ALICIAI didn’t argue with Clarissa about spending so much money on a new car. No way could the other one have fit three of us, the triplets, the babies’ paraphernalia, plus our luggage into his old vehicle. The new SUV with three rows of seats was perfect for our family.And we were only driving a short distance which would probably be not short enough with three small children.Not wanting to fly or drive cross country, Clarissa’s family had agreed to meet us in Oakheart. We’d considered returning to the coast where we spent that amazing day eating lobster rolls and swimming in the ocean. But when we thought about getting three babies onto and off a plane, we all said, “No way.”Unbeknownst to Clarissa, Oakheart had a couple of snow leopard shifters and we were going to not only introduce the babies to their grandparents, but on learning the triplets would be visiting, the snow leopard council decided to hold their annual conference in the town. Luckily we’d snapped up a family suit

Swallowing, Jules pushed the thought away. This wasn’t the time for moping.He studied the alpha curiously.The Xeus was… large. He was pure muscle everywhere, powerfully built, with a dark trail of hair leading downward to a—Flushing, Jules tore his eyes away. He felt a mix of embarrassed, flustered, and painfully curious. He’d never been so close to a naked man. But was a transformed Xeus a “man”? Most of him looked like one, but the long, scary-looking claws at the tips of the Xeus’s fingers seemed to point toward the answer being “no.” The alpha’s face was very ugly, his features vaguely male but distorted into something predatory and beastly. Dark, fur-like facial hair obscured his features. And those eyes… those glowing green eyes that were tracking Jules’s every movement didn’t seem entirely sentient, though they were oddly attentive for a simpleminded beast.The Xeus emanated strength and virility, which was probably why it took Jules a while to realize that he was hurt. Ther

Jules hoped his baby brother would be able to find a nice match. That said, everyone knew Liam was the brother who would be marrying up: he would probably marry some rich, handsome, and important alpha, maybe even one from the upper crust of society. As for Jules… Uncle Wayne said Jules would be lucky if he got any marriage offer at all. Jules kind of hoped he wouldn’t get any marriage offers, but obviously he didn’t share that opinion when Uncle Wayne was around.“There’s no cure,” Eric said, his forehead wrinkling as he read something on the screen. “It’s funny that you asked about that, actually. I can see increased activity for search terms ‘Xeus’ and ‘kerosvarin.’ Something is up. Considering the rumors…”“What rumors?” Jules said.Eric shrugged, his eyes still on the screen. “There have been all sorts of rumors circulating since the Opal House event last month.”“Really? I thought the event was NDA-locked?”“It was,” Eric said. “But the NDA technology wasn’t enabled immediately,

“But?” Jules prompted.“I heard them talk.”Jules made an encouraging noise.“They’re looking for some kind of cure,” the Xeus said.Jules frowned. His uncle was looking for some medical cure? He was literally using the Xeus as a lab rat?“I need to go,” he said when the file transfer was complete. He turned off the computer and said, without looking at the alpha, “I’m going to look through these files and then maybe I’ll find out what’s going on here. Please don’t tell anyone that I was here or I wouldn’t be able to help you—”“Come here.”Jules wet his lips. “Why?”“Come here,” the Xeus repeated, his voice so low it was nearly a growl.Was it Jules’s imagination or had the alpha’s scent become stronger? Jules could still smell him all the way from there, and it really wasn’t helping the situation in his pants.He was pretty sure the Xeus wasn’t using an alpha’s Voice—Xeus alphas didn’t possess that ability—and yet Jules still found himself doing as he was told.He put the flash driv

Jules paced his room, his anxiety rising.What if he tried to contact the Kadarian government? If the Xeus was a Kadarian, if he was someone important enough to warrant NDA-tech, it was likely that the Kadarian government would help him. Except Pelugia-Kadar relations were strained again. There was no way anyone at the Opal House would be willing to listen to some kid from another country. Jules was unlikely to get past a low-level secretary. It just didn’t seem realistic. Not to mention Jules didn’t want his family mired in a scandal. Liam would absolutely hate him if he ruined his upcoming debut in society. Well, strictly speaking, it was their debut, but Jules wasn’t the one who was going to get all the suitors. Liam had been dreaming about his social season for ages—it had been postponed twice already because of their grandmother’s and mother’s deaths. His debut was important to him. Jules might mock his brother’s vanity, but he still loved him. He couldn’t ruin Liam’s dreams.So