leaning in and licking her face and neck. I had a strong urge to groom her, and I let myself do so a little, though when she'd lifted her leg over me it had brought my cock right up against the outside of her sex. I shifted a little so I wasn't quite so close to that temptation, though I knew there was no hope of that erection going away when I was this close to her. I stroked her fur with my hands, enjoying the way it slid between my fingers. "That was all really incredible. It felt amazing, and I feel . . . " I blushed darkly. "I feel really close to you right now."

Quay nuzzled my head with hers. "Good, I feel the same." She said, sounding just a little shy about it herself.

She held me for several moments longer, and then shifted enough that she could take my cock in hand and start stroking me. She kissed me, her tongue sliding past my lips and into my mouth in a sensual way. "I want to make you sexually spent and content." She explained. She nipped at the underside of my jaw a little, shyly because it was a very intimate and affectionate gesture. "I'm going to talk dirty to you too, put all kinds of fun imaginings in your head about what you'd like to do with this."

I gasped a little, my hips thrusting forward, which brought my tip near to her entrance again. "Oh, Quay." I moaned her name, my fingers gently clawing through her fur. I licked her muzzle, then kissed her more deeply. "I want you." The words rolled out on a purr.

She licked my muzzle again. "I know. Maybe someday you'll have me, hmm? Maybe I'll be in heat, hot and wet and throbbing even before you push your wonderful, barbed cock up inside of me. My body will want you so badly it'll feel like a need and I just won't be able to resist bending over and putting my tail to one side in an invitation when you run into me naked, maybe you'll have caught me in here, just out of the shower, touching myself to relieve that terrible, aching need."

I groaned and buried my head in her neck, nipping at her flesh. I wanted to bite and mark her, but the trouble we'd both get into would be terrible. I thrust my hips forward, pumping my shaft into her hand, so close to her sex. I could imagine what it would be like to have her now, to cum inside of her and make kittens with her, or would they be pups? It didn't matter. I just wanted her. My fingers curled into claws and I scratched at her back, maybe a little harder than I meant. I was panting in heat now.

"Maybe you'll be soft, and you'll kiss the back of my neck before you slide in carefully. I'll moan your name in earnest, but you'll make me wait so you can enjoy the pleasure of slipping into my sheath that's almost too hot for you, and tight and throbbing with barely any stimulation. You'll draw back and push it in fast then, to appease my tension, and I'll cum just like that." She squeezed my cock a bit harder. "I'll milk you for your seed, beg you to fill me up. You're certainly going to, but you don't want it to end so quickly. Still, my body's reaction will drive you into a wild, passionate taking of me." She said, pumping my cock faster. "I won't be able to stand it, I'll cry out your name and shudder, I'll beg you to give me your seed. Then you'll sink your teeth into my shoulder and I'll cum again with a sharp, high cry and you'll burst inside me."

"Quay, I . . ." I moaned the words against her muzzle and then my cock jerked in her hand and I came, spraying thick white seed out across her sex as I thrust my hips forward almost against my ability to hold back. My barbed tip pressed against the outside of her folds as I shuddered and released the last of myself there. I purred and nuzzled into her. "Quay." I whispered her name, soft, reverent. I opened my eyes a little and saw Nal for a second ducking back around the corner where she'd, apparently, been watching us this entire time. I could feintly hear the sound of her softly padding away down the hall. I might have been scared if I didn't know she wouldn't be sharing that information. We had other things we were keeping secret.

Quay made a low growling in her chest that sounded similar to a purr and she licked my muzzle, then ran her hands through my fur happily. Her tail thumped against the floor. "Mmm, that was a good set up. I'll have to remember that next time I'm pleasuring myself." She said, obviously pleased with what she'd done. She reached down and rubbed my seamen into her sex, that low growl growing stronger. She pulled back enough to look me in the face again. "It was all good for you, too, right? Do you feel alright? You don't feel ashamed or guilty or anything?"

I hummed pleasantly to myself. "No, I feel amazing, really good." I smiled at her and licked her muzzle again. "Still a little aroused, but definitely spent. I liked that a lot, and I hope you'll want to do it that with me again." I tucked my ears down a bit. "Maybe more eventually."

Quay's ears blushed, but they didn't go down as she nodded, expressing confidence in her affirmation. She smiled. "Wit, you're the best thing about this whole decision of mine to come up here, and far more good than I'd started to hope I could ever find among your people." She licked my muzzle one last time and then snuggled in against my shoulder to rest.

I knew we couldn't stay laying like this for long. Eventually someone would notice us there and cause problems for us, but at that moment I didn't want to move at all. I held to her even more tightly. I didn't ever want for this feeling to end. I'd never wanted anyone the way I did her, and I wasn't willing to give up any of it.

Chapter 3

I started trying to make connections outside my foster family eventually, but it was always nice to have Wit to come back to especially, though I also liked Nal and their father, Oke. For whatever reason, it was decided that my difference in looks was exoticly pretty instead of disgusting or disturbing. I was sure that had hinged on a few key people's opinions and their exact wording, and maybe from the way adults treated me, but I couldn't pinpoint exactly who. It was just a function of the system and I'd caught the right people on a good day.

I resisted all their attempts to pull me away from Wit, however. They had passed judgement on him, but even my strong instincts to make a good impression with this new 'pack' couldn't convince me to violate what I owed my first and best friend in this new world.

Wit made a very good friend. I knew what we did alone together sometimes was wrong by these people's standards, but it was necessary for me. With his touch, and his affirmations physical and spoken that I belonged in this place, I found a confidence that allowed me to be social and make friends. I couldn't come from a world where physical contact was the way in which acceptance and affection were communicated and then just drop into a world without that and be expected to pull myself together without some kind of support. It pained me to think of how lonely Quazee must have felt at first, until he'd iced over the overflowing river. Then he'd had this acceptance that I was gaining through social interaction, a slower method.

As expected, I saw almost nothing from Quaz for the next two months. It was a deeply painful thing for me, but I tried to keep it mostly a private suffering, even from Wit. I did receive very loving letters from my brother though, they tried to be encouraging and keep me updated. Those at least let me know that he still cared for me, even if he couldn't give me hugs or curl up for a nap with me. It caused a kind of confusion in me over he and I'd relationship that was very troubling for me.

At first, the sex issue wasn't a problem. The snow leopards didn't touch me, felt they didn't know me well enough for their social system to allow it at all. Trouble came when some of them did start to touch me a little though. It was bound to. They'd heard wolves liked touching, and once they felt comfortable doing it, they felt the need to push and find out how far I would let that go. And I wanted to be touched, craved it. It wasn't Wit's fault, or anyone else's. Wit satisfied my need for touch a great deal, but my instincts and the way I'd grown up told me I should be touching and be being touched by all my friends, too. So when they did touch me, it was a little like opening a floodgate of desires for me. They were platonic in nature most of the time, but my snow leopard peers didn't understand that.

