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FOX Academy VI - Unnatural Selection

Chapter 3 - Nine Noble Virtues

"Hey, Sam! Wait up!" The Arctic wolf hesitated at the corner of the 'U' shaped building beside the dorm long enough for Anabel to catch up.

"What do you want?" He said sullenly as she stopped before him, slightly out of breath.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry, you know, for ..." She hesitated, not sure why she had intervened or chased after him.

"For not letting me get my ass pounded into dust?"

"No, yes, no. You were drunk Sam. He wasn't. You didn't stand a chance." She was so close to him that she had to crane her neck to look up at the taller wolf.

"Yeah, you're right." Sam mumbled. "I'm off to a hell of a start, aren't I? Two confrontations on the first day, not to mention drunk and disorderly." He flopped heavily against the wall behind him. "I knew this would happen. I knew it."

"How so?" She asked as she stepped closer, closing the gap he opened by leaning back.

"I've got no head for alcohol." Sam admitted. He paused for a rebuttal, but was greeted with silence. The void in the conversation enticed him to continue. "Seriously. Once, when I was seventeen, I sneaked into a night club in Halifax. I had a Tequila for my first drink ever. The last thing I remember was dancing with a young mink, and drinking more Tequila. I guess I blacked out. I woke up wearing a G-string and a matching see-through bra, tied to lamp post, in down town Montreal."

He paused there. Anabel was trying to suppress giggles, not certain whether Sam was trying to be serious or not.

"It was, like, noon and cars were going by honking their horns and there was this couple laughing at me and babbling in French between gasps for air." Sam mimicked their actions with arm gestures and pseudo-French. Anabel was laughing openly now. "I was so hung over I couldn't make out a thing they were saying. The Montreal police had to cut the cuffs off of me."

"That," she managed between guffaws, "must have been traumatic."

"Well, it was Saint Catherine's Street, so I sort of fit in." Sam smiled. "My so-called friends were watching from a bar across the street and appeared before the cops could take me in for having no visible means of support. I still have the bra and panties." He confessed.

"Oh no, you don't?" She rested one paw on her breast and the other on his chest. She had leaned in so that their legs and hips made contact.

"Not here!" He declared. "They probably go through your luggage here. A wolf in bra and panties was not the image I wanted to convey." His speech was clearing up; he was sobering up as fast as he ad gotten drunk. Unconsciously his paws had come around her waist to link behind the small of her back.

What did you do before you came here?" She inquired, looking up into his yellow-brown eyes.

"I was a bounty hunter, but only for a couple of years. I'm just twenty-one." He said shyly certain that she must be a few years older at least.

"That sounds exciting." She ignored the age issue.

"It was at first, but it's not like on TV." He mused. "Most of the guys I chased were petty crooks that blew town after their girlfriends put up bail. Pathetic, really. But I hear some of the law enforcement officers whispering about this FOX thing, and it sounded pretty exciting. I tried googling it but all I got was a screen full of semi-nude images of some actress. Then, funny thing, a couple of weeks later I get this application in the mail."

"Me too!" She gushed. "I overheard, my uncle, a captain in the Sûreté de Québec, mention it to my father. I tried to look it up too, but I found nothing. Then the application showed up."

"I sense a pattern here." Sam said. "You're from Québec? Parlez-vous de français?"

"Une peu, monsieur." She giggled, the sound pleasing to Sam's ear. "My side of the family is actually fourth generation American. My folks moved to Québec City when I was five, but they put me in an English private school. I picked up some French on the streets though. Hard not to in Disneyland North."

"Disneyland North?"

"I heard that Quebec City and Disneyland have the same level of street crime." She informed him, making idle circles on his hard chest with one claw. "And they both have a castle ...."

"The Chateau Frontenac, sure." He said, referring to the famous luxury hotel.

"And they both have a Magic Kingdom ...."

He looked quizzically at her.

"The National Assembly." She said.

Sam laughed at the comparison of the self-conscious provincial legislature with a place that had a similar grip on reality. He pulled her a little closer.

"Why did you come here?" he asked seriously.

Because I am smart and awesome and I want to be a spy." She answered lightly, only joking a little. Sam chuckled at that, to her relief.

"That you are." He said, his voice softer. "Smart and awesome and beautiful. He traced the contour of her cheek as he complimented her. She blushed, unseen in the darkness. Realizing that he could not see her embarrassment make her bolder, and she pressed against him, standing on the tips of her toes to bring her mouth up to his. She parted her lips as their heads came together.

Lips sealed, tongues met, tentatively at first. But soon tongues and heads were writhing and rolling about while paws roamed along biceps, trailed across heaving chests, and gripped straining buttocks. Sam pulled her to his right, rolling along the wall until he had her up against it. There he put a paw against the wall on each side of her head, spread his legs and leaned into the kiss.

Anabel reached up and pulled his head down into hers. The ache in her loins that had been awakened by the sight of him facing off against the larger canine flared. It had been smouldering all day, despite a desperate session with the monster dildo after class. She reached up and grabbed his wrist, placing that paw in her breast. Taking the other, she slapped it between her legs.

She had never felt this urgently about her previous prospective lovers. She wanted to feel his paws all over her, everywhere. She wanted to touch him in places she had never touched others before. She wanted him in her, and she wanted it now.

Sam was dead sober now, and he took the hint. In a flash his paw was up under the tight tank top she had put on for the party, squeezing her breast rhythmically. He rubbed her sex with the other through her Lycra shorts. She squirmed against him in her need, urging him on.

Anabel dropped one paw to his groin and squeezed his cock through the heavy cotton fabric. It was soft, but already thick with blood, and growing stiffer by the second. Soon it was too long to be contained, and the tip peeked out from his pants. She undid the button at the front and pulled the zipper down deftly. She slipped her paw inside and under the elastic waistband of his boxer shorts. His cock was hot and hard and alive in her paw. She undid the button over his tail with her other paw and pulled pants and shorts down to his knees.

Sam stopped massaging her twat long enough to lift her top up over her breasts. When they were free he lowered his mouth to them and sucked on the hardening nipples one after the other. When his paws returned to her nether regions they forced their way under the elastic material. His sensitive pads detected bare fur where panties might have been, but weren't, and a tender wet spot. The other paw pulled her tail out of the hole below the waistband and slid down between her firm buttocks, a digit resting on the puckered hole there. The digits of both began a slow, grinding rotation, squeezing her pelvis between them.

Anabel pushed the larger wolf off her and swung him around the corner so that they were inside the hollow of the 'U' shaped building. "Wouldn't do to be caught exposing yourself after the bad day you've had." She grinned as she backed him up against the wall. Sam took the opportunity to doff his shirt, pants and shorts. By the time she pressed herself against him again he was naked.

