Page 79 of Mated on Live

He could track where the messages had been received. Better yet, he had the subspace data needed to track back to where they were sent from. That he packed up and sent off to a guy he knew who could do subspace calculations. He also got the comm ID from the male who was identified as ‘Zot’ in the combot.

Zot was, as far as he could tell, not a name. It was a word in the shinuk tongue. It translated roughly to ‘fuzz’. Not fuzz like fur, but the shorter, harder bristles that the shinuk people sometimes had. They were considered an unsightly feature, and those who grew zot had them removed.

Serval wasn’t sure if that meant the male on the other end was chitinous and had such hairs, or if he really was furry and Prince Qui’tal didn’t like the feature, or even if it had nothing at all to do with him and instead was a nod to the animal trafficking. Without actually meeting the male or interviewing the prince, Serval couldn’t know.

But he had his comm signature, and he sent that to his tech guy to see what information he could glean from it.

He then started going through the saved photos and videos on the combot’s memory. Trying to find something that might help him track down the animal trade.

There were a lot of nude photos of females on this thing. Serval grimaced, checking the door to his father’s office he had borrowed for this, some part of him afraid Sophie would come walking through and immediately get angry.

But he had to investigate each shot. The backgrounds more than the females. Prince Qui’tal was definitely the kind of fool to bring females around an illegal operation to impress them, so there might be information there.

He couldn’t deny that he felt uncomfortable looking at all these females though. The pictures often went right past erotic and straight into the pornographic. The videos were the same. Prince Qui’tal didn’t have his face in any of them, but Serval quickly became familiar with his cock – and he was not happy about that.

But there was also plenty of evidence to add to the drug report. The idiot actually took photos of himself doing drugs, of his dealers, of the drugs and the credz he used to buy them. Some of the dealers were smart enough to look away, though not all of them were fast enough, and he had his combot set to take multiple shots in a row to make sure he got a good one.

For what, Serval couldn’t imagine. He certainly wasn’t showing these off.

Or maybe he was. In which case, wow, he was even dumber than he thought.

Serval’s own combot chose that moment to ring, alerting him of an incoming comm. He checked the ID first and groaned.

Korvii.

“I don’t want to talk to you,” he sneered at the device, even as he gestured for the combot to answer. “What do you want, Korvii?”

The holo recreation of the domini buffoon was smirking at him, crossing his arms.

“Just checking on you,” he said, doing a great job of sounding friendly.

The bastard.

“You’re comming to see if you can figure out anything about my story,” Serval said dully, seeing through him easily. “Or to brag. Probably both.”

Korvii laughed. “I mean, I do enjoy bragging. Did you happen to catch my Hela’s recent story? She did the whole presentation on her own, and my viewers love her.”

“Of course, they do,” Serval smirked. “She’s a break from your substandard reporting. I imagine anything would be a relief after that.”

Korvii smirked, fangs glinting. “Oh-ho! Look who’s feeling sassy today. What happened, Serval? Did your mate finally realize how inferior she is to my Hela?”

“Ha. We haven’t even seen your presentation. Unlike you, we’re too busy to bother with second rate reporters.”

“Yes, I’m sure you’re so busy on Wav’aii.”

Serval started, surprised. “How did…”

Korvii laughed, poking at his head. “Because I’m intelligent. When I found out that your human has her own channel on Earth, I connected to Earth’s net through the communication relays so I could see what she’s doing. Your family is cute, by the way. Not sure how they produced a cheap news reporter like you.”

Serval’s teeth ground tight. Annoyed. He gathered himself quickly, however, and forced a smirk. “I didn’t know you were so obsessed with me, Korvii, that you’d resort to stalking my female. If your substandard work isn’t keeping you busy enough, you should consider a hobby.”

“Still keeping me busier than you. You do your puff piece then immediately turn around and take a vacation? Are you getting too old for the game, Serval?”

“Ha! You wish.” Serval crossed his arms. “I’ve been waiting for a few leads to pan out. Working and introducing my mate to my family at the same time. Because I can do two things at once. I’m sure that’s difficult for you. We’re just about to leave, in fact.”

“Convenient timing, that,” Korvii said, grinning doubtfully.

“Not since you’re constantly calling and stalking me,” Serval returned, lip curling.

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