Disclaimer : I highly suggest your read the afterwords. Really.

Review time :

Fox in the Hen House : As a matter of fact, I originally wanted to write a full sex scene, but I could not do it properly to save my life, so you will get stuck with foreplay ;)
More seriously, for those who could fear, or look forward to this kind of stuff, though there probably will be other kinky scenes, I will don't think I'll go into the details of what's happening under the sheets.

And now, the chapter ! I hope you'll enjoy it.

Judy woke up with a fleeting head. The sensation was strange, different. This night had been wonderful, and she knew it was because how strong her feelings toward her mate were. She took a look at her phone. 4AM. They'd have to get up in two hours. She went to the bathroom, and then to the kitchen, to drink a glass of water. As she came back to the room, she saw the sheets move. Had she woken Nick ?

She lied down, crawling toward him. She felt arms wrapping her, and a slight groan coming to her ears. Nick cuddled her in his sleep. She felt a nudge in her neck, the snout of her lover nuzzling her. She repressed a giggle and relaxed herself, trying to go back to sleep.

A nibble. This was definitely a nibble. She turned her head to look at the fox. Still sleeping. She went back to her initial position, surely he had done it in his sleep.

Second nibble.

"Nick ?" She whispered. "Are you awake ?"

"How could I sleep, when you're rubbing your cute little butt against my-" And elbow nudge shut him up.

"Go back to sleep, dumb fox."

"I'm afraid you woke up a hungry predator. Do you know what predators do when they'are awake and hungry ?"

"No ?" she asked in a meek voice.

"They hunt !" he said, fiddling the doe's tail with his paw.

"Meep !" In a half-second she had shot out of bed and was on the other side of the room.

Did I scare her ?

"Well, fierce predator-" she said while walking toward the door "If you want to eat this cute little bunny-" she opened it, turning around, showing her back to him, "come and hunt it !" she waggle her little tail, sending spikes of desire in the predator's brain. She had stepped in the living room, and dodged his grasp as he lundged to catch her, losing his step and stumbling against the back of the sofa. For a half-second, she was worried, but he went back on all four, chasing her around the appartment. If she didn't want him to catch, she could have avoided it, being more proficient than him in close quarter combat. But she let him get her, rolling around on the floor.

He had a large predatory smile, full of sharp fangs, as he began kissing and cuddling her, barely letting her any time to breathe.

It should frighten me, but it's the complete opposite. Worst survival instincts ever.

Each one of his movement, each caress seemed like it could sense where she wanted to be touched. There was something faint in the edge the bunny's subconscious that was pulling at her mind. As Nick's paws explored her, she let herself go and suddenly time seemed to slow down. Her fox's scent filled her, his contact was burning with more passion than before, every sense, every fiber of her body was turned toward him. The feeling was uncanny. If the last evening, sex had been tender and loving, she felt like doing something else. She rolled and pushed him on his back. Their eyes locked and she could hear a faint growl growing from his throat. She answered in echo. He bared his teeth in lust, and she did the same, slowly leaning forward, extending a paw reaching for him. He emitted a slight gasp as her paw found its target and began moving. A predatory grin grew on the doe's face as Nick couldn't keep himself from moaning and panting..

...

They hadn't gone back to sleep, they even almost skipped breakfast and barely made it in time to the precinct after a shared shower. Highly necessary shower. Nick knew foxes' mating instinct were strong but he could never anticipate how heavy they would weigh on him. Every instant, he had to fight himself to keep from touching, caressing, kissing his bunny. His bunny.

More than emotional attraction, it came from the farthest, deepest part of himself. A primal storm threatening to take control from the mammal at any time.
They were rolling around in the joke-mobile when Judy noticed the strange behaviour of her mate. His mood was all over the place, his ears and tail were violently twitching and his claws were buried in his palm. She pulled over to ask him about it.

"Nick, is everything okay ?"

"Mating instincts. They're crazy strong. If what bunny feel without hormonal suppressant is any close to this, I shouldn't have made fun of it."

"How do you feel ?"

"Great and horrible at the same time. I'm happy to be with you, but I really, and mean really want to- uhm. Basically, I want to be closer, and mostly naked."
Each breathe of her scent sent made him want to pull her closer, kiss her, to not give a crap about the civilian who could be watching.

