Where the Predators Prowl [47, 48]

47: Post-delving fun

Adelle was kissing me with such wild enthusiasm that I started to get genuinely concerned she might actually eat my entire face.

"Mmph!" I protested as her rough tongue scraped against mine, sharp canines biting my lips and cheek.

Candace seemed to notice my discomfort and pulled the cheetah towards herself. "Oi, stop nomming him, you greedy cat!"

“Wurhh?” Adelle’s upside down face turned to the fox. “I’ll nom whomever I wanna. Hrm… You look nommable.” She immediately redirected her attention from me to Candace.

The fox and cheetah began making out directly in front of my face. Their bodies pressed against me as they began pawing at each other, squashing me further into the bottom of the dimensional bag.

"Are you two serious right now?" Kristi demanded. From the sound of her voice, she was decidedly not impressed with the impromptu make-out session happening atop me.

Nessy's soft giggle came from somewhere near my right ear. "I think they're super serious.”

"For Slayer's sake," Kristi huffed. She pulled out her phone, the screen's glow illuminating her scowling face in the dim confines of the bag. "Oh, great. Just great."

"What?" I asked, as someone's tail swatted my face. I couldn't even tell whose at this point and had to push the wiggling appendage aside.

"My damn sisters," she groaned, rapidly scrolling through messages. 

"What’d they do now?" I asked.

"It's… complicated," Kristi sighed, putting her phone away. "Look, we need to get out of this bag. Now. I have stuff to deal with."

"But we're celebrrrrrating!" Candace protested, reluctantly detaching herself from Adelle.

"Celebrate outside the bag," Kristi ordered, smacking the prad nearest to her. "Come on, move! Shoo! Get your butt out of my face!”

A rather undignified and uncoordinated exodus began in earnest as the girls tried to depart from the overstuffed dimensional bag. Limbs tangled, tails got stepped on, and someone’s knee somehow ended up in my stomach as we all tried to climb over each other in the bottleneck that the upside down Addie created.

"Ow, watch where you're steppin, you fox-faced menace!"

"Sorry! Your feathers are everywhere!"

"Who's standing on my tail?!"

"Everyone just... stop moving for a second!"

“One at a time damn it!”

After much struggling, cursing, and accidental or perhaps purposeful groping, we tumbled out onto the gymnasium floor in a heap of fur, feathers, and mild embarrassment.

I stood up and dusted myself off, taking in our surroundings. The gym seemed empty.

The quiet was suddenly broken by the sound of slow, deliberate applause.

We all turned to see Principal Kerberos standing in the doorway, his body silhouetted against the afternoon light streaming through the hallway windows behind him.

"My congratulations, Team Foster," he said. "It seems that you've defeated Professor Fern's simulation and got the treasure."

"Yep," I replied curtly, stepping slightly in front of my packmates. 

The Principal's smiled. "Resourcefulness like yours is a valuable trait in a delver." He stepped into the gym. "I believe I owe you an apology, Mr. Foster."

"Oh?" I kept my expression neutral, wary of our last interaction.

"I believe that we got off on the wrong foot this morning," he said, clasping his hands behind his back.

"I'm not interested in being recruited by Omnid corporations," I said flatly. 

"So you've made clear," he nodded. "I was perhaps... overzealous in my assessment of your potential. It seems I underestimated your… Desire for independence.”

“Cut to the chase, Principal, why are you here if not to sell me another shitty corpo contract with Charmchain mafic?” I asked, making the girls behind me growl in disapproval.

“I'm here because I believe in rewarding talented students." He reached into his suit pocket and produced five golden tickets, each covered in intricate runework. 

“Reward them how?” I asked.

"These," he said, holding them up, "are invitations, gate tickets to visit Omnithornia.”

I started at the tickets.

“A field trip, if you will, supervised by Professor Fern.”

"Omni-what now?" Adelle asked.

"Omnithornia," the Principal repeated. "A place of great beauty and magitek wonders.

“What?!” I laughed. “You actually want me to go there myself? You think me a rooster that'll just merrily walk himself into a den of foxes?!” 

“Not alone, and not on a job contract, Mr. Foster. It isn't a one way trip. For your excellent performance I am rewarding your entire team with…. An educational opportunity to see the homeland of my ancestors from my mother's side. I believe it would be... illuminating for all of you."

