FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 01

I drew my knife and clenched it between my teeth then I jumped up the tree, using my claws to get up higher and higher. Most of my kind didn't like climbing, but I'd taken to it as a kit and it had become something of a habit that I didn't really want to break. Besides, it came in handy at times like this one. I reached the top of the tree quickly using my wide bushy tail as a counterbalance as I scaled the bark. From the topmost branches I could see far across the land. My own village was at my back, and there were lines of smoke rising up from there, fires in fireplaces, families safe and sound, but I wondered how long we'd remain that way. North of us were the herdlands, full of the aggressive bucks who sometimes came onto our lands without seeking permission first.

They considered us weak because unlike the wolves of the packlands, and the lions of the pridelands, we weren't outwardly aggressive, but we valued our land as well, and we had to protect what was ours. My village was on the southern most border of fox territory, and I'd been looking to expand our own borders further in that direction.

The lagomorphs were to the south, rabbits. There'd been a time when we'd fought with them constantly, but we'd finally let go of our natural predator and prey situation with them. They weren't aggressive enough that we could keep fighting them and feel right about it, and most of the foxes had adopted a more carefree way of life.

With the stags pressing on our north border, though, I was beginning to think it might be time to see what the rabbits had been up to since we'd last seen them. It couldn't hurt to probe into their lands a bit. I suspected they were doing the same to us. I'd seen sign of their passing, tracks that clearly weren't laid down by any fox. If they were pushing our border, maybe it was time to push back.

I pulled my knife from my mouth and carved an X on the top of the tree, then I dropped back down the tree, bouncing down on agile legs and hands. My name was Revan, but my people called me Swift because of the way I flew up and down the trees, and I liked that name better. I felt it was more fitting, though I made a point of complaining about it when anyone called me that. It was a matter of principle.

I moved further southward as I hit the ground, running on legs and hands. With digiverted back legs it was easy to switch between bipedal and quadrupedal motion. I personally liked to run on all fours. I kept moving forward until I reached a signpost that had a fox skull painted on it. It marked the border of our two lands. Beyond here was rabbit territory. I hadn't actually crossed into their area before, but today I intended to change that. I climbed up the nearest tree, the last one on my side of the border. When I got to the top I looked out across the land again, looking for sign of practice. The canopy was dense up here, and I couldn't see much. The rabbits didn't have any villages close to the border, or else they didn't keep open fires within sight. With the weather getting close to winter, they had to be heating somehow, though I'd heard it said they made their homes underground. We had at one time, though we'd moved to cabins that were only partially buried. My tail flicked a bit nervously.

I didn't actually have permission to go any further. I wasn't even really a scout for my people. This was my own project. I took my knife and carved an x on the top of this tree as well. I wanted to make sure I could keep track of which trees I'd viewed from. I gave a huff and dropped back down the tree. Coming down from a tree was more like a controlled fall then actually climbing, but it was definitely the most fun part. I hit the ground and rolled back to my feet, then put my knife away. It was much easier to take it from my teeth than unclasp it from my belt at the top of a tree. No more marking trees today.

I crossed the border between the two lands, keeping my ears tucked low as though that might make me less obvious in my breaking with tradition. We really didn't have any laws that prohibited what I was doing, it was just expected that we wouldn't do this. We'd been on peaceful terms with the lagomorphs for a while.

I began walking inward, scenting the air frequently as I went. The fall air was crisp and clean, and I loved the smell of the forest, though my real reason for taking scent was just to make sure I didn't stumble upon anything dangerous. I walked for another ten minutes and then my nose caught scent of something I hadn't expected. I lifted my nose and took another large taste of the air to be certain.

No, I wasn't mistaken. It smelled like a female, and not just any female, a female in heat. I knew little of rabbits, but I did know that they didn't have heats. What did that mean? I wasn't sure, so I followed my nose. The scent was slight at first, just a trace, but as I followed it through the trees it began to get a bit sharper. I smelled fox, which I knew wasn't right so far beyond the border, but I also clearly smelled rabbit. I dropped to all fours and started creeping forward.

I was close. I reached a line of brush and cautiously pushed through it, tempted to draw my knife, though it wasn't really designed to be a weapon. I hadn't thought to bring a weapon. I wasn't sure what I was going to find, but I had an image in my head of some poor young vixen having been kidnapped by a rabbit to be raped while she was in heat. I was quite shocked but what I saw, though it certainly wasn't what I'd expected.

There was a female rabbit, or that's what she looked like from the back and side. She was a rich, dark red-brown color with tall ears that flicked and twisted, settling with a slight flop at their tips on the occasion when she stopped listening intently. She was in a dark blue tunic with a woven belt. The tunic went down onto her thighs but was unevenly cut so that it got caught on her little fluff of a red-brown and white tail. As I watched she got up and bent over, rummaging through a pack a little out of arm's reach from her sitting place on a log, revealing the crease between her legs coated in her white fur that almost hid everything she had to offer. Almost. And I'd smelled her heat when she'd been sitting, so a few moments later a stronger taste of the scent washed over me.

A wave of confusing arousal passed through me. I wasn't supposed to find a rabbit attractive, but a rabbit wasn't supposed to be in heat either. The smell was intoxicating, and I realized a somewhat difficult to resist impulse was flaring up inside of me. I was dressed as all of my people did, which was to say I was wearing my fur, some leather belts to hold my gear, and not much else. That meant my arousal was very obvious as my member slid from my sheath.

I watched her for a while longer, and then, on impulse, I decided that I should capture her and interrogate her. I told myself that was all I intended to do. I needed information about the rabbits in the area, and she was a rabbit, so I would catch her and ask her questions. Just ask her questions. My cock bobbed between my legs as I pictured myself pinning her down and holding her to the ground.

I tried to push that thought down, but I couldn't quite make it go away.

I circled her camp quietly until I was in the brush closest to where she was. Alright. I was going to do this. I was going to question her, find out where the other rabbits were, and then I'd leave and report what I'd found back to the village and we'd talk about pushing the border out further. That was a good plan, and it had nothing to do with the smell of sex in the air.

I prepared myself to launch, bunching all of my muscles tightly, and then I waited until she was leaning over and I dove from the cover of the brush and slammed into her back, knocking her flat to the ground and pinning her hard against the leaves with a snarl.

The woman cried out, and then fought with surprising force against me. She had very powerful hind legs, but the position I had her in didn't make them overly useful in this situation. In our struggle it also became clear quite quickly that she had an old and mostly healed injury to her left arm and side. She snorted angrily against the ground, slowly settling into the realization that she was trapped and losing the energy to fight so hard for now. In the meantime, our jostling had rubbed my cock against her warm, extraordinarily soft fur several times, and she started to settle with it pressed to one side of her tail.

I was breathing hard, and most of it wasn't from the struggle, While it had been impressive and powerful, my arousal was putting me in a dark place. I'd never been this close to a female in heat. I was seventeen. I could have found a mate, but the females in my village weren't interested in me, probably because I was considered a little broken. I liked to climb, and I spent all my time running through the woods. I just didn't enjoy life in the village. It was too busy.

I leaned in to speak to this rabbit woman, but as my nose grew closer to her neck I had a suddenly very powerful urge to bite her hard. I held it back by shifting backwards, but this drew my shaft down her ass and pushed me against her sex. My tip trickled precum as I slid over her lower lips. I meant to speak to her, to say something, anything, but instead I pushed myself forward in a single, solid thrust, and buried my cock in her sex.

She cried out, struggling harder for a moment before she lay panting beneath me. Her sex explored my cock, that was the best way to put it. It flexed around me as though interested, curious. She fought for another brief moment, making her sex clench around me before she relaxed again as before, panting. I could hear her heart thundering faster than a fox's.

I again felt like I should say something, but now I'd gone too far. I slid back and then pushed deep into her. She felt incredible, hot and tight, her sex far too good around me for me to stop what I was doing. I briefly remembered that I hadn't actually planned to do this from the outset, but none of that mattered now. I began to move with increasing vigor, growling in pleasure, a low, guttural sound.

She continued to cry out beneath me, occasionally trying to suppress them. Then she let out a pitiful, adorable growl not unlike one a very young kit our very submissive female fox might try out. Then she went back to crying out with my next thrust into her inviting warmth. She seized up after a moment, body going rigidly still, and then with my next thrust in she gave a sound between a cry and a moan as she climaxed, her sheath tightening and pulling at my cock, throbbing around hard and in waves leading me deeper into her body.

I realized I wasn't going to avoid cumming at about that moment. I knew I should draw out of her. I didn't know if foxes could breed rabbits, but I should have been careful just to be safe. In that moment, though, there was no going back. I came with a loud growl as I slammed my hips against her. My knot slipped from my body and then I pushed forward hard. It didn't go in easy. Four powerful thrusts finally sank it into her tight little snatch, and then we were locked together. I'd had a strong urge to bite her, but somehow I managed not to take things that far, though I figured knotting her had probably been a mistake. We'd be stuck together for at least an hour.

Her little tail twitched in agitation, and she shivered in the aftermath of everything. It didn't seem particularly pleasant, as though it was partially the shivering of shock. She gave that pitiful growl again and thrashed a little, but stopped quickly with an almost impossible to hear whimper and thick shiver. My knot had been uncomfortable to go in, and it was uncomfortable to pull against. She turned her head enough to glare at me, eyes wide. They were a familiar orange-golden color, though they were set in the unfamiliar rabbit shape of her eyes. Dried leaves were struck in her ears and on her face, and she looked pissed and in pain.

"You little shit. You can't stay in me forever and when you pull out, I'll gut you." She growled. The slight gruff growl to her voice was far more effective than her full on growling had been, though her voice was higher than I was used to.

"Um, sorry?" I said, suddenly less certain about this. My confidence was taking a bit of a hit. "I didn't intend to . . . I just wanted to question you, but you were so . . . heat." I growled a bit. How was I losing control of this situation? I was on top, and I was inside of her. This should have been easier.

"I was so heat." She repeated dryly. "Well aren't you articulate." She grumbled, turning her head over to the other side and looking around. Her words seemed to irritate her further, viciously. "What the Hell is a fox doing south of your border, flesh eater?" She snapped. She had a surprising amount of commands in her little voice, and she seemed not to have taken the cue to be submissive from the fact I was a predator, and that I was on top of her, pinning her, with my cock forced into and locked inside her.

"I was scouting." I said, trying to get a handle on this situation again. "The Denlands are being pushed, and we need to spread. I was trying to see where your kind are, to see if we can go further south. I planned on interrogating you, but then your . . . well, you're not supposed to be in heat. You're a rabbit. Rabbits don't do that. I was caught off guard, and then I decided I would capture you and question you, but . . . " I was losing track again. I was clearly very much in the wrong here, and knowing that made me feel guilty, which made me angry. "Where are the settlements in relation to where we are?" I asked, trying to put some command back in my voice.

She glared at me for several long moments. "Why should I tell you anything, rape-boy? Here's a tip, you're supposed to threaten violence, then ask your question, not drop your worst and then start in on the talking bit. People aren't inclined to be cooperative when you've already destroyed their innards. Why bother? I know how foxes work and you'll kill me at the end of this anyway if I don't manage to kill you instead.

"What?!" I asked, shocked. "That's not how we work at all. Well, maybe a long time ago, but we don't even have a standing army anymore. Why do you think we're losing territory to deer!" I snapped my mouth shut, this was a strange way to be having a conversation. Besides, I was arguing that we weren't violent when I'd just raped this woman. "I'm sorry I . . . no, it's stupid to apologize for something like this. It's not going to mean anything to you, is it?" I shook my head. "I've never been this close to a female in heat. I lost control. I know it's not an excuse, but I didn't come here planning to hurt you."

