In a place, far, far from here...

Story by Isiat Squire Carcer on SoFurry

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#1 of The choices we make

So, this honestly started as a vent piece I wrote a long, long time ago, and despite it's rather grim background and the events that caused me to want to write it, having re-done it, I have a chance to reflect and see really just how far I've come from the person I was...

Anyway, without further delay, this is a remastering of an old, old piece of mine I hunted up and decided to re-write from scratch, omitting a few names and adjusting bits here and there.

This is part one of two; The second will be uploaded shortly.


Frustration. Anger. Blind and all encompassing fury. That was what had driven him out here at this time. The borders were secure. He knew they were secure. With his technology all but forming an invisible network of tripwires and sensors along the edges of their pack's territory, he would have known beyond a doubt if anyone had gotten past. That, and there was a freaking blizzard! The air was full of snow, thick enough to drown in, and he knew any of their rivals in the area had none of the required resources to mount anything even remotely resembling an incursion in these conditions.

But the damned Alpha had damned well insisted that someone could have snuck through, despite his best attempts to persuade him otherwise. "Technology can fail. Eyes do not." He had stubbornly ridiculed Isiat like some pup who had no idea what he was talking about. Over a decade with the royal commandos, numerous active deployments, having helped train the best and brightest and most versatile and deadly soldiers Her Majesties Armed Forces could produce, and he obviously had no fucking idea what he was on about. Fucking typical feudal stuck, backasswards thinking, hairbrained twat logic is what it was. They had tested the damned sensors in Antarctica for fucks sake! They were made for exactly these conditions!

He checked his PDA, shielding the screen with the back of his paw as he trudged through the ankle deep and rising snow that blanketed everything he could see in white. Even through the night vision monocular, he could barely make anything out, the IR illuminator simply reflecting the invisible light back off the falling walls of snow to create a blinding wash of static that revealed nothing. He switched both devices off frustratedly, tugging the NVG's from around the brim of his boonie cap and stowing them in a pouch on his belt. His sensors were fine, and his night vision wasn't helping.

It was already dark out, and any light the stars and moon might have once provided was lost behind the rolling clouds overhead. Even beneath his snow poncho and gear, he could feel the biting chill of the wind. His combat boots seemed to sink a little deeper with each step he took through the slurry that coated the ground, keeping his sniper rifle tucked and tight against his chest as he moved. The last thing he needed was to run into trouble from any source out here and have it jam up.

Squinting to try and make out any landmarks or at this point, anything that wasn't the infinitely stretching white of the blizzard. He couldn't. There was hardly any reason to try at this point. If the damned Alpha hadn't ordered him out here... In retrospect, this was probably payback for spending so much time with the Alpha female, Shadi... She was a meek and sweet little Amasii lioness; Barely five feet to the top of her dark haired head, and with and fur and exotic patterning and just the right about of curve. She was a beautiful girl, far too good a soul to be stuck with the likes of that bloody kitsune bastard. Isiat had simply taken his duties as their head scout to include keeping her informed of his findings and goings on. If they slipped into idle chit-chat for a few hours afterwards, where was the harm in that?

Of course, he hadn't seen it that was, and not wanting to give him a reason to bring even more hell down on her, Isiat had backed away from her. Hell, the damned fool probably saw it as Isiat trying to sneak around behind him and snatch his title out from beneath his feet. That wasn't Isiat's way on matters like that. If he really wanted to, he would have simply shot the bastard in the head and been done with it. Matter closed. Of course, the other dozen or so males in the pack who were utterly loyal to him might have caused him more problem, and he couldn't risk a move like that without having them otherwise indisposed of before paw. It wouldn't do him any good to kill the Alpha only to get himself killed and have one of them take his place... And Shadi too...

He shuddered to think about it, the savage and pained noises he so often heard coming from their treehouse when the Alpha was in one of his moods, infuriated and needing someone to take it out on. He knew that she had been raped; several times in fact. Each time he'd taken it upon himself to see to her wounds as best he could and as much as she would permit him. Her mate had forbade her from being seen without proper coverings by any other male of the pack on pain of death.

Most times, Isiat would just give her what he could from his stashed away supplies, and let her treat those injuries herself. He wasn't short on medical equipment at least; Those, he had packed in abundance before he had come here, and kept them stashed at various points through the territory... Thinking of them, there should have been one not to far from here either. Perhaps shelter from the storm for a few hours would have been a better-

Fire light! Contact! Isiat hit the deck reflexively, his instincts and training kicking in as he shuffled forwards on his elbows, bringing the rifle up into his paws at the same time. There was not meant to be anyone else out in this region save for himself. The rest of the pack in fact was hunkered down. That left three possible scenarios. One; Someone had been sent to find him. Two; Someone had managed to slip past his sensors and make it into the territory. Or three; It was a trade caravan hunkered down. He quickly wrote off scenario three. There were no wagons or animals that he could see by the fire light, and it was too small to be a camp fire. It had to have been a torch light.

Which left options one and two. The Alpha hated him. He wouldn't send anyone, nor would anyone risk his wrath to come out and find him of their own will. That left only one possibility. Somehow, somebody had gotten in. And that pissed him off on two counts. The first that they were there, and the second that the Alpha had been right. Isiat would kill them, and hide the bodies under the snow pack. Nobody would know, and Isiat wouldn't have to deal with the round of 'I told you so's from the Alpha's smug face.

He racked the bolt, took aim, relaxed his grip, and settled his sights. They traced just to the right of the torch, which was moving slowly to the left. Roughly, where the person holding it should have been. He slowly let out the breath, and squeezed gently on the trigger. If the rifle made a sound, the howling winds tore it away before he heard it, even so close to the weapon. The torchlight flipped and fell backwards, extinguishing itself in the snow. Scratch one. Rising to a crouch, he moved forwards, keeping the weapon up and ready as he chambered the next round.

He all but ran headlong into the second intruder, bundled so thickly under leather and pelt wrappings that he could hardly make out the species, some sort of canine, he thought. He fired on a reflex, and the intruder doubled backwards, thumping into the snow. Isiat paused by the body long enough to slip his knife into the folds of the furs covering the downed males neck, just to be sure before moving on.

The winds died down suddenly, and Isiat found himself confronted by a pair of equally confused looking attackers. He shot the first one, before turning his rifle sideways and using the barrel to block the downward swipe of the second intruder's sword, a nasty looking curved scimitar. The desert dwellers. Fucking typical. He swung the butt of his rifle around, hoping to crack it across the male's jaw, but the scimitar twirled and blocked Isiat's attack on a return swing.

They fought, parrying and checking eachothers blows few a several second clash that pushed Isiat onto the defensive, forcing him backwards as he sidestepped to avoid a lunge aimed at his chest. Unfortunately for Isiat, that also pushed him uncomfortably close to the edge of a shallow ditch in the ground, but due to the conditions, there was almost no way for him to see it. In the near pitch blackness, he had a hard enough time seeing his foe and keeping his head on his shoulders.

They parted long enough for Isiat to cycle the bolt, praying the the barrel was intact enough to get the round off, as he leveled the rifle from his waist. He fired at the same time as a fierce kick from his attacker knocked him backwards, causing him to stagger as the last intruder fell with a messy hole in the front of the wraps covering his face.

Isiat braced his foot back, but instead of halting himself like he expected, he tumbled backwards and fell as his foot came down on nothing but air. Cursing, he tried to tuck and right himself, jump training coming back a few seconds after he really had needed it, but the ground came up quicker, and Isiat blacked out as his head came down hard on the stones just beneath the covering of the white snow.

Around him, the snow continued to fall, already beginning to erase any signs of a battle from the area, burying the fallen beneath its icy embrace.

Technically speaking, 'Alpha female' was Shadi's third job. Before the Alpha had taken her as his own, Shadi had started out as Hunting Mistress, which had by far been her favorite job; allowing her long trips away from the camp and a chance to do what her kind was born to do- bring down prey more than twice her own size. The females of her species were well known for their hunting prowess- which is why the job had been given to her when she had left her pride to find a new home.

Her second job, while not having been her favorite position, had been interesting to learn. Less than a year after she had come into the pack, their old shaman had wanted to retire, and with Shadi being the only other female with experience birthing cubs and drying herbs, the apprentice position had been given to her, quickly followed by the full position of healer to the pack. Daunting as it was, she had been pleased no one had died under her watch, and she had helped guide two beautiful cubs into the world in the two years she'd been the Shaman.

Her job as Alpha female was no where near as glorious as her pack mates must have thought it would be, or as she had thought before he had chosen her.

It had been a dark night, moonless and cloudy when a blood curdling shriek had signaled the end of the previous Alpha's life, and the death of his three children. Normally, as Shadi was told, the old Alpha's mate would become the new Alpha's mate.

Apparently the take over hadn't gone as well as intended, because the Alpha Female had died hours after her mate and cubs. If it was from injuries, self harm, or just from a broken heart, no one knew but the new Alpha. No one had the gall to press the matter to him to find out, either, with the pack being high on energy due to the new takeover.

Brutal. Cruel. Bloody. This was the way of Shadi's world, even before joining the Northern Pack. In her breed, males would take over a pride, and every cub too young to run or serve breeding purposes was slaughtered. It happened every twenty or so years, and worked well to keep inbreeding low, as it was not in a male to share even his daughters, so long as they lived in his pride.