He ran his paws over her exposed fur, luxuriating in the firmness of her muscles below the short hairs. He hooked a thumb on each side of her shorts and inched them down over her hips and thighs. When they were at her knees she kicked them the rest of the way off. She shivered in the cool night air and pressed closer. Sam rubbed her with his warm paws and held her tight.

Anabel had a sudden urge to do something she had always considered disgusting before. She dropped to her knees and took his cock with both of her paws and angled it into her mouth. Hesitantly at first, but with increasing confidence, she let her lips and tongue explore the smooth flesh stretched over it. It was salty, and she could feel the pulse in the blood vessels that stood out against its hardness. She tasted a sweet liquid that issued from the tip, thinking at first that he had cum, but realizing that it was just a preliminary release of fluids, like the flow that was leaking down her own thighs.

She took more and more of him in her mouth, sucking air through her snout as his thickness blocked her throat. When her nose came up against him and she could take in no more she released it and turned her head to slather it with kisses and licks. Then she swallowed it again. Meanwhile her paws explored between his spread legs, squeezing his sack, tickling the strip of flesh behind it, rubbing his tailhole.

Sam could not take anymore. He put his paws on each side of her head and lifted her mouth up to meet his. He slipped his arms under hers to keep her paws off his cock until the tension decreased a bit. When she had her arms wrapped around his shoulders he lowered his and returned to massaging her twat and ass. Taking a hint from the way she had been poking at his tailhole he moistened one digit inside her and then placed the tip against the puckered pink hole below her tail. Twisting it gently he forced the hole open. She bit him on the inside of his lip, and he pushed his digit in a little further.

Sam turned her sideways so that he could work both of her holes without obstruction. That forced her to let go of his torso so she dropped a paw to his prick and stoked it lightly. She licked a digit o her other paw and searched for his anus with it, stopping when she felt him twitch from contact with the questing digit. She teased the tender flesh around the hole but stopped short of driving it in.

Sam rotated until he had her against the wall again, and he rubbed his erection against her hard belly. She pushed him and reversed their positions, lifting one leg to press her open vagina against his stiff member. Sam turned her again, and slipped his cock between her legs so the tip was up between the cheeks of her ass. He ground his pelvic bone against hers, crushing her clit between them.

They rolled along the wall, first one than the other in front, alternately rubbing, squeezing and caressing each others parts until they were booth soaked with natural lubricants and aching for release. Just as they reached the mid-point in the 'U' Sam spun Anabel about and bent her over. She had to reach out and place her paws against the wall to keep from falling. Looking back over her shoulder, she saw him take his erection in his paw and guide it in. The contact between cunt and cock, her first ever, sent shivers up her spine.

It was so unlike the cold impersonal vibrator she was used to. Sam's prick was warm, hot even, and slick from being rubbed in her juices. He pushed it partway in, until he felt some resistance, and backed out a bit before pushing a bit farther in. Within a minute he was sinking it all the way in, and he paused to adjust his grip on her hips before continuing. Anabel marvelled at how she could sense what his body was doing through it, and how she could feel it pulsing inside her.

Sam began with long, slow stokes designed to stimulate the swelling tissues inside her without exciting his own swollen cock too quickly. He squeezed her butt together as he drove in and released it to pull out smoothly. He tried to aim each strike up, so that the ridge on the underside of his cock could ride over her clit on the way in. Since she was shorter than him he had to bend his knees to do so, but he had recovered from the morning run and his hips were doing most of the work anyway.

Anabel kept her paws on the wall and looked back at him as long as she could without hurting her neck. Then as the waves of pleasure began to drift through her she closed her eyes and rested her head on her upper arm. All she needed to do was to keep her paws on the wall and let him perform. She wondered why she had waited so long to lose her virginity, and if there were other lovers as skilled as Sam among the student body.

Sam felt the pressure building in his balls as they slapped against her taut belly. He switched to shallow thrusts aimed at the spongy patch on the front of her vagina. Not to neglect other important places, he reached around her hips and found her clit with the tip of his middle digit. Leaning down so he could have a better reach, he let his left paw roam around her torso, caressing her sides and breasts, tickling the base of her neck, letting her suck the digits.

Sam was huffing and puffing now that he was getting close. Anabel was moaning and twisting her hips like she was trying to escape, desperate to make this song last as long as possible before the crescendo. Sam rubbed her clit harder as he pounded her pussy from behind. Anabel pushed back against the wall to meet him thrust for thrust.

The lingering effects of the alcohol numbed Sam's senses enough for him to hold off until she came. With a gasp that turned into a high-pitched cry she felt her insides melt. Flesh turned to liquid that was driven from her, soaking his groin and running down their legs in hot streams. The grip of her twat tightened for a moment, and then released as if the force of her orgasm had driven the walls of her vagina back. Sam continued to pump, driving for his own happy ending now.

Conscious of the lack of protection, and not having inquired as to whether she was using any other method of birth control, Sam pulled his cock out in the last seconds and stuck it between her legs, riding the spread pussy lips from below, keeping the tip away from the opening. Anabel opened her eyes and looked along her torso to watch as the meaty pole spurted wads of bright white cum onto her belly and breasts. Some flew as far as the wall, but most struck to her. Sticky gobs hung down, dripping onto the sand at their feet. Anabel followed one large drip down, and froze, the hot cum and warm wolf pressed against her ass forgotten.

"Uh, Sam?"

"Yes? He answered sleepily, a sudden exhaustion having come over him now that he was spent.

"There's a body down here on the ground below us."

* * * * * * * *

While it was not exactly unusual to find a dead body on the grounds of FOX Academy, it was still considered an emergency. The Central Experimental Farm was shut down. The roads surrounding the Academy were blocked and traffic was detoured around the area. A press release about a gas line leak was issued.

The daylight hours are at their longest during June in the northern hemisphere and even with daylight savings time in effect first light comes early. Today it illuminated the figures of two large foxes standing over the body of a third, smaller fox.

"Have we ID'd the guy yet?" Tancred Williams asked, having just arrived.

"Yes. It's one of the new students." Silver, standing beside him, responded. "The Aussie, Charles Matty."

"How did he die?"

"Doc Jones says he broke his neck, but he'll do a full autopsy just to make sure." It was standard routine; all deaths at FOX Academy were considered suspicious until proven otherwise.

The Director looked up at the three-story building where rappelling was taught. The body was lying crumpled against the wall beside the iron ladder that was used to access the rappelling platform. Its head was turned almost backwards.

"Think he slipped?" Tanner asked his old friend.

