Chapter 2
Ragen and Zara's afternoon
Zara licked and rubbed herself on everyone's legs, trying to get close to them. Ragen was slower approaching Fox and Owen. I think Ragen reacted ok to Owen because of Puck. They petted him and his tail wagged. He did not like when David stepped near him, I think he wanted to say something to Fox, and Ragen snapped at him. He stepped back.
"Go away! My turn, mine!" He screamed.
"He didn't mean to upset you, Ragen. It's ok, you're ok." Fox rubbed his ears and face.
He cautiously padded toward David and sniffed him. David carefully petted him and he relaxed. Then he licked his arm like crazy when he got an itchy spot.
"Ok, ok, enough!" My adopted father pulled his arm back.
"Ear scratchies!" Zara head-butted Alex's leg.
Alex let her sniff him then he petted her. She flopped on her back and he rubbed her belly. Ragen wanted a turn so Alex had to pet both foxes. They jumped on him and gave him kisses. He let them for a few minutes.
"Go to Tai, she wants cuddles." They stared at him. "She smells super nice."
They ran around us in circles because they were excited for cuddles. Zara picked up Adri; Ragen picked me. We were taken to the nearest room and set on the bed. They curled around us. Then we fell asleep for awhile.
I woke up and wiggled my way free. It was hot. I realized Adri and Ragen had been cuddling me. Maybe Zara too. She was gone. I stretched and went to the bathroom. I was about to leave when Zara ran past me. She was covered in dirt. Dusty paw prints stained the carpet. Owen ran after her.
"You need a bath, Zara!" He yelled.
"No!" She barked defiantly.
She crashed into Sanuye and then toppled Renee and Alex over. They were fine, a bit dazed. Sanuye frowned as she saw Zara.
She crossed her arms. "Zara, I told you to be good."
"Am good girl!" Zara barked.
"Zara, shh." She reminded.
"I'm good girl." She insisted.
"I know, Zar-zar. But no one wants to snuggle a dirty Pet." Sanuye told her.
Zara looked at me then to her mom. "Where bath?"
"Owen will take you." Alex gestured.
Zara scent marked her mom and Renee. The she followed Owen to the heavy duty showers. I looked at Alex. He was already standing up.
"Hey, Tai. We didn't wake you, did we?" He asked.
"It got hot with all of them cuddling me at once." I said.
"Just shove Ragen to the side. He won't wake up." Renee told me.
"Tai?" Adri called.
"Mistress?!" Ragen shouted.
"I'm here." I answered.
They turned and walked, ran in Ragen's case, towards me. He marked me and nibbled my neck. He cooed. The saffron and nutmeg was sharp. I think he thought I had gotten lost. I petted him and reassured him that I was fine. He now noticed we weren't alone.
"Mama, you're back!" He yipped.
"No, Ragen, no… jumping." She was knocked down again. She sighed. "You missed me, huh?"
"My mama!" He declared. He marked her until he was happy with it. He sat, tail wagging. "When do we go home?"
"Ragen, this is your new home. You live here now." She started.
"But…" He frowned.
"The house is too small for all of us. I gotta live with Auntie for a little while longer. I didn't wanna try to squish you somewhere or give you to a bad owner. Alex will take good care of you. Ok?" She said softly.
"Mine..." He nuzzled her legs.
"You'll still be able to see me, honey. I'll come visit when I can." She rubbed his face, near his scent glands.
"Ok, Mama." He whined.
"You wanna go play in the courtyard?" Alex asked.
Ragen looked at him, tilting his head.
"You wanna go outside?" He asked again.
His tail was a blur. "Outside!"
We got his toys and a denim jacket with a hood for Ragen to wear. It was still late February. Then we went to the courtyard. Owen must have heard we were outside because he brought Zara with him. She was wearing a light purple hoodie. They took a moment to sniff each other. Then it was playtime.
