Page 66 of Their Marked Mate

Desperately needing an objective opinion, Luna sent the test results and a copy of Shannon’s interview to Carlos. It was probably a stretch to consider him objective. Still, he was as close as she could come. It was only natural for the females to want some say about the males who claimed them. Yet it was just as predictable for the hybrid males to fight for control of the process. There had to be a way to find a middle ground, but she sure as hell wasn’t seeing it.

She was reading back through Shannon’s test results for the third time when Carlos requested a holo-comm. She accepted the connection and smiled as a three-dimensional image of the handsome doctor formed above her datasheet. “Good morning,” she greeted. “Or is it afternoon already?”

“It’s afternoon, but just barely. How is Shannon? The first heat cycle for an omega can be terrifying.”

Luna cringed at the word omega. She hadn’t intended to transform human females into omegas, but that was exactly what she’d done. “Shannon is doing better than I expected. Her heat cycle struck without warning, but she appears to be taking it all in stride.”

“The acquisition phase will only last three days,” he reminded. “She needs to bond with everyone she wants within that timeframe. Once the stabilizer is injected, she won’t be able to form any more links.”

“I’ll tell her, but I think she’s already found the ones she wants to keep.”

“That part of her interview shocked me,” he admitted, but amusement gleamed in his dark eyes. “Lupine males allowed her to reject them? I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“Thanks to the omega formula, they didn’t have a choice.”

“It always comes back to biological investment, doesn’t it?” Carlos said thoughtfully.

She hadn’t really thought about it in those terms, but Carlos was right. Because females spent more time and resources producing and raising the young, females of nearly every species chose their mates. “I’m not sure Alex will see it that way.”

“Well, Alex is going to have to deal with it because the omega formula is remarkably stable and I would refuse to change a thing.” He thought about it for a moment then shook his head, “That’s too absolute. I wouldn’t change the injections, but I would change the protocols. The female needs to be supervised when she goes into heat, and the males must be controlled as they start reacting to her pheromones.”

She mulled over his suggestions for a moment then smiled. “There are a couple of tweaks I can make that might make the heat cycle less traumatic, but I think I’ll stick with the omega formula.”

“Good. It’s worth fighting for,” he concluded.

“I really appreciate your support on this. I don’t think I would have attempted it without you.”

He returned her smile, then asked, “Did you get a new scanner? Today’s data is a lot more comprehensive than what you sent me before.”

“The scanner is new, and where I got it is a long but interesting story.”

“Then let’s save it for next time,” he suggested. “I have somewhere I need to be.”

“All right. Talk to you soon.”

The comm disconnected and the display went blank. She still wasn’t sure what to make of Carlos, but she was thankful for his help.

Evelyn had warned Luna that she planned to visit Caden on the Azrithal, so she would be late to work. But it was well into the afternoon and Evelyn had yet to appear. Luna was about to send a runner around to ask about her friend, when Evelyn walked into the lab.

“Sorry I’m late, but I brought you presents,” Evelyn announced with a broad smile.

Tianna and Jill entered and waved at Luna.

“Your next injection isn’t until tomorrow,” Luna reminded. “Are you having symptoms or concerns?”

“We heard about what happened to Shannon,” Jill told her. “Is that going to happen to us?”

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?”