I sighed. Again, I knew this was a practice in futility. I felt exceedingly guilty, especially since I was still leaking cum into her body, and it still felt very good. "I'm not going to kill you. In fact, I'm terrified of you at this moment. I'm probably going to run once I can get out of you." I told her, perhaps a bit too honestly.

She laughed hard at that. For someone angry about being raped, she was strangely functional, occasional shaking aside. I just thought she would have been more broken or something, but she largely seemed pissed, but more like I'd inconvenienced her and insulted her rather than raped her. "You're sweet for a rapist." She said, still a laugh to her voice. "You could try apologizing, it's better than not even trying to make up for it right?"

"Well, I am sorry I raped you. I didn't expect to encounter a female in heat. Your scent was very overwhelming for me. I was already doing something I wasn't supposed to do so my nerves were running high, and then I decided to question you, but I think it was mostly because I wanted to get closer to you, and when I tackled you I brushed against your heat. After that my brains were pretty much useless, though according to my people my brains are pretty much always useless." I wanted to lay down with her. I had a strange desire to cuddle and be close to her, but instead I was still just pinning her down, mostly braced above her.

"I can let go of you, but I can't pull out yet. I'm still swollen. If you promise not to hurt me, I'll release your arms." I wanted her to be more comfortable, but I also didn't want to be gutted.

She made a low noise in her throat of agitation. She clearly didn't want to make the promise. "Fine." She snapped. "I promise not to punish you as you deserve to be." She was clearly annoyed about being reminded she was helpless, and hurt, and full of me, but still her voice was nowhere near as harsh as it'd first been.

I released her cautiously, and then shifted us a bit so I wasn't directly on top of her, but this involved me rolling us onto our sides so we weres somewhat spooning, though I was still well buried inside of her. It was an intimate position to be in, and under other circumstances I would have actually really liked the closeness, but this time I was simply full of guilt and shame at my actions, and no small amount of concern for my wellbeing.

She was stiff for a few moments and then relaxed slowly against me. She was quiet as she slowly relaxed, her soft fur rubbing against mine. Her sheath, meanwhile, investigated my cock again, lightly. She turned her head to give me a scrutinizing look, then she looked away again and sighed. I could swear she was cautiously, gradually cuddling up to me. Maybe that was just wishful thinking, but when her ear twitched and turned, I noticed the inside was an embarrassed red. She coughed a little. "So. Still going to run away when the swelling goes down?"

I'd been thinking about that a bit, trying to decide what the next best course of action was. It wasn't an easy thing to figure out. Running away was certainly an option, but if she wasn't going to hurt me, then I felt I had some responsibility towards her. I'd hurt her, and I'd quite possibly impregnated her. Running wasn't really the right thing to do. Staying came with its own difficulties. We couldn't be together, obviously. She was a rabbit and I was a fox. That would never work. She didn't really like me, and I didn't know what to make of her, or my attraction to her. She was beautiful in a strange, un-fox-like way.

"I suppose that depends on how badly you want to hurt me after we come apart." I said, the swelling in my member was starting to subside. Soon enough we could part. Probably, if she wanted to force it, we could pull apart now.

"My anger is subsiding." She said, voice sounding carefully crafted into bland contemplation. "I'm Wynray. You are ...?"

"Swift . . . er, Revan, I guess." Swift was probably a silly name for a fox, even if I did secretly like it. "If you don't feel like gutting me anymore, than I'd prefer not to run away."

She shrugged. "Alright. You're call, Revan Swift." She said. It occurred to me that as a rabbit, she really should have been afraid of the prospect I might stick around. "I'm going to finish making my arrows, you've put me behind schedule."

I nodded, head spinning through this moment, trying to figure out what exactly was happening, and what I was going to do about it all, and then I felt myself shift inside of her and knew it was time. I put my hands on her hips and drew back out of her. There was a small "pop" and then my length slid from her body and cum flowed out of her, a great deal of it. I had an urge to go and lick her, to clean her where we'd connected, but I thought that was probably exceedingly inappropriate after rape.

Wynray hesitated a moment, and then scrambled to her feet quickly, shivering. She shook, not unlike a way a fox would, or most animals for that matter. She sighed at the mess spilling out onto her thighs. "Mmm. New plan." She muttered, and walked off in the direction I could hear a large stream flowing not too far off. She had a spring to her step that I was sure had to do with her rabbit genetics, as though her large, furcoated feet couldn't complete the walking movement without needing to uncoil in a little jump at the end.

I got up and followed after her, a mix of arousal and pride in me that was completely inappropriate. I felt proud that I'd filled her so well, and aroused at the thought that I could do it again, and neither of those things was right, but this time I had my head well enough that I wasn't going to act on any of this. As we reached the water I stopped at the side, not sure if I should have come along or stayed behind at the camp. I'd never been in quite such an awkward position.

"Did I hurt you?" I asked, deciding that my concern for her wellbeing was the best impulse to follow.

"Yes." She snapped, sounding pissed off again as she hadn't for a little bit now. "Foxes have bigger dicks than male rabbits, which makes sense since male rabbits are smaller than male foxes unless you're looking really hard for a big guy. And your knot ..." She huffed a snort of annoyance. "But I'll be fine." She was gently washing me off of herself, and of course watching her delicate little hands working in that arousing area wasn't helping my interest dull. Then she started cleaning off her sex directly, which was instinctually agitating to me. And her touch hurt her at first, but then seemed to be arousing her against her intentions. She stopped and got back out of the water. Her shirt had gotten wet up the front in particular, showing off her breasts, which were perky from the arousal, the cold of the water, or both. She started walking back to her little camp, hips, tail, and ears twitching.

I again followed after her, trying not to watch the sway of her hips as she moved. "Is there anything I can do for you to . . . well, I can't make up for what I've done, but if I can help you, I'll do what I can. I'm not particularly clever. My people actually don't like me that well, and I guess I haven't really given you any reason to wonder why that is, but I've never done anything like this before."

She flashed me a brief smile that was a little confused. "You're so repentant. It's cute, really, but calm down. I'm fine. I mean, I was pissed, but I wasn't expecting it. You interrupted my plans. I haven't been bred in a long while, and my heats make me irritable. I even came. Hard." She shivered in a good way, remembering that. "And I guess your size was manageable though I wouldn't have thought so if we'd started with any courtship, which, I think we can both admit would have been laughable."

I felt my inner ears turn red. "Something tells me you wouldn't have been particularly interested in dating me if I'd approached you with flowers and a winning smile. Our people don't have a great history of getting along well." I decided in that moment that I wasn't going to bother asking about where her people were anymore. This trip was a failure. If I could figure out how to get out of here without anyone left permanently hurt it was probably for the best.

I'd pictured myself as some kind of hero to my people, an explorer finding new land for us to spread to. I'd even pictured myself driving the rabbits out of their villages and further into their own lands, though now I was embarrassed by that thought. It hadn't really been very well planned out. In my head it had always just been enough to stand up proudly and tell them that the foxes were coming to take the lands, and then they moved out peacefully, but that was stupid. They wouldn't give up their lands like that. There was no hope for our people here.

"Do your people often travel alone through your lands?" I asked, deciding just to make conversation. It was really all I could do. I made a point of not looking at her too closely. Her heat was starting to fill the air again, and I didn't want to hurt her anymore.

"Nope. We live in colonies, generally. But my family hasn't had the easiest go of it. You can probably guess why, rabbits don't much like having a fox in their dens." She flashed me a brief smile. She had strange expressions, a mask that took her very abundant energy and threw it into brief smiles that were half placating and half predatory amusement. And she was always moving extra, her body bouncing with her steps, her ears and eyes flicking around. She talked fast too.

"You're part fox?" I asked, looking at her more closely. It made sense. Her heat, the feint smell of fox, the color of her fur and her mannerisms were all mixed. There were signs everywhere. "I didn't know that our two peoples ever came together." I said, a bit surprised, and also realizing this meant that our mating might have been far more potent than I'd thought, especially if she was in heat.

"Mmm, think more along the lines of what just happened between us. Before our people stopped fighting, my great grandmother, or great great grandmother I'm not sure, was raped by an invading fox. Six mothers later, kits were born and eventually, me. And rabbits don't like foxes in their colonies, so since then any of us half breeds wander around. Someone set up a colony near our southern border with the snakes, but even that has some risk since snakes and rabbits fight. But as you can imagine, rabbits with fox genes stand a better chance against snakes than regular rabbits. I've visited, it's a bit more ... A bit different than other colonies. Nice. I might settle there, maybe." She shrugged a shoulder, tense about this colony she was describing for some reason.

"Are you hanging around? Like, for a reason?" She asked, giving me a quizzical look. We'd arrived at her camp again and she had started to return to her arrow making, sitting down on the log she'd been on before.

"I mated you, hurt you, and I don't feel right about just leaving you now." I said, looking over my shoulder at the way I'd come. I could still smell her, but my guilt was keeping me in check rather well. "If you want me to leave I'll go. This was stupid anyway. I wanted to help my people, but talking to you has made me realize that this isn't how to do it. I can't just expect to take land from the rabbits. My people wouldn't want it anyway. They'd be disappointed in me just for knowing I'd crossed the border."

"We are not mated." She snapped, but her face wrinkled in confusion. "But foxes are mated when they knot, right? Isn't that how it works?" She asked, voice more gentle and full of curiosity. "Why did you knot me? Don't answer that last, just ..." Now she looked pained, upset, but she was quickly working on putting it away again. "Yes, I want you to go. Go back to your pack, pretend nothing happened, and if there are kits in six month I'll figure it out. Not that it's likely. But we're not a mated pair, so it's none of your concern."

My jaw dropped and I frowned. "I . . that's what you want?" I asked, a dead weight falling in my chest, arousal dwindling away to nothing. "Of course that's what you want. I'm a violent attacker, you don't want me around, not in your life, and certainly not in the lives of any young you might have." I nodded and turned, tail flicking behind me, frustration and heartache pressing down on me.

"I'm sorry. I won't come back here again." I said, and then I ran, as fast as I ever had, hugging the ground on all fours like the foxes that my people had grown from long, long ago. I fell on instinct and just let it carry me forward until I was well past the boundary of the rabbit land and back into my own territory, and then I finally stopped and came back to my feet.

I was breathing hard, exhausted from the run. It was getting late, and the air was growing colder as night descended. I knew I should head back to the village, back to my home, but I didn't want to be around other people just then. I felt empty and just a little bit broken, just like they always said I was. I knew what I'd done was wrong, but I hadn't wanted it to end like that, and a part of me hadn't wanted it to end at all. She'd been pretty, and interesting, and I'd knotted her. I felt a strong attachment to her that I couldn't just forget. I doubted she'd fade from my mind ever, and certainly not for a very long time.

The fact that she hadn't wanted me around, hadn't wanted me there if she had children, that had felt like a knife in the chest. What had I expected, though? After how I'd acted it was no surprise at all.

In frustration, and with no desire to go home, I found a tree and sprang up into its higher branches until I found a cozy crook to settle down into. It would be a cold night, but I didn't really feel like I deserved extra comfort that night. Besides, home was full of people who would want to give me strange looks and laugh at me. They'd tell me I was broken, and make fun of me for staying out all day long. They'd comment on how I hadn't found a mate yet, and all the girls my age were already married.

I wasn't ready to handle any of that. It was better to be a little cold and a great deal alone.

Chapter 02

I cried after he left, harder than I'd meant to, harder than I realized I needed to. I didn't let anyone see me cry, hadn't since I'd been young. No one wanted me for a mate, a quick fuck, sure, but not as the other half of their home. Revan Swift had been sweet really, a sweet fox boy. Maybe I'd wandered so close to the border because I'd been curious about fox men, but it was clear that they didn't like me any more than rabbit men did.