Shadi had been lucky to never see any of her family or siblings die in such a way, she had left long before that could happen, being one of Alzeer's first litter to his highest ranking female in his current pride. Hopefully, one of his sons from a previous pride would take over after he became too old to defend them all. They would be far less likely to murder his own siblings.

The following morning of the head family's slaughter, without so much as a warning, Shadi had been plucked from her Healing Hut and been practically dragged to the Treehouse in which she now lived. She was not so much asked as she was informed, that she would be the Alpha's female, and she would serve all the purposes he required of her.

The small feline had spent a week locked in that treehouse, being brutally taught exactly what those requirements were. Any and all excitement of her 'promotion' had been dashed within minutes of the Alpha getting her in nothing but her fur. She had never been fond of the male before he had come into power, and she did not like him any more now.

Shadi had gotten with child very quickly, and the brutal way he treated her body had stopped. She had not been allowed to leave the treehouse while she had been in heat, and after she was with cub, she had been restricted to the camp grounds. Miserable wasn't a strong enough word to describe how Shadi felt. Her pregnancy had ended in a bloody mess mere weeks later, and every pregnancy after that. The women she had once called friends started whispering behind her back.

Some said she had faked her pregnancies to keep her position as Alpha. More said that she was infertile, and must be plotting to steal the next infant born into the pack. Almost all of them gossiped about how she was cursed with a monstrous womb, that ate any child a male would give her, and that the remains were what seeped from between her legs just months after the new shaman deemed her carrying a new, tiny hier.

Even her mate called her a witch. When his worst nights came, he would force himself on her and threaten her life if she couldn't carry this child to term this time. He was desperate for an heir to solidify his claim to the pack. He could only keep the other pack members from breeding for so long.

She didn't know why he didn't just kill her. Or why he at least wouldn't take another female to his bed, and let one of them try carrying his cubs.

Shadi tilted her head up, eyes closed as a frigid breeze from the north ruffled her long locks of dark hair. Miserable just... didn't cut it. Nights like tonight made her life far more tolerable, when the pack was closed up in the main den, using body heat against the cold of the storm. She would rather freeze than forced to lay next to the Alpha in front of the rest of her pack... but the cold was tolerable, it would be even more tolerable if she would scale her way into the treehouse and get into bed. It was just so nice to be leaning against the fence, alone with just the storm for company.

Her delicate nose went a soft shade of pink, and her mismatched eyes flashed to the ground, as if afraid someone were reading her thoughts. She wouldn't so much mind the company of their new head scout. The dark, many tailed vulpine had come from a bizarre world from the western lands, technology that none of them had ever seen in their lives at his disposal, almost magic. The Alpha was lucky he had snagged the traveler before any other rival packs did, because with his help, they had extended their territory to three times what it was the year before.

Yes, her Alpha would have been royally fucked had anyone else gotten to him first. They would have been chased from their homes; just as the Alpha chased the other packs farther and farther away from his borders.

Isiat had been kind to her until the Alpha had his say, and now the male avoided her just like everyone else in the pack. Though, he still gave her a very vulpine smile whenever they caught each other's eye in passing.

A soft, avian cry brought Shadi's attention back to her surroundings, and she immediately drew her cloak more firmly around her, the chill of the coming storm finally reaching her wandering brain. In the dark, she could clearly see a dark shadow soaring over the black sky, two pairs of bright orange orbs trained on her.

Shakarii landed on the fence beside Shadi, the barn owl ruffling her feathers in an irritated way.

"Where've you been, lovely? Any rabbits today? If they were out in this weather, they deserved to be eaten." Shadi chuckled, moving forward to give her hunting partner a tender stroke behind her head. Shakarii was having none of it; She ruffled her feathers with an annoyed hoot. For the first time, Shadi noticed that whatever was hanging from her beak was not a rabbit.

No, it wasn't even a mouse. It wasn't even food at all- it was a cap.

"Shakii, why are you bringing garbage home?" She scolded the owl, reaching forward to take the rubbish from her beak- and earning herself an angry nip on the fingers for it.

"Shakarii! What has gotten into you..." Firmly, Shadi removed the hat from the owl's beak, who screeched at her and ruffled her feathers, bobbing her head and moving back and forth on her fence post.

Taking a close look at the cap, Shadi's heart did a funny flip flop.

"Where did you get Isiat's hat? Isn't he in the main den with everyone else?" Shadi didn't think the Scout ever missed a chance to use 'warmth' as an excuse to get close to a willing female.

"He must have gone out, you've never nicked things from anyone's den before..." Shadi quickly gazed passed the gate, as if hoping to see his form staggering towards her from the darkness of the storm. Giving a loud hoot, the fair owl hopped from her spot on the fence, and a few paces outside of the gate, looking at Shadi meaningfully.

"Oh no, I'm not getting a beating because you want me to sneak out!" She sniffed at the bird, who gave her a down right reproachful look, and took a few more fluttering hops outside of the gate, the storm now nearly blowing the small bird away.

"Get in here, stupid thing! This wind will blow you away!" Shadi scrambled towards her companion, who took another few cheeky steps away from her, effectively leading her farther out of the camp.

"Oh! No- you get back in here! If Isiat is out there, he will make it back fine on his own, have you ever seen him complain because it's cold? All he does is brag about how his species won't freeze!" She whined to the animal, waving Isiat's cap at her warningly.

The small owl was now having real trouble holding her own against the winter wind, and it set Shadi's fur on end, fear for her little friend making her mind obviously more and more irrational, and the idea of going out there after the scout seem to make sense.

"Fine! FINE! hold on- get back here, and I'll go find him myself! You, missy, will die in this weather!" The feline decided. Turning her head, Shadi let out a shrill whistle, her gaze set back inside the camp expectantly. In a flash, Shadi's other companion came bounding after her, tongue lolling out of her mouth in obvious joy that she was needed.

Before she could knock Shadi over, The Giant Red Bear-Dog was taken firmly by her harness and brought under control. Seeing that she was being taken seriously, Shakarii fluttered inside the safety of the camp falls, shaking snow and ice from her feathers as she went.

"Yes yes, I'm going! But if I get lost and die in this storm..." Would it be so bad? "...it will be your fault! I'll try and be back before the sun is up!"

With that, Shadi stuffed the cap under her huge canine's nose.

Most dogs couldn't find a scent in the snow, or in a storm. Most dogs were not Janga.

God. The Alpha was going to kill her if this storm didn't do it for him. Five months without even a hint of being pregnant, and now she was leaving camp without his permission.

"Seek! Seek! Hunt it up!"

As it turned out, her Head Scout was not all that far away from camp. It still took her a good two hours to find him, and she had nearly given up when she had nearly stumbled over a very dead, very frozen body.

Horrified, she tried to stagger backwards, but Janga was determined to keep going. There wasn't much of a face left, but Shadi thought she recognizes the markings of their rival tribe in the deserts to the distant north, a pack their own had evicted from the very area she was standing and exiled to the wastes for not swearing loyalty to the previous Alpha.

The massive bear-dog yanked against her leash, almost pulling the much smaller feline from her feet at the force behind it as she padded to a shallow ditch a few yards away, barking loudly down into it. With careful feet and movements, Shadi slid over the lip, dropping three feet or so to the bottom, where she quickly sank to her knees in the accumulated snow. Janga was still barking loudly down at her, but dark as it was, she could barely make anything out down here, a slight fear rising in her gut that there may have been more of the desert pack's members out here.

It was only once her eyes had adjusted to the gloom in the ice field that she made out the way-too-many-tails that always followed Isiat, as if he were a proud and lovely peacock, now frozen and soaked in the snow.

Shadi crawled over to him against the bite of the wind, very, very afraid he were just as dead as the icey dead souls in the snow. It took her several minutes of scrambling and fighting with his clothes, but she found the pulse she had been praying for.

"Janga! Janga- Kneel! Kneel you oaf, he's nearly frozen solid! I can't carry him myself!" Shadi yowled over the shrieking winds, pulling the dog closer to her with all her might.

Before she'd become Alpha, one of her favorite places to be was very near to here- from the outside, it looked like any underground cavern, but inside, Shadi knew that even in the storm, a natural hot spring bubbled, making the cave that protected it so warm it was almost muggy. If she was going to save herself and Isiat from this storm, she had to get him to that cavern!

If it weren't for her experience with strapping kills to her dog's back, Shadi may have had trouble hauling her scout onto Janga, as it was, the worst part of it was fighting against the storm; the elements had more than soaked into Shadi's winter cloak, and she was feeling the cold very acutely now.

They would all die if she stayed in this storm for too much longer.

Soon they were all moving; Shadi pulling Janga in the general direction she knew her cavern was, and Isiat unceremoniously strapped to Janga like a fresh kill, his legs dangling from each side. Oh well, one couldn't afford to be too proud when their fluffy arse was nearly dead in the snow.

Just as Shadi was sure she had lost the cave entirely in the swirling black and grey storm, the wind picked up to an unholy pitch, and the tiny female was slammed against an unforgiving stone wall, gasping as the wind was knocked clear out of her lungs.

Warmth! Against her frigid cold paws, the rock she had been tossed against was giving off just enough heat to feel like blessed life to her! Feeling her way with one paw against the stone and tugging her beast with the other, Shadi pushed her way towards the entrance to her small cavern, her cloak finally ripping from her body and flying out into the storm.

She was so close! So damn close she could almost hear bubbling water-

With a very un-Alpha like yowl, Shadi tumbled head first into the mouth of what she had used to think was 'her' cavern.