Ragen and Zara bonked us with the toys when they wanted one of us to throw them. Zara liked playing fetch and brought us stuff she found. I played tug-o-war with Ragen. He was gentle when he tugged out of my hands. He was gentle with most everyone except for Alex. I think it was because they had a similar psychical build.
After they finished playing, it was dinner. We were served mushroom soup. The main course was honey glazed pork chops. Ragen and Zara chewed the bones. Dessert was fudge brownies and ice cream. Owen cut the Pets' brownies up and gave us a quarter. Fudge brownies was too much chocolate/dairy for them.
Renee and Sanuye went to go sleep for the night. They were tired. Puck took Alex to have his magic lesson. Adri and I went to see the gargoyles. Ragen and Zara followed. We found Hudson first. Bronx got up.
"Good evening, lassie. I see you brought Adri with ya." He smiled.
"Yeah, we just got back-" A loud growl interrupted me.
Bronx and Ragen were growling at each other. Zara was guarding me. Bronx must have surprised Ragen. Hudson stepped forward and Ragen let out more aggressive scent, barking. The honey was almost gone and saffron was overwhelming.
"Don't you be challenging me, fox." Hudson warned.
"HEY, behave both of you!" I scolded.
They whimpered. Bronx let him sniff first then they made up. Zara left my side, sniffing Bronx. He licked her cheek. Zara nibbled his ear. He told her off when he had enough of her antics. Bronx padded off to lay next to the recliner.
"We got back from Avalon. Alex's girlfriends brought him some Pets. This is Ragen and Zara. Let Ragen come to you. He doesn't like men." I gestured.
"What are you?" Zara asked.
"'m a gargoyle. My name's Hudson." He answered.
She contemplated this for a moment. "Pet me!"
"Alright, Zara." He petted her head.
Ragen watched him carefully. He looked at me. I nodded. He slowly approached them and got ear scratches in return.
I introduced everyone to Ragen and Zara. It was a slow process since most of the clan was male. Ragen was ok with Angela, Elisa, Katana, and her and Brooklyn's children Nashville, Nash for short, and daughter, Tachi. They got along with Fu-Dog too. I praised them for being good. I was covered in kisses and licks. Zara decided to mark the room. Ragen soon joined her.
"Tai, it's your turn." Puck came to get me.
"Ok." I turned to face him.
"Who's gonna watch them?" Adri asked.
"We will watch them." Goliath told her.
Puck took us to the classroom. I had to shoot targets without hitting Adri or Puck. It was really hard since they zoomed around. He made them pretty small too. Adri was proud of me anyway.
"Hey, Dad?" I asked.
"Yeah, Sweetheart?" He hummed.
"You said Ragen and Zara had magic." I reminded him.
"I'm letting them adjust to the castle before I teach them anything. If something happens, I'll bump it. But just to be safe..." He snapped and they appeared.
"Hi, Mistress." Zara smiled.
"Give Talia your collars." Puck said.
They took them off. Ragen's was black and Zara's was light purple. Dad taught me how enchant their collars so their magic wouldn't flare up on accident. But it had a limit of what it could handle. I put them back on each Pet. They wanted to mark us afterward.
"Omega smells nice, like lilacs, apple spice, and fresh earth." Ragen licked my upper neck.
"Yeah, 'mega, Mistress smells good." Zara agreed.
"Huh?" I frowned.
"They must have adjusted to their new senses. It's your magic they smell. Your pheromones carry some of it. On their own, they don't have an interpretable scent." Owen told me.
"My what?" I asked.
"You have pheromones, it's a byproduct of your magic. I will teach about them later." He soothed.
We brushed our teeth and were tucked into bed. Alex came in and kissed me and Adri good night. He said Ragen and Zara were with their moms. But they scented a blanket for me to have. Puck put it on top of us. I yawned and cuddled Adri and my toy fox, Pumpkin.
"Good night, little trickster." Owen brushed my hair aside to kiss my forehead.
