Aurora Champions Box Set

by Ophelia Bell

  He righted his chair, smoothed his shirt and pants, and sat again, giving Astra a pained look.

  “I’m sorry about your brother. And your career.” He glanced at Simon, then looked at Javin. “I truly believe there has to be some mistake, but I’ll cooperate so we can get to the bottom of it. I have some connections in the pharmaceutical community, and I will make my lab facilities available. You said you have samples of the drug, right?”

  Javin nodded and reached into his inner jacket pocket, pulling out a cylindrical container and handing it over. “This is all we have.”

  Val took the container and unscrewed the lid, peering inside. Within was a compartment with six slots resembling the barrel of a revolver, though only one slot held anything. He gingerly lifted out a glass vial, his stomach sinking at the familiar luminescent green fluid within.

  “Where did you get it?” he asked.

  “I had a supplier on Nova Aurora,” Simon said. “But he fell off the map several months ago. I had to make the shit last. When the serum Javin was giving me stopped working, it was the only thing keeping me sane. I want to get clean, but quitting hasn’t exactly been easy.”

  Val sighed and returned the sample to Javin, shaking his head. “If it truly is my formula, the old version was volatile. When introduced to shifter cells, its chemical structure changed with every shift between human and animal. It would be practically impossible to create a single drug to manage the addiction. How many times have you shifted since you started taking it?”

  “Only a few times. I don’t exactly have full command of my animal since I first tried quitting. He doesn’t always give me a choice. It was all I could do to keep from ripping out your throat a few moments ago.”

  Val swallowed and gritted his teeth. He gave Simon a curt nod. “Thank you for refraining. It would have been hard for me to help you if you’d killed me.

  “And you? What’s your story?” he asked Astra, both dreading her response and aching to hear it. In his periphery the doctor leaned forward, and Val’s skin prickled with awareness as well as a deep sense of shame that he’d succeeded in alienating these three before they could even get to know him.

  “My opponent in my last match must have gotten a little desperate. She lost the match but not before getting in a lucky hit. Arena armor is designed to withstand just about any attack, but somehow her claws pierced mine. It was only a small wound. My brother wasn’t so lucky.”

  Val gave her a solemn nod, struggling to maintain his composure. He’d restricted his tests to the high-tech simulation software Carver Pharmaceuticals had spent millions on to end animal testing. But even the software couldn’t have predicted the scenario he was now faced with. A pair of pure-blooded shifter athletes sat in front of him, each of them with vastly different modes of exposure.

  He took a long sip of water to try to calm down, breathing and calling on his panther to summon whatever serenity he could. Shifting his attention to Javin, he said, “I’d love to talk about your personal observations, from a purely scientific standpoint.”

  Javin lifted an eyebrow, his gaze dropping to the pulse beating rapidly at Val’s throat, then to his hand where he had his water glass in a death grip. “I suggest we shelve the discussion until we’ve eaten. Perhaps we’ll have all calmed down by then.”

  Gerri was the only one of the group who didn’t look like a tightly coiled spring at the moment. Her gaze shifted between each of them with interest.

  “Is this meeting unfolding as you expected?” Val asked with a sardonic smile. “Not quite the usual dates you arrange, is it?”

  Gerri smirked and waved for the waiter. “No, but it has been illuminating. I should tell you that the reason I went to these lengths was because I have many close friends who are arena champions. I don’t make it to Nova Aurora as often as I would like, but watching matches is one of my favorite forms of escape.”

  Val chuckled. “How much money have you won betting on said matches, Mrs. Wilder?”

  “Enough,” she said, her eyes twinkling before she diverted her attention to the waiter who had just arrived. “Please bring a bottle of your best scotch.”

  Their meals arrived only a few blessed minutes later, but Val barely glanced at his plate. The others were too fascinating to watch as they dove into their food. As he’d expected, the adverse effects of the drug hadn’t seemed to affect their appetites. If his predictions were correct, the right diet could likely ease many of the side effects, if not reverse the damage entirely. Though if they had indeed lost their bonds to their animals, true healing would still be practically impossible without mating.

  “You really are a lab nerd, aren’t you?” Astra asked after a few moments, and Val looked up to see her dabbing her bow-shaped lips with a napkin. She wasn’t smiling, but all of the animosity was gone now and she looked back at him with genuine interest.

  “Why do you say that?” he asked.

  “You’ve been studying us this entire time. It’s hard to miss, but don’t feel bad. Javin’s the same. He’s been like that as long as I’ve known him.” She shot the doctor a hesitant smile and Val couldn’t miss the hint of wistfulness in her gaze.

  “We don’t get many pure-blooded shifters on Earth. I admit, the fact that you’re here presents an opportunity for a deeper understanding of the drug’s effects, if the test proves it really is the same one I created. It’ll at least allow me to confirm my original test results.”

  Astra frowned and shook her head, then bared her teeth. “The only opportunity you have is to make things right. People have died, and we don’t even know how much of the shit is still out there. Once we have working counteragents, it should be destroyed.”

