Page 67 of Galaxy Circus Act One

“What’s the other problem?” John asks, ignoring his brother’s outburst.

“The male lightning cats came to the clinic.”

William stops waving and sits upright. He doesn’t bother hiding his surprise since he knows how private the cats are, which makes my explanation a bit easier to communicate.

“What is the problem with them?” He sounds curious and isn’t afraid to hide it, but John looks like he’s bracing himself for bad news. The grip on his coffee cup has his knuckles turning a little white, his jaw clenched with tension. Their reactions are polar opposite of one another, which causes me to suppress a laugh.

“They haven’t mated, have they?” John’s eyes become a little wild as his imagination sends him spiraling. “Fuck, that’s just what we need, them returning to their home planet. We do not have time to train a new streak as well as a new dragon and a naga in a few days.” John wrings his hands before downing his mug of spiked coffee. Although I can understand his concern, I have a feeling that what’s about to spill from Link’s lips will be worse. I run a hand through my hair, waiting to see if John will calm down, and his body finally relaxes a little.

“No, but Natalia is trying to force a mating. They think she’s trying to force them into a rut, and none of them have any interest in mating with her. Trace, Sim, and Fuse are actually interested in her younger sister, Minx.”

William nods behind his mug as John gets up to make himself another one. “Yes, Minx was who we were getting originally. She’s a spare heir, so to speak, but she is an omega, so she is in high demand. Her matriarch wanted her to get some life experience but was sending the male cats she wanted her to form a streak with as well. Those five males are from the most prominent families on Iceen.”

“But then Natalia showed up with them. She’s in line for the matriarch role as she is the oldest, but she’s a beta. We’re pretty sure the matriarch was going to overlook her for her youngersister, the omega being a more attractive option because she will have powerful alpha mates. It wasn’t until three days after we had left Iceen and were on the other side of the galaxy when we got a missive from the matriarch telling us we had the wrong daughter. How were we supposed to know that? Natalia had a forged letter from her mother telling us about the last-minute swap,” William grumbles, and his agitation over getting played is obvious. “That’s not our problem, but theirs. It turns out Natalia knocked her sister out and tied her up in a closet, and they didn’t find her for a while because they weren’t looking for her. The matriarch assumed she had left with us.”

Fuck. Who would have thought we’d have such an international shitshow on the ship? I can’t believe Natalia managed to get one over on the three brothers. It shows how crafty and cunning she is, which lends credence to why the male tigers are worried about her forcing a rut.

I’m just glad I’m not in Link’s shoes right now, because how he maintains his cool professionalism when talking about something this screwed up is beyond me. But I have a feeling this story is far from over.

“And because the female lightning cats are rabid bitches, the matriarch decided that Natalia had shown initiative, even though she lied, and if she could convince these men to mate with her, then she would be suitable to be the heir. So I guess Natalia is getting desperate now that we are close to returning to Iceen, which is the deadline,” John adds from between gritted teeth. If the guy was a cartoon, steam would be coming out of his ears.

“Holy shit, thank God I have normal parents. Mine don’t care about anything like that. They just hoped I wouldn’t mate with a kraken female who would kill me after breeding her.” I shudder at the thought, and William holds his mug up to me in a salute.

“Cheers to not being eaten by your wife, Caspian.”

Eric’s not here to make a sly comment, but I hear one in my mind anyway.

“The other issue is that Maxsim and Echo are a couple. Apparently Echo is a very rare male omega.”

“Holy shit! They almost never make it past their declaration. The female alphas and betas usually kill them.” John’s outburst is quite out of character for him, so I guess his Irish coffee is kicking in quickly. He sits back at his desk with another one in front of him, though I can’t say I blame him. The mating rituals of the lightning cats are new to me too, and I almost need a drink after the drama that has unfolded.

“His parents were very protective. Apparently one of his fathers is also one, so they protected him and were able to mask it somehow. He appears as a beta, but Natalia found out and has been trying to kill him.” John and William don’t look surprised to hear that, so they definitely know more about their mating rituals than I do. I’m pretty much speechless. “She wants Maxsim, though her being a beta is going to make breeding hard but not impossible. There are ways of triggering it if she’s using omega hormones. I’m not sure how she thinks she can take an alpha knot though.” Link frowns in thought, and I smile at his complete lack of guile.

“Maybe she likes pain,” I comment.

“Maybe.”

I look over at him to gauge his expression. He looks thoughtful before his eyes go blank like he’s scanning his memory banks, and he’s silent for a moment.

“Well shit, I guess we’re going to need a new troupe of cats,” William says to John as we wait for Link to do whatever it is he’s doing.

“Or you could just swap Natalia out for the original female,” I suggest. “It sounds like half the group wants to be with Minx. And maybe once Maxsim and Echo get to know her and shethem, they might gel too. It sounds like it would be dangerous for Echo to return to Iceen, and if he and Max are a couple, I doubt he’s going to want to either. Not to mention Lila didn’t do herself any favors when she accidentally hit Natalia in the ass with lightning. Getting her to perform for Lila may be near impossible.”

The two men can’t hide their snickers. The door to the office opens and Eric walks in.

“But it was strange how Natalia wasn’t able to absorb it,” John muses. “I thought that was a lightning cat thing.”

“It is, but it depends on the frequency. Some lightning cats can absorb other lightning, but if it vibrates at a different frequency, it can also be used as an attack. I guess Lila’s differs from Natalia’s. It could have been worse though. If it had hit someone else, it might have killed them,” Eric points out, taking a seat.

That sobers us all up as Link’s eyes come back into focus. “According to my search of the darknet, there is a black market drug that makes it possible for a beta to emit omega hormones that can trigger an alpha rut. This works with a lot of different species that have that biological trait. There also seems to be a high demand for betas who don’t mind if an alpha forces his knot. It seems that there are quite a few people who get off on giving and receiving that pain.”

“Do I sense a new line of Pleasure Bots in the making?” I joke as he makes notes on the screen on his arm.

“I got the feeling that maybe the betas weren’t there voluntarily. The forum I found had people talking about how they liked it best when the betas struggled.” Link’s words have a feeling of disgust washing over me. I guess it doesn’t matter where you go in the galaxy, there are dangerous people everywhere. “If we could provide them what they need, we could eliminate the need for betas to get hurt—unless they wanted to.We can even program in a struggle if that’s what they like about it. It’s disturbing, but there are people who like their bots to fight and scream.” He has that distracted look that he gets when he’s busy with a new idea.

Link really is perfectly situated to be part of the research and development division of the Pleasure Bots business. He sees all the different species throughout the galaxy and can learn from their needs and desires. Even though he works as our doctor, he still sends notes back to his father with suggestions. “I’m not actually sure why we haven’t designed a bot that can take an alpha’s knot. That’s definitely overlooking a big market and something that we should rectify.”

“Okay, so I guess that means it is possible, and if Natalia has her hand on that drug, then they are in danger. I will message the matriarch and tell her that Natalia is not a good fit for our show, and that we would like the original female promised. If she refuses, we’ll tell her that we will go with a new clan and offer the guys refugee status if they wish to stay. But their families are powerful, so they should be protected from any backlash. We may even threaten to tell them about what Natalia has been trying. The matriarch wouldn’t want them to pull their support from her. I think her family only rules by the smallest of margins.” John sighs. I know he doesn’t like confrontation, so I’m sure one of the other brothers will end up dealing with Natalia’s mother.