Stolen by the Ash: A Fox Shifters Short Story (Urban Fantasy Shapeshifter Multicultural Romance)

A fox-shifter taken into captivity against her will.

A fierce pack of wolves prepares for the full moon hunt.

She's their prey and there's no other shifter willing to help her.

At least, that's what she thinks.

Will the fox shifter survive the hunt of a lifetime?

Or will her golden red pelt be the final remains of her short-lived life?

Excerpt:

Raw meat, drained of nutrients, bathed in chemicals, and served on a ceramic plate slid under the door of my prison cell. The only source of sunlight to flow into the room came from that crack under the door, and now a set of shadows blocked the glow on the other side.

It’s been days since I’ve eaten a hearty meal. And, hunger nipped at my sides. If it weren’t for the occasional field mouse, sneaking into my cell to steal materials for bedding, I’d be forced to consume the odd-scented meat.

I stared at the raw meat on the plate. Store bought meat. What an insult to a fellow shifter. They should’ve let me starve.

But, the vixen wasn’t having it. She wanted us to feed.

“Eat Zoe.” Her voice hissed in my mind.

I crawled towards the plate.

“Feed. We need strength. Moonrise is near.”

My inner voice was right, I needed to eat. We needed to survive tonight.

I picked up the plate of meat. And I lifted it to my nostrils. Before I dug in, that acrid scent of the meat made my nostrils twitch. Again, the scent of chemicals overpowered my instinct to feed.

I ran my fingers over the meat. It felt slick, true enough, but when I touched my thumb to my tongue. Bile rose in my belly. No, I refuse to eat it.

I added it to the pile of excrement in the shadowy corner of the shed. Now, no matter how badly I wanted to gobble it down. It’ll remain grotesque and out of reach.

Poison. The meat is poisonous. My vixen reluctantly agreed, and its anger eased a bit, though hunger remained…