I knew I was attractive, but I also knew I was undesirable. Male rabbits wanted me, they lusted after me as well as any other female, and they'd fuck me if I made advances or if their own astounding sex drives took over and drove them to seek a release. Male rabbits were very instinct driven when it came to sex, it wasn't uncommon for them to black out and take a woman in a frenzy. But there was never any courtship that mates engaged in, no cuddling up to the predatory rabbit woman, no grooming, or playing.

I was annoyed when the end of the day came on me unexpectedly. I hadn't finished my arrows, or shot a bird like I'd wanted to. I liked meat, craved it desperately a few times a year, and this was one of those times. Maybe I'd been too intent on the arrows and what I wanted out of them to notice Swift coming up, or maybe he was exceptionally light on his feet. I pushed it from my mind, it didn't matter now. I had a blanket in my pack and I sat against a tree and wrapped myself in it.

Rabbits always had so many babies. Maybe that'd been another reason I'd wanted to come close to the fox boarder, no rabbit male had managed to impregnate me and that was strange. Women always got pregnant from their sexual encounters. That was why women who weren't pregnant could be vicious when confronted with a male, especially if they were mated and wanted only their mate's children, and why mated males took their mates often to be sure it was their seed that ran true. Of course, once pregnant, female rabbits weren't as against having a little fun with other males. Rabbits were so sex crazy, but it had rules I guessed.

I didn't have much hope a fox's seed would run true, but I'd hoped. I was part fox, after all, so maybe I wasn't infertile and that was what the trouble was, I'd never had a fox until now. My mind wanted to go over our breeding, the hardness of him, how thick and long he'd been. I'd even liked the knotting, though it had hurt too. It had all hurt a lot, and felt good, right. I swallowed on that and pushed it away. Swift hadn't wanted me. I'd become some kind of pitty project for him after he'd blindly fucked me, not unlike a rabbit male might have. I didn't understand why he'd knotted me, which I'd heard was an intimate thing for foxes and wolves, but it clearly wasn't because he'd cared about me. He hadn't known me. And knotting me hadn't exactly changed that. I hadn't known him for that matter, but the fact that it shouldn't have troubled me didn't make the ache in my chest go away.

In the morning I went back to making my arrows, but I was slower now, thinking too deeply. It was better this way. Better that I just admit to myself no one was going to knock me up, and I would be better for that. I wouldn't have a brood to fuss with and I could go back to the mixed colony and fight more snakes until something killed me. What was I going to do with kits, anyway? Raising them alone would be hard, really hard, I knew that from seeing my own childhood. Maybe it'd be easier in the mixed colony though, a little. They were a tough bunch, but they had to be. They'd mostly grown up like I had, and those that had had the protection of the colony had grown up with the snakes next door.

It was nearing midday when I heard the brush to my back shifting as though something were moving through it. When I turned he was there again, appearing almost as if out of thin air. He must have actually been particularly quiet. His ears were low and his tail was hanging to the ground. He had bright red fur that was flecked with small silver strands that made it seem to glisten.

His people didn't dress as we did, or maybe didn't dress at all. All he was wearing was a leather belt and a bandolier that held various packs and pouches. His sex was covered by his fur for the most part, so I supposed there wasn't a lot of reason for him to wear more than he did. His eyes were an intense green color, slitted and alert, but his expression was hesitant and maybe a bit sad. He had a bunch of wildflowers gripped in one hand, and as I spotted him he came forward slowly, holding them out to me.

I was struck by how sweet this was, and upset by his sadness, and I wanted to run. He'd made me cry, and I hated that. He'd do it again, in fact I could feel tears threatening already. What was he doing here? I blinked away the tears, hard, but I also stepped forward and took the flowers from him hesitantly. I sniffed them. I spent a lot of time outdoors so wildflowers were something I saw often and a scent often hanging out in the air. He had some clover in the bunch, and I nibbled on it as I looked at him curiously.

"Thank you." I said, unsure what else to say and not wanting to drive him away by snapping out the question concerning why he was here now.

"I know you don't want me here." He said, watching me eat the flowers he'd given me with a bit of surprise on his face. "But I don't want to leave. No one wants me where I come from, and I can't stop thinking about you, and about what we might have created together. If there are kits, they'll be mine too, right? Don't I have a right to know them? I can live somewhere else, but somewhere close, right? You don't have to see me all the time, but maybe sometimes. I want to know my children, and their mother . . . I mean, if there are children." He shrugged, looking down at his own black furred paws.

"I think foxes work a little differently than rabbits." I said after a long few moments, but then I led him over and sat him down near my log. A part of me wanted to nuzzle up to him, nip at him playfully, enjoy this male who'd come back. But he still wasn't here for me, he was here for his children. "I might be infertile, but you can stick around and find out if you want." I said, chewing my bottom lip nervously. If I hadn't been so confused and conflicted, I might have started trying to get him hard. My heat was still on the rise and the further we got into it, the stronger it would be. We'd probably end up going at it again, but I didn't mind that thought, as long as it didn't bother him. He seemed more the one that was vulnerable now, even though our little fling and the resulting argument had ended up hurting me once he'd left.

He smiled a bit. "I'm glad you'll let me stay. I'd like to . . . " His ears blushed a bit and he tucked them down. "I think we should get to know each other better. I don't have anywhere else to go, and you seem to be alone. I thought we might stay together if you didn't hate the idea. I can help you. I'm good at some things." His tail swished hesitantly behind him.

I gave him a hesitant smile. He was so confusing. I was afraid of him, and I wanted him, and I was afraid of wanting him too much, wanting him in a way that had too little to do with sex to allow for comfort. "How are you at hunting?" I asked, brightening as I remembered the task I'd been at again.

A few hours later I was having trouble focusing on anything else as I stared at the two cooking birds on our fire. It was shameful and disgusting, but I was going to love every minute of eating the stuffing out of one of these. Swift was swift, and quiet, perfect for bird hunting. My lack of focus on anything else seemed to unzip my mouth, however, mindless prattle spilling out in the quick, sharp way rabbits had of talking.

"Well, we could build a kind of little place near the fox border. If I turn up pregnant, I mean. Otherwise I'll be wandering all around, and you'll be with me, and then if I'm not pregnant you can just scoot on back this way. But if I am, like I was saying, we could live along the border on our own, or we could go to the mixed colony to the south. It's a long trek, and they're a hard bunch because of how we're disregarded elsewhere and the snakes are so close, but they're not horrible. Maybe even if we settle up here we'll visit. I worry about if I have kids you know, have always worried because no matter what they would have been part fox and I don't know where the line is that the fox bit starts to be completely smothered out enough that a person can find themselves a real rabbit mate like any other rabbit. I think I'm 1/8th, clearly that's too much fox for the rabbits still. Well now if I have kids they'll be kits, mostly fox. Hm. Do foxes care about mixing? Oh you don't know, you didn't know we could mix so you wouldn't know what foxes think of mixes." I prattled, but made myself pause to drink some water, giving him an opening if he wanted to take it.

He had a big grin on his face. "I like the way you talk. It's like a stream of thought that just flows from you." He was quiet for a moment. "We don't have any rules about mating outside of our species, but we do place a lot of importance on family units. Two parents and their children are considered optimal. We have some few people who mated to their own gender. They don't have children, but they're still considered mates, and they help with other children. I was raised by two vixens. My mother died in childbirth, and my father left when she died and never came back, so they took me in. They're the only people in the world who don't think I'm broken." He said the last part a bit wistfully.

"I don't know what anyone would think of us being a mated pair." This made him blush. "I mean, if that was something you wanted. We don't really talk about Rabbits all that often, though I generally hear them referred to as our 'floppy eared friends to the south.' So I don't think any old animosities remain."

I chuckled. "Well, that's not surprising. We didn't invade the fox territory much." I said in a teasing voice. The rabbits had overwhelmingly been the invaded upon party, though we had a few old story songs about brave rabbits around. "I don't know that there's a lot of lingering animosity here so much as a primal fear. I mean even now, I'm a little afraid of you, have been since you turned up. Though it can be pleasant too, feel adventurous. Anyway, if you have family here we should definitely stick close to the border so you can still see your moms." I said. I knew about affection for mothers, I had one. She'd made some piss poor choices, but she hadn't had a lot of options really. Supposedly she was still alive. If it looked like Swift and I could really make a good home together, maybe I'd invite her up to live with us.

"Not that we're a mated pair, I know that." I said, hating the edge of sadness there. Had I been talking like we were? Maybe, I couldn't remember. I pulled the birds off the fire and growled my pitiful excuse for a growl at the them. I wanted to cut them up, but they were too hot.

When I sat back down again to let the birds cool I saw Swift scenting the air with his nose, the black tip twitching a bit, but when he saw me looking at him he blushed and stopped. The pink tip of his member was sticking up from the top of his sheath. He shifted a little to hide it. "Do you think it's bad for us to be a mated pair? If you were pregnant with my kits, would you want me to stay close to you and them?" He asked, though I could sense he was trying to distract himself.

My ears flushed too. It wasn't exactly easy for me to hide that, either. "Look, you don't have to be my mate. If I'm too dominant and predatory for rabbits, I must be way too weak and jumpy for a fox." I shrugged one shoulder, keeping my eyes on the birds and trying not to get overly upset about what I was saying. "You seem nice though, Swift, I think you'd make a good Dad to any babies, and I certainly don't think it would be a bad thing to have you around ours if there are any. Of ours. Babies that are ours, I mean." I swallowed, glancing over at his cock for the third time since it'd started peeking out of his sheath. The birds were still too hot, but I started the task of trying to cut them up anyway. It was slow going.

"You don't seem weak to me, maybe jumpy, but that's not bad." He said, moving in a bit closer, as he did his shaft slid further from its sheath, as though it had only been contained by his position. It wasn't fully firm, but it was pink and slick looking between his thighs. "I like you Wynray, you're pretty, and interesting." He gave a somewhat nervous growl. "I think you'd make a good mate."

My heart wanted to jump up my throat and out onto a platter for him. He was so sweet, but I had a feeling it was just my heat getting to him. That was alright, it was getting to me too. I ached between my legs. I figured the best thing to do was let it happen. We could be friends and lovers, and when he realized I wasn't his type after all I could just let that part of our relationship go. I would tuck away my heart from him, and just enjoy him while I could. But damn if I didn't want him to like me, love me, mate me like I was his. That first time he'd been so sure of himself. I licked my lips remembering it.

"Maybe." I allowed cautiously, but then I smiled at him, warmly, invitingly. "I suppose we'll have plenty of time to get to know each other while we wait for find out if there are kits." I slid closer to him, licking the juices of the cooked birds off my fingers as I abandoned the job of trying to cut them while they were too hot. Then I put one of the fingers coated in the deliciousness against his lips, offering for him to suck it off the tip. The taste of it was arousing me further, one craving partially satisfied giving in to my other basic craving.

He licked my finger tip with his thick, flat tongue, and then his arms were around me quickly, pulling me against him as he licked my mouth and then my neck right where it slipped under my shirt. He drew me into his lap and his erection pushed up against my sex. "I want you very badly, but I want you to have a say in this. Do you want me?" He asked, green eyes intent on mine as his sex throbbed against my own.

"Yes." I gasped out, hands running over his beautiful red and silver fur. I licked his muzzle tentatively, and nipped at a bottom edge of it playfully, encouragingly.

He lifted me then and brought me down to the ground as his fingers pushed up under my tunic to draw it over my head. "I want to see all of you this time, touch more of you." He said, voice more confident than it normally was as he pushed my legs apart and settled between them. His tongue passed over one of my nipples, and the the one on the other side of my chest before he licked my cheek, and nipped at one of my ears lightly.

