Marked Prince - Michelle M. Pillow Page 0,3

businesses. And food simulators didn’t produce the most delicious meals, but food was food, and one unit could feed many.

However, the Federation refused to let the citizens have the means to materialize food because their scientists believed exposure to the minuscule radiation from the units would make them sick. Of course, no evidence of this was provided to the shifter scientists. The situation was a diplomatic nightmare. Shifters were not supposed to interfere with Shelter City, but how could they stand by and do nothing while people were starving. Lack of food would kill someone faster than a tiny amount of radiation.

Though Jaxx would applaud their efforts if the Cysgodians revolted and everyone fled into the borderlands, they wouldn’t make it very far. But at least for a brief time, they’d know freedom—some of them for the first time in their lives. Jaxx knew that many of the people wished to leave, but they couldn’t migrate beyond the borders without breaking Federation law, and the shifters couldn’t take them in without breaking the Federation-Shifter treaty. If not for that, the shifters would have absorbed them into their society without hesitation. Taking care of your neighbors was a matter of honor. It was that honor that made them agree to the Federation bringing the Cysgodians there in the first place.

The political tension ran high, and it was only a matter of time before it burst, which was why Grier’s decision to enter the stronghold to free a Federation detainee was beyond reckless. If he were caught, everything the royals tried to keep in balance would collapse.

Let it, Jaxx thought. Things cannot continue like this.

But he didn’t mean it. Shifters might be able to conquer the base, but they could do nothing about the massive Federation army that controlled much of the galaxy. One fleet of ships and Qurilixen would be blown into a sad footnote of history. And the Federation had more than one fleet.

Jaxx stayed in his shifted form as he perched near the spire. With the armor of dragon skin covering his body, the chill in the air did not bother him. He focused his vision on his cousin and watched as he spoke to the guard. As a shifter, he could see clearly at great distances, but he couldn’t hear what they said.

Grier stood at the entrance with his new human bride, Salena. They attempted to rescue one of Salena’s sisters from Federation captivity. The triplets had been separated at a young age. Their unique gifts made them dangerous in the wrong hands. Something about Salena made it impossible to lie to her. Her sisters were more or less the same way. The Federation would love to have control over natural interrogators.

Jaxx turned his attention to the forest behind Grier and Salena, where Payton would be standing guard over them from the trees. He’d been friends with the cat-shifter princess since they were children. Payton was always up for an adventure, and they’d ignored several laws together—the biggest being the Shifter-Federation agreement when they smuggled food simulators close to the city. Someone had stolen one of their last caches of food simulators and were trying to resell them. He turned his attention to the valley. Payton had a source in Shelter City trying to locate the units so they could recover them.

Jaxx couldn’t detect Payton, not that he expected to find her. Her father was a Var commander, and if there was one thing Payton knew how to do, it was hide from authority. He turned his attention back to Grier and his bride.

Salena’s wore a tight alien-style dress and a different face, thanks to a morphing ring Payton had stolen from the cat-shifter queen’s private collection. The morph made the woman unrecognizable. Jaxx was a little surprised Grier let his bride wear such a costume in front of the Federation men. Mated shifters were always on the more possessive side when it came to their women.

Grier was in his human form covered in reddish-orange paint. Tufts of Payton’s fur had been glued to his face to make him look like an alien ambassador. Jaxx grinned. He knew where the white tiger fur came from because he’d cut it from Payton’s shifted backside himself.

Salena gave a subtle gesture to signify they were ready. He breathed another stream of fire into the sky to let them know he’d seen her. A knot formed in his stomach. Now all he had to do was wait and watch.

Jaxx was a dragon