Page 156 of Galaxy Circus Act One

“Ah, little kitty, I can guarantee she wouldn’t want you to, and he isn’t as uninterested as he tries to convince himself.”

Lightning streaks through the trees, hitting one of them. It tilts and shudders before crashing to the ground, sending up a wave of snow.

“Huh, you know, I’m really surprised trees survive in such frigid environments,” Xavier comments as we watch the snow settle around it.

“They are native to Iceen and used to the environment, which actually has quite a bit of vegetation. The planet isn’t always completely frozen, since we do have a summer period. It’s nothing compared to what other planets have, to be sure, but it is nice,” I tell him as more screeching and growling can be heard, getting louder as I make out shapes moving toward us.

“Well, look at that, you do learn something new every day.” Xavier smiles at me. “Seems like they may have managed to wrangle the she beast.”

Saxon walks out of the trees, ushering Natalia, now in humanoid form and spewing profanities and threats, in front of him, her hands cuffed behind her back. Maxsim walks on her other side, still in cat form.

I frown. “How come she isn’t using her lightning to strike the general down? That’s not like her.”

Xavier smirks. “The cuffs block her ability to use her lightning. I’m not just a pretty face.” He winks at me, and I shiver. His power really is impressive, and he’s super sexy. It’s hard not to be affected when his full attention is on you. “That didn’t take long. Are you both okay?” he asks as they approach, but I smell blood.

I dart over to Maxsim and start running my hands all over his body to check for wounds. He butts me with his big head and rubs his cheek over my chest, scenting me, but I don’t find any injuries, so I turn my attention to the Vilaxian.

“I can smell blood. Are you okay?” I run my gaze over him and stop when I get to a tear in his pants on his right thigh. Blood oozes into the fabric, and he grimaces.

“She caught me off guard when that tree fell,” he admits sullenly and scowls at his prisoner who opens her mouth and hisses at him.

“My mother will kill you for this.” She turns and narrows her eyes on me with unfiltered hatred. “And you… I will make you suffer the most.”

“Yeah, yeah, blah, blah. How about you just be quiet, and we will pretend you did this big villain monologue?” Xavier dismisses her, and she tries to lunge at him, but she has no hope against the Vilaxian general’s strength. “I’m bored now. Let’s get this one into a cell, and then I can help you move all your things to Lila’s quarters so when she returns, it’s all organized.” Xavier is looking at Saxon, who smiles brightly, and I stare, shocked into silence.

Holy crap. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the general ever look quite so happy. Maxsim head butts me again, and he growls quietly, winding his body around mine. Fuck, I’m going to blame my approaching heat for finding all the beings around us attractive. Hopefully he will buy it. I run a reassuring hand through his fur.

“I’m just going to wait here. It will be safe now that she has been contained. If you hurry back, maybe we can continue what we started before the meeting was called,” I tell him, which seems to work.

He swipes his tongue over my thigh in agreement before leading the group back toward the door.

“Thanks for your help,” I call to the other two as they follow him, Natalia, now caught up and silenced by Xavier’s magic, floating behind them.

“Thank you for sharing the hunt and your alpha with me.” Saxon puts his fist to his chest and bows toward me. “He is a most skilled warrior.”

“Anytime, pretty kitty.” Xavier winks and blows me a kiss. “See you around.”

My skin prickles with goosebumps, and something flutters inside my stomach, but I turn and head back to our den. Maxsimbetter hurry the fuck up. I’m horny as hell, and I need him to knot me to ease the ache. Hopefully he doesn’t realize he isn’t the sole reason for my ache anymore. I’m not sure he would ever forgive me.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Lila

Link scans me and confirms everything is okay with the babies and my new body. When he tells me that my heart has enlarged and he needs to monitor it for a few days, I agree to let him inject a monitor under my skin. It will keep track of my vitals for the next day or two just to make sure everything is hunky-dory after my change. Once that’s done, he takes me back to the dining hall and orders me a crap load of food, which I proceed to consume.

“Oh my god, I think my babies have been joined by a couple of food siblings.” I pat my stomach, feeling full and satisfied and sleepy. “I could easily head back to my rooms, settle down on the couch in front of the picture window, and take a nap.”

“Well, I don’t have time for that shit, and neither do you.” Eric drank coffee while I devoured all my food, but now he’s looking at the display screen of his communications watch. “We need to get moving. You need to change and meet me back at the transport platform in half an hour.”

I groan, and Link holds out a hand to help me to my feet. “Come on, I’ll keep you company until Saxon has a moment to work with you on your new Vilaxian skills. You probably need to be careful around other people.” The caution in his voice mirrors my own thoughts, but I allow him to tug me to my feet.

“Yeah, about that. I’ve already—and this was purely accidental—shoved him into a wall. Believe me when I say I don’t want to do that to anyone else. He said the trick is to do everything super slowly, which will actually be normal speed if that makes any sense.”

Eric rolls his eyes. “But I need you to hurry up so we’re not late.”

“Yeah, yeah, slow your roll, Gramps. I’ll be there. You just worry aboutyoubeing there on time.” I can’t help the sass that easily rolls off my tongue.

“Fine, I will go check on my brother then and get changed. I’ll see you soon.” He hurries away without a backward glance, and Link and I exchange our own.