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“Aye. They are adapted to blend in with the mountain range, same as we are,” Artifex answered.

“Oh.” She nodded.

“This is acapo.” Phara dropped forward, shifting mid fall, his hands becoming hooves before they hit the rocky path, and antlers sprouting from his head.

“Oh, that looks a bit like a deer mixed with a mountain goat on my world.”

“We don’t mimic thecapooften since we hunt them,” Bellator explained.

“Oh.” Her eyes widened, seeing how that might be bad.

“We stick to creatures that have a similar mass. We can’t reduce our size.” Artifex gestured to an insect that zipped across the path as an example.

“That makes sense, but have you become a big insect before?” she asked, admiring the flower the bug landed on as they passed.

“I have,” Masculum called out.

Her eyes widened at the absurdly loud buzzing sound behind her, then a giant dragonfly zipped overhead. Masculum showed-up Galis by doing a loop in the air.

“I thinkscreoeatanoxu.” Galis, still in hawk form, shot off his perch, flying after Masculum.

Isa laughed at their antics. Her cute men entertained her by shifting into an array of animals as they hiked the mountaintrail. Galis was right, it was a fun game, and she was learning the names of many creatures.

“This is so wild.” She grinned as one of the men came swooping toward them in his hawk form.

Thescreomorphed as he landed in the middle of the path. “We found another egg!”

Chapter 14

All Hail Another Queen

Bellator

“Another egg! Where?” Bellator asked the scout which was one of his legionnaire betas.

“In the valley, near the river bank. An omega saw something odd sticking up from the mud,” Militus reported.

“Did you get the queen out?” Artifex anxiously asked.

“No.” Militus shook his head. “The omegas were still unearthing it when I left, but it appeared to be intact.”

Worry was etched on everyone’s face. It had been a full rotation since the meteor shower, and if this queen was injured like Isa had been, that didn’t bode well for the female.

“Go! I will take our queen back to the hive.” Phara reached for Isa.

“No. I’m going to help,” Queen Isa insisted as Bellator started to hand her over. “You guys will be strangers and alien to her. If this woman is awake, I bet she’s already freaking out. Seeing you might make her have a heart attack. Remember, we thought this planet was uninhabited.”

Bellator looked at his fellow alphas. They worried about their queen’s safety but she was right. This new queen was from her hive, from a planet far away. If she was injured, Isa would know best how to help and keep her calm until they could get the female back to the hive for treatment. Artifex and Phara nodded, coming to the same unspoken conclusion.

“Let’s go for a ride. Same as before, hold on tight,” Bellator instructed their queen as he set her down and swiftly fluxed into hisferoform.

“Got it.” Isa leapt onto his back. Instead of holding onto his scruff, she wrapped her arms around his neck as she leaned completely forward, her knees squeezing his flanks.

“Good. Militus, lead the way,” Bellator relayed with an added yip for urgency.

Militus shifted into his four-legged form and they all continued down the path. Bellator was slow at first, worried about Isa, but quickly found he could go faster. It helped that Phara and Artifex ran by his side, in case their queen slipped. With another queen’s life on the line, this wasn’t as fun as the earlier trot through the woods, but he would definitely see if Isa wanted to go for runs in the future.

“Oh, wow,” Queen Isa gasped when they broke through the treelined path.