FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Rosie was the type of girl who always had males sticking their noses were it doesn't belong. In her eyes, she was far from perfect. To everyone else, all they saw was pure white fur, and a cute rump. She had never really felt much attraction to males anyway, or anyone else for that matter. All the other ferals she had grown up around either treated her like a god among men, or didn't give her the time of day.

Despite all of that she felt nothing but compassion to others. Her heart pained when she saw anyone in distress, she even felt sympathy for the males she snubbed. After all, there was no way for them to know that she had been subjected to that kind of attention her whole life. She saw them only as other ferals, just as clueless as her.

So when the time came for her to pick a profession and her Foundation assigned handler gave her a letter with an ultimatum, "I want to help people," was all she said. Simple, succinct, to the point. Her handler nodded and a week later she was in the medical equivalent of college for ferals. Classes on anthro and feral anatomy, what to do and say when consoling, how to behave in an emergency. Later it was classes on how to bind and constrict wounds, how to disinfect a cut, and how to do it all with your teeth and the tools in your pack.

"You're going to have it rough," her professor said. "No one trusts a quadruped to do anything more complicated than hump a chair." Rosie thought about that often. "C'est la vis," she would say to herself, hours later.

It was a grueling year of schooling. She got along well, kept her nose to the ground and focused on her studies. Of course, this meant she had no time for friends or mates but it was necessary to keep her focus. She wanted to help people, that saying had become her mantra. All she wanted to do was make life better for others. Her professor had suggested a career in politics but she turned her nose up at the idea. She needed a more direct way about it.

Eventually her perseverance paid off, and she was stood on a stage holding a red banded paper in her maw. Her professor stood and clapped when she took the stand. Her speech as you might expect was short, succinct, and to the point. Rosie never cared for making a statement, she didn't want to lead a global revolution and force people to take ferals seriously. She told the campus that in fact, all she ever wanted to do was "help people."

Later, after she had been very thoroughly hugged by her professor and what couple friends she did make her handler pulled her aside and handed her a card. It was white and black, professionally made and laminated. Rosie tasted the plastic in her teeth. "What if..." her handler began. "I knew of a way for you to get some experience in the wilderness?"

That would be great, Rosie thought. There would be a need for ferals out in the woods, helping look for lost hikers in places anthros couldn't reach. As an arctic wolf she was probably better equipped to handle the outdoors than most. "I'd think it would be amazing!" Rosie spoke through her teeth.

A few signed contracts and an eye exam later, she was riding in the back of a truck driven by an experienced geologist into the heart of Canada. Raw, untamed wilderness where her thick fur and training would be used the most. The windchill bit into her, but Rosie didn't care. She stuck her tongue out and wagged her tail as the truck crashed and bumped into rocks and imperfections along the road.

Liam had imagined his next adventure to be the same as every other one. The fox was a master outdoorsman, he had combed mountains for landmarks, spotted endangered species,

even led a scientific expedition once. Cataloguing fault lines or something else complicated and too hard to even bother trying to understand. He just lived for the outdoors.

When his Foundation contacts put him up with a job to train a feral she wolf he was incredulous at first. "A wolf...really?" Apparently, she had been raised in captivity. Far, far away from her natural habitat. So she would be incredibly green. Liam did find it comical at first, a traditionally outdoorsy feral reduced to a city slicker. But the agent in question assured him it was legit, and the pay was ridiculously good for a babysitting job. So he took it.

He had figured the best way about it would be to give her a job. Mark a couple landmarks in the surrounding area, learn how to navigate without getting lost and walking yourself off a cliff. They could get into the specifics later but it'd have to be a crash course, he only had two months.

There was also the matter of his proclivities. Liam had always been what society would boorishly call a "Feral fucker." That is to say he was interested in quadrupeds and ferals sexually. He had been with one, once. In fact she was the first he had ever been with, but he would tell no one and that secret would follow him to his grave.

Liam told himself that under no circumstances would he make a pass on this girl. This was just a glorified camping trip, not a late night drive to some seedy motel in the sticks. A geologist had to maintain some professionality and if she rebuffed his advances...and told his superiors? Well, Liam didn't even want to think about that. Better to be safe than sorry.

Liam opened the rear window of his truck with a free paw, and raised his voice for the feral. "So, rescue dog eh? That's good! World could always use more doctors. 'Specially your kind." He had gone over her file before agreeing to the job of course, he didn't want to have a tag along that raised hell at her superiors for no reason.

"Not really!" Rosie poked her head through the tiny window and chuckled. "I'm more like a paramedic with four legs. In fact, I brought my trauma kit just in case either of us gets in trouble!"

"Trauma kit?" Liam glanced over his shoulder at her with a wry smile. "Y'know I'm almost offended. That's basically you saying that you don't think I'm good enough to keep us safe."

"Oh- uh no. I'm sorry." Rosie's ears drooped. "I really just meant that...well you never know, You know?"

The truck had slowed to a crawl along the choppy dirt road they traveled on. The bumps and holes had become too violent for anything more without tearing the suspension apart. "I'm just messing with ya, Doc. I ain't that thin skinned." Liam turned his attention back to the road, gripping the steering wheel. "You did hurt my feelings a bit though," he chuckled.

"Well I'm not a therapist so you're gonna have to deal, hehe." Rosie returned happily, catching onto the joke and tugged her head back through the window.

Liam got a devious idea when he saw Rosie plant her paws on the edge on the truck and lean over the side. Without warning, he swerved left forcing Rosie to lose balance and go tumbling into the snowpile at the tailgate. Liam could see her face go from confused, to staring back into the rearview at him angrily, lightly melting snow falling from her muzzle. "Now we're even, Doc!" He shouted through the still open window. Rosie couldn't help but crack a smile as she brushed the snow off her face with a forepaw. "Oh, Fine!" she returned, exaggeratedly. "We're even..."

When they finally pulled up to their new home for the foreseeable future, Rosie was the first to jump out. The tower stood on four metal legs as if it was some giant insect that dwarfed what sparsely snow-laden pine trees stood around it, and a sign with the Quad-F logo marked the staircase up. "Private property," It said. Frost and snow clung to the frozen metal giving it an almost mirror like sheen. Icicles hung intermittently below the staircase.

Liam slammed the door as he exited his truck, letting the sound of the slam echo for miles in that lonely, rural part of Canada. His own arctic fur helped, but nowhere near as much as Rosie's. He found himself slightly jealous as he put on his ski jacket. He could get away with less layers than other anthros, partly the reason they chose him for this. That, and his experience as a geologist lended well to other outdoorsy jobs, but the wind still chilled him to the core.

