Page 13 of Game on Askole

“The Overlord. Release her,”Voss growled. Blood covered the left side of his face.

Oh, thank God. I couldn’t believe how happy I was to see the Battle Commander. Voss, on the other hand, looked like he wanted to throttle me. It wasn’t my fault he forgot to duck.

“I came to thisworld to find and claim a Jones female. You will not stop me,”Tihar bellowed.

“You can have a Jones female. But not these two. Give Sarah to me.”Voss bared his fangs.

I shot Voss a venomous glare. “You’re giving away Jones women like prizes now? Become our allies and win a hot-to-trot mate?”

“I will fight you for Sarah.”Tihar’s gaze was full of deadly resolve.

Sam rolled her eyes. “Should have known. Testosterone is universal.”

Seizing handfuls of Tihar’s tentacles, I jerked them as hard as I could.“Hey! I’m a warrior. I have killed over eight hundred Tai-Koks in battle. You will treat me with the respect I deserve.”I gave him my best batshit crazy stare.“Got it?”

“Yes, lady warrior.”

“Put me down.”To my utter surprise, Tihar obeyed. I eased away from him.

“I will give the Overlord four times the bride price for this one. She is worthy to be my mate.”

“Lucky, Sarah,” Sam quipped.

Out of nowhere, Rho popped in, seized Sam, and poof. They were gone.

Damn. That was one sneaky move.

His gaze never leaving the Askole, Voss commanded in his perfect English, “Come to me, Sarah.”

I willingly took a step toward the Battle Commander.

Tihar’s enormous armored hand clamped down on my shoulder. “I have claimed this one.”

“Like hell you have,”I snarled.“Let go of me or I will hurt you.”

The Battle Commander tensed and bellowed,“Do not attack Tihar, Sarah. It will signal your interest in mating with him.”

“What? You’re joking? Right?”

“I am not,”Voss responded.

A cackling laugh broke from Tihar.“She has already struck me.”

Voss spat something that sounded like a curse word.“Do you know what you have done?”

“He was sniffing my crotch,”I yelled in exasperation.

Tihar taunted Voss.“The mating dance has begun, and not even the Overlord can stop it.”

“No! It hasn’t,”I interjected.“I’m human, and your rules don’t apply to me.”

“Your world is now part of the Coletti Empire. The Battle Commander knows our customs and failed to properly protect you. As a warrior, you can challenge me to combat.”Tihar’s rather toothy grin was alarming.“Do you dare duel with me?”

I opened my mouth to respond.

Tihar bellowed a terrifying war cry.

“Mwah-hah-hah.”I bellowed back and gave myself a mental head whack. I had watched that minion movie with my five-year-old cousin way too many times.

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