Clearly, someone else had thought it was theirs, too.

Boxes, crates, bags, and even a small, metal and fabric bed stood out against the darkness. Shadi's feline eyes could just make out the vague shapes of what she knew were Isiat's possessions- his scent was all over now that she was inside the cave.

Without pausing, Shadi went to work unstrapping him in the darkness, the male uttering nothing more than a soft grunt as she carefully maneuvered him off of her dog and onto the uncomfortable looking cot, using the last scraps of her energy to do so.

"Janga! lay down! Lay down- good girl!" Shadi coaxed her 250 lb+ canine onto the cot with the vulpine, Janga looking very uncomfortable and unsure, and the cot looking like it was going to give under her weight, but until she got a fire going, it was all she could do to keep Isiat warm.

Stumbling blearily in the darkness, her energy all but spent, Shadi found a small oil lantern and turned it on, shedding light into the cavern. there were many more of them, now that she could see, but she did not want to burn them all up. She would need them when she could safely bring him to the hot spring, deeper in the cavern.

Setting up a fire was quick and easy with everything he had left here. A crate, a few sacks and papers, a quick tilt of her oil lamp, and it was ready to go.

The cot looked entirely uncomfortable to Shadi, and she wasn't going to sleep on it, but they needed to be off the ground. Several of the crates had straw packing in them that she wouldn't burn due to the smoke it would make, so with what she had at paw, she made herself quite a cozy bed with the spare clothes, straw under them and stuffed inside. She had certainly dealt with worse when traveling!

Shadi turned and looked at the vulpine, uncertainty in her eyes. It wasn't freezing in here, but it certainly wasn't that warm either. She... could trust Isiat not to run off to her Alpha if she shared her sleeping place with him. It would likely save his life, after all... She wrinkled her nose. She was cold too...

She hauled him from the cot and closer to the fire, and onto her pallet. God, he was bloody and soaked, what had he done to his head?

Without thinking, Shadi started wrestling his clothes from him... and his many 'clippy' things, and his 'snappy' things, and his 'lace' things, and, did a male really need all these things? Eventually she began ripping them from his body instead, intent on getting the wet, freezing clothing off his body. Standing so close to the fire, she could see the injury to his head clearly, and without the bloody clothes, it was more apparent that the head wound was his only injury.

Without thinking, Shadi leaned forward, her chest brushing against his own, and she rasped her tongue over his forehead, gently as a mother would wash a newborn. Gentle as she tried to be, he moaned and stirred, his back arching in apparent pain. The feline 'shushed' him softly, not wanting him to either start his wound bleeding again or to roll himself into the fire. She cleared up most of the blood herself, but she needed-

Janga barked, her voice bouncing around the walls loud enough to make the feline's sensitive ears ring. The beast was sitting quite happily next to a large metal box, a familiar red cross on it.

Within minutes, his head was scrubbed clean and his wound sewn shut. For good measure, the feline stuck a sticker over it, a big yellow face smiling on it, in lieu of bandages, as none were present in the box.

She would have been pleased with herself, if a quick touch to his collarbone had not told her how damned cold he still was, despite his close proximity to the fire. God, she was freezing too, with no adrenaline fueling her, her body was shaking...

Body heat. They both needed it. Numbly now, Shadi began tugging her own winter dress from her shoulders, carelessly tossing it over the nearby cot. her under-things followed, the feline too tired to care any more that she was going to get hell for this. She was cold, and she was tired, and she had gone through too much to save her Scout's ass for them both to get hypothermia here, if Isiat didn't already have it...

A thick woolen blanket served her well, the feline pulling it over herself first, then the unconscious male. She gently slid herself next to him on her cot, unsure if she were doing him a disservice or not... They could both face the Alpha's wrath if this got back to him, no matter the circumstances.

The vulpine looked nearly peaceful now, which honestly scared Shadi. She moved her small frame over his much larger one, covering them both with her tail under the thick blanket. Together, it got warm very quickly under the blanket, their nude frames pressed together.

As exhausted as she was, Shadi found she couldn't rest. What a nightmare it would be to wake next to his dead body... with soft paws, she worked the males arms, trying to return his blood flow to them. It didn't look like he'd be losing any toes, but better safe than sorry in this situation. Even her own feet were still fairly numb...

Over an hour, the feline pressed her body against the vulpine, this male who was mostly a stranger to her, and rubbed his body with her paws, until they were red and sore, and his arms and legs were warm again.

'Men aren't supposed to be pretty, but he is, when he's sleeping, and not looking so damn cocky.' was her last thoughts, exhaustion finally sweeping her thoughts away.

Isiat dreamed as he was dragged through the snow, seeming to understand what had happened, but not being able to force himself back to consciousness just quite yet... There had been some loud barking, and gravity had shifted, bouncing him up and down for a long while. To his mind, it had been like an artillery barrage shaking the very earth beneath him, making him twitch and flinch unconsciously. Being on the receiving end of any kind of ordnance barrage was a bad place to be. He knew that one all too well.

His dream had shifted strangely after that, the howling white noise that had previously fogged his mind and left his dream self standing in a field on nothing giving way to gentle rolling hills, the sun far above. He was laid out on the side of the hill, a large oak just above him growing in gnarled, twisted ways, and the thick canopy of leaves rustled in the quiet wind. He knew this place; A small field he had used to run up and fly kites at when he was younger. It was a happier time then. One not so complicated or dangerous. No packs, no politics, just the simple innocent joys of childhood. It couldn't have lasted.

The next place his dream took him was to a not as pleasant place. He was blindfolded, and tied down. Despite his best attempts, he could do little more than arch his back up, and not very far at that. He knew this memory well too. Selection. As if on cue, a damp rag was pushed down onto his face, before water poured heavily onto the top of it, simulating drowning. Isiat kept his nerve though, held out by breathing through his clenched teeth, keeping the water out until the stream ended. That had been one of his less pleasant experiences of his career, but he had shown he had what it took to be trusted to lead the very best the nation had to offer. He'd overcome that challenge, and he'd be damned if he'd let his dreams try to overcome him.

He fought for consciousness, but the next dream was.... different. Vastly so. He was laying on a single cot, the warm, furred and naked form of Shadi pressing her back against his chest as she snuggled in closer, and he wrapped his paws around her protectively. Somehow, he knew something was different between them... She felt soft, warm, inviting and comforting to simply be around, not like she did after the Alpha had had his way with her, when she was on edge and jumping at every little sound.

As she was now though, she was at total ease with him, and despite the forbidden nature of what she was doing with him, she was also nude. Apparently, his subconscious was acting on his more... hidden desires that he held; It was no big secret that Shadi was certainly an attractive woman, and Isiat like most of the males in the pack, had fancied that he could do a better job as her mate than the current Alpha was. Unlike most of the males in the pack though, his culture was entirely different from theirs, less primitive and primal, more civilized and refined. He was a gentleman first and foremost after all.

However... This was his dream. He didn't always have to be quite the gentlemen, least of all in the fantasy of his mind... He lets his paws roam across Shadi's silky fur, his bluntened claw tips scratching across her belly in a way that felines and canines both seemed to enjoy, albeit, in different amounts of course. He continued for just a moment before letting his paws wander upwards as if of their own accord, slowly crossing and circling his digits around her navel before with all the confidence of a man who knew what he wanted, he stretched his fingers out, and laid his paws atop both of the felines soft, perky breasts.

His fingers lightly massaged the tender flesh of her C-cups, tickling and brushing with light strokes around her nipples in ever closing circles. Oh, how only he wished. If it had been so easy to get rid of all his competition in a single stroke, maybe he would have... Perhaps barricading and burning the tavern with the Alpha and his loyal cronies locked inside. It was plausible. Then there wouldn't be much stopping him from taking Shadi as his own and declaring himself Alpha.

The very tips of his digits brushed over Shadi's firm nipples, feeling her body arch and press back into him as he looped in small circuits of the cold-hardened flesh, his claws lightly clinking against the rings that had been pierced through them-

Wait, rings? Isiat had never known that Shadi had nipple rings though... Slowly, reality seemed to fade in, and he cracked one eye in a cautiously optimistic gaze. Sure enough, there she was, laying just before his eyes with her back pressed against his chest under the warm blanket. Details slowly come to focus as he looked about, recognizing the string of lanterns along the roof of the cave. This was one of his little bolt-holes that he had set up, just a ways to the north of the main camp in a cave with a particularly nice spring that seeped upwards from a long emptied magma vent under the side of the mountains.

Just how he had gotten here wasn't quite clear, but it seemed a safe bet that somehow Shadi had dragged him here, and one way or another, somehow had ended up naked on the floor with him. Despite that realization, he made no move to remove his paw from her breast. In fact, he did just the opposite thing to removing it, and instead continued to gently roll the cushiony pillows of her appreciable- C-cups? in his palms, still going over the events of the last few hours in his mind. He wasn't concerned about being discovered or having the Alpha find out. At this point, if he was anywhere within a few miles of them, all sorts of hell would have rained down on the both of them. Being as Shadi was here, naked, and in bed with the head scout, it was also a safe assumption that the Alpha likely didn't even know she was gone from camp.

Honestly, if nobody ever found out, that would be just fine with Isiat. The blizzard was still howling outside by the sound of the rushing wind. Nobody else would be coming out until the storm had calmed down, and by then, he and Shadi would be...

