Page 2 of Fated to the Alien Hero

I hustle back to our tent, spilling more water as I go. I’m sure I’ll be punished for that later. I set it just inside the doorway and quickly make my way back to the river. He’s still standing there, tapping his foot, scanning the area like he’s watching for something.

“Let’s go,” Grady commands before I reach him and takes off.

We head downriver a short distance, to a spot where the water is shallow enough to cross. It’s still a little on the cooler side, since we’re early into summer and the sun hasn’t had a chance towarm it up yet. The silence is uncomfortable, although I’mused to it. Grady rarely talks to me anymore. Except it feels heavier than usual. Oppressive. A shudder runs down my spine, and warning bells go off inside my head.

We step into the dense forest. From the outside I admire the colors, but walking within the confines of the looming trees, it feels like they, along with the darkness, are closing in on me. The air temperature has dropped several degrees and large shadows dance along the ground.

When I’m at the riverbank getting water, there’s always so much noise from the forest. Sometimes I imagine there’s a portal to another world in here. My dad would call me fanciful, just like my mom. Yet, as we wind our way along a barely carved out path, it’s quiet. Too quiet. Almost like the animals can sense danger.

Every so often, Grady glances over his shoulder, like he’s checking to make sure I’m following. The bells grow louder and nearly drown out a voice speaking a single word over and over again.

Run.

My palms grow sweaty and my heart races. I scan our surroundings, although I’m not sure what I’m searching for. My gaze lands on my husband,. If we’re hunting, where are Grady’s weapons?

Run.

I slow my stride to try and put some distance between us while I figure out what to do. There’s nowhere to run. No shelter to hide within. We’re surrounded by trees and bushes on every side with no visible clearing. One more time, Grady glances back. Slowly,he comes to a stop and turns to face me head on. I stop in my tracks. He’s far too close.

“Did you finally figure it out?” he asks.

I swallow at the menace in his tone and take several steps backward. He prowls forward like a predator stalking its pray.

“What’s going on?” I hate how my voice trembles.

Grady laughs and it’s nothing but pure evil. “God, you’re so stupid. For three years I’ve put up with your uselessness and I’m fucking tired of it, Astrid. Tired of looking at your fat body. Your face. I’m tired ofyou.”

I stumble over a branch and right myself. That’s the cue Grady must be waiting for because he leaps forward and the first strike of his fist lands. They don’t stop until everything goes dark.

Chapter 2

Astrid

I must be in Hell. I have to be. It’s certainly dark enough. Surely God wouldn’t let me suffer like this in Heaven. At the thought of not making it through the Pearly Gates, tears well up. Mama always said that good people don’t have anything to worry about when their time on Earth ends. Maybe since I’m not on Earth anymore, that’s null and void.

Every single inch of my skin stings like I’m being stabbed over and over again by tiny needles. It hurts to breathe. Lord, it hurts just lying still in this spot. I shift slightly, and instantly regret it. Nausea swirls in my belly. Probably from the pounding headache that throbs at the base of my skull or the stabbing pain that shoots through my arm. I don’t have to see it to know something’s extremely wrong with it.

A small whimper escapes as do more tears. Grady tried to kill me. It wasn’t in a fit of rage, which is when I always thought it would happen. This was calculated. Pre-meditated. Pure evil.

How did I miss the signs? Before we were married, I never would have imagined he’d hit me. I’ve racked my brain for three years, wondering what I did wrong, and I still can’t come up with an answer.

A small ray of light hits the side of my face and I open my eye. Or at least I try to, but the pain is too great.

“It is a human female,” an unfamiliar voice rasps in a vaguely soothing way. More light shines on me. “She is harmed.”

Gentle hands slide me carefully along the ground. Tears fall down my temples, and I hold back the screams of agony like I’ve learned to do over the years, although a single, garbled cry manages to make it out.

“You are safe, female,” a different voice from the first says softly. “I am Jodah of the Tavikhi people and I am here to help you. Can you hear me?”

A small part of me is relieved. It’s not Grady coming back to make sure he finished the job.

“It hurts.”

“I am sorry you are hurting, but I have something for the pain. You need to drink this.”

With far more gentleness than I’ve felt in a long time, he raises my head. I bite back a whimper, and instead, greedily drink down the bitter liquid he feeds me. I don’t care what it tastes like, so long as it makes the pain go away.

“What is your name?” the first guy asks again.

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