"Hard to say." Silver shrugged. The condensation on the iron makes it impossible to tell if he was on the ladder or the roof, and whether he was alone or with someone else." Silver pointed to a multitude of tracks in the sand pit and the dirt that rimmed it. "There's been no rain for weeks so there are quite a few prints. Most of these fresh ones match the shoes O'Leary and Balfor were wearing. They came here in the dark, preoccupied, and didn't see the body until they were finished. Their tracks have wiped out most of the older ones." He indicated where they had shuffled around the corner and along the wall, their trail ending in deep indentations close to the body."

"What's that white stain on Matty's chest?"

"When I said they came upon the body I wasn't being figurative."

"Oooohhhh. Poor guy." Tanner shook his head. "A death on the first day. A bad start to the course."

"Second day technically." Silver said. "Doc says he died after midnight. Probably right around the time party in the lounge broke up."

"Didn't you lose a guy on the second day of your course Silver?"

"Yeah, but he didn't die." Silver recalled the incident from thirty years before. "He shot himself in the foot practising his quick draw in the dorm. With a forty-four Magnum too. Had to get what was left amputated."

"I remember now. 'Gimpy' Adams. He came back the next year and finished the course with a wooden foot. We posted him to the middle east."

"That's right. He retired last year." Silver added. Then he got back to the subject. "Counter Intelligence is interviewing the two that found him. We're questioning the rest of the students ourselves. Security is reviewing the tapes, but the cameras are all pointing outward so we are probably out of luck there. Joel will try to enhance them if they do have anything. But it looks like an accident so far." He sounded optimistic, but his mind wandered to the message Tanner had shown him just two days ago.

"What are all these scuff marks in the dirt?" Tanner wondered.

"Looks like someone was drawing and wiped it out." Silver commented. "It might have been O'Leary and Balfor stumbling around, or one of the agents detailing the infiltration plan to his team." The building was used regularly for refresher training, and small teams were routinely tasked to scale it and break into certain rooms, where other teams, tasked with conducting an ambush, may be waiting. A quick reconnaissance followed by a plan drawn in the dirt was not uncommon.

The forensic team from the RCMP headquarters declared that they had finished with the scene and that the body could now be moved. Two medical technicians rolled the corpse of Charles Matty over and checked the other side for signs of a struggle. There were small tears in the shoulders of his sports jacket, but they could have occurred as a result of the fall.

What caught Silver's eye was the patch of dirt that his body had been covering. It was smooth and flat, unlike the disturbed soil around it. In the middle of the levelled area someone had drawn something. It was a star with six points and something else he could not make out inside.

"Get a picture of that." He instructed one of the forensic team, and then he turned to the Director. "When you were tallying up all the diversity points, you didn't happen to notice if Matty was Jewish, did you?"

* * * * * * * *

Unbeknownst to the two foxes, eyes watched them from a distance, hidden in the thick leaves of the trees that lined the edge of Academy property. A message came through to the watcher, lately in from Italy. "Did they find anything?"

"Maybe." He sent back.

"What about the white wolf and his little bitch. Did they see us."

"We must assume that they did. Even if they don't know what they saw."

"What do we do?"

"The same thing we did to the fox. The students are unimportant. It is the leadership we need to get to. Agreed?

He was answered with a solemn chorus of "Amen"

* * * * * * * *

Inside the Academy the rest of the students were being questioned one after another. While waiting their turns they were kept in the main classroom under the eye of the Academy guard force with instructions not to speak to each other. But through eye contact and nods they all acknowledged the absence of three of their members, the Arctic Wolf Sam, Anabel the toy terrier and Charlie the kit fox. Shrugs exchanged indicated that none of them had any idea where they were or what may have happened to them.

The senior security officer was a river otter named Joe Kipchak. It was unusual to find an otter in a canine-dominated business, and also unusual to find a member of the First Nations in such a senior position. But Joe, who was Algonquin, had risen on the power of his brains, as well as his stoic nature. He had the innate ability to construct linked images in his head from the answers the people he was interrogating provided. Who was talking to whom at the party, who was already there, who left when. They all became pieces of an elaborate mental jigsaw puzzle. He could immediately identify any piece that did not fit, and would pursue a line of questioning around it, acquiring new pieces as he went. These, he found, often provided a picture of the crime.

He dealt with most of the students quickly. It was obvious that most of them were distracted by the altercation at the bar and had not seen the fox depart. O'Leary and Balfor had been the last two to leave; he knew that from interviewing Rusty. The wolf Ember also had an alibi, he had been shagging Houston in that show boat of hers until dawn. The Chief Instructor would deal with him later.

The last student to be interviewed was the oldest, Grey Muzzle, according to his file. Joe brought him in, sat him down, and introduced himself, conveying a relaxed, friendly atmosphere. He found that people talked more when they were relaxed, sometimes more than was good for them. Questioning the old fox brought answers that fit the picture the other's statements had built. The older fox had showed up early and acted as bartender for a while, delighting the others with his drink mixing skills. Matty showed up during that period, as did Balfor. Roark and O'Leary arrived later already inebriated, the Arctic Wolf more so than his taller companion.

By the time Rusty arrived everyone was drinking beer or straight shots, so Muzzle had left the bar to join the crowd. He mentioned seeing the party poodle arrive, and admitted to following her around for a bit, trying to engage her in conversation. Joe smiled at that. Miss CC drew males in her wake like a comet drew space dust.

He was done with the interview. He had been writing notes, summarizing his conclusions as he listened to the old fox. Silver would want to know what he thought as soon as possible. Joe wanted to drop them off himself, but he also wanted to go to the interrogation wing where the CI team was going over O'Leary's and Balfor's story before they finished. He wanted to see how well it matched the picture he had created.

While the otter thought about how he could save some time the fox asked him a question. That was unusual, as most interrogatees were too worried about what they said to ask sensible questions.

"Sorry?" Joe said looking up.

"I asked if you could tell me where the missing three students are?" The older fox calmly wiped his glasses on his green vest before returning them to his snout. Joe noted that he had asked where they were, not what had happened to them. He took it as a sign of innocence.

"O'Leary and Balfor are being questioned separately about an incident that occurred last night." He told the fox. Then Joe had an idea. "These papers have to be delivered to the Chief of Staff." He said, sealing his notes in a heavy envelope. "Do you know where the headquarters building is?"

"Yes, it's on the map we were given."

"Good. Take this to the front desk and tell them to take it in to The Chief's secretary right away. He signed his name across the seal and passed the envelope to Muzzle. "Can you do that?"

"I Guess." The fox relied. "If your guards will let me out of the school."

"I'll escort you to the door." Joe told him as she stood up. He led the fox through the hallways, waving the guards away as he went, and out the front door. "Come right back when you are done." He reminded the fox, and then he turned to head in the direction of the interrogation wing.

"Mister Kipchak?" Muzzle interrupted his departure.

