Revelations by IndigoNeko

David awakens a bit earlier than usual and makes a disturbing discovery. Later that day, Alex finds the hard way that some secrets can't be kept.

WARNING: This story contains adult content. Check the tags before you continue reading.

Chapter 26 – Too Many Secrets

=^.^=

Thursday, June 4th, 2015

As usual, David's mind was slow to make it's way from it's dormant state to one of wakefulness. He twitched, took a deep breath and blinked a few times before realizing that the room was still dark. Strangely, he felt totally rested for once. The first glimmer of daylight through the blinds was just barely sufficient to let him see, if only in blue-gray monochrome. He glanced at the clock and sighed; two hours until he normally woke up. Slowly, carefully, he sat up in bed. Alex was still lying atop Raenne, looking absurdly content with her head between his wife's breasts. Actually, Alex was still purring softly in her sleep. He shook his head, carefully pulling the covers off and getting out of bed so as not to disturb them.

Last night had been...well...mind blowing, in more than one way. The sex had been fantastic, but the nagging part in the back of his mind had kept insisting over and over how wrong it was. It had been so bad when he'd first started mating with Alex that he'd been afraid that he was going to have a nervous breakdown. Then she'd given him the biggest, most contented, and loving smile he'd ever seen, and thanked him in a voice so full of satisfaction that it was impossible to believe he'd done anything wrong. After that the nagging feeling had completely vanished, replaced with a tender sense of pride that he had managed to bring her such happiness.

Then Alex had gone on to mate with her mother, and his view of Alex as just ‘her’ no longer fit. Hell, that was an understatement; he felt like God had graced him with a vision, a sense of transcendental understanding beyond the ken of mere mortals, and an insight into the inner workings of the universe. It was impossible for him to see Alex as just female anymore. Calling Alex simply 'her' or 'she' was just...wrong.

David snagged his boxers and put them on, then quietly padded out of the room, pausing for a moment at the doorway to look back at his wife and child. Seeing them in such an intimate embrace should have made him jealous. Maybe it was that he knew Raenne was so possessive of him...or maybe it was that he knew Raenne was already pregnant with his cubs...or maybe it was that he didn't consider Alex to be a threat to their marriage. The reasons probably didn't matter; all that mattered was that he wasn't jealous in the slightest. All he felt was a deep satisfaction and contentment that they were able to share their love with one another so completely. Kisses and hugs and saying 'I love you' didn't hold a candle to the experience of sex and the intimacy that followed.

With a smile on his face, David turned around again and headed downstairs. It was still way too early in the morning, and he figured he'd spend a little bit of time surfing the web, maybe hit up imgur or reddit for some laughs. The living room was a peculiar shade of blue as he walked through it, illuminated by the pre-dawn light, just barely sufficient to make out the cords and video game controllers strewn across the floor. He flipped on the light in the office/den and hit the button on the PC tower, sitting down and waiting for it to boot.

After the desktop was up, he opened a browser window and typed in imgur. As usual, the front page was a mix of feral pet photos, memes, and humorous pics. He spent a few moments clicking through the popular list before he remembered a post with recipes he thought he'd faved the day before. It wasn't in the favorites section though. Frowning, he opened the browser history.

One URL in the history practically jumped out at him. The fact that it was twice as long as any other in the list and ended in .onion practically guaranteed it would come to his attention. He tapped it, launching a completely new app. Strange. He didn't recall having installed any other web browsers on this machine.

A few moments later, it sluggishly loaded up a webmail page that was apparently still logged in, under the name SniperPrincess0475. God, what a terribly cliché username. It definitely wasn't his, and he seriously doubted it was Alex's. For a moment his curiosity warred with concern for privacy. Curiosity won and he clicked the inbox, showing the first message in the list.

To: sniperprincess0475@silkroadjobsnawzetnyjx.onion
From: x.tony.x@silkroadjobsnawzetnyjx.onion
Subject: Job Offer
Message: Name Guillaume Bazoge. Residence 153 Rue de la Roubine de Lattes, 34070 Montpellier, France. Payout 80,000 USD to UBS AG account. Proof required.

What the fuck was he looking at?

=^.^=

Alex felt something shift underneath her, just enough movement to awaken her from the pleasant dreams she was having of floating underwater. It took a moment to clear her eyes, during which time she realized that mom was gently rubbing the back of her head. She smiled, and the quiet rumble in her throat kicked into high gear.

"Good morning, kiddo," mom whispered.