"Omnithornia, huh? I've never heard of such a place," Candace said thoughtfully. "And I've studied pretty much every major geographical region and prad micron-nation as the Rhinehart Prima."

"It is not a place widely known to the general public," Kerberos admitted.

He extended the tickets toward me. I made no move to take them.

"Why would we want to go there?" I asked.

"Knowledge," he replied simply. "Understanding of the world beyond your limited experience. And perhaps..." His eyes flickered briefly. "Deep insights that might help your future as delvers."

I stiffened further at his words, not trusting the half-Omnid.

"Take some time to consider my offer," the Principal said, placing the tickets on a nearby bench when I still made no move to accept them. "An opportunity like this will not come again. Professor Fern will be in touch with the details as your trip overseer, should you decide to accept."

With a final nod, he turned and left the gymnasium, his shadow stretching unnaturally long behind him.

"Welp, that wasn't suspicious at all," Candace muttered once he was gone, poking the tickets with a white claw, her eyes flashing with silver. “Identify!”

Adelle snorted. "I've seen enough horror movies to know you don't accept mysterious golden tickets from creepy old men."

Nessy approached the bench, sniffing the tickets. "They feel... strange," she said, her nose twitching. "Like they're vibrating at a frequency I can almost hear. Unique… resonance. Like a dream of another place and time.”

Candace pocketed the tickets. “It's nothing dangerous.” She explained. “They're basic data tags. I'll figure them out later.”

"Uggh. I need to go," Kristi announced abruptly, still glaring at her phone. "My father is expecting me at our family’s restaurant."

"Everything okay?" I asked, concerned by her exasperated expression.

"No. My sisters have been spinning tales about me," she said, her feathers ruffling with agitation. "I need to set things straight with my folks before this gets out of hand."

"Want me to come with you?" I offered.

She hesitated, then shook her head. "No. This is something I need to handle myself. Family politics. I’ll… Introduce you to my father later, once I clarify things to him."

"Allright,” I said. “Keep in touch via text, yeah?”

“Yeah,” she said. She quickly stepped towards me, leaned down and gave me a tight hug, nuzzling against my side. “See you later.”

I nodded, hugging her back.

. . .

After Kristi hurried away to deal with her family drama, we headed back to the Moonshard Inn. The dragonheart laurel got relocated from Adelle to Candace’s head to reload her Binder skills, the dimensional bag carried by me.

"I'm starving," Adelle announced as we walked through the hotel lobby. 

“Already?” Candace laughed.

"Fighting and saving your butts really works up an appetite."

"You mostly just shadowstep around and punch peeps," Candace pointed out, flicking her tail dismissively. "While I did all the hard work.”

"Pfft," Adelle waved the fox off. "Details, details."

The suite looked exactly as we'd left it that morning, though housekeeping had tidied up the beds and removed the remnants of our dinner feast. 

"Shower time!" Candace announced. She bounded toward the bathroom, leaving muddy pawprints on the fancy wooden floor.

"Not if I get there first!" Adelle shouted, disappearing in a blur of orange as she shadow-stepped directly into the bathroom. The door slammed, followed by the sound of running water and Adelle's triumphant laughter.

"Oi, that's cheating!" Candace pounded on the door, her silver tail bristling indignantly. “Darn cheetah. Unbind lock!”

Having unlocked the door she slipped inside.

I heard their giggling and pawing from within the shower as they left the door wide open.

Nessy sat down beside me on the edge of the bed, her blue eyes flicking between me and the bathroom door. She fidgeted with her paws, opening and closing her mouth a few times like she wanted to say something but couldn't quite find the words.

"You can join them if you want," I offered, noticing her hesitation.

"I..." she started, her ears flattening slightly as she blushed. "I was actually thinking maybe you might want to... um..."

Her tail thumped nervously against the bed.

"Shower?" I supplied, trying not to smile at her adorable awkwardness.

"Yeah," she nodded, not quite meeting my eyes. “Shower… with me… washing you.”

I stared at Nessy, my mind momentarily short-circuiting. The sounds of Adelle and Candace’s playful splashing and giggling from the shower faded into a distant hum. All I could focus on were her earnest blue eyes and the nervous thumping of her tail against the mattress.

"Are you... sure?" I finally managed to ask, my voice a little hoarse.

"Yeah," she affirmed, a blush coloring the white fur of her cheeks. "I mean, we're both covered in mud and grime from the dungeon sim. It’s… efficient. And... I want to take care of you. And you trust me not to push you into anything inappropriate… right? Just… pack bonding."

