Chapter II
"You did a good thing for Jack Arlo," Mareth spoke in a low voice as she rested her head on Tenko's chest.
"Yes, he did," Malia interjected as she walked out of the bathroom in nothing but royal blue panties. She then got into bed on Tenko's left side and said, "The question now is what is Nima's place."
"Gamma," Tenko replied without hesitation. "She's 28 years old and joined our pack by way of family connection. Until she proves herself a fighter and makes herself valuable, Beta is not a place for her."
"Then she can help Nikita with managing the new property. We can find other things for her overtime." Malia didn't believe in dead weight. And that's what she thought Nima Arlo was, dead weight.
"Be nice, Malia. Though, you make sense. You can't hide your feeling from me." Tenko reached out then pulled her close. "And Mare?"
"Yes..." she answered.
Malia gently squeezed his thigh before he could answer. Tenko steadily exhaled. "Do you have anything else that your keeping to yourself?"
"You know everything," she replied.
"We'll see." Tenko sneered. It was enough for Mareth to know what sort of position she was in.
'You should take it easy on her.' Malia thought directly into Tenko's mind.
'Mind your own, Malia.' he replied.
'She loves you, Tenko'
'It does not excuse what she did. I'm going to sleep now.' Tenko ended the mental conversation.
Malia looked across Tenko and saw a sad Mareth in the dark. Malia then reached and took Mareth's hand into her own. She gave Mareth a soft kiss on her hand, then the two of them fell asleep with fingers interlocked.
In the morning, Tenko felt a nearly transcendent sensation devouring his cock. Two soft hands stroked him, two tongues licked, and two hands fondled his balls.
The pleasure didn't stop there as Mareth hungrily swallowed his cock and Malia sucked his balls. They made sloppy wet love to his shaft until Tenko couldn't hold back any longer.
With faces and lips spattered with their lover's spunk, Mareth and Malia cleaned each other while sharing cum-swapping kisses in between.
Tenko enjoyed the morning show of his women. But things were only getting started. As the three lovers came together
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It was an hour past noon. Tenko, Malia, and Mareth were stepping out of the grand alabaster walk-in shower, one by one. Tenko dried himself and dressed. When he looked back to check on the ladies, they were talking and still in their towels as Mareth did Malia's hair.
Tenko smiled to himself, then turned to leave them in peace. In the basement, Tenko packed for a day with the Mareth and Malia, which was long past due.
After another hour passed and the truck was loaded. Tenko shouted for Malia and Mareth to hurry.
After a 30 minute drive, the lovers were parked on an old road that led to a grove in the Beacon Hills preserve.
"What are we doing here, Tenko?" Malia asked.
"In the past month, you have become an alpha, and Mareth absorbed the power of a beta and Darach with the power of nine sacrifices as she didn't get the chance to sacrifice the last three," Tenko explained as he opens the truck door and jumped out.
Malia smirked at Mareth, "You know what this means, right?"
Mareth tittered, "Let's kick his ass."'
Tenko cackled outside of the truck. After everything was unloaded. Malia and Mareth realized that the day would be a little more complicated than a simple spar.
The field was set, and Tenko was sipping peach wine as Malia and Mareth inspected all of the equipment.
"It's simple. Malia and I used to wrestle all of the time. Mareth literally tried to kill me. Now you both need to show me something new. First is the disk throw, three 45 pound plates strapped together. Next, every tree has a target. Throw the ax and try to cut it down. Every tree is also marked. Jump as high as you can."
"That sounds simple," said Mareth.
Malia started first and chucked the improvised disk with ease. Mareth went next. She didn't even need to touch the disk to launch it 100 yards.
Tenko smirked at their strength then added a plate to each of their stacks. Though, Malia needed a chain attached to hers in order to throw. By the time the first event ended, Malia and Mareth were both panting, and the trees that lined the end of the grove were obliterated.
"Malia. Half a ton. Mareth three-quarters of a ton. Now, let's chop some trees." Tenko sang.
The events went on, and Tenko was more than impressed as Malia and Mareth displayed everything they had. When every event was finished. The grove looked like a battlefield. Weight plates were lodge in the ground, trees with holes blown through them by javelins or completely bisected by axes.
