“You didn’t.” I draw her against me, already missing the feeling of her body against mine. “Sometimes, I need to walk away so I don’t hurt others when I snap.”
“I saw it.”
And she didn’t run?“That was just a twitch. When I’m focused, I can wreck entire mountains. Azrim, too.” I bury my face in the soft strands of her hair.
And I’d rather eat her thanwithher.
My Shifter perks up, begging for a taste, but I stuff him back down inside.
Not now.
“Zorin,” Rorsar calls to me, lowering his hand from his earcom. “Davarok and Kren are going to trade out with Onidus and myself. “Viriden is speaking with Earth’s command right now. He would like to do the assessment after the pool party tonight.”
“Can we just skip that?” I don’t think being in just swim trunks around Tessi is a good idea.
Davarok shifts upright beside Rorsar. “Nurse Fion is ready for Tessi now, unless you want to go on the creatures tour.”
I look down at Tessi, who shrugs.
“I’d love to know more about what’s going on with me and what has the Nebs so interested,” she says. “If it gets us through this so I can get on with my life, I’d like to do that.”
Kren stalks out beside Davarok, sits, and waits.
“Alright, to Viriden’s ship then, for testing. Please climb on,” I say to Tessi. “And no more riding other males.”
She gives me a look that sayswhat else was I supposed to do?
I drop to all fours, and she climbs on, hugging my neck and wrapping her legs around my middle. As we bound back toward the complex, I tell my M-pack about what happened.
Three of the Lunas in the ropes challenge threatened Tessi’s life, said that since she was with me, that she needed to be taken out to stop the bloodline. I’m sorry, I had to go on a walkabout. I didn’t want to risk snapping their necks and getting pulled from the mission.
Thanks for the update, brother.Rorsar replies.
Let me teach them a lesson,Kren replies.I am anxious for some fresh meat.
Davarok agrees.Let us handle them.
Just warn the pack please. They clearly don’t know or sense what we do about Tessi or the Myndrous. And that could end up digging us into a much deeper hole.
19: Tessi
I have never felt like a princess. But I have never rode on a wolf Shifter’s back at the front of a pack like some warrior babe leading a charge into enemy territory. Zorin, in his four-legged form, is larger than Rorsar, Davarok, and Kren. He is fast, dark, and warm between my legs. His black fur with its silver-frosted tips drifts and swirls with the wind.
Onidus runs alongside us, his pale white gold form blurring with each step like he’s enhanced or moves by way of magic.
Zorin eases his pace to a lumbering walk that sways my body with each step. Onidus remains beside us, the others behind as we enter the ABR race grounds. The few couples and singles who are not on the creatures tour whisper among themselves in the garden beyond the open race field and the benches along the exterior of the main complex building.
“What’s it like up there?” Onidus asks with a slight chuckle to his voice.
Zorin glances back at me as he continues toward the entrance.
I run my hands through Zorin’s thick, soft coat, and hate the idea that I’ll have to get down. “So much fun. Humans don’t run nearly that fast. And he’s hot so I don’t get cold.”
“Hot huh?” Onidus jeers at Zorin. Then he quiets like he doesn’t want to say what’s on his mind. “Looks like fun. Wouldn’t know. We can’t bond with Mindorans. We tend to burn their fur.”
“Can’t you shut it off?” I ask, lying down on Zorin’s back and soaking in the comfort of my big protector beneath me. Noticing a scar breaking up his fur, I spread his coat and run my fingers over it.
Zorin shudders. His posture rises with more pride.