Her words hung in the air, simple and direct. It wasn't a flirtatious challenge like Candace would throw, or a bold demand like Adelle might make. It was just… Nessy. Honest and adorably shy.

"Okay," I said, my heart doing a little flip-flop in my chest. "Okay. Let's... be efficient."

Her answering smile was blinding. She stood up and offered me her paw, her touch warm as she led me toward the bathroom.

The bathroom was filled with a cloud of steam. Adelle had Candace pinned against the shower wall, playfully scrubbing her sides with a loofah while the fox shrieked with laughter, suds flying everywhere. They were so engrossed in their game that they didn't even notice us enter.

Nessy led me past the wrestling cheetah and fox. The walk-in shower was palatial, with multiple shower heads set into the tiled walls.

"Hey, no cutting in line!" Candace yelled over the spray of water.

“What line?” Nessy blinked.

“I dunno, it sounded funnier in my head,” Candace snickered. “Wait… you actually got him in here? Consider me impressed, dawg!”

“Shhh,” Adelle hissed, shoving a washcloth into the fox’s face. “You’ll scare him off!” She began scrubbing the fox's face with the same vigor she applied to punching things, drowning Candace in bubbles.

"Gah! Not the face! You'll ruin my perfect vulpine complexion!" the fox spluttered, batting at Adelle's hands.

Nessy didn’t acknowledge the fox-cheetah shenanigans. She guided me under an unoccupied shower head and turned the knob. Warm water cascaded down, rinsing my armor and sluicing the grime from my hexamesh undersuit.

With gentle and intense focus, Nessy began to help me out of the armor and then the skintight suit. Her paws were methodical, unzipping the back and carefully peeling the damp fabric from my shoulders and arms. I felt a blush creep up my neck as I stood bare before her, my body a roadmap of old and new scars from a life of being a low-level human in a high-level world.

“Alec,” she let out. “Isn’t your reconstitution at a hundred percent now? Why don’t you heal all of these?”

“Hrm,” I considered her words. “I suppose that I could. I’m too used to it sitting at zero, I guess? Afraid that I might run out and then… I’ll be useless.”

“Alec, you’re not useless. Stop doubting yourself. At least fix up your insides,” she said warmly. 

“How do you know about my insides?” I asked.

“I can smell all the empty, dead spaces in your head,” she said. “It's worrying me.”

“I was hoping that the bracelet we made would fix it,” I shrugged, glancing at the orange-violet Revitalizing Wyvern-Heart Bracelet glittering on my wrist.

“It can’t heal something that died so long ago Alec,” Nessy said, pulling the bracelet off me and putting it on a side shelf. “It’s a medium quality artifact. You don't need to suffer alone anymore… now that I found you.”

She took a bottle of shampoo, squeezed a generous amount into her palm, and began to work it into my hair. Her fingers were strong and sure, massaging my scalp with a practiced ease that made my eyes flutter closed. A low, unconscious hum started in her throat, a soft, melodic sound that vibrated through her touch, soothing away the last vestiges of tension from my body.

"Ooh, look at that technique," Candace’s voice danced from the other side of the shower. "You taking notes, Ads? See? Das how you wash someone you love, not whatever half-assery you’re performing on my poor fox self."

"I'm washing you like I'd wash a muddy rug," Adelle grunted, her voice a low rumble. "Be grateful I'm using soap, you loaf."

"A very precious n’ rare, lemon-scented loaf, thank you very much!" Candace retorted.

I felt my ears burn, but Nessy just chuckled softly, her fingers kneading my hair.

Nessy rinsed the shampoo from my hair, her paws carding through the strands to make sure every bit of soap was gone. Then she moved to my back, her pink paw pads creating a pleasant friction against my skin as she lathered soap across my shoulders and down my spine. 

"You okay?" she murmured.

"Yeah," I breathed out, leaning my forehead against the cool tile of the shower wall. "More than okay. This is nice. Thanks."

This was so far removed from anything I'd ever experienced. Care, in my life, had always been transactional or a matter of gruff, occasional necessity. This gentle, unhurried attention was something new, something that felt dangerously good. Yet for some inexplicable reason, I didn't feel nervous with Nessy, trusting her wholeheartedly.

I helped rinse off and remove her muddy delver armor.

