“What are the Northern Mountains like?”

Sakura glanced over momentarily at the silver fox as she took a bite out of the last roll of bread. It was the first time either of them had spoken since she began her watch over the tunneler, and night had long since fallen, the moon and stars their only lighting. Her eyes then drifted towards the angel on her other side as she pushed the final bit into her mouth, attempting to chew quietly.

Ren wasn’t going to be pleased about this.

“It’s colder,” she told the alpha, being mindful of the volume of her voice. “Gets more snow. There’s a lot more water. The pests seem to be bigger as well.”

“Do you like it up there?”

She shrugged. “It’s alright. It has its good and its bad just like anywhere else.” She shifted her head towards him. “You ever leave the den?”

He stared ahead. “No. I’ve always been needed here. There are people in Wei Wen and Golden City who pay my grandmother well to travel to them, and so she’ll be escorted when the need arises. There’re a few others who like to travel, but they’re never gone long before they come back.” Solemn, gold eyes turned towards the woman. “As far as I can remember, you’re the only one who left and never came back. Well, until now.”

The vixen chewed her cheek roughly, feeling her anger rise. Who was this man to act like she had a place to come back to? It felt like she was being scolded, and it made her want to fight back, to use him as bait for the tunneler. She would have, if not for Ren’s boot tapping against her wrist.

Fine.

She’d be a good, little fox girl.

“It’s better I left.” She sounded calmer than she’d thought she would. “No one needed another burden. It was difficult enough for people to feed themselves. They didn’t need to worry about me as well.”

No one needed to take care of a cursed child.

No one wanted to.

And it didn't matter if he wanted to pretend to be ignorant to it, he knew it just as well now as he did then.

“Foxes always take care of their own. Someone would have taken care of you.” His confident gaze didn’t leave her, trying to convince her of what she knew otherwise.

Tap

Tap

Tap

Sakura shut her eyes, inhaling and exhaling deeply.

Be a good, little fox girl.

She opened them, green flames burning hotter as she tried to keep her voice stable. “I was taken care of.” She thought of Raz. Of Ren. “I was very much loved and cared for.”

“You would have been loved here.” He believed his own lie.

Sakura clenched her fists, nails digging into her palms.

Good fox girl.

Oh, fuck this.

The tunneler was getting a large snack tonight.

Her mouth opened just as fingers wrapped around her wrist and pulled. She turned, looking into pools of ocean blue.

“Where’s the bag?” Ren asked. “I’m hungry.”

Oh shit.

Her eyes dashed away, and she timidly handed over the bag without a word. This wasn’t good. She had been so bored the entire time, the silence eating at her, that she had eaten all of the food without so much as a single thought to the consequences.

Hopefully there was something in there she had missed so that she wouldn’t have to listen to him complain for the rest of the night.

He searched through it. “You ate everything.” The man was not amused with the lack of provisions after being the one to over supply the bag with food in the first place.

“I was bored,” she muttered shamefully, still unable to look at him.

“That doesn’t mean you eat all the food.” Leaning forward, he poked and wriggled a single finger into her side, her body unable to resist jerking away as a ticklish spasm ran through her. “You’re making me something when we get back.”

“Fine.” Her ears twitched and she snatched the bag back, digging into it before pulling out the apple core from earlier. She tossed it towards the top of the dirt pile, watching it bounce against the ground and roll to a stop.

“That was mine,” the angel grumbled. “I was gonna eat it.”

Sakura got to her feet, her full attention on the discarded fruit. “You can fight the tunneler for it. Now shut up,” she hissed.

The earth began to churn and separate as the two men rose with the movement.

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The claws emerged first; long, thin, razor-sharp, and nearly translucent. Then the black nose at the tip of its slender, peach snout followed by dark whiskers and a skinny, mouse like head with large round ears and eyes covered by the lids. The rest of the monstrous body pushed through, eight more legs forcing the dirt away as it sniffed for the tasty treat provided.

Without warning, the woman silently pushed off from the branch, falling headfirst towards the pest.

Yuki opened his mouth, absentmindedly trying to call out, but was silenced by Ren’s hand blocking the sound. He looked at the man who also held a finger to his own lips, watching the falling woman intensely, completely enthralled and thrilled at the sight. The fox turned back, to bear witness to the same view.

She plummeted closer to the beast, her body a ghost, hand gripping the hilt of the katana.

Watching.

Waiting.

Now.

She unsheathed the weapon in a flash, holding it close as the tunneler raised its head towards the sound and straight into the blade. The pest’s rear end began to bubble and grow, the skin containing the festering of its innards as it moved up its body before erupting from the puncture like a mute volcano, the skin dissolving along the way. The black mud slopped to the ground in heaps while the woman crouched in the aftermath.

Ren scooped up the bag. “Let’s go, Alpha!” He grinned wildly as he stepped off the branch, dropping to the ground.

The silver fox stared at the figure in the middle of the mess for a moment longer before following.

She had actually done it.

The woman had killed the pest.

What an asset she would be to the den.

Sakura straightened and turned towards the men while sheathing the katana. “That’s how you get rid of a tunneler,” she informed with little emotion as she strutted past Yuki, not waiting for a response, but a giant smile spread across her muddy face as she made her way to the angel. “I did it! I killed it dead. All on my own.”

