Page 67 of Their Marked Mate

Luna stood at a crossroads. It was possible to abandon the omega formula and go back to the one Babcock engineered, but her conversation with Carlos convinced Luna to stand her ground.

“There is another formula,” Luna admitted. “It would allow you to conceive without going into heat, but you would have no control. The males will choose and all you can do is accept or reject them. The omega formula… You know, I’ll just let Shannon tell you about her experience. You both know her, so I’ll let her speak for herself.” Luna went and got her datasheet and played the interview for Tianna and Jill. They listened intently, but their expressions hardly changed. Tianna seemed excited by the prospect of transformation, while Jill appeared terrified.

“As long as I don’t have to get naked in public,” Tianna said as the recording ended. “I’m omega all the way.”

Luna shifted her gaze toward Jill, but the younger woman still looked uncomfortable. “Shannon’s heat caught us off guard,” Luna admitted. “I won’t let that happen again. I’m going to make a small adjustment to the formula that should make the cycle less demanding. But you’ll be protected every step of the way. We’ll control when and how your mates are given access to you, but you will decide if any of them will make a good mate. Shannon was adamant about that. She knew instinctively which of the males would be good to her and which to avoid.”

Jill softened gradually. Her features relaxed as Luna spoke and then she nodded. “It would be really nice to regain control of my life.”

“Then I’ll give you the second injection tomorrow as planned.”

Both women agreed and then left the lab.

“That was unexpected,” Evelyn said a few minutes later. “I saw part of what happened to Shannon. I thought for sure you would punt.”

Luna lifted her hands. “So did I, and then I talked to Shannon. She said she would gladly go through it all again.”

“And what about you? You have a certain glow about you today. Are you officially the village alpha’s mate?”

“I am. We made it official last night.”

Evelyn gave Luna an enthusiastic hug. “Congratulations. I suspect I’m not far behind. I was attracted to Caden before, but I didn’t really like him.”

“Do I sense a ‘but’?”

“But something shifted in him after the challenge. He’s calmer and less self-absorbed. We talked for three and a half hours this morning and never ran out of things to say. Hayes said he sees it too. Nearly dying was good for Caden.” Evelyn shook her head. “I know that sounds ridiculous, but it’s true.”

“It’s not ridiculous. In fact, it’s not even unusual. A lot of people reassess when they stare into the hereafter.”

“I have hope for the first time since coming to Rydaria,” Evelyn said softly. “I can’t wait to be their mate.”

“Well, I hope they’re as good to you as Alex and Nate are to me.” Luna slid the datasheet toward Evelyn. “Now check my work. I want to make sure everything is perfect for Tianna and Jill.”

They had been working for a couple of hours when Avery and Natalie knocked on the door. Natalie looked furious, but Avery was fighting not to smile.

“That is the most irrational group of males I have ever encountered,” Natalie said, “and I regularly make presentations to congressmen!”

Avery couldn’t hold back her laughter then. “The alphas were horrible, but I would still take them over Senator Sanderson.”

“What happened?” Luna asked. “I thought it was all but over.”

“So did I.” Natalie tugged on her shirt and smoothed down her hair. “I greeted everyone and looked at Alex waiting for his answer. I expected a resounding yes.”

“That’s when the entire room exploded with arguments,” Avery explained. “We couldn’t get a word in after that. It reminded me of the news feeds of the English parliament. Now, those guys can really go at it.”

“We can’t leave until they make up their minds,” Natalie reminded. “I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to go home.”

“So am I,” Avery admitted, losing a bit of her levity. She looked at Luna and asked, “Do you care if we hang out here for an hour or so? It’s a long walk back to the ship and Alex said he’d send for us as soon as they reached consensus.”

Luna swept her hand toward the small living room. “Make yourself comfortable. Would you like something to drink?”

They both said no, but moved to the chairs and sat down. “How is Shannon?” Avery asked. “Has someone checked on her?”

“She’s doing really well,” Luna assured her. “I saw her this morning.” She looked at Natalie as she added, “Thanks again for the first responder’s kit. The scanner was incredibly helpful.”

“I’ll let you keep it even if those fools insist on being difficult.” Natalie pressed back into the sofa and rested her head against the wall. “The human females are dealing with enough. I’m not going to compromise your medical care because the males are locked in a pissing contest.”

The subject of medical care made Luna think of Carlos and she blurted, “What about Shadow City? Does your offer include the exotics?”