"Awww, so romantic,” Candace commented. “Are you two going to recreate that scene from Ghost with the pottery wheel, but with soap? Because I am so here for that."

I ignored her, my attention entirely on Nessy as she moved to stand in front of me. She worked the soapy washcloth over my chest and arms, her eyes focused on her task, a small smile played on her lips. The simple, domestic act felt more intimate than any of Candace's bold advances. It was an act of service, of quiet affection, that spoke volumes.

Our faces were suddenly inches apart as she rinsed me. The fox and cheetah noises seemed to fade into the background. In the swirling steam, it felt like we were the only two people in the world. I could see the individual droplets of water clinging to her black eyelashes, the way her eyes grew wide under my gaze.

I leaned in, and she suddenly met me halfway, our lips colliding in a kiss that was soft, warm, and tasted of warm water cascading over both of us.

For a split second the universe around us seemed to grind to a halt, an ocean of violet starry constellations spiralling all around.

The kiss was gentle, questioning, and ended far too soon. When we pulled apart, she was smiling, a genuine, heart-stopping smile that lit up her entire face.

"WHOO! GET SOME, ALPHA!" Adelle roared, breaking the spell. She punctuated her cheer by playfully smacking Candace on the butt with the wet washcloth.

"Ow! Uncalled for!" Candace yelped, then grinned. "But I agree with the sentiment! Go, Ness! I thought we were going to have to sit through another five episodes of unresolved romantic tension! Kiss him again! For science!"

Nessy just laughed, her eyes sparkling as she looked at me. "Later," she promised in a whisper seemingly meant only for me, before turning to grab a bottle of conditioner. "If you… behave.”

“Behave how?” I asked.

“Fix yourself,” she ordered. 

I frowned.

“Please?”

“I did great at the sim. What if I get horribly mauled and…” I began.

“None of that,” she shook her wet mane. “We won't let you get mauled. You did great, yes, but I want you to do even better. Okay?”

“Fine,” I said, activating and focusing Reconstitution on my old injuries, letting it revive neurons and connections that have long been destroyed.

“Good boy,” she smiled. “Now hold still. It’s conditioner time."

48: Pets

As Nessy worked the conditioner into my hair, I focused inward, pulling on the fully charged reserves of my [Reconstitution] skill. The sensation was like cracking open a dam inside myself. A warm, golden light flooded my awareness, pooling in the places where I’d been broken for so long.

I felt old, dormant pathways in my nervous system flicker back to life. The phantom ache in my neck, a ghost of the broken neck injury, finally dissolved fully into nothingness. The dull throb behind my eyes, a constant companion since my brother’s ill-fated spellchain experiment, faded away. It was like a thick fog I hadn't even realized I was living in had finally lifted.

The most startling change, however, was the return of my sense of smell. Not just the partial sense of smell that had come back with the magic bracelet healing. 

No, it came back all at once, an overwhelming sensory tidal wave. The steamy air was suddenly thick with a hundred distinct scents: the sharp citrus of the soap, the sweet floral notes of the conditioner, the earthy mineral smell of the water, the musky-clean scent of wet fur, Adelle's faint, spicy scent of ozone and cinnamon, Candace's complex aroma of fox fur and something vaguely like fresh-baked bread, and under it all, Nessy's own personal scent—a comforting blend of pine needles, summer air, lavender and something uniquely, wonderfully, inescapably her.

I inhaled sharply, my head reeling from the sudden, intense input. It was too much, too rich, too real.

"Whoa," I breathed, my eyes widening. "I can... smell everything again. Not just some things. Absolutely everything."

Nessy paused, her hands still in my hair. "Really?"

"Yeah," I said, still dazed. "You smell... amazing."

"Oh! Erm... thank you." She smiled.

"Hey! What about us?" Candace demanded from across the shower, playfully splashing water in our direction. "What do we smell like? Describe it in detail! Use evocative adjectives!"

"You smell like trouble," I said without missing a beat, which earned a cackle of delight from the fox. "And Adelle smells... like a thunderstorm."

"A sexy thunderstorm," Adelle corrected, striking a dramatic pose under the spray.

I laughed, feeling a giddiness I hadn't experienced in years. The world felt sharper, more defined. It was as if I’d been watching a movie in black and white and someone had suddenly flipped the switch to full, vibrant color.

