Chapter 3

Pre-rut prep

"How?" I asked.

"He can smell your magic now. You unlocked his." Puck explained.

I thought. "I guess it makes sense."

"However…" Puck frowned. "It's gonna cause some problems."

"Like what?" I asked.

"Don't fucking say it!" Adri yelled at him.

"Rut." Puck braced himself as Adri hit him.

Kai looked at us, slightly confused. I knew Omegas hyper focus on their nests when it's messed up, but not Alphas. I tossed Kai my night pants. I didn't have a bra on. I can do without pants. I gestured for them to follow me. We went to my office.

"What's gonna happen during rut?" I frowned.

"Kai's gonna get aggressive and make pheromones. Now, this wouldn't be a problem for normal Halflings. Talia, you have Lady Earth's powers. And Kai's in pre-rut. It's too late for suppressants or whatever." Puck sighed.

"Shouldn't it still work?" Adri asked.

"Kai isn't a normal Pet. He's a Halfling Pet. Their pheromones have a bit of magic in them. Adverting to the world 'I wanna make babies.' Talia's magic naturally makes things more fertile especially other magic things. Luckily, that's the only magic he can do during rut." He shuddered.

"What if I take suppressants?" I asked.

"Talia, no!" Adri scolded.

"Lady Earth won't allow it. She's very adamant about that. Your magic might override it anyway." He hummed.

"What about a rut kennel?" Adri asked.

"That's more for older Alphas. And he might try to escape. Look, there're no good options here. Either he stays with you or we risk having hormonal Alpha trying to get back to his owner." Puck frowned.

"He needs my scent that much?" I mirrored my father.

"You're his first owner. Adri, you're gonna have to stay over as much as possible. Unless we find him a mate, you're all he's got. Not to fuck, just in general." Puck sighed.

"Wanna mark Mistress." Kai whined.

"What happens if I breathe in his pheromones?" I looked at the door.

"You'll get horny, but not unbearably so." He said. I started to walk out. Someone grabbed my arm. I looked back. It was Dad.

"Don't rub his scent glands. They're an erogenous zone." Dad warned.

"How much?" I asked.

"Slightly less than nipples. We're serious, don't play with them. They get sensitive during rut." Owen spoke through Puck.

Kai tried to jump on me, but I stopped him. I laid on the couch and let him mark. Kai rubbed his face all over me. I petted him. He didn't seem to care if I did anything or not. His tail was relaxed, but not wagging.

"Mistress smell good. So good." He licked and nibbled my neck.

His pheromones suddenly swelled, right near my face. I sneezed. That stuff was potent. His scent buzzed with electricity and maple sweetness. Kai's wet kisses felt good on my warm neck. His lips were soft and luscious. I whined, wiggling a bit. He cooed and tugged at my clothes. My shirt ripped.

"That's enough!" Puck yelled. His magic washed over Kai and he fell asleep before he was put in his nest. "Talia, that was the absolute worst position you could have chosen during pre-rut!"

"Don't yell at her." Adri scolded him.

"Adri…" I grabbed at her.

"C'mon, let's go." She took me to my room.

We cuddled. Adri stroked my hair. I fell asleep. When I woke up, I went to the bathroom. Then I looked for a snack. I ate a couple cookies. Puck was gone. Kai was still napping. There was a sort of air filtration spell around his nest. I sat on the couch, reading the rut/heat section of the Pet guide. Adri woke up.

"You feel better now?" She yawned.

"I guess. His scent just made me clingy." I shrugged.

"That might be because your dad put him in to sleep right after. You hungry?" She asked.

"Yeah." I nodded.

"Ok. What do you want?" She asked.

"Chinese." I lightly petted Kai.

"You want lo mein and BQQ pork rice?" Adri checked.

"Yeah." I nodded.

"I'll order it." Adri got her phone.

She called our favorite restaurant and placed our delivery. Adri got chicken fried rice, crab puffs, and Szechwan shrimp. Our lunches came with some soup, too. She'd share some of the crab puffs and shrimp with me. We sat on the couch and watched TV. There was a knock at the door and it was the lady from the front desk.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Well, the deliveryman was about to knock when he saw the sign and decided someone else should give you your food." She gestured.

I looked. There was a sign that said, "Beware of Alpha (male)."

"Right, my dad must have put that up. I got a Pet yesterday. How much?" I asked.

"$19.50, I hope you got enough. Alphas eat like teen boys." I gave her cash plus tip.

"Yeah." I lied. This was lunch and dinner for us.

"Bye." She left and I closed the door.

Kai woke up. He sniffed the air. He growled. "Bad scent. Mark Mistress?"

"In a minute." I set the food on the table. I undid the knot on bag and took the boxes out. This however was too long Kai.

"No! Mark now!" He barked.

"You better go calm him. He must have caught the deliveryman's scent." Adri sighed as she got up.

"Ok." I went to go pet him.

Kai tackled me. He aggressively marked me then he skidded to Adri. She just set the cups down before Kai jumped on her. My magic had pacified him. He still marked her about the same amount, though. With his 'pack' now safe, Kai took a few deep sniffs. He salivated at the scent of warm food. His legs coiled.

"Kai, don't!" I yelled but he was on the table faster than I thought.

