Running for Home by Zenina Masters

Chapter One
     
     
    “Hello, Treasure. Do you have any sweet words for me today?” Lord Falkir stroked her cheek.
    Juno Meklin stood completely still; her half-shifted human-fox was silent. She was wearing a purple gown with a deep vee where her neckline should have been. It was split to the waist with a wide, gem-studded belt holding it in place. She was dressed for the party, and he was going to show her off to the perverts who still believed in keeping shifters as pets.
    The crowd was small that night, and it hurt her to see other shifters in similar circumstances. Some were in beast form, others in human form, but Falkir considered her his prize. He had managed to lock her in her half-form, and it was a rare sight.
    She walked behind him at the party. She wasn’t there to serve; she was there to be seen. Three months had passed since she had been captured, and suicide was beginning to feel like the better option.
    As Juno walked through the crowd, she was petted, stroked and groped in equal measure. Her tail was pulled more times than she could count, and it was one particularly insistent suitor that cornered her.
    He stroked the sides of her neck and smiled at her. “Hello, Treasure was it?”
    She blinked slowly.
    He was lean but had a tough sort of exterior. She could smell the scent of cordite on him, as well as the tang of metal. He didn’t smell like any of the other fey at the party.
    His colouring was remarkably human but with a strange autumn touch. His eyes were dark hazel with a small ring of rich orange, and his hair was a dozen shades of brown.
    His skin was a rich tan with the scent of the forest clinging to him. If he wasn’t a fucking fey, she might even speak to him, but he was, so she wouldn’t.
    Juno felt him nuzzle the side of her neck, just above the collar. She growled, and he pulled back.
    “Treasure, come here!” Falkir summoned her, and she eased away from her conversational partner.
    Her feet made no noise on the marble floor, but then, not having nails anymore made her remarkably quiet.
    She glided to Lord Falkir’s side, and she had to stand still for another pawing.
    “Leebron, be warned, she might be declawed, but she can still bite.”
    Apparently, Falkir was attuned to the sound of her growl.
    She kept her hands folded so that the exposed knuckles and scars wouldn’t show, but her teeth were all her own.
    Juno remained at his side throughout the evening, and her lids and ears were beginning to droop when the thunderclap of power ran through the room.
    The doors flew open, and members of the shifter guild came in, confining the fey and soothing the shifters.
    Juno stood in the centre of the space while chaos reigned. The man made of autumn came to her, and he was now wearing a vest with the shifter council logo.
    “I am sorry I had to get so close, miss, but I have been working undercover for several months.”
    She stepped back and put her hands up to fend him off when he reached for her.
    He looked at her hands, and he snarled softly. “Bastard.”
    He examined the collar on her throat and was about to remove it when a mage called out, “No. Derix. Leave it. She needs to be in a safe environment before she is released. She will need help shifting back to human after an extended period in that form.”
    “Can you tell me how long you have been stuck like this?”
    She growled, but it was just her clearing her throat. “Three months. I have been here for three months.”
    He looked surprised at her ability to articulate. “What happened to your hands?”
    “They took my claws first thing. I had to learn to walk all over again.”
    He took her by the elbow and steered her toward the medics.
    “Does it hurt?”
    “Yes. All motion is painful.”
    The medics were mages, and the woman smiled softly. “You can go, Xelik. I have her now.”
    Juno turned and inclined her head. “Thank you, Xelik.”
    “It was my honour, lady.”
    “Juno.”
    “Pardon?”
    It felt so good to