Page 76 of Victoria's Discovery

Really on a roll now, she pointed at Rellik. “And you! I’ve seen the way she looks at you. Okay, so yeah, polyamorous relationships aren’t super common for humans, and, yes, I’m sure she has some reservations about adding you and Thrasin to her, er, harem because, my god you can just see how intensely she loves Tirox and Kix, so she’s probably worried about messing that up. But, it’s not really her that’s holding back, is it? It’s you. Both of you. Now, I don’t know what kind of issues you’re working through, Rellik, but are they really so bad that you can’t work through themwithher? I get that y’all are in kind of a complicated situation. It’s not just Aria you’d be in a relationship with. But, I mean, really, there’s nothing stopping you from talking to her mates, getting a feel for their thoughts on you trying to woo her. Honestly, I’m pretty sure they already know you’ve both got it bad for her.”

Catching her breath after that rant, she leaned forward to brace her elbows on her knees and softened her voice.

“I don’t think y’all needed advice on how to woo her. You needed to be told it’s okay to do so. I give good pep talk and I’m more than happy to cheer y’all on and help if you need me, but y’all have to make the choice here. Are you brave enough to put yourselves out there? To take the chance? I truly believe you’d make great mates for her, but if you don’t believe that, too, well, you might as well call it quits now. Either way, no more stalling. Make the choice. Because I think you’re hurting her by hesitating.”

They both looked like she’d just punched them in the face, which made her feel bad, but they’d needed the wakeup call.

“Once you decide for yourselves, I would definitely suggest talking to her mates, but then you just need to find time to spend with her. One-on-one time, like the dates I mentioned earlier. Be open and honest and just talk with her.”

The sound of someone clearing their throat startled them all into whipping around to find Aria standing in the doorway gazing at the three of them with suspicion.

“What are you three plotting in here?”

Victoria exchanged wide-eyed glances with the men and could tell they were all wondering the same thing: how long had she been standing there, and how much did she hear?

“Uhh, world domination?” Victoria offered, smiling hopefully.

Aria’s cocked brow didn’t give Victoria the impression she totally believed that, but she only hummed and said, “Interesting.”

Chapter 38

It took Thorn and Thegan entirely too long to locate Vi’kail, but they finally found him in the animal enclosure working with a pack of odd-looking beasts, training them to patrol at Aria’s request.

“What did you do?” Thorn growled by way of greeting.

The bastard at least had the honor to not look confused at the question. Instead, his shoulders slumped, and his expression turned weary. He tossed a few scraps of meat at the very toothy animals and gave them a command, prompting them to break the formation he’d had them in, then turned to face him and Thegan.

“I crikked up.”

“Explain.”

Facing them fully, he propped his hands on his hips. “I caught Vee tailin’ a female. She said she had a bad feelin’ about her. I couldn’t leave her to do that alone, so I joined her. Everything was fine, until we were caught between the female and someone approachin’. We ducked into a utility closet.” He paused, gaze going distant.

“And then,” Thorn prompted lowly.

“And then… it was a small closet. She– I… We—”

Understanding had Thorn’s lip curling back in an angry snarl. “You mated with her!”

“No. Close, but no.”

The male’s expression told Thorn exactly how close they’d been to mating, but that did not explain the guilt and regret twisting his features.

Thegan made an angry sound at his side. “I can guess you did something foolish afterward and upset her.”

Vi’kail glared at Thegan for a moment, but grimaced and admitted, “Yes. I… she thinks I regret touchin’ her. I do. But not because of her.”

Thorn grit his teeth, trying to hold back, but it was a losing battle. The realization that he and Thegan had moved out directly on the heels of Vi’kail’s blunder added fuel to the fire, layering his anger with guilt until the emotions roiling in his gut were too strong to deny.

With a low growl, Thorn snapped and surged forward, Thegan charging with him. Anticipation flashed across Vi’kail’s face as he met their attack with relish.

They came together with a flurry of fists, snarls, and grunts. Thorn did not want to actually kill the male so, while his blows were meant to hurt, they were not aimed to kill. But, by the Gods’, the fool would definitely be aching when they were done with him.

A short while later, having thoroughly worked out their aggression on one another, they sat slumped against the barn, breathing heavily and all sporting more than a few bruises.

Rolling his head to the side to peer at Thegan when his friend exhaled heavily, Thorn caught the grimace that passed over his face. “We moved out of her rooms shortly after your idiocy.”

Vi’kail jerked forward on Thorn’s other side to gape at Thegan. “What! Why the crik would you do that?”

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