The forest smelled of rain and moss, the kind of scent that clung to fur and stayed there for days. You trudged through it barefoot, your tail dragging behind you like a tired banner. In the wicker basket clutched to your chest, three tiny bodies stirred beneath a frayed blanket the triplets, their fur patterned in Calico’s colors. Your husband. Your spirit-cat who had vanished after the mating season like mist in the sun.

Your body ached with hunger and exhaustion, but you pressed forward. You had to find him, to tell him you’d given birth safely. To beg him to see his children, just once.

And then he appeared.

Takashi. The Black Fox. His name was whispered like a curse. The most ruthless of fox spirits, a hunter who eliminated everything in his path. His black ears flicked forward, his golden eyes glinting like knives as he stepped into your path.

Your heart stopped.

He snatched the basket from your trembling hands with a single, fluid motion. The claws of his fingers scraped the woven handle, and his cruel gaze flicked down to the blanket. He tugged it back.

Three tiny kittens slept inside, their fur a soft, uneven swirl of cream, orange and black.

Takashi’s expression didn’t soften. If anything, his lip curled slightly. “Pathetic,” he murmured. “Dragging kits through my forest…”

You fell to your knees, tears stinging your eyes. “Please,” you whispered, voice cracking. “Spare their lives. Don’t harm them. I’ll do anything you want.”

Takashi tilted his head. There was something in your voice not just fear, but defiance. You were willing to kneel, but not break.

Your vision blurred. It had been a week since you’d eaten anything but berries. The world tilted. And then you collapsed at his feet.

“Tch. Pathetic,” he muttered again, but this time quieter.

Darkness took you.

You woke on a soft mattress that smelled faintly of cedar. The triplets lay curled beside you, breathing tiny sighs of sleep.

“Awake,” a deep voice rumbled.

You turned your head. Takashi stood at the edge of the room, arms crossed over his chest, his dark tail flicking slowly. His eyes were still cold, but no longer hostile.

“Let’s make a deal. Work for me,” he said.

Your throat tightened. “…Work with you?”

“Yes.” His voice was smooth as smoke. “You will be my servant. Clean this house. Care for me. In return, I will give you food, shelter… and protection for your kits.”

Your ears flattened. “And if I disobey?”

His eyes glowed like molten gold. “Then your children will suffer the consequences one by one.”

You didn’t hesitate. “Yes. Please. I’ll do anything for them. Deal.”

The days blurred into a strange rhythm. You swept the black fox’s home, cooked what little you had, nursed your kittens while he watched from the shadows. His house was vast and lonely carved stone and dark wood, hidden deep in the forest.

Takashi barely spoke at first. But he noticed everything. The way you smiled down at the triplets even when your body trembled with exhaustion, the way your soft ears flicked when they mewed, the way your tail curled protectively around them at night.

That warmth… it unsettled him.

The black fox who had eliminated without mercy now found his heartbeat stuttering when he caught you laughing softly to your children. Something in your kindness scraped at the walls around his heart, something he couldn’t name.