Lip purred as he wrapped his arms around me from behind. I laughed good naturedly and squirmed to bump my head against him in a playful kind of gesture. We were in the forest, as he'd asked if I wanted to see an ancient statue out here. "We're alone now." He said, sliding a hand down to my hip and reaching around to rub my sex through my pants.

I jerked and struggled, breaking his hold with an annoyed huff. Actually, if I'd been back in wolf territory, I would have happily made out with Lip, and judging by his forward nature he probably would have demanded I suck his cock submissively by this point to establish which of us was the more assertive in our friendship. We were friends, that was all I thought of him as.

Lip looked agitated, but mostly honestly confused. "I thought, we were doing plenty of petting earlier." He said. He was 19 like I was and nearing his adulthood, and I found that often times, sex seemed to happen between 19 year olds who wanted to figure things out for when they were looking for mates. Maybe not intercourse, but often it did go that far. I'd heard a several people say they hadn't intended to go so far, but once they'd started they'd just felt unable to stop themselves. Wit's intensity in his arousal and nearly wild look in his eyes at times, especially in the beginning, made more sense to me now, but I couldn't figure out why as a wolf I was better at drawing the line.

"And that's fine, but I don't want to have sex with you. Petting and hugging, they don't have to lead to sex." I said, annoyed. "You can just enjoy them for what they are."

Lip took a step forward. "No. How would you know if someone was really interested if you just enjoyed a hug or whatever for what it was? It's all an expression of interest, or desire for another person." He took one of my hands, and his other hand went to rub my arm. I allowed it, this seemed perfectly natural to me, he was trying to comfort my agitation and that was a good way to do it.

"I know you feel that way, I've caused a bit of confusion for others too." I said apologetically. I'd had a less private talk with two other leopards about this.

Lip nodded and pulled me close in a hug. I nuzzled my face against his chest a bit, though more cautiously this time than the time before. Then his hands wandered down and grabbed my ass. I growled at him and wriggled. "Damn it, make up your mind! You keep letting me in close, letting me hold you, and then all of the sudden you just flip out on me!" He said, angry, and he used his hold on my ass to pull me forward so that our sexes were rubbing together through the fabric and I could feel how hard he was.

My growl dropped to be quieter in the face of his anger. He was a more dominant person than I was, and I was confused. In this situation at home, we wouldn't have had a problem, and if I'd accidentally offended someone to this extent I might have offered to jerk them off or lick them, depending on how close we were and our relationship in the pack. Snow Leopards weren't like that though, and I wasn't sure what to do, or what offering those things would mean to this man. I remembered Wit telling me how people had been thinking of me, and how I'd drawn the conclusion that any sexual contact might make them think I was willing to breed with them. Actually, I'd said any contact, and here I was in exactly that situation. He'd seen my acceptance of hand holding and my apologetic tone as a sign that I'd seen his argument and wanted to go along with more. He'd hugged me, and I'd nuzzled him, that had been more confirmation to his mind.

"I think I should just go home." I said slowly, swallowing hard and worried now. I knew this wasn't the first male I'd frustrated in this way, but this was by far the most aggressive one I'd done so to, and I'd never rejected one of them in such a private place.

Lip seemed caught between two impulses. He licked my nose gently, giving me a pleading kind of look. "Hey, it's alright Quay. Really. I'm not going to hurt you or anything, I just want to be with you."

I'd learned what 'be with you' was often code for, but it wasn't the only meaning, so I was often thrown off by it. "I'm scared now, so I think I'd like to just go." I said softly, and I knew several appealing, apologetic wolf expressions crossed my features.

"Alright, we'll go back soon." He said soothingly, though one of his hands snaked up my shift and wiggled into my bra, squeezing at my breast and then sending a spark of unwanted desire through me when he pinched my nipple. I whimpered softly and wiggled halfheartedly. I wasn't supposed to fight, but I was afraid of how far this would go if I let Lip get anywhere at all. My whimper seemed to cause him to pull me to him by my ass with his hand not in my shirt again, then he shifted his hold in my shirt so he was holding onto my back, keeping me close as his other hand slipped into the back of my pants and he squeezed my bare ass, then his fingers started clumsily looking for my sensitive places from that direction with a great amount of difficulty.

I thought of Wit. A part of me completely expected that Wit and I would turn our friendship into a mating, and I was very comfortable with that idea. I liked that idea. I wanted him inside me, and not this man who was falling in my opinion further and further from being a friend. "Please, Lip, I think I'd like to go back now and alone." I said, cringing in preparation for a great snarl and maybe a slap. I was no child and I was acting like I was a scared little prude just free of being underage, though Lip was 19 and no one would be happy with a 19 year old who insisted a 15 year old do anything with him. There were rules among wolves that didn't exist here. One of which being that a man had to have a certain amount of trust from the person he wanted a sexually submissive act from, and Lip didn't have that much trust from me and he was losing more and more of it by the moment. If he'd have backed off and tried again some other day, he might have gotten further, gotten something from me, I would have trusted he'd stop when I told him to, but I wanted less and less of all of this as it was.

Lip did snarl, but then his voice was pleading and coaxing again. It was a mix of demand and then gentleness that was confusing. There was a kind of desperation to it and to him that I didn't understand fully. I knew he was sexually frustrated, but this seemed like more than that to me because among wolves, we rarely got so pent up. His hand twisted in my shirt, and he yanked hard, tearing it. It wasn't comfortable, the clothing was made of fairly sturdy fabric. I whimpered loudly. And he pet my head, an affectionate gesture that all things considered felt false and agitating to me. "Shhh, it's alright. Look, I really need this Quay, I'll be as gentle as I can, alright?"

"No, it's not alright!" I growled, struggling, but it seemed like Lip had made his decision on what he was going to do and he held on.

"Damn it!" He pushed me against a tree, shoving me into it with such force the air left me. He jammed an elbow into my stomach and started tugging my pants open roughly. "You shouldn't have touched me so much! Gotten me so damn excited! Now I need something, and I'm going to have it!"

As some of my not so impressive strength returned I pushed at him, growling in a kind of wheezing way. A part of me told me to offer him things besides the intercourse he seemed bent on, but I no longer wanted to do those things or trusted he'd stop there. "Stop! I said no! You can't breed me just because I hugged you, that's ridiculous!"

