The Fox’s Tale

Coach Murphy took Ellery off the bus when we got back to the school, despite her protests. “Elly,” he said, “it won’t be for long. Just give him a chance to get himself together.”

My teammates filed past me looking amused and annoyed at the same time.

“Get a room next time.”

“Is there a lake somewhere we can all go jump in? I think that’s the only way my body is going to cool down.”

“You lucky son of a bitch.”

These and other comments were all muttered at me as they got off the bus. My confusion and annoyance got worse with everything they said. I got off the bus last, intent on tracking down Nick to ask him to explain what he meant about Ellery saving our lives when I bumped into Coach Murphy.

“Come with me, Alexander. You and Ellery need to talk.”

“What I need is for someone to explain to me what the hell happened back there, what’s wrong with Ellery, and why the hell I am being blamed for something that I HAVEN’T done, especially when I don’t know what it is you all think I should have done.”

“As I told you before, it isn’t my place to explain all of that to you. That’s between the two of you. However, under the circumstances, I will tell you that Nick was right. Ellery did save all of us during that game. She’s the one who kept a lid on all of their aggression. That crowd tonight,” he shook his head.

“It was more than the influence of the moon or the fact that they were coyotes. It went beyond that, to something evil. Ellery held all of that back until that guy grabbed her in the lobby. I don’t know of anyone else who could have done that, for that length of time, at her age, with her condition.”

“What condition?”

“She’s finally ready to tell you. Just stay calm if you can.” He’d brought me into the peace garden that was in the courtyard between the school and the gym. Ellery was sitting on a bench with her head between her knees while Lee rubbed her back.

I growled and Coach Murphy snapped at me. “Stay calm, Xander.”

Lee left when we got there and Coach Murphy crouched down next to her. “Hey Elly, sweetie, he’s here. You need to talk to him.” She sighed but didn’t say anything. “Were Ethan and I this bad?” he asked.

That caused her to raise her head. “You were worse. But apparently it’s a Sinclair thing to be an idiot.”

“I’ll leave you two alone then, to sort some of this out.” He patted me on the arm as he went by. “Just so you know I’m on your side in all of this.”

“Thanks? I guess?” I turned to look at Ellery who was looking down and away from me. “You mind telling me what’s going on? I don’t like being this clueless, but there’s obviously something that the others know that I don’t.”

“Obviously.” She groaned as she lay down on the bench and folded her hands over her abdomen. “You have gaps in your education, Alexander.”

“Well then, educate me Ellery, because I’m sick of this.”

“I’m trying! I just wasn’t raised to have to do this. Ethan told me I wouldn’t have to, but he’s a lying liar and when I get my hands on him I plan on hurting him.” She was quiet for a moment. “Why do you run at weird hours of the night, Alexander?”

“How the fuck do you know about that?” I demanded. “What are you, Ellery?”

“You can be really rude, you know.”

“And you’re cryptic and confusing.” I remembered Coach Murphy’s directions to stay calm and paused to take a moment to compose myself. “Why am I out here with you? Why do you know about something I’m doing when I’m nowhere near you? How do you know what I can shift into when you aren’t a Shifter yourself?”

“I know a lot of things. Things I shouldn’t know, things I don’t want to know. That includes what every non human is, and what you are doing at night even though you are nowhere near me.”

“Why, cause you’re a psychic or something?”

“No, I’m an empath.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me. I’m an empath. That’s the condition that keeps me from playing sports, attending most parties, using public transportation and lots of other things. You’d think it would get me out of going to public school, but no, no such luck. Now it’s your turn. Why do you go running at night?”

“If you’re such a powerful empath then you already know.”

She propped herself up to glare at me. “I do know, I want you to admit it, out loud and to me, why you go running for hours at night, and I need you to do it now so that we can do something about it before it kills me.”

“Kills you? What the hell are you talking about?” I demanded.

“I can’t sleep!” she yelled at me as she sat up. “You run and run and run and I can’t sleep because I feel you doing it!

“What?”

“I feel you running! And I can’t sleep because of it. Now answer me, why do you run at night?”

“Do you feel what the other guys are doing?”

“Not unless I’m near them. It’s only you, Alexander. What does that tell you?” When I didn’t reply she went on.

“What does it tell you that the release you got from me on Monday was so different from all the others you’ve ever experienced? What does what happened on the bus tell you? Billy didn’t put me in anyone else’s lap, Alexander! What makes you run? Tell me!”

I lost all control. “I run at night because I can’t get you out of my system! Are you satisfied? I bite myself too, do you feel that? I can’t think of anyone or anything but you unless you’re near.