"You two were amazing." Tenko sang as he laid next to them.
Malia and Mareth laughed together. "Only you would be attracted to women with such destructive power."
"Your right. Beautiful, strong, fearless," Tenko spoke with a sultry voice. "I consider myself lucky to be loved by such women."
Tenko pulled four pairs of stringed bells from his pocket. Two sets were gold and the other two silver. He then placed a pair on Malia's and Mareth's wrists.
"Bells?" Malia asked, "What are these for?"
Mareth quietly ran her fingers across the melodic silver bells. Caressing them as they chimed with every passing.
Tenko held the last two pair of stringed bells in his hand as he laid his head in Mareth's lap. "How about we get out of here."
Malia shrugged her shoulders then began to stand up but was quickly pulled down by Tenko. "Not exactly what I meant." he added, "I've been working on mastering my abilities, and I feel like showing off."
Tenko then pulled Mareth and Malia onto the astral plane. They were surrounded by trees near a creek with a small pagoda in the middle. Atop of the pagoda were three lovers -- two women and a man. The women had a pair of stringed bells upon their wrists and their ankles.
"Where is this place?"Mareth asked.
"The Yin Dynasty. Based on a painting of the music kitsunes' most loved stories." Tenko replied. "Come. let's play a game. "
"What kind of game?" Mareth asked.
"A game inspired by love. Both educational and fun." Tenko replied with a mysterious smirk.
Malia looked excited, and Mareth had no intentions of telling him no.
Tenko then explained the rules of the game: "I will be blindfolded. You two beautiful women will run through the forest as I chase you. But you can never be more than six feet away from me."
"Where are we running to?" Asked Malia
"The Gazebo is made of oak and covered in vines. Suppose we make it there without either of you being caught. Then I'll dance with both of you."
On the surface, it seemed simple and playful. But Tenko smirked when Malia was already thinking about Mareth. She wanted her to make it. She wanted her to dance with Tenko and close the distance created by her secrets. Mareth, on the other hand, had a more complicated psyche.
Tenko put the blindfold on, and anklets made of bells appeared on both Malia and Mareth. Malia and Mareth took off, and Tenko was hot on their tail. At their speed, it seemed like they were floating. During the chase, Mareth seemed to think of fairies in the forest.
Mareth's clothes turned into dazzling dust and were then replaced with a flowing, tan, and green schemed dress. When Malia saw this, she smiled from ear to ear. Her clothes then turned into a roman styled cocktail dress that she was looking at for Halloween.
Suddenly Tenko appears near Malia's shoulder. He reached and just barely missed her as she jammed her foot into the ground and spun inwards. Her face only half a ruler away from Tenko and her body even closer. For a split second, she wanted to be caught.
Tenko quickly readjusted and swiped at Malia. Her body elegantly twisted just a step from Tenko. Mareth soon appeared to help, but she had forgotten the bells on her limbs, jingling as she moved.
Tenko twisted on his left foot and went for Mareth. His hand, aching to touch her, passed down the middle of her face, neck, breast, then down her abdomen.
"Almost had you, love." Tenko sweetly taunted her.
Malia snatched Mareth away, and the chase restarted.
"What is he playing at?" Mareth asked while on the run.
"I don't know." Malia giggled, "It's kinda hot, though, isn't it."
Malia and Mareth laughed together, then stopped on purpose as they experienced a new type of being. An edging sensation of the near touch and the chase. To tease and be wanted. Tenko's attempts to touch them in just the slightest way was more potent than a hundred words of love and the gentle caress of their bodies.
When the forest nymphs had their lover at the gazebo, the game continued. Only this time, things became enchanting. The teasing became almost like a dance, and the jingle of bells told Tenko the steps. With every jingle was a perfectly played note of the guqin. The three lovers danced in perfect harmony to the music created by their own movements, orchestrated by their hearts.
