Page 49 of Ruled By The Alpha

Yes! What she suspected was right. While the smack of her palm against the rock produced only a faint sound to her ears, the impact on the gerlex was more profound. Sightless, with long antennas, they communicated at low-level frequencies that enabled the hive mind to coordinate hunting and movement. But thanks to the cave material’s density and shape, the introduction of even slight alternate soundwaves like her palms hitting the rock was enough to disrupt their communication, leaving them blind and disoriented.

“It’s working,” she shouted down to Cheim. “The vibrations confuse the gerlex.”

An instant later, her beserketh’s boots crashed down; another low frequency sound to muddle their foe.

The tide turned.

Their attackers fell apart, some pouncing on each other while others fled, ignoring her as if they could no longer sense her in the space.

Below, Cheim became the aggressor, chasing after the bolting gerlex as they crawled over one another to squeeze through the cracks in the exit.

Triumph and hope surged through her; a rare, heady mix.

She’d never realized how pleasant it could be to be the victor. She and her kind had always been so helpless, so powerless, crushed beneath the claws and fangs of predators far more ruthless than them.

But now, thanks to Cheim’s touch and her abilities, she wasn’t so helpless after all.

She slammed her palms against the rocks once more and relished the way the remaining intruders screeched and scattered.

When her palms grew too sore and bloody, she slammed her shoulder against the cave rocks.

She never wanted to feel powerless again.

“Ah-nara, stop!” Cheim’s voice halted her in mid-strike. “The last of them are taking their dead and fleeing.”

Breathless, she looked down to see he was right. The few remaining gerlex were dragging their brethren with them as they slithered through the cracks and disappeared.

Until all that was left were a few dying gerlex and a shocking silence.

“We won.” He didn’t even sound surprised.

We?Her heart skipped faster inside her chest.

She dropped to the ground an arm’s length away from him, favoring her uninjured ankle.

His scowling gaze locked on her. “You’re hurt.”

“So are you.” She pressed her bleeding palm to her belly. “It could have been far worse.”

Tension vibrated between them.

“You could have been killed.” He took a single step closer, his jaw tight.

“So could you.”

His scowl deepened. “I told you to go.”

“Which is exactly why I stayed.”

He looked confused.

She stepped closer. “Sometimes it’s the choice that matters most.”

He studied her, assessing once more. She could tell it would take a little time for that lesson to sink in fully, but she was more hopeful than she’d been in a long time, and confident she could handle her beserketh no matter what came next.

“So,” he said at last, “if I gave you thechoiceto come closer”—he opened his arms, his expression wary—“would you?”

She stepped forward until she was inches from his big body, her neck craning upward to keep her stare fused with his. “Without hesitation.”

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