Chapter 2 #3
Going over to the exam bed, I activate my internal scanners and scan both Maxsim and Echo.
Stopping over Echo’s stomach, I marvel at the makeup of his reproductive organs.
They really are fascinating. Slotted behind his bladder are ovaries and a womb.
The uterus connects to the rectum with a single direction flap to allow sperm to pass into the uterus to fertilize the eggs.
The baby then develops inside the womb and is delivered through a birthing channel that sits behind the testicles on the male omega and only opens when the male omega is pregnant.
At all other times, this channel is sealed closed.
Before this, I never would have thought I would have to brush up on my knowledge of all the different breeding rituals for the species on our ship.
First the krakens, and now the lightning cats.
I need to add the information from the onboard database to my memory banks.
I should probably read up on all the other species on board too, because I’ll never know when I might need the knowledge.
Once finished with their scan, I inject Maxsim with the rut inhibitor and Echo with the heat inhibitor.
“Luckily for you, if Natalia is a beta, then she can’t go into heat, but it can’t stop her from artificially triggering a rut, though I’m not sure how or why she thought you were all going to breed with her.
The three of you are alphas too, aren’t you?
” I ask Trace, Sim, and Fuse, and they nod.
“Well, don’t you need to be able to knot your partner to breed? ”
“Yes, and her sister is an omega. Natalia actually needs a beta partner to be able to breed herself. It’s the only way they can breed, but she’s a little bitter at the fact that she’s not an omega and refuses to acknowledge it.
We also know that there are ways around a beta getting pregnant by alphas in this galaxy.
She’s probably been injecting herself with omega hormones or something.
The six of us never would have naturally worked as a streak,” Fuse continues to explain.
Trace shakes his head and snorts as if it’s the biggest understatement of the year.
“Well, the five of us would have with Echo, but us three already have a thing with Minx, and those two have a thing with each other,” he jokes, gesturing to the lot of them.
“Natalia hates that. But if she is injecting herself with omega hormones, all it’s going to do is change her scent.
Even if she manages to trigger a rut, she still can’t physically take our knots, so there will be no breeding.
That’s why omega hormones are illegal. The stupid betas end up being damaged when the alpha ends up hurting them through no fault of their own. ”
Silence descends over the room as all of us become lost in our thoughts.
I concentrate on the task at hand and run the same scan on the other three.
I inject them with the rut prohibitors as well before tossing the injector back onto a tray.
“Okay, your birth control is fine for all of you, and I injected the rut prohibitors. Just get through the next few performances on Earth, and then we can take care of your problem. If we send Natalia home now, we won’t have time to get a new cat up to speed on the act.
Only three more stops to go—Vegas, Asia, and Australia—and we’re done.
I think you’ll find Natalia will be too distracted by Lila to worry about you five, which should help you in the short term.
The boss men want her to start working with the acts sooner rather than later. ”
“Ah yes, the powerless human.” Maxsim grunts. “That’s going to go over well.” I don’t miss the sarcasm in his voice.
“The warlock is having a look at her today. I have a funny feeling that Lila isn’t as powerless as Dylan told everyone she is. I think she’s going to surprise people,” I bluff, hoping it’s true.
Echo and Maxsim exchange a look. “Well, let’s hope so for her sake. I wouldn’t put it past Natalia to use her lightning on Lila.” Echo sounds worried, and with good reason. That lightning would be deadly for her.
“I’ll mention it to Xavier and see if he can give her some kind of protection from any attacks, whether physical or mental.”
“She’s going to need it,” Maxsim says like he knows something I don’t.
I deactivate the soundproof barrier and follow them out, waving goodbye without uttering another word. Josa has returned to the reception desk, and he’s filing his nails.
“What was that about?” he questions, nodding at the cats as they leave.
“Patient-doctor confidentiality, Josa. I can’t tell you.”
His eyes slide to the console, so I go back into my exam room and check over my firewalls on the client files just to make sure he can’t get into them.
I wouldn’t put it past him to snoop, just like he did with Lila, and then tell Natalia what occurred.
He would revel in that kind of discord. Once I’m assured it’s secure, I step back out, locking the door to my exam room behind me.
“I’ll be out for a while. Message me if there’s an emergency,” I tell him.
He sits up straight, his eyes wide. “Where are you going?” he demands, but I don’t respond. He’s still sputtering when the door shuts and I leave him behind me.