"Mmm...'Morning, mom," she whispered back. "I slept real well last night."

"Me too, kiddo. Unfortunately, it's time to get up. Looks like your dad is up already, and I think I smell french toast."

Alex glanced over at where dad normally slept, then sniffed the air. It did indeed smell like french toast. Actually, it smelled like delicious french toast. Good enough that she was already hopping off the bed and picking up her crutches before Reanne had a chance to sit up.

Following her nose downstairs in a haze of sugar and cinnamon scented delirium, she soon found herself in the kitchen where her dad was busy dusting a third plate full of French toast with the origin of those wonderful smells. Without any conscious thought on her part, she found herself standing next to dad, waiting anxiously for him to finish.

David started, then laughed when Alex appeared next to him, still naked as the day shi'd been born. "Didn't even take the time to put clothes on before coming downstairs, hmm? Go sit down, love. I'll bring it out for you."

Pouting, Alex turned and walked out into the dining room and sat down awaiting his appearance. Luckily, she didn't have to wait too long. Mom appeared a moment after he set the last plate on the table, taking her own seat. Unlike Alex, she had taken a moment to put on her sweatshirt and sweatpants.

"So, what's the occasion?" Raenne asked.

"Woke up early. Decided to waste some time on the computer, then fix breakfast. I wanted to see if the smell of french toast alone would be enough to wake Alex here," he said, pointing a fork at the little tigress who was currently stuffing hir face. He smiled at the smudge of powdered sugar dusting Alex's nose.

"Well, it certainly woke me up," Raenne said, taking a bite. It was, understandably, better than hers. He was the one who had taught her how to make it in the first place.

For a few moments, the three tigers ate in relative quiet, interrupted only by the clink of utensils on dinnerware.

"By the way," David said quietly, looking deliberately down at his plate while cutting off a small square of french toast, "you forgot to logout of your silkroad webmail."

Raenne paused, her fork halfway between her plate and mouth, looking over at him. She swallowed, though nothing was in her mouth. Some of the junk mail she got there was...disturbing, to say the least. If he'd seen any of it...hell, it was a wonder there weren't police marching her to the back of a squad car right now.

"I'd like to have a talk with you while Alex is taking hir shower," he added, quietly but seriously, looking Raenne straight in the eyes.

The look in his eyes was one that she’d never expected to see. It was the look of a man who’d been utterly betrayed: hurt, angry, vengeful, and looking for answers. Raenne winced. He'd definitely seen something. At least he'd given her the chance to defend herself instead of simply calling the police.

Alex had looked up at the funny sounding word. Only doctors called her that. "Dad? Why'd you say hir? You sound like Dr. Nez."

David looked back at Alex and his serious expression was replaced with a gentle smile. "I was thinking a bit last night and this morning. You dress up as a girl for school, but you're not just a girl. You're more than that, and it's really not fair of me to think of you that way. I guess that really hit home for me watching you play with your mom last night. You looked like you were definitely enjoying yourself there."

Alex smiled. "Yeah...playing with mom was fun...but so was playing with you, only different. Like strawberries and oranges. The best though...well it happened once when I was playing with Lizzy and she made me... umm… orgasm?... she made me orgasm with both my boy and girl parts at the same time."

"Wow. That makes me envious. I wish I could know what that feels like.” David said, wistfully. “Anyway, my point is that you're more than just a boy or a girl, and I just don't think that I should refer to you as ‘she’ or ‘her’ when you're not just a girl. If you were, I'm sure you wouldn't have made your mom nearly as happy as you did last night."

Alex gave a wide grin, then stuffed the last bite of breakfast in her mouth.

"Okay, kiddo. Your dad and I have to talk. Go take your shower; I'll clean up after you," Raenne said.

Alex picked up hir crutches and left the dining room, tail swaying behind hir. David smiled, staring at his daughter's cute butt until shi was out of sight before looking over at his wife. She was staring down at her plate.

"You're right, by the way. It's not fair to think of Alex as just a girl. I might be a bit more aware of hir masculine side than you are, but I still fall into the habit of thinking of hir as a girl, especially when she...shi...wears skirts and capris," Raenne said as she stabbed the last piece on her own plate.

David nodded, setting down his knife and fork on the plate. That was when Raenne realized that he’d barely touched his food. She was about to start explaining things when he looked at her again with that look of betrayal.

“Raenne, do you kill people for money? Please don’t lie to me.”

She kept his gaze for a moment, then shook her head. “No. I’ve never done that, unless you consider my time in the army.”

