Druid Fox Chapter 18

Druid Fox Chapter 18

Artie

She was sore when she woke up Thursday morning. Duncan had been so much the attentive lover. She loved how he made love to her after he forced her.

She loved how she always went to him for sexual punishment, knowing how deliciously painful it would be and how much pleasure he would give her to make up for it. Artie reveled in the way her fox felt, submitting to him.

She renewed her fealty oath of service to him every year on the twenty-second of December. He was a Ruiri. There was Druid magic in the bond between Ruiri and their servants, knights, and nobles.

It was a ritual they’d practiced every year for long centuries. He always sought to convince her not to swear it to him. She wanted it.

Artie wanted the magic to force her to submit to him. She wanted the magic to force him to punish her.

Duncan would never have surrendered to his sexual desires. He was too noble. He would never have shown her the darkest side of his heart. She wanted all of him.

It was true he’d committed the murder because of the oath, but Lothlian had tried to kill her. The other two men attempted to rape her. The world was a far more brutal place when she met Duncan than it seemed at present.

Artie was checking her email while she drank her tea. Isabell had stayed with Javier at the retreat. So last night, Duncan had made love to her for hours. He was still asleep. Her heart skipped a beat when she read an email from the leopardess shifter Duncan had freed when he went to rescue Isabell.

She forwarded it to Duncan, Javier, and Luke.

The Leopardess expressed her gratitude for the rescue and wanted to impart knowledge about that operation as payment. She explained they held her prisoner for at least a month, maybe longer. She’d lost track of time.

By the time Artie and Duncan set her free, she’d been more of an animal than a woman. She’d run away and found a nice tree to hide out in while she licked her wounds and healed.

It was a leopard-like thing to say. Artie wondered if the woman meant it literally or figuratively. With shifters, it was sometimes hard to tell.

She included a long list of torture and experiments performed on her, and she revealed the names of several men who had been running the show for Elliot and Pillsanderz.

The leopardess revealed Elliot himself was a shifter. He was a brown bear. He’d recruited shifters to attack others of their kind.

She stood up and ran out the door to find Luke. Her alpha would need the information. It was a tremendous breakthrough in their understanding of the Elliot threat. She didn’t want to wait for him to read his email.

A few minutes later, she was knocking on Eli’s kitchen door. Luke answered it.

“Artie, good morning. To what do I owe the pleasure? Would you care for some breakfast?” Luke asked.

Eli had left for work already, and Luke had the day off from the construction site as Javier was covering it.

She felt odd being there with him alone. It was important. She and Duncan skipped dinner last night. Luke was bonded. Speaking with him wouldn’t bother Duncan, as speaking with Javier did.

“I’ll take that as a yes to breakfast.”

Luke laughed his deep baritone laugh, and Artie relaxed a bit in the company of her old friend.

“Thank you. I came to tell you I forwarded an email from the leopardess we freed when we rescued Isabell. She gave up a lot of information about the operation in that warehouse. She says Peter Elliot is a brown bear himself, and he is using shifters to hunt other shifters. That was how she got caught.” Artie spilled the beans.

Luke dropped the spatula he’d been using to flip the French toast. He got another one and loaded up two plates piled high with the toast and served her a plate. He offered her syrup, butter, whipped cream, and powdered sugar. She added it all and joined her alpha for breakfast.

“It looks like we need to find out where they go next. Can you and Duncan follow up on this information and try to find out who all works for him, descriptions, and locations of operations?” Luke asked. She felt the weight of the order from the alpha at his request. She nodded.

“I just wanted you to hear right away. I forwarded her email to Duncan for further research and you and Javier as well, since it involved pack security.” Artie let him know.

They made small talk while they ate breakfast. Luke asked her how she liked the house. She was getting used to it. Since she knew they would soon move to the retreat, it didn’t feel like home.

“How are you and Fox doing? I’m worried about him. He seems too adamant that he wants to join the pack, and he was never a packman. He’s Ruiri, a king in his own right. Artie, can you tell me if Fox is okay? I mean, does he want that?” Luke asked.

Artie chewed on her lip. Giving up Duncan’s secrets wasn’t something she could do. He was her mate and alpha. Luke wasn’t asking for Duncan’s secrets, just reassurance that Duncan was choosing without undue pressure.

“If it would hurt the pack, I have to know.” Luke requested information again. Artie caved to her alpha. She was a submissive, after all.

“Duncan fears for me. Luke, he turned me all those years ago while I lay dying and unconscious. I didn’t choose to be an arctic fox. Duncan forced it on me. I made peace with it centuries ago. I want Duncan. He’s my mate, turned, linked, and bound.” Artie smiled when she thought of that old-time, and how Duncan had taken care of her so well.

“We have a unique relationship. I was a servant, and when Duncan felt sorry for me, my master, Lord Lothlian, gave me to Duncan as a bed servant. Duncan was too noble to treat me like a whore. He turned me into a fox and nursed me back to health. I didn’t know at first how he healed me. I didn’t know I’d died. As I recuperated, I took on the minor tasks he needed a servant to help him with.” Luke didn’t interrupt.

Artie laughed, “He still can’t do laundry, and cleaning is beneath him. I thought I was twenty-three when we met. Orphaned as a small child, I wasn’t sure of my birth date or year.”

“Duncan thought he had time before the magic traced me into a fox. I guess I’d reached my twenty-fifth birthday at least because two weeks into my recovery and service to Duncan, we quarreled. I riled him with jealous accusations of a mistress.”

Luke laughed, “You riled Fox? I didn’t think Fox ever got riled, and really? Artie, that’s so unlike you. I’m shaken.”

“It’s true; I swear it. He’s frightening when he’s angry. It’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” She trembled at the memory.

“The excessive emotional overload traced me into animal form. I knew nothing, and I couldn’t get back. I panicked. Duncan saved me.”

“The magic tried to kill me. I told him to find another servant. I wanted a release. All that magic caused my head to ache. I just needed to get the pressure out of my head. I wanted to run.” She’d went insane.

“I’d sworn fealty to Duncan. I knew he was a noble, but I didn’t know he was a king. The oath I swore was binding between a king and any of his people. It was a fealty oath. Everyone needed protection. Kings gave out manors to Lords who managed the lands through fealty bonds. Knights swore to protect the serfs and fight for the nobles. Serfs swore service for protection. I didn’t want to stay with Lothlian when Duncan left, so I bound myself to Duncan.” Artie sighed.

“What happened? Did something go wrong? You said you wanted to run,” Luke prodded her.

Thank you for your support! Welcome to the dream… Sincerely, -OK

Read the Draoithe Saga

Subscribe and Read it all as I Write.

https://opheliakee.com/order?link=KLJQS

Buy books:

Payhip https://payhip.com/OpheliaKee

Books2Read https://books2read.com/OpheliaKee