Read Changeling Winds: Episode Two (The Bachelor Battles Book 2) for Free Online

when she and her shit-shaded dreadlocks backed out of sight to resume hovering in the shadows of the next room. Wise, I thought. I was on the edge.
    I took a last bite, savoring the meal, and the bachelors went back to their own barely-touched bowls. Not wanting them to miss out on the good food, I lingered at the table, letting them have their fill. And I kept testing, pushing them and myself.
    “You're all registered breeders?”
    That was a question they couldn't answer as one and I braced myself… but not nearly hard enough.
    “I am.”
    There was shame in his voice, the pristine male on my right, but I couldn't help his pain. I was in shock at the waves of Change spiraling through me.
    So beautiful! Like a bell, the rolling tones of his voice slid straight into my guts and twisted the need up, sending a vicious flare of lust through my body. I shivered, slamming my eyes shut. If I looked at him right now, so close! I'd be lost.
    Just breathe - in and out . And I could, a bit, because of the fear. It was so thick, I could smell it radiating from their perfect bodies. I inhaled deeper of it. Better . It bothered me to see them so scared. In. Out. Much better.
    I opened my eyes, eased my grip on the fork as I braced again - much harder this time. “Who else?”
    The males shared twitchy, darting glances up and down the table in surprise.
    “I am.”
    “So am I.”
    Seated across the table, both of their voices pierced me, and then sank into that bubbling mix and caught fire. But I'd been ready this time and I went on. “Anyone else?”
    There was silence and I could feel them all wondering if that now made those three safe from me or more wanted. “I am not.”
    My words sent mutters around the table that teased, tempted. It was a surprise at all for me to have told them that, drastically different from the treatment they were used to, but I was after other ends than most of the females they’d had contact with. “It makes my control on myself much harsher than what I would be with a mate.”
    There as another round of shocked murmurs, and blasts of sweet pain. Tenderness coming from a warrior bathed in blood was another rarity in their world. “If I'm too… frightening, switch out.”
    None of them went to trade places with the few I hadn’t seen yet. I would have been surprised if they had, but two of them were solidly off my list. The relief on their pretty faces had been clear.
    “If you love someone, I'd also have you go.”
    Again, no movement, but another was eliminated by the indecision in his expression. It was very common for slaves to fall in love with their regular renters and try to avoid being awarded as a prize so that they could make it to the 25-year-old age limit for bachelors. After that, they were listed for sale to the public, and could be bought by their lover.
    Booom !
    Thunder crashed outside, almost loud enough to make me flinch in surprise, and it sent one of the bachelors from his chair to crouch on the floor. Terrified, the shivering skin-head ignored my frown, but the others took note and leaned away so as not to share his fate.
    I smoothed out my face and waved a hand. “Go back to your cell if it eases you.”
    He and his clean-shaven scalp were gone an instant later, and I met a Den Mother’s surprised face with a hard frown. “Aren’t they allowed to have a spine?”
    She shook her pink head, tone giving nothing away. “No. Switch?”
    “No.”
    I wasn’t ready to see a new temptation yet. I was still working through these.
    I continued with my questions as our hour passed, throwing the males surprises in forms that they had to answer for themselves, and with each stunning blast of their voices, I grew stronger, more immune.
     
    5
    “You have five minutes.”
    The blue-haired Den Mother retreated and I leaned over my bowl, lowered my voice. Like my infamous cousin, I was always one to encourage dissension among the ranks.
    “Singing has a very calming effect. All of