  Val wasn’t sure how to frame his response to avoid sounding defensive. Setting his utensils down, he placed his hands flat on the table and took a deep breath. “You don’t understand. The drug I created wasn’t intended to be used the way it was. Its true purpose is for healing. When the worst of the side effects are dealt with, life on Earth will change for the better. I can’t simply abandon it. It’s my life’s work.”

  Astra tossed her napkin on the table and leaned toward him. “The arena is my life. Your fucking drug has taken that away from me and Simon, and we may never get it back. So forgive me if I’m a little unsympathetic to your plight.” She shoved out of her seat and stalked off, leaving Val tangled in the mess of emotions that had taken over his appetite.

  The rest of them finished their meal in silence. After insisting on paying the bill, he handed Javin a business card with the address of the lab on it. “You can come now if you wish. I imagine you don’t want to waste time while you’re here.”

  Javin nodded. “We do have the luxury of time dilation. Less time passes on Nova Aurora while we’re here, but every second we’re gone, more potential damage could be done.”

  They exited the restaurant and paused at the valet. Astra was leaning over a railing and staring down into a large koi pond the restaurant had in a nearby garden.

  With a sigh, Val said, “You understand why it’s not as simple as destroying the drug. If there’s been a breach, there’s nothing stopping whoever stole the formula from making more.”

  Javin held up a hand. “I know what your work must mean to you. My work as a league doctor is everything to me. That’s why I’m here. Astra’s brother was also my best friend, so I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have emotional investment in this as well. But I’m more than aware this is no simple task. We plan to stay until it’s resolved, however that happens. Whatever it takes.”

  Their sleek limo pulled up then and Simon and Javin climbed in, Astra trotting over and sliding into the dark interior as well. Their eyes met a split second before the door closed between them, and in that second fire flashed within her dark-blue irises.

  His panther offered another rumbling purr, even though Val was more than certain her look had been a warning. That if he didn’t do as she wished, she might burn him alive. Yet if he cou
ldn’t fulfill her desires—all of their desires—he very well might beg for such a fate himself.

  16

  Javin

  After giving Bruce the card with the address to drive them to Carver Labs, Javin sat back in the limo and scrubbed his hands over his face. Jealousy still burned his insides at the sight of Val’s lingering grip on Astra’s hand when she’d helped him up off the floor. Not only that, the cat’s pheromones were in high gear, causing all kinds of conflicting feelings within him too.

  There were too many damn alphas in the mix, and oddly enough, the largest male among them was the least of his problems. Simon was giving Astra a concerned look and when he reached out a hand to her, she slid close with a sigh, resting her head on the hyena shifter’s thick shoulder.

  Javin frowned, but when Astra shot him a challenging look, he just sighed and shook his head. “I know you two fucked last night. It’s really none of my business though, so do whatever you want.”

  “Do you even know what she wants?” Simon asked. “Or what you want, for that matter?”

  It was apparently Simon’s turn to challenge him now and Javin narrowed his eyes at the other man. “I want to get to the bottom of this drug, get it out of fucking circulation however we can. I want you two to have your lives back.”

  His voice had gone tight and he clenched his teeth against the burn of desperation in his throat. Seeing Simon’s tender deference to Astra made him realize there might be more hope for the pair of them than he’d thought. He needed to keep his wits around them, because even if nothing came from this search, if they became close enough to mate each other, that would at least solve two problems.

  He turned away and stared out the window, fighting off fresh pain at the thought of losing them both to each other. Not that he’d exactly been hospitable to Simon over the last few months, but he’d grown to crave the other man’s company in ways he never could have predicted.

  Then last night, Astra’s unexpected closeness, followed by her whispered wish, had left him reeling. “Why can’t it be you?” she’d asked, and he’d responded by reflex, pushing her away. Now that Astra and Simon were becoming even closer, Javin wished he’d said something different, though he didn’t know what.

  What he did know was that it was too late for him. All he could do now was make sure that look in the panther shifter’s eyes didn’t mean what he feared. Astra didn’t need an Earth shifter confusing things for her while they were here. She needed someone like Simon who understood her life, her desires, her loss, and who clearly understood how to behave as a dragon’s mate.

  Javin also hadn’t been blind to the excited look Val had given all three of them when he’d believed Gerri had set him up on a date. There was no lack of attraction, so perhaps Javin could run interference. Distract Val from Astra with his own attention, then perhaps use their mutual attraction to gather information, because despite Val’s insistence that his lab wasn’t responsible, Javin was sure it was.

  He returned his attention to the couple sitting across from him, the desperation in his gut easing to a warm sense of purpose. They would be all right if he had anything to say about it.

  They continued out of the city, and Javin realized they were headed back into the hills toward the house. Before he could ask Bruce about their heading, they turned. They paused at a security checkpoint, then drove through a heavy-duty gate. When they stopped and got out, Val was waiting for them at the entrance to a sleek, low-profile glass building that stretched across the hillside overlooking the city.

  “Welcome to Carver Labs,” Val said, greeting them, then turning and heading to a set of glass doors. He produced a key card and swiped it across a reader. “You’ll observe we have tight security just to get in, and it only gets more secure the farther in you go. Let me get you visitor badges before we head to the lab.”