"What is it?" Joe asked, turning back.

"You never did tell me where Matty was."

Joe thought for a minute before relying. "He's off the course."

"Oh? Did he get in trouble?"

"Nooo. You might say he dropped out."

* * * * * * * *

Silver wanted to speak to the pair that had found the body himself, but first he stopped at the forger's lab. There they had the most powerful graphics computers in the world, able to copy foreign currency and documents down to the sweat stains left by the last person to have handled them. Joel Grigori, the ring-tailed lemur who ran them, could also create three-dimensional virtual worlds using camera feeds of various angles. A world you could interact with through an electronic body suit and learn more than what was available to the naked eye. For that reason all the security cameras fed into Joel's computers.

Agents that planned on using some secluded corner of the Academy for sexual encounters had best remember that.

When Silver entered the lab he found Joel and Kain Algorath going through all the files that covered the dorm area for the last twenty-four hours. The outdoor ones showed the sun setting over the forest behind the Academy and the traffic on the streets, but not the path behind the accident site. From the inside cameras images of students coming and going from the dorm and transiting the hallways flickered by. Then something caught Silver's eye, a scene that did not fit, but it disappeared as Joel adjusted the feed to a different channel.

"Go back." Silver ordered.

Joel flipped back through several hallway scenes. None of them were the one Silver had noted.

"Joel." He warned in a low voice. The lemur cringed, but he flicked a switch and the screen changed. It went white, then silver as automatic filters kicked it, and then it resolved to show a cubicle about a metre square. It was one of the dorm shower stalls, and there was a naked husky standing in it. He was rubbing shampoo into his fur with one paw and washing his balls with the other. Kain looked away. Silver reached over and deleted the file with a tap of one digit. The screen went blank. Joel sat unmoving, waiting for the outburst that was sure to come.

"How long have you had cameras in the dorm showers Joel?" Silver inquired in a calm voice. Joel sank in his chair, calm was bad when it came to Silver.

"Three months." Joel whispered.

"And do you have cameras anywhere else that I am unaware of?"

"The dorm bedrooms and the gym change rooms." Joel confessed in a small voice.

"Algorath." Silver addressed the Arctic fox who was the Academy's resident computer genius. "Take over from Joel." Kain moved into the leather swivel chair as Joel got out. It was still warm, and Kain wondered about its cleanliness.

"Before you track and disable all of the unauthorized cameras," Silver instructed Kain while staring pointedly at Joel, "I want you to add all those files to the model so we can track the whereabouts of the students more accurately. Go ahead."

Up on the wall-sized screen blank spaced in the virtual model of the Academy filled in as the new coverage was added. Avatars built to resemble the students and staff drifted in and out of the area as the clock sped through the slice of time they were concerned with. Kain would use the controls at the console occasionally to zoom in on an individual or swing the point of view around.

Avatars came and went. Members of the staff went to the gym when there were no students there. Most of them showered quickly and left, but the avatar of Miss CC stayed under the water for an inordinate amount of time. Kain zoomed in to give the avatar better definition, saw where she was rubbing herself, and quickly zoomed out again.

As the day ended the student avatars went to the dorm and moved about in it. They moved smoothly because the program filled in any short gaps between camera coverage by extrapolating the previous activity. A red dot over the head of an avatar indicated that it was being monitored by the camera operator at the time the image was taken. That would have been Joel earlier in the day. The dot flickered from head to head before settling on the husky avatar. It stayed with it as the avatar undressed, showered and towelled itself off. The naked canine avatar then sat down in front of the computer in his room and cruised a few internet sites. Bondage and Discipline sites to be exact.

Now Silver knew why Joel was so interested in this particular student. Joel ran most of those sites from the server in his apartment. Up on the screen the canine avatar began to show signs of excitement, and Silver asked Kain to move on. Kain set the program to scroll through the rest of the students. He also adjusted the settings so their last name was shown floating in the air over their heads.

Each scene lasted only a second. Here was Balfor studying her claws and picking at them with a variety of manicuring tools. Then there was O'Leary, Roark, and Ember leaving the dorm together. The next scene showed Muzzle lying in bed naked while reading a magazine entitled 'Porn Poodles Galore'. Silver glanced at Joel and the lemur shrugged and mouthed the words "not one of mine".

Matty's avatar left the showers. One marked 'Jones', a blue vixen, was taking a nap under the covers. Faraday was sitting in his darkened room, sharpening a wicked looking dagger. Rasielle was in his room, grooming himself in front of the mirror.

The program cycled though again. Balfor was attacking her claws with a vengeance. The three wolves had walked out of range and were dropped from the program. The old fox now had an erection. Matty turned down the wrong corridor. 'Jones' slept on. Faraday tested the edge of the blade and continued to hone it. Rasielle lifted a limp penis to reveal a vagina just below it. Kain's eyes went wide behind his frame-less glasses.

Balfor was applying polish. Muzzle has a paw wrapped around his cock. Matty was standing in the doorway of Rasielle's room staring at the slim catbat. The blue vixen was snoring. Faraday was whistling a high-pitched tune as he worked the blade. Rasielle was staring at the kit fox with his towel around his ankles.

Silver indicated that Kain could speed it up and Kain set it to pick up only those images with significant movement in them. This eliminated the sleeping fox, the knife-sharpening bat, the obsessed English toy terrier and the masturbating Muzzle, leaving just the two in Rasielle's room going through a high-speed bout of intercourse. By the time they were done with each other the rest had finished their activities too and the avatars began to move about, preparing to leave for the social at the lounge. Kain was relieved to see that Matty and the old fox, the catbat and the husky, all took showers before they got dressed and left.

Kain zoomed out to cover the ground between the lounge and the dorm, including the 'U' shaped building. Unfortunately the area around the building was not covered by any camera, so avatar's blinked out of existence as they left the dorm and reappeared near the lounge. It was impossible to tell which route they took around the rappelling building, but they marked each as they left the party and noted when they arrived back in their rooms. By the time the scenario ended all were accounted for except Matty, O'Leary, and Balfor. Ember had been picked up by security on his return to the Academy and taken straight to questioning.

"I don't see any gaps in the student's movements that would indicate any of them were near Matty when the, uh, accident occurred." Kain said, turning to Silver.

"Me neither." Silver agreed. "Joel," he addressed the lemur, "what was all that interference in the files around the edges of the forest just about the time Matty died?"

"Wind maybe, or birds." Joel answered, relieve to see that Silver's concentration was taken up by the case, the misuse of Academy equipment apparently forgotten. "When you get a high wind it makes the trees shake and that confuses the program, so you get these artifacts that look like black triangles shooting out of the foliage. Large birds can cause a similar effect."

