"You're like a drug that's killing me
I cut you out entirely
But I get so hot when I'm inside you"
"Just like animals like animals like animals
Just like animals like animals like animals
Yeah"
The red fox watched through the leaves and branches of the bush she was hiding in, intent on catching the mouse that was a foot in front of the bush.
She snarled softly as she was about to attack but that damned coyote that was like her raced in and snapped it up.
She snarled as his scent hit her.
Mate.
Fuck no. The woman inside snapped. No Mate. We don't need one. Besides, he stole our food.
The fox snarled again and took off looking for some leaves or grass to munch on.
After a less than satisfactory meal of baby leaves and fresh grass the fox trotted over to the bushes where the human left her clothes. Tomorrow she was starting her new job at Stark Industries as being a PA to Tony Stark.
The fox shifted back into a tall, slim red-haired woman who slipped on her clothes. The woman composed herself and marched angrily to her car.
What was that about? Mate? Oh fuck no. She doesn't need a mate, doesn't want one, and doesn't want to find the person that damned coyote was, like her animal was urging her to. The woman felt drained of energy. When she shifts into her animal, she's energetic and happy (excusing stupid coyotes who steal innocent little foxes food) and playful, but as soon as she shifts back she is exhausted. Which is why she comes out here to this little park on the outskirts of L.A. and brings a close friend to drive her home. Simple. Easy. And no one notices at this time of night.
The woman collapses into the car as her friend starts it up.
"Pepper? You okay?"
"No." Pepper groans. "Stupid Coyote was out here again and he stole my food. I had to eat grass. My fox is getting weak. If she doesn't get meat the next time I come out here, well . . ."
"Is it that coyote?" asked Pepper's friend.
Pepper jerked her head up and scanned the tree line. There, right in front of them was the coyote.
Her fox sat up and twitched her nose.
Pepper got out of the car. She slowly approached the coyote. She knew better than to show full submission but she lowered her eyes just a little bit.
The coyote walked up and dropped a dead rabbit at her feet. He then winked at her with his big brown eyes and took off into the woods.
Pepper fumed. If she ever found that human, she was gonna deck him.
The coyote snickered to himself as he watched the red-headed female pick up the rabbit and march, angrily, back to the strange metal thing. She was muttering under her breath about what a dick they were. His human had known for weeks she was their mate. That's why he hired her for his company. His human was a sarcastic thing.
The coyote wasn't pleased that the human had decided to block his scent. The coyote wanted her to smell them. Wanted her to be with them. Wanted to provide for her. The fox was a feisty little animal, calling him a dick, he'll show her. As soon as his human let him out. No one calls him a dick and gets away with it.
The coyote thought all this as he watched his female leave and trotted back to his human's clothes. He shifted back and let his grinning human take over.
Tony Stark woke up the next morning eager to meet his human mate. He got up, showered, got dressed and put on a dab of cologne. He'll let this happen naturally instead of having her know what he was.
His coyote grumbled.
Shut up. He told him. She'll figure it out eventually. She's clever, remember?
A huff came from his coyote.
Tony rolled his eyes.
Three months later.
Tony was pissed. Absolutely pissed. She hadn't figured it out yet. His coyote was howling. He didn't dare shift. The result of his frustration showed in his sass and sarcasm level. He still stubbornly held on to letting her figure it out. But he was close to just saying fuck it and letting her smell him. He was currently in his house restlessly pacing. His coyote wouldn't shut up. He was tempted to shift right here but he was expecting her to show up. The source of his frustration. Pepper Potts. He growled softly. He couldn't just not think about her. She used to wear slightly modest clothes. Now she wears tight pencil skirts, heels, and slightly low cut shirts.
He remembers the time she started to wear them very vividly. Coincidentally it was around the time she punched him that one time.
He had just leaned next to her to grab a tool from his bench when he noticed her sniffing something.
"What's the matter princess? I don't smell that bad, do I?" he had snarked.
She had sniffed one last time, turned and punched him in the jaw. She had a good right hook.
He had a bruise for three days. When you're a shifter with excelled healing, that's impressive.
Right after that she started wearing those clothes.