The hurt expression on his face deepened. She knew he didn’t believe her, even though it was true. No doubt what he’d seen in that email account had him completely convinced that she was a contract killer. She sighed; there was really no way to convince him but to explain literally everything, in painstaking detail. 

“The silk road jobs website is an anonymous forum where people can post resumes and job offers, just like Monster or any other job site. The only difference is that people use it for gray and black market services. I have my own resume listed there, so anyone who’s interested in my services can send me messages. I probably get two or three spam messages a week, mostly related to contract killing-”

“And you want me to believe that you didn’t take those jobs?” David interrupted. “That the car sitting out in our driveway wasn’t purchased with blood money?” he asked, pointing towards the front door. “Money that I know you didn’t earn teaching martial arts. You barely clear a thousand a month after paying the rent on the dojo!”

“I didn’t earn that money by killing people, you idiot!” Raenne spat back. “I earned it taking hostage rescue missions, like the one I did in February! You didn’t bother to check my outbox, did you.” she stated accusingly, lowering her voice.

“Of course not! I saw the first few messages and closed the damn thing! I’ve been spending all morning trying to decide if I should call the FBI!” he shouted. He took a deep breath, lowering his voice. “Where did you go in February? You said you’d gone to visit a friend in Washington.”

Raenne pursed her lips. Confidentiality agreement be damned, she thought, this was way more important. She sighed and began explaining. “I was in the DRC. The congo. A pair of mormons on mission there got kidnapped by the LRA, which asked for a two million dollar ransom. So the kid’s families hired Nexus Consulting to rescue them. Nexus was short staffed and asked me to assist, since I’ve worked for them before. They first found my resume on the silk road job listing, so that’s the email they use to contact me. I suppose I should have them use my regular email, but…” She shrugged.

“What the hell, Raenne. Seriously? Do you have any idea...no, you probably know better than anyone else exactly how dangerous that can be. Why the fuck would you risk your life like that? Don’t you have any idea how Alex or I would feel if you got killed? Jesus…” David planted his elbows on the table, running his fingers through his head-fur. 

Raenne was silent. It wasn’t something that she’d really considered...and after she’d thrown basically the same argument at him when he’d pulled that stupid shit in the shower over the weekend...it hit her twice as hard. She couldn’t bare to look at him. He was totally right. It may have helped out those two kids...and the four german tourists before that...and a half dozen others since she’d started taking Nexus jobs. That didn’t matter though; Nexus Consulting had dozens of other contractors they could have sent. There was only one of her, and she had a family that depended on her. A family that loved her. She rubbed her stinging eyes, wishing once again that she could cry.

“I...I’m sorry, David. I didn’t...I didn’t think about it...that way,” she said with a sniffle. She took a deep breath, and rubbed her eyes again, then looked back up at him. “You’re right, it’s not fair to you all to take those sorts of risks. I’ll tell them I’m retiring and close that silk road account.”

Both of them were silent for a few seconds, before David spoke again.“I looked up some of the names in the emails. Most of them came up in news headlines. Some murdered, others missing. I know you couldn’t have done it; you’re here all the time, and all of them were in other countries. Still…”

Raenne nodded. “As I said: spam. Send enough emails, you’ll get at least one taker. I’m sure the FBI watches it though; the potential targets I’ve seen in the U.S. never make it into the news, so I assume they’re taken into protective custody. Anyway, I’ve got to get ready and take Alex to school. Read the rest of the emails if you want. I’m not supposed to give details but...well...it might help you feel better to know about the jobs I took. All of them were during the times I visited that non-existent friend in Washington. I can fill you in when I get back if you want.”

David sighed. “Honestly, I don’t know if I want to know or not. I never imagined…”

Raenne stood up, walking over to him and giving him a hug. “I’m sorry, love. I probably should have told you but...old habits die hard, and keeping secrets is one of mine. It’s not that I don’t trust you...I do...it’s just…”

“It’s okay, love. I understand. If what you said a few days ago about your childhood was true, you probably had a lot of secrets to keep.”

Raenne sighed. “Yes.” She gave him one more hug before standing up and grabbing her and Alex’s plates, turning towards the kitchen.

“Raenne?” David asked quietly.

She paused, looking back at her husband while balancing a pair of plates. “Yes?”

“What you said, about getting mad and killing a bunch of people... were you serious?” he asked, sounding slightly worried.