Silver nodded his head. Everyone who served at the Academy knew of the large crows and rooks and ravens that nested in the forest. Some of the ravens were so tough that small arms fire just bounced off their skulls. The previous Director had found it necessary to ban shooting at them because the ricochets were too dangerous to the public. The scavengers would of course be attracted to a freshly dead body.

"What do you think of this?" Silver showed the two a photo taken by the forensic team and transferred to his Blackberry.

"It looks like a Star of David with a squiggly line in the centre." Kain commented.

"Actually it is the 'Shield of David' not a star." Joel interrupted. Kain and Silver turned to him in interest. "In Hebrew it is Megan David, which means shield. It's formed from two equilateral triangles representing the ruling tribes of Judah and Benjamin, or perhaps the Hebrew letters dalet and yud, which were assigned to Judah. It has been used as a Jewish pentacle since the eleventh century."

The two foxes stared silently at the smaller lemur.

"I'm a forger, remember? Ever take a close look at a national seal on a passport, or the designs on money? They are covered with symbols and icons. Neither of you ever read Dan Brown? No?" The foxes shook their heads.

"Okay." Joel settled into lecture mode, a form of communication where he usually found himself on the receiving end. "Symbols are used to convey ideas or information in a concise form. Think of map symbols like a tent for a campground or a picnic table for a rest area. People also identify themselves with symbols, like political parties. The communist star, the fascist swastika, the anarchist 'A'. Symbols have also been used widely in science, and its predecessors, alchemy and astrology. The symbol for gold is the same as the symbol for the planet that dominated it, Jupiter, a circle with a dot in the middle. Silver," he pointed at Silver's silver cuff links, "and the moon are both represented by a crescent."

"Like the Muslims." Kain interjected.

"Islam uses the same symbol, yes." Joel Agreed. "Context is important. The same symbol can mean many different things. Iron, the planet Mars and the symbol for male are all the same, a circle with an arrow coming out on a forty-five degree angle."

"Like an erection." Silver pointed out.

"Hard as iron." Kain quipped.

"Pay attention!" Joel commanded, enjoying the role of educator for now. "A five pointed star can mean sheriff if it is silver, communism if it is red and US Army if it is white. Of course, the best symbols don't rely on colour to convey their meaning."

"But this is definitely a Jewish religious symbol, right?" Kain asked

"Not necessarily." Joel turned to his computer and called up screen full of six-pointed stars and pointed at one. "This one is a heraldic mullet, not the haircut, the throwing star. Nowadays it is usually shown with five points but six was more common a millennium ago. This one is religious, but not the Hebrew religion. It's from a Druid sect called Humanitarianism."

"Forgive my ignorance," Kain interrupted, "but I'm agnostic. What's a Druid Humanitisit?"

"There is no written record or artifacts left over from them, but the Celtic Druids are believed to have been pagans that worshipped the earth and the elemental gods. They have had a revival of sorts since the sixties, especially in England. The 'new age' Druids believe that relics like Stonehenge, the lay lines and a number of other ancient edifices are the remnants of the original Druid's holy places. Humanitarianists believe that those original Druids were not sentient animals like us, they believed that they were a separate level of being, aliens that visited the planet and taught us how to read and write, how to make tools and build with them, and taught us medicine and science. A sentient race with no animal equivalent, called Humans. They were supposed to have brought peace among the species, which unfortunately lasted only as long as they remained here."

"Now that is whacked." Kain shook his head disbelievingly. "You might as well believe in little green creatures from Mars."

"You mean like frogs?" Joel frowned in confusion. "Frogs live in marshes."

"Not marsh, Mars, like the circle with an erection." Silver explained for Kain. "You mentioned that this symbol was used as a pentacle. I thought a pentacle had five points and was associated with Satanism?"

"You are confusing pentacle and pentagram. A pentacle is an amulet with a drawing or carving of a magic symbol or symbols in it or on it." Joel said proudly, happy to have one up on Silver for a change. "Pentacles are usually worn about the neck to protect the wearer from curses, spells or demons. Often the symbols are drawn in a circle, triangle or star. Six-pointed stars, formed from two equilateral triangles like the Shield of David, were common a couple of thousand years ago, but they evolved into five-pointed stars when Christianity became popular and the word became synonymous with pentagram - a star drawn with five straight stokes. A pentagram drawn inside a circle has been a popular pentacle for the last thousand years. It was not originally associated with Satanism, but they do use an upside-down pentacle in their rituals."

"Amazing Joel. I am really impressed." Silver patted the lemur on his shoulder. Joel beamed back. "But I have not forgotten about the unauthorized cameras." Silver added as his face dropped into its customary frown. Joel gulped. "I'm going to talk to O'Leary about religious symbols. Kain, make sure Joel deletes those files and then help him to move the cameras so we get better coverage outside. And Joel ..."

"Yes Silver?"

"Remember the rules about fraternizing with students."

"Rules? I thought that they were more like guidelines." Joel said, reminding Silver that he had fathered a kit with Vikki when she was technically still a student.

"Just take care of the cameras." Silver left in a huff.

Kain, who was secretly seeing the officially dead Ophelia Cassidy Sommer, even though he was risking execution by doing so, shook his head at the thought of more unauthorized coupling around the Academy. It was as inevitable as the sun rising in the east. The thought reminded him that the Druids were supposed to be sun worshippers, something about the solstice and that place in England.

"Weren't Humans are supposed to have built Stonehenge?" He asked Joel as they began deleting files, most of which featured a naked husky.

"Yeah."

"Jesus." Kain chuckled. "Next you'll be telling me that there's a planet ruled by nothing but intelligent apes."

* * * * * * * *

Grey Muzzle arrived at the main entrance to the headquarters building with some trepidation. He was not sure what the penalty for wandering about in areas out of bounds to students was, but he was fairly certain that it involved firearms. He just wanted to drop the envelope off and get back to his room as soon as possible. When he got to the front desk he held the envelope up to show the guards his reason for being there, hoping that the otter's signature was as good as a pass.

The guards at the main entrance served two functions. They were the first line of defence against a raid by hostile agents, and as such were all combat veterans with superior fighting skills. They also had to politely redirect lost tourists looking for the nearby agricultural museum so they had to be pleasant and gracious. They relied on personal recognition to separate out the employees from the rest, and studied the new hires pictures until they had the features of every single one memorized.

So when Grey presented himself at the desk they did not react adversely, because they had seen his picture before. They did not know exactly where he worked, but the fox's personal pass would take care of where he was and wasn't allowed to go. But students did not get a pass until the mid-point of the course, if they lasted that long, so Grey did not have one to display. That was not unusual, FOX agents did not display their passes outside the building and often did not take them out until they had to go through the security doors.