Liam's goal for this outing would be to teach the inexperienced feral the basics of what he knew, and some more advanced concepts here and there. Heaven forbid she ever needed them. Liam wasn't particularly chivalrous, putting more value on the individual than their gender but he couldn't help but feel like maybe Rosie was a little out of her depth. Still, far be it from him to question those infallible beings that led the Foundation. That just meant he had to work harder, and he was definitely not going to let his lack of effort hurt her.

"The pay is pretty good too." the fox thought, smirking to himself.

"Taller than I Imagined." Liam spoke as the pair gazed up at their new home. At the very top, beyond the frost and ice stood a cozy looking wooden cabin like structure. The dark wood seemed particularly inviting, contrasting well against the unfeeling frozen whites of the forest.

Warm, dark, attention getting. Like a steaming cup of cocoa on a winters morning.

"I get that feeling a lot." The feral returned. "You do have the key right? I don't think they put doggy doors in these things."

"Even if they did you'd be too tall to fit," the anthro fox chuckled, and fished the key out of his jacket pocket. "Here, Freedom For Ferals Foundation, tower seventeen." Liam read the tag aloud and jingled it around for effect.

The wolf's eyes rolled.

Liam held the key in his paw, and started up the steps, with his partner trailing behind him.

The door opened with some resistance, cracking ice falling to the metal walkway, having been frozen shut for so long. In one corner, a small radio was set up, in another a small table with a barren wall shelf above it. On the opposite side, a bunk bed was slid against the wall. A wood stove was the centerpiece.

"Cozy." Liam held the door open for his partner, who trotted in suspiciously. Rose had her nose high to the air, sniffing around the little room. She pawed over to the bed, took in a big whiff, and looked to him curiously.

"What's gotten into you?" The anthro questioned, letting the door fall closed behind him.

"Was this tower just built?" The feral tilted her head, before turning her nose back to the ground and sniffing around the wood floor.

"No...been here awhile. 20 or so years...back when the Q-F was founded. Why, what's got into you?" The fox repeated, more sternly this time; then leaned back against the door while regarding his partner.

"The bed here is new...It's never been used. And this stove," She tapped the metal with a claw, causing a slight ting to reverberate through the room. "It smells more metallic than fire-y."

"Maybe they modernized it recently." Liam shrugged, trying to ease her tension. "Listen, it's easy to get cabin fever out here. I don't need you going stir-crazy already. We've got a couple months of work yet."

"...Yeah. Sorry, boss," the wolf scratched behind her neck with a hindpaw. "I guess I'm still learning."

"It's normal to be jittery for the first couple days: new place, new sights, new smells." The fox offred with a shrug. "Stay up here and relax, I'll get us moved in."

With that Rosie couldn't help but be shocked. He was trying to accommodate her! As if she needed special treatment! "Hey, at least let me carry my pack! I'm not useless!" The wolf stepped backwards and performed a mock ready-stance with her paws braced against the wood floor, teeth bared.

"And you're also jumping at shadows. Listen, you wanna be useful, how bout you do some visual orienteering for me?" The anthro crossed his arms, speaking calmly.

"I can help you carry stuff you don't need to stick me up here like I'm...Rapunzel in a tower." the wolf returned, exasperated.

"It was a request, Doc. Isn't taking stock of your surroundings important to you lot, too?"

"Okay- fine...yes, sir." The wolf pouted.

Shaking his head, the anthro dropped to one knee and brought himself face to face with the feral. "This is for you, remember?" His tone was melancholic, approaching somber even. "We're out here to prove your kind and my kind can work together, and get you some survival training."

Rosie looked up to meet his gaze.

"But I ain't gonna lie on my reports." He held eye contact. "So I'm gonna need you to put your best paw forward, do what I say and help me out here. Can you do that, Rosie?"

"Yes, sir." Now Rosie felt guilty, it wasn't like her to snap like her that. She made a mental note to apologize later when things were calmer.

"Now I'm gonna need you to note down any landmarks or curiosities you see in the distance, okay? That way we can do twice the work in half the time."

Rosie didn't respond, but she held eye contact and seemed to be listening intently. To Liam at least. Nodding acknowledgement, he stood up and left the door open for her before she heard his heavy pawsteps going down the metal staircase.

Willing herself to move, Rosie followed behind her superior and stepped out onto the balcony, her claw tips scratching along the metal. She jumped up, and planted her forepaws on the railing.

The first thing she noted was the towering mountain in the distance to the north, and some rocky outcropping part way between here and there that resembled a fist. The land, otherwise, was mostly flat. Not accounting for the pine trees that blanketed the landscape, and the small hill the tower was built on.

There was a radio tower quite a distance to the east. Or cellphone, Rosie often got the two confused. The west and south had her vision blocked by the pine forest, and she couldn't make out anything out of the ordinary.

"Find anything?" The anthro was carrying a couple bags, and walked past her through the door. Rosie heard a thunk as they were thrown down.

"Trees and rocks. I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to be looking for...Sir."

"Rocks and trees!" Liam leaned against the railing next to her, chuckling. "Here, you see that mountain? That's a good visual navigation aid. It's directly to the north, so now we know where north is all the time. Baring poor visibility."

"Hm...okay." The wolf responded, unsure.

"Landmark navigation is important, if you get lost in a place you're unfamiliar with it could save your life. We'll knock out the easy ones today, tomorrow we go into the woods and tick off the less visible ones." Liam looked to her to make sure she was paying attention. Seeing her nod, he continued.

"Now there's no reason either of us would ever get lost here because we have the right equipment. But if it ever does happen, freak snow storm or something it pays to be prepared for the worst. Better have it and not need it than need it and not have it, right?"

Rosie felt an odd desire to make a lewd joke. She would never say something so crass, especially to someone who was doing her a favour but some form of inexplicable curiosity compelled her to plainly state: "Same principle as a condom!" Energetically and blunt.

"Hah! In a way, you aren't wrong. Do you guys even use- Ah, nevermind." The fox cut himself off, realizing the inappropriate question.

"What, condoms?" The ferals ears flicked curiously. She felt exceptionally naughty, but she refused to show it. Despite it all she was wondering how the fox would react to her.

"You don't have to answer-" Liam started.

"Oh no, I don't mind." Rose spoke quickly. "My professor told us to expect curiosity heh. I never have...personally. Plus it's difficult without thumbs. But there are these stand-thingies ferals can get that you like slide it onto, then the male mounts it and he can squeeze it on without any-"

"Alright!" Liam interrupted. "Overshare, rook. Oversharing. Moving on..."