Raenne smirked. “Yes. Search for my maiden name in New Jersey news from 2003. I can fill you in on that too when I get home,” she said. Then she turned around and walked back into the kitchen to drop the dirty dishes off.

David sat there with his head in his hands, staring down at his now-cold breakfast. The past two weeks were starting to become more than he could bear. Too many secrets, too little time.

=^.^=

Alex swung herself into place at the end of the line of kids next to Lizzy, looking forward to afternoon recess even though her paws were hurting from being on her crutches so much. It wasn’t like she could play wall-ball or anything, but she liked being outside.

Lizzy stayed with her until she’d taken a seat to watch the other kids play wall-ball, then ran to the line so she could get a turn playing as well. Alex simply sat, watching. It might not be the same as watching x-games, but it was more entertaining than playing some stupid game on her phone. 

For the past week, they’d been playing singles since Lizzy didn’t have a team-mate anymore. Losers had to get back in line, winners stayed up to three turns. The only people who really minded were Maria and Estella, the chinchilla twins, since they both did way better as a team than individually. It was funny, watching everyone play without being a player. She’d been noticing things that she normally didn’t pay any attention to, like how Cedric was always watching Rob, and how Josh and Andy had somehow become way better friends over spring break. 

Since she’d started watching the wildcat and anteater (Josh was a very pretty feline), she’d started getting the feeling that they were more than just friends since spring break. They were just a bit too touchy-feely. Not that she minded; she thought the fact that they might be gay was kind of cute. 

It was strange that Cedric was always watching Rob though. At first she’d thought it was just that the smaller chamois looked up to the bigger, older mountain goat, but that didn’t seem to fit. Maybe they were gay too. Actually, no...Rob was definitely not gay...he was constantly showing off for girls. But Cedric...she didn’t quite know. Maybe he was gay. He didn’t act like it though; he acted more like a straight boy, blushing and getting awkward when talking to girls and stuff.

Speaking of awkward around girls, she glanced around the playground. Sure enough, Danny was still following Madelyn around the playground like a lost puppy dog. The border collie had been tripping over his own feet following the golden retriever girl around since the beginning of the school year. Madelyn was finally starting to pay attention to him, instead of simply ignoring him. Poor Danny could have had his picture in the dictionary for the phrase ‘puppy love’, she thought, giggling to herself at the irony.

Alex sighed, crossing her legs and leaning back against the round cement pillar. The feel of sun-warmed stone on her back felt wonderful. If the ground wasn’t covered with loose asphalt grit, she’d have been tempted to lay on her side and curl up. Instead she had to make do with sitting indian style, trying to relax without pinching her tail, and simply let her mind wander.

Today had been a good day. Reading and math, a bit of time drawing with colored pencils, and a good lunch. For once the school had served a halfway decent lunch, without any of the time-honored brown, green, or grey goop. Toasted ham and swiss sandwiches, ham optional, with lettuce and tomatoes, and tomato basil soup. Yum. It didn’t even remotely compare to dad’s french toast though. Mom’s was good, but dad’s was absolutely perfect. The taste, the texture, everything. Actually, literally everything about the day had been good, even waking up in Mom’s arms. 

Today had been good, but last night...last night had been amazing. Lizzy was absolutely right; sex as a girl was better than milk and cookies, or pizza, or kissing, or birthday presents...or pretty much anything. It had definitely stung at first though; daddy was huge. It wasn’t bad though, just a stretchy feel, like trying to touch your toes. But feeling someone inside you? Totally worth it. Especially Dad. For a moment she wondered if it would be possible to mate more than one person at once. Mating with mom and dad at the same time would-

“Hey, Alex! What the hell is that?”

Alex blinked, looking around. Robert’s obnoxiously loud voice was impossible to miss. That, and he was walking over to her. 

“What, Rob? I was trying to nap.”

“Yeah, I realized that, cripple-cat,” the big goat-boy said, standing over her. “What the hell is that under your skirt? Hiding something from us? Like the fact that you’re a boy?”

Alex looked down even as the fur on the back of her neck went up. Her hand shot over her crotch to hide her boner, but it was too late. Panic started to set in when she realized just how bad this was.

“Hah! I was right! You’re a boy!” he said loudly, pointing at her crotch. “So why do you wear skirts and shit to school, girly boy? Are you gay? Or just like to pretend you’re a girl? Freak.”

Alex curled up, pulling her legs in, shaking. This couldn’t be real; this had to be a nightmare. Her worst possible nightmare. Only it was far too real to be a nightmare. 

