Page 15 of Monstrous Hunt
:Get fucked,:Snryx grumbled.:I’ve got what she calls tentacles. Even Lohr’s dick tongue got some action, and she didn’t freak out. You having two dicks isn’t going to be a problem for her.:
My ruff thickened around my neck, and I shifted my gaze away from her enticing pussy. I tried to keep my curiosity suppressed, at least on the grid. I didn’t want to anger Kroktl before I even had the chance to touch her again.:But do I use them both in her pussy? Or should I use one externally like Lohr stimulated her?:
:You’ll know when the time comes,:Lohr replied.:Let her body guide you. When she makes that sound, you’ll know you’re doing it right.:
:What sound?:
Kroktl grunted heavily. His thighs strained, his arms bulged, veins popped across his neck and shoulders as he climaxed. Natalie had her face buried against his chest, but I still heard a muffled whimper that rose to an oddly soft wail. The sound a fresh, tender kill might make as I gutted it.
Surely such a wounded cry shouldn’t sound so fucking good.
:That one,:Lohr replied.
When I glanced over at him to see if he was as affected as me, his tongue hung a foot out of his mouth, and the white tip exposed to the air.
:Check Axxol’s response,:Snryx said.
I didn’t understand the dark humor vibrating through the grid. Our former alpha had retreated back the way we’d come, pausing at the edge of the large cavern. Back rigid, he didn’t even look at any of us. It didn’t make sense for him to wait like we needed a fucking guide. He wasn’t even a part of the squad any longer. Kroktl had made that perfectly clear. He’d never be trusted around Natalie again, by any of us.
Then I noticed he’d grown a third leg.
Okay, not exactly the same size but a third, large appendage that I had never seen him display before. I’d never even thought about his genitals or lack thereof. Where I might joke with the others, I’d never initiate any kind of joke, sexual or otherwise, with Axxol. That wasn’t the kind of relationship we ever had. I’d never even thought about it, to be honest. Not until we’d come to Earth and then been stranded. Freed from the normal strictures of the squad and HQ in general.
:Freed from the chemical restraints that kept our biology from responding naturally,:Lohr added.
Memories flickered through my head—and on the grid from the squad. Returning from a mission, the first thing we always did was report to HQ for “re-conditioning,” which included medical attention, whether anyone was injured or not. We couldn’t risk contaminating the station with Myrm that we might have picked up and not even realized it. We always received injections. I’d assumed they were pumping us with anti-virals, vitamins, and sedatives to knock us out and allow our bodies to recover. We didn’t sleep or rest while on mission. We didn’t need to—until we got back to HQ.
Now, though, it made me wonder. Had we truly been “resting?” Or had we been knocked out for other more nefarious reasons?
Again, I’d never even thought about why none of us ever came into heat naturally. We never thought about fucking and breeding, even when we were technically off duty. We’d never known any other way.:It’s all controlled by HQ.:
:Exactly,:Snryx replied grimly.:All of our biological responses have been controlled and manipulated for millennia. Only now that we’re completely off grid can some of our natural instincts take over.:
Ironically, for being so-called“natural instincts,”a lot of this shit didn’t come easily. Axxol braced a hand against the tunnel and bowed his head, his body shaking. Then I caught the scent of his thick musk on the air. Much like me the first time I saw Natalie in all her glory. For all the rage and mistrust burning in my heart, I couldn’t help but feel a little empathy for the bastard. Alphas didn’t like being out of control. Ever. At our prime, the squad didn’t even close our eyes without his say-so, even when we were in between missions. For us, there really wasn’t an off-duty button.
Until now.
I was starting to realize all the things we’d been denied. The raw surge of hunger when I caught the scent of good prey. The overwhelming waves of lust anytime I looked at Natalie. The sharpness of all my senses as they responded naturally to the environment around me, rather than relying on the rest of the squad’s skills to supply data to me. Sure, our private grid allowed us to work together more efficiently, but now that we’d been forced to work alone for survival before regrouping, I recognized more of my natural skills emerging. Pre-Earth Rizan wouldn’t have even thought about shifting the frequency of my echolocation to better pinpoint Natalie’s location in the river before she drowned.
:They want us dead,:Kroktl growled.:Without even knowing about Natalie.:
Snryx grunted.:Or maybe they do. Why else would they be so determined to eliminate us quickly?:
Control. They’d lost control of their most prolific squad, and we’d decimated the squad sent to exterminate us. Easily.
:What else does HQ not want us to figure out?:I asked.
:Exactly.:Kroktl’s head swiveled back and forth, his red eyes flashing.:I can’t see shit down here. Maybe that’s why I feel such unease.:
Perhaps his concern was making my instincts flare in sympathy, but I was beginning to feel uneasy too. I was too used to thick vegetation, warm air, and bright sun to find this dark place interesting. I didn’t give a shit about the chemical composition of the soil or how old the rocks were. Though I couldn’t resist running a quick sonar check on our surroundings. I opened my mouth and released an electromagnetic pulse strong enough to penetrate up to the surface and beyond.
The presence of five beings echoed back, sounding an immediate alarm on our private grid. Three blocked the tunnel exit. Two moved overhead back and forth, likely trying to pinpoint our exact location.:Squad deployed overhead.:
Kroktl hissed, a soft sound that wouldn’t carry through the rock, to get our alpha’s attention.
Axxol’s head snapped around and he whispered fiercely, “Get me on the fucking grid. Now.”
* * *