  They paused at a security desk with a uniformed guard seated behind it. Monitors lined the area, displaying a cycling view of various sections of the building in black and white. After a moment, each of them were handed lanyards to loop around their necks and Val gestured for them to follow him to a bank of elevators.

  “The visitor badges won’t get you into anywhere but the community areas. The lounge and cafeteria, the restrooms on this level. Visitors need to be accompanied by an employee at all times.” He swiped another scanner by the elevators and they dinged open.

  Once inside, they descended for several moments, the lift taking them deep underground. Javin’s interest was piqued, his faith in Val’s honesty rising, though if the drug didn’t come from this lab, that would leave them at a standstill on their hunt.

  They exited the elevator and passed through several more doors secured by either keypads or card readers. They passed a multitude of cameras before reaching a sleek lab with equipment that rivaled the League Medical Center’s facilities back on Nova Aurora.

  “Welcome to my humble home,” Val said, a slight crack in his voice as he glanced between the three of them, his gaze remaining on Javin for a few seconds longer as he slipped into a white lab coat that offset his black hair and tan skin.

  Javin nodded and blinked slowly, aware that the panther that slinked within Val’s consciousness was more likely to respond to subtlety than any overt show of interest. He smiled then, and said in a low voice, “Very impressive. Show me what you can do with this.” He reached into his jacket and retrieved the sample, handing it over to Val.

  Val reached for the container, his eyebrows twitching and his scent spiking when Javin deliberately let their fingers brush.

  A spike of longing shot through him then, and he cursed silently as his wolf paced, rebelling against this game. His animal wanted what it wanted, and now Javin was dangling another enticing option in front of it that the beast likely believed he’d never follow through with.

  Val cleared his throat and turned toward a bank of equipment against the wall. Simon shot a scowl at Javin, who just scowled back at him, but it was Astra’s level, accusatory stare that made him dip his head and shrug.

  “Whatever it takes,” he mouthed at her. She pursed her lips and shook her head, a flash of hurt in her eyes that he didn’t understand. She had Simon now, if she wanted him. What the fuck did it matter who he slept with?

  Val inserted the cartridge with the drug into a slot in one of the machines, then flipped a switch and settled on a stool to stare at a monitor. He tensed after a moment and cursed, prompting Javin to move to the man’s shoulder and look at the screen. Two sets of data were displayed on the wide screen, split by a stripe down the middle.

  “Those look like the metrics for the drug,” Javin observed. “Why are they doubled?”

  “This side is the original formula from a year ago,” Val said, pointing at the left side of the screen. “This is your sample. Looks like you were right. This is my formula.” He tapped some keys and a new set of data appeared. “This is the newest version of the formula. I don’t suppose you’ve got a sample from the person who attacked Astra, do you?”

  “Not with us. The woman wasn’t exactly cooperative when she was caught,” Javin said.

  “Can you use my blood to test against?” Astra asked.

  Val frowned. “It won’t match once it’s metabolized, but I can check it against the simulation. See if there are any markers that correspond to the algorithm’s predictions. It’s best if I take the sample from the wound site for the highest concentration.”

  “Her wound site isn’t an option,” Javin said. “It’ll be too diluted from the serum treatment she takes every night to prevent the toxin from spreading.”

  “My equipment can differentiate between the toxin and any outside treatment. It may take a little while though. If you’re okay with it, Astra.”

  Javin gritted his teeth when she stepped forward and settled on the stool beside Val. “Tell me what to do,” she said.

  “Can I see the wound first?”

  She gave Javin a smirk as she stood and unfastene
d her pants. Val shifted in his seat and reached out to halt her hands before she unzipped.

  “I can get you a gown if you’d prefer,” he said.

  Astra rolled her eyes. “It’s on my thigh, not my pussy. Cripes.”

  Under his breath, Simon muttered, “It’s practically on her pussy.”

  Javin grunted in agreement.

  “He’s a professional. I’m sure he’ll behave like a gentleman.” Astra shoved her pants down to her knees and sat again, spreading her thighs to display the pale bandage over her wound and, above it, the sheer black lace of her panties.

  “Goddammit, Astra,” Javin said.

  “What?” She shot him a wicked smirk. “He can handle it, can’t you, Val?”

  Beside him, Simon took a deep, steadying breath. Javin resisted the impulse to shove Val aside. She was testing him now, just like she had with Simon last night, and it was working.

  Val cleared his throat and turned, muttering something about grabbing his sample kit. He walked off with a stiff, awkward gait and didn’t return for several minutes. The entire time, Astra held Javin’s gaze, challenging him to rise to the bait.

  “You two are hopeless,” Simon said. “You really should just fuck and get it over with.”

  “I guess my pussy is a little too taboo for the doctor, which makes no sense, considering he hated you before he started fucking you, Simon. No offense.”

  “I didn’t—” Javin began, but Simon barked a laugh.

  “Don’t even try it, man. I knew how you felt, but I guess I liked the angry sex. It helped that I hated myself every day back then too. In my mind, I deserved what you dished out. Probably still do.”