Chapter 9 #3
She’d planned to have this conversation with them tomorrow, but clearly they needed reassurance.
“Come sit down. This isn’t a two-sentence conversation.
” They walked over to the living room and sat down before Luna began her explanation.
“As you heard, Shannon went into heat last night and it triggered bonding fever in her genetically compatible males. I thought I had bypassed the reaction, but obviously I was wrong.”
“Then we are going to go into heat like that?” Jill sounded horrified. “They said she was naked and going at it in full view of a cheering crowd.”
Tianna surprised Luna by laughing. “That’s a bit wild for my taste, but I heard she was seriously into it.”
“I’ve spoken at length with Shannon,” Luna stressed, “and she assured me that she was not only a willing participant. She was in control. She could sense her mates so clearly that she easily decided who was worthy and who needed to be rejected.”
“Go, Shannon,” Tianna grinned. “When will this happen to me?”
“I don’t want that to happen to me,” Jill cried. “Can you keep it from happening?”
Luna stood at a crossroads. It was possible to abandon the omega formula and go back to the one Babcock engineered, but her conversation with Carlos convinced Luna to stand her ground.
“There is another formula,” Luna admitted.
“It would allow you to conceive without going into heat, but you would have no control. The males will choose and all you can do is accept or reject them. The omega formula… You know, I’ll just let Shannon tell you about her experience.
You both know her, so I’ll let her speak for herself.
” Luna went and got her datasheet and played the interview for Tianna and Jill.
They listened intently, but their expressions hardly changed.
Tianna seemed excited by the prospect of transformation, while Jill appeared terrified.
“As long as I don’t have to get naked in public,” Tianna said as the recording ended. “I’m omega all the way.”
Luna shifted her gaze toward Jill, but the younger woman still looked uncomfortable.
“Shannon’s heat caught us off guard,” Luna admitted.
“I won’t let that happen again. I’m going to make a small adjustment to the formula that should make the cycle less demanding.
But you’ll be protected every step of the way.
We’ll control when and how your mates are given access to you, but you will decide if any of them will make a good mate.
Shannon was adamant about that. She knew instinctively which of the males would be good to her and which to avoid. ”
Jill softened gradually. Her features relaxed as Luna spoke and then she nodded. “It would be really nice to regain control of my life.”
“Then I’ll give you the second injection tomorrow as planned.”
Both women agreed and then left the lab.
“That was unexpected,” Evelyn said a few minutes later. “I saw part of what happened to Shannon. I thought for sure you would punt.”
Luna lifted her hands. “So did I, and then I talked to Shannon. She said she would gladly go through it all again.”
“And what about you? You have a certain glow about you today. Are you officially the village alpha’s mate?”
“I am. We made it official last night.”
Evelyn gave Luna an enthusiastic hug. “Congratulations. I suspect I’m not far behind. I was attracted to Caden before, but I didn’t really like him.”
“Do I sense a ‘but’?”
“But something shifted in him after the challenge. He’s calmer and less self-absorbed.
We talked for three and a half hours this morning and never ran out of things to say.
Hayes said he sees it too. Nearly dying was good for Caden.
” Evelyn shook her head. “I know that sounds ridiculous, but it’s true. ”
“It’s not ridiculous. In fact, it’s not even unusual. A lot of people reassess when they stare into the hereafter.”
“I have hope for the first time since coming to Rydaria,” Evelyn said softly. “I can’t wait to be their mate.”
“Well, I hope they’re as good to you as Alex and Nate are to me.” Luna slid the datasheet toward Evelyn. “Now check my work. I want to make sure everything is perfect for Tianna and Jill.”
They had been working for a couple of hours when Avery and Natalie knocked on the door. Natalie looked furious, but Avery was fighting not to smile.
“That is the most irrational group of males I have ever encountered,” Natalie said, “and I regularly make presentations to congressmen!”
Avery couldn’t hold back her laughter then. “The alphas were horrible, but I would still take them over Senator Sanderson.”
“What happened?” Luna asked. “I thought it was all but over.”
“So did I.” Natalie tugged on her shirt and smoothed down her hair. “I greeted everyone and looked at Alex waiting for his answer. I expected a resounding yes.”
“That’s when the entire room exploded with arguments,” Avery explained. “We couldn’t get a word in after that. It reminded me of the news feeds of the English parliament. Now, those guys can really go at it.”
