The Hearts of Men

A distressed aura draped the room like an encompassing veil where three fox demon men sat on the floor in silence, a map of the den and its surrounding area in the center. The three pairs of eyes studied it carefully, trying to find the missing piece that would solve the puzzle that they had struggled to put together.

“We probably only have another week before the tunneler is within our territory,” a middle-aged man with ginger hair tied in a short ponytail spoke, his finger running down the projected path on the map.

A younger fox nodded, his black ears twitching in agitation. “It hasn’t come up at all. Is it possible that it’s surfacing during the day?”

“No.” The youngest, a solemn man with silver hair pulled into a knot, shook his head. “They only come out at night. There’s a reason that it’s not coming up. We need to…” He was interrupted by a knock at the door behind him. The men paused, waiting.

“Yuki,” Akiko’s voice came. “Can I speak with you?”

“You may enter,” the silver haired man said, turning his attention back to the map. “We need to go out again, but during the day.” He looked up at the other two men, the older wide-eyed and pale, the younger awestruck.

“Keiko,” the ginger fox gasped. “How?”

“No, Keiko’s still dead.” The voice was lovely but strong, hinting towards disgust. “I’m her daughter, Sakura. I’m sure you remember me, though it's been a while.”

The silver fox stilled before twisting his body around, seeing his grandmother with her head politely bowed close to the red-haired woman. He glanced momentarily at the girl who stood between the two women with trembling hands clasped together. There wasn’t much to see of her other than the top of her amethyst hair as she stared holes into the floor. She certainly wasn’t of the den, but she had obviously been informed of their proper etiquette.

The young vixen, on the other hand, completely disregarded their custom of respect. She stood tall and proud, in the way of a man and not a woman, her bright green eyes practically ripping through each one of them as they drifted to meet all three of the men’s gazes.

“We thought you were dead,” the older man muttered, still struggling with the sight before him.

Her eyes narrowed. “Oh, I bet you fucking did. But life’s full of disappointments.”

Akiko gently touched the younger fox’s arm, a reminder to behave, before approaching the men. “Sakura has returned with her companions, and she has asked for my temporary assistance in teaching this young lady here some of the ways of the den’s healing skills. I am humbly asking for your permission to do so. I will make sure that my teaching doesn’t get in the way of the den’s well-being, and they have agreed to that condition.”

The ridiculous request snapped the older man back into reality and he scoffed as he looked at the nervous girl. “That girl is not apart of the den. She has no place here. You can’t just allow outsiders to come in and learn the divine skills that have been passed down to you.”

Akiko opened her mouth to rebut as the other woman stalked past her towards the men, her skirt swishing around each swift step she took.

Sakura was over it. Her patience was already thin when they left her old home and had only deteriorated further along the way. By the time Akiko had finished explaining to her and Ivy what would be expected of them, and how to hold themselves properly, there was nothing left but the simmering of outrage that was only barely kept in check by the girl’s timid presence.

But it didn’t matter how disgusted she was with the den’s traditions, this was for Ivy, and she would listen to Ren’s advice.

Be a good, little fox girl, and suck it up.

Regardless, despite her best intentions, she could only hold herself back so much.

“You have a tunneler?” Sakura crouched down between the two younger men and studied the map. She pointed to where they had marked its path. “If that’s where its at then you have another two days before it catches a whiff of the crops, and another day before it’s tearing through this house in order to get to them.” She looked up at them, her expression excited and wild. “I can kill it tonight. For a price.”

“What do you know about killing tunnelers?” the ginger fox challenged. “You’re a woman.”

“Woman or not, I’ve killed two of them.”

“With what?” The doubt thick in his voice.

Sakura stood and jerked up the skirt of her dress all the way to her hip, running her hand along the handles of the daggers on her left thigh before pulling a pure silver one and twirling it around in her fingers. “The first one was with this.” She replaced the dagger and averted her eyes as her skirt fell back to her ankles. “The second one… I was having a bad year,” she sheepishly muttered.

“She beat it to death,” Ivy spoke quietly and with sorrow, still looking at the floor. “It was awful for that poor tunneler. I can still hear its screams. I know it was a pest, but it didn’t deserve that.”

The fox whipped towards the girl and pointed a finger at her in warning. “I’ve already told you that I’m not apologizing for that shit anymore! It was years ago! You’re just gonna have to buck up and learn how to deal with it!” She faced the men, two of their mouths gaping at her while the youngest one watched her closely, his brow slightly raised. “Oh, I’m sorry.” Sarcasm dripping from her tongue. “Was that indecent behavior for a woman? Do you want it dead tonight or not?”

“You have no right…” The older fox was silenced by the silver fox’s hand.

“You two can go. I’ll speak with them.”

The two men got to their feet and walked past Akiko and Ivy without a word, closing the door behind them. The remaining man stood, staring at the red haired woman before him who looked back with an unwavering gaze.