"Sorry, boss" The feral shrugged and smiled. "But it's pretty simple, as long as you have the right equipment." She thought for a second, than continued. "Kind of like navigating!" And covered her mouth a forepaw to hide her giggle.

"I said moving on!" Yet Liam couldn't help but chuckle too. "You're gonna be a handful, aren't you?"

"That's what my handler said too. I would rather think of myself as 'vivacious!'" She held a forepaw to her chest and winked.

"That ain't the word I'd use to describe ya." Liam shook his head and shrugged.

"I'd also accept beautiful or cute..." Rosie felt a need to test the waters, to see how he might react if she said something risky. Her wagging tail accentuated her smile nicely.

Planting his paws firmly in his coat pockets, the fox turned and called out to her as he descended metal stairs once more. "I was thinking more along the lines of 'procrastinator!'"

Though privately he thought that she was indeed beautiful and cute...

Rose huffed through her nose. Though Liam did have a point...that stone-fist looking rock would be easy to see through the tree canopy. Maybe she should mention it later...

There was something else too, something she didn't dare mention to Liam lest he accuse her of being paranoid again. Her fur stood on end out here, something about this place rubbed her the wrong way.

She felt it as soon as she jumped out of the back of his truck, a nagging, instinctual grasp warning her of danger. A chill, seperate from the wind. As if a ghost had been trailing it's skeletal fingers along her back.

That's what she felt now. Looking out over this landscape, miles away from the nearest sign of habitation. She felt the cold, bony fingers of instinct dragging themselves through her fur. This place was wrong, somehow.

Rose's upbringing in civilization, away from where she would have learned to process this kind of sixth sense meant her feelings were dulled. She couldn't quite place why she felt so on edge out here, perhaps it was the altitude. Or, maybe Liam was right. Maybe she was jumping at shadows.

The feral didn't even hear him come back up the stairs, but the thunk of the bags on the floor behind nearly caused her to leap from the tower. She couldn't stop a surprised "Yip!" from escaping her muzzle.

"That's everything!" Liam chuckled, seeing her reaction. "Hope I didn't interrupt your daydreaming."

"I was focusing!" Rosie scrambled. "Maybe you should wear a bell around your neck!" She pushed past him into the tower, lightly smacking his chest with her tail.

"Uh huh. Well did you notice anything?" Liam let the door close behind him, and hung his coat up beside the door. His arctic fur meant he hadn't much reason to wear anything underneath the heavy parka, and Rosie ogled him shamelessly. His fur wasn't snow white like hers, instead the fox sported a more silvery-grey arctic colouration. He was very fit, years of travelling rugged mountainous terrain had given him an athletes build. He was lithe, thin, but muscular where it counts with well defined pecs and sexy six pack Rosie would love to brush her paw over...goodness! Rosie shook herself from her drooling stupor. What had gotten into her lately?

Completely oblivious, Liam sat to stacking up cans of food in order of most calories to least on the table. Only when he realized he hadn't got an answer did he ask again. "Rose?" he questioned from over his shoulder.

"Heh, oh yeah...no! No, sorry. I tried." The wolf stammered, before curling up by the still unlit stove and sighing apologetically in an effort to appear nonchalant.

"Well that's fine, it'd be tough seeing anything through that canopy." The fox clinked the finale can into place and stood back to admire his handiwork, arms crossed.

"You're not mad?" The wolf's ears flicked.

"If you were so focused on trying to find landmarks that I scarred you, I think it's pretty clear you did what you were told." Liam pulled his phone out and checked for a signal, leaning against the bunk bed.

"...Any luck?" Rosie tried to change the subject.

"Deader than Elvis." He tucked the phone into his coat pocket again. "Oh well, one time when I was mapping for the Q I got lucky. They sat me up in one of these right next to a cell tower. I was watching...movies, that entire trip."

"Really? I thought you would be the all work no play type." Rosie tapped her paws into the floor idly.

"When you finish the job they gave you, there's about a month and a half of just downtime where you don't get any orders and you just relax in nature. It's why I love my job, cause it's only a job for a couple weeks then they just pay you to sleep. Hah!" Liam fell back onto the bed and crossed his legs. "But that's me. You and I got things to do, Doc. Like I said earlier, visual navigation is all about landmarks. That's what we're doing tomorrow".

Rosie turned her head to a window. Outside, the wind was starting to pick up and it filled the tower with a faint whooshing sound. "So why'd you join the Foundation?" She questioned.

Liam let out a long exhale and brought his arms to rest behind his head. "I didn't really, more of a freelancer. I support it though and you people I just... wouldn't like my name attached to it, ykno? Too much baggage. What about you, and what are you really, some kind of Alaskan Husky?

Rosie scrunched her face up and rolled her eyes at his crass manner of speaking. "I'm an arctic wolf. Purebreed, before you ask. I was raised by the Foundation."

"In captivity?" Liam sat up. "And they let you out here?" Liam had read her file, he knew this already. He just wanted to push her buttons a bit.

Rose snapped at that. "They didn't...It wasn't captivity! I had formal schooling, I was raised with typical values I wasn't some attraction at a zoo!" She spoke through gritted teeth. "I trained for this. I'm a licensed medical- I'm not some-" Rosie stammered, she had gotten herself heated.

"I'm sorry." He lifted his forepaws apologetically. "I didn't mean to imply you were somehow unprepared." Liam was worried he may have taken the joke too far.

"I'm..." she huffed, "i'm sorry too. I'm usually not this mean...or short tempered, Ugggh!" Rose rolled onto her back and let out an exasperated sigh. "I already miss electricity."

"Ya get used to it." Liam brought himself to his paws and stretched, subtly hiding his gaze on the ferals exposed underside. "It'd be nice, but they don't care enough about us to..."

"To...what?" Rose flipped back over and turned to her superior. He was staring at the door, frozen in place. "To what? Liam?" She repeated.

The anthro walked forward and pressed his paw to a small black dot next to the door. As if in answer, light poured into the room. Small, modern light fixtures were affixed to the ceiling. When unlit, they blended in with the dark wood.

"There is electricity!" Rosie stood up happily, tail wagging. "Did you turn a generator on or something?"

Without a word, the anthro slung the door open and looked down over the railing. Apparently unsatisfied, he turned to explore around the catwalk. Rose followed worriedly. "Liam...what are you doing?"

Rose turned the corner to see the anthro's hindpaws planted on the railing, leaning back into the tower. His head was scanning for something.

"Be careful you could fall!...what are you doing?" Rose started, but he dropped down in front of her before she could finish.