He was breathing hard, excited, and the tip of his member was resting against my lower lips. "I want to knot you again, but if you'd prefer I didn't, tell me now and I'll make sure to pull out."

I was enjoying the feel of the fur on his head and the way his ears felt, but they were a distant sensation compared to my throbbing desire and the intense focus I had on where his cock was and how it's hard surface felt against me. "I want it." I told him honestly, a little growl to my voice. He'd already done it once and for some reason, even though it had hurt before, it made me want it again. I figured with the heats came a desire to be knotted. Besides, it meant he couldn't go away immediately, it meant guaranteed cuddling after sex. And even if he was mistaken, he wanted me now, as more than just someone to dump his cum into and I wanted to feel wanted.

He pushed into me then, not as hard as he had that first time he'd taken me, but firmly, with a solid thrust that brought out bodies together as a low growl rolled up his throat. He began to move within me immediately, a powerful, deep thrusting that filled me fully with every stroke of his hips. His clever mouth nipped down my neck and over my breasts, sharp little teeth teasing my flesh without causing any damage. That thick tongue could do some interesting tricks as it pushed against my nipples as well.

I cried out and moaned beneath him. He felt so strong and firm, his fur a pleasant roughness compared to the rabbit men I'd been with. I liked nipping him back more than felt exactly right for a rabbit, but I'd never denied I was part fox. His growling sent thrills of fear and lust through me that weren't easy to understand, but I liked it. He was so large, wonderfully big inside me. "Oh Swift, so good." I moaned, panting beneath him as my heart thundered along too fast in my chest. I was going to cum pitifully fast.

One of his hands reached down and wrapped around my thigh, his claws pushing into my skin a little as he used his grip to pulled me down harder on his length, making his strokes even deeper within my body. "I'm going to go soon." He panted, and I felt his knot pushing against the outside of me, already free of his sheath and ready to enter mine.

The feel of it waiting there sent me over the edge. I clung to him as the pleasure rolled through me, pulling at his shaft, encouraging him in deeper as I cried out inarticulately in a higher voice than usual. My own hands tugged at his fur and skin as I tensed and shook beneath him and around him. "Please, I want it!" I gasped out against him.

He growled loudly as he came, slamming himself forcefully into me. I felt his manhood jump within me and knew he was releasing, but it took another three solid hits for him to drive that thick knot all the way into my body. He sighed as he settled down on me, his arms circling me and pulling me into his chest which was soft and warm, even if his fur wasn't quite as soft as a rabbits. He pulled us to the side so he wasn't all on top of me, but he still drew me against his body and looped his massive, fluffy tail over the top of me. His tongue lapped at my neck, and he gave it a teasing bite. "If you decide I'd be a good mate, I might bite you one of these days, but I don't want to scare you away." He said softly, licking my neck again.

"Mmm, I think I'll like that day." I said, amused and content. I liked his grooming tongue, everything about this closeness. Except that he might leave eventually. I stroked him with my hands, finding places to scratch for him that I thought he might enjoy. "So why haven't your people really liked you? I think you're very sweet, and strong." I asked him, trying to temper the possibly distressing question with my own complimentary thoughts.

"They say I'm a wanderer, that I can't settle down and I don't really belong. Foxes like to find homes and keep them, but I don't like to be in the village. It's too busy. I spend most of my time out exploring, and I think that has made me a stranger to the others." He shrugged. "It wasn't so bad when I was younger, but once I was old enough to marry it became more of an issue. There was more pressure to settle, which just made me start going out further. I always wanted to be a part of things, but at the same time I wanted to do it from the outside." He chuckled. "I think I really am broken."

I shrugged. "Well, that might make it hard to settle down with anyone, huh?" I asked. "But maybe our little home, possible colony will be less of a pain for you to be a part of?" I wasn't sure. Maybe he'd always want to be out and about, but I liked being in nature too and not cooped up. I'd never really belonged in any colony I'd gone to. Even the mixed colony had felt a little too ... something. That aside from the fact that some of them had thought me too much a rabbit. It was depressing to be shunned by members of a colony built from the caste out members of others. But it was better for him to realize if being part of a community was going to be a problem for him sooner rather than later, so it wouldn't be so much of a surprise to either of us if a house full of kits drove him off.

"I don't think it's having a place to belong, or having a home that's a problem. I like the idea of a family, of a safe place to return to, but I think I'd prefer something more spread out. I want to be able to go outside and not see all of my neighbors from my front porch." He laughed. "Is that stupid?" He nuzzled into my neck and nipped me a little. "I think I'd like having a place with you and maybe a litter or two of kits." He shifted his head back and looked at me, greens eyes serious and bright. "But only if you wanted something like that too."

I swallowed hard again. "We'll see." I said softly, nuzzling my face into the crook of his neck. "No one wants me that way." I told him. "I'm not sure I believe it. We did just meet, let's just ... see how this goes for a while."

"No one wants me either." He said, a sad huff following. "We'll see what we both want in time. Right now I really like this." His arms tightened around me for a second.

I licked at his neck and then part of his face, grooming him affectionately. My fingers were still rubbing over him, but I stopped then long enough to give him a firm, comforting hug. "I like this too." I told him.

It took a few days for me to decide on the perfect place. I'd insisted on staying in a certain range to be sure he could see his mothers. I found us a small hill with a big tree I top of it right near a large clearing. It wasn't far from water, either, but the immediate area wasn't a favorite nesting place for birds. Swift wouldn't have to go too far to find food, and I'd grow some in the field nearby when spring came again. Both foxes and rabbits could dig, so I started in on the hill. It would make a good entrance into a den, I thought.

Swift left for a bit, and I was getting a little worried that he might not be coming back when quite suddenly he crested a hill one day with two other foxes walking behind him. I recognized them both as vixens immediately. They were clearly feminine, curvy and attractive, though I could tell they were older than Swift by a quite a bit. One was a red fox like he was, with bright fur that had none of the silver coloring his did. She had a wreath of pink flowers on her head and was carrying a basket, and the other one was black furred with light blue eyes that looked like ice, but with warmth beneath them. She wore a small green cape on her shoulders and she carried a pack as they came over the hill.

Swift hopped down to all fours and ran forward to greet me. "Wyn, I brought my mothers!" He said excitedly, bushy tail swinging in his wake.

He gestured at the red fox. "This is Clia, and her mate," He gestured at the black furred fox. "Renna. Moms this is my . . . this is the woman I told you about, Wynray."

I felt a lot of things, most notably to start, fear. I ducked into the partially dug in den. I was bound to be somewhat afraid of them as foxes, but I translated that into other fears. I was dirty, filthy! I had never anticipated meeting his mothers, but I certainly hadn't expected to meet them covered in dirt. I regretted the way I hadn't given Swift permission to call me his mate. What did they think I was? Just some kind of rabbit whore? How much did they know about our meeting? And now I'd ducked away from them into the den like a field mouse! I was actually very brave for a rabbit, so this pissed me off considerably.

"We won't eat you, dear, promise." A predatory voice outside said in tones that attempted to be soothing.

"I know that." I snapped. Then I felt bad about snapping and tried to scrub at my face to make it look cleaner, hopefully, though I could see the white portions of my fur were entirely a lost cause.

"Oh honey, you did tell her we were coming didn't you?" Another voice said, soft and with a little bit of growl.

"I wanted to surprise her." I heard Swift answer.

One of the women clicked her tongue a little and the other sighed. "Sweetey, rabbits don't like surprises, especially not toothy ones." She chided him, and then a bit more loudly she said, "Wynray, dear, we are sorry for barging in. Our son didn't actually tell us you didn't know we were coming. We brought some lunch. I made a nice salad with no meat in it, and Clia made a wonderful pie from some local nuts that are very delicious. Revan has told us a great deal about you, and we'd really like to meet you."

I refrained from making my tiny growling sound because I knew how ridiculous it was, but I wanted to growl. I came out slowly, finding Swift to glare at as I emerged. "Hello." I said awkwardly. Then I gave the women an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, the den isn't finished or I could offer you ... space in the den." My ears flushed. I'd meant for the night, but realized it was weird to have offered that at that point in the conversation. "Lunch. Right. I'll go get some water." And wash myself off. I started heading in that direction.

"Go apologize to your lady friend." Renna said, swatting at Swift, and then more loudly she said. "Take your time. We'll set out a blanket and the food and get some water on the boil for tea."

Then Swift was joining me. His inner ears burning red. "Are you mad?" He asked as he trailed after me, tears tucked down and tail hanging low.

"A little." I growled, though I had to admit, he always looked so dejected and repentant when he did something wrong that I couldn't stay that way. "I'm a mess!" I complained. "I never thought I'd meet these women! Though they do seem sweet."

"I got excited when I got home to get my things." He said a bit abashedly. "I started talking about you, and then before I knew what was happening I'd invited them to come and meet you. They were excited. They wanted to see what kind of woman could put up with me." His tail wagged a little. "They knew you were a rabbit, well, part rabbit, and they weren't upset even a little. Renna tried to put chicken in the salad and Clia yelled at her, but they're trying really hard! They were nervous too."

"Do they know I'm part fox too?" I asked. "I could eat chicken. They don't have to be so careful." I was still nervously cleaning myself with my paws. "And how much do they know about us, exactly?" We reached the stream and I climbed into bathe the dirt off myself.

"They know you have some fox, but they didn't want you to have to eat meat if you weren't craving it." He colored again. "They know we've been together, and that . . . " He gave a little whimper and flicked his ears. "That I have feelings for you, and that you're important to me. I didn't tell them anything that wasn't true. They know we're not a mated couple yet."

I sighed and shook my head, not sure what I'd have liked to be different in what he'd told them, but knowing it was something. Perhaps it was really the truth I wished was different, but whatever. I supposed it was a little annoying he'd probably left out the part where our meeting had been a rape and yet I hadn't had the opportunity to do any careful editing of my own story. Though in truth, I didn't want them to hear about the rape. It was a matter of pride, still recovering from snake bites and in heat notwithstanding. I also blushed to hear him so plainly, while we weren't being at all intimate, confess he had feelings for me and say he wanted to be a mated couple. "Alright. I guess most of the truth will do."

I glanced at him as I got out, and then held his gaze for a moment, looking at him fondly before I blushed and looked down again. "I got to worrying you weren't coming back." I admitted softly.

"I'm sorry. Once they decided to come it slowed me down a good deal." He said, apologetic, though he looked a bit sad. "Are you mad that I didn't tell them about how I met you? I can if it would make you feel better about this. I just . . . didn't want them to not like me like everyone else. They raised me better. I know I'm a disappointment whether I admit it or not, but I just . . . couldn't bring myself to say it."

I sighed and came over to wrap my arms around his shoulders and, because I could never be still, toy with the fur at the back of his head. "Honey, I understand why you acted as you did. Trust me, male rabbits are worse, which probably explains why I wasn't so upset and I've seemed kind of baffled at your interest and your guilt. And they don't even get the smell of a woman's heat up their nose unless I'm around. I'm no longer mad about it. I am a little upset you got to edit but I don't know what they know of me and ... I don't know, maybe I would have wanted them to see me as your mate." I blushed at that. I wanted to be his mate, I was just still scared, uncertain if his attention would last. I'd never even had a man pretend to want to be with me like this, though. Revan was so sweet, it was hard not believe him, but somehow I managed with my past experiences pushing it all forward.