Lip quite suddenly lifted from the ground and flew several feet backwards, slamming to the ground. The wind whistled by me louder than I'd ever heard it before, and suddenly Ala was there, strange gray blue and white clothes billowing in the breeze she'd created.

"She said 'no,' Lip." The woman snarled. "She could have half sucked you off and it wouldn't have mattered. Once someone says no you stop." She growled, storming forward with her knife drawn.

Lip retreated with his hands over his head, a look of terror on his face as the Spirit walker advanced on him like some deathly specter. She bent down and put the knife to his throat. "That is my daughter, and by our laws I can castrate you right here for what you were about to do. Do you understand that, Lip?" She tapped the point of her dagger against the inside of his thigh.

"Yes, yes!" He said, trying hard not to squirm even though he clearly really wanted to get away. "I'm sorry! I wasn't thinking well, or right, I'm sorry!"

I shivered and fastened my pants again, and then picked up my shirt and held it to my chest. I whimpered a bit, feeling exposed and confused, and also still afraid. I could see Ala was on my side, and that was good. If I was afraid of her I imagined that everyone else was too, particularly when she was angry. This was still a woman who'd killed my people regularly, but she was standing up for me.

The knife flashed in her hand and Lip gave a sharp yell as a knick appeared in his right ear, deep and bloody. "Go." She said, pointing back toward the village. "Let that knick remind you that restraint is always first and foremost. Today you failed to show restraint, and in exchange I showed you a great display of restraint by not removing your manhood. Go home, speak of this to no one or I assure you I will tell them the truth of the situation and you will not be welcome in this village anymore." With that she turned her back to Lip and came towards me, her knife vanishing back into its scabbard. She reached out and took my arm. "Are you alright, daughter?" She asked, eyes concerned, expression sincere.

I cleared my throat and looked down. I realized I was shaking a little. "I'm sorry. I'm ... I'm alright."

She tucked an arm around me, a surprising show of affection. "You've nothing to be sorry for, Quay. What he did was wrong, it was against everything we teach our young. You are different, your beliefs about sexuality and adulthood are different, but that gives no one the right to hurt you. Come, let us walk together. I'm on patrol, but I don't wish to leave you alone right now."

"Alright. Thank you." I said, walking with her a little more comfortably. I appreciated the arm, and I was happy she was on my side of this little thing. She was calling me 'daughter,' which was strange. I had parents, even if it was likely I'd never see them again. I thought if Wit. I was so happy that Lip hadn't gotten his way. Then my ears flushed, wondering what this woman who talked about me like I was her daughter would feel about her son and I having a relationship. I had thought since he and I weren't really related it wouldn't be a problem, but now I was concerned. At least it was getting my mind off Lip. "I thought he was a good friend. Though Wit and I had a talk about people our age and this possibility did come up."

"We don't talk about it often, but our 'kittens' do sometimes get up to trouble. It's frowned upon, of course, but no one who was young can so easily forget what it was like to be young and aroused. There are always some who can't deal with what they're feeling, and they'll try to take it out on those around them, especially those they think are easy targets." She gave my arm another squeeze. "You seem like an easy target because we don't understand your ways, your touching and affection, but I've spent a lot of time talking to your brother and I think I have a better grasp than most."

"You talk to Qu ... I mean Zee often?" I asked, almost using his full name. Then it occurred to me she might be talking about Wit.

She nodded, confirming she'd meant my biological brother. "When we agreed to adopt you I made it a point to speak with him at great length. I wanted to be certain I could provide a good home for you, a place where you would be comfortable. You may have noticed that Wit is more touchy than most cats, that was part of the reason we were chosen as a foster family. We also have tried not to discourage him from being close to you. Has Wit been a good friend to you?" She asked.

Well that was a loaded question, but I smiled anyway. "Yes, he's been very good to me. He explained many things to me, and never got forceful with me even though, especially in the beginning, I touched him more frequently than is normal. I didn't realize how much restraint he was having to use, how difficult it probably was for him. I appreciate that. He's a very good young man. I'm glad he puts up with me so easily."

She laughed and smiled. "Yes, Wit is a good boy, even if he's a little strange for one of ours. Did you know I had him when I was only seventeen?"

"Really? How did that happen?" I said, honestly surprised. That meant she'd had Nal when she was only 19. I wanted to ask if they were both her husband's then, but that seemed rude. Wit did look like his father though.

Ala smirked. "Do I really need to answer that question, or were you looking for a more general summing up of the circumstances?"

I flushed and looked away. "You don't have to tell me anything really, it's none of my business." I flashed a glance at her. "I am curious though."

"I was born an adept." She said, shrugging. "That means that I was born able to hear the song of wind and put it to use. That's considered very special, so all through my childhood I was treated like a princess, given whatever I wanted and basically allowed to do as I saw fit. By the time I got into my late teens I was a bit of a trouble maker. When I was sixteen I fell in with a boy who told me he loved me, and that he'd take me as his mate if I put out, and I was desperate to be an adult, so I decided I would do what he said, but when it started I didn't like what he was doing and I told him to stop. He didn't." She growled.

"I got pregnant from the rape, and when it all came out he was cast out of the pack, but only after he said he'd never had anything to do with it, and wanted nothing to do with me. My heart was broken, and suddenly I was an outcast. I didn't think anyone would ever love me, espcially not as I got close to giving birth." Ala looked a bit sad. "I miscarried. I felt a lot of guilt about that for a long time because I had wished the baby would die so many times, but then as it had gotten closer . . . " She shivered a bit, and her grip on me tightened a moment.

"Anyway, I was an outsider. I was too young to take a place with the Spirit Walkers and no one else wanted anything to do with me. My parents had turned their back on me, and I had no one, and that was when I met Wit's father. Oke was so sweet. He was young and naive, really we both were, but he wanted to be with me. I didn't want to live with the last person I'd been with being my rapist, so it wasn't long before we started to be intimate, and eventually Wit was born. Oh we got in a lot of trouble, in a way. A lot of people older than us yelled and called us irresponsible, but we made good parents, and our family was happy. Now it's all in the past and no one cares." She smiled and shrugged, looking happy. "I love my family. They are the best thing that has ever happened to me."

I smiled at her. "I think that's a very sweet ending. I'm sorry you went through all that other stuff first." I nuzzled the side of my head against her shoulder a little even. I hoped her story would help her accept Wit and I if we did turn ourselves into a mated pair. She knew adversity, and young love. "I don't know why, but your youth seem to have some more problems controlling their actual impulse to breed than wolves do. We might be adults at 15, but we don't generally form a mated pair until we're older, quite a bit older for most males."