Would be what, exactly? That had caught him off guard. What exactly was he supposed to do now. Surely, Shadi had only gotten undressed in order to better warm him back up; His soaked and dripping tails were testament to how long he had laid out in the blizzard for. But at the same time, nobody else was here; Shadi knew nobody else would try to retrieve him in a storm like this. And that itself spoak depths of her feelings of him. The Alpha would have likely crippled her before letting her go out into the storm by herself, so she had for certain snuck away. That just left he and her, alone for the foreseeable time being, naked, and curled together under the blankets. And his paws were still idly fondling her breasts, and had no intention of stopping.

Under the circumstances, ordinarily, he would have been ashamed with himself. He was clearly taking advantage of another's mate, whose service he had pledged himself too, behind that very leader's back. On the other paw, the Alpha was an asshole who Isiat wouldn't have even bothered dealing with save for at the business end of his pistol if it hadn't provided an opportunity to base himself in the region. Besides that though, Shadi was a gentle soul, and Tu'Jah above knew that she deserved a damned sight better than what she had been allotted in life, and he knew he could be that better for her.

Reassured in himself and that he was making the right choice, or at least not the wrong one, he leaned his head in slowly over Shadi's shoulder, and gently placed the lightest of kisses upon her cheek, whispering into her large, fur rimmed ear. "Thank you..."

The small feline stirred instantly, but not in the way Isiat had expected. Immediately upon being brought closer to the surface of consciousness by Isiat's words, a soft, contented purr started up in her chest, the vulpine could feel the rumbling as his paw still held her breast. Her arms and legs stretched languidly as she gave a very feline, feminine moan, but she did not quite breach the surface of awareness- not yet.

Though Isiat's actions would undoubtedly change that soon enough, his paws continuing their gentle massaging as he allowed himself some leeway. If he was going to do something that could potentially get him facing a firing squad (Or whatever the equivilant was in these parts; He doubted it would give him much trouble to deal with regardless), he may as well go all the way. His breath rolled across her neck in slow, warm waves as he took in her scent, his sharp canines just lightly grazing the skin beneath her fur as he let his teeth brush her throat, a deep set rumble of his own answering the feline's own.

He had never once thought he would actually end up in the situation he now found himself in, but there he was, and damned if he wasn't going to enjoy it. Tomorrow could wait to deal with the consequences; The moment was now, and Isiat had already passed up enough of those for the sake of someone else, and he honestly wouldn't piss on the Alpha if he were on fire. He pressed his lips to her neck gently, placing a delicate string of kisses over her and almost hesitantly leading them around towards her back, his lips smacking quietly after each one he left upon her. Even now, as he took her pert, rosy nipple between his digits, he could feel her shifting slowly as she came slowly out of her sleep, rising back into the world of the living.

She still wasn't quite there though yet, and Isiat was content to rouse her gently as he could. After having to find him in the snow, she deserved the rest as much as he probably had needed it. However, when she woke up, he was going make sure she was floating on cloud nine before her eyes even opened. He let one paw slip from her breasts, roaming south along her chest and raking his bluntened claws through her soft, fluffy fur like a comb. It just felt right to hold her like he was, like it was always supposed to be that way, though Isiat's relationships before to say the least had never extended much further than the reach of his wallet. The one exception to that had almost ended him on felony assault charges if he hadn't have had a few favors that the local magistrate owed him.

Gently, he pulled her even closer to him, the vulpine letting a single shiver run down his spine. How far would she let this go? He couldn't help but wonder. Couldn't help but hope she would wake up feeling as foolish as he was.

He growled softly at the small female as her eyes began to flutter, her purring growing louder as she began to fully register the pleasure Isiat was giving her body. Shadi's head rolled to the side, her mismatched eyes finding Isiat's own blue orbs.

Her purring stopped. Her eyes widened and he could tell she was quickly taking an assessment of her situation, her previously soft and relaxed body going tense under him.

This wouldn't do at all. Quickly, before she could pull away from him and mutter her awkward excuses and explanations (he had already figured out what had happened) he cut off her train of thought, lowering his head to her breast and carefully suckling her nipple, ring and all, into his warm mouth.

She had to admit, she had no idea what was going to happen when the two of them woke up like this (If Isiat woke up at all) but this was not what she had expected.

She thought, perhaps a very awkward untangling of their limbs, muttered apologies and explanations, maybe even uncomfortable anger on Isiat's part... but with her delicate nipple now in this male's hot mouth, she could safely say he was not angry. If anything, he was everything but angry.

Isiat quickly turned her about in his arms, so they were facing one another on the straw, her chest far more available to him now, and he renewed his tongues wicked attack against her breasts with vigour. His tongue made tight little rapid circles following the golden loop of her piercing in a way that made her want to just grab his head and shove it do-

Oh no, this was all wrong! Shadi groaned, her already hot belly seeming to give a pulse as he gave a greedy pull on her body, making her arch her back against her will, inadvertently pushing her breast right back into his mouth so he could do it all over again.

"Oh! I-" She pressed against his shoulders, intent on making him stop. "This- I mean-"

Isiat held her more firmly, but he did let go of her nipple, her pink flesh popping from his wet mouth. "Hey, Shhh... I know... And this is me thanking you..." He smirked that intoxicating smirk of his, and Shadi found herself momentarily taken aback at a loss for words, as if just seeing that grin on his face wiped all thoughts from her mind. In the momentary pause though, Isiat had moved right back in, a hot whuff of air wafting across her exposed breasts once again.

"You... No, I... Isiat..." She almost whined his name in protest as he took her nipple back between his lips, letting the barest touch of his tongue's tip flicker across the sensitive flesh like an artist's brush stroking back and forth. "What about if anyone see- Ahh..." The quiet moan was entirely involuntary, or at least that was what she tried to convince herself anyway, but Isiat only seemed to become more determined with her because of it.

"I'm surprised you found this place... If anyone else can manage that in this blizzard, let 'em." He huffed with a certain finality about himself, as if he'd dare them to stop him. His lips barely left her breast enough for him to speak, and he gently and carefully took the gold hoop between his teeth, pulling her chest towards himself and forcing her to arch her back towards him. Just as carefully he took the entire ring between his lips and gave a firm suckle, drawing her firm nipple back within his muzzle like a greedy little pup.

Shadi groaned quietly, one of her paws having slipped up to gently rub the hair between Isiat's ears without her noticing. When had that happened? She knew her body was reacting more than just a little to Isiat's ministrations; It had been far too long since she had ever had a male be this gentle and considerate with her body. In fact, she couldn't ever remember having a male be like this with her. The Alpha had always been rough, seeming to enjoy her body as much as he did her cries of pain when he violated it. He was not a kind lover, not at all like how the yruku was treating he-

She let out a surprised squeak as one of Isiat's paws slipped down between her thighs, sneaking his fingers right up against her furless womanhood and cupping his entire leathery palm over her mound in a way that made her entire body flush with heat, but that wasn't the half of it. Before she could even say a word of protest, his middle finger had curled inwards, parting her already soaking vulva to slide right within her to the second knuckle, the way her twisted and rolled his wrist making her entire body follow suit with his motions. Her hips rolled down entirely despite herself, sinking the probing digit completely inside of her as he messily made out with her breast all the while.

She knew she should have stopped herself. Everything she was doing right now was going against everything she'd followed before now. Always trying to be the best mate she could, she had taken his abuse, she had endured his punishments, and she had always stayed faithful. And yet here she was, not even trying to stop Isiat as he did to her the things only her mate should have. And honestly? She didn't even care.

She surrendered to her body's desire for the male in front of her; He was a thousand times better a lover than the Alpha who had claimed her was, and even if it was just this once, she would make sure neither of them ever forgot it. Reaching down his chest with her free paw, she reached tentatively for his sheath, but was surprised when her fingers instead closed around rock hard canine flesh, the males knot already swollen and throbbing in her paw's grip. Isiat's lips separated from her nipple once again, the male looking up into her eyes with a lusty growl.

In her heart she knew she wanted him to go the entire way with her right here, and right now. Her body knew it too, her hips grinding themselves down against his finger as the rouge digit writhed within her pleasure slit. Her paw gave Isiat's length a few swift, rapid strokes, the male's leaking pre-seed slickening her palm as she stroked across his foxhood, whispering in the tiniest voice, her tone laced with need and primal desire. "Isiat..."

Isiat just murmured something in response, burying his muzzle in tight against her neck and nibbling across the tender flesh there, making the feline shiver from the tip of her tail to her ears at the exotic sensation that raced through her nerves. Her entire body felt alight with need, want... A hot desire that threatened to consume her entire being. She had never once felt this way about her current 'mate', undeserving of the title as he was; It was... Exciting, new, like the first time should have always been... Like the first time she had always deserved.

Isiat whispered sweet nothings into her ear while his paw seemed to work some kind of sly devilry on her body, only heightening the arousal and longing she felt. She wanted Isiat to claim her, nay, needed him too. She needed to feel loved and wanted like a good mate... She wanted to be that way with Isiat, forbidden as it was. She threw her caution to the wind along with any doubts that tried to settle in her mind. Now was not the time to worry about consequences. That could come later, if at all. They were alone here, and for just tonight, they had their own little world all to themselves.

Carefully moving her paw on Isiat's length, she adjusted her position until his tip was lined up with her womanhood, the male letting his fingers slowly retreat from her body, fur matted with feline arousal. She was ready for him, and there were no more words needed between the two of them. His length was twitching with his eagerness, preseed spraying against her already slick entrance as if she needed more preparation to take him within her.

