Page 79 of Guardian's Soul

"Well, they're the same on us four," Nova interrupted, then with a grin, looked from one of us to the other. "Strip."

"What?" Hannah cried.

"Just kidding." Nova giggled, another thing I hadn't expected to see. So far, Nova's expression had pretty much mirrored Raasla's closed-up demeanor, but suddenly, she was very animated, playful even.

All of us were staring at our arms at the moment to find the markings Nock had pointed out, and he was right. They did look identical to the ones on the wall.

"These here"—he moved the pointer to some more intricate marks that flowed in circles, looking like vines in part. He threw a meaningful look at Nova—"are very different on our samples. They should be the ones moving around your hip and thigh area."

Without fanfare, Noodar pulled down his pants to expose parts of his markings, taking care to keep his male parts hidden. "Yap, they do look different."

I glared a Hannah when she followed his example, making sure not to expose too much skin.

"What does that mean?" She wanted to know while she was at it and sidled up next to me. With a resigned huff, I rolled my pants partially down to satisfy her and the others' curiosity.

"Oh, look, this is different from mine," Hannah exclaimed, tracing the swirling lines with her finger, making me shudder and sending my cock on high alert.

The other couples, except Vraax and Sloane, did the same, exclaiming in the process.

"All right, what does that mean?" Raasla's deep voice interrupted the show of naked skin.

"These are names," Nock announced.

"Wethinkthose are names," Nova corrected. "We haven't deciphered the whole meaning yet."

"What else would it be?" Nock huffed.

"Let me take images of yours." Nova turned in a circle to look at all of us. "The three of us have a suspicion, but I don't want to voice it yet until we're sure."

"All right, while she's doing that, let's go get Possedion," Noodar announced. "She already has a copy of my marks, so whoever goes first will come with me."

"Hold on, it's my ship." I didn't like how Noodar seemed to want to take control of the mission one bit.

"He's got a point. Take him first," Zaarek asserted, looking at Nova.

Nova rolled her eyes, fully aware of the alpha powerplay that was taking place, and waved me outside. I was glad the markings didn't go all the way around my thigh, only the outside. I wasn't a shy person, but I don't think that flashing Nova would have gone over easily with either Hannah or Zaarek.

"Send Raasla next," she ordered.

Great, another person thought they were the alpha of our group. We needed to talk about this. Soon.

I went back, called for Raasla, and found Hannah talking to Zoe and Sloane. "Do you need anything from the ship?" I asked her. "I can get it while I'm getting Possedion."

"Well, I need?—"

"What are you love birds up to?" Zoe asked, joining us before Hannah could finish her request.

"I was about to ask Thrax for some tampons or some other magical cure… I think I just got my period. Which means"—she looked at me with a wry grin—"I'm not pregnant."

"Oh." Zoe giggled… what was it with everyone giggling today? "I can help with that. We don't exactly have tampons but something similar."

"Oh, good. By the way, I don't know about you and the others, but Thrax tested him and me, and supposedly, the men can get us knocked up," Hannah filled her in. I wondered if they had forgotten that I was here. Was this how females talked to each other when they were alone? I wasn't a prude, but this openness surprised me.

"Oh, I know they can." Zoe giggled some more.

"How do you… what?" Hannah stared at Zoe in awe, who nodded. "Sorry, Raasla, I know we said not to say anything yet, but it came up. Love you," she yelled out into the hallway.

"Say what?" Raasla yelled back.

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