“Lila, I’d like for you to meet my best friend, Silac. Silac, this beautiful woman is my mate, Lila.” I hold out my hand for him to shake, and he slowly reaches out to take it. As my eyes meet his, I wobble a little, feeling faint all of a sudden. His reptilian pupils seem to swirl, and I can’t take my eyes away from him. It’s like when Xavier sank into my mind to look for my powers but different. It’s almost like I can catch a hint of his thoughts.
Beautiful… sssssssexy… Casssspian… sssssso lucky…
They cut off abruptly and he pulls his hand away, frowning. “Nice to meet you, Lila,” he says and then quickly slithers away from us.
I look at Caspian in dismay. “What was that? Did you hear that? Did I do something to insult him?”
His brows are furrowed as he watches his friend disappear. “I’m not sure. What did you hear?” he asks, and I frown, following the sexy snake with my gaze.
“It was kind of like what my beast sounds like inside my head, but the voice was different. It sounded sibilant, lots of hissing.”
He turns to face me swiftly, his eyes wide with surprise. Leaning in, he gives me a kiss. “Why don’t you head to the hotel, and we will see you soon, okay?” He absently gives me another quick kiss before he hurries after his friend, his tentacles moving him hastily in the same direction.
I stare in the direction the two shifters went, but me going after them probably won’t help.
What the fuck is wrong with me today?
“Ready?” Xavier’s hand on my arm distracts me from my shitty thoughts and has me smiling at his mist-shrouded form as I turn to my warlock lover.
“Absolutely. I can’t wait to get back so you can get rid of your disguise. I missyou. Let’s go.”
Caspian
“Silac, hey, wait up!” I call after my friend who has shifted back into his humanoid form and is hurrying for our dressing room. I do the same, and when I finally catch up to him, he’s wiping off his stage makeup and won’t look at me when I come in.
“Hey! What was all that with Lila?” I ask him, and he still doesn’t look at me.
“What was what?” He tries to sound unaffected, but it comes out strained. I know him well enough to know when he’s bullshitting me.
“Your reaction to Lila. I was hoping you would like her as much as I do,” I reply, and he sighs, puts down the makeup-covered wipe, and turns to me.
“Look, I guess I was surprised. I know we haven’t been a thing for a long time, and we agreed to just be friends, but when you called me to join the show, I thought you had finally changed your mind. When you said you had a surprise, I assumed it was because you wanted us to be together.”
Fuck my life.
Seriously. How does this keep happening to me? Images of Dylan’s tantrum and his threats toward Lila flash into my mind, and I start to get angry.
“You know very well neither of our beasts would accept each other as mates. I can’t believe you’re doing this to us. I thought you would be happy that I found her.”
He brushes a frustrated hand across his cobra hood—in this form he has no hair—and hisses his annoyance at me.
“I know, but you can’t blame a guy for getting his hopes up. I am happy for you, she really is something special. My beast was instantly attracted to her, which is why I picked her out of the audience. I hadn’t even realized the brothers were on either side of her. It just kind of took over and forced it.”
Fuck! Thank goodness it wasn’t a random audience member. Silac won’t look me in the eye, so I know there’s something he’s not telling me.
“I know exactly how you feel. My beast did the same thing the first day I met her. He tried to shove his way forward, but I managed to hold him back. We got stuck together in a pod during Earth takeoff, though, and she was open and accepting of my half form and we fooled around.” I don’t want to give him the details, that’s for Lila and me only. “Before I knew it, my beast had her mated before we hit the moon’s orbit.”
I see the guilt in his eyes before I finish. “Fuck, man, I’m so sorry. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea for me to be here. I don’t think my beast is going to get the memo that Lila is off limits. It would probably be better if you brought in someone else. I can recommend a family member if you still want a Naga.”
I quickly shake my head. “Silac, the interest is not one-sided. Through our bond, I can feel that she was majorly turned on through the act, and even now, despite you being an ass, she was still emitting those fuck me vibes. Couldn’t you feel them?”
“Yessss,” he hisses, “but I was trying to ignore them.”
“Why?” I ask, and he does a double take before hissing once more. “Why would you want me to be interested in your mate?”
“Lila is Skarrian. They are mostly polyamorous. She is also the intimate of a warlock, the blood rose to a Vilaxian, and has a cyborg boyfriend. There is also an Aquilian sniffing around, but I’ll worry about him later.” I look at my best friend and ex-lover’s shoulder, but Lila’s mark is not there—yet.
I know they are both warring with their feelings. Silac is struggling because he knows Lila is my mate, and Lila is fighting it because she’s worried that she’s collecting more mates than she ever dreamed of. But I think if the two of them spent time together, it would quickly form. I just need my friend to show her how wonderful he is. I think the two of them would be perfect for one another, and I can’t deny I want him to join our family because he deserves a chance at a happy life.