It wasn’t just the improved sense of smell, I noticed. I could see way more colors now, my eyes had seemingly regained greater color range and sharpness that had been lost long ago with some obliterated part of my mind.

Nessy finished rinsing my hair and turned off our showerhead. She wrapped a plush towel around my shoulders, her touch lingering. 

"Go relax, order some delivery noms maybe," she said softly, her blue eyes warm. "I'll be out in a minute."

I nodded, glancing back at her before stepping out of the steamy bathroom. Wrapped in a fluffy hotel robe, I flopped onto the bed and grabbed my phone. A half-dozen notifications pinged from the group chat I’d created with the other human captains. 

[OwenTheUnprepared😹]: Eyyy! @Alecai How’d it go, my man?

[Alecai🌲]: Just finished the dungeon sim, guys. We won. Knocked out the Professor, got away with the treasure.

The replies came almost instantly.

[Markyrrplaya🫥]: no fucking way dude. u knocked out FERN??? the scary-ass high level Pyromancer who can melt steel with a glare and wields hundreds of Elementals?

[OwenTheUnprepared😹]: Holy shit. How??? My team is still trying to figure out how to coordinate a basic pincer movement without tripping over their own paws.

[Listerroni👾]: Pics or it didn't happen. Seriously, how did you manage that?

[Alecai🌲]: Tactical application of a very large seal TA using mind-swapping. Also, flashbangs. Lots of flashbangs. And pepper. And an ultrasound noisemaker.

[Markyrrplaya🫥]: mind-swapping a SEAL?? dude ur a madman. a genius madman! I don't even!

[OwenTheUnprepared😹]: I tried giving my team a strategic plan and my lioness just told me "strategy is for those who can't punch good." Then she tried to punch a tree.

[Alecai🌲]: I have one of those too. A cheetah. You just gotta direct her to punch things in a specific direction.

[OwenTheUnprepared😹]: hm. hm. I see <takes notes>

[Listerroni👾]: My team's idea of a plan is "everyone runs in a different direction and yells a lot." I think they call it 'dynamic dispersal.'

[Alecai🌲]: The trick is to give them roles that play to their instincts. My cheetah just wants to punch things, so she's the shock trooper. My raptor is competitive and territorial, so she's the scout and flanker. The fox binds and the dog sniffs the best way forward. It’s about channeling their prad instincts and managing their skills.

[OwenTheUnprepared😹]: Chanelling instincts eh? I like that. Maybe I'll try telling my team our strategy is "strategic punching." They might go for that.

[Listerroni👾]: So you guys got the treasure? What was it?

[Alecai🌲]: A dragonheart hidden in a plain box. The real treasure gold chest was a fake. Fern might pull something like that on you too - I recommend using your best sniffer to sniff out the location of the real treasure.

The chat went silent for a full thirty seconds.

[Markyrrplaya🫥]: a DRAGONHEART?! are u kidding me?? those things are like rare as shit n worth a fortune!

[Listerroni👾]: You got a dragonheart on your FIRST sim? We got a coupon for 10% off at the school cafeteria last year with Mr. Lickshmidt!

[OwenTheUnprepared😹]: Oh, and before that, we got a participation trophy. made of plastic. My lionbae was using it as a chew toy till she broke it

I chuckled, tapping out a reply.

[Alecai🌲]: Guess we got lucky that Fern is a real delver. Listen, the biggest thing that helped was establishing a clear Alpha. They argue and roughhouse, but when I give an order, they know it’s serious. You have to be the anchor, the strategic mind, the guide.

[Listerroni👾]: Easier said than done when your 'anchor' position is challenged every five minutes with a wrestling match.

[Alecai🌲]: That’s when you let your heaviest hitter handle the wrestling. Delegate! For the sim - confuse, misdirect, trap, bamboozle your opponents! Remember they're uncoordinated prads who will easily fall into a trap. Use their brash weaknesses against them, etc.

Just as I was about to type more, the bathroom door opened and Nessy emerged, wrapped in a robe and towel, her fur still damp. Adelle and Candace followed a minute later.

Nessy picked up her own phone and her face soured.

"Umm. I have to leave too," she said reluctantly, her expression clouded with a flicker of worry. “Sorry.”

“Leave? To where?” I asked, turning to the husky.