"Solar panels on the roof. They have to be new. I've never seen that before. Makes sense, they would need to be above the trees." The anthro's paws were tapping worriedly into his coat. The wind had picked up since last they were out here, though the now operable floodlights lighting the forest floor eased Rose's worries some.

"That's good isn't it?" She tilted her head curiously.

"They only have equipment like this on the newest, most expensive towers. This thing is supposed to be ancient." Liam leaned back against the railing and shook his head. "Woulda been nice if they told me. Figures, guys that lead the Q wouldn't know their asshole from their elbow without a label."

"Yeah sometimes they make mistakes...hey, didn't you say they modernized it? Maybe it was just a very thorough upgrade." Rose sat down, and poked her claws through the grated catwalk for emphasis. "This place would kinda suck, otherwise."

"I guess we shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth." Liam shrugged. "Know a good few towers that could use a tune up before this one though."

"It's probably too much but...think they put in WiFi, too?" Rose joked.

"Heh, I doubt it. If you wanna talk to your feral friends, you better warm up those vocal chords and get howlin." Liam chuckled as he sauntered back through the door, partner turning to follow.

"Hey," Rose started, chasing close behind. "You know that's just a myth! I resent that!"

The two shared a laugh.

"22...47.....13." Liam recited grid marks, and marked little grids on his map. "That'll do, pup. That'll do."

Rose planted a knee high yellow flag marked with the Foundation's logo into the crack of a rock with her teeth, and looked back to her superior with a grin. "Well, would you look at that? Not bad huh? For a pup with no thumbs."

Liam reached a paw out and grabbed the flag. He leaned forward, putting his weight on Rose's charge. When it didn't break or come unfixed, he looked to her smiling. "You have read a map, carried a flag and marked a landmark all by yourself. There's some progress, eh?"

Rose hopped down off the rock with her tail wagging happily, and a cocky grin on her maw. "Yeah so...maybe ferals aren't that useless?"

Liam slid down beside her, albeit less gracefully, and landed on his paws with a heavy fwhoomp, his weight causing a small flurry of snow to kick up around him. "I never said you were..." He stood, brushing the snow from his sleeves.

Rose's ears dropped, her tail tucked between her legs. "Sorry..."

"But," the fox continued, "you seem to be having an easier time than me moving around here. That's good."

"Yeah, haha. It's that feral low profile y'know?" She shrugged, and curled her tail around herself before plonking down in the snow.

"Um..."Liam checked his watch to make sure they were on schedule, then made another check in his notebook. "Enough for today..." And he slid it into his back pocket. "So..." the anthro walked over, and let himself drop into the snow beside his partner. "You wanna tell me what's wrong?"

"I'm just homesick I guess. Don't worry, sir. I won't let it bother me too much." She sighed, and stretched out in the snow.

"Oh drop the sir shit, I ain't in the foundation, really. And besides..."Liam leaned back against the boulder they marked and chuckled. "Figure we're at least buddies by now, Rose. Hey, what kinda name is Rosemary anyway? Sounds like some princess in a storybook or something."

"It's just the name they gave me. Don't worry you weren't the first to ask." The feral laid her head down and huffed loudly. "But thank you."

"Thank you? For what?"

"For saying my name was like a princess's..." Rose brushed a forepaw across her face hide her blush. Repeating it out loud like that had caused her to really take in what he said, and all the unspoken things he had not said along with it.

"Oh. You're uh- Welcome, Ma'am. Ahem." Liam awkwardly scratched at his jacket. He had 'thoughts' about her in that way before. How could he not? The way she walked with her tail so teasingly swaying, flashing him with every other step accidentally was enough to drive a man wild, and an already feral man into a rut.

"Eh heh. Ma'am? I thought we weren't being formal anymore." Rose sat up curiously

"Titles aren't...all that to me, I'm just trying to be respectful." The fox stretched his paws out, having gotten control of the situation.

"Respectful huh? M'kay..." Rose trotted up next to the fox, and took a seat right beside him.

"Yeah. You look really professional in that...uh...get-up." He was referring to her rescue-dog uniform. Small saddle-bag like things hung from her hips, white with a red cross on the open flaps. The universal signal for medicine. "Like a four legged angel."

"Aww, Liam...thank you." Rosie brushed some of the falling snow from her eyes and chuckled. "When they let me wear these for the first time was the proudest moment of my life. I was training for this over half my life ykno? From about six months after birth to...a couple weeks ago."

The anthro nodded. "Right I forget you haven't really been alive long all things considered heh. They didn't force you through that, did they?"

"Nope. I just...told em I wanted to help people and my handler pointed me this way. As in puppy handler." She looked to his eyes to make sure he understood. Noting it she continued, "so I just worked at it. Enjoyed every minute of it."

"Ahh...sounds fun." Liam chimed in.

"It was...oh, what about you? I know you've been working with the for awhile. What about, like, personal stuff? Do you have a girlfriend waiting on you to get back?" Rosie's head tilted in curiosity, apparently oblivious to the loaded question she just asked.

"Heh no. I'm not really...well this job doesn't offer much time to er...philander with locals. Catch my meaning?" Rosie shook her head, but perked her ears up. "I don't get much off time to talk to women." He stated, as plainly as he could. With a shrug he continued, "not that I mind much. My type of woman is usually...unenthused about my line of work anyway. Boo ferals and all that, I'll find one eventually but I doubt it's anytime soon."

"What's your type?" Rosie planted her paws atop of one another and shyly met her superiors eyes.

"Uh...sheesh, Rose...Adventurous, smart, forward thinking definitely. Ahem, That's a bit personal, pup." Liam crossed his arms and bit his lower lip, bemused.

"I'm not a pup! and...well I meant like, body type..." Rose couldn't help herself. Something deep inside her almost drug the words from her mouth. She knew she was being unprofessional, she knew she was putting her future in jeopardy but something in her needed to know.

"You're asking me if I'm into ferals?" Liam shook his head, having caught what she really meant. "...I'd be taking advantage of you." Liam was also lying through his teeth, but a lifetime of making sure no one was suspicious had taught him to be good at lying.

Rosie's mind fuzzed over...the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. Just as friends, just to have something to entertain herself with. "Well it doesn't have to be like a weird thing! We could just do it to pass the time I mean, what else are we gonna do?" Rose hit her paw into the snow to accentuate the point. She also noticed Liam had visibly shifted his posture, making sure one of his legs was obscuring her view of his crotch....

Liam thought for a moment, then looked her square in the face. "Whatever we do out here," he began, "stays out here. Alrighty?"