"What's the matter, freak?" The big goat asked acidly. "Cat got your tongue?"

Both Lizzy and Cedric walked up at that point, both panting from their brief run across the paved courtyard from the wall-ball court to where Alex was sitting. Lizzy looked angry and Cedric concerned.

"Alex isn't a freak, you big dumb-ass," Lizzy said loudly, getting stares from several other children, and attracting a small crowd.

"Yes, she is, weasel-runt. Or should I say 'yes, he is'?" Robert said loudly, sneering.

"What the hell are you talking about, goat boy?" One of the much big fifth graders asked pushing through the crowd of children that had started to form from nearby areas of the playground. The badger stood head and shoulders above the smaller third and fourth graders that had this recess period.

"What do you think I'm talking about Dennis?" Rob spat out, point down at the tigress huddled against the cement pillar. "Freak here has dick. He's no girl at all, he just dresses like one. Bet he watches My Little Pony and plays with Barbies too." 

"Leave Alex alone you big bully!" Lizzy yelled leaping at the bigger boy in a flurry of lace and petticoats. 

Robert dodged to the side, shoving the much smaller stoat hard as she went by, sending her rolling across the asphalt towards the big badger, who reached down and picked her up by the back of her now ripped and filthy dress.

"Let me go, you big meanie!" Lizzy yelled as the badger held on to her.

"I don't think so, pipsqueak. Fighting is against the rules. I should know...I've been sent to the principles three times in the past two weeks," Dennis said with a mean smile as Lizzy began seriously struggling to get away from the large badger. "But if you insist..."

Dennis let go, pushing Lizzy backwards and sending her sprawling across the asphalt next to Alex. Lizzy yelled as she hit the ground, then began crying, holding one of her wrists. 

Alex jumped to her feet, balancing awkwardly on her one good leg. She looked back and forth between the large badger and her best friend lying on the ground, unable to decide who to deal with first: friend or foe.

"Whatcha gonna do, cripple-cat freak?" Robert taunted, walking up to her and poking her in the chest, shoving her back against the cement pillar she’d been resting against. Alex grabbed at the pillar behind her trying to keep her balance and not fall over, then snarled at him, baring fangs.

"Leave her alone, Rob," Cedric said loudly from behind them. "She never did anything to you."

Rob turned around, glaring. "She? She? Did you not hear me? Pussycat here doesn't have a pussy; he has a dick. Don't believe me? I'll show you," he said, quickly turning around to the tiger cub holding onto the pillar behind her. He grabbed her skirt and yanked hard, pulling it down around her knees, where it caught on the top of her cast. Alex clawed desperately at the pillar behind her to keep from falling, even as the goat grabbed the top of her panties and yanked them down too. Alex abandoned her struggle to keep her balance, quickly throwing her hands down to cover herself even as she collapsed onto the unforgiving asphalt, yelping as her cast hit the blacktop with a loud crack.

"Stop it this instant!" A loud voice screeched instantly silencing the playground, as Mrs. Eaglantine and a huge female bison in a pantsuit pushed through the dense crowd of elementary students. The bald eagle practically swooped down on the crying tiger cub, immediately picking her up and standing her upright before pulling Alex's panties back up. Many of the students gathered around began whispering; for a moment many of them had glimpsed with their own eyes what the goat had been raving about.

The bison took hold of Rob's horns, holding them in an grip so strong that the ten-year old goat couldn't move his head so much as an inch. Then she caught sight of the badger inching back into the crowd. “Why am I not surprised that you would be involved in this as well, Dennis?" She said, crossed the gap between them and taking hold of the badger's arm as well. "Looks like you'll be making another trip to my office."

Meanwhile, Mrs. Eaglantine had finished redressing the bawling tiger cub and managed to get Elizabeth on her feet as well. "Cedric," she snapped after glancing around to see if any of her students were nearby, "get Alex's crutches and follow me, I've got to get Alex and Elizabeth here to the nurse's office. Can you walk, Lizzy?" She asked, turning back to the sniffling stoat who was still holding her injured wrist. Elizabeth nodded.

"Okay then. Follow me. Alex, I'm going to pick you up and carry you. Is that okay?"

Alex nodded, tears streaming down her face. "Good. Hold on tight to my neck, okay?" With Alex's second nod the teacher slung one of Alex's arms over her neck and picked the tiger cub up, cradling her by the knees and back. A moment later both teachers and five cubs were on their way to the main office, leaving dozens of other students behind on the playground, all of them whispering about the fight and the skirt-wearing tiger-boy.