He leaned in over her shoulder, placing a soft kiss upon her cheek at the same time as their two bodies became one, the male slipping into her like pulling on a silk glove. She winced at the slight stretching that he gave her entire passageway, her small, curvy feline body never intended to take the tapered, knotted canine length that was now being forced into her, but the pleasure that came with every slight movement he made was enough to overwhelm her nerves. Before she could do anything about it, she had her first climax around him, her body gripping and rippling, trying to pull him deeper, but Isiat held firm, just waiting within her until she came down from her peak before pressing any deeper.

That alone made Shadi feel dirty, and let her know just HOW eager she really was for this. He hadn't even hilted in her yet, and she had already came once. She would have never thought of herself as 'easy', but it had been sooo long since she had last had a male who knew what he was actually doing..."Ngghh... More, please..." She begged Isiat quietly, and the male was more than willing to comply.

His knot came to a halt, flush against her tight slit as he ground himself into her, rolling his hips and rocking slowly back and forth, pistoning his girth slowly through her passage. Each time he struck her body somewhere good, her entire sex would clench down around him, desperately trying to hold him within her, but he would get to that soon enough. He set a steady rhythm, his breath hot against Shadi's neck as he mated with her, taking her as she should have been taken all along.

So many nights he had spent just waiting at the base of the alpha's treehouse, or waiting across in the canopy of one of the other tall trees with his scope's eye relief pressed to his face, just waiting, quietly praying that Shadi would be alright, and that the prick of a male who called himself her mate would step outside for just one minute after he had raped her, long enough to walk into his sights and just provide him with the chance... In a way, this was an almost sweeter sort of vengeance. While the Alpha slept, his supposedly loyal scout was busy breeding his wife behind his back. The Alpha didn't deserve Shadi. He didn't even deserve to look upon her...

The thoughts gave Isiat a rush of adrenaline in his rage, and with delicate care, Isiat took the scruff of Shadi's neck between his teeth, biting down and tugging passionately, the soft mating bite barely hard enough to break the skin. She gasped silently, her spine arching into the male at her back, pushing his length in until his tip was pressed against her cervix. The feeling was intense, her nerves awash with waves of pleasure that pulsed in time with his motions within her, and already, she could feel a second climax rapidly building in her core.

Isiat could tell she was getting close again as well. The air had taken on the rich, heady aroma of lust and arousal, of primal need and feral mating. Her body was twitching involuntarily as her nerves lost what they were supposed to do with all the sensation and impulses racing through them, and her panting had taken on a quiet, needy whine. "Come on Shadi... Do it for me... Cum for me." He commanded her, and on some primal level, that was all she needed.

The order made her entire body go rigid as she clamped down around him, gasping and crying out in sudden ecstasy as she went up and over her peak for the second time. Her body spasmed out around Isiat, and before the vulpine knew it, he could feel his furred sac clenching up tightly against the base of his sheathe as he picked up the pace of his thrusting, all but losing himself to the moment with his primal desire to force his knot into the tight feline against him.

"Ahh.. Shadi, I..." he panted heavily, his knot forcing the feline's body wide as it slipped into her with a loud pop after a particularly thrust, but when he went to pull back, he quickly found that unlike the bitches he had mated before, her body was... Something else around him, and was refusing to let him go even an inch out of her. His tip was mashed against the opening of her cervix, her prick aimed directly for the felines awaiting womb, and despite himself, Isiat knew he couldn't have pulled out now even if he tried. He might have panicked any other time, but his climax hit him, and all other thoughts bar one left his mind. Breed.

"Ngggh... Can't... Pull out.. Gonna... Ahh!" Isiat barked loudly, gripping down on Shadi's neck once again with his teeth as his hips began to rock into her instinctively. The first hot jet of Kyruku seed poured into her unprotected womb with a powerful spurt that plastered the back of her womb off white with his cum. It was quickly followed by another, and another, the vulpines balls utterly spending themselves into the heated feline pulled tight against him, and gripping tight around him. Her body and his knot formed a perfect seal of flesh, ensuring that not a drop left her body as he pumped his seed into her, grunting and huffing loudly while he unwillingly pumped shot after shot of potent cub batter into her waiting body.

With her eyes closed, Shadi waited for her body to settle. Her whole being was humming, throbbing with heat and a sweet satisfaction that she had never felt before. She felt like warm dough but aside to rest, melting against the male's chest as they panted in their completion. Shadi hadn't known that sex could be like this... Sex wasn't for all this pleasure and intimacy, it was merely for making-

Oh. Nervously, Shadi looked over her shoulder, her chest still heaving while the male holding her rested his head against the straw, apparently too tired to keep his head lifted onto her neck. He had finished in her. Finished in her, and was quite stuck. Her Alpha did not usually remain in her- he had no qualms about yanking himself free of her, leaving them both sore. He was not one to remain close to another person for long...

She should be okay though, now that she thought about it- well, okay that she may not end up pregnant with the Kyruku's pups. She wouldn't be due for a heat any time soon, her body wasn't quite ready to try again.

As her breath caught back up with her, she felt the male shift behind her, and she winced, waiting for him to yank free- but he did not. He simply pulled her closer to himself and lost his nose in her neck and hair, sighing. She looked back at him, and frowned at the look he gave her. The male was feeling the stress of their situation.

She cleared her throat, and rubbed her nose awkwardly. "I... I should not come into heat for a while now. There is little to be... nervous about..."

Isiat, however, wasn't able to fool himself into calm with that line that so many girls in the west used. "Ahhh... About that.... Since we're not going anywhere, now's probably as good a time as any to teach you a little about Kyruku... We're uh... How would you put it... Very determined breeders; Genetic evolution from nearly being wiped to extinction... Kyruku sperm can survive for up to three weeks to wait for a female to ovulate... It's uh... An almost guarantee." He shifted slightly, almost awkwardly as if he hadn't just finished explaining "Oh hey, by the way, you're probably going to be knocked up because I didn't pull out!"

Shadi was quiet for a moment, her mind spinning, and her stomach giving a nauseating little turn. What had she done? Like her life wasn't hard enough being someone's broodmare, and even worst, unable to give him the sons he wanted... and now, she had done the unspeakable. She'd gone, mated with another male, and now he was telling her...

Shadi closed her eyes, and took a deep, steadying breath. It wasn't his fault, not at all. She thought herself a good judge of character, the male had honestly wanted to please her... and she had honestly just... wanted to be loved on, even for just a while. The guilt was not on his shoulders. It was on her own for not stopping him.

She looked over her shoulder again, looking kindly into his eyes. "Thank you for not hurting me. Tearing hurts when a male pulls out after a knotting..." She said simply, giving him a small smile. There was no point making him feel bad for this. There was time for that when they left this place.

"You know I'm not going to cower back because of all this, right? I... You... Hell, you of all people deserve better than that fuck." It was the first time Isiat had outwardly vocalized his malcontent of the Alpha's 'leadershit', as he quietly referred to it himself, and honestly, it felt all rather liberating. He knew Shadi would never have told the Alpha anyway, not before, and certainly not now after what they had shared.

"I just need to find a good moment, the right time and I could take his place for good... Or, you know.." He paused a few moments, wrapping his paws tightly around the feline. "We could leave you know? Just turn towards the sun and keep going for good... I know the land, I know the towns and villages, where we could hire a ship, or a carriage, where we could just... Go away and start anew elsewhere, maybe with a little pack of our own..." He sighed quietly, one of his paws rubbing slowly over her belly, as if to emphasize that point.

With a sigh, Shadi reached back to cup his cheek in her soft paw, almost lovingly stroking over the hard line of his jaw. "And then what, Isiat? I run away, and he finds a new young woman to take my place?" She laid her head against her other arm, gazing into the now dying light of the fire she had built.

"Isiat, the Alpha is the father of my children, though God saw it fit to take them away. I can't... I can't just abandon everyone here, and abandon some young female to my life... They need me, much as they mock me." Her voice trailed off. But Isiat's thoughts too trailed off at that, and it became readily apparent there was only one solution that would work for the long run available to him... He'd have to kill the Alpha, and take his place as leader of the pack. For his and Shadi's sake both, it was the only way this would ever work into something that amounted to more than a one night stand.

"Then don't leave... Not yet. I will figure something out, I promise..." Or at least he'd order some more ammunition. That counted as figuring something out.

"You should... move to the spring, Isiat. It should chase the last of the chill away from your bones." The little feline sighed, laying her head down in a cascade of dark locks, seemingly even more tired than she had been when she first woke.

She was close, she was soft, and she was warm. The water was tempting, but the tiny feline his now soft, retreating member was still buried in was even more so. If he couldn't get her to join him, he was pretty positive he would rather stay curled up beside Shadi, sheltering her small, naked frame in his arms. She was perfect against him, a softly furred hot water bottle- with amazing breasts.

His seed was already inside of her body, there was no going back from this now- he wasn't about to try deluding himself into denying the both of them the pleasure this storm was bringing them while they could.

"Come with me." He murmured, rolling his hips against her shapely rear and pulling her in by her hips. He ran his muzzle along her ear, huffing warm air against the soft fur there. Her responding shiver made him grin. He could tell she was gearing up to argue with him from the unsure turn of her head, so he slid his large paw down her the soft round of her belly, not stopping until Isiat had found the plush, velvet curve of her mound. Her breath hitched as he pressed his palm against her, whispering softly.