"Moonshard Plaza Mall," she sighed, twisting a damp lock of her black hair around a claw. "I promised Sage I'd volunteer at the LoomCo bookstore booth this evening along with a bunch of other Krishna monks. Almost spaced out on that with the whole crazy delving sim day."

"To do what?" Candace asked.

"Nothing too difficult. I have to play some songs to... you know, promote book sales. Sister Zheniya will be supervising."

"LoomCo?" Candace raised a silver eyebrow. "That's Sage's family's store, isn't it? The one that sells all that 'find your inner peace through overpriced incense, crystal salts and meditation books' crap?"

Nessy nodded miserably. "I promised them weeks ago, before... well, before everything. Viv and Sage are already there waiting for me."

"Don't go," Adelle shrugged, flopping onto the bed, grabbing a remote and flicking through channels on the TV. "Tell 'em you're sick. Or that you are being held hostage... or I dunno. I don't have to come up with excuses. If someone forces me to do something I don't want, I tell ‘em to fuck themselves n’ punch them."

"You're… Love sick and abducted by a biker gang!" Candace bobbed, jumping onto the bed next to me and twirling around me. "Technically true! I can totally pretend to abduct you!"

"I can't," Nessy insisted, her tail drooping. "I don't break my promises. Even if... even if I don't want to go. Even if all they're going to do is shame me for picking Alec over them."

Candace watched her for a moment, her gray eyes narrowed in thought. "Actually," the fox said slowly, a cunning smirk spreading across her snout, "maybe this is a good thing."

"How is Ness being forced to shill for her manipulative friends a good thing?" Addie asked.

"Because it gets us access," Candace explained, her tail starting to swish with excitement. 

"Access to what now?" The cheetah yawned.

"Think about it. We need to figure out how to get our stolen music and soul-bits back from that damn Well of Severance. Going in guns blazing won't work since those fucks have high level monks guarding the temple. But, if Nessy goes there as a 'loyal volunteer,' she can observe, gather information, maybe even figure out the Well's magical weaknesses from the inside!"

"I'm not that good at figuring out magic wards with my nose," Nessy pursed her lips.

"I am really good at such with my eyes though," Candace said. "We should..."

"Go... together?" Nessy finished for the fox.

"Yepperoni," Candace nodded. “Go together. As one person.”

“I… I'd really like that,” Nessy smiled. “I don't really want to deal with everyone there by myself.”

Candace's face lit up. "Attagirl!" She practically vibrated with excitement. "Alright, let's do this! We need to be close. Skin to skin contact is best for soul-level bindings. Remember—No pushing back. You're opening the door, I'm coming in. Accept me into your heart, mind and soul."

“I know,” Nessy nodded. “And I do.”

The husky stepped closer to the white-robed Candace. With a shared glance, they reached for each other, their paws meeting and fingers intertwining. 

Candace closed her eyes, her expression one of intense concentration. Her silver-white fur seemed to shimmer, and a soft, pulsing light emanated from their joined hands. I felt a pressure build in the air, a sense of reality twisting slightly around them.

"Bind soul," Candace murmured, her voice taking on that same otherworldly echo from before, Nessy’s voice seemingly joining her, both of them speaking together as one. "Bind consciousness. Bind awareness. Two as one. Fusion!"

The light intensified, wrapping around both of them like a cocoon made of silver. For a moment, I felt a strange pulling sensation myself, as if I was somehow connected to the magical process, a distant echo of the binding rippling through our shared pack link.

Then, as abruptly as it began, the light and the sensation of my soul being wobbled sideways vanished. Candace's body went limp, slumping forward like a marionette with its strings cut. Nessy, now with one silver-gray eye, caught the unconscious fox and carried Candace's sleeping form to the nearest bed and gently tucked her in, pulling the covers up to her chin with a tenderness that was almost sisterly.

Nessy-Candace turned to me and Adelle. Then she reached up and touched her own left eye, whispering something under her breath.

A flicker of silver light traced a pattern in the air, and suddenly, the tell-tale glowing silver iris was gone, replaced by another perfect sky-blue orb. The glamour was flawless; she now looked entirely like her usual self.

She then zipped to the bathroom, emerging seconds later with a high-powered magitek hair dryer. A jet of warm, scented air and a deep hum filled the room as she expertly dried her mane in record time, fluffing her hair with her claws.

