Page 1 of His Human to Charm

1

Alice

Stupid bladder. Stupid dark planet with no electricity. And stupid me for not grabbing a torch on my way outside.

I should still be inside the great hall, listening to Simone snore up a storm. Instead, I’m being carried out of the tribe over an alien’s shoulder with a gag in my mouth and being told there’s no point in fighting since I’m so small and weak. Not that I put up much of a fight. It turns out my fight-or-flight response is to freeze

I didn’t put up a fight when I was ambushed by two alien demons that look a lot like the aliens of the tribe I’ve been living in. Sure, they didn’t look familiar, but I didn’t think they were from another tribe coming to kidnap me.

At first, I thought they were coming to make sure nothing happened to me when I went outside alone. I assumed it was just a couple of demons that I hadn’t met yet. When it became clear they were not there to keep me safe or make sure I made it back to the great hall, I froze.

I didn’t scream for help, didn’t try to gouge out any eyes. I just let one throw me over his shoulders after he tied some fabric around my head as a gag.

I always thought I’d at least try to fight, maybe wound someone before they could get me to a secondary location. It’s safe to say that now I know what kind of person I am. The type I am not very happy with right now.

“She is much smaller than I thought she would be,” one of the males, the one who’s not carrying me and has horns that twirl upward, says.

They look exactly like all the other inhabitants of this planet. A couple of feet taller than me, instead of skin, they have red scales and, oh yeah, the horns that make them all look like demons. In fact, the inhabitants of this planet look so much like them that the other humans here have decided to call them that instead of their actual species name. Which is just as well since none of us can pronounce it. Still, it doesn’t exactly scream the look I want for the man I’m supposed to spend the rest of my life with and have babies with. Well, it didn’t until recently.

Not that I’m planning any of that with these idiots who are kidnapping me. No, these idiots are going to die. They just don’t know it yet.

“Are we sure they can even bear young?” the one carrying me asks. I decide to call him Curls because his horns curl down by the side of his head. I doubt either of them is going to offer me their names, and I’m never going to say them even if they do tell me. Saying their name tells them that I want to bed them. Something I definitely do not want to do.

“Surely,” the first, who I have named Twirls, says.

We’re outside the tribe’s walls already. We have been for what feels like half an hour. The time for screaming and fighting is long gone. It sucks because I’m actually finding myself able to make sounds and move around now. It’s useless. Even if I do get away, the others in the tribe have told us all how dangerous these woods are.

If I get free from my captors, I die to a wolf-like thing that can somehow unhinge its jaw to snack on people… er, demons… more easily. I’m not trying to be a snack, well, not for an animal. I’ve seen the lasting damage they can do to someone. My mate, or the demon who’s supposed to be my mate as soon as I can get over the whole trying to have sex for the first time with an alien, was attacked by one when he was younger and still has the scars from it.

“I do not think I find these females very attractive,” Curls says, shifting me on his shoulder. “They look weak.”

“They are supposed to be soft and warm, though,” Twirls says.

As far as I can tell, there are only two that have kidnapped me, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t others. I shift in the hold and turn my head from side to side. Twirls eyes me cautiously when our gazes meet. Then he attempts to flirt with me. It is the most awkward exchange, which is saying something, considering I’m nothing but a giant, awkward human. “May I touch you to see if you are soft and warm?”

“No!” I try to scream, but when it comes out as a garbled sound, I shake my head vigorously, eyes wide in horror.

I’m not going to do a single thing to lead these demons on. I’m barely keeping sane knowing that there’s a giant angry one at the tribe who’s already claimed me as his. There’s no way I’m going to, even for a second, let one of these idiots think I might want him.

Unfortunately, the aliens on this planet don’t seem to understand body language very well. At least, all the ones I’ve met so far are terrible at it, and these two don’t seem much better. Twirls narrows his eyes on me, hand lifting to touch my cheek even as I continue to thrash around, trying to keep him from touching me.

“Stop moving.” Curls shifts my weight, making his shoulder dig into my gut more.

Something snaps in me at that moment. Something I wish would’ve snapped when they were taking me because it would have been more helpful in the tribe instead of out here in the middle of nowhere.

I keep thrashing around, screams erupting from my chest even though they’re muffled by the gag. My hands fight against the fabric binding them behind my back, but I’m still over Curls’s shoulder even if I get them free.

When Curls stops moving, I realize I’ve messed up by not following his command. Not that I’m thinking clearly right now. I’m lost to the panic and adrenaline coursing through my veins. The air feels thick and hot as I try and fail to get a single full breath. My heart is racing like it might beat out of my chest at any moment. Worst of all, the tears. So many tears even though I don’t want to look even weaker.

“Stop moving,” Curls hisses.

One of his hands wraps around my right thigh and squeezes it tight enough to bruise. The pain of his hold and the panic finally kicking in only has me moving around more, trying to wriggle out of his hold.

Even if I’m successful, I have to drop to the forest floor with no way to protect myself since my hands are still tied behind my back. I don’t think about that, though. I only think about how I need to get away from them.

The severity of my situation is just now coming into focus. It’s way too late for a successful getaway, especially since we’re so far from the tribe. It’s all coming into a terrifying clarity. I need to get away, or I will die.

“Stop, or I will make you stop.” The threat in his voice is clear, but it’s not registering.

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