"Come with me, Shadi? I'd like to make you feel good..." The vulpine purred, rolling himself against her again for added emphasis. To his satisfaction, the feline gave a little, sweet moan, her leg twitching upwards to grant his paw better access to her treasures.

Instead of giving into the greedy little female, Isiat simply smoothed his paw over her nethers one last time, placing a warm lick behind one of her silly long ears. "'C'mon kitty, lets warm up..."

Isiat had intended to get to his feet with a bit more grace than he had, but a drunken sort of stagger was all he could manage after both being bashed in the head hours before and sharing an amazing orgasm with his companion. He helped Shadi to her feet, her feline grace also forgotten in the light of their previous love making. With a small throaty gasp, Shadi fell forward into his chest, and Isiat was more than happy to hold her against him until she regained her balance.

With a naughty grin, Isiat swept his arms under the feline, scooping her up into his arms as she squealed. She gave him a blushing smile, wrapping her small arms around his neck, burying her face into his shoulder with a giggle. He was positive that he had never heard this female laugh before. The very notion of it was almost crazy to think of. How had he never heard her laugh before now, and why the hell hadn't he heard that sweet noise sooner?

"A little farther in, the springs are just in the shadows there, you can see the steam!" Shadi spoke excitedly. Isiat simply grinned, placing a gentle peck against the top of her forehead.

"I know, I found this place as well you know? Great minds must think alike... " He mused idly, drawing another giggle from the feline tucked in his embrace. He padded towards the water's edge, his eyes adjusting to the far dimmer light towards the back of the cave, where a trickle of water was just visible seeming through cracks in the rocks at the deepest part of the cave, pooling in a depression that had been eroded out over the years.

"You know, I was always under the impression that cats didn't like water..." Isiat quipped, carrying her carefully over the rocky floor, though despite himself, Isiat had actually been here numerous times before, and had managed to chisel and flatten for the most part the ground surrounding the pool of naturally heated water.

"This one does!" Shadi giggled, giving a little happy wriggle in his arms, her large tail flicking back and forth with its broad, fluffy tip, unable to control its movements at the moment, baser instincts taking the fore..

Tucking that little note away in his memory, Isiat paused at the lip of a very warm mouth in the cave floor, the soft gurgling of water like music to his ears. Isiat had never been a water mutt, but what male in their right mind would think to turn down an invitation to relax in the springs with such a female as Shadi, beautiful and sweet as she was?

Certainly not one who had been dragged in from a blizzard at the very least. His entire body was still damp from being in the snow for as long as he had been. Carefully setting his new lover down, Isiat took the initiative and climbed into the warm water first, almost wincing at the temperature. After being chilled to the bone quite so thoroughly as he had been, almost buried in the snow, the water felt near boiling, especially to his still dripping tails.

He adjusted after a few moments though, his stiff muscles thawing out to the warmth of the spring soon enough. Wading through the water, he found himself a comfortable shelf to sit on in the rocky bowl. Groaning, he stretched out and made himself comfortable, the slight movement of water beside him telling him that his little companion and slid into the spring beside him. His tails flicked in the water, churning up a small wave that washed across the edge of the pool; It was one of the issues with having so many of the darn things. Swimming was... Problematic, to say the least on a good day. His species didn't mix well with deep water.

But true enough were the effects of the natural spring and the enriched water that flowing through the magma tubes resulted in; The aches and sores and bruises on his body felt almost instantly better, and he kicked his feet out, letting his rump settle on the small shelf of stone about two feet under the water line that rimmed the edge of the pool. Shadi settled in beside him slowly, her massive fluffy feline tail sinking beneath the water only to rise from it a moment later, positively dripping, soaked, and looking all very sad with the fur hanging downwards.

He didn't know why, but the sight made Isiat chuckle, before a moment later, he brought his own tails back above the surface to compare the effects, holding them roughly beside Shadi's own. That made Shadi laugh as well, that sweet sing song laugh he quickly decided he wanted to hear so much more of.

His arms quickly found their way around Shadi's waist, tugging her over until her hips were pressed flush against his own, and she snugly settled in against him, her head resting on his shoulder. Part of him wanted to speak, wanted to thank her for everything, but instead, he just let out a rumbling murmur that vaguely resembled a growl, his fingers combing through her wet fur affectionately.

Her body felt warm, warmer even than the water that surrounded them did, and on some instinctual level, Isiat knew Shadi was probably off by a little bit about her heat cycle; Either that, or it was simply the after effects of having bred her and his species instinctive protectiveness setting in. He didn't mind either way... He would see to it that she was his in the end, no matter what it took to achieve that. He would have fought his way through an entire army for just another moment by her side.

The water had them both warmed through quite thoroughly within a scant few minutes, and both of them had since stretched out, Isiat letting his legs cross the pool towards the far end, while Shadi had stretched her own out along the underwater shelf, her breasts floating slightly right against the surface line of the water. Isiat's paws had taken to roaming over her exposed belly, thighs and chest as he pleased, moving them up and down her body in long, luxurious and drawn out motions that seemed to touch on every little point of pleasure he could find.

He explored her gently, raking his blunted claws along the insides of her thighs until she spread her legs apart for him, before almost teasingly leaving her exposed sex entirely devoid of attention, letting his fingers glide up her body to her hips and her waist. He traced her curves with the attention and detail of a master sculptor, letting his paws roam across the cute amount of chubbiness that the feline had. She was plump in all the rights ways as far as he was concerned, and it gave her body a figure that could have done modeling back in the west. Even her breasts seemed just perfectly proportioned to the rest of her... Not too much, not too little, just enough to perfectly wrap his fingers around so that his leathery paw pads caressed her nipples with every slight motion that he made.

Shadi purred quietly while Isiat lightly teased her nipples, not particularly trying to arouse her, but more just to let he pleasent, pleasured haze continue as she relaxed entirely against the male. Even if Isiat did end up getting her pregnant, she trusted him to do the right thing. He had always proven himself a good and loyal man to both her and the pack. If he had wanted to run away and be somewhere else, there would have been no stopping him. No, he was here by choice, and he had taken her by choice. He knew the possible consequences of this little escapade of theirs as well as she did, and she was willing to accept them, just as she knew he was.

Even so though... She knew that while there could be no going back from this... Come morning, they would have to part ways, at least for a while... The Alpha would have them both killed if he got so much as the very idea that she had gone behind his back. She would have to be very... very careful about how she went about things from now on... And if she was pregnant, how would she ever hide THAT from him?

She tilted her head back just enough to lightly nibble on the sides of Isiat's neck fur, purring all the while. His being there alone was enough to keep her calm, even at the thought of everything that could go wrong... The Alpha's fur was as stark white as the snowfields that covered their territory for most of the year. Isiat's fur however, was as black as the lunar eclipse... If they did have a cub, she would simply need to pray that it looked more like her, though the Alpha was also a kitsune, so at least she wouldn't need to try too hard to explain any extra tails away.

She caught herself rubbing her belly slowly as Isiat continued to leave her in a pleasant, pleasured daze from his paws feather-light touch. Did she really want to get herself pregnant from the scout? He was a good man, that much was true, but would that make him an equally good father figure? Would he fight their Alpha for her and her unborn child? Defend their name and his honor? Was it a fight that he could even win though?

She cast her doubts from her mind, a familiar tingling in her nethers distracting her. She was aroused again, even with the remnants of her infidelity leaking from between her thighs, she knew what she wanted right then. With the subtle, feline grace, she reached back, slipping her paw between herself and the male, groping at his hips until her paw closed around his sheath, the bare, spade shaped tip of his canine maleness just peeking from its furred home. She gave him a few long, slow strokes, just as he was teasing her, and drew a deep, dominant growl from his chest in response.

Before she could even suggest they take things any further, Isiat seemed to read her mind, his paws leaving her breasts and heading south, one paw dipping between her thighs and cupping firmly at the lioness's eager sex, his other taking a firm grip upon her hips and lifting her onto his lap. She let out a startled squeak as she felt his sheath and maleness slide against her rear before he shifted, his now fully unsheathed length sticking up in the water between her legs. His leathery fingertips teased against her netherlips with the sweetest of strokes, spreading the evidence of their union around and slightly clouding the water near them with a mix of sexual fluids.

But even so, this... Wasn't a position Shadi had ever been in. The Alpha had always taken her from atop her pinned body or from behind like a bitch in heat while he hiked her tail out of the way. Isiat at least seemed to know what he wanted though, because he quickly sunk two fingers into her body while she was distracted, making her gasp out as her body clenched around the invading digits tightly, pushing more of their leaking mess out into the warm water surrounding the pair.

"Isiat, I uh... I..." She blushed at her own nervousness. She really had no idea how to proceed from here, and her inexperience embarassed her. A good female should be able to please her partner without needing any instruction, but Shadi had never learned herself. She'd always just been used for pleasure like a toy, fucked and then pushed aside, only to be brought back whenever her Alpha's moods had struck him.

Isiat guessed at her worry though and hit the nail on the head, smiling softly, reassuringly as she straddled his lap, with a little guidance from his paws, of course. "It's alright... Just relax and let your body talk for you... It'll know what to do in a moment..." He promised her teasingly as he withdrew his fingers from her body, taking her paw and guiding it to his length while nudging her hips upwards with his own.

Slowly grasping what he wanted her to do, Shadi wrapped her fingers around the male's dappled maroon flesh, tilting it slightly to line up with her still dripping entrance. Strings of his and her cum from their first time together still floated lewdly in the water around her thighs, connected to her netherlips by pearly white strings that drifted with the currents. When she slowly lowered her hips down to meet his thought, they provided all the lubrication her body needed, pushing that fresh, virile male back inside her body once more.

