Page 51 of Xara and the Xenobeast

“Ash?” she prompted when he remained silent.

He looked up, and the expression on his face made her blood run cold. It wasn’t just anger or concern—it was a focused, lethal intensity she hadn’t seen since the day he’d saved her from the predator.

“Inside,” he ordered, his voice rough from disuse despite their night together. “Now.”

She didn’t argue, gathering the pups and hurrying into the cave. Ash followed, his movements swift and purposeful. He placed the device on a flat stone and began moving around their living space with deadly efficiency, pulling weapons from hidden caches she hadn’t even known existed.

“What’s happening?” she asked, trying to keep her voice steady. “What is that thing?”

“Tracker,” he said tersely, strapping a wicked-looking blade to his thigh. “Zarkari design.”

The name sent a chill through her. Zarkari—his creators. The ones who had engineered him as a weapon, then exiled him when he refused to slaughter innocents.

“They’re here? On the planet?” Her voice rose despite her efforts to stay calm.

Ash nodded once, pulling what looked like a modified pulse rifle from beneath a loose stone in the wall. He checked its power cell, his movements precise and practiced.

“Why? After all this time?—”

“Doesn’t matter,” he cut her off. “Stay in the cave. Deep in the back chamber. Take the pups.”

The pups were already distressed, their bioluminescent patches flickering between anxious amber and frightened red. Dot huddled against her ankle while Soldier and Trouble paced in tight circles, chirping agitatedly.

“I’m not hiding while you face them alone,” she argued, even as fear knotted her stomach.

His silver eyes flashed. “You will.”

“Ash—”

“They are hunters,” he growled, moving closer until he loomed over her. “Killers. And they will not hesitate.”

She swallowed hard but stood her ground. “All the more reason you shouldn’t face them alone.”

For a moment, something like pain flashed across his features. He reached out, one clawed hand cupping her cheek with impossible gentleness.

“I can’t fight if I’m worried about you,” he said, his voice softer now. “Please, Xara.”

The plea in his voice undid her. She nodded reluctantly, gathering the pups closer to her legs.

“How many?” she asked.

“Don’t know yet.” He turned back to his weapons, selecting several small, disc-shaped objects that she guessed were explosives or traps. “Tracker is recent. Scout team, maybe.”

“And they’re looking for you?”

He paused, considering. “Maybe. Or something else.”

The way he looked at her sent another chill down her spine. What if they weren’t here for Ash at all? What if they somehow knew about her—a human, far from Earth, with knowledge of alien biology?

“I’ll check the perimeter,” he said, moving toward the cave entrance. “Set defenses. Stay here.”

“Be careful,” she called after him, hating how inadequate the words felt.

He glanced back, his silver eyes softening for just a moment. Then he was gone, a shadow melting into the jungle.

Xara sank down onto their bed, the pups immediately climbing into her lap. Her mind raced with questions and fears. How had the Zarkari found this planet? What did they want? And most terrifying of all—what would happen if they caught Ash?

The memory of the data tablet’s fragments flashed through her mind: ‘Project: K-7... subject refused to execute target purge... deemed defective... exiled to planet.’ They had created him to be a weapon, then discarded him when he showed mercy. What would they do if they found him again?

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