Page 118 of Galaxy Circus Act One

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.

I see a range of emotions cross his face—intrigue, relief, and happiness followed by annoyance, anger, and guilt.

“Please, Cas, don’t do me any favors, okay?”

“Ah, there you are.” John Adams pushes into the dressing room, followed by his brothers. Shit, I hope they didn’t hear what we were talking about, but I can tell by the looks on both William’s and Eric’s faces that they did. Both are frowning, but thankfully neither of them says anything, though that’s not to say they won’t later.

John carries on, oblivious to the tension in the room. “Today’s show was magnificent, and I can’t thank you all enough.” He looks around and then frowns. “Where’s Tirrian?”

“The others took him somewhere to cool off after he attacked Lila,” I answer.

“Good, he’s on thin ice already and he’s only performed once. See to it that he doesn’t fuck up again,” William tells us both with a heavy sigh.

“Anyway, we want the show to be like that every time. Involving Lila in the act was perfect. We’re going to keep incorporating her into more and more, hopefully,” John continues.

“Really?” I ask, sounding a little skeptical, even to myself. I don’t know if I’ll be able to handle her hanging from high wires or anything. I’d be constantly stressed about her falling.

“Yes. Lila has a background in gymnastics, so we’re hoping once she becomes Saxon’s blood rose, she may want to be involved in their act too. But for now, we will leave her with yours and the Aquilians’.”

Eric chuckles. “She’s going to be pissed, so how about you let her know about that, Caspian?” he says, and the brothers make a quick exit, not waiting to hear our opinion on any of it. Chicken shits.

Silac sighs and drapes himself across the couch, not looking at me.

“Look, man, I’m happy for you and all, but I kind of feel like you’re pimping me out to your wife and… isn’t that kind of weird? Why isn’t your beast furious about it?”

I sit down on the couch, leaving enough distance between us so it doesn’t look like I’m getting too cozy with him. “Lila is carrying our eggs,” I tell him gently, unable to hide how thrilled I am, and his eyes widen before they soften with sadness.

“Ah, man, that’s awesome. I’m so happy for you.” He leans in and gives me a hug and a slap on the back. It’s not like he would have touched me when we were lovers, more like a bro hug.

“My beast is so secure in our mating he now wants to play. He has already started propositioning Link, Lila’s cyborg boyfriend, and he perked right up when I suggested you to the Adams as a replacement for Dylan.”

“Dylan was the dragon Tirrian replaced? He attacked your mate?” he asks carefully, and I nod.

“Yup.” I don’t go any further. Telling Silac it was for the same reason that he’s now upset about would not go over well.