=^.^=

Raenne sighed, relaxing on the couch with a cup of hot cocoa, David had been over an hour late leaving for work, but he’d left content in the knowledge that she’d been justified in almost everything she’d done. Or that’s what he’d said, anyway. She was pretty sure that the poor man was getting more than a bit frazzled; understandably so given the events of the past week or so. 

She took a sip of the rich chocolate beverage, savoring the sweet cocoa and faint hint of raspberries. Chocolate always helped her feel better, and honestly, she needed it. Spilling her guts to David had definitely taken some effort, especially convincing him that it had been safe during those missions. She had the training for the IHR missions she’d taken with Nexus Consulting; she’d been a member of the Special Forces for God’s sake. Sure, she’d been out of the army for over a decade now, but that sort of shit wasn’t something you forgot.

Now, though...that was all behind her. She’d finally closed the book on that chapter of her life. Her email accounts and profiles had been deleted, and she’d gotten off the phone with Nexus Consulting only ten minutes ago, telling them she was retiring. It was kind of depressing though, knowing that she was only a soccer mom and martial arts instructor now. 

There was only one last part of her sordid past left to deal with: her family. There was no way the Kaminski’s were going to simply drop all the sordid, bloody, and highly lucrative criminal activities they had their fingers in. Even after she’d-

The chiming of the phone on the coffee table interrupted her musings. She set her mug of hot cocoa down, taking up the phone instead, swiping to answer it.

“Hello?”

“Hi, is this Raenne Andreyev? This is Byrom Elementary.”

“Yes. What is it?”

“It appears that your daughter Alex was involved in an altercation during afternoon recess, and was injured. She’s currently in the nurse’s office. It’s possible she may have re-injured her leg. Would you like us to have her taken to a hospital, or wait until-”

“Keep her in the nurse’s office. I’ll be right there,” Raenne interrupted, hanging up the phone and pushing up off the couch.

Less than five minutes later, Raenne was pulling into the rather tiny Byrom parking lot, pulling into the last open slot. The car door slammed behind her as she run up to the front doors, yanking them open and stepping across the small foyer to the school office. The secretary behind the desk looked up.

“May I     help you?”

“Yes, I’m Raenne Andreyev. I was told my daughter was injured.”

“Ah, yes,” the young finch said, standing up and walking to one of the doors lining the office’s left wall. “She’s quieted down, but we kept her in the nurse’s office as you asked,” the finch said as she pushed the door open. 

Inside, Alex was sitting on a padded table with her leg propped up on a pillow. Surprisingly, Elizabeth was sitting on a chair along the back wall, and both of them were talking with a large bison in a pantsuit and a field mouse wearing a white doctor’s coat. All four of them looked up as the door opened. 

“Mom!” Alex called.

“Hey kiddo,” Raenne said, quickly walking over to her and giving her a hug. “You doing alright?”

“Umm...kinda...”

The bison turned around. “Ah, you must be Mrs. Andreyev,” she said holding out a massive hand. Raenne let go of Alex and shook it, noticing the odd fingertips, each of which ended with a hard black hoof-like tip. “I’m Sarah Sihásapa, the principal,” she said before waving a hand at the field mouse in the doctor’s coat, “and this is Nancy Gardner, our nurse. It would seem that Alex was being bullied today during second recess. Elizabeth here tried to defend her, and wound up getting pushed around. Her mother should be arriving shortly.”

Almost as if summoned by being mentioned, Julia stepped into the small nurse’s office, which was getting decidedly crowded at this point. She immediately went over to Elizabeth, kneeling in front of the tiny stoat and asking what had happened. 

Two minutes later, everything had been explained. Raenne’s face was a was a mask of barely contained anger. “So, you’re saying that these two boys physically assaulted a mere slip of a girl,” she said, gesturing at Elizabeth, “and sexually assaulted my daughter, who has a broken leg?”

The principal held up a hand, trying to placate the angry tigress. “I wouldn’t put it that way. Nobody was seriously injured, after-”

“No, I’m sure you wouldn’t put it that way, since you don’t want the school to be held responsible for the consequences or have it on the school’s record. Regardless, that’s exactly what happened,” Raenne said, pulling out her cell phone, “and that’s how I’m going to report it.” Raenne began tapping on the device, raising it to her ear after a moment. 

The bison’s expression fell as the woman began speaking, obviously talking to a member of the local police department. She sighed; this was going to require way too much paperwork.