Gravity did the rest for her. The moment she relaxed against Isiat, his girth slid into her very depths in a single motion, a little faster than she had completely intended, but the slight pain from stretching around him again was overruled by the intense pleasurable thrill that came with having him buried in her again. Without thinking about it, she raised her hips up, wanting to feel herself sink down onto him again.

Isiat just grinned all the way, letting his head head back and his long hair spool out across the edge of the spring, groaning and growling as Shadi took him at her own pace. "Ngggh, there's a good girl. You've got it." He flashed a smile to her, winking in an all too sly way that made her blush rosy red at the tip of her nose while she looked over her shoulder at him. She was far, far too damned good looking for the likes of him, a whole other class so to speak. She was the Alpha's female, and he was making her his own sure as she was letting him.

Her head rolled back on her shoulders, the felines hip-length hair spilling out as Isiat reached up to comb one of his paws through the silky mess, drawing it down and into the water as she rode him with all the skill of a natural to the position. He gently rocked his hips in time with her own motions, the pair quickly falling into a pleasurable rhythm, the felines silky insides massaging Isiat's slickened, penetrating length within her. If there was a heaven, Isiat was damned near certain he'd found it, and with that thought, let out a low huff of pleasure as he tried to keep himself at bay.

She was just too damned good at this; It was hardly fair at all. Taking her from behind, he had been completely in control of their romp, but now that she was the one in charge, he was finding it hard to control himself. His girth twitched erratically every time she sank down to the bulbous knot at the base of his shaft, ribbons of his preseed spraying up against the entryway to her womb, preparing it for another filling to all but ensure the Alpha wouldn't be the one getting a cub from her first.

When Isiat had said Kyruku seed was potent, he hadn't been kidding. His entire species survival had required it, as well as a strong ability to interbreed with other species, or else they would have been long extinct. Their sperm could wait dormant for several weeks until a ripe egg was dropped, and even then, if another male's seed fertilized it first, they would all but batter it until one broke through, at which point, the egg would become sterile. The same applied for another male's sperm; They would aggressively hunt down and swamp the other males sperm to prevent them from reaching a ripe ovum.

It was an almost certainty Shadi would become pregnant from his first batch; Two loads would make that an absolute certainty. The very thought of it made Isiat unbelievably aroused. He hadn't exactly had fatherhood on his mind when he woke up this morning, but if it mean he got to keep Shadi as his own, then it was something he was willing to accept. He'd still have to kill the Alpha eventually of course, but that could wait.

The thoughts barely even lingered in his mind for more than an instant of course; Shadi bouncing on his lap and pressing herself down against his knot with eager moans and purring took up the entire fore of his mind. The way her body fit him was like they had been made for eachother; She was tight, yet yielding to him, the spade shaped tip of his member striking against her cervix like a battering ram as his thrusting and her rocking began to pick up in earnest. They were both eager to reach their peaks now, to experience that rush of pleasure that only the body of another could provide.

Desperation came into Isiat's thrusting as both of his paws settled down around Shadi's thighs, pulling her down a little further onto his bulging knot with each messy splash of the water around them. The area around the pairs rapidly moving hips had become cloudy with leaking arousal from their coupling, and the cave echoed with their joined sounds of pleasure; Guttural growls and moans and Shadi's steady purring and gasps.

She pushed herself down onto him desperately, wanting just as badly as he did to feel that knot buried inside of her again. Her body stretched to accommodate him, her little tight netherlips being pulled taut each time he tried to shove the engorged knob of flesh into her. She gasped as he finally began to make headway, feeling that blissful aching that came from being forced to take something her small feline body had never been designed to be filled by.

"Nggh! Do it... Please... Knot me." She gasped, consequences be damned at this point. If it happened, it happened, and Shadi was prepared to accept that fate, come of it what would. If she could have known just what path the nights actions would take her down, she might have perhaps reconsidered, or at least gone about it differently, but caught in the moment as she was, she had no way of guessing just how things would turn out. All that mattered right then was Isiat's thick knot, and having it locked inside of her.

Isiat grunted in response, his feral desires and urges taking over as he dug his paws into her hips, and with a sharp yank, pulled her down onto his knot with a messy 'pop', howling to the ceiling as he claimed the tight little feline on his shaft. Thick, virile Kyruku cum rushed up his shaft, pooling just behind the tip of his length before with a firm rock of his hips, Isiat sunk the spade shaped tip of his canine shaft into the dimple of her cervix, giving the first wave of his semen a VIP pass to Shadi's waiting womb.

Shadi, for her part, went off like a loaded gun the moment the scout's knot forced its way into her to tight slit, her vulva's lips stretching out to their limits before closing down tight around the opposite side as he pulled her down onto himself, impaling the smaller feline upon his breeding rod. And breed her he did. Even as she climaxed and clenched down around the invading vulpine member, she could feel his entire body tense beneath her, the shaft inside her birth canal throbbing and twitching before a sudden warmth blossomed within her womb, fresh seed being added to the pool already inside of her.

Part of her wanted to feel bad for letting him get this far. Part of her wanted to feel guilty for cheating on her 'mate', if the term could even be applied. But all Shadi felt was a mind numbing pleasure that was chased down from her high by a sense of completion, like this was exactly where she had meant to be all along, with a man she knew and trusted completely. A long, rumbling purr echoed from her breast as she settled back against Isiat's panting chest as he continued to spill his life giving essence deep inside of her.

The vulpine growled softly behind her, leaning forward and gently closing his teeth around the back of her neck, giving the feline a little nip of affection as his length pulsed and sprayed seed lewdly into her womb. His sperm had already set to work tracking down the fertile ova Shadi hadn't even realized her body had produced, setting in motion the events of the months that were to come.

In their bliss, neither of them could have predicted just how much trouble their little escapade would cause, but until then, Isiat just panted quietly, riding out his second climax until his racing heart had slowed to a more normal rate once more. The pair of them simply stayed like that, just as before, both not needing to speak to improve the silence save for the quiet gurgling of the spring around them.

Isiat broke it first though, his paws having moved back to idly roaming over the felines lower belly, his thoughts casting themselves out to the odd prospect of what the future would hold for them, and for him...

"Come away with me... If I can just get you somewhere safe from him, we could-"

Shadi raised her paw a fraction, silencing Isiat with the motion before she let her hands sink down to rest atop of the vulpine's own. "We can't Isiat, you know that... When the sun rises, we'll both have to go back to camp. I'll have to face the Alpha, and you'll have to never speak of this to anyone. As far as the rest of the camp will ever know, you found your own way back, and my search was in vain. But I have to go back Isiat. I can't just abandon the rest of the pack so he can steal away someone else's mate, like Chess. The Alpha considered his mate originally; He was just going to take her because he's the leader, and that's what bad leaders do..." She let the implications hang in the air a few moments, and gravely, Isiat nodded, his eyes down.

"I know, but... We could come back, just stronger so we can-"

"Even if you brought an entire army Isiat, there would be far too much bloodshed. Ours is a small pack, and I won't have them sacrificed by -Him-" She all but spat the word, disgust on her lips. "...so that he can stay in power. This is important to me..." She paused, giving his paw a soft, caring squeeze. "...But it's not worth losing any of the other pack members because of what we have done. Trust me on this, just this once... Maybe one day, but tomorrow when the sun rises, You'll get clean and leave, and I will follow soon after. I need to make sure he can't smell any of... this." She blushed slightly, her nose going pink as she let one paw caress over the slight bump Isiat's knot made in her nethers.

"Well what do you expect to do about 'this' then?" Isiat snapped, maybe a little harsher than he had meant, but to him, he may as well have poured his heart out and had it shoved back at him, even if it was far kinder that he was used to. "If you do get pregnant, then what? Because after that, make no mistakes, you're going to be."

"Then we will deal with that if and when it happens... I may not even be able to have children Isiat... Lord knows he's been trying to get that from me for a long time..." She sighed. She knew inevitably when she got back to camp she would be punished, and she knew just what that punishment was likely to involve.

"I... and if it happens, and I get far along enough... I will figure something out. I always do. I mean... it will still look vulpine, still have many tails-"

Isiat's eyes flashed, his pupils black slits against cold blue. Before Shadi could finish her sentence, the disgusted Kyruku had parted himself from the feline, who squeaked in pain as she was suddenly free from their intimate lock, looking up at him with fear as he all but shoved her away and climbed his way from the hot water. He gave his tails an angry flick, sending water flying as he shot a look over his shoulder, angry words on his lips-

Shadi had scrambled back, back into the deepest shadows the pool offered, pressed against the wet wall of stone as if she were trying to flatten herself out, trying to be as small as she could be. He could see her mismatched eyes flashing, wide and afraid in the dying fire light.

His anger faded, leaving him feeling cold and sad as the heat from the water seeped away from him. He was still irritated about what she had been trying to say, but letting his anger come out in this way was not the right way to approach this particular female.

Quietly, he reached his paw out towards Shadi. "I'm sorry. The thought of just... you can't blame me for being angry. Did I hurt you?" He crouched on his haunches, holding his arm over the water.

The feline shook her head, and quietly waded across the water towards him, timidly taking his paw. He hauled her from the water and into his arms, letting her shake the water from her fur, before he continued;

"I agree... Maybe we can't do anything right at this moment... but Shadi, if you feel a damned thing for me, you can't just... shoot me down like this." He sighed, giving her paw a tug, wanting to go tend the fire before it died.

