Chapter 3

"She tastes like nectar and salt. Nectar and salt and apples. Pollen and stars and hinges. She tastes like fairy tales. Swan maiden at midnight. Cream on the tip of a fox's tongue. She tastes like hope." ~ Laini Taylor

May 12th, 2023

The kitsunes manor Yuki's den

"Come catch me, my loves," I hear, followed by beautiful laughter as I chase after her through the damp forest, my paws light and quiet. I can't believe she got away. Finally, after all these years, I found her; I snarl and snap my teeth in rage, and she teases me. I'm going to claim what's mine; she's going to submit to her mates; sniffing the air, I smell her scent, so delicious like wild berries and vanilla. I creep up on her, weaving through the trees to run alongside her. I try not to pant while looking at her; my tails swish back and forth. I lick my chops, ready to knock her down, but she looks at me and then moves forward. I tilt my head, ears forward, trying to figure her out, and she chuckles, "I won't make it that easy for you." I know she was talking to me, but she's gone before I can react, leaving only slightly disturbed dirt in her wake. I howl my frustration to the sky. I keep running, my back legs and paws becoming strained and put to the test. I smell my other mate and look up as I see him swoop down missing his target, I growl at his stupidity our mate is smarter than he thinks a simple tactic like that would never work. We will not be worthy if she makes it to the clearing. Finally, I'm done playing nice. I run through the forest, smelling her and seeing her form in the distance. I run towards the front tree near the clearing with my body. My other mate is nearby. I move quickly.

Getting the necessary momentum I lean back on my hind legs, pushing them onto the tree, which I hear crack under the pressure of my paws. My body flies through the air, and I shift halfway through, my hands reaching towards my mate's body; she lands on her back. "Hunts over beautiful," I growl out, I put my half-shifted hands around her throat and squeezing lightly, I snarl in her face my tails swaying. My dick jerks and I feel precum drip down to my shaft as I smell her arousal. I can smell my other mates arousal as well and his excitement, I know we're going to have a great time punishing her together. "Master Yuki, sir, it is time for you to wake up now." "Master Yuki, wake up, sir," I feel someone touch my face. "The mating ritual begins today Master Yuki and you know the goddess herself requires you to go now please get up sir." she yanks the covers from my body and screams as she realizes I am naked I groan at the shrill sound, blinking my eyes open; the mating ritual is the bane of my existence. I'm older than the Greeks and the sand that flowed in to dry up the Sahara desert, but the Goddess of all kitsune still wants me to go. I've given up looking for my mate. I only attend the ritual because of obligation and for entertainment; it's always nice to see the newly mated couples and the diverse species that can end up together.

At the last ritual, a siren named Ewaife and a spider shifter named Imamu mated, which is unusual given the natures of each species and the uneasy alliance both realms had with each other; the mated couple thought it was a cruel joke but couldn't deny their bond. So they chose to trust in their deities and their love bloomed to a point where they couldn't even stand being a room apart. The goddesses and gods of the supernatural species always bestow mating gifts on their creations. The spider shifter was blessed by Anansi with the essence of spirit weaving, which gives you the power to bind a person's powers but only powers granted by the goddesses and gods. Yemoja blessed the siren with a voice of desire, the best gift a siren could ever hope for; it allows them to use their bewitching singing in the sea and on land as well. Receiving this gift is considered a high honor in the spider shifter community because it also confers the title of tempest or tempter, the monarch of the spider shifter fractions. The former tempter named him the new tempter the following week.

His beautiful siren mate now lives with him in the temple of Anansi on top of heels in a beautiful forest. Rumors began to circulate six months after their marriage about how no man could resist her dark skin glowing with allure and seduction and how she was becoming dangerous to every man in her vicinity; one of her male bodyguards had his throat ripped out and flesh eaten by her because he thought she was a threat. Imamu was forced to dismiss all male staff out of fear they would all be eaten. Not long after the rumors, a pregnancy confirmation letter was sent to the other leaders and me, along with an invitation to celebrate the pregnancy. I remember feeling more jealous and angry than I had ever felt in my life and I ripped the invitation apart. I threw my dinner table across the room and couldn't stop shifting as I saw red my body burning and bones cracking. My maids screamed and ran for the dining room door, the guards arrived and the maids struggled to get around them. I remember attacking one of the screaming maids, biting into her flesh and tasting copper as my claws dug into her and held her down, the gurgling of her throat satisfied my rage. Then the air started feeling like electricity, and the fur on my back stood up.

"Is that any way to greet your creator, my dearest Yuki?" As blood drips from my maw, I look up to see my goddess mischievously looking down at me I snarled my contempt. "You dare to snarl at me," I snarled again, and her amusement quickly turned to anger. Her canines sharpened and extended as her eyes shifted from their human form to the molten gold of her fox. She hissed. My legs give out beneath me as my fox form felt like it was on fire; the whines and yowling of my fox form slowly and achingly melded with the painful screams of my human one as the goddess forced me to shift. "tsk tsk, you have been a nasty fox envy and jealousy doesn't look good on a leader, much less a leader destined for greatness," she said, while she looked down at my blood-spattered body. The goddess took a seat and placed my head in her lap, pulling my hair through her fingers. I sobbed into my creator's lap; the sadness and loneliness I had felt for centuries bubbled to the surface; her haunting voice sung a lullaby of heartache to me.

