Page 44 of Warrioress

“And I would have thought that by now you would have learned your lesson about being treacherous scum. I guess we will both have to be disappointed,” she shot back.

Grinning sadistically, he lunged forward, the sword she didn’t even see that he had cutting through the air in a blur of steel. Lunging for the wall, she grabbed the nearest sword and brought her own blade up to parry his thrust. She felt a moment of concern, however, when he brought his other hand up, driving a dagger toward the sensitive flesh of her stomach. Uma’s stomach dropped, and for a moment she felt genuine regret for not having enough time to actually mate her idiotic triad, and another regret for not finding and murdering whoever took her armor that could have saved her ass before throwing her in that cell. She didn’t even have her sword, the empty sheath hanging uselessly from her belt as they fucking made sure to take that too.

Their swords clanged and she shoved forward to send him off balance even as she mentally prepared for the bite of steel. But it never came. Instead, the growl that ripped through the air sent a shockwave through her as Laro’s huge body collided with Drake, toppling him back into the box as cannisters immediately popped, sending dust into Laro’s face.

Uma watched in horror as her mate coughed and shook his head as he backed away. Drake followed after him with a cruel laugh, but Uma rushed forward, rage pumping through her blood. It was enough. Drake had already taken far too much from her. He wasn’t about to take one more thing—certainly not her mate.

With a shriek, she ducked low and spun as she brought her sword around, driving it with every bit of her strength into his belly as he brought his arms up to attack Laro. His entire body jerked in shock, a wet gasp falling from his lips as he stumbled back and collapsed. Uma watched dispassionately as he fell and didn’t even blink as Laro stalked over and drove his claws into the man’s chest, tearing brutally through muscle and sinew as bones cracked and split. She was almost surprised that the heart he tore out wasn’t pitch black, but she didn’t even try to hold back her smile as his hand closed around it, crushing the organ completely within his fist until fleshy bits dripped out.

It was done.

Sighing with relief, she reached for him only to freeze when he jerked his head around toward the males rushing toward them with a violent growl.

“Fuck. Heat,” she whispered. Spinning toward Kam and Vrin, she put her newly gained sword into the sheath at her side and shouted, “Get out of here. He has been exposed to Heat!”

Vrin slowed to a stop, but he shook his head, and stalked forward with a look of determination on his face until Kam grabbed ahold of him and hauled him back.

“Come on, Vrin,” Kam snarled. “Laro will not hurt his mate, but in his state of mind he will most definitely kill us!”

Uma nodded, quietly urging him to go. Vrin whined uncertainly and he gave her a long look before finally dipping his head in assent and allowing Kam to drag him out of the armory, and hopefully out of the outpost altogether. Laro’s growls calmed as the male fell silent, but Uma’s breath caught in a nervous hitch. Aggression wasn’t the only side effect of Heat but she needed to get him as far from the outpost as possible before he succumbed entirely.

Flattening a palm against Laro’s abs, she smiled up at him sweetly. “Hey, honey, I know what you need. You need your female’s tight cunt wrapped around your cocks, right?”

He squinted suspiciously at her but nodded. She wasn’t even sure if he recognized her in any sort of rational way outside of his need to claim her.

“Okay, and that’s a fine plan. But first let’s get out of here, okay?” She stepped closer to his and trailed her fingers through his fur. “Let’s get away from all these people and then I’m all yours. How does that sound?”

“Mine,” he growled, and Uma squeezed her eyes shut apprehensively as he plucked her up off the ground.

To her surprise his touch was gentle, and he was infinitely tender with her as he tucked her against his chest. It seemed that her mate was still in there, and she could have wept then and there with gratitude. He had received a huge dose of Heat, but she was confident that he would come back to her. He had to.

Chapter 31

Laro’s head was a mess as he ran. Aggression trembled through him whenever he scented another male. All he knew was his female and his need to get her away from all others. There was something else missing, but any time he tried to focus on it, it drifted out of his grasp. Some of the tension running through him settled, however, as he entered the woods with his female securely in his arms, the scent of rivals fading off into the distance. Even the sounds of the other males were dulling due to the distance he had quickly put between them during his escape. Their screams had started to quiet, but he was not interested enough to care. All he cared about was the female in his arms.

His muzzle lowered as he sniffed the top of her head. She smelled a little like the others, but he did not care about that either. She smelled familiar. She was his. He rumbled happily as she stroked his fur, her voice warbling indistinctly in his mind but soothingly. Suddenly she made a noise and patted his chest as she pointed toward the trees.

She wanted to go that way.

His ears pricked, listening for signs of further pursuit, and he nodded. He needed to get somewhere safe. His cocks had already extruded and engorged to the point of leaking. He was desperate to breed his mate, but she was not safe. He whined in his throat, the sound deepening to a growl. He would not let anyone harm her, not even himself by trying to rut in a place that was not safe from other males who might try to harm her or steal her away. He did not trust any of them.

She made another insistent sound, and he grunted in agreement. That way. He did not scent anyone that way.

Adjusting his hold on his mate, he turned in the direction she indicated and raced into the thick growth of trees. He ran, dodging branches and vaulting over fallen trunks. He ran until his legs began to tire. He did not know why she wanted him to run toward the mountain but there were no males and so it was as good a place as any other.

He slowed as he came upon a soft mossy spot. There were several fallen trees and others that were leaning at odd angles in their growth. Laro walked in a slow circle, sniffing around before finally carefully lowering his female to her feet. Steadied, she peered up at him with a smile and stroked the fur on his arm. He grunted, pleased, and lowered himself to a slight crouch, bringing him eye level with his mate. Her smile widened as she brushed a hand along his cheek up to his ear. He patiently leaned into her touch, savoring the connection. He did not wish to rush the moment. He wanted to enjoy every touch, but his primary cock jumped with a fresh stream of seed as it seemed to swell further, and he released a soft sigh and grunted. There was no delaying it.

Gently nudging her back, he reached and gripped the material covering. His mate gasped, her hands coming over his to cover them. She pushed his hands away and scowled at him as her lips began to move. Shaking his fog from his head, he leaned closer, his ears tipping toward her attentively to catch her words.

“Hold on, honey,” she murmured, her own hands going to the material when he would have reached for it again. “I don’t think you are in the right mind to keep yourself from tearing these, and I still need to be able to wear them.”

Laro settled back on his haunches and watched as she peeled off her coverings, bearing every inch of her skin. It was marred in several places with old scars, but each one left an intriguing new pattern, adding adornments to his mate that spoke of her bravery and strength, and her suffering. He did not like the latter, but he could not hate the scars. He loved each of them because he knew that they were part of what her the female she was.

Reaching over, he ran a claw lightly over a large scar on her breast as he raised a hand to touch the wicked scars violently slashed into his own hide. His mate’s lips curved, and she placed her hand on his chest beside his and stroked a finger over the largest of the scars.

“We are both a bit messed up, aren’t we?” she murmured. He frowned at her word choice, but she chuckled and shook her head. “It’s not a bad thing, sweetheart. It just means that we both survived some shit that made us stronger and better able to protect those we care for.”

“I will protect you,” he rumbled slowly, the words thick on his tongue.

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