Page 5 of Xara and the Xenobeast

CHAPTER FOUR

The Xenobeast’s roar echoed through the ancient ruins, vibrating the very air around him. Victory surged through his veins as he stood over the dismembered carcass of the Trex’ik predator, its toxic blood steaming on the jungle floor. He inhaled deeply, letting the primal satisfaction of the kill wash through him before turning toward the female.

She would be terrified now. They always were. He had been engineered to inspire terror before delivering death.

But when he turned, he found her crumpled unconscious on the stone floor instead. Blood pooled beneath her leg where the Trex’ik had struck. The three Graxlin pups circled her fallen form, their lavender fur standing on end, silver markings pulsing frantically as they emitted high-pitched squeals of distress.

Something cold and unfamiliar gripped his chest. He crossed the distance in three long strides, dropping to one knee beside her. Too late. He’d been too late to prevent her injury.

He’d been watching—he’d seen the Trex’ik approach and he’d seen her place herself between the predator and the pups withdeliberate intent, her body language shifting from exhausted to alert in an instant.

Foolish. Brave. Doomed. The Trex’ik would tear through her defenses like they were nothing. It would consume her and the pups before her makeshift weapon could even pierce its outer armor but she stood her ground. No screaming. No panicking. No begging for mercy from a universe that offered none. Instead she swung her branch as the creature lunged, the movement precise and controlled despite her injuries.

A direct hit. Impressive. Tactically sound, if ineffective. His assessment of her capabilities shifted upward.

The Trex-ik shrieked, a sound that could shatter eardrums, recoiling briefly before striking again with doubled fury. Its foreleg caught her across the thighs with devastating force, sending her crashing to the ground with a cry of pain that pierced through him like a physical blow.

Blood bloomed, bright and fresh against the dark ground. The scent filled the clearing—a beacon to every predator within miles.

The pups’ distress calls pierced the night, their tiny bodies scurrying to the female’s side. She struggled to rise, still trying to shield them with her body, as the Trex’ik loomed over her. Her determination was absolute, even in the face of certain death.

Something snapped inside him, and he launched from his perch, a blur of motion too fast for normal eyes to track. He slammed into the Trex’ik with controlled fury, his claws finding the weak points between chitin plates with surgical precision. The creature whirled, disoriented by the unexpected attack, its serrated limbs slashing air where he’d been a heartbeat before.

He circled, drawing it away from the female and pups with deliberate movements. The Trex’ik lunged again, all eight limbs extended for the kill. This time, he met it head-on, catching its striking limbs in his hands. Chitin cracked under pressure. Toxic ichor sprayed across his chest, sizzling against his skin.

Pain flared as one serrated edge sliced his shoulder, cutting deep into muscle. He ignored it completely. Pain was irrelevant. The mission parameters had changed.

Protect. Defend. Eliminate threat.

He drove the creature back with methodical violence, matching its speed, exceeding its strength. His claws found vulnerable joints between armor plates. His fangs tore through sensor organs with devastating precision. The Trex’ik thrashed, its movements growing desperate as it recognized a superior predator—something it had never encountered before.

With one powerful motion, he wrenched its head from its thorax, severing the neural clusters that controlled its body. The massive form collapsed, limbs twitching in death spasms, ichor pooling beneath it.

Victory surged through him—primal, fierce, satisfying in a way combat hadn’t been for years. A roar tore from his throat, echoing through the forest like thunder. Warning to all predators: this territory is mine. These creatures are mine.

Mine.

The thought lingered, even as his senses expanded, seeking additional threats. There was no sound or scent of further dangers, so he turned his attention to the female, now lying ominously still. The pups scurried back and forth around her, their frantic squeals a mixture of terror and desperation.

He reached toward her wound, assessing the damage. Deep, but not fatal if treated quickly. Her skin was pale, her breathing shallow. Too late. He’d hesitated too long before intervening and he’d been too late to prevent her injury.

The realization angered him, but then the anger shifted, redirected inward. Why did he care? She was nothing to him. Just another off-worlder who would die on this planet like all the others. He should leave her. Return to the solitude he’d carved for himself in this hostile world.

But one of his tendrils had already curved possessively around her wrist as the largest Graxlin pup bumped against his hand, chirping urgently. Its tiny paws pressed against his skin, bioluminescent markings pulsing in distress. The female had protected them. Had placed herself between them and the predator without hesitation.

He exhaled slowly. He knew what he had to do.

He gently gathered her into his arms, cradling her wounded body against his chest. The pups chirped anxiously, clinging to her covering with tiny claws and he waited, allowing them to settle before rising to his full height, careful not to disturb them.

She weighed almost nothing against his chest. Small. Fragile. Warm. Her head rolled against his shoulder, exposing the vulnerable line of her throat—a display of unconscious trust that filled him with unexpected satisfaction.

His tendrils brushed her face with feather-light touches, absorbing the silky texture of her skin, the pattern of her breathing, the unique energy signature that had called to him across the forest. Something stirred inside him—a feelingwithout tactical value, dangerous and forbidden. Something his creators had tried to eliminate with pain and reconditioning.

The pups’ markings pulsed once more, this time with a pattern he recognized: trust. Acceptance. Family. One climbed higher on her body to peer at his face. Huge dark eyes reflecting his own image back at him—not a monster, but a protector. One tiny paw reached towards a tendril and he allowed the contact before rising, cradling her against his chest, as he headed deeper into the jungle.

The nearest of his lairs was less than a mile away—a cave system he’d modified for security and comfort. She needed treatment. The Trex’ik’s venom would spread if not neutralized.

The contact unsettled him. How long had it been since he’d touched another living being without violence? His sensory tendrils stirred at the base of his skull, unfurling from their dormant state to investigate this new presence. They brushed against her skin, feather-light, absorbing information his other senses couldn’t detect.

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