Page 4 of Monstrous Hunt
“You’re Axxol. Right?”
Baring my teeth, I gave her a silent snarl. Again, she managed to surprise me. I didn’t think humans had enough intellect to make such inferences. I’d planned to pretend to be the other squad’s BGR. She wouldn’t know any better, and then she wouldn’t expect me to…
“What? Say it. I fucking dare you.”Kroktl’s voice mocked me, even though I wasn’t connected to their private grid.
She wouldn’t expect me to fucking want her too.
“Where’s Kroktl?” She tried to speak nonchalantly but the barest quiver in her voice betrayed her. “I want my mate.”
“He doesn’t fucking deserve you.” My voice dripped with harsh venom, making her recoil. Good. She needed to be afraid of me. “Besides, you’re only slowing him down.”
Her face crumpled, tears dripping from her eyes, but she didn’t sob out loud.
Silently, I moved closer, trying to use my senses to determine the scope of her injuries. I didn’t have X-ray vision to determine if her bones were broken or whether the joint was displaced. Let alone a deeper medical evaluation of her ligaments or muscles. I smelled her blood on the air, but she wasn’t at risk for bleeding out.
Unless she had an internal injury that I couldn’t discern. Fucking hell.
“What do you want? Why did you bring me here?”
Ignoring her questions, I reached out to manipulate her arm. She recoiled at my touch, hissing with pain at the sudden movement. Rougher than I needed to be, I seized her arm and ran my fingers up and down the bone between her wrist and shoulder. “It doesn’t feel like a break.”
“Hurts.” She made another low, fragile sound and swayed. “I think I’m going to pass out.”
Sure enough, she started to fall backwards. Forcing me to catch her.
I didn’t want this tiny human in my arms. I didn’t want her scent in my nose. Her skin felt clammy and chill against me. I didn’t know human anatomy but the way she shivered and moaned told me that was probably a bad thing.
Fucking great. Keeping her alive is going to be harder than I thought.
For a moment, I was tempted to wade through the cleverly disguised barrage of Earth frequencies to tap into the squad’s private grid, just long enough to get the medic’s attention. But Snryx wouldn’t be able to keep his fucking mouth shut, and I didn’t want Kroktl barreling in here riled up for a fight.
Not yet, at least.
I scooped the human up against me, trying not to jostle her too much, and carried her through the cave to the chamber I’d prepared for her. Soft bedding. Warm blankets. Crates of water and packets of food that claimed to be nearly indestructible. Humans needed a lot of fucking care. Hopefully I’d gathered enough supplies to buy myself some time.
Squatting at the edge of the bedding I’d prepared, my head still rubbed against the top of the cave. That wouldn’t be much of a problem for her. Tiny little thing. I looked down at her face. Streaked with dirt and blood and tears. Dried saliva flaked on her skin.
My saliva. She’d been inside me.
Involuntarily, my throat tightened, and I swallowed a mouthful of drool. Remembering the feel of her succulent flesh squirming inside me.
Next time, I would be insideher.
If she survived long enough.
3
RIZAN
After scanning through the other squad’s chips, I pulled together a highlight reel and shared it on our grid.
The orders from HQ had been short and succinct.Kill on sight.
What I found more interesting was the accumulation of designations and their prior service records.
“This wasn’t an established squad,” Lohr said. “That’s quite a departure for HQ.”
“Exactly,” I replied. “Though if we analyze the timing of their orders against ours, they were assembled before we received orders to come to Earth.”
