Free Vixen’s Run by Zenina Masters Page B

“Whew. Well, that was a tight one. I apologize. You two were so close that the transporters were nearly side by side during the transport. With the gate…never mind. Welcome to the Crossroads.”
    Tiff snickered. “Thank you.”
    “I will give you a tour and you can settle in.” Teal smiled and waved her arm toward the open door. She gave the tour in an unhurried way. Apparently, the rush in the office was not a normal activity.
    They took a tour of the bar, met the owners of the local café, the restaurant and the nail salon. The final point of the tour was the hostel.
    “Ms. Grayson, I am aware of your family situation, so if you wanted to shift to a B and B, that would be easy to arrange.”
    Tiff smirked, “No, I like being this near the forest. My family sent me here and there is no way to get me back. I intend to spend every day running through the forest and enjoying myself. No family, no phones, no obligations.”
    Teal laughed. “You have no intention of finding a mate?”
    “If I stumble over one, perhaps, but I am not actively looking.” She pushed away the reminder that her brother was hanging on her coming home with a mate. She would deal with that when she had to. “I will give myself a few weeks.”
    Teal showed her in to the small-predator quarters. “The hostels are gender locked, so if you do try and hook up with someone, stay away from this street or one of you is going to learn how to fly.”
    “Are there pools and ponds and things?” Tiff was eager to explore.
    “And plenty of couples looking for a place to consummate their new arrangements, so keep an eye out and be discrete. If you cause any trouble, you will be ejected, with or without a mate.” Teal was stern.
    Tiff laughed. “You have dealt with a few vixens then?”
    “Thirty or forty. Your sense of amusement comes out most when you are in your four-footed form.”
    “I am guilty of that. As long as there are no hounds around to torment, I should be able to control myself.” Tiff waggled her eyebrows.
    Teal waved her off. “Go. Frolic. Enjoy yourself. I will be in touch if you need to reel it in.”
    Tiff saluted her with a snappy flourish. “Thank you, Teal. I think I will like it here.”
    Teal shook her head and walked out of the small-predator quarters, muttering about vixens and heat.
    Humming to herself, Tiff picked a room and a locker. Once that was taken care of, she headed out into the woods and carefully removed her clothing, folding it and putting it safely in a tree.
    With a cry of joy, she jumped forward and shifted before she hit the ground. The rest of her afternoon was spent running and exploring.
    She found a rock in a meadow and curled into a ball; she covered her nose with her tail and took a nap.
     
    * * * *
     
    Davus smiled at yet another woman who wanted to run her hands over him. “I am very flattered, Missy, but I think it is a little soon for you to have your hand down my pants.”
    He pried her hands off his crotch and edged away from the dance floor. He bumped into a few women on his way out, but it was all too much for him. He bolted out the door and into the darkness, looking for an empty space to be alone.
    The meadow he found was surrounded by forest on all sides and it was concealed enough to take off his clothing and let his bird walk free.
    He tried to remember how he used to be, how he strutted and fanned his tail at the peahens. It was an effort, so he simply paced, flapped and twisted. There was a rock in the centre of the meadow and he hopped on top of it, spreading his wings and screaming to the night.
    A small bit of red-brown fur jolted into motion, and Davus remained on the rock as the creature scampered around in a panicked circle before it settled and stared up at him.
    To his shock, the fox transformed into the woman with the tumbled hair that he had seen in the Meditation Centre was sitting right in front of him.
    She seemed to have no embarrassment about her body as she stood