"What ya got there?" One of the guards asked as his partner moved to intercept a group of Japanese Manqués that had gone in the wrong direction after leaving their tour bus.

"An envelope from Mister Kipchak for the Chief of Staff." Grey replied, holding up the sealed packet. The guard recognized the signature immediately.

"You with the new course?" The guard asked.

"Why yes." Grey answered truthfully, meaning yes, he was a student.

The guard read the honesty in Grey's body language, and having seen his picture among the new faces, made the mistaken assumption that anyone Grey's age must be an instructor at the school. An expert in the financial analysis of terrorist funding recently hired away from the Treasury Board perhaps. He looked the type. The guard waved the older fox toward the security doors.

"Turn right and go straight to the end of the hall." He told Grey before turning to help his partner herd the foreign tourists back on the right path.

"I ... uh ... wait." Grey protested, backing towards the doors the guard had indicated. He turned to look at them helplessly, the envelope held up against his chest, where his security pass would be if he had one. Just as he came up to the card reader another older person, a grey fox, came up beside him.

"Hi. I'm Bill Hanlan." The other old fox said, holding out a paw. Grey took and returned the shake automatically. "New here?"

"At the school." Grey stammered. "I'm Grey."

"Ha-ha. Me too." Hanlan indicated his dark fur. "I'm the Chief Analyst. Where are you off to?"

"Chief of Staff." Grey replied weakly, holding the envelope out in the hope that the Hanlan would take it off his paws.

"Oh." Hanlan swiped his pass and Grey had to step through the doors at the same time to clear the path. Inside the first security zone there was another set of doors on the right, leading to the executive wing. Hanlan was going there, and Grey was pulled along in his wake. "Last door on the right." He called as he disappeared into the first office.

Grey stumbled down the hallway, his eyes darting left and right, waiting for the machine guns to burst from the walls and start blasting. He held the envelope to his chest like a shield, employing it like a pentacle, invoking the protection of the Head of Security's scrawl. Somehow he made it to the end of the corridor in one piece, and without soiling himself.

The door on the right was open, and Grey stepped inside. It was a nice office, done in modern oak furniture with a couple of comfortable chairs on this side of the large desk. Bookshelves lined the walls. Grey's expert eye picked out a well stoked bar built into them. He put the envelope down on the desk and stepped over to it. He needed a drink right about now.

Grey had just laid a paw on a decanter of fine scotch when a command barked from behind froze him in his tracks.

"Arrête! Who are you and what are you doing 'ere?"

Grey spun around to find himself staring into a pair of thirty-eights. The poodle they were attached to was also holding a couple of guns on him.

It was the party poodle from the social the night before, the one he had followed like a lonely-eyed pup. Today she was wearing a cream coloured cross-over blouse that made her large breasts stand up and out proudly. Below that she had on a black leather mini-skirt that strained to contain her rollicking, rolling buttocks. After an expanse of deliciously rounded thigh, well turned calf, and a pretty ankle she had on four-inch spike-heeled pumps. Under her arms hung the holsters for the two three-fifty-seven magnums she had pointed at Grey's snout.

Her tufted black ears flopped angrily as she repeated her question, impatience evident in the way she cocked the pistols one after the other.

"Grey Muzzle Sir ... Mam ... Madame." He had caught her French accent. He relaxed a bit when she did not fire immediately. "I'm a student at the Academy, Madame. I was delivering an envelope." He pointed to the desk. Her eyes never left his.

"I am NOT a Madame." She replied frostily, her mouth puckering in that snotty French way that only poodles can do properly. "I am Mademoiselle Chienne-Caniche, the Secretary to the Director and Chief of Staff. I am also their bodyguard." She flexed her shoulders in a way they emphasized the muscle under the short white fur, and incidentally made her breasts roll against each other in a delightful manner. "I 'ave memorized the files of every employee in FOX, including the students, so prove that you are who claim." She raised one of the pistols to the level of his head. "You 'ave one minute."

Grey looked around desperately. What could there be on his file to distinguish him? He did not have any distinctive moles, warts or scars. He had no tattoos or piercings. He had no special skills that could be demonstrated on the spot like karate, kendo, or savate. About all he was good for, he realized, was telling stories, chasing skirts, and mixing cocktails .... wait!

Grey spun back to the bar and surveyed the contents. Yes! Everything he needed was there. He grabbed a pawfull of brandied cherries from a glass jar and dusted them with refined sugar. Then he sprayed them with Angostura bitters and an ounce of Lemonhart 151 rum. Striking a match he lit the rum, allowing the sugar to caramelize. Before it could burn he doused the flame with a mixture of gin, rosewater and a twist of lime. He turned back and passed the concoction to the poodle, who had holstered one of her guns while he was occupied.

"Your Rosewater Ricky, Mademoiselle."

Chienne-Caniche took the drink and sipped it tentatively, keeping her eyes on his the whole time. She smiled and lowered the glass.

"Perfect." She raised the remaining pistol until the chrome-plated muzzle met his furry one. "Now 'ow did you get in 'ere?" Grey explained while Chienne-Caniche finished the drink. When they were both done she tilted the glass to indicate he should make them both another. Grey whipped up a pair of Grey Ladies, but without the bergamot dust; it was only a mini-bar, after all.

"So, 'ow are you enjoying your course?" she inquired as she leaned back on the Chief of Staff's desk. Grey admired the way the pose made the muscles on her legs stand out.

"Well, we apparently lost a student early this morning."

"Eet is not unusual to finish with less than one started with." As she spoke she shrugged off the harness and let the holstered pistols drop to the desk behind her. The rolling motion of her shoulders carried across the rest of her torso with predictable results. Something inside Grey's libido went 'ping'.

Chienne-Caniche drank most of her cocktail, but when there was just a sip left in the glass, she deliberately tilted it an inch from her mouth and let the liquid drip down her cleavage.

"Ohh-la-la. I 'ave 'ad an accident." She crooned, squeezing her breasts together to keep the last drops from escaping. "Be a dear and wipe this up would you?"

In a trance, Grey put his own drink down, reached for a serviette and stepped over to where she was leaning back against the desk. He lifted the paper napkin, his eyes locked on the line formed buy her constricted mammeries, and unconsciously licked his lips. His paw trembled as he reached out to daub the last of the liquor from her snowy white chest, but she pulled them aside at the last second.

"Non, non, non. Monsieur. Paper will disintegrate and leave unsightly wads on my titties." Her maw smiled in a way that revealed most of her teeth. "Use your tongue, mon cher."

Grey whined happily, like a puppy before a meal, as he dropped the offending napkin and moved closer. His paws took over the job of holding her breasts together as he plunged his snout between them, lapping at the damp, white, luxuriant fur that covered the firm globes. He sensed rather than saw her spread her legs and he stepped in to press the length of his body against hers. He could feel her moving as he nuzzled and sucked at her breasts. She was doing something with her arms. Suddenly the blouse fell away.

