Mythical Mate for an Alpha

Chapter 5

I can’t believe it! I made it through my first day at school. I had just gotten far enough into the woods that I couldn’t contain my excitement any longer. I stripped off my clothes, threw them in my bag, and finally let myself shift. 

I only let one of my tails come out. I was still cautious of the woods and anyone who may be out here. The others were itching to come free, but this would have to do for now. Bag in my mouth, I sprinted through the forest to the perimeter of my cabin. I did my normal two passes around the cabin before grabbing my bag and leaping in through the window. 

 I changed my clothes and laid out all of my homework across the wood table top. I know that most students would hate the idea of homework, but I was too excited. This was everything I hoped it would be. 

I decided it was better to make dinner first before diving back into the work. I went out to the garden for more vegetables. I noticed I was getting low on squash. I broke the neck off of the one I had in my hand, making sure there were some seeds in there. I buried it a few spots over and closed my eyes. 

With my hands still in the dirt, I felt my eyes glow beneath the lids and my body getting warm. After a minute, I pulled my hand from the ground to see a beautiful full squash plant with small flowers starting. Two days time I would have more.

Heading back inside the house, I popped my hand into the wood stove again to light the fire. I chopped up my vegetables and cooked them with some of the hare from this morning’s hunt. As I made dinner, I thought back over my day.

More than anything, I realized I was grateful to have made a friend. Trish was so kind, especially for a wolf. All those years I had watched from the shadows, I knew that wolves weren’t normally too welcoming to those outside of their kind. 

I was looking forward to knowing more about Trish. Maybe I could earn enough trust that she would admit to being a wolf. I giggled to myself. I knew it was wishful thinking. The number one rule was to never reveal yourself to a human unless they were your mate.

It got me thinking about mates again. I knew enough from watching the look in their eyes when it happened. It was actually one of my favorite aspects of their culture. I could see the shift in body language, how they could sense the other before they even saw them. It warmed my heart every time I watched it.

Secretly, I wished to have it too. Sometimes I hung around wolf packs longer than necessary, hoping that maybe I was someone’s mate. I knew they would smell me if I were, so I would often leave my scent unmasked. I would be close enough to a pack that the breeze might carry my scent in, but far enough that only the person it was meant for would catch it. 

Decades passed and no one ever claimed me. Deep down I knew that I wasn’t made for them. Sure, I was a supernatural like them, but I was unique. Having never met another Kitsune in my life, I knew the chances of a mate being out there for me were next to 0.

In almost 300 years, if it were going to happen, it would have by now. That was simple statistics. But I had grown accustomed to the idea that I would never have a mate. Not even the other wild foxes took an interest in me in my fox form. They recognized me enough not to bother me, but they could tell I wasn’t like them.

No matter. There are so many other things in this world that I have been privileged too. How could it be fair of me to ask for something else? I received far more than most of creation. There was no such thing as ‘having it all’. A mate just happened to be the one thing that I couldn’t have.