"Crystal clear. I won't tell a soul!" She held a forepaw to her chest in a silent vow of secrecy and smiled.

"Alright..." He muttered under his breath,"...come on." He brought himself to his paws and began the arduous trudge back to the tower. Now even more so thanks to his sizable bulge grinding itself into the crevices of his snow pants.

It was a silent walk back, surprisingly. Rose didn't have much to say. Liam opened the door for her, greedily eying her up as she walked by. She turned to him as he slid his coat off, not even bothering to hang it up he just let it drop into the floor, and looked at her with a wide, foxy grin.

"Maybe...maybe I was too forward." She spoke softly, and had her tail dragging low across the floor. What made sense to her before now seemed so...naughty. How unprofessional! Her handler would be disappointed not to mention disgusted. "I'm not really so sure anymore."

Liam said nothing, simply crossed his arms and leaned against the door. He met her eyes, thought for a moment and to Rose's surprise pulled out his service-less phone from his pocket.

"I'm not trying to...You know, be a tease or anything but there's a lot I don't know and I'd be scared to, like I don't even know if you can knock me up or not." Rose took her usual spot curling up at the base of the stove, this time however; a crackling fire warmed her back. Stoked by Liam before they left.

"So do you think maybe we can wait a bit, please?" Rose looked up to the anthro with a blushing, embarrassed face.

"Agh...alright, Rosie I ain't gonna force ya or anything. But uh...lemme show you something, if you start feeling uncomfortable you can tap out anytime, no hard feelings." The anthro tapped something on his phone, and held the volume key down to make sure it was muted.

"Show me...what? You aren't gonna, like...just whip your thing out, are you?" Rose pulled her head back suspiciously, lifting an eyebrow.

"Come on...do you really think that little of me?" Sighing, Liam sat against the wall nearest Rosie and shook his phone about in the air. "Just a little video. I won't hurt ya."

"Well, okay. If it's just a video..." Rosie walked over, eyes on her superiors phone and sat at his knee next to him. He rested the phone on his pants, using the creases as a sort of faux-support and clicked play.

Rose's eyes were greeted with a male anthro husky setting up a camera, before he moved back to reveal a feral female wolf with her tail wagging. No, it wasn't. Her tail was flagged...for the anthro? Answering her internal dialogue, the anthro in question placed his hands on the hips of the feral, and drug a claw tip gently around the edges of her vulva.

Was he about to pleasure her? Rosie's curiosity was again satisfied as the anthro undid his belt buckle, and pulled out his...oh. This was that type of video. Rosie had expected a scientific 'this is why it's okay for ferals and anthros' to mate but...her superior had just straight up shown her porn. Rosie was aghast.

"See?" Liam interrupted her thoughts . "It's possible..."

"This is...how is she even....is she...why would she?" Rosie cocked her head sideways. The anthro in the video had gotten to penetration while she was busy processing what she was seeing. She had never seen an anthro penis in this much detail, besides anatomy class and those were hardly flattering images.

"I think so...I think that's just for our sake though, they'd probably be fuckin any day of the week if the cameras were off. I know these guys, pretty popular in the feral porn industry." Liam very softly drug his sheathe along under his snow pants, the act of showing a female that fitted his fetish in every sense of the word his porn stash was...distracting.

"You..." Rosie shook her head and spoke in a hushed tone, "You watch feral porn!?" she whispered, the naughty words eliciting a long dormant ping of lust she had long repressed.

"Guilty as charged." Liam shrugged. "Suppose I have ulterior motives for the whole working for Q-F thing heh."

"Have you been checking me out this whole time?" Rosie nervously drug her claws through the wooden flooring of the tower.

"You have a very nice habit of leaving your tail up when you're walking in front of me...and I seem to specifically recall you rolling on your back once. That was some nice eye candy." Liam grinned. Gone from his face was that relaxed demeanor of a leader....instead, he now looked at her with pure,unfiltered lust.

"...I-" Interrupting her, the feral in the video pressed back into her lovers crotch as his knot slipped into her, and the pair seemed to finish together. Taking the cue, Liam hit the rest button on his phone and tucked it into his insulated pants. "So, what'd ya think?"

"I think...Uh. I know you're kind of, really into that...stuff." Rosie meant that, too. She could smell the scent of aroused male through Liam's pants. "But I just...don't know."

"Well fair enough...miss every shot you don't take and all that, sorry for bothering you." Liam started to get up but Rosie's forepaw fell on his knee, pushing him back down.

"But I want to do...something naughty heh...maybe there's a way I can repay you for being so...mmm, forward thinking, even if it's just because you have a thing for...people like me." Rosie looked up into his eyes with a smile.

"I...think that's a plenty fair compromise, ma'am. Heh heh." Liam cozied up against the wooden wall of the station, barely believing his luck. Having been heated from the woodburning stove earlier, it pleasantly warmed his back.

"I'm sure you do..." Cautiously, Rosie leaned her maw down into the fox's crotch and took his zipper between her teeth, it took some work but inch by inch she managed to pull it down. Liam was gracious enough to get his button himself.

"Could you..." Rosie started, her tail softly swishing behind her.

Nodding, Liam finally pulled his aching sheathe free of it's wooly prison. Red tip already poking through from his earlier arousal.

"Whoah..." Rosie had to step back. The first thing she noticed was a strong whiff of male arousal filling out her nostrils, it made her salivate.

"Ah it's...normal sized..." Liam pulled the sheath back for her benefit and chuckled. "For...anthros anyway."

"Uh...yeah." Rosie's eyes were affixed to the thing. "So do I just...like...what?"

"Whatever you wanna do!" Liam planted his paws on the ground at his hips and swished his tail across the floor excitedly

Rosie stepped forward and leaned her head down, getting a much less diluted whiff of male mask in her face as she tentatively stuck her tongue to the red tip. It tasted metallic, like the spoon that anthros eat with. She licked it again, and again. Savouring the taste, getting familiar with it. Rosie found herself quite entranced, having a male this close to her teeth gave her a feeling of power. Surprisingly trust as well. This anthro trusted her, with her sharp dangerous teeth, to use her muzzle to pleasure him. Rosie's tail flicked, spreading her own scent of need around the room.

Liam groaned, craned his head, forced his paws to stay at his sides lest he interrupt this beautiful wolf. Her tongue felt like heaven, every lick got him harder. Every time she accidentally brushed his tip with her nose his cock ached from the pleasure.

Rosie had a hard time keeping the length presented to her in focus, it had an awful habit of jumping around and accidentally sliding along her cheek when she meant to bathe it in licks. So she was forced to improvise. Rosie planted a paw atop his sheathe and pressed down, keeping it still. Thanks to the newfound stability, she found it much easier get her friction and purchase with her licks.