"Itsuki no Komoriuta; isn't it a heartbreaking lullaby?" I recall hearing the song for the first time, and the essence of those who sang it was almost, if not entirely, diminished. But there was a spark in there that kept strength and hope alive." Sighing, she looked away in a daze, as if dreaming, still running her elegant fingers through my hair. "I couldn't do anything to help the poor families or the daughters who suffered greatly even as a supposed all-powerful being, all I could do was observe the suffering of people who did not deserve such cruelty. At that time, I felt I had a vague idea of how humans must feel every day, every minute of their brief lives." Humans used to hunt us down because they thought we were demons. While some kitsune committed atrocities, others genuinely desired peace, but humans decided we were all evil because of a few bad apples. I couldn't understand her compassion for such heinous creatures. "Why the sympathy, Goddess? Humans are savages, parasitic creatures at heart, and all they do is destroy and take." The goddess grabbed my hand, and dragged me to my feet, she led me to the restroom, and snorted, "That's exactly what most humans thought of all kitsune; such a narrow mindset will never bring any being success or wisdom. Not all humans are like that; some refused to believe that we were all evil and demonic, and some still bring offerings to me and whisper the name Inari Okami."

Of course, she's was correct; some humans still believed in her and prayed for her blessing. I believed that was mostly due to greed and not genuine worship, but I didn't tell my goddess this, "why tell me this, why tell me anything about humans?" I inquired, puzzled, and she responded with a mysterious smile and chuckled. "I see a bright future for you filled with love and peace. Go to the mating ritual; you won't have to go again if you don't want to." I raised my brows at the deal she offered, and she laughed, "OK, I'll hold you to your word, goddess." She kissed the top of my head and walked away with one last echoing laugh. Now here I am, getting ready for yet another mating ritual. I hear knocking and recognize it as my sister because of her scent of lilies and fresh rain, as well as the way she bursts through the bathroom door without thinking about whether I am decent enough to be seen. "Well, I see you're doing well, brother; sorry that the goddess is forcing you to attend the mating ritual; I know how much it hurts you," she acknowledges. My sister personifies the human proverb "as sweet as honey." She couldn't hurt a fly, and with the goddess's blessing, she could communicate with the earth itself. Unlike me, with my pale skin, strong jawline, plump pink lips, long white hair, and ice blue eyes. My sister Haru has long dusty blond hair, a slightly tanned skin tone, amber eyes, plump red lips, and an oval jawline; the only thing we have in common is our monolids and almond eye shape, as well as our plump lips. Our mother used to refer to us as winter and spring as kids; she said that while my sister was carefree like a newly blooming flower, I was serious and reserved like a cold and stormy winter day.

I look at my sister and think about how proud I am of the woman she has become. My sister found a great mate who turned out to be the prince of the volcanic demon species. She now lives with him in his realm as a queen, which makes me wonder how she knew what happened here in this realm. "How did you find out, sister? Are you really that nosy as to hear gossip all the way in hell?." "Why, brother, do you think so little of me?" she asks shyly. "Do you think your innocent sister is a gossip?" As an answer, I raise my brows. And she laughs, which makes me happy. "You're so mean, Brother; no, I didn't hear it from all the juicy gossip. In fact, the earth told me about your troubles and the goddess's visit." Her smile fades and tears well up in her eyes the mood changes from pleasant to tense. "sh, sh, sh it's okay, Haru, it's alright, I'm fine," I say as I walk away from the mirror. She shakes her head as she looks up at me, "No, Yuki, you are not fine. When you shifted, the earth informed me of your energy. You're becoming feral without your mate; you'll die like dad; I should have come sooner; I'm so sorry." Our mother and father were not fated mates, but rather friends who agreed to mate for the sake of the fox empire. They mated because they needed heirs to the throne. Our father turned feral, killing everything in his path until the day he couldn't recognize us and tried to kill us, only to be killed by his most trusted guard. My mother couldn't live after that, and on a stormy night, she kissed my sister and me one last time. The earth sees everything, and my sister saw everything as well because of her connection to it. Our mother smiled peacefully as the wind blew through her hair; her last words were "forgive me for not being strong enough" as she jumped from the palace roof and died.

For years, my sister remained silent, traumatized by the scene and our mother's final words, and I could only comfort her while fearing her life. because she was barely eating and I could see her light dimming everyday. That is until her eighteenth birthday and she was no longer a pup anymore. She went to the mating ritual and found her mate. "I'm not going to die like my father Haru. You must have faith in me." But I knew she knew what I said was nonsense; she knew that if I didn't return with a mate, I'd be sentenced to the same fate as our father. "The car has arrived, Master Yuki; it is time for you to depart." I nod to the maid; my sister squeezes me tightly one last time, and I kiss her on the cheek. "I promise to return to you as a sane man, Haru." Snorting, she backs away from me, shaking her head and rubbing her arms, tears streaming down her cheeks, she responds, "don't make promises; not even the goddess can make Yuki," she looks up at me with one last teary smile. "But, yes, return to me, and please return in one piece." She fades back to her new home in the hell dimension with those last words. Looking up at the clear blue sky, I sigh, grab my coat, and take one last look inside my home's large double doors "Goddess, I hope you know what you're doing. I sincerely hope you do." And with that, I get in the car, close my eyes, and steady my breathing because this is going to be a long ride.