"Ara?" she giggled with her tail swaying in hypnotic arcs behind her plump rear. "I sense a great deal of inner turmoil! Do you suffer from trauma, perhaps?~ Poor boy~"
Her tone was mocking, though not cruel. Just amused. Like a cat toying with a mouse that thought it was a wolf.
Jack’s face twisted into a scowl.
"Watch your mouth, freak," he snarled. "This is our guild. I don’t care what you used to be! You’re tame now. A pet on a leash."
Instead of taking offense at the man’s incredibly rude comments, Bastet gave a pleased sigh and leaned into Kaiden’s shoulder, moving up and down needily. Her golden feline eyes became half-lidded in bliss as her cheek pressed into the fabric of his jacket. Her purrs grew louder, silk-soft but unmistakable, more than simple purrs: those were the purrs of a wildcat ready to go into heat at a moment’s notice.
"Yeah... I used to be a feral woman, I won’t deny that. But truth be told..."
She looked up at Kaiden with sultry eyes, her tail flicking with dangerous delight.
"I quite like being a pet. His pet. Master gives such good scratches~ And..."
She paused, glancing sidelong at Jack as her honeyed voice lowered, no longer pleasant.
"He’s very protective of what he considers his."
Kaiden’s eyes met Jack’s. These eyes weren’t the warm, teasing ones his fans saw on their recent streams. Nor the tired, thoughtful ones he showed the girls when planning streams or their future moves.
No.
These were the eyes of a cold-blooded, cruel man. Of someone who had killed before. Of someone who would kill again if pushed the wrong way.
The air grew colder.
Jack’s smirk faltered.
His shoulders tensed. His hand twitched toward his weapon.
And his throat...
Gulped.
Audibly.
A beat passed.
Then another.
Kaiden didn’t need to say anything.
Bastet, purring even louder now, dragged her hand slowly down Kaiden’s chest toward the part of his body that played the main role in her subjugation.
"Oooh~ You’re really making that face, Master~ Can I please get into it now? Must I wait for later~?"
Luna sighed deeply but grinned nonetheless. The rest of the Valkyries more or less shared the sentiment, liking the attitude of their perpetually horny tanned kitten. Kaiden’s possessive, overprotective nature was something they’d long since gotten used to, so it was no shock to any of them.
"Enough." Vaelira finally spoke.
Her voice was quiet, but cold.
"Why have you come?"
"To have the pleasure of seeing you four wonderful beings again," Kaiden responded with sarcasm. Their reason for being here should be plenty obvious. Her dumb question deserved a dumb answer.
"..." Vaelira, the queen bee with a need for control, didn’t appreciate his response. She clearly didn’t like being pushed to the side. "I assume you’ve already made an appointment with Tessa? I’ll take you to her office. I have something to discuss with the woman as well."
"Lead the way then."
"Wait for me here," Vaelira directed her team and stepped next to Kaiden.
The walk down the corridor of Nova Circuit HQ was silent at first, but only on the surface. Beneath the composed pace of their steps, the tension lingered.
Vaelira, ever the tactician, didn’t let the air remain heavy for long. She turned her head toward Kaiden as they walked, her expression calm and pleasant. As if they were old friends walking through familiar halls instead of uneasy rivals whose last collaboration nearly ended in blood.
"I must say," she began in that silken, politically sharp voice of hers, "the rest of the guild is very grateful to the four of you for what you did back in the desert dungeon. Without your timely assistance, the guild might no longer exist at all."
Kaiden gave her a dry side glance, clearly unamused by her obvious attempts. "No need for thanks, we had a deal in place." His hand dropped lower, gripping a generous handful of Bastet’s plump, sun-kissed ass with shameless openness in his motions. There was not even a single iota of effort in doing it hidden.
"She was more than worth the effort," Kaiden said while kneading her bronze skin through the fabric. "We got more from the deal than I ever hoped for."
Bastet melted into his touch immediately, pushing her butt into his hand while her tail curled up around Kaiden’s hand to ensure he wouldn’t let go as she purred with dreamlike bliss.
Vaelira’s eyes slid toward them. She said nothing at first, only watched. Measured.
Then, as if she hadn’t just witnessed the equivalent of a public domination ritual, she tilted her head and moved on. "My old classmates will be ashamed when they see you at the next reunion. So many of them looked down on you, remember?"
Kaiden huffed once, almost amused. "Yeah, with you at the lead, I remember perfectly well. I have no plans of showing up to that event, have fun with your cronies."
"Mm," Vaelira mused, nodding with faux politeness. "Well, I did apologize already and am more than happy to do it again if it’ll help. Anyhow, my parents would be very interested in meeting you. Business talks, of course. Though perhaps more than money could be on the line~"
Before she could continue that sultry statement of hers, Aria cut in.
"I’m sure they would. They can get in line."
Vaelira’s brow arched as she turned her head toward the Moon Valkyrie.
Aria didn’t miss a beat.
"A lot of people want to meet us, especially Kaiden. Most of them are far more important than your semi-rich for non-awakened standards mommy and daddy."
Their eyes met.
No need to shout. No need to posture.
Two women who both knew exactly what they were. Two apex predators in opposing corners of the same arena.
A few long seconds passed between them.
Then Vaelira looked away with a gracious smile and let the topic drop.
They reached the corner hallway that led to the command offices. At the very end of it stood an old door with a polished nameplate embedded into it.
Guild Leader – Tessa Verain.
Vaelira stepped forward and knocked once, twice, thrice.
The meeting was about to begin.
And whatever came next... it wouldn’t be casual.