Page 2 of Claimed By the Alien Barbarian

Molly released a low coo I took as agreement.

She crept closer to me and tipped her head back, her gaze meeting mine, before she settled beside my outstretched leg. I continued my story while she placed her fuzzy chin on her front paws—the ones with two-inch claws. After dealing with the hybrid wolves the first two nights, I noted that the only way a creature could survive in this alien world was if they carried their own weapons.

As for me, I wasn’t sure how long I’d last without claws.

All those times spent learning martial arts and defense skills in Mom’s home gym in the basement might pay off. Plus the switchblade I’d kept in my pack and the skinning knife I’d used more than once to clean a deer—and poke the chin of whateverslimy dude who thought he could take advantage of a woman hiking alone.

“AI robocops were introduced a few years ago by our government,” I told Molly. “A billionaire showed off a few prototypes during an international science exhibition. The government loved them. Orders were placed, and robocops took over most of our police protection units. They cost a boatload of money, but they don’t need much maintenance, they’re happy to work all hours, and they always follow the law.” I frowned. “Although, I’m not sure they were following the law when they grabbed me.”

Molly sighed, and I appreciated her expression of sympathy.

“When I saw them standing on the trail, I figured they were after an escaped convict or something. Or that they’d taken up hunting. Maybe they got lost on their way to the robocop ball, if such a thing exists. Man—excuse me, I meantyoung groundhog lady—was I wrong.”

They were after me.

When beads of light shot out of their eyes and centered on my chest, I yelped. And when they slammed toward me, their mechanical limbs whirling andapprehend, apprehendsnarling from their toothless mouths, I pivoted and bolted back down the trail, my big pack shifting against my back. Since it was heavy and full of everything from a one-person tent to multiple space blankets I wished I had with me now, let alone cooking supplies and other odds and ends, I dropped it, hoping it would slow them down.

I didn’t look back but ran harder, my smaller pack bouncing on the front of my chest.

“They caught me,” I told Molly, who snorted and squinted up at me. “They stabbed me with a needle in my arm, and I passed out. Those damn things drugged me. I vaguely remember them taking me off the mountain and stuffing me into a van. Theytook me all the way to the space station with the ship going to Mars. That, I saw on TV. Mars. Can you imagine? I remember one of them jumping over the tall fence with me slung over his shoulder. He stuffed me into one of the stasis pods I’d also seen on TV, and everything went blank after that. I guess it wasn’t a dream, but my new reality.”

She rolled onto her back and stuck her feet into the air. I dutifully scratched her belly, watching her eyes in case she decided she was done with that and chastised me with her claws, something she did when I rubbed too hard.

“I woke to a chirpy voice telling me it was time to meet my mate. Like, had I been taken to Australia?” My low laugh rang out, but Molly didn’t join in. She was a tough audience. “I was in and out of it after that, but the space pod opened, and mechanical arms carried me down a hall. They placed me in a tube-like ship and shot me out into space. The ship soared toward this planet. I saw that much, at least. Whatever drugs they gave me were taking too long to work their way out of my system, but I woke up fast when the pod slammed into the canopy of one of these trees.” I waved to the forest behind me. “The top of the pod slid off and the entire thing tipped sideways, dumping me out.”

I snagged a branch as I fell and lay on my belly, clinging to the tree while the pod smacked down through the branches beside me and landed with an enormous bang on the forest floor.

“When I got to the ground,” I told Molly, gliding my fingertips up and down her lightly furred purple chest while she sighed and wiggled, “the pod was in pieces. That’s when I knew I was stuck here, probably for the rest of my life.” I tugged on the end of my long blonde braid. “I don’t know where I am or why I was sent here. However, if there’s management around, I’d like to speak to them, though my name is not Karen.”

Again, that didn’t bring out even one chuckle from Molly. Definitely a tough crowd.

“I enjoy reading as much as the next person.” Tipping my head back, I rested it on the trunk of the tree behind me—my shelter again if the hybrid wolves returned and I wasn’t fast enough with my arrows. “I love fantasy stories the most. From my fictional fantasy studies, I’ve concluded that I’m either dead or I’ve been sent to a world straight out of a book. I saw a planet that wasn’t Earth on my way here. It looks like I’m going to spend the rest of my life alone in an alien world.”

And didn’t that just suck?

I tossed a log onto the fire. Flames greedily licked around it, and sparks flung themselves up toward the sky. Could I hitch a ride on them and find my way home?

Not that Earth was much of a home without Mom. She’d been gone five years, and my heart spasmed whenever I thought of her. It took me years to realize that the pain never ended. I only got better at forgetting.

“Tomorrow, I’m going to start building a shelter. With all the lush vegetation around, it’s bound to rain here eventually, and if there’s anything I hate, it’s getting wet unless I’m swimming or in the shower. I only have one other change of clothing.” I washed yesterday’s pants and t-shirt each day and donned the clean ones, but they’d eventually wear out. As for the skimpy nightie I arrived in, I was saving that for emergency wear.

I wasn’t cut out to play Eve, especially without Adam.

“I need to build something that will not only keep out giant wolves, but anything else that might hunt me.” I peered up at the purple canopy swaying in the light breeze overhead. “Maybe I could build a treehouse. I saw some decent vines by the river that look tough enough to bind logs together. I’ve made a raft out of logs in the past, and something like that would serve as my floor. I can add other panels for walls and a ceiling that I’dcover with thick grass and big leaves. Despite having you with me each night as my furry protector, I won’t live long exposed on the ground.” I stroked Molly’s snout, and she released a low snore. “I don’t suppose you have room for another person inside your burrow?”

She didn’t reply.

“I thought not.”

I’d get started first thing in the morning, and within a few weeks, I should have a snug new home. Maybe I could coax Molly into joining me inside.

After adding another log to the fire, I sat back against the tree. An odd sound made me suck in a breath and hold it.

Had I heard a groan?

Rising with my homemade bow in hand and an arrow ready to fly, I pressed my back against the tree and peered around.

Something—no, someone—staggered from the forest on the opposite side of the small clearing, moonlight highlighting his features as if he was a gorgeous god emerging from the sea.

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