He blushed a bit. "I want them to see you that way too, and I think they do, even if I didn't tell them you were my mate. They were so excited when I told them about you, and about how we were making a place for ourselves out here. I haven't told them anything bad about you. There isn't anything bad to tell them. You're wonderful." He licked my cheek. "I mean, you're rabbit, so you have that against you, but other than that you're pretty incredible." He backed up a bit and gave me a silly foxish grin so I could see he was joking.

I shot him a warning glare that wasn't very effective with my smile. "There's plenty wrong with me, trust me Mr. Lovestruck." I didn't feel like going through a litany of those failings though, so I let the matter drop and realized I'd almost forgotten to fill our water bucket. I did that and then headed back for our partially finished den.

"This is such a nice place, that stream nearby is a great stroke of luck." I heard Clia saying as we approached. That made me happy at least, I'd picked out this place.

Renna saw me as I approached and gave me a toothy smile. "My, you clean up very nicely. I can see what Revan likes about you."

"Mom, please don't hit on my . . . " He looked at me a moment and then took my hand in his. "Please don't hit on my mate. You have a perfectly wonderful one of your own." He smiled at his other mother.

I blushed then, but smiled too and squeezed his hand back. "Thank you, sorry for the dirt, and the place is kind of a mess while we're still in the digging phase." We were putting the excess dirt over the field where I'd grow food in the Spring.

"Oh it's a wonderful place! Give it a few seasons and it'll be nice and cozy." Clia said, and then pat the blanket in an invitation for the two of us. "Are you going to add any rooms above ground? It's a good way to keep from having to mar more and more of the countryside as your brood expands." She was more asking Revan, I thought, since his kind had homes at least somewhat above ground.

"I haven't really decided yet. We want to get the in-ground portion finished before winter sets in so we won't freeze, but from there I think we'll expand as we need to. I imagine we'll keep some things above ground, maybe a smoke house."

"Bedrooms are so much nicer above ground!" Renna said excitedly. "There is nothing better than waking up to the morning sun coming through your window." Then she grinned mischievously. "Except maybe waking up to a lover between your thighs." She leaned into her mate affectionately.

Clia laughed high and heartily, flicking an effective lick over her mate's muzzle. "I prefer absolute darkness." She said, which I thought might have been an affectionate play on her lover's fur color.

"I like being pounced on." I winked at Swift. "Pretty much any time of day, particularly lately. My heat just ended." I was a little jealous, intrigued by the fact that they would both have heats, and they'd have synched cycles by now so that they were both wild with it at the same time. That sounded like a good time. I had my heat four times a year for a week and a half to two weeks each time, but I didn't know if real, full foxes were different. I'd never really been around people that had a look into the fox parts of me.

"Oof, heats, wonderful and inconvenient at the same time." Renna said with a sigh, then she nipped Clia's neck. "Well, we do enjoy them, though, don't we?" She gave a delighted laugh. "A few days every month we lose a bit of time. There is just no being productive with that going on."

"Oh, Moms, this conversation has taken a turn for worst. I love you two, but I don't want to picture you going at it. I mean, I've seen it accidentally a few times, but gah, it was so weird!" Swift frowned and made a face like he'd just eaten some bad fruit.

I laughed. "I think it sounds like a good time." I teased him, though I also nuzzled against his shoulder. "You all are the first foxes I've ever known. Seen even. It's strange to see the little features in you that make me different from the rabbits."

"Well, you're always welcome in our home, dear, if you'd like to come visit in the village we'd be happy to show you around. We're still all meat eaters, but we don't hold any animosity towards the rabbits. We really don't like to fight anymore." Renna said, reaching out and squeezing my knee. She smiled a bit wider. "When you have kits, we really want you to bring them up to our house sometimes. I love babies."

Swift blushed. "Well, we've certainly been trying."

Trying was an overstatement, but not a big one. The possibility was why he was with me, though, and the thought sent a pang of doubt and sadness through me. "Thank you! I'd really like to come sometimes, with the kits too, if there are any. And you're always welcome here too. I was thinking we might try to convince my mom to move here with us eventually. She's got it pretty hard where she is, if she's still alive."

"Oh no, that sounds terrible. Is it because of your mixed blood?" Renna asked. "We don't have anyone mixed in our village. I'm not sure how they'd be seen. I like to think we'd treat them fairly, but it's always hard to say for certain."

Swift had taken to rubbing the back of my hand with his thumb, He had a small, warm smile on his face as he looked over at me, and it looked like his mind wasn't quite with the current conversation.

I nodded, and shot Swift a brief, embarrassed smile for his stargazing. "Yeah, rabbits don't trust the fox in us. They don't want us in their dens, so we don't get the protection of a colony easily. My mom finally found a colony that would take us in after a particularly bad winter weathering it alone, just us and my siblings. But she has to put up with a lot of nonsense and cruelty to stay with them." I didn't really want to get into the details, but I hoped she hadn't died and one of my sisters had been forced to take over.

Clia shook her head. "Oh that's terrible. So I guess there aren't a lot of mixed bloods around?"

"There's a colony to the south, actually. It's not huge but it's not small either." I explained. "They can be a little tough, and I know first hand those snakes aren't to be taken lightly."

"Oh, the Crawl, we've heard stories, but our people never were that close to that territory. The cold blooded were always harder to deal with. They see the world differently, not that some of the other warm blooded folks aren't hard to deal with. The Stags north of us have been pushing south. They used to avoid us, but we don't have a standing army anymore. We've lost the will to fight." Renna looked sad. "I don't see why we can't share land, but they don't trust us, and it probably has a lot to do with the days when we were much more war like."

Swift's attention snapped back. "The northern dens are starting to move south. There is another village above us that is talking about joining ours. I think it's already too crowded."

"You think anyone outside of our house makes it too crowded." Renna noted with a click of her tongue at her son. "So antisocial."

I frowned. "This sounds like a mess. We'll have to learn to coexist with other species or end up fighting large scale wars again. Even south with the snakes, it's not a serious war. It's skirmishes, or stopping snakes who are trying to slip in and catch a big meal." I shivered a little, involuntarily. "Well. You're welcome here if you guys ever need to move south, though I know we're not all that much further south than you are."

"Aren't you sweet, thank you honey. Now don't get all distressed over it. The Pack Lands have always been fairly friendly. Some of us have been talking about forming an alliance with them, and surely then the stags will back off." Clia shrugged. "Time will tell. Anyway, let's eat." She grinned toothily as she pulled out the food and the wooden bowls and utensils they'd brought for the meal.

I shook off the topic, smiling at their offerings. "Thank you for the meal, it all looks wonderful."

Renna smiled. "I hope so. I'm going to be honest, I don't prepare meals all that often. Clia is much better at it then I am, but her pie smells amazing, so at least dessert will be good."

"You both cook very well." Swift said encouragingly.

Renna laughed. "Oh, honey, you just think that because you're sweet, and horrible at preparing your own food." Clia was nodding her agreement.

"Uh oh." I said. "Guess I have to learn to cook. But I can put together a salad anyway, and this one looks good!"

They stayed late into the afternoon, departing near sunset. It was strange to be accepted so easily, so strange. I liked it, but it made me feel a little sad when they left. I supposed I understood why Revan had been so willing to accept us as a mated pair now. Either it was just because he'd grown up in an accepting home, or foxes in general didn't have a problem with rabbit mixed people. Either way, things felt uncomfortably close to settled that evening. Uncomfortable because there was still a small part of me trying to convince me that this wasn't going to work out and I needed to protect myself from that eventuality.

I nuzzled up against Swift easier that evening though, taking in his scent and being comforted by it. The more we were together, the less his fox scent was frightening, and the more that strength and predatory scent gave me a feeling of safety instead. I teasingly called him my mate, but then I liked the way it sounded so much that I'd leaned in and whispered it in a very different tone in his ear. One very satisfying romp later and we ended up curled together under a blanket, heading for sleep.

Chapter 03

I thought things were going well. We spent just over a month together, working hard to build a new home. It wasn't easy work. I wasn't used to doing so much digging, or spending so much time in one place, but it was fun. I liked being around Wyn all the time which was certainly a strange experience for me. Most people, even my mothers who I adored, eventually got a little difficult to be around day in and day out, but Wynray I could spend countless hours with and never feel like I'd seen her too much.

I still went out and worked of course. I had to hunt for my own meat, and a small amount that she ate as well, and she taught me what plants she liked to eat so I could gather those as well while I was out. She was working on a place to put a garden, but with the weather quite cold now it wasn't really practical to start planting, and that meant she needed food for the winter. Meat was easier than plants over the long, frozen months. Still, we were stockpiling and preserving what we could, and she assured me we were doing a good job of it.

Still, despite all of our time together, and our wonderful, close love-making sessions, she seemed to be holding back from me for some reason. I was worried she didn't really want to be with a fox. She called me her mate often, and when we were close, we were very close, but she'd never told me she loved me, and when I'd said it once, she had gone quiet and hadn't said it back. I'd been hurt, but I'd also understood that maybe she didn't feel the same just yet.

I didn't let it dampen my feelings for her. She was my mate, and I wasn't going to let her go for anything. So we continued, much the same as we had been before. We were close, but she still seemed unable to commit that last bit, and I made myself except that, just hoping she wouldn't want to leave me eventually, though I feared it was a possibility. I didn't want to be without her. In all the world she was the one person I always wanted to be around. I realized that probably made me a bad fox, but it was the truth none-the-less.

As we completed our home, including a couple rooms above ground, we started figuring out what to do next, and that meant discussing Wyn's mother. She'd talked about wanting to go and get her, and I thought it was probably time we did so before the full winter settled in and we were unable to travel.

The night before we were to leave, Wyn seemed extra tense, withdrawn and maybe just a bit sad. I curled up close to her and nipped at her neck lightly. "Hey, you're wonderful. Why are you so sad?"

She shifted, glancing at me but not holding my eyes. Her nose twitched and she rubbed it with the back of her hand, her nose seemed to itch whenever she was particularly upset. "I think maybe we shouldn't go for my mother." She said quietly. She'd always maintained we shouldn't go for her unless we were sure that things were working out, so the words stung considerably.

I felt a great sadness well up inside of me. "But . . . we've finished our home, and I like you, Wyn." I wanted to say I loved her, but that had made her uncomfortable last time. "I want us to have a family here."

Tears sprang to Wyn's eyes and her ear colored. She pulled her ears down over her eyes, struggling to breath normally. "I'm not pregnant, Revan. I'm sorry, I'm not. I wish I was, really I do." She was shaking, like she did when she was afraid and tense for flight. She pressed her soft ears into her eyes and bit her bottom lip, but I could tell she was crying. "There won't be any kits." She added in a quiet, defeated voice.

I was momentarily very upset about that. I'd been looking forward to kits, but then I realized what this meant to her and I slid my arms tightly around her and drew her close to me. "I'm sorry, Wynray. I know how important it was to you to get pregnant. It'll be alright." I nuzzled her with my nose. "It's okay, love. We can find some kits, or even some little bunnies that need someone to care for them. We don't have to raise our children. We can raise children that need a place . . . " Then it occurred to me that maybe she didn't want to be with me because I couldn't get her pregnant and I froze. "Can't we?" I whimpered a bit.

She leaned against me, but she was still stiff and hadn't moved her hands or her ears from her face. "Do you want to? I mean, I always said you were free to go, and you said you wanted to stay and know your children, but now ..." She sniffed and her nose twitched against my shoulder.

"Well, it was important I know my children if you had them. I didn't want little pieces of me running around out there without knowing me, and maybe then that was the most important thing. We barely knew each other, but now . . . well, I'm in love with you, Wyn. I don't want to live without you. I will if you don't want me, but I don't want to. You make my life better. You make my days happier. You are my family. Without you, there is no home." I nuzzled her again and gently nipped her flesh.