"Babe can ya...you know, use your muzzle?" Liam wondered if she had even heard him, so engrossed as she was with her new favorite toy.

"Kay." Rosie responded simply. She opened her maw as wide as it could, and taking extra care for her teeth, cautiously lowered it to the base. Her muzzle and throat were long enough to take not only his cock comfortably, but his sheathe as well. Rosie's mouth at this point was completely filled with cock. She looked up at Liam and attempted to formulate a smile, pleased with her own performance.

"Holy shit, Rose." Was all he responded with.

From the position Rosie was in, she had difficulty sucking. So once again, she was forced to resort to her tongue. She wrapped her long canine appendage around the small bulb at the base and corkscrewed her tongue to the tip. From the moans she heard she assumed she was doing it right. Rosie inhaled through her nose as she felt the beginning spurts of vulpine precum hitting her tongue. Salty. Rosie slicked the pre around on her tongue mid-corkscrew. Strange...she always imagined it would taste like water.

Rosie pulled off that delicious length but kept her paw held to the base, panting. "Sorry." She inhaled. "Gonna need a minute."

As she beheld the red tip poking below her paw, something distinctly instinctual gripped her. That nagging from earlier, but more so now. She could feel it clawing her, dragging her, pushing her to do something.

Liam's throaty exhale of breath across her muzzle cinched it. It was as if some invisible switch had flipped in her brain, an internal lock released. She was suddenly very aware of what she was doing.

She was sucking someone off. Not even that, she was pleasuring a male. She was...pleasuring a male. Despite her complete lack of stimulation, she began to pant, felt something in her gut she couldn't quite place. She felt herself getting hotter, hornier, a flush in her cheeks, a sudden shortness of breath. She looked into the anthros eyes and let out a low, lustful whine.

"Wha-" Liam started.

"I need...water or s-something." Her paw was shaking. Any early confidence she had before vanished. "It feels...some...weird. I'm hot...I don't know why." She spoke aloud, to herself mostly.

"Oh hell...tell me you're two years!?" Liam couldn't believe his luck. His greatest fantasy, a feral in her first season. It almost seemed too good to be true.

A fog of need had settled over Rosie's mind. She could hardly even process the question, her heart beat quickly. "Yeah...close."

"They...didn't tell you about heat?" Liam didn't believe it. Part of him thought she was trying to just play up her neediness for him.

"What? I know...temperatures...I may be sick. I feel weird." Rosie stepped back, taking her paw off and holding it to her head. "It's new...."

So she really didn't know. That complicates things."...Rosie, you're not sick." Liam leaned up and rested his forepaw on her neck, pulling her to rest on him, hard on still proudly displayed just out of sight.

"I'm...not?" Rosie leaned into his arm and sighed. "I'm sorry...I thought I was...ready."

"I know what you're going through. I'm gonna be honest with you okay? No tricks. I mean, I know I'm a fox but trust me."

"O-oh...what's..." the thick aroma of musk, and her own need had begun to mesh together. It was intoxicating. "What is it?" She met his eyes.

"This is something feral females go through. You're just ready for pups, and having a hard time figuring it out."

"Pups? They...o-oh." Rosie let her body go limp at the thought, laying her head down on the anthros thigh. Seeing those cute little faces in her mind."Pups would be cute..."

"Heh...yeah." The experienced fox took hold of Rosie's hips and pulled her back onto his lap, exposed tip rubbing through her hip fur. "They would, wouldn't they?" Liam took the initiative. He could see the poor girl as needing someone to guide her through this, and he could think of none better than himself.

Rosie looked back when she realized she was being moved, and a heavy blush formed under her fur. A males cock was pressing hard into her, and she enjoyed it. Even just this, him using her fur as means to get friction turned her on, and she realized what he had meant by the word "heat."

Her nethers were alight. Every time he touched her, it left a pleasant warming sensation where her fur was room temperature but a moment before. Now, with him grinding his length into her side she felt the hottest she ever had.

"Can-nnnf. Can we....mate?" The naughty word seemed alien, Rose's tail wagged just in front of the anthros belly quite happily. His cock continued to trail through the fur on her hip, leaving little drops of leaking precum throughout.

In response Rosie found herself scooped and carried, before she had a chance to realize what was happening her lover laid her on the bottom bunk and pushed his nose to hers. Their respective cold noses held together in a passionate, loving embrace. A feral's kiss...he had done this before. Rosie shivered at his touch.

He planted a paw on her chest, fumbling with his pants in the other. Rose's heart skipped a beat when she felt him lean into her. His muzzle still held to hers.

Rosie's forepaws padded his chest, feeling up those lovely muscles she had been eying earlier in their adventure and bit her lower lip. She had never imagined her first time to be with an anthro, of all the possibilities.

Liam's cock rubbed up into her tail fluff, the male having trouble lining himself up. Rosie tried to flag her tail to the side, and worked herself lower under him.

Instead of being roughly speared as she imagined she found her vulva being teased. A claw turned dull side edged around the outside of her entrance agonizingly.

When Rosie met his eyes for answers he returned only a wink.

With claws retracted, and eyes on hers, the fox slipped the beginnings of his paw inside her and grinned down at her. Her face contorted and she gasped softly, her first time having anything firmer than her tail tip inside her.

Another nose rub, a wordless assurance of ease. His free paw drifted along her body, coming to rest at her hip. Rosie shut her eyes.

A bit more paw worked its way inside her, and Liam cheekily groped her rump as she squirmed around beneath him.

Breathlessly, Rosie professed her wish the end the teasing with a muffled "p-please..."

"How do you want it?" The anthros paw was withdrawn, and her hips were dragged to the edge of the bed. Her hind legs hung off the side now, and she looked up to Liam's face. His erect cock now leaking just out of reach of her hindpaws.

It occurred to her she was asked how she would like to be taken. She could see the anthro now, over top of her and rutting her like one of her own kind, if she so desired.

"How you do it is fine..." Rose's bushy tail shot to the side as she felt that ever present itch in her loins grow even more. It clawed up her spine and rode her fur, her overeager body made its desires clear to her.

"Generous." The anthro leaned forward and kissed her again. With tongue this time, like he would an anthro girl. His vulpine tongue was shorter than her canine and she had no issue playfully wrestling with it in her maw.

His paws explored her back as they fought, trailing up and down with surprising tenderness. Any softer and she might confuse them for petting. The fox's lithe vulpine body moved against her comparatively smaller frame with remarkable purpose and ease.

