Outfoxing the Dragon

Outfoxing the Dragon

by Calandra Hunter

Copy right 2017 Calandra Hunter

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author or publisher except for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or deal, is purely coincidental.

License Notes

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~*~

1. Brandon

He had just finished folding up the sheets and blankets when Marshall walked into the living room.

Oh, Brandon, you’re up already. His best friend sounded pleasantly surprised.

Brandon shrugged, and gave the wolf shifter a small smile. Well, you were right yesterday, I can’t lie in bed — on the couch — until noon. Marshall had given him a friendly ass-kicking yesterday, saying that while he was happy to let Brandon crash on his couch for a while, it was a bit awkward talking to a blanket when having breakfast and getting ready for work.

But for Brandon, there was no point in getting up so early. He had lost his job as an English teacher eight months ago, when the high school where he’d been working for nearly a year had been faced with budget cuts. He wasn't the only teacher who had been let go, and several others had had their hours reduced.

He had met Marshall in college, in one of the Shifter Student Societies that were kept top secret from the human population. Marshall now worked as an academic advisor at the local college, and he loved helping the students figure out their future career, even if he occasionally came home venting about some of them. For a wolf shifter, looking after others was natural, and Brandon knew Marshall would never kick him out. He would, however, give Brandon a firm nudge every and now then.

Marshall’s initial idea, that Brandon move from the town where he lived and worked to the bigger city, had been a good one. There were more high schools, for one, and therefore more potential jobs. So far, though, it hadn’t gotten him anywhere. He knew his résumé wasn’t exactly spotless, due to being a rebellious teenager, and even when he did get a job interview it never went further.

I know it sucks, but you just have to keep looking, Marshall told him, already dressed for work. I mentioned you to the local wolf Alpha, maybe she’ll know something.

Brandon scowled when Marshall’s back was turned. He wanted to find a job by himself, not because someone put in a friendly word. He wasn’t sure how much of his desire for independence was down to being a fox shifter, and how much was just his own personality. Unless she’s running a high school that needs an English teacher, I don’t think she can help.

Marshall wandered into the kitchen to make coffee. She might know some kid who needs a tutor, he called out, or about a non-teaching job.

Brandon sighed as he flopped back down on the couch. He wanted to teach, but it looked like there was no shortage of English teachers in the area at the moment. He loved it when he got a bunch of bored teenagers into Shakespeare, or Mark Twain, or even Jane Austen. Teaching was a challenge, and fox shifters loved a good challenge. Maybe, he replied.

Marshall came back in with two steaming mugs of coffee, and put them down on the coffee table. So, what’s the plan for today? he asked, sitting down next to Brandon.

Brandon let out another sigh. Same as yesterday. Visit the usual websites, send out my usual résumé, tweak my cover letter where necessary. All that wouldn’t take more than a few hours. He gave Marshall a smirk. Spend the rest of day binge-watching old Airwolf and A-Team episodes.

We’re watching those together. Marshall gave him a mock-glare over his glasses as he sipped his coffee. Why don’t you visit my Alpha when you’re done job-hunting? She can’t really help you until she’s met you.

Brandon nodded. I guess not. You probably told her all sorts of lies about me.

Hey, I just made you sound like a nice, hard-working, honest kind of guy!

Exactly, lies. He smiled when Marshall laughed.

It wasn’t that fox shifters had a bad reputation per se, but it was true that they were more likely to ignore or challenge authority and go their own way. He couldn’t blame his patchy résumé on being a shifter, but he was pretty sure that his fox hadn’t helped. Whenever someone had told him that he shouldn’t do something, or that something was a bad idea, his first reaction had been ‘why not?’ followed by ‘watch me’.

That had led to some great times, but also to some slight trouble with the police in the small town he had grown up in. Nothing that stopped him from becoming a licensed teacher, but enough to make some employers prefer other candidates over him.

If he was honest, he wasn’t sure how much help Marshall’s Alpha would be. She had to deal with the issues and problems the wolf shifters who lived here brought before her, not help some random fox shifter.

Shut up. Marshall huffed. What about your own Alpha?

Brandon burst out laughing. The last time this city had an Alpha for fox shifters was over a decade ago. I’ve told you, man, we just don’t do things the way you do. I know that when you moved here, you had to report to the city’s Shifter Council and make an appointment with the wolf shifter Alpha, but all I had to do was visit the Council. The Shifter Council was made up of the five leaders of the biggest shifter groups in the area, so Marshall’s Alpha was one of them. The other four were a bear shifter, a coyote shifter, a lion shifter and an eagle shifter.