"Oh. Do you want to call in sick ?"

"Right after our vacation ? No, I'll be okay. Besides, I don't think hormonal fox is a valid reason for sick leave. Tell you what, why don't we separate for now ? I think being close to you is not the best idea right now. I feel like I might jump on you at any time."
The idea made the bunny blush. She found herself not to be completely opposed to it. They agreed they should work sperately for the day and went on opposite ways.

Nick had written a couple of tickets, but whatever he did, his thought would jump back at the rabbit. That was how foxes felt toward their mate. It was the bond.

You're alright. You're okay, you're just doing your job, away from Judy, because you're a complete hormonal mess right now. She can take care of herself, of a few ticket while you're taking care of yours. She's big enough to do her job alone.

Alone.

And if she gives a ticket to the wrong guy ? She's not big, if the guy gets pissed, she could get easily hurt !

Nick was about to turn around and get back to his mate.

No. She's alright. Nothing to worry about. She knows how to take care of herself. It's not as if she would end up face to face with one of those drugged asshat going around with guns in their pockets.

Nick had stopped dead in his track. A sensation pulling at the back of his mind, but he couldn't tell if it was real or the product of his newfound paranoia. He smelled the air. Definitely something strange here. Smell of anger and frustration. Judy was in trouble.

He sprinted back to the last place he had seen her. She wasn't here, he looked around, smelled the air again and was able to make out the direction she had gone.

Sprinting again, he could hear the shouting voices but not comprehend what they were saying.
An angry hippo was leaning over the bunny, as she was writing a ticket. And clearly he was pissed.

Nick mind came from hazy to full protection mode, he went at a controlled pace and placed himself slightly behind his mate. Judy didn't react at her boyfriend approaching, but she felt his paws on her shoulder, that he had placed in a protective way.

"Hello good sir, is there a problem ?"

The hippo was slightly taken aback by Nick's arrival, but he didn't stop shouting at the now two officers.

"Yes, there is ! Your colleague is writing me a ticket, for only ten minutes over !"

"I understand that you're upset, but we're only doing our job."

"Your job ? Your job is paid my taxes. No wonder you two are on metter duty, no way a rabbit and a fox could make a proper cop !"

Nick felt the tension in Judy's shoulder. She had hardened enough to not get upset by those kinds of comment, but it didn't mean she liked it. The fox had to struggle to not show how the civilian's remark had made his blood boil.

"We worked as much as any officer to get where we are. No one made us any favor. Now sir, before you say anything you could regret to an officer of the law, I highly suggest you calm down, take your ticket and get going."

Judy felt the tension of her fox simply by his contact. Everything about him was different. His calm and nonchalent demeanor had disappeared.
The hippo's attitude seemed to change slightly, fright crept under the angry expression.

"She shouldn't have writ-"

Nick cut him mid-sentence, taking the ticket from Judy's paw and pinning it on the prey mammal's belly with a claw.

"Sir, if you have any grievance, you can contest your ticket in traffic court. Now get."

Judy glanced at the fox. Everything in his attitude claimed his dominance over the prey mammal. He staired down the hippo, who let his shoulder slump, turned around and left.

"Nick, what the hell was this ?"

"This was me putting back a civilian in his place."

He looked down at her, she was thumping, an annoyed look on her face.

"No, this was not. This was you bullying a civilian into submission." her tone changed from annoyed to upset.

"He had no right to shout at you." Nick felt a uneasyness creep in the back of his mind.

"That's my problem, I can protect myself." upset to pissed off.

"But-" his shoulder had slumped, he looked like he was making himself smaller.

"No buts, officer Wilde. If a civilian comes at me, you let me handle it myself. I don't need your protection, I'm an officer as much as you are !" she almost shouted, her anger rising dangerously.

Judy being upset at Nick, he felt cold spikes of remorse embed themselves into his mind.

"That's not what I meant ! He was- I was- " He felt her anger toward him like physical pain. The fox pinched his eyes and raised a paw breathing slowly. "Let's calm down. Stop shouting at me, please." He sighed. "I can't handle you shouting at me right now." died his voice.