The music eventually came to an end as Malia and Mareth stood still, only a hair away from Tenko. Still blindfolded, Tenko could feel their intense gaze and the rise and fall of their chest. Malia and Mareth reached out and locked fingers. Tenko soon felt Malia's breast press against his back and her lips on his neck. Mareth then followed up by taking his lips. Tenko's blindfold disintegrated, and neither woman noticed Tenko had his tails wrapped around their waist.
"And just like that, we have proven that we're fit to marry," Tenko whispered.
Malia and Mareth looked at him in shock. Even more so when they noticed they were back by the creek where they started.
"Marry," Mareth repeated. "Are you asking us to marry you?"
"No. I did say this would be educational. The Yukimura clan is in town. Soon, the Iwai of the forest and Sagoko of the river will be here. The Yukimura is a noble clan, while Iwai and Sagoko are Royal clans. When a Nakashige is born as anything but celestial, they marry into the Royal Clans. In the coming days, my life will be weighed by Kitsune traditions. The first thing they will do is judge the three of us."
"That's why you said fit to marry." Mareth began to understand what was happening. "So I assume there are other pre-marriage rituals? So why this one?"
Tenko smiled, and the world change. Twisting into a moving tale. "Because of the Tale of Three Lovers. A Kitsune tale of love, even at the peril of death."
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-Tenko's Telling of the Tale of the Three Lovers-
The story began during the Yin Dynasty with the Music Kitsune Clan Leader, Di Feng. Like myself, he also loved two women. Unfortunately, one was human and the only daughter of Emperor Yin.
Di Mei, Di Feng's wife, lived for months without ever knowing that another woman had a seat next to her in Di Feng's heart. She hadn't the slightest clue that her husband wrote the most beautifully authentic melodies every night for the human Princess. Every song was original and sorrowful due to Di Feng's yearning to feel the Princess's touch, just once.
Until one night, Di Mei followed her husband and heard a melody that she had never heard her husband play before. Upon a closer look, she had witnessed the Princess cherish the melody while holding her hands close to her heart. Di Mei then noticed that the melody embodied the desires of both lovers.
Di Mei wept so much that night that she had to be sent to the River Kitsune clan to shed her tears into their waters, fearing she would flood her own lands.
Though, when the wells of her eyes finally dried, Di Mei decided to fight to keep what's hers. She decided to kill the Princess to set Di Feng's heart free so that she may recapture it herself.
However, Di Mei's plan would destroy the alliance between the fox spirits and humans. So Di Mei sought out her lifelong friend and sister-in-law. The wife of Weida de Guo Jianjun. Later known as Inu no Taisho, the Great Dog General.
Di Mei changed her appearance with her sister's help and took her place as a palace servant in the Yindai. Days turned to weeks, and Di Mei worked her way to the Princess's side. Di Mei learned everything about the Princess and became her most attentive servant. Her likes and dislikes, habits, dreams, and nightmares. But most importantly, Di Mei learned the depth's of the Princess's love for Di Feng and music.
When the day came to finally kill the love-thieving Princess, Di Mei couldn't do it. During all that work to get close to the Princess in order to shift the blame away from the fox spirits, Di Mei had grown too close to her target. So close, the Princess had touched her heart and left a mark.
As Di Mei held a blade behind the Princess. The Princess was saddened, she had to wait for her beloved servant to kill her, but it never came. The Princess could no longer feel the shadow of killing intent hoovering over.
At that moment, the Princess had played the song she wrote for Di Feng and Di Mei. A song so bittersweet, it brought the husband and wife to tears of joy and pain. Princess Yin An Yue had composed a song of love, guilt, and shame.
Love for Di Feng, guilt for falling for Di Mei, disguised as her human servant, and shame for being loved and loving a man that was not hers. Di Mei's hand became weak, and the dagger slipped from her grasp to the floor with a sharp metal clang.
"Zi Yun..." Princess An Yue used Di Mei's false name, "What do you think of the song that you have inspired?"
Di Mei's heart nearly burst under the pressure of her turbulent emotions. And for the first time, she found herself yearning for someone who was not her husband.
Di Mei vanished from the palace that night. The Princess then wept until the wells of her eyes had also dried.
