Chapter 4

The hovercar wove through the sprawling canyons of the capital's skyscrapers. Neon lights bled through the tinted windows, casting shifting, colorful shadows across the interior of the cabin.

The silence was unbearable. It pressed against Allegra's eardrums.

She shifted uncomfortably on the leather seat. She needed to break the ice. She needed this terrifying general to relax so she could figure out a way to escape once they reached the mall.

Her eyes drifted back to the space between them.

Benedict's snow leopard tail was still twitching. It rose and fell with the subtle vibrations of the hovercar's engine. The thick, black-and-white fur looked impossibly soft, practically begging to be touched.

On Earth, if a dog or cat was anxious, you pet them. It was a universal sign of peace.

Allegra slowly extended her right hand. She reached across the leather seat, her fingers hovering just inches above the thickest part of his tail.

Benedict saw the movement in his peripheral vision. His lungs stopped working. His brain screamed at him to pull away, to move, to do anything. But his body was paralyzed by a sudden, terrifying anticipation.

Allegra's palm settled gently onto the center of his tail.

She stroked downward, following the grain of the fur, applying a firm, soothing pressure.

Boom.

A physical explosion of heat detonated at the base of Benedict's spine. The sensation was blinding. Thousands of hyper-sensitive nerve endings fired all at once, sending a wave of pure, agonizing electricity straight into his brain.

He slammed his back against the seat. His hands flew to his knees, his fingers digging so hard into his uniform pants that the thick fabric threatened to tear. His knuckles turned bone-white.

For a Hybrid, the tail was the most private, vulnerable part of their anatomy. It was an erogenous zone meant only for the hands of a bonded mate.

Allegra didn't notice his internal meltdown. The fur was even softer than she imagined. It felt amazing.

She reached the end of the tail and gently squeezed the black-furred tip between her thumb and forefinger.

A low, strangled groan ripped from Benedict's throat.

His Adam's apple bobbed violently. A sheen of cold sweat instantly broke out across his forehead. The biological urge to shift into his beast form and pin her to the seat was overwhelming.

Terrified of losing control, Benedict violently jerked his body to the side.

He ripped his tail out from under her hand with brutal force. He shoved the appendage between his own thigh and the door panel, trapping it beneath his weight.

He whipped his head around to glare at her. His chest heaved. His ice-blue eyes were wide, wild, and filled with a mixture of absolute shock and tortured restraint.

Allegra jumped, her hand still suspended in the empty air.

Her eyes widened in innocent confusion. She looked at his flushed face, his bared teeth, and the way he was guarding his tail like she had just stabbed him.

Her Earth-logic quickly provided an answer.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry," Allegra said, pulling her hand back to her chest. "I didn't know your tail had nerve damage. Did I press too hard?"

Benedict's left eye twitched.

Nerve damage?

She thought his tail was numb? She thought he pulled away because he was injured?

He wanted to scream that it was the exact opposite. He wanted to tell her that her touch had nearly made him lose his mind. But the pride of an Empire General clamped his mouth shut. To explain the biological significance of the tail would mean admitting his own vulnerability. He could not confess that a single stroke from a fragile female had brought him to his knees.

Benedict sucked in a harsh breath through his nose. He forced his chaotic Psyche energy back down into his core.

"It is fine," he gritted out. His voice sounded like gravel grinding against steel.

Allegra looked at his bright red ears and the tight line of his jaw. What a grumpy cat, she thought. If he didn't want to be pet, he could have just said so.

She folded her hands neatly in her lap and pressed herself against the opposite door. She resolved not to touch him again.

Benedict saw her withdraw. He saw the physical distance she put between them.

A sudden, sharp ache of disappointment hit his chest. He immediately blamed the irrational emotion on his approaching rut cycle.

In the front seat, the driver-a low-tier bear Hybrid-had witnessed the entire exchange through the rearview mirror. The driver was practically holding his breath, terrified that the General was going to execute him just for being in the same car.

The temperature in the cabin plummeted to freezing.

Benedict closed his eyes. He began reciting military tactical codes in his head, desperately trying to cool the boiling blood in his veins.

Allegra watched him meditate. She assumed he was still furious about his "injured" tail. She started mentally mapping out the exits of the commercial district.

The hovercar began to decelerate. A soft chime filled the cabin.

Benedict opened his eyes. The glacial blue was darker now, stormy and unreadable. He looked at Allegra, his gaze lingering on her hands for a fraction of a second.

The hovercar touched down. The heavy doors slid open, letting in the loud, chaotic noise of the Star Plaza. The suffocating silence between them was finally broken.