Immediately, Judy calmed down, a worried expression replacing the angry one. Nick clearly wasn't in his usual emotional state.

"Nick are you alright ?"

"Nope." He sat down on the seat of the joke-mobile. "So not fucking alright. This bonding thing is making a number on me."

"Care to elaborate ?" she sat next to him, waiting expectantly.

He took a few breathe, slowly regaining his composure.

"Okay, here's the thing. I have a hard time keeping my paws off you, each time I see you, I feel drawn toward you. And if I don't see you, I can't stop thinking that you're in danger, that something is happenning or about to happen to you. But that's not the only thing. I inconsciously search for your scent. I thought letting some space between us would help but that's the exact opposite."

"Isn't there something like hormones supressents, similar to rabbit's, that you could take ?"

"Nope. It's usually only an inconvenience to foxes, so not a big deal for the rest of society. I'll be okay, I just need to keep you in visual range. And plug my ears if another civilian comes to bother you."

She squeezed his shoulder compationately.

"Okay, alright. I don't understand everything about this 'bonding thing', so let me ask this : how long will it last ?"

"If you mean the bond, probably years, I hope. If you mean my current state, I'd say about a week tops, four to five days if we're lucky. Afterwards, it slowly calms down. It's the early stage of the bonding that are the most- how to say this- emotionally violent." He made a slight pause, trying to put his thoughts in order "It's actually a good thing we're on parking duty. I'll be able to practice handling those emotions on the field, but with fewer risks."

Even in this state, his mind could focus on the practical side of things. The rest of the day, followed by the rest of the week passed without major incident. Nick let his partner handle the angry civilians, occasionnaly sending deadly glances to cool them down when he felt they were too threatening to his mate. Which was most of the time.

Time went by in a sort of haze for both mammals. Day was composed of ticket writing and night were composed of cuddles, kisses and lots of sex. Judy was impressed on how a fox could be able to follow a near bunny rythm.

As the week neared its end, Nick felt more and more stable, even being able to leave his mate alone for more than a few minutes without freaking out. Good thing because hearing him scratching at the door while she was on the toilet would surely have driven her crazy.

...

Nick went and slumped on the couch, it was finally their day off. He felt tired, not that the week had been physically hard, but his emotional state had taken a toll on him. On surface, he was the same again. He could as easily put and discard the masks, use calm and composed expressions, joke. But deep down, instincts, subconscious, they had greatly shifted, the bunny occupying a large part of it. And he loved it.

He heard Judy open the fridge and went to help her prepare their meal, probably left-overs from the day before.

"Nick what are you doing ?"

"I'm helping you rummaging in the fridge."

"That is not the fridge you are 'rummaging', silly fox."

"Woopsie, my bad." he said lifting his paws from where they were a moment before.

They put the food in plate and went to sit on the couch.

"How was the day for your troubled mind ?" she joked.

"It was okay. I've had the urge to maim civilian only two times so definitely an improvement."

"Good. I hope you will be able to keep the death stares at bay, it's not the image you should want to give as the first fox officer."

Although the bunny wasn't completely joking, it made Nick chuckle. Part of the change he had experienced was in how he reacted to conflict. He had some trouble with angry mammals but as long as their anger was directed at him, he had had no problem being his own charming and conflict-avoiding self. But as soon as Judy had gotten involved, his attitude immediately shifted to protective, and even downright dominant.

Before, if anyone had said to him he could stood up to mammals twice his size, he wouldn't have believed it. Now it seemed almost natural to him. He didn't know if he liked this or not yet.

Judy had noticed it too, her new partner's demeanor puzzled her. Sure, Nick was a confident mammal, or at least, it was what he showed. But the intimidating trait, it was the first time she had seen it. She trusted her partner to learn how to control it and use it in the right situation, but for now, he was still in a discovering phase.
Since appart from his first outburst, it hadn't shown to be an issue yet, she decided to not bring it up again. But she promised herself to not back down from the problem if the need arose to take care of it.

...

"Nick ?"

She was nestled, half-naked, in his arms. He had arranged the sheets and pillows to make sort of a little burrow. At first he had done it for fun, like a pillow fort, but during the week it had ended up becoming a habit. They both felt some sort of serenity buried and protected by the soft walls of their shelter.