With both of the women he loved in deep sorrow, Di Feng composed his greatest song of eight hundred and seventy years of life. A piece that was so pure that Huli Jing/ Inari had given Di Mei the first of what Music Kitsune call, HeartSong.
Di Feng lured the Princess and his wife to the wood with his HeartSong during the new moon. There, his song confessed the love her felt for both women and the guilt and shame he felt for being so greedy, indecisive, and weak of heart.
Princess Yin An Yue was so aroused by the song, but she too felt the guilt and shame for taking a piece of Di Feng's love away from his wife. The Princess took a deep breath and bowed before Di Mei. It was the first time that Di Mei had ever seen the Princess break her back for anyone.
Di Mei quickly moved to lift the Princess to her rightful posture. But when the two fatefully met eyes, An Yue gasped.
"Z- Zi Yun."
"My Lady..." Di Mei answered with a small voice.
Di Feng was confused by this. "Di Mei?" he asked.
"My lord," she answered.
"Why does she call you Zi Yun?" Di Feng asked his wife.
That night, Di Mei recounts the series of events after discovering that Di Feng had fallen in love with another. But she also admits that she finds herself in a bewilderment, as she had fallen in love with the Princess as well.
From the night on, the lovers would risk it all by meeting in the dead of night to celebrate their love for one another. Dancing the most intimate dance. For a year, they were happy until Di Mei and Yin An Yue became pregnant and gave birth to fox children, both celestial girls and born on the same night.
Enraged, Emperor Yin threw the Kit to the wolves and banished his daughter. However, the wolves never touched the Kit as her white hair and shining stary eyes appeared when they approached. The Alpha of the pack feared retribution from the Fox Royal family and returned what she assumed to be a kidnapped royal.
Enraged, The Great Dog General traced the Kit's lineage and stormed the Yindai royal palace. There, Emperor Yin explained everything. What Emperor Yin didn't know was that Huli Jing had touched the child and made her royalty, for Di Feng was not of Royal blood. To hide this miracle, the Great Dog General presented Di Mei and Yin An Yue's daughters as twins. And through his sister, the twins become Princesses.
The General then punished Di Feng for taking another lover while married to his sister. He was punished for not protecting the Kits and was punished for not coming to the General the moment he knew what had occurred.
Di Feng's eyes were taken to never see beauty or his children again. He was forbidden from touching his lovers ever again, Di Mei was taken back to the royal family, and the marriage was dissolved by her brother.
Knowing that her daughter and the daughter of An Yue would be taken care of. Di Mei had two pairs of bell bracelets made. One of silver and the other gold. She then went out to find An Yue dirty, alone, and in the gutters. She found her lover, and together they went to find Di Feng.
With the bracelets of golden and silver bells, Di Mei led An Yue to a spring deep in the wood where Di Feng had retreated. When the two women arrived, they heard Di Feng play his song of sadness.
Not wanting to hear more, An Yue held up her wrist and jingled her bracelet made of silver bells. Di Feng stopped playing as his lovers approached him.
"An Yue..." He said.
Yin An Yue rang her silver bells that produced a distinct sound.
"Di Mei..." He said.
Di Mei then jingled her golden bells. An Yue sniffled and moved towards Di Feng but was held back by Di Mei as Di Feng quickly retreated. They could not touch, or death would be all they felt.
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"What happened next?" Malia asked.
"They visited him every night. Di Feng eventually had anklets made of bells for both of them. The nightly visits soon became a nightly dance. With bells on their limbs, Di Feng was able to hear them better. The dance and elegance of the near touch were all they had. Fated to never feel the softness of Di Feng's skin again."
"That's sad," said Mareth. "They spent eternity like that?"
"No. The dance changed their heart songs. Their hearts beat to the same rhythm, and the love echoed throughout the lands every night. So moved by their love, the Emperor, Dog General, and Huili Jing watched them. They knew the consequences if they grazed each other, but they risked it every night. It became the dance of the three lovers. And one day, their love reached a new height. Death together than life apart made more sense. So they reached out and touched each other. The curse killed the three lovers, but Huili Jing brought them back, and the Dog General gave Di Feng his sight back."
"'Wow..." Malia and Mareth gasped.