"Honestly, I don't think sex is a bad thing, and I think our age of adulthood is high. We should acknowledge that kids grow up faster than we want them to. I know Wit and Nal are mostly adults already, and when issues come up I generally try to speak on behalf of the young ones. Oke too. I think things are slowly changing. The taboo isn't as strict as it once was, though it is hard for us all to move past it. It's so engrained. I think suppressing things is how you end up with kids like Lip. He's not a bad kid, but he's been holding back for so long that he has trouble controlling his impulses. He probably doesn't . . ." She blushed a little. "He probably has really strict parents and doesn't relieve himself. I'm not saying it's an excuse for his behavior, but I would guess it definitely pushed him down this road. How are you feeling?" She asked, rubbing my back a little, seeming just a little awkward with the touch, but it was clear she was trying.

"Pretty good, thanks to you. I'm a little cold without my shirt though, and I don't like the really little ones seeing me without it so that's embarrassing." I smiled at her. " Thank you for talking to me too. I think I might just have a healthy fear of you now instead of being openly terrified." I winked at her.

She laughed a bit darkly. "Well, I am a bit dangerous. It's okay to be afraid of me." She reached up and unfastened her shirt, pulling it off. She was wearing a lighter shirt underneath it, but she handed me her over shirt. "Head on home and get changed. I'll make sure you get a replacement shirt." She hesitated a minute, looking like she wanted to say something else. "Listen, I know you and Wit are . . . close, and I'm alright with that, but remember, he's a leopard. When he sees you with other males, being close to them, it is a little upsetting to him. He'll never tell you, but I can see how it makes him sad. I know you don't mean to hurt his feelings, and it's not like either of you are at fault, but you might want to talk to him." She shrugged. "Sorry if that was awkward."

I flushed but also nodded seriously as I put on the shirt. "Thank you, I didn't realize that." And even if Ala wasn't home all the time, she clearly had some idea about Wit and I. Then I went home to find Wit, to take comfort from him after everything that had happened with Lip, and also to talk to him like his mother had suggested.

I found Wit outside cutting wood in front of the house. It was a constant task in the cold north. He stopped as I came into sight and waved. He was shirtless at the moment, displaying a nice set of muscles that he'd built mostly from this activity. He frowned a bit as he noticed I was wearing his mother's shirt.

"Is everything alright?" He asked as he approached, concern evident on his face.

I fidgeted with the bottom hem of shirt. "No, I mean I'm fine now but your mother had to rescue me. Can I tell you about it inside? Is your Dad home?" Rubbing right upstairs to one of our bedrooms wouldn't be an option if he was.

"No, he's at work." He said, taking my hand and leading me inside. He looked very worried. "Are you hurt?" He asked as we reached his room and he pulled his door shut behind us.

"No, but I almost was." I sat down on his bed. "Lip was going to rape me, but your mom stopped him. It was a misunderstanding that got out of control. He thought I wanted it at first." I was still playing with the shirt nervously. "I guess lately I've been touching my friends too much."

He looked down and away. "Well, that's just your nature. It makes you happy to touch people. I know it helps you bond." He seemed like he was upset. "I'm sorry about Lip . . . I'm glad he didn't hurt you, I would have . . . I don't know what I would have done. I'm just glad you're alright." He came forward and put his arms around me, leaning his head into my shoulder.

I pulled him down with me into the bed, nuzzling against him and wrapping my arms around him. "I'm sorry, Wit. If they thought I was getting so friendly that I wanted sex with them, I'm sure it looked that way to you too. At least a little. And that would be hard for you to see since..." I wasn't sure what to say for a moment. We hadn't come out and said we were more than friends yet. "Well I think you want to be my mate, right?" I asked, voice going higher than was normal with nerves. This had turned into a bigger conversation than I'd intended really fast.

He blushed and looked down, but then his beautiful blue and green eyes came back up. "I know we're just friends, Quay. I don't want to be in the way of you being happy. Yes, I want to be your mate, but that doesn't mean it has to be that way if you don't it want to." He reached out and lightly touched the side of my face, a single tear tracing its way down his cheek.

"Oh no, don't cry!" I said, stomach twisting that I'd made him so upset. I licked at his tear and the path it had been taking down his cheek. I wiggled my body closer to his so we were touching all up and down our lengths, my hands holding both sides of his face as I looked into it. "No, Wit. I want you to be my mate. I love you and I'm terribly attracted to you as the nicest, sweetest, touch addicted, and most extraordinarily handsome man I know."

"You love me?!" He asked, surprised. "I love you too . . . I mean, I have for a while now, but I was afraid . . . I didn't want you to change what you wanted for me." He grinned a bit foolishly and leaned in to lick my muzzle with tears still in his eyes, though he looked happy now, very happy. He kissed me again, and then again. "Can we . . . I mean, what do we do now? Can we be mates now, or do we have to wait? If you still want to, of course."

I smiled warmly at him. "I thought I had time, but I knew I was falling for you early on." I told him, occasionally licking him between words. "I thought you would have plenty of time to decide if I was really what you wanted, and I'd have time to get established in this society, maybe I could make a name for myself as an artist. But I think it'll be safer for me to be mated, and I think it was hurting you not knowing that I loved you while I was stumbling my way through making friends and then all this recent stuff. So I think we should be mated because I love you, and you love me, and this is definitely what we want." I nipped affectionately at his neck. "But I don't want babies right away, alright? That would feel strange to me l, I want to be on firmer footing." I cautioned him. All it meant was that we couldn't breed when I was in heat yet, though that was a major thing and it'd be hard, it didn't mean we couldn't do it at all.

He blushed fiercely. "Agreed, and I think I'm not quite ready to be a father." He gave me a small smile. "I'm not even an adult yet by my people's reckoning! Oh man, my parents are going to be so pissed." His smile turned wicked. "Well, I've always been a troublemaker, and I think you're worth all the trouble in the world, and we don't have to do any mating until you're completely ready." I could feel he'd gotten a bit hard against me, so clearly he was thinking about mating.

I rubbed my neck against him fiercely, which I knew was me marking him up with my scent, but it had a deeply satisfying rush of happiness to doing it too. Between rubs I was nipping at his neck, shoulder, and chest playfully and rolling the rest of our bodies together in the process. Lip hadn't ruining my desire for these things, he'd ruined any interest I'd had in him. I thought that was good, and becoming better and better as I seemed to be getting both of us more exciting. I licked his muzzle in a kiss, a tender, loving moment, and then I smiled at him and kissed him again, this time slipping my tongue into his mouth in a quick, enticing movement meant to convey some of my quickly growing desire.