“We can’t leave until they make up their minds,” Natalie reminded. “I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to go home.”
“So am I,” Avery admitted, losing a bit of her levity. She looked at Luna and asked, “Do you care if we hang out here for an hour or so? It’s a long walk back to the ship and Alex said he’d send for us as soon as they reached consensus.”
Luna swept her hand toward the small living room. “Make yourself comfortable. Would you like something to drink?”
They both said no, but moved to the chairs and sat down. “How is Shannon?” Avery asked. “Has someone checked on her?”
“She’s doing really well,” Luna assured her. “I saw her this morning.” She looked at Natalie as she added, “Thanks again for the first responder’s kit. The scanner was incredibly helpful.”
“I’ll let you keep it even if those fools insist on being difficult.” Natalie pressed back into the sofa and rested her head against the wall. “The human females are dealing with enough. I’m not going to compromise your medical care because the males are locked in a pissing contest.”
The subject of medical care made Luna think of Carlos and she blurted, “What about Shadow City? Does your offer include the exotics?”
“The what?” Avery asked, eyes wide with confusion.
Natalie looked almost as confused as Avery. “I read about the exotics, but I didn’t realize any of them survived the evacuation of Nuevo Biotech. There are exotic hybrids on Rydaria?”
“Oh, they’re alive and well and living in a place called Shadow City,” Luna told her. “I’ve never been down there, but they have technology more impressive than anything found topside.”
“You said down there and topside,” Avery pointed out. “Is Shadow City underground?”
Luna nodded. “The city was abandoned decades ago, and the exotics have fixed it up.”
“Just how ‘exotic’ are they?” Natalie sounded hesitant as if she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.
Luna made a helpless gesture. “I’ve only met one inhabitant and he looks completely normal. His name is Carlos and he’s the physician that’s helping me with the transformation program.”
Avery and Natalie looked at each other, then Natalie let out a frustrated sigh. “Sounds like I need to do some digging. If there’s a fourth village, I need to know more about it. Luna’s right, they might need to be included in the alliance.”
Avery dropped her head back and let out a sorrowful cry. “But I want to go home,” she whined playfully.
“You and me both, Senator. You and me both.”
Shannon’s image flared within Luna’s mind, and it gave her an idea. “I don’t know much about Shadow City, but I might know how to end the stalemate.”
Natalie and Avery both looked at her with rapt interest. “Do tell,” Natalie encouraged.
“The alphas love one thing even more than arguing.”
“Beating the shit out of each other?” Evelyn asked with a chuckle.
“Yes, but that’s not what I meant. Women,” Luna said firmly. “Unclaimed, ready to fuck females.”
Natalie’s eyes widened as she realized what Luna had in mind. “And I have sixty of them in the hold of my ship.”
“Exactly,” Luna enthused. “Your offer is theoretical right now. It’s not real to them. So, round up the flesh-and-blood females and march them over to the clubhouse. I bet that will shut the alphas’ mouths.”
Natalie studied her for a moment, eyes narrowed on her face. “You’ve got it almost right. I’ll provide the females, but the village alpha’s mate is going to lead the parade. If you walk into the clubhouse with sixty potential mates at your back, they won’t have a choice but to pay attention.”
“I’m game,” Luna assured her. “I love a parade.”
“Give me a few minutes. I need to make sure all the females are presentable.” She stood and walked across the room as she said, “Comm request for Commander Megoni. Emergency interrupt.”
Natalie stepped outside, so Luna didn’t hear the rest of the conversation.
“You said that Shannon is doing well,” Avery digressed once Luna returned her attention to the pretty senator. “Are you going to be able to prevent that sort of thing from happening in the future? It sounds like things got out of hand.”
“I’m going to tweak the formula, see if I can make the heat cycle less overwhelming,” Luna explained. “But the omega formula allows the female to maintain control over the bonding process, and control for a female is hard to come by on Rydaria.”
“Are females bonding with wolf shifters the only ones who need this transformation?” Avery asked.
A certain intensity in Avery’s expression made Luna laugh. “Is your interest strictly professional or has one of our males captured your attention?”
“More than one,” Avery admitted unabashedly. “That doesn’t mean I’ll volunteer, but damn. Some of these hybrids are fantasy worthy.” Her gaze suddenly shifted toward the door and she said, “The parade of volunteers is starting. Let’s go watch the alphas crumble.”