“I run until I exhaust myself because then maybe I can go to sleep without lying there for hours thinking about you. Thinking about kissing you, about fucking you, about how much I want to touch you.

“Thinking about how I want to drown myself in your eyes. Thinking about the musical sound of your voice and how I’d do just about anything to keep hearing it. Thinking about how good you smell. You smell so fucking good, Ellery. Even when I’m asleep I smell you.” My voice softened. “Why do you smell so good?”

“Alexander.” She got up from the bench and moved closer to me. “I do feel it when you bite yourself, and it hurts me more than you will ever know. I’m not physically able to say it first. I need you to say it.”

“Say what?” I asked; my voice hoarse.

She closed her eyes and sighed. When she opened them she came closer until she was close enough to touch. “You really don’t know? You’ve felt what I need you to say, Foxy.”

“Ellery…” I reached for her and she stepped into my arms.

“Touch me now. Kiss me now. Inhale as much of my scent as you want. I smell so good to you because you want what was fated to be yours the moment I drew my first breath. I have never known a day when I did not feel you.

“I’ve felt it when you were sick, hungry, tired, scared, hurt, angry, excited, and happy. I feel it when you shift, I felt it every time you’ve fucked someone who wasn’t me, and I feel it now, underneath your confusion, how much you want me.”

Her voice grew husky. “I feel it every time you get hard for me, Alexander. I want you so much that it hurts to breathe, but I am forbidden from saying the words that will set us both free. Alexander, say them now. Please.”

She moved closer and I raised my hands to cup her face and bring her lips to mine when my idiot brain made me freeze and blurt out “wait a minute, you’ve felt me having sex?”

Ellery looked like I had slapped her. She pulled back in disbelief. “That’s what you’re choosing to focus on? Fuck. You.” She shoved me out of the way and stormed towards the gym. I chased after her, pleading for her to stop.

“Ellery, I’m sorry! It startled me, that’s all. For the love of the gods; stop so we can talk about this.”

“No!” she roared as she burst into the lobby of the gym startling my teammates who had stayed to shower before going home. “Stay away from me, you…you…fucking bastard!”

Coach Murphy and Coach Hendrix ran into the lobby to see what was going on. Coach Murphy looked from Ellery to me bewildered.

“Elly, hey sweetheart, what’s wrong?” he asked her in a placating tone.

“Wrong? Wrong!” She was borderline hysterical, standing on the tips of her toes. “Nothing more or less than I have sinned against the universe and he is my punishment!” With each word her voice got louder and shriller.

“Lee.” Coach Hendrix stood very still behind her. “A little help.” Lee came up behind Ellery and as he reached to wrap his arms around her Coach Hendrix made an error. “Billy, call Ethan.”

“No! Don’t call Ethan!” Lights in the lobby started to pop as Lee grabbed Ellery. She thrashed in his grasp and kept screaming. “I don’t want to see him! Billy! Don’t you fucking call him.” She was kicking her feet towards the floor and Lee was bending at the knees trying to keep her still.

The realization that she was trying to escape him by propelling herself towards the ceiling hit me like a ton of bricks. It couldn’t be. Lee managed to get her to the entrance to the guys’ locker room and was trying to reassure her that everything was okay, but she was having none of it.

“No! Nothing is okay, nothing has ever been okay, and nothing ever will! Billy! Put your phone down! I’d rather drink molten iron.”

She braced her feet on the sides of the door, but Coach Hendrix came and helped pry them off and they got her into the locker room.

As the door was shutting I could hear her screams turn to sobs and then I heard “he doesn’t know me…Billy, he doesn’t know.”

“Damn! What did you do to her?” My teammates crowded around me.

I groaned. “I didn’t do anything, but I did say something incredibly stupid.”

“I’ve known her since we were ten and I’ve never seen her that upset. Xander, you need to get your head out of your ass and realize what’s going on.” Matt stopped and looked at me with barely contained rage. “Did you reject her?”’

“What? No.”

“You haven’t knocked her up have you? Because if you have, so help me, Xander, I will end you.” Nick joined Matt in a growing wall of enraged Shifters.

“Are you out of your mind? I haven’t even kissed her!”

Their faces all changed from fury to surprise and then to relief.

“Oh, that’s why. You should have done that ages ago! No wonder she’s upset.” Grant started to laugh.

Scott interrupted. “Did she say she’d rather drink molten iron than see her brother?” This had a sobering effect on all of us. Scott took a step away from me. “You’ve gone and pissed off a faerie, dude.”

“Yeah, I just figured that out myself.” Coach Murphy came over at that moment and shook his head at me.

“You’ve done fucked up, son,” he said with a deep sigh.

“I know.”

“I don’t think you really do. But you will. Come on, you’re the only one who can fix this.”