A deep rumble had started in his chest and he pushed his hips upwards against me, his hardness pressing at me through the layers of cloth between us.

"Quay, can I be with you now?" He asked, voice hot and excited, as his hand snaked up my body and firmly squeezed my right breast, thumb pressing against the nipple.

I wiggled against him and gave him an aroused, half-lidded expression. "That's where I was heading, so yes." I said, excited. We'd both be doing something new today, though I was sure I'd seen far more of it than he had and maybe I knew more about it too, but he was different from wolf males. I thought it would be fun, and bonding, and I wanted to be closer to him. That might have been especially now that I'd just lost a young man I'd thought was my friend and felt a bit more unsteady about my social standing and how to act.

He blushed and smiled. "Then can I see all of you? Usually when we fool around we keep some clothes, but I'd like to . . . if it's alright, I mean, I'd like to see and touch all of you." He nuzzled my neck and nipped playfully at my flesh, sharp teeth gently grazing my skin.

I flushed a little, but it wasn't like he hadn't seen most of me around my clothing anyway, just not everything at once. I sat up enough to pull my clothing off, taking my time and kissing him between each piece I removed until I was naked and pulling at his clothing, a tiny giggle escaping me. "No markings, I'm just white." I told him. "You're so soft, your fur." I said, sliding my hands over his chest.

He stood up and stripped for me, exposing the full pattern of his fur. He was blushing himself, especially as his boxers came off and exposed his hardness sticking straight up between his legs.

"I think your fur is beautiful. You look like a fresh snowfall." He said, blushing a bit at his words as he came close to me again and ran his fingers through the fur on my belly. "I love you." He said softly, then he kissed me deeply.

"I love you too." I said when the kiss was over, stroking the side of his face. "You understand this is important to me too, right?" I asked, worried that my experience in other but similar matters would make him think this meant less to me than it did to him. I had the impression that those other things had meant more to him than they might have to me.

He nodded. "Yes, at least I really hoped it is." He said, taking my hand and leading me back to the bed. He picked me up and lifted me onto the mattress and crawled in after, his tongue passing over my neck, and then down to my breasts. He licked one of my nipples and then the other with his somewhat rough but agile tongue. "This is the first time for both of us, and after this we'll be a mated pair." He smiled and blushed again. "I'll be the luckiest leopard on the mountain."

I laughed softly. "Hardly. You'll be saddled with the beautiful weirdo. I think that's how they think of me." I said, but I didn't really mind right then, I was still smiling. "Well, I suppose it doesn't matter how weird we are as long as we're happy, and we will be." I rubbed my fingers into the fur of his neck and shoulders and hummed my enjoyment of his tongue over my flesh and fur. "I love how rough your tongue is, it feels so wonderfully abrasive against my sensitive places." I told him heatedly, remember that first time he'd licked my sex.

"Oh?" He said, grinning mischievously at me, then he began to run his tongue down my body, slipping down between my thighs and nudging my clit with his tongue. He grabbed my legs and pushed them up, lifting my sex up to his mouth as he began to eat me out with a hunger that I could tell was born of arousal. "I can't wait to bury myself here." He said after a moment, parting from my lower lips just to speak. "I have been imagining it since that first day." He used his hand not holding my legs up to pull me open, and then he pressed his tongue into me and flicked it.

I moaned a bit more loudly than I'd intended and one of my hands gripped his head hard. "Well. I did ... kind of put that ... In your head." I said with difficulty, grinning to myself remembered the scenario I'd talked about. Someday, something like that would happen and we'd have babies on the way. I let out a shaky little cry. "If you can't wait then don't!" I said in a rush to fit it all in between breaths, and my hand on his head tugged at him, trying to get him to come up from my already hot, wet entrance and put his cock there instead.

He slid up my body again and licked my lips with the taste of me on his tongue. "I want you so badly, I love you so much." He purred the words, and his hips pressed against mine, the tip of his barbedcock lining up with my entrance. He began to push into me then, his member slipping through my outer lips and pressing into my entrance with careful, slow consideration.

I nuzzled his muzzle with mine gently, encouraging him. My heart was pounding in excitement and I was having trouble holding still for him from it. The feel of him sliding in was slightly uncomfortable, I hadn't had anything quite so big inside me and certainly not anything like the rough barbs his cock had. I knew that once I'd adjust though, it would all feel good. I liked the rougher parts of him. I let out a soft whine that was far more frustration at the slowness than any discomfort and I reach down to pull at his hips.

He laughed a bit breathlessly. "I'm supposed to go slow and gently, aren't I?" He asked, but then he pushed into me the rest of the way, his hips sliding in to rest against me. I could feels his balls pressed against me, and the throb of his cock inside of my body. He let out a moan of pleasure. "Oh, you feel so good." He whispered.

"So good." I said in agreement and licked his cheek affectionately as my hips began to thrust back and forth the little bit they could manage it while pinned beneath him, causing some friction between us that had me moaning loudly again. "So good!" I wiggling in anticipation of his own movements. "Please ..." I said, nipping at his neck and shoulder.

He began to take me then, smooth, sharp thrusts into my sheath as he panted and moaned in pleasure, his hips colliding with mine at each inward thrust. He leaned in to lick and nuzzle me as we made love. His pace slowly began to increase, his strokes becoming a little harder. "Oh, Quay, you're incredible. I don't know how long I can hold myself" He said, voice gravelly with lust.

"You don't have to." I said, voice high with my own pleasure. The thought of him cumming inside me had my body gearing up fast for it's own release, not that he'd been doing bad with the wielding of his shaft, those barbs felt amazing just as I'd predicted. "Please, cum inside me." I said, and gave his muzzle a gentle little lick.

He began to stroke harder and faster into my shaft, and then a knock sounded at his door and he froze. A second later the door opened.

"Wit, are you alright, I saw the axe on the ground and . . . " His father's eyes landed on us, sliding down to where we were connected that back up to Wit. "Oh . . . well, yes, I can see why you'd drop the axe for that. Alright, I'll just be out fetching my lunch that I forgot." He turned and pulled the door quietly shut behind him.

My heart stuttered in my chest, but then I shifted and felt Wit move inside me a little at the motion and I moaned. I started to try and get him moving again, bucking beneath him and pulling at him. Wolves weren't exactly secretive about sex, so while I knew I should be somewhat concerned about what his father had just seen us doing, I wasn't really. "It's ok, love, please keep going." I said, letting out a soft whimper of sexual tension, I was so close.

He looked at the door once more, but then his eyes came back to my face and he kissed me deeply and began to move inside of me again, deep, powerful thrusts. "Whatever happens, I love you, and this is our moment." He said, his arms coming up around under me as he grabbed my shoulders to hold me down against him.

