Mija put a hand over her mouth, feigning a yawn. "You guys are so boring. Why must everything be a trade or scheme or secret?" Then she fluttered her lashes, "Oh...who am I kidding? The catch is that you stop trying to make me leave my bestie, Elias. I will leave when I am ready. And that will be a temporary kind of leaving because I will always return. Think of me as one of your kids, the most beautiful, most fun, most glamorous first child."

Ali and Eli protested with their eyes.

Elias looked from left to right, searching for another hidden drone camera like the kind used by all influencers. The white snake princess had been kidnapped by him. Sienna had hit her with a pan and made her garden. What kind of victim removed to move out after all that? Especially when the ransom had been paid.

Sienna sighed. "I am too tired for this." She waved her hand, "It’s time for my bath and nap. Leave the oil behind. If the doctors verify that it is not poisoned, I will use it."

Mija gasped theatrically. "Sieeeenaaa, don’t you trust me?"

"Not when you sound like Numia." Sienna responded flatly.

"Tch," Mija said. "I will be back after your nap to discuss new inventory. We have sold fifteen thousand pans so far. If you had beaten the eagle away with a pan just before it clawed you, we would have sold more. Now if you had died....we would have sold millions. Think of it like art. It is worth more if the artist is dead." She lowered her voice, making it harsher, "Which is why I eat all the famous artists I meet after acquiring 50% of their works."

Ali gasped.

Mija laughed in response, shrilly, loudly. "It is a joke."

Sienna was horrified. This was not how you comforted someone in a hospital bed, after they had just survived a trauma.

Elias grabbed the back of Mija’s dress, from the neck. "Okay, I think you have said enough. Time to leave."

The snake woman left hissing and flailing, ordering Elias to put her down.

"Mama, I don’t like aunt Mija." Ali declared. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Sienna tilted her head. "I understand baby. She is a little crazy in the head. Don’t take anything she says to heart."

The old her would have said something like ’I don’t like her too.’ Or, encouraged Ali to stay away from the woman. The new her on the other hand was coming to many realizations. Her clash with death had opened her eyes to reality. The interstellar beast world was dangerous. Her pan was a toy in the face of real power. Every safety net she could put around herself and the children was welcome. If the snake beast woman could be used, then Sienna was willing to keep her around.

***

Gary Mullens was bitter mouse beast man. After losing everything in Sienna Veythar’s accidental spill of his secret, he never thought life would get any worse. Until, two different groups of people started hunting for him.

Sure, he had it in the back of his mind that he should not have given into Susie’s crazy plan of revenge against Sienna Miller. She was the wife of the fox lord after all, and everyone knew better than to cross Elias Veythar! But, he had been angry enough to be tempted.

And, she had assured him that the assassination would not be linked backed to him. Their plan had been to go after Sienna, not the cub! Fucking Susie Wiener had screwed him over!

Now, he was hiding in a shabby warehouse, scared that death was present in every corner.

The warehouse door flew open, a large dog with large teeth and saliva drooping from its mouth entered. With a series of barks, it alerted the royal agents pursuing him.

Gary took on his mouse form, leaping out of a window. He bolted through the alley. He told himself over and over, that he could not allow himself to be captured. No matter which group got him, it would be a slaughter.

A clash followed on his heels as fox agents and palace agents clashed, each trying to outpace the other.

"He’s ours! By the order of the king, he is ours," shouted a palace agent.

"And we don’t care. He went after the next fox prince, he is ours." snarled a fox agent.

Gary slammed into a car, rose quickly amidst startled screams and continued to run. He could hardly tell where he was going, all that mattered was that he reached safety.

****

Susie Wiener was currently in hiding. Unlike Gary, she had known that trouble was coming as soon as the news of the assassination started trending. She left the city, to hide away in a farmhouse owned by the boyfriend to one of her cousins.

It was remote, and isolated. Nobody could connect it to her in any way. Still, she was trembling in the shadows because the royal family was searching for answers. They had declared so on the news, promising grave repercussions to all parties involved.

She peeked out of a curtain, opening a gap so small that only one eye could peek properly. It was light outside, and there were no vehicles around or above. So, she was still safe.

Before she could release that temporary sigh of relief, like thunder splitting the sky, walls shattered and the windows on the opposite side burst inward. Fox agents stormed through the door and window, their weapons gleaming. Palace agents rushed in through open gap where the wall used to be, their golden armor flashing brightly.

"By the order of the king..." One started but a punch from a fox agent cut him off.

The clash which followed was brutal. Fox claws rippled through furniture and wooden beams, a chandelier fell and crashed, a table flew through the window where Susie was standing. She screamed and fell to her knees.

The desire to survive surged, forcing her to crawl backward, but there was no escaped. Just the palace agents who doubled the fox agents in number crept on her, a shadow streaked across the chaos. A tiger beast woman whose stripes radiated raw power.

She fired at the palace agents with terrifying precision. In one bound, she was upon Susie, silencing the human with a hand over her mouth. With a single leap, she jumped out of the window.

The palace agents roared in protest, but none could match the tiger’s speed. Still, they chased after her.

Then came the impossible. With a savage toss, the tiger hurled Susie into the sky!