Page 55 of Foxes of Legend

Kairos’ body tensed, his eyes narrowing at the Archfox.

“Did he say ‘myth’?” Kairos asked, but his voice was distorted and deep.

“With more training, we can get Dove ready.”

I slumped back against Kairos and let out a small whine. I was so tired.

“She needs her rest, Rhys. Shifting into fox form the first time takes a lot of energy.”

“She released enough magic to scare off a hundred demons, I saw it myself. We need her ready to fight. She is the best weapon we have against—” the Archfox began.

“She’s not a weapon,” Kairos snapped.

Seven stood up. “Our Fated needs to rest after the magic she expended today. She’s completely wiped out. We’re going back to our dorm, Rhys.”

“We’ll talk tomorrow,” the Archfox called after us as Kairos carried me out of the office.

In the dorm, he set me down on the couch. I whined, trying to speak about missing his embrace.

“You won’t be able to shift back for a while. The more you do it, the easier it gets,” Seven explained.

“We should shift with her,” Enko suggested. “It will be good for bonding with our Fated.”

Seven shifted into his black fox, my light bending around him and his seven dark tails. Kairos transformed into the pale gold fox, his five tails sparking with lightning. Enko’s fur burned a thousand shades of russet, the tips of his six tails pure fire.

Enko curled up on the end, his tails dying down to blackened embers to keep anything from catching fire. Seven and Kairos rested next to me and the connection lulled me into a deep sleep.

33

Dove

I laid on the couch completely naked, my head throbbing with a migraine. I squealed in fear as I noticed myself tangled among the guys, not nearly fitting in our human forms. My noise woke Seven and I hastily covered my boobs as he laughed heartily.

I snatched a blanket from the couch and wrapped it around myself. Something furry brushed against my legs and I screamed.

Was that a fucking tail?

Enko and Kairos woke up, glancing at me. Enko had a huge grin, and Kairos laughed harder than Seven was as he tugged on his clothes.

My cheeks heated to a strawberry red. “What?”

Too immersed in their laughter, they only shook their heads. I ran into the bathroom and looked into the mirror, letting out a scream of horror. Two fuzzy fox ears remained on my head, and itwasmy fox tail that tickled my bare legs.

A knock sounded on the hardwood. Enko. “It’s completely normal, Dove. I haven’t seen it since I was a teenager. I’m sorry for laughing.”

In the background, Seven and Kairos laughed harder. Mortified, I kept behind the closed door as Enko continued to comfort me.

“It should go away within a day or two.”

“A day?! I can’t go to class looking like this!” I yelled back at him.

A moment later, Kairos spoke through the door. “Unlock the door. Seriously, it’s not a big deal. It happens to lots of kitsune when they get their first tail.”

“You guys will just laugh at me!” I yelled back, rubbing at the ears on the top sides of my head.

“I promise I won’t laugh again,” Kairos responded.

When I opened the door, Seven burst into a second round of laughter. Kairos controlled his contorted grin as promised.

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