I kissed him in return, but had to break the kiss as it and knowing that he was about to empty himself drove me into my own climax. My sheath clamped down on his member and I gasped at how big and almost painful he felt in that moment, and then my body milked his, pulsing around him and I moaned shakily as my claws gripped his back hard. A surge of need welled up in me a moment later and as the moan ended I gasped in a mouthful of air and then bit down on his shoulder and held him like that.

He growled a bit as I bit him, and then he buried his own muzzle in my neck fur and I felt his sharp teeth bite into my own flesh even as his cock twitched hard within me and he emptied his hot seed deep in my body. He moaned around the flesh in his mouth as he pushed his cock hard into me again and again, grinding his hips against mine.

As his mouth parted from my flesh he licked my neck. "Quay, that was amazing." He purred the words laying atop me and held us together tightly as his cock continued to jerk within me.

I grinned at him and licked him happily. "It was, my mate. I don't really have a bigger name, but I can tell you my middle name. I decided I'd use that as an extension for people I get close to here, so it'd be Quayami." I said shyly, actually very excited to know Wit's full name. Snow leopard names seemed so short to me.

He smiled. "Quayami. I like that. My full name is Etzwitzel." He gave me a shy grin. "It's a silly name, but it was my great grandfather's name. He was a hero for our people. He went by Etz, but my parents wanted my name to be unique, so I go by Wit." He nuzzled me.

I settled back with a sigh and hugged him tightly. "I love your name." I said dreamily and licked the side of his face. "And whatever happens when we get up and face the world again, I'm happy we're a mated pair now."

Chapter 4

Dad was gone back to work by the time we were cleaned up and ready to come out and make ourselves presentable again. He hadn't left any kind of notes or anything, which for some reason made me tense, but he also hadn't seemed that angry, surprised, but not angry, which I thought was probably a good thing.

If dad was willing to accept what we'd done, maybe things wouldn't go badly for us. I was terrified of what mom might have to say though, so the rest of the day, which Quay and I spent together, was a bit tense, but very enjoyable. Now that we were mated, now that we were actually together, it took away all the tension of questioning what we were to each other. I'd never felt better about anything in my life, and that was even with trouble hanging just above me.

It was late when dad finally came home, and he returned with mom on his arm. She was currently on local recon, so we were going to be seeing more of her. Dad rarely went to walk mom home, and I guessed he'd done so to talk about what had happened today which just served to make me more tense.

I gave Quay's hand a squeeze as they walked up the path towards us. Looking at them through the window I could see they were smiling and laughing, leaning on each other and talking easily. If they were angry they were doing a good job of covering it all up.

"They don't look mad." I said softly to Quay just before they reached the door outside. "That's a good thing, right?"

The door opened and mom stepped through, her eyes coming to us right away. "Oh, kids." She said, surprised to see us here. "I thought you two would be tucked away in one of your rooms fooling around."

I blushed and tucked my ears down. "Mom!" I said, a little shocked.

"Well, you two did finish, earlier, right? You're a mated pair now?" Dad asked.

Mom laughed. "Boy, when I sent you home to talk to him, I didn't actually think you'd sleep with him. You move quickly when you know what you want." She said to Quay.

Quay flushed too. "Not really, I knew I wanted him before but with what happened and how Wit was feeling, it seemed important to lay everything out. I guess including ourselves." She gave a shy grin. She'd made none of the appeasing, submissive gestures she usually made when Mom was around, so this slight shyness, which apparently didn't make its way to the things she said, was a huge improvement.

"We're not in trouble?" I asked, a bit confused about how this was playing out.

"No, you're not in trouble." Dad said, smiling at mom.

"We're happy you two have found peace in each other." She said, smiling and nodding, though her expression did become a bit more serious. "I do have to report this to the council, though. For one thing, it's going to come out anyway. People will notice. And, for another, it's important that they hear it from us and know that we condone it and consider you both capable of making this kind of decision."

My heart beat quickly in my chest. "Will there be trouble?" I asked.

Mom shook her head. "I wouldn't think so. Young people get mated sometimes. I know it's taboo, but it happens, and you're both close to adulthood anyway. This doesn't meant I want you two to be irresponsible. If you're wise you'll wait a few years before you start a family. Children are wonderful, but you should enjoy your youth a bit more."

"You have all your lives to have a family, you might as well enjoy being care free for at least a couple of years." Father added, nodding. "We'll talk to your sister as well. In the meantime, you two can share a room if you'd like, but please try not to keep everyone awake while you're discovering each other."

Quay grinned and nuzzled against me. "We already talked about waiting to have children. In my culture, people seem to be at least a few years older than here when we start having children, so it seems more natural to me to wait until we're on firmer footing around here." Her grin faltered a little. "I am worried about the council though." She whispered. "Well, less the council and more the village at large." She looked at me, her gaze catching, and smiled again. "But it'll work out." She squeezed my arm happily.

I was happy and excited myself. My parents excused themselves and snuck off to their rooms, and I didn't really want to think about what they were going to do, though I guessed it was sweet that they still found each other exciting after all of these years. I gave Quay's arm a squeeze and hopped up excitedly. "Want to go down to the water and catch some fish for supper?" I asked, deciding it would be fun to be out for a bit, and I thought it might be nice to mate outside as well, but I wasn't going to bring that up just yet.

Quay nodded. "That sounds fantastic." She said happily, her gaze loving as she agreed.

Trouble came for us the next morning in the form of two armed men sent to collect us from our bedroom where we slept still entwined. We were allowed to dress and then we were dragged from our rooms and out into streets, then down into the council chamber where three members of the council were waiting for us.

I was shocked and horrified, and I just wanted to get close to Quay, but they wouldn't let me. A large male named Keo stepped forward. Keo was Lip's uncle, and that coincidence didn't get by me. He stopped in front of Quay. "Do you know what you've done here?" He growled, voice loud and booming. "You've broken our laws, harlot." He growled.

A spark of anger flared down my back and I growled and pulled forward. "Don't you talk to her that way!" I snapped, pulling at the hold the guards had on me.

Quay looked annoyed, but her submissive nature was also kicking in and she made a few appeasing gestures, shrinking into herself and only glancing in his eyes. "I believe I took a willing mate among the people who have decided to adopt me into their village and society." She said, tone even but still high and soft, fragile sounding.

"You took your own adopted brother as your mate. That's incestuous." A woman said cooly, angry herself. Vit was an older woman and known for being an advocate of complete abstinence of sexual activity for young adults. "Again."

