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What if they don t give me a choice?
The man s gaze flicked up. Yeah, if they didn t give Mike a choice there wasn t
much he could do. Saba had shown him up close and personal where getting rolled
would lead. Mike hadn t disobeyed the Male since.
Joseph said, I ll go find Saba.
Mike! It was Petrie. Klere says get in here.
Mike left Joseph at the door and walked into the kitchen. Klere sat in Saba s usual
seat at the head of the table. He had a bag of shrimp in his lap, stuffing his face. Petrie
kneeled on the floor at his feet.
Klere waved a hand at the two strange Males. One of them had Joseph s half-
empty plate and the other had a whole chicken he d apparently gotten out of the
fridge.
He said, This is Ruka and Dego-Ta. I have a bet with them. Then Klere laughed
and slapped the cooler sitting beside his chair.
Ruka the tall one with all the hair--stood up. Shoulders bowed, teeth down, Mike
realized almost too late the social mistake he d made. These Kin were his dominant,
yet they were sitting, and he had remained standing. As a Lesser-Bred among Males,
he should have gone to the floor like Petrie if not outright begged for the privilege to
breathe. In the Dens, submissive behavior was expected. Mike hadn t thought it was
necessary here because no one inside Saba s safe house had ever demanded it.
Maybe Ruka was insecure in his status. Saba had warned Mike how lower ranked
Males were often far more dangerous than those higher on the food chain. Their sta-
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tus made them feel the need to flash their strength and prove their position whenever
they could. Anyone smaller or weaker was a chance to do just that.
Ruka s lips peeled back as he flashed way too many teeth for a human mouth.
Dark red scales fluttered over his arms and chest in a display of metaphysical prow-
ess. Mike went to his knees. When Ruka leaned over him, Mike went lower, putting
his shoulders to the floor and his hands on the Male s ankles. He couldn t make the
submissive sounds Kin could, so he made up for it by petting the tops of Ruka s feet.
A deep rumbled rolled through Ruka s chest. Saba should teach him better man-
ners.
He s from the outside. It takes time to learn. Klere made a bored sound.
Get up, said Ruka. Mike did, but kept his shoulders down. There was no danger
of him being taller than the Male, but shorter was always better in situations like this.
Ruka leaned in, scenting him. His throat clicked as he took in Mike s flavor. At least
he doesn t stink like Joseph.
Tastes better too! Klere laughed and opened the cooler. The clink-clink of beer
bottles filled the kitchen.
Ruka stepped closer. His washboard abs shuddered and his dark copper nevus
glittered in the center of his stomach, dancing as if it were alive.
A hand closed around Mike s throat and forced his head up. The Male leaned in
and covered his mouth. At least Mike knew what to expect. He d been tasted many
times by Males in the Dens.
Ruka s tongue scraped against Mike s palate, going deep, almost gagging him.
Then the Male followed up by sucking the air right out of his lungs. Very few Males
had ever taken from him with this kind of force. Bullies did things like that. Males
who thought they had something to prove.
When Ruka broke off the mouth-to-mouth, he made a show of working the flavor
across his tongue.
Nice. He looked at Klere. I think he tastes better than Petrie! When Klere
dropped his hand to Petrie s head and petted him, Ruka laughed. Mike watched the
Male as we went back to his chair, but he didn t sit down. Ruka s hard silver eyes
stared at Mike.
Klere kicked the chair next to him. Sit down, Z. Ruka is scared your dick is big-
ger than his.
Mike took the seat and Ruka finally planted his ass. Klere and Ruka glared at
each other over the table top.
And that ll be another bet for you to lose! Ruka snagged several beers and
pulled them his way. Dego-Ta stayed silent as he did the same. The other Male was
tall like Klere, but narrow in the shoulders. Blond braids hung from each side of his
head just in front of his ears. They went all the way down to his navel. From what
Mike had learned, not many Kin had navels or body hair. They were never children-
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-made, not born--so they could choose what they wanted to look like. While the spe-
cies received its initial shape through impression from a Queen, the details that made
them distinct were chosen based on preference. Apparently Dego-Ta wanted one, so
he made one.
Dego-Ta s pale blue eyes flicked over the room, then he went back to watching
Mike with a cold, hard-as-steel gaze.
Mike looked at the table. Meeting Dego-Ta s gaze could be interpreted as a chal-
lenge, and that was so not a conflict he needed right now.
Klere shoved four beers in front of Mike while Dego-Ta got his own. The feral
said something to Petrie in their language. He nodded and got up to sit in a chair
beside Mike.
Let me see the money. Klere spoke while he put a bottle of tequila in the center
of the table along with a stack of Dixie cups.
Ruka dug around in his pocket and pulled out a roll of green. One thousand. He
thrust his chin in the air. Now you.
It was Petrie who dug the money out of his pocket. A second roll joined the first.
In the Dens, a grand was a lot of money. Serious green. Not many ferals saw
those amounts in their lifetimes. They most certainly didn t carry it around. No, like
Human society, those who went around flashing wads of cash were usually into
something illegal.
Mike tossed a look back and forth between the Males. What are you two betting
on?
Klere flashed fang and said, You! He gave Mike a punch to the shoulder.
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