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Protective instincts I never knew I had flare to life. My sivot bristles from the other male’s interest. Why should I care if Qhix asks about her?
I've never fallen jealous over any female, even passed them off to other males without a single care once I was done rutting them. Why do I feel like tearing Qhix's arms off and beating him to death with his own appendages?
Qhix unholsters his laser blaster and takes aim. "Bliking dund, Navik! What is with the sudden hostility… and youreyes?"
My hands ball into fists at my sides. Pinpricks poke my palms as my claws begin to extend. The tightness of my pants around my legs warns me that my sivot is winning the inner battle that constantly wars just beneath the surface of my flesh.
"It's nothing," I murmur, deeper and rougher than normal. The voice of my beast. "Let's just get to work."
Qhix stares at me for a few more seconds before lowering his blaster. "Your flesh swirls like liquid. I would hardly say that is nothing. And your eyes flash white."
I take a deep breath and try to relax, but my heart still thunders wildly in my chest as an unfamiliar feeling coils inside me.
"Your corium is coalescing into a solid sheet around your arm." Qhix retreats in slow, careful steps. "She has awakened your sivot. You’ve knotted her."
Not a question and Qhix is no fool.
"She is mine to protect," my sivot hisses.
"Indeed she is." Qhix holds his palms up in surrender. "I have no intentions of coming between you and your chosen mate, Navik."
“She is not my mate,” I grit out.
Qhix's eyes widen and his jaw drops. He recoils back, and in that moment, I read fear in his eyes for the first time ever. Fear of me. Fear of what I can do now that my sivot has been awoken.
“Says you.” Qhix continues his careful retreat. “Yet your sivot seems to be having a bit of a disagreement.”
My muscles strain as I fight against the beast trying to consume me. My claws reach deep into my skin, drawing blood, before finally receding back into my body with a shudder of relief. I take deep, gasping breaths until my heart slows to a normal rhythm.
"You know raising a weapon on a fellow Star Maverick is forbidden." I lick the sharp point of one fang.
Qhix nods slowly and holsters his blaster. "My apologies, Navik."
I let out a long, shuddering breath as my sivot finally relents. I can feel the sharpness of my fangs slipping back into place, the burn of my skin healing over them. The taste of my own blood still lingers on my tongue, tinny and sweet, a reminder that I'm not wholly in control when it comes to her.
"Sivots haven't presented in millennia." Qhix squints at me. "How is it yours has been triggered?"
"I don't know, but I plan to use the beast to my advantage,” I say, my voice still thick with the sivot's influence. "I will take whatever I want, whenever I want it. I will be the most envied Star Maverick in the known Universe.”
* * *
CORA
I jolt awake at the metallic clanging. My heart hammers inside my chest as I scan the dimly lit room and wonder where I am. No longer caged inside my gilded prison in the warden’s bedroom, recent memories slowly return.
I'm on a spaceship with Navik, the notorious Kaul space pirate, and the sivot that lies in wait beneath his skin. The beast who has declared himself to be my protector.
I had eaten too much and Navik had rush to my aid, holding me up so I could empty my stomach. Sweet chamomile lingers in the air from the mist machine he thoughtfully set up to ease my nausea.
I push myself into a sitting position, the blanket Navik covered me with puddling around my waist. Yet another kindness I had not thought Navik capable of. He was full of surprises, my beastly space pirate.
The sheet I wrapped around myself has loosened from sleep. I tighten the wrap above my breasts at the distant mumbles of two male voices followed by more clanging. They converse in a companionable exchange. I recognize one of the deep grumbling tones as belonging to Navik.
I swing my legs over the side of the bed. Had I slept through the entire journey to Yeet? The second voice must belong to Navik’s Star Maverick brother, Qhix.
My feet touch the cold metal floor and I shiver, wishing for some warm socks. I stand, the chilly metal biting into the soles of my feet. Tightening the sheet more, I curse myself for leaving my robe, even though it’s soiled, in the other room where I had fulfilled my side of the bargain I struck with Navik.
I cross the room and raise my hand to the panel embedded in the wall, not expecting the door to open. My handprints had never worked on the control panels in the warden's quarters, so I figure I'll have to knock or holler through the metal slab for Navik to let me out. To my surprise, the door glides soundlessly open, and I step into the narrow corridor.