Quay growled low in her throat a little. "My brother Zee and I never had inappropriate relations, we never mated. Wit and I aren't blood related, so our relationship is not incestuous."

"It is by our laws! Now you've had underage, incestuous sex! Just as I predicted, you've become a horrible influence on our young people! Our society simply isn't and wasn't prepared to deal with your disgusting sexual habits developed elsewhere among other sexual deviants. We should never have let you so close you our young." Vit continued.

"This is what happens when we allow wolves amongst us." Another female elder said, Ree, she was also older, and tended to back Vit whenever she could. "In fact, once we've banished this slut, we should do the same to her brother. They've both been nothing but vile examples to our children.

"You've no right to judge us for any of this. We're not the first young couple to fall in love and become a mated pair." I growled, my voice more full of anger than I meant it to be. "By Quay's people's standards she's already an adult.

"An adult who slept with a child." Keo growled. "My nephew tried to teach her the ways of our people on many occasions. He told me at great length how this harlot has taunted and teased the males, encouraging them to fight amongst themselves for her affections, which she then mocks so that she sleep with her own brother in their home!"

"Where are my parents?" I growled. "Where are the rest of the elders?"

"Only three elders need sit in attendance for a banishment trial in which a minor is the victim, and your parents don't need to be here. You're not on trial, Wit. You're here as evidence, and you've already proven this slut's guilt." Ree said, a smug smile on her lips.

Quay looked horrified. "But ... Am I just banished from the village or what? Can I ..." She started to ask a question, and looked at me. "You don't ever intend to allow me back to be with my mate." She said, sounding upset and angry about the answer she'd found for herself but also rather defeated by that. "Can the full council reverse the decision?" She asked, though she was still looking at me, clearly trying to find some avenue for hope. "Do I have any say in where I go from here?"

"You'll be cast into the Tooth." Keo said. "From there you will be watched until you have walked out far enough that we can no longer see you. If you try to come back, you'll be shot on sight. What you do from there, no one cares. The council is unified in its decisions. What we do, we do for the betterment of all our kind."

I growled and tore free of the guards holding me, charging across the room towards Quay. "You won't take my mate!" I yelled, and then someone caught me and I was tackled to the ground. I hit hard, snagging a tooth on the stone floor. It broke and tore from my jaw as my head was pressed into the ground.

"Hold still, welp, or you'll be punished too!" The guard said, grinding his knee into the center of my back. I reached out for Quay.

"Please, I love her!" I said, ripping at the ground and trying to get closer.

"Are we agreed then?" Keo said. "She is to be banished immediately?"

The other to council members nodded. "So let it be done." Keo said, and that was it, they were dragging Quay away. People never came back from the Tooth. I'd never seen anyone come back. The wind tore through the pass like a knife, ripping folks to the bone, freezing them to death. We considered it better than death, but I knew it was really just another way to kill people, a way in which we didn't have to watch.

"Noo!" I roared, blood spattering from my mouth across the floor. I swung my head and bit into the guard's leg, the one not in my back, ripping at his flesh, and then he hit me in the back of the head, hard.

"Chain the boy in Judgement's square. He can stay there until the whore is gone." Ree said, and then I was being dragged away, still dazed.

Many rumors seemed to be flying around, and now publicly chained I was on display for all of them to be hurled at me. They weren't sure which ones were true since there'd been no official announcement yet, but that hardly mattered. Some of them thought I'd slept with Nal, but that was probably just confusion over Quay being called my sister in some of the rumors. They hurled insults mostly, though someone found rotting food to throw at me. Chained as I was I couldn't wipe it off.

Eventually Dad arrived. He told them all to go home in his calm, authoritative voice, but only a few listened. Most people stopped throwing anything. "Etzwitzel, ah my lovely boy." He said, sounding upset. "Let's get you out of here." He said, and started messing with my chains.

"They took Quay to Tooth Pass!" I almost whimpered the words. Through of the abuse, that was the only thing I could think of. "She'll die out there. I can't let her die, not alone out in the pass. She'll be afraid." My mouth tasted of blood from my lost fang. I was vaguely aware of pain from clawing at the ground to get to her in the council room, my claws split and bleeding as well, but more than anything I just wanted to find her. If she was to be banished, then I would go to.

"I know, your mother is already headed out that way." He said, stroking my head briefly as he messed with my chains, trying to get me undone.

Then there was a roar, a snarling, ferocious sound that was distinctly canine. Dad jerked and turned. "Uh oh." I heard him say, even before Zee was fully visible.

Zee entered the square and for a moment, I thought he'd acquired wind abilities as the air trembled at his arrival, but then the cold hit me. It was a warmer day, and the days had been gradually getting warmer and warmer in preparation for spring and summer. Zee was freezing the considerable amount of water in the air in a sudden freezing shock that had the water falling from on high down upon the crowd. As the water fell, it picked up mass, so that there were chunks of ice as big small as apple seeds, and others as large as people's fists. Everyone ran. Once they were on the retreat, Zee came towards my father and I, his expression dark and a reminder that the man who was a gentle soul among us had once been a soldier.

Zee grabbed the chains, a portion not directly on my fur. Even so, I felt the cold seep through the links some before her made the metal so brittle that he broke them with one yank. The portions he hadn't supercooled against my fur and skin remained hanging from me, but I was free. "Where is the pass?" He snarled to my father and I.

"This way!" I said, starting out at a run. I was sore from being bound all way day and roughly treated before, but i wasn't letting that slow me down. Eve came running up as we approached the main street heading for the northern exit to town, the place that was connected to the Tooth.

"Love, please, calm down. We'll get your sister. You might hurt someone if you don't bring yourself under control." Eve said as she approached. She was carrying her knife and dressed in her Spirit Walker attire. She nodded at me and my father. "I'm going too. I've been out there before, not far, but a ways. It's bad, but not so bad that we can't get her back if we go quick."

Her words sent a streak of terror down my back and I picked up the pace as we approached the gate. When we got there mother was at the door.

" . . . and I said you'll open the damned gate or I'll cut out your entrails and hang you from it!" She roared. "My daughter is out there, and if you think anyone is stopping me from going after her, you're sorely mistaken."

The guard she was talking to, a young woman who looked like she hadn't' been doing this job long, had her ears tucked down and her whiskers back in fear. "The council ordered it locked, Ma'am, if I open it I could lose my job. It's a breach of safety for the village. They would march me down the tooth."

"We might have to wait for the rest of the council to send their edict to open the door that those three fools had sealed against us." Dad said softly, though he also edged me away from Zee as he said it.