He tore open the box and shoveled my noodles and rice into his face. The cups were smashed; our soup spilled. We could only watch as he ate. He tossed the box away when he was done. Then he found Adri's food, devouring it too. He ravenously licked up all the crumbs and scraps. Kai burped loudly, jumping off the table. He curled up in his nest.

"Kai, come here and clean up the mess you made." Adri scolded him.

"Kai sleepy." He told her.

"Now, Kai." She furrowed her brow sternly.

He pouted and stomped as he cleaned up, but it was done. He fixed his nest then he laid down. His jaw stretched as he yawned. I saw that he was cuddling my night pants. I'd worn them all night.

"I can't believe he ate all that. It was two meals!" She gestured.

"Adri, it's fine, I'll get more. Did we give him breakfast?" I asked.

"I dunno." She shrugged.

"The guide said they need more food during pre-rut. I think he needs more than normal because I activated his magic." I pointed out.

I reordered lunch and we ate in front of the TV. Adri went back home. Kai's box didn't have any rut stuff. I went to my office. I logged onto my computer and found some stuff on Pet store's websites. I got a couple rut sleeves and automatic strokers from the dog section. I stocked up on lube and anti-bacterial cleaner too.

"Ok, kiddo, I got something that might help." Puck floated behind me.

I turned and grabbed what he had. "Pre- and Post Heat body wash?"

"It won't work the whole time, your magic will peek back through, but it's better than nothing." He said.

"Won't my magic ramp up anyway if I smell him?" I asked.

"New plan, rub this on his scent glands and then use the body wash." Puck gave me a tube of the scent suppressing cream.

"Dad?" I thought.

"Yeah?" He looked at me.

"Is this enough for Kai?" I scooted back so he could see the screen.

He hummed. With a few clicks, he added some DVDs, face masks, and some special candles and massage oils in the cart. I realized that everything had been paid for and express shipped.

"What's the oils for?" I asked.

"Foxes… have an almost skunky smell around mating time. Pet foxes also have that smell. The oils and candles will help alleviate some of it. Thankfully, you don't have carpet." He tapped his foot.

"But what if he-" I started.

"DO NOT attempt to clean while he's rut!" He stared me in the eyes.

"… I won't attempt to clean while Kai's in rut." I repeated.

"Go away! That my Mistress!" Kai barked.

"If you try to clean, he'll only make more pheromones, possibly even spray, mark with pee. You do not want him to spray." Puck explained quickly. "My chick!"

"Dis my house! Mine!" He stomped his paw.

"Kai, be nice. You too." I looked at Dad.

We stepped out. Kai picked me up and marked me, lighter this time. His scent was still a bit sharp, but it was as calm as it was going to get. He really didn't want Puck here. I patted his hair and murmured softly.

"My Mistress." He nuzzled.

I saw my bedroom door was open from over his shoulder. My blankets were slowly being incorporated into Kai's nest. A few of his plush toys were off to the side.

"Kai, you can't have my blankets. How did you get in my room?!" I pushed on his chest.

"Nest not done." He turned me away from it. Kai cooed and nipped my neck, trying to distract me.

"I know it's there!" I told him.

"Tai, just let him have them. It's better than the alternative." Puck pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Which is…" I trailed off.

"That's a mating nest, Talia. If you bend over near it for any reason during his rut, he'll think you're submitting to him. You're susceptible to his scent. Leave it be and his instincts will realize that it was too soon to *expect* you to mate." Owen said through telepathy.

"Puck go home, Mistress mine." Kai growled.

"Kai, wanna go make din din?" I asked.

"Din din? Mistress want food?" His ears faced me.

"Yes, go make our din din. Our goose and bunny is in the fridge." I told him.

Kai set me down on the couch and marked me because he didn't like that Puck was still here. Then he went to the kitchen.

"Look, Sweetheart, once his rut hits, I'm gonna have to leave you alone. He might tolerate other females, but I'd rather not push it. Halfling Pets are more territorial and aggressive. We don't know how many days he's been in pre-rut." Puck frowned, sitting on the chair.

"We'll be ok." I reassured.

"When did he catch the food?" Dad glanced curiously (cautiously?) at the kitchen.

"Adri took us to the Pet district. He caught a goose for me and the bunny because he wanted to 'feed pack'." I said.

"He considers Adri pack? Why?" Puck's ears were stiff.

"I called her my mate. I was trying to explain what a girlfriend was. Is that important?" I asked.

"Extremely. Adri needs to come back as soon as possible." He got out Owen's phone and texted her.

I turned on the TV. We were watching a cowboy show when Adri came back. She had her night bag. She put in my room and sat on the couch with me.

"Kai got into your room again." She said.

"Yeah, but Dad said to leave it alone. Kai'll try to mate us if we go near his nest." I frowned.

"It's next to your room." She looked.

"Like bending over." I clarified.

"Who's cooking dinner?" Adri asked.

"Kai." Puck nodded.

"I think we can finish the guide while he's cooking." I fished it out from under the magazines.

"Fine." She fake-pouted.

I read aloud. Trying to read the same pages together was hard. I finished it. Kai called us for dinner. Dad left. His tail wagged as he gave us rabbit stew and roasted goose. It was good. Then I tried to go to the castle for my lesson, but I had to go back since Kai was howling so much. We watched a movie instead. He marked us heavily and we went to sleep.