Rosie felt him grab her hips, and she knew the time was near. Her tail flagged hard without her even remembering to move it, her breath caught in her throat.

The anthro made a point to keep his eyes locked to hers as he lined himself up, delighting in each pleasurable movement on her face. A sly, foxy grin on his own.

Rosie tensed her slender frame for a rough penetration, but instead she felt the warm tip of vulpine cock at her entrance. She peeked an eye open to see Liam leaning over her.

"Are you ready?" He was looking directly down at her, keeping himself still with obvious difficulty.

Rosie nodded quickly.

He planted his paws on her hips once more, and held her still as he slowly pushed his cock past her entrance.

Rosie moaned something between a squeak and a howl as she felt her resistance give way to the knotty intruder. Her heat did yet demand more however; she felt her walls clench around Liam's cock

Liam suppressed an exhale as his cock was wringed by the virgin tightness of a feral. It had been too long since his last female.

Rosie's hindpaws pressed around her partner's hips in response, too short to wrap around him completely as they were. She egged him on with her eyes. She desired desperately to be bred.

Being no stranger to the needs of ferals Liam picked up right quick. He started to, slowly at first, thrust into the velvety warmth this feral had so generously provided, paws still held strong to her hips.

Every so often he'd give her a lick across the muzzle as ferals do, further reinforcing his willingness to do whatever she wanted to make her comfortable. Rosie's paws curled and stretched in reaction.

Liam leaned over her, resting his elbows on either side of her head and began to work in tandem with gravity. Rosie tried to spread her hind legs further apart for her lover.

He moved to kissing her neck. Soft, foxy paws caressed her body yet again. This time focusing on her chest, and circling around behind her to slightly lift her off the bed, and meanuevere her with the fox's thrusts in whatever way he wished.

He got more assertive the longer he bred her, tender paw strokes turning to grippy, almost violent grabs of fur in order to hold her still. Rosie groaned in exhilaration.

A twinge in her stomach signaling the approach of orgasm caught her attention. She looked to her lover and tried to communicate with her eyes what her mouth was too busy panting to do.

Liam lifted her off the bed, and planted his forearms underneath her using his limbs as a sort of faux hammock. She was held up, and Liam began to thrust up into her. Rosie met her lovers eyes through a fog of lust.

She could feel him close too, she could feel his knot forming at the base of his prick. His thrusts getting shorter, pace picking up. his breaths on her muzzle getting heavier.

He took his teeth and bit into her neck. Soft enough not to cause pain, but hard enough to mark her. Enough to remind her who she belonged to. Rosie moaned loudly.

His arms wrapped around her, and pulled her to his chest. His thrusts became erratic, he groaned in pleasure.

"Tie me..." Rosie whispered, in between increasingly violent lurches of vulpine hips and bed creaks.

Eager to please the lady, the fox slammed his hips forward while using his teeth to keep his partner still. With considerable effort, Liam's vulpine knot slammed home and locked him to his mate as he came.

Rosie screamed. Between the pain of her first tie, and the indescribable pleasure of feeling hot ropes of fox spunk paint her insides she was ecstatic.

Her own orgasm followed soon after, with Liam humping a little as he wound down, the feeling of warmth filling her from groin up, she couldn't last long.

Rosie's legs slacked around her lovers waist and she moaned softly, her own feral juices mixing with Liam's. Rosie fell back into the bed, looking out the window upside down.

They stayed like that for awhile, Liam's paws petting and groping her as they both wound down. Every now and again a particularly pleasurable hit of ecstasy would travel along her spine from Liam's cock. Rosie had never felt such fulfillment before.

Liam pressed his nose to hers, the traditionally feral kiss yet again and whispered "good girl..."

Rosie's eyes went wide, and she raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

Liam pulled back smiling at her reaction. "Too much?" he questioned with head tilted and ears raised.

Rosie let her body fall back into the bed and yawned, giggling. "It's...a little weird, foxy. But you're a weird guy so..."

"I guess I am a feral fucker." He ground his knot into her causing Rosie to gasp. "A dirty..." he leaned forward to kiss her. "Feral..." He ran his paw across her belly, teasingly brushing it against her nips. "Fucker." He slammed his hips forward, nearly pushing rosie back into the window, interrupting her moaning by causing a giggle as he fell atop her.

"Well..." Rosie began, looking up into his eyes. "I guess if you wanna look at it that way...it kinda makes sense, Nnhh" Rosie turned over to face out the window as she waited for him to deflate. "I know it's kind of sudden but...I really wanna go again. When you finish with-" Rosie squeezed his knot inside her, smiling back at his reaction. "Mmph- that...you think you can start up again? I can be top this time."

"Nnh...absolutely..."

.

Two months.

The pair had been with each other for two months, riding out Rosie's heat together and when she finally came down they actually did their jobs.

Liam took her paws in his, showed her to maneuver around obstacles without getting hurt, taught her to never under any circumstances cross a river without checking to see how deep it is, and taught her that no matter what to always make sure she didn't get lost. "What's the point of a rescue if it just turns into a hunt for you and the rescuee?" he joked.

He taught her how to navigate by sight, the importance of mental maps, the creation of mental step-maps even. Before each lesson he made her promise to never do anything to get herself in more danger than her target, she never promised.

To make it up to him instead, she opted to practice her oral with him as a willing volunteer. She spent many of her off days like that, canine muzzle trailing up and down fox cock. He taught her to do that, too. Taught her to hold her breath when she held his cock in her muzzle, taught her a specifically "vulpine" trick for holding a knot in your muzzle until it deflated. And he taught her to always, under any circumstances, swallow every milliliter of cum you conceivably can. "Unless he wants to give you a facial, or something."

For those lessons Rosie had always said she was at attention, but truthfully whenever the time came to swallow another load of fox jizz most of what he said to her went in one ear and out the other. She was just happy to have a male she could be this close with, and she planned to keep him.

To that end, she posited the question as she stood on the steps of what had been her home for a good portion of her life so far, watching her hopefully soon to be mate load their stuff into the back of his truck. "Would you...be my handler?" Her voice was low, barely above a whisper.

Liam knew what that meant. A feral handler lived every second by his feral's side, doing things they can't. He would open doors for her, drive her, care for her. In return she would show him more affection than he had ever been shown before. He knew Rosie well enough by now, knew she must have been thinking about this for a long time to so brazenly ask out of nowhere.

"Rose..." His first instinct was to deny her. It was just a job, they were just passing time together. But then he thought about it...Rose knew more about him than any other female. He knew she was honest, there could be no ulterior motive. Especially if he was being asked to replace her current handler, who had no doubt cared for her since she was a puppy.