Zee snarled, but he glanced at Eve even as bits of ice started to fall, and it didn't get any worse. His snarl fell some, and he looked deeply upset. "I told her she was safe here. I trusted that you were all noble enough to keep her safe and treat her fairly." He whimpered. "I shouldn't have ever let myself be shouldered out of her life by the council, by you." He said of my parents as he sat down heavily on the ground. Then he let up a long, mournful howl.

I felt bad for him, but not as bad as I felt about what was possibly happening to Quay out beyond the wall. I wanted to stand up for my parents, but I knew her brother was just upset because of all that had happened. No one here was responsible. This was the result of a few hateful people who were just looking for a reason to hurt those they didn't like. My resolve firmed and I made a bleak decision in that moment. Whatever happened, I wouldn't be staying with my own kind. I was leaving this village and I'd find a place where I could be the person I was without having to bend to the rules of anyone.

Chapter 5

I was pushed on through the village, my pace slow, my stature diminished in submission. I hated how Wit had last looked, torn up and bloody. I wondered how he'd ever be all right, how he'd find a new mate. I had a vague idea that the Tooth was a death sentence, but I figured that it must be exaggerated. I would find my way out maybe. I wondered if the artist's village more northward might accept me, or the wolves, but it was all halfheartedly considered. I didn't want to leave my mate. So maybe I'd have to sneak back in and get him, if I could live through this Tooth at all.

There was a man and a woman escorting me. They said a few derogatory things about wolves in general, but it was disappointing to them that I didn't rise to their taunting. I didn't care what they had to say, I had plenty of worse demons inside to mess with.

They brought me up to the gate, a huge, ugly contraption of wood and metal. The guards presented orders to the young woman on guard there, and then the gate was opened and they shoved me through.

"You can't just camp right here by the gate." The woman who'd been escorting me said. "Get out beyond my sight before I shoot you." She added coldly, leveling her bow at me.

It was strangely startling to have such a thing pointed at me. I'd never seen the Spirit Walker who'd shot me in the forest when I'd come up here looking for Quaz. I whimpered a little thinking of my twin, though I was still confused about how close we were, I'd hoped we could begin to see each other again soon, like he'd said when I'd been turned over to my foster family. He would be angry and upset. I could imagine him shaking his head sadly in his kitchen, maybe Eve would rub his arm to comfort him. He would think it was too bad I just couldn't behave myself.

I could see as I walked that things got worse even within sight range. The wind whipped through the passage, and the cold was bitter. I could manipulate ice, but I was a warm blooded creature that needed warmth still. All I could do was make it colder here, and that wasn't going to help me. I tucked my hands into my armpits, and after a long time looked back. I seemed to be alone. At least, there was so much snow in the air I couldn't see anyone, and they couldn't see me.

I sat down and cried. I had thought I'd be safer with a mate. I thought it would make my status and my intentions towards others clear even when I slipped up and was a little over affectionate. I hadn't considered that it would be such a terrible thing. Wit and I were both considered children, but only just. And while I liked the foster family I was a part of, I could hardly be expected to consider my foster siblings as my actual ones. We were practically grown and I'd only been there a little over two months. I sighed and shook my head. It didn't due to dwell, I'd been judged a sexual predator. That part was over.

I sniffed and sat up as much as I could, shivering badly in the cold. Then I set to work. I could only do small ice magic, but I slowly, gradually built a ice cocoon with a vent at the top to shield me from the wind. It was quickly holding in my body heat too, to my own contentment, but I knew the battle for survival was far from over. I would have to build myself a set of steps to get out far, far down the path, past where the snow leopards patrolled. This was far worse than I'd expected, I supposed, but I wanted badly to get out and see if I could convince Wit to leave with me.

Then I heard a distant, familiar howl. Quazee. I almost jumped up and smashed my head on the still thickening cocoon. I threw back my head and howled back to him, the way our people did to locate one another. My heart pounded with fear for him. Had he thrown himself into the Tooth after me? Was he banished too?

After a short while there was another howl, and I answered it. We went back and forth like this for some time, and when I was sure he was getting close I smashed out of my cocoon and waited anxiously for him to appear through the blanket of white snow in the air.

I saw Wit first. He came running forward through the snow and howling wind. His white fur was streaked in red down his front, and down around his fingers where he'd torn his claws trying to get to me, but he dove forward towards me at breakneck speeds. "Quay!" He yelled as he saw me, and then he was one me, wrapping his arms tightly around me as others began to show up with him, his parents, my brother, and his mate, Eve.

"By the gods, I'm happy you're alive." Oke said, relief on his face. "I'm so sorry this happened to you. We didn't even know about the trial until it was too late. We were talking with the elders, the other elders, about getting you and Wit a home built. By the time we went looking for you the damned council had already sent you away."

Zee came over and threw his arms around me and Wit after looking confused for a moment. "I'm so sorry I let this happen." He said. "I don't care what they think, we're still family." He said, licking both Wit and I.

I laughed at Zee, being affectionate with Wit who had to be a near stranger to him. I nuzzled them both though. They were actually cold against me since I'd been warming myself in my ice cocoon not long before. "I'm fine! Oh you silly boys, coming out here all bloody and beat up." I turned to Wit and Zee released us. I grabbed his jaw and looked in his mouth, anger flaring. "I hope those horrid people are ready to try and make up for what they've done to you." I growled.

He growled too and shook his head. "It doesn't matter. I've decided I'm not staying in the village anymore, not if it means living with people like that. I think we should move out, go somewhere more accepting."

"We'll be sad to see you go." Wit's mother said. "We had always hoped the family would stay close together, but I understand why you want to go, and I can't hold it against you. For now, though, why doesn't everyone come back to my house and I'll make some sweet milk for everyone to warm us up. We can talk about the future from there."

"Yes, we'll talk about it. Not everyone here is bad, and no matter where we go I feel like we'd be starting over fighting the same prejudices. Here, all our family sends on board." I smiled around me at everyone and then back at Wit. "We'll talk about it." I repeated, licking his cheek and starting to lead everyone back toward the gate.

He took my hand in his and held tight, as though I might fly away at any moment, and then he leaned in to me gently. "I love you, mate." He said confidently.

I smiled and leaned back into him. "I love you too." I said in my most sincere, loving tones. I had the distinct desire to make up for everything he'd suffered. I might be the one the village was going to shame more, but he'd certainly taken the equivalent in physical damage and I hated that being with me had cost him that. Still, the future looked far brighter than it had just a few minutes ago. It wasn't the whole council against us, just a few prudes, and we had all of our family here on our side too. I kissed Wit's shoulder. "So much." I added, nuzzling against him as we walked.