"Yes Carrots ?"

"I've seen how you got because of the bond during the first few days since being, uhm-"

"Official mates ?" he proposed.

"Yes, official mates. I can't stop asking myself, what would've happenned if I had been a vixen ?"

"Two things : first you wouldn't have been this fluffy." He nuzzled her neck, sending her in a fit of giggles. "and second, you probably would've been the first vixen officer."

"I'm talking about the bonding thing, you silly fox."

"Your silly fox. I get what you're asking. If we would've both been foxes, taking sick leave would've been necessary."

"Really ?"

"Yeah. My mom told me that when she and dad mated, they had to stay home for a whole week. Trust me if you will, but compared to them, I was really calm and composed. And I am talking mood strings as much as sex. A few neighbors even went to complain because of the noise."

Judy hid her mouth with her paw, slightly blushing and giggling. Nick had no problem sharing his family history, even the private details that most people would keep under wrap. He never bothered wrapping the fact in silk fabric, stating things as they were. As long as it didn't directly involved him. Of course, she knew he would keep for himself the things he deemed to private to the parties involved in the events he related.

"As my mom told me 'when the third one came to knock, I thought I would rip the fucker's head off and shove it up his ass' but dad was able to keep her from doing so. Dad was the most protective and kept them out of trouble, she was more aggressive."

"Where do you think you stand on that spectrum ?"

"Honestly ? I don't know. I can make up a few hypothesis though, one of them being that since you aren't a vixen, I may end up having both the protectiveness and the aggressivity in equal parts. If that's so, I rather like it. You know me" he joked "I'm all about balance."

"Would it have been less complicated if I was a vixen ?"

Judy couldn't help to feel a little guilty about what the fox was going through. Because of her, he had to face situation few individuals of his species had faced before.

"Less complicated ? Yeah, but not only because of the bond. I'm more apprehensive of the social repercussions, as well as how difficult our job could become. And I don't wish to compromise the thing you've worked the most toward to throughout your life."

Nick had a more altruistic nature than he had shown during their first encounter. He was slowly revealing it to her and he was aware of it.

To anyone else he would have kept it hidden, but he wanted her to know. She made him want to become a better mammal, but that he could never admit.

"So again, yeah. The situation's complicated and how things will evolve are uncertain. This will turn crazier than it is now, and we'll have to fight to pull through, of that I am certain." He squeezed her inside his arms, a predatory and defying grin addressed to the world. "And as I said before, I can't wait to be part of it."

The End

Of Part One

And it's a wrap.

Part One was always intended to be a story on its own, even though I've (intentionnally) let a few of loose ends. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. (I don't think it's possible, I've had the time of my life on this work)

I know it's not really elegant to ask for this, but I'd really appreciate some full-fledged reviews of this work. I'm trying to improve my writing and it really would help :)

I'd like to thank in chronological order of review QsiM0t0, Foxlover91, gonekrazy3000, SS Killroze, Fox in the hen house, Saforite154, jamdea, Robert Escher, and a guest for having taken the time to leave a kind word, but also everyone that read that story.

You guys are awesome and expect more of my work in the future.

Meaning : expect it next week because that's when I'll start publishing part 2.

That's right guys, part 2 starts next week, please contain your excitment :)

The original ending included a joke stolen to TGWeaver and his comic The Late Stake. (Hilarious stuff, go find it.) But it's really better without it, gives it a better sense of accomplishment.

I'll put it there for you to enjoy. You could see this as an after-credit scene.

Judy buried herself more into her fox's chest, his words had reassured her. She decided they didn't to talk more about the topic.

"I don't know if I said it before, but I love this idea of your to arrange the bed in this makeshift den."

"You know how I love to bury myself in your little bunny-burrow."

She blushed instantly, having perfectly understood the dirty joke underneath his remark. She sent an elbow in his ribs, but not hard enough to hurt him.

"Nick !"

"What ? It's warm, and nice and I love it." His tone was still filled with humour as he was nibbling at her ears.

She turned around, pushing him on his back and sitting on his belly, slowly rubbing herself against him, approaching her face from his with a naughty smile.

"You know, it's more of a foxhole now."

Yep, I have no shame ;)