Rose heard the tone in his voice, from the way he looked at her she knew what he was about to say.

Liam's resolve finally broke when he saw the beginnings of tears in her eyes. He stammered, paws held up. "I-I yes! I will...be your handler."

Rosie sniffed back her tears. "Really!?" she nearly yelled with excitement. Her uncontrollable tail began to smack into the metal tower's leg with reckless enthusiasm. Liam braced for what was coming when he saw her stand.

"Yes...really." She launched off the tower's steps with that, charged straight into and tackled him to the snow in a way more reminiscent of a police dog than rescue. Her nose touched his, her tongue entwined with his. She kissed him violently, switching back and forth between lip locking and nose rubbing as it suited her. She let her muzzle move it's own volition.

Liam could do nothing but wrap his arms around his now mate and wait it out. His protests and gasps of breath did nothing to deter her assault. When finally she pulled back, satisfied. Liam was covered in snow on one side, and the saliva of his mate on the other.

"Hello, Rose." Liam said simply, meeting the eyes of his new mate. "Hehe, Hi." Rosie replied, snuggling into the chest of the anthro and looking up happily. They simply stared at each other for a time, relishing in the feeling of holding one another.

"So...handler then? I gotta form or something to fill out?" Liam broke the silence, chuckling.

"I'll contact the Foundation when you take me home. They'll send everything over. Thank you..." Rose licked along his neck, taking any errant snowflakes along with her tongue as she went.

"Don't mention it...now come on." Liam picked her up, causing something like a surprised squeek to escape the feral's lips. She wrapped her forelegs around his neck for support and yipped yet again as she felt herself being lowered into the passenger seat, the sudden change in center of gravity making her fear she was falling.

Rosie spent a couple minutes giddily fidgeting in her seat while her mate loaded what he had left. She couldn't help her excitement. She thought of all the things they could do together, him romantically opening doors for her, romantically flirting in the mornings, kissing him again, maybe he would take her on a boat ride? She had always wanted to ride a boat.

The thunk of his car door slamming jolted her from her daydream. Her lover looked at her with his usual foxy smile and gave her a pat on the head. "You ready to go?" Rosie nodded, and because he knew her so well he made sure to tell her that trying to suck his dick while he was driving would be a safety hazard. After Rosie begrudgingly agreed he turned the key, and pulled out, leaving their cozy little stilt cabin far behind in the rearview.

On the road back home nearly a mile from civilization a black car blocked the road. It had tinted windows, a driver hidden by the glass but Liam could make out shapes behind the rear windows. In the road stood a woman, a female jackal. Wearing a pantsuit, holding a clipboard and looking incredibly smug, if a little cold.

Liam didn't need a feral's instincts to sense something was off. Not wanting to worry her if it turned out to be nothing anyway, he patted Rose's sleeping body and slowly opened the driver side door.

"Congratulations Liam!" The Jackal called to him, as he got closer Liam could see the woman's features more clearly. Her suit was all in black, save a pocket on her chest which held a golden badge depicting the Foundation's logo and the characters "GP17"

"For what?" Liam casted a shadow over her, having left his high beams on. "And how do you know my name? And who are you?"

"Me? I'm no one important. But you...you may be more significant than we thought." The jackal walked to him, wicked grin on her face. "I represent a party interested in cultivating and fostering relationships between bipedal and quadrupedal races." Whatever pitch she was about to give him was definitely rehearsed, Liam thought. He did take a step back, however. Something about this woman...unnerved him.

"And you Liam, have a story we're very, very interested in." She withdrew a pen that was clipped to the board and began to scribble on whatever paper was at the front. "Feral girl in heat, you take care of her, she falls for you. All in the dead of winter. Heat. In. Winter. Lovely, isn't it? I thought so too, So I-"

"How did you know that!? I...I won't let you hurt her, you know." Liam stepped back again, eyes on this woman's frame and wary of any suspicious movement she might make.

"Why would I harm the very sapient I've set out to protect?" The woman made another mark with her pen and smiled. "Like I said, I want to tell your story. We have it all on camera and various audio recording devices so we can do it without your consent. But..." She let the word hang in the air, as if seeing Liam's reaction would be pleasant. He stood his ground however, showed no emotion beyond raised eyebrows.

"But..." She continued, visibly disappointed. "I think we'd both prefer this the more...moral way. So here you are." She handed him a tan coloured, non see through envelope. "Twenty thousand U.S. and we change your names in the published version. In there are the legal documents showing how you got the check, which you'll need if you get it cashed."

Liam scratched behind his neck. "This is...a lot to take in." The woman handed him her clipboard. "All you need to do is make a couple signatures. See? Just a few signatures for twenty big ones. That's not too bad right?"

"It seems...too good to be true. What about ro-"

The jackal took the couple pages in hand and lifted to reveal a small green card at the back of the clipboard. "This card is our promise to do all we can to support ferals. All the time. Your girlfriend is a feral, isn't she? Take this card, if you ever need our services give us a call."

Liam pulled the card out from the stack of clipped papers and looked it over. "A ferals promise and musical reprise" was inscribed on the front in gaudy, stylised lettering. "Who the hell is us?" Liam questioned.

"Heh...the invisible Guiding Paw charged with keeping public opinion favorable. Now are you gonna sign or not?" The jackal crossed her arms, obviously getting impatient.

"So just...signature down, Rosie doesn't get hurt and we get paid? Okay...I guess." Liam put the pen to paper and marked his name in a few places as the Jackal pointed them out. He noted that nowhere did he have to put down Rosie's name.

The Jackal studied Liam's writing for a moment before exclaiming "Perfect!" and yanking the paper roughly out of the clipboard. She turned on her heel without another word, yelling over her shoulder to a confused Liam.

"You'll find everything you need on that clipboard! Take care of her." She stopped, and glanced back over her shoulder. "You never met me. You never saw my car. Of course though, that doesn't apply to your mate. Have a good retirement!"

With that, the jackal stepped into her car, and skidded away down the unpaved road leaving Liam with a clipboard and a raised eyebrow. Carrying everything back to his truck he sat them on the middle seat, exhaling heavily.

Liam shook Rose awake before shutting his door, winter chill starting to seep into the truck. Rosie stretched out in the seat and yawned, looking at her mate incredibly confused. "What's going on?" She tilted her head.

"We...need to talk."

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Authers note-

I would really, really like some feedback on this one. Anything from a rate to a comment is so very much appreciated.

Thank you for reading nevertheless, and remember: "There's a beast in man that should be exercised, not exorcised."