Wyn slowly moved one of her ears from one of her teary eyes, giving me a long, painfully hopeful look. Then she wrapped her arms around my neck and buried her face against my shoulder. "I love you too. I want you to stay, so, you'll stay? You still want to be my mate?"

I felt my tail start to swish excitedly. "Yes, of course I'll stay. I mean, we're both going to leave for a while to get your mother, but I'll stay with you for as long as you'll have me. You're my mate. I'm not leaving you ever." I told her, squeezing her tightly to me. "Have you really been worried I'd leave you all this time, Wyn?" I asked, surprised. "You should have talked to me. Of course I'm not leaving you. I was worried you'd leave me."

Wyn was relaxing by degrees against me, cuddling into me and making the softest of little content sounds. They were so indistinct, I couldn't even tell if they were fox or rabbit in origin. "No one but you has ever had an interest in me as a mate, as a lifelong partner. So yeah, I was worried you'd leave if I didn't have your kits. I still wish I were having them you know. It seems unbelievable that you'd just stay around for me, but I do believe you. I do. And it's so nice to know you'd really stay. Just for me." She kissed me softly, almost shyly on my lips. "I love you."

"I love you too, Wyn. It's wonderful to hear those words from you. I was really scared for a while, and then tonight . . . you almost gave me a heart attack. I thought this was the end. No more scaring me like that. I'm the big bad predator in this relationship." I told her, growling and nipping her neck playfully.

Wyn squealed, jumped, and laughed, hugging me tightly. She was shivering with excitement and energy now, squirming in my arms. She even nipped my neck and shoulder back. "Mmm, what am I going to do with my very own fox?" She said, as though baffled, but she winked at me and grinned, one of her clever little hands reaching down to give my cock a stroke before she leapt up and ran, laughing.

I growled and bounded after her. She was insanely quick on her rabbit feet. I was fast for one of my kind, and silent as well, but she was built for speed. Still, I had extra incentive to catch her this time. My cock was already half slipped from its sheath. "Come to me little bunny!" I growled. "Then you can cum for me." I tore through our warren, our den, hot on her heals. I'd taken to running on all fours because I was faster that way.

Wyn ran on all fours too, and she was like a bouncing ball, pushing off with her hind legs. Her arms barely touched the ground for any amount of time, there more for balance and steering than for adding strength to her movements. She was still barking out the occasional laugh, but I could smell some of her instinctual fear kicking in from the chase. It drove me wild, and I knew she liked it too, strange as that seemed. I made a leap for her, which she managed to dodge with a sharp, tiny little yelp before she scurried off again.

Finally, I watched her disappear around a corner and knew I could head her off by darting down a different path.

I took the second path and slipped through a spare bedroom and back around out a different hall and there we were, face to face. I didn't hesitate for a moment. I bound forward as she was working to turn around and I took her roughly to the ground, as roughly as I ever had really, at least since that very first time. I pinned her down beneath me and force my cock under her tail and into her sex not even bothering to tease her first. I was so hard that it was almost painful. The instinctual chase and catch had driven me. I growled as I leaned over her and locked her neck in my jaws to hold her down. I rammed my shaft all the way into her until it couldn't go any further.

Wyn cried out, sharp and high, but she was quickly shifting and wiggling beneath me not to get away again, but to make my thrusts meet her hips better even as she continued to cry out. She was shivering too, and everytime a shiver ran through her, her sex tightened around me briefly. With great difficulty she shifted the side of her neck that I had in my jaws in it open further so I could get a better hold if I wanted to. "You caught me, I'm all yours." She said breathily.

I growled and dug my claws into her a little, not piercing her skin, but reminding her that I had her well in grip. Afterwards I would hold her, tell her how much I loved her, and make sure she felt safe and comfortable, but for this she was my little prey, captured and mine to take as I saw fit, and right now I was going to have her roughly.

I drew back my hips and slammed forward into her hard enough that only my firm grip on her kept her from being pushed away. My balls slapped against her her sex as I did this, and soon I was settling into a powerful, aggressive rhythm in and out of her body. My teeth tightened, and I could taste just a bit of blood. I'd punctured her skin. She was marked as mine now. The white on her neck would be red with blood, though I was careful not to penetrate her too deeply with my teeth. I didn't want any lasting damage.

Wyn gave that same, piercingly high cry. Her body was in constant motion, working with me sometimes, against me others as she pushed and bucked and squirmed, her gasps sharp and lusty. Her shivering continued too, and I could feel her sex gripping and releasing me in preparation for her climax. "Revan ... Swift ..." She said between gasps right before her sex tightened hard and she tensed beneath me before her body shook in a very pleasant way, milking my cock and making her moan shakily.

I hammered into her another half dozen times and then thrust in hard as I came, spraying seed deep within her sheath. I drew back and slammed into her again, forcing her into the ground as I growled into the fur on her neck. I did this four more times before I pushed my knot into her, forcing it against the muscles contracting against me. It popped into her in a satisfying way and then I settled and began to lick the wounds on her neck.

"I love you, my mate." I told her with a bit of growl still in my voice.

"I love you too." She said, settling slowly between shivers, voice still high and breathy. She looked back over her shoulder at me and smiled.

We set out the following day as we'd originally intended. We each carried a pack of supplies and not much else, intent upon making the trip as quickly and safely as possible. We weren't traveling established routes, so I depended on Wyn to lead the way. She knew these lands far better than I did, though I used my climbing ability to keep a watch ahead of us. We were a day into the travel before I spotted signs of a village ahead of us. It was the first rabbit village I'd noticed, and there was barely any sign at all. I detected a small amount of smoke from cooking fires, the smell of stewing vegetables wafting on the breeze.

I bounced back down the tree. "Village ahead. We should probably go around it. Or is this our destination? I don't think they'll want to see me."

"I know, but there's a stretch after this with very little water in the winter, so I want to snag some from their supply before we head further West." Wyn looked conflicted. "We could plan to meet up a little further on, and I'll go in to get us water, or we can try both going in and see how they react to you before we get to the colony we really need to get into."

I thought about it for a moment, weighing both options. I couldn't live in rabbit territory forever without going into one of their villages. It would happen at some point, better to make it a controlled experience with Wyn at my side. "Alright, I'll come with you. If I have to leave we'll meet up around the other side, but we should probably at least try to go through like normal travelers. What do you think? You know your people better than me. If you disagree, I'll go around."

"Trust me, there's going to be enough shit to deal with when we reach my old colony, I'd rather figure out how this part is going to go here first." She said, but then she came forward and hugged me. "But listen, if things seem threatening, run ok? Not that I think that's likely, rabbits are jittery, skittery people, but just in case. Alright? Trust that I'll meet you where we said, and run, don't try to protect me. Rabbit colonies are big."

"You'll run too? I don't know if I can run and leave you behind." I sighed. "At least promise you'll be as careful as you can, even if you don't run? I know they're less likely to be hostile towards you, but . . ." I reached out and touched her face. "You're my world. I can't lose you."

Wyn smiled at me. "I intend to run, and if I can't to be a nice little bunny and not get hurt." She assured me, and darted in for a quick kiss before she started off again.

Wyn took me to an underground access not unlike the one that led into our own home, which, with the addition of the overground portions, had become a kind of secondary entrance and exit. In rabbit colonies, which were entirely underground, it seemed that there were multiple entrances. This was some kind of back way in.

The tunnel started out being a small space we had to crawl through, but soon it opened up into wider passages. The first rabbit we saw was in this section of the tunnels. Her nose twitched at Wyn, but then her eyes opened wide and she fled from me, dirt spraying out behind her as she ran on all fours. Wyn watched her go a moment, and then took us on, flashing me a brief, reassuring smile.

Rabbits tended to wear tunics like the ones Wyn wore, it seemed, though some females wore pants too. This seemed to be the case for younger females, but not exclusive to them. Most of them scattered at seeing me, though a very few stayed just tucked around a doorway to peer out at me in fearful curiosity, their little chests heaving. I realized Wynray was a little tall for her people, and I could now see more clearly the parts of her that stood out as being foxlike. Really, she didn't seem very fox to me, but compared to other rabbits she was a little bigger, with a pointier face, and none of the rabbits had her intense yellow-orange eyes.

We came across a crossroad, and down one less traveled path there was a male rabbit getting oral from a female. The female panicked when she saw us, but the male seemed unconcerned. Other males had panicked, so this was clearly some kind of mating behavior for males rabbits, at least some of the time. We didn't stick around to continue causing the poor woman panic while her male wouldn't release her.

Wyn kept us moving at a steady pace until we reached the supply room. It was a dead end tunnel, leading to only one room. In that way, we cornered a black furred male not entirely intentionally. "Hey there Lexben, it's just me, Wyn." She said soothingly. "I'm here for water on my way West, and then I'll get out of your fur."

The male rabbit seemed to be trying to get himself under control. "Wyn." He said shakily, only able to take his eyes off me for a moment to glance at her. Then he cleared his throat. "You brought a fox in here." He scolded weakly.

"He's my mate. He's not here to hurt anyone, just to get water with me." Wyn assured him.

"Well. Um. Alright, but we're not just puddles foxes can walk in, you know. If he tries anything we'll protect the colony!" He said, but he sounded only half convinced and was gathering up water containers for us to fill ours with.

"I've no intention of causing anyone trouble." I said, trying to make my voice a bit smaller. I realized it was deeper and more gravely then even their males by a bit. "Wyn and I just need to resupply and then we'll be gone. "Our kind have no interest in aggression with anyone in these times." I tried to speak on our behalf, though I doubted it would do much good.

Wyn smiled and nodded and filled our water containers.

Lexben seemed to gradually get his head about him, though he occasionally shivered in the same way Wyn did when nervous. "Do you want to buy any food for the road? We don't have any meat." He said, glancing at me in half apology and half disgust he was trying to cover up. At least he was trying?

"No, maybe next time, I really want to make this as fast a stop as possible." Wyn said, making her tone conversational.

"Oh, yeah, next time." Lexben said, swallowing a little and giving me an uncertain smile.

"What's going on?" Someone asked from the doorway behind us. It was another male rabbit, flanked by two more rabbits, one female and one male. They didn't look quite as frightened as most of the rabbits we'd come across.

Wyn was putting away the water and shouldering her pack again. "We're just leaving, no worries." She said. "We were just taking advantage of that open water policy for travelers. This is my mate, Revan."

The little grouping of rabbits became five instead of three, all of them looking suspicious and nervous, edging on aggressive, but I only knew that because I'd seen the way rabbits were otherwise. "We've been good to you in the past, Wyn, and now you've brought a predator among us?"

"It's ok! It's ok!" Lexben called, waving his hands a little and sounding nervous still. "He's alright, guys, really. Don't start anything, I mean, they're already leaving. Just walk them out, how about."

"Revan won't harm anyone as long as no one attacks us." Wyn said calmly, and shouldered her way past the little gathering.

I followed after her, making myself as small as possible, though I was still head and shoulders taller than even the tallest of them. "I've no interest in hurting anyone." I reiterated. "We just needed water for our journey." I tucked my tail around Wyn in a defensive posture. With this many of them, if they decided to fight it would be a mess. I couldn't outrun them, though I would certainly try.

They let us by, but not very easily, and they followed after us. Three of them split off along the way, so that by the time we reached the exit, a different one than the one we'd used to get inside, there were only two with us. The colony was eerily quiet, even though we passed open places that were clearly meant to be common meeting places. The people that were there when we went through huddled back or ran, watching us carefully. We encountered one other mating couple in a hallway, thought this time they both scrambled through a door before we got near them.

Finally outside again, the two rabbits that had been tailing us stayed within as we exited. We walked for a short time and then Wyn let out a long sigh of relief. "Not so bad, really. I was worried we'd run into more open hostility."