Once dry, she strode over to me. Before I could say a word, she pulled my face to hers and gave me a deep, lingering kiss. It was filled with Nessy's softness and warmth with an added bonus of Candace's confident, playful fire. When she pulled away, she didn't let go, instead pressing her cheek against mine and rubbing vigorously, marking me with her scent.

"There," she declared, her voice a purr of satisfaction. "Now I’m ready for the trenches."

She gave me a final, smothering hug that lifted me off my feet, then released me and quickly dressed in a set of clean clothes—dark and a black tank top. She looked at Adelle, who was still flicking through TV channels with an air of profound boredom.

"Ads, you're on Alec bodyguard duty," She commanded. "Behave. No chewing Alec without permission, no punching holes in the walls, no challenging the hotel staff to drinking contests, and no trying to shadowstep into the minibar. Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah," Adelle grumbled, not looking away from the screen where a dramatic cooking show was unfolding with contestants using their tiny dragons to cook things for professional delver judges. "Don't have fun. Got it."

"Good. I'll Voicecast you when I get to the mall so that you can enjoy my singing too. Toodles!" With a final wink at me, pulled the dragonheart lauriel off Candace's head, put it on her own, hiding it between black locks. Then, she was out the door, leaving me alone with the cheetah and the unconscious fox.

An awkward silence settled over the room, broken only by the enthusiastic shouting of pradavarian chefs on the television.

"So," Adelle said, finally turning her attention away from the screen. "Food?"

"Food does sound good," I agreed, relieved to have something to do. We spent the next ten minutes ordering an absurd amount of takeout from a nearby restaurant using Adelle's phone and Candace’s gold visa card.

As we waited, another silence fell, this one feeling heavier. Adelle wasn't looking at the TV anymore. She was staring at her own paws, a rare, pensive expression on her face. I wasn’t sure what to say and just waited in awkward silence.

"Alec," she said finally, "Two days ago. At the gas station. I was a real piece of shit to you, wasn't I?"

"You were... very drunk," I offered diplomatically.

"Drunk isn't an excuse," she muttered, her gaze still fixed on the floor. "I… disrespected you. Claimed you like you were some... thing. Like a stray I found. And I let my entire pack chase and smack you around." She shook her head, a self-deprecating grimace twisting her feline features. "Some Alpha I turned out to be for them."

"Yeah," I agreed, deciding honesty was the only way forward. "It was a pretty shit experience for me. But you also made me your Alpha that night, so I have that going for me."

"Because you earned it," she said, looking at me, her violet-blue eyes intense. "You faced down the Lynx. You were stronger than me… when it actually mattered. That's how it works. The strongest one leads. Slayer, you’ve earned it earlier when I kept hitting you and you kept your eyes up on me, but I was too drunk and prideful to even admit it properly…”

"Hrmm," I mused. "Is that how it is, to you, just a matter of strength? Whoever punches hardest and endures most punches gets to be the boss?"

"It's... how I've always seen it," she admitted with a shrug. "How my mom raised our litter. Show no weakness. Dominate or be dominated. The Skid Marks... we weren't just a dungeon delving gang. We were a bunch of fuck-ups who tried to be someone. We banded together because we had nowhere else to go. I became captain because I was the toughest fuckup. That's how I thought you earned respect in a pack."

She pawed at her face, kneading her cheeks. Then she licked her paw and brushed her hair aside.

“But now I know that you’re strong, so much stronger than me. I admit it now, even if it might be too late. Most of this is my fault, isn’t it? If I just explained things to you, if I wasn’t piss-drunk because I was afraid of leading the girls into the Superstore again… then you wouldn’t have driven to that highway edge, right?"

I nodded. 

“I…” she muttered. “I fucked up so bad.”

“It’s fine,” I shrugged. “The Lynx ain’t rushing us. She’s immortal. She can wait till we get stronger to break her highway loop or whatever. The important thing for me, is whether you’ve learned something from all of this.”

“I am. I’m absolutely trying to learn from you,” She muttered, her gaze drifting toward Candace's sleeping form. "Trying to fix what I fucked up, even thought I know that I cannot possibly undo that death Quest hanging over you.”

Again, I simply nodded.

“I’ve been watching you, trying to understand. You don't lead by punching. You lead by... listening. By trusting. By being clever. By challenging us to take care of each other. By doing shit like... fusing a dragonheart with our hair to make a thing that gives everyone extra mana." She huffed a small, humorless laugh. "I probably would've just eaten the heart and hoped it gave me super-punching powers or sold it and bought an artifact that’d make me tougher or something. Hell, I wouldn't have overcome Fern and her army of Elementals to get that heart to begin with."