He growled again in frustration.
Fuck it. He thought. She wasn't supposed to be here for another hour.
He'd just started to shift when the door flew open bringing her smell with it.
Pepper Potts came running in and barreled into his chest.
"I'm so sorry I'm-" Her words were cut off by a loud growl.
The female turned and looked directly into his eyes. The coyote roared.
Pepper had an interesting work month with Tony Stark. Something seemed off about him though. For one he always smelled like cologne. Even when he was working in his shop he smelled like it. That can't be normal. For two, he was starting to get more snarky and sarcastic with her. She could tell he was highly frustrated. Then, the inevitable day came when he had sweated off all his cologne.
She had come down to his workshop to let him know of his meetings and the like of that day.
She leaned against his table and noticed her fox had sat up and started twitching her nose.
Mate. It said.
Not this again, she moaned in her head. Her fox had, off and on, throughout the course of her time working for Mr. Stark sat up and said this. She was never alone with him when she did this. Now she was.
She turned and observed his profile. Chocolate brown hair, check. Brown eyes, check. Long lean form of a coyote, check.
Shit. This was the coyote that had been stealing her food then leaving bits of meat by her clothes.
During this time she had barely registered that she was sniffing as much as she could getting in his scent and that he had said something. She just turned and landed a solid hit to his jaw. She then turned around and marched out of the room. Ignoring the calls after her.
After that she had, subconsciously, started wearing more revealing clothes and, consciously, still pretended to be clueless.
Now it had been three months since she started working for Him, his frustrations levels had gotten to an all time high, and she was running late for a meeting with Mr. Stark.
She should've paid more attention to her surroundings. She dashed through the door to his house and collided with a solid chest. A very solid naked chest. That was now rumbling and growling.
She knew she shouldn't have but she ran her eyes up his chest past dark hair, past the smooth column of his throat, up way way up to his halfway shifted eyes. As she stared at him, shocked, she could feel herself warming. Not now! And she stifled it.
She noticed his eyes were shifting from animal like to human like and was he saying something to her?
"Pepper!" His voice broke through her thoughts. "Go! I can hold him back for a little-" His words choked off into a growl.
Pepper stood there frozen. She knew better than to run, and she knew better than to fight. So she stood there as still as she could be.
Tony, now as his coyote, stalked towards her.
She held still as he walked around her, smelling her and leaving little nips on her legs. When he was done with all he could reach he sat back on his haunches and looked at her expectantly.
Pepper got the idea and slowly got down on her knees in front of the animal. The coyote resumed his journey around her and shoved his snout right where her neck meets her shoulder. He lightly nipped there and kept going around her. When he finished he laid down across her lap.
They stayed there for a while until Tony stood up and left the room. He came back about five minutes later looking haggard and exhausted.
"Sorry about that." Tony yawned. He shook his head as if to clear it. "How long have you known?" He demanded a minute later.
Pepper couldn't bring herself to be mad right now as he looked like a sleepy toddler.
"About one and a half months." She answered as she ushered him to the couch.
Tony glared at her. "You couldn't have let me know sooner?" The sentence and look would've been intimidating if not for the yawn that cracked it's way through Tony's body.
Pepper helped him on the couch. "Just lay down and we'll talk about it later." She soothed and lied.
She knew that by the time he was up she would be gone.
A few hours later, Tony woke up with a start. Something was wrong. His coyote was snarling and pacing. In other words, his animal was furious.
Mate. Gone.
Now the human was pissed off. She took off. She actually ran from him.
"JARVIS." Barked Tony. "Search for Pepper Pott's location."
"Sir, Pepper Potts is currently en route to an airport. She booked a ticket to London England." The AI responded.
Tony huffed. He couldn't chase her right now. He had other things to worry about than a wayward mate.
His coyote snarled at him. To him, nothing is more important than her.
His coyote settled down suddenly. Tony had a hazy memory of his coyote nipping her neck.
You bastard! He thought. We have to get her permission first! You can't just halfway bond her to us!
His coyote just stared smugly at him.
Tony growled. Looks like we are chasing her. No comment from you.
Tala