"Some 'as dripped down the front." She advised him. Grey immediately moved to the pink nipples that poked up from the downy fur and washed them diligently. They responded by growing hard in his mouth. His paws kneaded the fleshy orbs while his tongue flicked from one to the other. Chienne-Caniche let him suck at them for a bit and then pulled his head off.

"Not there, mon petit. Down there." She trailed a claw painted cherry red down the mid line of her torso, stopping at the waistband of her skirt.

Grey whimpered, looking down at a lap that was outlined by tight leather, but still hidden. But he had his objective in sight. He spread her breasts and half kissed, half licked the line of damp fur leading down to her skirt. He paused at her naval to make sure he got every drop out. When he reached the tiny mound of tummy at her skirt line his paws, until now busy caressing her sides and back, reached around and found the catch above her tail. With an expert's speed and grace he undid it and the zipper on the side. Chienne-Caniche pulled the skirt away and tossed it across the room.

There were no panties underneath. Grey sighed at the sight of bare pink pussy, the fur carefully trimmed, tapered and shaved around it. A professional job, one he would gladly take on if this espionage thing didn't work out. Maybe he could open a Brazilian Wax Cocktail Bar; free drinks with every treatment. Speaking of treatments, this one looked like it could use a good tongue massage. Grey dove in.

Chienne-Caniche brought her legs up and around, crossing her ankles at the back of Grey's neck. The position opened her up to his probing tongue and tightened her thighs nicely. Grey alternated licking them and her already moist twat. After a few licks her clit exposed itself, allowing him to suck on the button of sensitive flesh. Behind, her cropped and tufted tail swung happily back and forth across the Chief's desk.

Grey caressed her rump with one paw while he brought the other up along the inside of her thigh. Following the line of muscle his digits worked their way closer and closer to her dripping slit. When they arrived they found it wet enough to allow first one, and then two to slide inside. Grey considered adding a third but settled for teasing her insides with the tips of the two already inserted, rubbing here, tapping there, and making little circles wherever he felt a response. Meanwhile his lips and tongue serviced her aching clit.

After a few minutes her juices were flowing freely, filling his mouth so he had to swallow to keep up. Chienne-Caniche was moaning loudly now, and he stole a glance to make sure the door to the sound-proofed office was closed. Her hips began rocking, driving her cunt against his mouth and digits. Grey matched her rhythm and inserted a third digit into her. Her twat was now wrapped tightly around his pounding paw, her clit pulled inside as he drove it in, popping out for his waiting tongue when he withdrew.

She was sitting far back on her butt, almost lying on the desk. Grey spied another spot that was likely feeling neglected. He extended his little digit, sopping wet from the excess fluids dripping down on it, and poked the puckered pink hole. Some females would shy away from such contact. Others would tighten their anus and play coy. A few would push back tentatively. Chienne-Caniche grabbed Grey's wrist and drove the digit in to the third knuckle.

Grey continued to work her pussy and tailhole for all they were worth. Down between his legs his erection was aching as it strained to be free. There was a hunger it needed to satisfy. It had already started slobbering pre-cum in anticipation. Grey wondered if it was going to be sated, or die of starvation.

Chienne-Caniche showed no signs of stopping the current activity, so Grey tried to stand up between her legs. She slammed him roughly back down with her powerful legs.

"Not yet, mon cher. First you finish what you started." Grey lapped her clit enthusiastically at the promise of future fulfillment.

"Say 'woof.'" She told him as her whole pelvis began to vibrate, her orgasm approaching fast.

"What?" He pulled his head back, puzzled.

"Not 'what', 'woof'. Woof, woof, woof, comprendre? Like ze dog." Her accent was growing thicker as she grew more excited. She forced his head back to her open twat.

"Woof." Grey yipped around a mouth full of cunt. "Woof. Woof-woof."

Whether it was the doggy imitation or some sympathetic vibration created by the sound of the barking the effect was instant, and spectacular. Chienne-Caniche threw her head back and howled like a bloodhound as buckets of hot, sweet waters broke from her twat and filled Grey's mouth. He swallowed desperately as she ground her vagina against his maw and grabbed his wrist to keep the paw pounding amid the squirting juices. As a second orgasm shuddered through her she wrapped her legs around his head and squeezed, hard. Grey's airway was cut off and he struggled wildly against the impossible hold. The flailing of his head only seemed to prolong her orgasm, and spots appeared before his eyes as he began to pass out.

Before he blacked out completely the powerful poodle pulled him out from her smothering muff. Grey gasped for air and wobbled as she lifted him up to his feet. While he struggled to stay upright she deftly undid the buttons of his vest, shirt and trousers, letting the former hang open while the later dropped to the floor. With a tug his shorts joined them, leaving his cock bobbing in the air between them. Wrapping her legs around his hips she pulled him in, expertly guiding the tip of his prick into her twat without using her paws.

She kept pulling until his full length was inside her, and the warm, wet sensation took over from the panic of near-asphyxiation. She relaxed her legs and Grey pulled his hips back instinctively, until all but the tip was exposed. She flexed her thighs and his prick sank in again, relaxed and let him withdraw. Tensed, relaxed, tensed, relaxed. Grey sailed in and out of her like a glider in the clouds, smoothly, silently, and as close to heaven as one could get.

Once Grey had the rhythm down, she lay back on the desk and brought her knees up to her breasts. With her ass hanging slightly off the edge Grey was able to take her by the hips and do the driving on his own. In this position he could look down at the luscious naked poodle. She had her head to one side as she enjoyed his thrusts and her paws on her breasts, pulling on her nipples fiercely. Her rippled abs flexed and relaxed as she tightened her inner muscles on his cock, increasing the friction. Her twat was an inverted pink 'V' with her exposed clit at the apex that swallowed and regurgitated his cock at regular intervals.

Visual stimulation, velvety flesh with an iron grip, and the scent of sex rising from her heated groin all combined to speed his own orgasm. The machine-like pumping of his hips began to speed up, and then grew erratic as he lost control. The sensations were so intense that he hardly noticed the pain from his balls as they slammed against the edge of the desk with each plunge. He did however, notice the pressure point in the base of his sack as several weeks of pent up cum gathered for the final act, and he tried his best to squeeze it off and keep it back for just a few seconds more.

A few seconds was all he could manage. He drove his cock in as deep as it would go as hot cum shot through it, exploding against the spongy tissue that gripped his shaft. He held it in, his pelvis pressed hard against her clit, and twisted it back and forth to mix the wads of spooge inside her, luxuriating in the warmth as it spread along his shaft seeking escape. Chienne-Caniche sighed and grinned in satisfaction as a tiny third orgasm rippled deep inside her. Then she pulled the weary fox down to her breast.

