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mate.
     

Chapter Four
    Kres didn’t know what Zander and Vohne had discussed while grabbing food, but his fellow classmate was giving him a cautious glance from time to time, as if he worried Kres was going to jump across the table and attack him.
    “Is there a problem?” Kres asked before popping another piece of meat into his mouth. All morning he’d had an odd craving for red meat. Since he was usually a borderline vegetarian, it was extremely strange—but then, what hadn’t been weird lately? The fact that Vohne had known he needed meat and had brought him a giant platter also needed further investigation, but he’d do it later when he wasn’t shoving beef down his throat as fast as he could.
    “Um, no?” The answer was more of a question than a statement of fact.
    “What did you say to him?” he asked the Thresl.
    Vohne shrugged. “I told him where the Thresl form comes from.”
    He could see getting a straight answer would be like yanking out one of the Thresl’s fangs—difficult and potentially painful.
    Taking another bite of food, he gave Zander a curious look, silently prompting the other man to continue.
    “He is your inner form,” Zander said.
    Kres choked. He was saved from a blocked airway by a pat on the back from Vohne that nearly broke his spine.
    “You are my inner form?”
    The Thresl smiled, exposing full fangs. “Surprise.”
    Kres looked the large man up and down. “I must have a great inner warrior thing going on.”
    “Yes, you do.”
    He was unsettled by the serious expression in Vohne’s eyes. A loud explosion startled him out of their locked gaze.
    Billowy, black smoke filled the cafeteria as smoke bombs detonated in the doorway. Kres tensed, wishing he hadn’t left his weapon in his room, but he hadn’t expected a synchronised attack over a steak dinner. He saw Vohne’s eyes glow in the dim light. A large hand clamped over his wrist and pulled him farther into the room, away from the invading smoke.
    “They’ve come for us,” Vohne said.
    “Whoever they are, they can’t have you.” There were many things Kres was uncertain about in their relationship, but there was no way he was going to let some Thresl-kidnapping bastards take his Vohne. Kres held his breath against the smoke as the room was entirely darkened by the bombs.
    Blinding lights cut through the blackness as at least a dozen men entered wearing masks and carrying weapons with light scopes.
    Vohne dropped to the ground, pulling Kres with him. “Whatever happens, don’t let them take you. I will always return. Remember that.”
    “What?” Kres gasped. He tried to figure what was going on as a loud roar filled the room, and the air closest to him was displaced by Vohne’s departure as the Thresl ran directly into the blackness.
    Choking on the smoke, Kres tried to stay as still as possible as screams echoed about him. He wondered where Zander was and if they had captured Zander’s Thresl. He still wasn’t sure what the soldiers were doing there, but he had a bad feeling. He agreed with Vohne that they were there for the Thresls. If they could catch the valuable cats, they could rake in a fortune on the black market with the ones that hadn’t bonded yet. He wondered how they had got past security. Someone was going to be court-martialled for letting the invaders in.
    From what he’d overheard on the shuttle to the moon, they were on a secret facility. Someone, somewhere had said too much, and now Kres was going to lose his man-cat before they’d even completed their bond. A weapon rattled as it hit the ground beside him.
    Kres snatched it up, quickly familiarising himself with the controls. He might not have his Thresl’s massive size, but he wasn’t a weak, quivering soul to cower under the table and let someone else fight his battles.
    Carefully feeling along until he had a wall to his back, Kres stalked the men who had dared to come and try to take what was his.
    A sharp shout had him stepping