"You know," I said, "when you claimed me... after... You broke my ribs... I hated you. I think it was the most humiliated I've ever felt in my life. For a few minutes I even considered figuring out how to exterminate all pradavarians.”

Adelle flinched, but she didn't look away. She just listened, her expression somber.

"But then you told that story about it," I continued, "about how it was this... ancient prad ritual or whatever. And Nessy said you weren't lying about the mana transfer, which did help me a lot yesterday. It didn't make it exactly okay, but... it made it make a little more sense. It wasn't just cruelty for cruelty's sake. You were trying to gauge me, evaluate my strength."

"It was stupid," she said flatly. "I was trying to show you respect in the only way I knew how, but I did it by being a massive ass. I get it. I'm not good at... talking. I'm good at punching and getting drunk and driving away from my problems."

"You're also good at protecting your pack," I pointed out. "You jumped in front of the Wyvern. You fought the TA and shadowstepped effectively to get us out of the maze. You helped get that dragonheart out.”

A knock at the door signaled the arrival of our food. The interruption broke the tension, and we spent the next while unpacking containers and laying out a feast on the bed.

We ate dinner in a comfortable silence, the only sounds the clinking of cutlery and the inane chatter from the TV.

After we finished, Adelle stretched out.

“Why didn’t you give in?” She asked. “Why didn’t you just surrender, ask me to stop?”

“Didn’t have anything to lose.” I shrugged. "Plus, I've had lots of practice getting the shit kicked out of me. Crying for mercy only made it worse.”

"With your brother," she nodded. "Fire mage, right?"

"Yeah."

"Siblings can be the worst," she sympathized. "I got out of my house as soon as I could cus my litter pack was driving me nuts. But hrmm… What I'm trying to say is... I respect you. Actually, more than that – I trust you. Which is weird because I don't trust almost anyone except for Loops and even then I only trust her when she's not high."

"Why do you trust me?" I asked.

"Because you had every reason to abandon me and Candy after what we did to you. Instead, you became our Alpha and gave us direction, purpose." She leaned forward, her expression earnest. "And now you're planning to take on an impossible Quest to save a town full of people who probably don’t give two fucks about you."

I considered her words. "It's not about whether they care. It's about what I choose to do."

"Exactly," she nodded emphatically. "That's what makes you different. That's why I'm willing to follow you into whatever crazy shit comes next – the Highway, the Omnithornia field trip, whatevs. Because I know you're not doing it for glory or money or power. You're doing it because it's right. And wherever you go, I’ll be by your side as your magisteel fist, your shadow sword."

She smiled.

“I trust you more than I've trusted any Alpha before. Even more than I trusted myself when I was in charge."

I nodded.

"Because you're not trying to be something you're not," she replied. "You're just... you. A little human tater who's way out of his depth but keeps swimming anyway. You don't posture. You don't try to dominate. You just... figure shit out. And you care. About all of us. Even when we're being total knobs."

She turned her head to look at me, a soft, vulnerable expression in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Alpha," she said quietly. "For being a coward, for hurting you… and getting wasted instead of facing my own shit. For everything."

I remained silent, letting her talk it out.

“Do you… still hate me?” A single tear traced a path through the fur on her cheek. She quickly wiped it away with the back of her paw, but not before I saw it.

"No. I… Get that you’re a tad rough around the edges, Addie. Just... don't ever do it again," I said.

"Never," she promised, reaching out to wrap her hand around mine. "I swear on my honor as your packmate." 

For a minute we just held hands. Then sat up and crawled over the bed, her movements slow and deliberate. 

For a moment I was concerned that she would pounce at me and maul me, but she simply rested her head on my lap, her body relaxing fully. I hesitantly started stroking her orange-red hair, her round ears twitching at my touch.

"You're a good Alpha, Alec," she murmured. "Really… The best I've ever had. I don't feel afraid of the future. I don't feel like running away when I'm with you, because I know that you can beat things that I cannot… Somehow overcome odds that seem wildly insurmountable to me. I don’t even give a fuck about being second in command, Candy or Ness can have that spot. I just want to be by your side… with our new pack… our new family.”

I gave her more head pats and she started to purr like a small tractor, wrapping her entire body tightly around me.