I felt a bit let down by the experience myself. It had depressed me to be considered a threat without them even knowing me. I realized this was probably why Wyn lived alone, and why we'd probably never be able to mingle with regular rabbit culture. I wasn't that upset about the fact that we'd have to stick to ourselves mostly. I prefered that way of living, but the thought that people assumed I was out to harm upset me.

"Yeah, I suppose it went alright." I said, hoping my voice didn't contain as much disappointment as I thought it did.

Wyn bumped into me a little, smiling at me. "Hey, big bad fox, it's ok. I think we'll be able to establish a loose trading connection with them or something. They're the closest colony to our home." She really did sound optimistic and she pecked me on the cheek. "And you were great, you're such a sweetheart. They'll see that. But you have to understand you look like ... And smell like ... Death." She shrugged. "Violent death. I mean I love you and your scent and everything, but that's what rabbits who have never run into a fox before are going to think. It's what I thought that first day you tackled me to the ground!" She took my arm and squeezed it. "But not now. I didn't even think that a couple hours later."

"I smell like death?" I raised an eyebrow at her. "I think I might be offended, I'm not entirely sure." I told her, a small smile on my face. I knew what she meant. Rabbits didn't eat meat, so the smell of a meat eater was probably upsetting to them, though Wyn did eat some meat. Still, it did bother me that they'd been so afraid. In my head I'd had a vision of Rabbits and Foxes maybe all living together some day, but it appeared there was still a wide gap between our two peoples.

She rubbed my arm. "Well, if we have a strong colony of our own, they'll ..." Her speech faltered and she looked away, upset by wherever her mouth had been leading her. "They'll adjust if we keep bringing you around, learn to like you." She flashed me another smile and pat my arm, though I could tell she was trying to shake off the upset. She cleared her throat. "Sorry, I was just thinking, about babies." She said, looking away again and shrugging. "They'll get used to the local fox being around."

I slipped an arm around her shoulders and drew her close to me. We'd keep trying, but either way, I wasn't letting go of her.

We walked for another two days through the wilderness, bypassing two more warrens before we finally drew close to our destination. This one seemed particularly well hidden. I was getting better at picking these places out by smell alone, but it wasn't easy with everything underground and cooking fires were generally vented through coal deposits that stripped the scent away. It was actually easier to identify them by what was missing from the air then by what was there. Warrens tended to be an almost void of smells, or covered up by an unusual supply of wildflowers, more than would normally be growing in an area. It was clever. If a predator didn't know to look for it, and wasn't quite good at figuring things out, then they'd never pick it up at all.

"So, is there anything I should be prepared for?" I asked as we drew nearer.

"I really don't want you to get angry, so I really want to dull down some of this ..." She said hesitantly, but then she sighed and shrugged. "My mother is a whore here, did you have those in your village?" She continued on as though she hadn't asked the question. "That was one of the conditions upon her being allowed into the colony. Mom agreed because she had a lot of kids to care for, and she'd lost a few that bad winter. I left when I was becoming more woman than girl to avoid being turned into the same thing. It was clear no one wanted to be my mate, so I left. They tried to stop me, but failed, and that's why I haven't returned these past five years."

We did have whores, but they weren't considered a bad thing where I was from. Vixens and sometimes males who took money to mate were just considered a part of society. They often had mates and families. I gathered that things worked much differently here. "They don't treat women who choose this way of life well here?" I wanted to be clear. "And they were going to force you into it as well?" My hackles rose and I had to force myself to calm.

"They treat most people who choose that kind of thing fine, sex is such a need, particularly for rabbit men, that it's not a big deal. And women who are pregnant are often open to having sex with people beyond their mate, so it's not like they're really forceful about being faithful or something. But occasionally, they'll put a person into that position expressly for the purpose of being dominated or abused. We don't have a lot of aggression in us generally, but with those people you can feel free to take out anything on them." Wyn said, looking and sounding uncomfortable about the topic. "Not all colonies do that, but this one isn't the only one that does. And they dictated other things for Mom. The council that rules this colony liked to control a lot about her life with them, seeming just because they liked the feel of having that power over her." She didn't expand upon their plans for her, I noticed.

"Then it's a good thing we're here. We need to get her out of this place." I said, growling a bit. "If I'd known it was bad for her, I would have tried to come sooner. I'm sorry we took so long." I came forward and nuzzled her. "If anyone tried to hurt you while we're in there, though, I am going to protect you. You're my mate, and your family is mine. I'll protect them too. How many siblings do you have?"

Wyn smiled and nuzzled me back. "Last time I was here I had 7 living siblings. But the council had just informed us that the oldest male, Fenwin, would have to leave because he was getting older and they considered him a threat. He was 13. I don't know if he'll still be there, or Wesky and Clive as they were 10 at the time and would be 15 now. Let's see, then there was Ashana, who would be 17 now and would have faced the same choice I did. Janshy, Palis, Gravco, and Olfin all died. So then Bensin and Jasvin would be 10 and Ariben would be 8. I think Mom had lost fertility when I left because Ariben was her youngest. So if the older boys had to leave, that leaves 4, Ashana the eldest at 17. I don't think she'd have left."

"We should have made a bigger house." I noted and chuckled. "Well, we'll see what we find. Any who want to come with us can. We can probably offer them a better life than they'll have here." I took a deep breath and smiled at my mate. "Are you ready?"

Wyn nodded, giving me a tentative smile. "Sorry I guess I should have elaborated about this stuff earlier."

Wyn took us in a back way again, but this time we didn't have to go far. She made a left down a particularly dank, cramped hall and knocked on a door. The doors were made of wood, but this one was rotting a bit. There was a shuffling inside, and some cursing from a woman.

A woman yanked open the door, but it was a young woman. I instantly recognized that she was related to Wyn. Her fur was more red, and though she lacked any white she had black paws and black tips on her ears which were a little shorter and more pointed than Wyn's, though they still flopped over at the tips. Her eyes were darker and a little more brown than golden, but they still had that predatory gleam to them. She jerked back a little. "Whoa, Wyn?" She asked, amazed.

Wyn threw her arms around the woman who was wearing something more like a short silky robe than the tunics most people wore. She also had several golden loops pierced through her ears and a gold stud in her lip that brought forth more of the gold in her eyes. "Ashana! Oh I had hoped you'd decided to leave like I had."

Ashana pat her back. "Yeah. Yeah, hi." She shot me a glare that quickly relaxed into indifference. "Look, I'm a little busy. Uh, I know, you can see the others." She pulled her sister in, shot me another weary look, but didn't stop me from coming too.

The main room looked like it was used for everything. There were a few comfort items, some toys that were scuffed, and some empty plates on a table low to the floor. There was a doorway curtained off at one side of the room, and then a larger curtain that seemed to cut the main room into two rooms. She took us around the curtain that cut apart the main room, and within the smaller area were the kids. They had one large mattress, and they were all sitting on it. Jasvin was reading to the younger boy, Ariben, and the older boy, Bensin, appeared to be knitting. Ashana left us there and scurried back to whatever she'd been doing.

Wyn smiled awkwardly at the boys and sat down, pulling her pack into her lap. "Hey kids. Uh, you probably don't remember me well, huh?"

"Wynray." Jasvin said, putting the book aside and looking between me and Wyn wearily, holding Ariben to herself a bit protectively.

Wyn was pulling things out of her pack, and offered the kids some food, which they quickly took. Across the main room, muffled slightly by two sets of curtains, we heard the sounds of sex start up. Ashana gasped and moaned, and yelped when we heard a smacking sound. Wyn flushed a little. "Where's Mom?" She asked the kids as they ate.

This seemed to somber the air in the room almost immediately. "In the deep ground." Bensin said, though I didn't recognize this term. I didn't need to really. The way everyone had gotten quiet and sad looks had circled the room, I didn't need to know the terminology to be aware of what they meant.

"She had mean sex and couldn't wake up." Ariben said. "We had to put her in the earth bed."

"She was beaten to death two winters ago." Bensin clarified. "You'd know if you hadn't left us."

I stepped closer to my mate and put an arm around her. It really wasn't fair for them to hold it against her for leaving, but children didn't always have the clearest view on things.

"Why'd you bring him here?" Bensin asked, sounding angry, even though he was still knitting. "Foxes are why we're like this."

Wyn was quiet for a few long moments, stunned. "What?" She asked, sounding a little dazed. "Oh, this is my mate, Swift." She cleared her throat. "I wasn't here because I didn't want to be hit and shit. Mom told me to go! She ... wanted better for me." Wyn rubbed her nose with a hand, clearly upset. "Foxes aren't the reason rabbits treat us shitty."

"If it wasn't for foxes, we wouldn't be mixed and worthless. We could have real lives." Bensin said, glaring at me. "I hate you!" He threw down his work and left the room.

Ariben was starting to cry, clearly upset by his brother's display of aggression.

"Maybe I should go?" I asked, uncertain. I didn't want to leave Wyn alone, not now, but was I making things worse by being here? "I don't want to, but . . . I don't want to upset everyone by being here." I curled my tail around Wyn. She'd just found out her mother had died. This was a terrible situation. Things were worse than we'd thought.

Wyn shook her head, cuddling into me. Jasvin comforted Ariben. "No, they need to know you're part of this offer." Wyn said sternly. There was another slapping sound from across the way and Ashana cursed.

"What offer?" Jasvin asked, giving Wyn an intently curious but cautious look.

"Swift and I have made ourselves a home, and there's a good amount of room. We came to get Mom, you guys, invite you to live with us." Wyn said.

Jasvin gave me a suspicious look. "Would Ashana have to have sex with your fox?" It was weird to have a ten year old asking such frank questions, but then again, the sounds just two curtains away were a clear indication she knew more than most ten year olds.

"No! She wouldn't have to with anyone, and Bensin wouldn't have to leave when he gets older." Wyn said quickly, offended at the idea.

I was looking over my shoulder where the slapping sound had come from, a low growl in my throat, but I made myself focus. "We're a mated pair. I don't want to be with anyone but Wynray. I said, trying to keep my agitation down. We do want to have our family close, though, and for Wyn that means all of you. Our home is quieter than this one, but safer as well."

"It's about family." Jasvin nodded, as though that cleared the most important bit of confusion up. "It sounds nice, I'll talk to Bensin. He'll get better, especially knowing you guys want to take us out of here." She gave us a small smile.

Wyn nodded. "I've still got to talk to Ashana about it." She glanced at the wall off fabric. This had gone suspiciously quiet, there weren't any more cries from here, though there was still a fast rhythmic smacking of flesh together. A moment later we heard a man groan and Ashana coughed and sucked in breaths in turns.

"Dick!" She coughed loudly at him and there was a sharper growl than Wyn had ever mustered.

"Oh quit complaining or I'll vote to reduce your rations again." A male voice said, it sounded like he was leaving the curtained off room. "Give me a kiss and I'll go." He said. There was another low growl from Ashana, but then the man laughed softly. "Good girl, see you soon."

I stepped out into the other room, standing to my full height and growling low in my throat as he entered the room. The look of terror on his face was mildly amusing for me, though I knew I should have felt bad about it, using my fox nature for intimidation. In this case it felt right. He'd hurt my family, and if I hadn't thought Ashana would be furious, I might have interfered the first time I'd hurt him hit her.

The rabbit was big and brown with black eyes. They darted fearfully from me to the door out and the door back into Ashana's room. Then, surprisingly, he snagged Ashana's arm and pulled her behind him to shield her. "There's a fox, a full fox." He hissed at her, trying to edge around to the door slowly.