"This has been a strange and exciting course, so far." Grey mumbled between the fleshy globes. "Is this a typical day for you?"

Chienne-Caniche thought about how her love life was neglected now that she worked for a Director who was gay and a Chief of Staff who was taken.

"Non."She answered truthfully, "People don't come as often as they used to."

* * * * * * * *

Sam O'Leary had been grilled for several hours already. So when another official showed up to ask more questions it did not help the young wolf's attitude any. But the sight of the tall, imposing fox with the salt-and-pepper fur, the deep set scowl and the distinct scar through his left eyebrow made him reassess the value of rebellion. He sat back and waited for the fox to speak.

"My name is Silver. I am the Chief of Staff here. You found the body as you were yiffing your way around the building I take it?"

"Anabel Balfor and I came across it, yes." Sam winced at the unfortunate choice of words.

"Did you notice this, or anything similar to it before you called security?" Silver, all business, held out his Blackberry so that Sam could see the screen. The image of a six-pointed star with an unfinished symbol in the centre was sharp and clear.

"Looks like a Star of David." Sam commented, mystified.

"You think that it is a religious symbol?" Silver asked the white wolf.

Same shrugged. "I guess. What else could it be?"

"A lot of things." Silver decided not to go into Joel's long winded explanation, but changed the subject a few degrees to starboard. "You are an Asatruist I hear."

"Yesss." Sam answered cautiously. He was used to Christians, Jews and even Muslims picking on him for his choice of religion.

"Asatru uses a lot of symbology, doesn't it?" Silver stared pointedly at the mjolnir hanging from the chain around Sam's neck.

"So do the Christians." Sam countered.

"This star look like anything in your religion O'Leary?"

"I've seen some Norse wiccans using the spiral pentagram, which is similar, but no, not really."

"What is it that defines your religion?"

"Well, other than the obvious, following the Norse traditions and belief in their gods and the attributes they represent, like fate and luck, I suppose what really defines us is our adherence to the Nine Noble Virtues." Sam waited for another question but the silver fox remained silent, enticing him into a more detailed explanation.

"The Nine Noble Virtues are a set of moral and situational ethical guidelines codified in the seventies, during the second revival." Sam explained. "They are based on various sources like the poetic edda, a collection of Norse mythology and sagas. The Nine Noble Virtues are: Courage, Truth, Honour, Fidelity, Discipline, Hospitality, Self Reliance, Industriousness, and Perseverance. It is an ethical code that we live by and are sworn to uphold."

"What does your religion have to say about homosexuality."

"It depends on the group. The Troth are very gay friendly. Some of the Germanic groups are less tolerant." Sam answered quickly, but he looked away as he did.

"What about your group?" Silver leaned in and forced Sam to look at him as he answered.

"The Asatru faith is open to people of all orientations." Sam responded woodenly.

"You mentioned the edda." Silver reminded him. "What does it have to say on the subject?"

"Somehow I get the impression that you already know the answer."

"I want to know what you know about it, not what I know about it."

Sam sat back resignedly. "For a man to take a female role, especially in a sexual relationship is unacceptable." He repeated what he had read by rote. "Homosexuality is a great shame, named ergi. To falsely name someone as ergi is a terrible insult with death as the only payment."

"So homosexuals must die?"

"That's not what I said." Sam replied angrily.

"But it's what you think. And aren't you bound by your Nine Noble Virtues to uphold the code? Does it take courage or perseverance to break the neck of someone half your size O'Leary?"

"You're twisting my words!" Sam, who had never killed anyone in his short career as a bounty hunter, shouted, jumping top his feet. "I have nothing against gays. I don't care who's gay. I didn't even know that Charlie was gay."

"Who said Matty was gay?" Silver asked innocently.

Sam sat down, flabbergasted to realize that he had been played by the older fox. "You get what you wanted?" He asked wearily.

"Maybe." Silver replied, standing up. "You can rejoin your classmates. They are waiting at the dorm for you."

* * * * * * * *

It was late afternoon when Mademoiselle Chienne-Caniche let Grey muzzle out by the executive door at the rear of the building, but the sky was growing ominously dark. They would be in for a thunderstorm tonight he supposed.

He wandered aimlessly back toward the dorm, visions of pink poodle parts still filling his head. He felt the first large drops or rain as he came around the support building and saw the dorm. Most of the other students were sitting on the back steps, Anabel Balfor included. They were all looking toward a copse of old oak trees that stood between it and the interrogation wing. As he watched their heads came up. They had spotted something. Grey looked to see what it was.

He saw Sam O'Leary trudging with his head down, headed for the dorm. He must have just been let out of questioning Grey supposed. Movement caught the old fox's eye. The group at the dorm had stood up and was jogging to meet Sam, with Anabel in the lead. It looked like they would intercept each other under the tallest of the oaks, one with branches as thick as Grey's chest.

The rain began to fall harder, and lightning flashed in the woods beyond the dorm, immediately followed by a peal of thunder. Thor is angry, Grey thought as he broke into a run. If he hurried he could join the rest just as they reached the oak.

Wolf, fox and the seven others all reached the shelter of the oak at the same time, but at three different points of the compass. Relieved to be out of the rain they all stopped, still some meters apart, and shook themselves dry before continuing. At that instant a bolt of lightning struck close by, accompanied by the roar of thunder. The earth shook from the force of the storm and there was a loud 'crack' from above that made them all look up, just in time to see a ten-metre long limb plummet to the ground. One went down under it.

In all the confusion and screaming that followed, no one thought to look up, so they did not see the eyes shining deep inside the canopy, watching them.

* * * * * * * *

To be continued ....

The FOX Academy series:

Book I - The New Breed

Book II - The Werewolf of Odessa

Book II.5 - The Love who Spied Me

Book III - The Curse of the Yellow Monkey

Book IV - Wait for No One

Book V - Dawn of Vengeance

Kain Algorath © Marcus X Light

Ophelia Cassidy Sommer © Devil Kitty

Joel Grigori © Joel the Lemur

Geno © Coyotek

Dongo Fett © Dongo Fett

New Characters Appearing in this Book:

Saira Rasielle © SilentRampancy

Sanmer Soon © Sanmer

Zachary Ember © EmberWolf

Thomas Roark © That Creepy Guy

Charles Matty © Lonewolf17 R.I.P.

Anabel Balfor © Devil Kitty

Aglaia © Aggy

Ansin Faraday © Ulrik the Fell Handed

Sam O'Leary © Commander Eagle

Grey Muzzle © Grey Muzzle