Fox shifters tended to be more solitary once they had grown up and left their parents. Sure, Brandon was in regular contact with his family, but he also didn’t want to burden them with his problems. He was sure things would turn out okay in the end.

Once he had found a job and gotten his life back on track, he’d find himself a partner too. Someone who wanted to build something together with him, instead of just having a one-night-stand. Brandon hadn’t had one of those in a long while, and not just because bringing a guy back home was awkward when you were crashing on a couch. Hooking up with someone a few hours after meeting them could be fun, and he had done plenty of it in his early twenties, but it had lost its appeal for him now that he was pushing thirty.

First things first, though. A job. Everything else could wait.

Marshall just gave him a smug look. Well, if you haven’t got an Alpha of your own, I guess you’ll have no choice but to visit mine.

Brandon snorted. She can’t magically give me a job, Marshall.

No, but she knows people. She has connections. Networking is very important nowadays, y’know, that’s how people find out about job opportunities, Marshall told him.

Brandon narrowed his eyes at him. Are you doing your academic advisor thing at me?

Marshall shrugged. Maybe?

Brandon should’ve known Marshall would do that sooner or later. I’m not one of your students. I’ve actually got a degree and I know what I’m doing.

Then visiting my Alpha will get you out of the house. Along with doing the groceries; I’ve left a list on the kitchen counter. Marshall got up, having finished his coffee, and headed into the kitchen.

Are you sure you aren’t a mother hen shifter? Brandon called after him.

Marshall returned a few seconds later with a bowl of cereal. I’m only trying to help. I know you’re looking and doing your best, but… He paused. Maybe Alice can help, maybe she can’t. And what I said about networking is true. It doesn’t hurt to try, right?

I suppose not, Brandon muttered, sipping his coffee. I just…I’m a good teacher; I shouldn’t have to need help from an Alpha to find a job!

Marshall reached and squeezed his shoulder. I know you want to do this by yourself, but you asked me for a place to crash, right?

Right, Brandon replied. Fine, I’ll go and see Mrs. Campbell this afternoon. He didn’t think it would get him anywhere, but Marshall was right. It wouldn’t hurt to try, and to be fair, he was getting bored with the trips to the local supermarket and back.

***

It was two o’clock in the afternoon, and Brandon was standing on the doorstep of Marshall’s Alpha’s house. It was a pretty nice house in a street filled with pretty nice houses, all with trimmed hedges and bushes, and impeccably mowed lawns.

Brandon wondered how many of the humans in this street knew that Mrs. Campbell, her husband, and their adorable children could all turn into wolves at will. How many knew that Mrs. Campbell wasn’t just a stay-at-home mom while her husband was working as an attorney, but that she was actually an Alpha?

He rang the doorbell and stepped back, quickly wiping his hands on his jeans.

A woman in her early forties answered the door. She smiled when she shook Brandon’s hand. Like the lawn, Alice Campbell fitted in perfectly with the rest of the suburbs. Her jeans were casual, her light-green button-down shirt a little more formal, and her blonde hair was carefully tied back in a braid. She gestured for Brandon to come in and told him to hang up his coat.

Despite the homey and warm feel of the hallway, with a few stray toy cars lying on the floor, Brandon still felt intimidated. Sure, even though he was a full head taller than Mrs. Campbell, she was still more powerful than him as a shifter.

Marshall told me about you, she said, as she entered the living room. It’s so sad when schools have to cut their budget. No matter how you handle it, it’s the kids who suffer the most. She threw him a quick look. Well, and the teachers.

Former teachers, he mumbled. His eyes were on the small girl who was playing with a toy truck and some Barbie dolls in the corner.

Mrs. Campbell followed his gaze. Oh, don’t worry, Janice won’t disturb us. Please, have a seat. Would you like some coffee? Tea?

No, thank you, he replied, sitting down on one of the couches. Uhm, I don’t expect I’ll be staying long.

She shrugged. That all depends, doesn’t it? Now, Marshall mentioned you were a fox shifter looking for a work?

He appreciated that she cut straight to the point of his visit. Yes, I’m an English teacher, and, well, you know about me losing my job. He sighed. That was eight months ago, and at first I figured it wouldn’t be too big a deal, since I had some savings and thought I could get a new job before I was unable to pay my rent, but…

But you didn’t, and that’s why you’re sharing an apartment with Marshall, Mrs. Campbell said.

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