"I wont just content myself with the thought of that fucker possibly raising my cub as his own as the best outcome." He sniffed, his lip curling. "I'm going to ask some questions, contact my brother... All I'm asking..." He said firmly, looking into her narrowed eyes. "...Is for you not to give up on the idea that we can work out. Have some faith in me- I'm not him. I'd go through hell to make this work, Shadi... I can figure out a way to do this without hurting the pack." He said earnestly, and was rewarded by a softening in her eyes, her small paws squeezing his back.

"...I would like to be your mate. I do... I'm just..." Her spine gave a shudder. Afraid.

"Hesitant. I'm so sorry for what I said before, I shouldn't have... you are more of a male than that." She grinned sheepishly. Yes he was.

"I honestly don't know what we will do. I don't. But for right now, I just know that if we mess this up... I don't want anyone hurt, least of all you." Shadi allowed him to pull her closer, moving them out of the shadows and closer to the dying fire, and one heavily asleep hound. They curled themselves up on their pallet, turning their tails to the fire to dry.

She closed her eyes as warmth flowed through her again. "Yes. Look for a way... but do so discreetly."

"I will... I'll find one... I promise."

Morning arrived far sooner than Isiat would have wanted it to. True to his predictions though, the blizzard had cleared by sunrise, and light shone in through the mouth of the cave, harsh and unwelcomed. Despite his best attempts to simply ignore it, roll back over, and cuddle in closer to the feline beneath the blankets with him, he knew he had to leave. If he didn't, they would send out search parties now that the cover of the storm was gone.

"Shadi... Shadi..." He tried to rouse her gently, but only earned a quiet, sleepy grumble in response, so instead, he leaned over, and locked his muzzle to her own in a kiss until the feline's senses caught up with her and reminded her than she needed to breath again. She blinked herself awake as he parted from her reluctantly, knowing that this would be the last moments of relative privacy either of them would have together for some time.

"I'll see you back at the camp, but don't wait too long. As soon as they realize you're not with me, they'll be organizing a team to go out and find you. Be back before they set out." He sighed softly. It was hardly much of a farewell. He searched his mind for the right thing to say, something to give her hope, keep her going, but words failed him.

"I Love you... I've never been so sure of anything in my life... Just be safe." He smiled warmly, and for now at least, it seemed to placate her, that smile that had so charmed him crossing the felines lips. He wouldn't let her in on all the dark thoughts that were racing through his own mind. She had bigger things to worry about right now than his concerns for the future.

"I will be.... I... Love you too." Shadi gave him a quick peck on the lips, before he wrapped her up in his embrace, arms and tails pulling her in tight against his chest. It was a long few moments before finally, reluctantly, they parted. Isiat collected his things, and set back out into the snow. If he looked back, he'd have snatched her off her feet and ran as far as his legs could take him.

When Isiat finally returned to camp, the Alpha and his cronies were waiting for him. All of them looked pissed, the kitsune most of all.

"And just where the hell have you been!? Where's Shadi?" At that, Isiat made his best confused expression, cocking his head to the side. Part of him had wanted to reply with "Well fucked in a cave due north a few miles.", but his good sense stayed a spiteful tongue, and his paw, which had instinctively began to creep for the pistol strapped at his waist.

"I haven't seen her? I was under the assumption she was here in camp with everyone else. I didn't find anything last night, so..." That response didn't however cut it for the Alpha, who took a step forward, as if to strike Isiat for his attitude. A slight curling of Isiat's lip however stayed his fist. It would do him no good to have his most prized asset angry with him. So little did he know...

"Go back out there and find her! She must have left last night; She can't have gotten far, not in that blizzard." The Alpha growled instead, turning to a pair of his 'lackeys'. The pair of them darted past Isiat and headed into the wilderness, going the entirely wrong direction. They weren't the brightest of mutts. He gave them 6 hours at most before either of them so much as got an idea of where she might have been.

"If that's all Sir, I still haven't gotten any shut eye, so..." Isiat waved his paw, as if to make a 'can we move things along' gesture. The Alpha snarled, and turned on his heel, heading back towards his treehouse and muttering angrily under his breath. Isiat released a sigh of relief, rolling his shoulders and making for the small dug-out he had constructed to act as his 'den' of sorts. He'd need to make sure his weapon's were stocked and ready to go at a moments notice if his plan were to work out in the long run, and a few practice shots might help level his still burning emotions.

As tired as Shadi was, she didn't go back to sleep once Isiat left. She took his words to heart, and knew that she needed to leave quickly. A bath for both her and Janga left them both feeling good, and after drying very well, they too set off into the fresh, thick snowfall, Shadi's thick tail swaying behind her back and forth to obscure her foot prints in the snow. To her luck, the snowfall wasn't even done, flakes of fluffy white still spinning from the sky. No one would be the wiser.

Half way to camp, anxiety started to prickle at Shadi's belly, making her nervous. Janga whined at her, her big black nose pressing into her mistress's side. Janga had not been used since Shadi had become Alpha, she had enjoyed their trip into the storm, and for that, Shadi was glad.

She could have worried. She could have kept her mind spinning at the prospect of the Alpha male killing her when she stepped into camp, of him punishing her. Or worse- walking into camp to find him hurting Isiat. She could have thought about the possibility of her carrying a child that did not belong to her mate, about how she had already failed the poor thing, who would never be safe now, for the sins of it's mother...

Instead, Shadi knotted her paws in Janga's fur, controlling her breathing. Too long she had lived with fear, anxiety, nervousness. Isiat loved her- she needed to be brave if she were ever to deserve that type of devotion from a male such as him. Thinking of the future would not make her present pleasant.

Camp came up fast, and Shadi sneaked her way into the walls. Quietly, she chained her hound in her kennel and fed her, leaving her with her face buried in her bowl. Since Shadi had been 'promoted', Janga needed to be chained at all times. She wanted no reason for the Alpha to kill her dog, and Janga, if allowed to wander the camp, would not hesitate to protect Shadi if she were threatened.

That was where Shadi was when The Alpha found her, trying to sneak her way out of the stables.

Everything happened very quickly, Shadi didn't really know what hit her until it was over. She was dragged by the nape of her neck to the square in front of the treehouse, and dumped unceremoniously onto her back. Despite knowing full well it would do her no good, Shadi put her arms in front of her face.

"I-I got caught in the storm! I had to bunker down- I wasn't trying to run away!" Her heart was pounding so hard, she was surprised her voice could be heard at all. The Alpha said nothing to her, his rage beyond words.

His sudden weight on her forced the wind from her lungs, so Shadi couldn't even scream. Like a snake, he sank his fangs into her chest, just above her breast, his fist tangling into her hair to hold her head back. Shadi let out a silent shriek as he pulled his head back, her fur and flesh dangling from his muzzle. The terrifying sight made Shadi's mind go black around the edges.

The Alpha dipped his head again, taking her flesh in his teeth again, and repeating the process over the other side of her chest, by her breast bone.

Deciding he had punished her enough in front of his pack, saving his pride, Shadi's bloody form was tossed over the massive male's shoulder, the gorey spot in the snow growing smaller and smaller as she was hauled towards the Alpha's treehouse.

The rest of her punishment would be out of sight of the pack.

Isiat had sat, watching, unable to act. Rage boiled in him like a roaring inferno, daring the first person to cross him to try and stop him. As soon as the Alpha's were out of sight, he had fetched his rifle from his den, affixing the scope and loading one of the bulky 20mm rounds into the chamber of the NTW, his prized 'elephant gun'. There were no elephants this far North, but Isiat knew exactly what he planned to hunt with this rifle. He clambered up one of the nearby trees, almost ripping his own claws out in his haste as he settled into the fork of the branches near the canopy.

From here, he was offered an unobstructed view of the Alpha's tree house, and he spent a moment getting himself situated, eyeing down the scope towards the shuttered window of the Alpha's home. From within, he could hear exactly what was happening. He clenched his eyes tightly, gripping the single round in a death grip, his knuckles white. He saw red. He felt red. Every instinct in him screamed to kill and do murder and make that son of a bitch pay for every single hurt he had ever given to Shadi a hundredfold times back on him.

But without a clear shot, there was nothing he could do. He couldn't fire for risk of hitting Shadi by mistake, or the large caliber round ricocheting. So he sat there, eye pressed to the scope, muttering litanies of hate and wrath and vengeance as he got to endure Shadi's torture right along side her, listening to every muffled cry, every creak of the floorboards as the Alpha raped the woman he loved.

He cycled the chamber; Caught the bullet in his open paw, and drew his knife, slicing his thumb on the razor sharp edge at the same time. Into the brass casing, he etched a single greek character, taking his time as he scraped out the stylised letter with excruciating patience. . 'A'. Alpha. This one would be his. He set his thumb down atop the letter, making the oath and marking it with blood, leaving his fingerprint on the round, which he loaded back into the chamber with all the slow, terrifying grace of a soldier pushed that final step beyond rage, when the blind, raging tempest of uncontrolled fury and hate breaks, and is replaced by the chilling cold, seething malice without mercy that makes a man climb a tower with a rifle and several hundred rounds of ammunition.

There was no black or white for Isiat now. Just pitiless grey that enveloped his mind in an icy, calm, collected and welcoming way. He was a soldier. He had his target. All he needed now was the moment to strike.