“Yeah you did. Looks like third times the charm,” Ren congratulated while looking at her less than enthused, his grin turning to a frown. “I’m not carrying you.”

“You said you would!” she argued.

“You said I would!”

She stood before him, completely covered in the pest’s remains, fingers going to the bottom of his shirt and twisting the fabric as she peered shyly up at him, emeralds shining bright against filth. “But Ren.” Her lip quivered. “I saved the den.”

The man stared down at her in revulsion. “I don’t give a shit about the den! Look at you! You’re fucking disgusting!”

“Please Ren.”

He raised a brow, considering it carefully. “What do I get?”

Sakura smiled, her victory imminent. “You get to carry me all the way back and tuck me into bed.”

That was good enough for him.

The angel sighed and turned around, unstrapping the baldric and holding his sheathed sword together with the bag before allowing the woman to jump up and wrap herself around him. She snuggled her dirty cheek onto his shoulder as he hooked his arms under her muddy legs. “You’re doing the wash tomorrow,” he told her, heading back to the village. “And cooking for me.”

“Mmhmm,” she agreed, already half asleep and falling fast.

Yuki caught up with the angel, his attention on the now sleeping woman riding on his back. “Does she do this often?”

“Kill pests?” Ren looked down at him, excited to talk all about it. “Oh yeah. She lives for it. She’s good at it, but messy as hell. Never could figure out how to pull her swings.”

“And what about you?”

“What about me?”

“Do you kill?”

The angel looked forward, the excitement no longer there. “I prefer not to.”

“So you just let her exterminate pests for you?” The disapproval in the fox’s voice was thick.

“It’s not about me letting her do anything,” he tried to explain. “She does as she pleases, just as I do.” He thought about earlier, all the things he wanted to do and didn’t receive. “Sometimes,” he griped to himself.

“A man should be a leader and a provider,” Yuki lectured. “Killing pests isn’t a woman’s responsibility. It’s a man’s.”

Ren nodded, absorbing the demon’s words of wisdom. “You didn’t want her help, did you? You wanted to impress her.”

The fox said nothing, just continued walking.

The angel chuckled, his earlier suspicions now proven beyond a shadow of a doubt. “I don’t blame you. Just look at her.” He glanced at the mud caked face on his shoulder. “Well, maybe not right now, she’s a fucking disaster. Normally though…” He shook his head and whistled. “I’ll give it to the den, it sure produced one hell of a perfect specimen of a woman. She is something else. But I’m gonna tell you now, if you want to impress her, you’re going about it in the wrong way. It’s not going to work. The worst thing you can do is underestimate her. Then again, maybe showing her how weak and insignificant she is in comparison to you is the way to her heart. You should keep doing what you’re doing. See how it works out for you.”

Yuki was quiet for a moment, looking over the tall man beside him. “You’re an angel.”

“What gave it away?”

“Why aren’t you in The Kingdom, or at least Golden City?”

Ren snorted. “I’ll give you one guess.”

“Where are your wings?”

The angel released Sakura’s leg long enough to hold up his arm and give it a jiggle, the onyx beads around his wrist clanking against each other, as he smiled cheerfully. “Does that make you nervous, Alpha? Knowing that you’re in the presence of a most feared Fallen One?”

Yuki wasn’t so impressed as he glanced at the bracelet with little interest before setting his sights forward. “What happens in The Kingdom is of no concern to the den. Angels may fear you, but there’s absolutely no reason for me to.”

“I’m so glad you hear you say that.” His smile grew wider. “I like you a lot, Alpha. You and I are like kindred spirits. We do want the same woman, after all.” The way the fox’s ears and tail slightly bristled wasn’t lost on the man and he elbowed him playfully. “Oh, come on. No need to be like that. A little competition never hurt. You’re alpha of the den. I’m sure you’ve dealt with plenty of it.”

It was ever so slight, but the irritation grew in the silver fox. “Angels and demons have no place together. Especially a fox demon, she belongs to her den. And you’re a Fallen One. I’m not sure why The Kingdom allowed you to survive, but I’m certain they don’t acknowledge you as one of their own. You have nothing to offer her.”

Ren nodded, giving it the consideration it deserved. “You may very well have a point there. You should definitely tell her that. Make sure to emphasize that last bit especially. Really make sure she understands. You know how women are. They need a big, strong man to spell it out for them.” They broke from the trees, the dark village illuminated by the moon. Ren increased his stride, pulling away from the other man as he raised his hand in farewell. “Well, I’m gonna go dump her in the pond before bed. I look forward to your courtship of this delicate, young maiden. Good luck!”

He heard no reply, and he didn’t look back as he headed towards Sakura’s old home. As he got closer, he felt the tightening of the woman’s arms around him, her face brushing against his neck.

“I heard the things you said about me,” she whispered with lips against his skin, her voice sleepy.

Of course she did, that was no surprise to the man. “That was tame. You should hear the things I think about you.”

“Are you trying to get rid of me?”

He snorted. “I couldn’t get rid of you if I tried. You’ll just keep crawling back to me like you always do.”

“So you’re antagonizing.”

He grinned. The woman knew him so well. “That doesn’t sound like something I would do,” he insisted.

The demon sighed, ready for the warm embrace of a comfortable bed. “Are you really going to throw me in the pond?”

Ren said not a word.

He was definitely throwing her in the pond.