Ashana shoved him. "Yeah well, he's a person too you know. Get out of here." She said, most of the angry heat had gone out of her voice.

He looked from me to her. "Are you ..."

"Yes I'm sure! And don't go rounding anyone up, I'll be fine. He's here with my sister, he's not going to hurt me." Ashana snapped.

The man left then, quickly. Wyn had come out next to me by now.

Ashana pulled her robe tighter. "Hello again." She said to Wyn and I.

"Do you like it here?" I asked, honestly curious if she thought this was best she could do in life. I had half a mind to chase the male rabbit down the halls of the warren just for fun. I was furious at the moment.

Ashana shrugged and turned away. "It works well enough." She sounded agitated by the question. "I'm not going to throw myself at your feet and beg for some kind of help or anything." She added, clearly too proud to admit to wanting or needing help.

"Well, we'd like to take you and the kids to our home we just built. It's just us, and you guys if you want to come. So far anyway. Do you have any children of your own?" Wyn asked, kind of looking around for any.

"No." Ashana said flatly, and at first I wasn't sure if she was answering Wyn's question or responding to our invitation. She looked me over briefly, suspicious. "What do you want us there for?"

Wyn made her pitifully cute growling sound. "I want you there because you're family, not for anything else. No sex involved."

Ashana considered that. "You know they're going to try and stop you. Again. Maybe not for the children, but they will for me. And maybe for you, too." She said, eyeing Wyn and then me again.

"If you want out of this place, I'll do what is necessary to see you and the rest of your siblings get out of here safely. You're my family, and I'm uninclined to leave any family is this awful place." I growled. "I don't want to hurt anyone, but I won't let anyone hurt you either, not anymore."

Ashana laughed. "A noble fox. Alright. But if possible, I'd like the kids to leave first. There won't be terrible about them." She said.

Wyn considered but shook her head. "Everyone together. We might not be able to come back, especially if they make me leaving an issue because I'm fairly certain my mate isn't going to want to leave me here while he takes the kids out." Her eyes flicked to me.

"No, no one gets left behind. We'll go together. I'll follow up behind everyone else, close behind mind you, but hopefully my presence will be enough of a threat that they won't try anything violent, and if it's not . . . well, I'll fight to protect my family." I had a knife, but it really wasn't designed to be a weapon. Mostly I had my teeth and my claws if it came to a fight. I figured my most effective weapon was probably my undeserved reputation as a vicious monster.

Ashana nodded and then pulled back the curtain separating the main room from what was apparently the children's bedroom. "Jasvin, where's your twin?" She asked sharply.

"He ran out." Jasvin said, putting aside Ariben, though he was resistant. He had light brown fur with black on his ear tips , paws, and tail. There wasn't a huge amount of age difference between him and Jasvin, but Ariben seemed a nervous, silent sort, more childlike than the others. Maybe it was his mother's death, or their circumstances, or maybe he was just a kid who'd maintained his innocence through all this unlike his siblings.

"Find him. We need to move quickly, I doubt Kravik will keep news of a fox in the warren to himself for long, he'll want to see what others think of it, what they should do. And we don't want them to do anything." Ashana looked to Ariben next. "You pack.

Jasvin got up. She had bluish silver fur with white down her belly and up her chin. She gave us a cautious smile and left to get her brother.

"There won't be much to pack." Ashana said, looking back at Wyn and I as she headed to her own room.

"Good, I think the faster we get out of here the better off we'll be." I turned to Wyn and led her just a bit off to the side. "Are you alright?" I asked her quietly. She'd just learned her mother was dead, likely beaten to death, and I wanted to make sure she was going to be alright, at least for now.

Wyn looked up at me into my eyes, and I could see the hurt there, but she nodded slowly and then rubbed her face against my chest momentarily, her arms going around me in a hug she seemed to need. "I'll be alright. I'll mourn Mom later, when we're all safe." She said, voice stern, a command to herself. "Are you alright? Nervous?" She asked, flicking a soft lick across the side of my muzzle in a kiss.

I nodded, knowing it was important to be strong for her. "I'm fine. I'm more agitated than nervous. I'm not happy to see how everyone has been treated here. I'm glad we can help your family." I nipped her neck affectionately. "We'll get out of this. They might not want to let everyone go, but I bet they don't want to fight me either. They're probably far overestimating what I can do, but that's for the best."

Wyn nodded her agreement. She opened her mouth to say something, but Jasvin and Bensin came in, the boy looked agitated and sheepish. Jasvin just went right in to help Ariben.

"You ready to go, Ben?" I asked the young male, thinking he needed a bit of encouragement. "Your sister and brother are going to need you to be strong for them, help protect them while we get out of here. Do you think you can do that?" It might have been considered patronizing, but the truth was that we needed them all watching out for each other. There was strength in family.

"No. Obviously. It's why I'm still allowed to stay in the colony, duh." He said, annoyed.

Wyn squeezed his shoulder. "You can too help, they're all scared of us, that's why they hurt mom, and Ashana, and sometimes us too. Just bare your teeth and growl. As long as your growl isn't as pitiful as mine." She demonstrated her growl for him and he laughed a little deeper himself.

Benisin smiled a little at me. "I guess I'll try then."

"You'll do great." I told him, taking better stock of the young one. The fox ran heavy through him. His fur was mostly orange, but his hands and footpaws were black, and his ears were pointed in a very canine way. I thought some of his bitterness might have been treatment he suffered because of how much fox ran through him. His tail was even white tipped, though it was certainly closer to a rabbit's tail then a foxes. He was a cute kid. "You're every bit as ferocious as I am, so together we got this covered." I gave his shoulder a squeeze.

He looked more confident, and I was happy to see it.

Soon everyone else was gathered around. They had little with them in a set of tattered packs and a couple bags not meant for long distance travel but which were apparently all they had. Then we left.

We didn't have far to go to the back entrance, but there were rabbits waiting for us at the cross section. One of them was Kravik. He was toward the front and he had a strangely upset expression on his face when he saw we were leaving, with all of their things and every one of the small, abused family. He even reached out and snagged Ashana's arm.

Both Ashana and Bensin growled. "Ash, you're really leaving?"

Ashana pulled her arm from Kravik's grip. "Why, are you going to marry me?" Ash snorted at him. "Thought not." And then she moved on and Kravik let her, backing up himself and a few others as he looked after her with a strange expression.

Kravik wasn't the only one there, and it seemed that in his dealings beyond Ashana's bedroom he was peaceful and others weren't so much. Some people just shot angry remarks at us, but a few were in our way and not looking to move.

I put myself squarely between my family and the other rabbits. "I don't want trouble here, but this is my family, and I'm taking them someplace where they can grow up safely. If you have a problem with that, then there are going to be issues."

A group of males stepped forward, all huddled close together, all with equal looks of rage on their face. "These are our property. We own them. We provide them with safety and place to live, and they provide us a service. It's a fair agreement. A fox doesn't have claim to anything here." One said, and the others nodded. One of them had a rapier he drew and held in front of him. I hadn't fought with swords much, but his stance looked good, well balanced.

"This is my mate's family, and therefore mine. I'll fight for them if I have to." I growled, hackles up, making myself look as big as I possibly could.

"Fox can't legally mate Rabbits. As far as I'm concerned these women are all our property." One of the other rabbits in that group said. I unclipped my knife and drew it, suddenly very certain that things were going to get violent.

"Kill him." One of the rabbits in the back said. "Foxes need to learn that meat eaters don't belong here. We'll hang his head at the border." This seemed to bolster the others.

I growled low in my throat and held my knife out in front of me. "Run." I whispered darkly. "Go for the others waiting outside." I said, knowing there weren't others, but hoping that saying that might stop any pursuit that might go after them when they were free. "I'll take care of these few and be along shortly.

Instead, Ashana handed Bensin to Wynray and put her hands on her hips, glaring at everyone. "Don't you act all high and mighty! You let my mother get beaten to death, and she was a loyal, sweet woman who put up with every restriction and shitty thing you had to throw at her. That doesn't sound like protection to me! That sounds like an infection among you, a problem with your own heads. You broke our agreement when you let my mother die, and you violate our agreement every time one of you has sent me to the healers for your own sick enjoyment. I'd stop worrying about the fox in here, in me and my family, and start looking for the darkness among you. They don't look different, they don't sound different, and that should scare you more than we do. Even with 'predatory eyes' we've never struck out at you, but you can't say the same when it comes to us. Now I'm fed up with your treatment, taking the darkness you have to dish out and keeping my mouth shut. So let me and my family go, or you're all going to learn who the real villains are and exactly what they like to do to the people who depend on them for protection."

She paused a moment. "So let's get started, and the longer we're here, the more I'm going to say. Let's start with you, Ablence. You're the one who broke my arm six months ago. And a year ago you cracked two of my ribs. Think anyone is going to believe your mother fell down that water tunnel now? And let's move on to you, Patjif. Should I start at the beginning with you? From before I was officially the colony's rag doll?"

The man who seemed to be Ablence had backed away from the group blocking our way, and the rabbits he got near were moving away from him too, staring at him.

I dropped my knife a bit, sad to hear these things, but happy they might be getting us out of a fight. "It's easier to judge others, but perhaps you have much house cleaning to do before you come looking for us. I'm taking my family out of here now. Do what you will with yourselves, but don't trouble us anymore." I said, and I gently urged Ashana to join the rest of us as we made our way down the hall of the warren and out into the world beyond. No one dared follow after us, and I knew it had very little to do with me, and everything to with Ashana. She was a strong woman.

By nightfall we were well away from that place, and we set a camp early, building a large fire and putting up a lean-to to keep the wind away from the young. I made myself a place to bed down away from the others so that they could have the warmth of the group but needn't be too close to me. I could tell I still made them nervous. I was just happy they were safe now. Soon enough we'd be back in our own home. I was looking forward to that.

Wyn joined me, nuzzling up against me and bringing with her a blanket. "The littles are warm enough, Ash insisted I come to you with this one." She said, and then confined after a few moments. "She thinks you might not like them. But I think it's a self worth problem we all seem to suffer from, apparently. Thank you for this, by the way. Being ready to fight with us, intimidating them. I know that you don't like that you're scary, but it was good for us in this case."

"I like them, but I know I make them nervous. I want them to be happy and comfortable." I told her, taking the blanket and wrapping it around my shoulders before I opened it up to let her curl up next to me inside of it. "I'm glad it didn't come to an all out fight. I think it would have been bad for all of us in the long run, even if I had survived. I don't want to be a brute, but Ashana took care of things quite well. There is a lot of steel running through the back bones of your family."

Wyn smiled sadly up at me. "Yeah, but we wouldn't have been that way if things hadn't been so hard. I was shy as a girl, Ashana very carefree. We might have turned out similar to how we are, but we might not have just as easily." She yawned and shrugged, then cuddled in closer. "I wonder why Ashana didn't have any babies yet, but I don't feel close enough to ask her such a personal question."

"I'm sure we'll find out eventually, once things have time to settle down and everyone becomes comfortable. It might take a while, but we have time." I leaned in and licked her cheek affectionately. "I just hope they like it back home. I'm sure it will be a huge change for them."

Wyn laughed. "Sometimes big changes are still definitely good ones."

I smiled at her, thinking of how much of a change she'd made to my life, and how bad it had been before she'd come into it. "I couldn't agree more. Big changes can be wonderful. I love you, Wyn."

"I love you too." she said, grinning and obviously thinking along the same lines.

THE END

If you love my work and want to support, please consider joining my patreon. The cost is as little as $2 a month and you can get access to some of my best stories, some of which will NEVER be posted anywhere else. This includes stories in my most popular worlds. Writing is my only source of income, so your support is very important to me. https://www.patreon.com/heathpfaff