“Hello Yuki. Long time, no see,” Sakura greeted with a nod. “I see you’re alpha now. Lucky you.”

“Where have you been?” Yuki asked, allowing only some of his shock to surface.

“The Northern Mountains.”

“That far? How did you make it up there? Who took you there?”

“I took myself.”

“Someone had to have helped you. How else could you have survived?”

“It doesn’t matter. It’s in the past. Let’s leave it there.” She was getting annoyed at the interrogation. It was obvious he was skeptical of her answers, and she had no interest in trying to convince anyone of her honesty. “I’m not here to talk about where I’ve been. I’m here now, and I can kill that tunneler in exchange for Ivy to learn under Akiko. It’ll only be for maybe a week. We’ve got some other things to deal with, and we’re only passing through, but Akiko’s knowledge is invaluable, and I want Ivy to learn some of it. Do we have a deal?”

Yuki observed the woman. He had never been spoken to in this manner, much less by a woman. Never had any of the girls or women of the den looked him in the eye without wavering and bowing their heads. Never had they talked to him without the utmost respect, overly polite to a fault. Every eligible woman practically fell all over themselves in his presence, hoping for the chance to become the alpha’s mate.

But not this woman. She held herself in a way that no woman of the den ever had. With confidence. Determination. Authority.

It was a strange feeling. One he’d never experienced. To be face to face with a woman who demanded to be viewed not as merely an equal.

But as superior.

As if she were alpha.

“None of the men will agree to go out with you,” he told her, waiting for her reaction.

“Good.” Her expression bored and indifferent. “I don’t want them to come. They’ll only get in my way.”

It wasn’t the response he had expected. “How do you know how to fight?”

Sakura bit her cheek and immediately blinked away her grief.

Raz.

It was time to end this discussion before her emotions got the better of her.

“This is not a difficult decision. Yes or no. Yes, I kill it, and Ivy learns under Akiko and we’re gone in a week. No, we’re gone within the hour. Either way, the den gets what they want. However, if I leave, you better have a good plan to get rid of that tunneler. From the sounds of it, it’s been a real struggle so far.”

Yuki weighed his options. He knew the den, especially the men, wouldn’t approve of outsiders staying in the village, let alone learning their ways. It would cause a lot of unnecessary conflict. There were traditions and laws set in place, a way of living that had always been honored. It would be asinine for him to upset the fine balance of the den in order to allow some plum haired girl, who was too afraid to even attempt to peek up, to learn under his grandmother.

But he also didn’t want the woman with eyes like burning emeralds to leave either.

Yuki glanced at the girl before returning his attention to Sakura. He stepped closer, reaching out and resting his hand against her arm, and lowered his voice. “She’s not apart of the den. No one here will approve. You, on the other hand, were born into the den. You will always be welcomed here. This is your home. It’s where you belong.”

Fuck breaking down and crying.

She was going to kill this man.

Rip his filthy arm off and beat him to death with it.

But a small whisper, one that only she could hear, slipped into her ears.

“It’s going to be okay. Just breathe.”

Sakura looked back at the girl who was still in the stance she’d been told to take, and felt her heart soften, the sorrow and hostility she’d felt melting away and being filled with love. If it was for Ivy, then she could let her anger go.

At least this time.

“Yes or no.” She turned back the alpha, calm and composed, and stepped away from his touch. “I’m just going to leave if you keep walking around your answer. You’re wasting my time.”

He couldn’t let her go.

“Alright,” he decided. “I’ll meet you at noon at the north edge of the den, and we’ll go together. Your friend can join my grandmother immediately.”

“I can do it alone.”

“As the alpha, I will go with you.” He had no intention on letting her go alone.

“Suit yourself.” She shrugged, turning and looking at the girl, her violet eyes peeking up in silent request, before turning back. “Oh, there will be a white-haired man with her. Just ignore his eyes. It’s no big deal.”

“A man?” he repeated. “Is he her mate?” He hadn’t meant to emphasize the ‘her’ but it came out anyway.

A smile spread across Sakura’s face. “Of course he is. He needs to be with her at all times. He’s quiet, no one will even know he’s there.”

He liked how her eyes instantly sparkled. How her lips curved. Her voice sweetened. “Alright, but neither of them can be a distraction to the den.”

“You won’t even notice we’re here.” She spun and strutted off, taking the girl’s hand and guiding her from the room as Akiko bowed her head once more and followed.

Yuki watched the vixen go, following the captivating sway of her hips and swish of her tail before the closing of the door hindered the view.

It wasn’t going to be simple task to convince the men of the den to tolerate these temporary guests, but it was a battle he was willing to take on. A small sacrifice in order to obtain something most worthy.

She had said one week.

That would be more than enough time.