Page 22 of Monstrous Heat
“Plus Tyrannosaurus Rex.” Her eyes widened, her mouth soft and luscious. “The king of dinosaurs. Though I think we’ve discovered some that were bigger than that.”
My jaws clenched, a muscle ticking across my cheek. “Yeah. There are.”
She brushed her knuckles over my face, her brow creasing. “What’s wrong?”
“Every Dynosauros squad leader is designated BGR, Blue Gig Rex, the biggest, baddest dynos ever created. But our squad leader had a few additional modifications.”
“Gig… Like giganotosaurus?” Shaking her head, she laughed though I didn’t sense any humor in her manner. “I can’t believe I’m talking about extinct dinosaurs in present tense. I’m an archaeologist not a paleontologist, for fuck’s sake. If your squad leader is bigger and badder than you, then I don’t think my puny human brain could bear seeing it. Him. Whatever. I’d be scared shitless.”
“Good. You should be.”
Her eyes flared and she sat up a little straighter. “Why?”
“He’s a fucking traitor. If you see him, we’re dead.”
NATALIE
I hadn’t even knownthis man twenty-four hours yet.Man? Ha. He wasn’t a human male at all. An alien shapeshifting soldier who ran around the jungle in a formidable monstrous form that was the stuff of nightmares. If he said we’d die if his squad leader showed up…
“What happened?” I asked, trying not to let my teeth chatter.
“We’re not exactly sure,” he admitted, his mouth a grim, harsh slant. “We were sent to Earth on a seemingly routine mission. Should’ve been a quick, easy in and out.”
“You said a rescue mission before.”
Some of the grimness eased from his mouth as he quirked his lips. “That was the easiest way for me to explain it without terrifying you even more. We were here to rescue Earth by killing something else. I didn’t know if that would make you trust me even less or not.”
“Somethingelse?”
He nodded. “There are millions of sentient species across the multiverse. Most of them work together at least in their own galaxies or federations to protect their planets and aren’t considered a danger to others. Some are more warlike than others, don’t get me wrong, but they’re not considered lethally dangerous. They don’t wipe out entire civilizations just because they can. But there are some species for which killing is their entire existence. They literally can’t breed if they’re not killing, and when they find new grounds, we have to act fast.”
My stomach clenched—and it had nothing to do with the beans. “These killer types were here?”
“Not confirmed. We found wreckage but no sign of spawn. We reported our findings to HQ. They ordered us to return to Nyan Station.”
Softly, he smoothed his palm over my hair in gentle pets. Not to soothe me, I sensed—but to soothe himself. “Was that a bad thing?”
“Nyan Station is for decommissioning.” He sighed, his eyes flickering with red flashes. “It certainly wasn’t expected. Dyni squads usually operate for a hundred cycles or more before they’re decommissioned. Axxol took matters into his own hands and went off grid. Without him, we can’t leave the planet.”
“Why would he do that? Was he under some kind of investigation?”
Kroktl blew out another sigh, this one deeper like his beast’s rattling purr. “Possibly. He shut down the grid before we could question him. He almost killed Lohr when he tried to track him. We decided the best thing we could do was split up, lay low, and wait for another dyni squad to come. Though now that we’ve been off the grid so long, HQ probably assumes we’re all working with Axxol. That we’re all traitors.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. “If they think you’re all working together… Will the other squad attack? What about when you get back to the station?”
He drew me closer. Spreading his palm wide, he ran his massive hand up and down my spine. “I’ve been in these jungles for months and haven’t seen any sign of my own squad, let alone another. As long as I stay off grid, they won’t find us easily.”
So many questions whirled in my head. When I’d first woke up today, I’d imagined going back to my old life. I could say I’d been lost in the jungle for a couple of days. No big deal. Kroktl could take me to the village he’d mentioned, or a bigger town. In my head, that had still been an option.
But if bad guys were coming… Another squad of super soldier killers—like him. Or this traitor of his squad. Or even the other dangerous aliens he’d come to stop in the first place. All of those threats meant one thing.
He could die.
My stomach wrenched into a vicious knot. It wasn’t my heart. I couldn’t say that I loved him. I’d only just met him. I didn’t believe in love at first sight anyway. Half of what he’d just told me only generated more questions and concerns. But the thought of being separated from him…
Hurt. Physically. Sweat beaded on my forehead. I breathed shallowly, trying not to panic.
“Shhh, baby,” he whispered against my ear. “I won’t leave you. I can’t. You’re my mate.”
