Page 86 of Victoria's Discovery

No more of this hesitant, self-doubting, letting-them-take-the-lead business. She was getting answers, damnit, even if she had to pry them out with her fucking teeth.

Besides, Aria expected a report, and there was no way in hell Victoria was going to tell her she’d chickened out.

Chapter 42

Victoria stalked across the sand of the arena determinedly, gaze set on the door in the wall just ahead.

She’d tried to hunt down Thegan first but hadn’t had any luck, and the computer didn't know where he was, either. Not to be discouraged, and knowing exactly where she could find Vi’kail, she headed to the animal enclosure.

Now that she was almost there, her heart was pounding and she was more than a little nervous, but she’d made up her mind. This was happening.

Reaching up, she gave Snitch a scritch on the head, and murmured, “We’ve got this. It’s going to go well.”

Once inside, she paused, not entirely sure where to go. The enclosure was massive and split up into sections, so the various species didn’t wipe one another out. But, in which one would she find Vi’kail?

Chewing her lip, she decided to go right, only to jerk to a stop when Snitch tugged sharply on her curls. Following his outstretched arm with her eyes, she pivoted and went left instead.

“I knew that.”

“Pthbthhh.”

“Did you just raspberry me, you little beast?” she demanded with a quiet laugh.

“Mrp!”

Following his directions, Victoria went deeper inside, into another section, and through a small forest of remarkably weird trees that looked like giant mushrooms, before she finally caught Vi’kail’s voice up ahead near a barn.

“Very nice, my girl. Once more.”

Slowing her steps and being as quiet as possible, she peeked around a tree and saw him standing maybe thirty feet away in a wide, open section of land, surrounded by… she didn’t really know what to call them. The animals were the size of large horses, at least six feet tall at the shoulder, and reminded her of a cross between wolves, lions, and foxes, if any of those were made of magic.

They were almost unbelievably beautiful, and Victoria found herself frozen, staring at them in awe.

She zeroed in on one in particular. It was slightly bigger than the others, but that wasn’t what caught her eye. It was her bearing, and she was definitely a female.There was a stillness to her, a calm, but sharp, kind of watchfulness. If Victoria had to guess, she’d say that was the alpha of the pack.

Her black-furred face was delicate, even as it was also fierce, and reminded Victoria of statues of Egyptian hounds with tall, pointed ears and a triangular shape. The intelligence in her red eyes was plain to see as she stood at Vi’kail’s side, gazing alertly at her pack, adding yips and low, undulating growls to the commands he voiced.

She had a thick lion’s mane, poofy and spiked in a riot of striped reds, whites, and purples that started just behind her ears, flowed down her chest, and back to her shoulders. Those stripes faded into sleek black fur before once again becoming that riot of color in a tail so fluffy it put a fox’s to shame.

Prying her eyes away, she scanned the pack. No two had the same colored fur, though she could see similarities in some, making her wonder if they were related or came from the same litter, if they even had litters.

Victoria had just begun to look away when they shifted, revealing one that had her gasping softly.

She’d thought the alpha had to be the prettiest, but she’d been wrong. That one, standing at the back of, and slightly apart from, the pack was absolutely breathtaking.

Pale, neon turquoise mixed with deep purple and white fur to make her stand out even among the fluffy rainbow of the rest. Her mane was smaller, meaning she was likely younger, but to make up for that, her tail was massive, thicker than even her body.

The need to pet all that soft fur was almost unbearably strong. Victoria had to curl her fingers into her palms and plant her feet to keep from walking forward in a greedy, outstretched-hand daze.

Knowing her restraint wouldn’t last if she kept staring, she forced herself to look away, but a shirtless, muscled, sweaty Vi’kail wasn’t any easier to resist.

I just know I’m going to die someday trying to pet something I shouldn’t. The only question is, is it going to be a man or an animal?

Biting her lip, she stood in the shadows like a creeper and took the rare opportunity to just stare at him. She slowly traced every rippling muscle with her gaze, taking in the breadth of his shoulders, dabbled with bright orange splotches, eye-catching against his olive green skin, down his thick arms, his wide, brawny chest, to a swoon-worthy eight-pack put on delightful display by his low-slung pants.

Making her way back up just as slowly, she finally stopped on his face. Damn, but he was almost unfairly handsome.

His face was all sharp cheekbones and harsh angles, chiseled jawline and thick brow angled in a permanent look of intensity. All that should’ve combined to make him look scary, and he did, but there was just enough softness in his cleft chin and the shape of his lips to turn that scary into something dangerously sexy.

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