Page 6 of Monstrous Hunt
Kroktl can’t see through more than a meter of concrete.
Sitting here in the dark with the flashlight on my lap, turned off to conserve the batteries, I had myself a good cry. Alone, except for the huge dino-soldier who’d kidnapped me. Kroktl didn’t trust him, so I wouldn’t either. Axxol had brought me here deliberately to keep Kroktl from finding me. My mate.Mates.
They’d all be looking for me. Maybe Lohr’s tongue could pick up my scent? Though I’d have to be up moving around so I could leave a trail.
Carefully, I scooted closer to the edge of the bedding. I needed to get mobile. If nothing else, it’d give me something to do other than sit here and cry. Sweat beaded on my upper lip as my shoulder pulled and shifted despite my care. I really needed a sling. If I could find some clothes…
But other than the woolen blanket, I didn’t see any other material. The cushion I sat on was a blow-up mattress for camping, covered with another rough blanket. I didn’t dare try to stand yet. I laid the top blanket on the ground so I didn’t scratch up my ass. Gently, slowly, I levered myself off the low mattress and inched closer to the crates. The first one was filled with bottled water. I sipped a bottle while I sorted through another crate. It held silver foils of freeze-dried food, tins of tuna and cooked meats, cans of beans, packets of nuts and seeds. All things a survivalist might have.
Four crates in total.
He means to keep me here awhile.
Another tear slipped down my cheek, but I selected a packet of freeze-dried beef stew and scooted back onto the mattress. I had to eat and keep my strength up. For both of us. I lay my hand on my stomach a moment, wondering if the embryo was still growing. We’d already survived getting swallowed by a T-rex, right? We could hang on until Kroktl found us.
“He’ll come for us,” I whispered softly. “Soon.”
4
NATALIE
I’m losing my ever-loving mind.
I had no way to mark the passage of time other than how often my stomach growled. Which I didn’t think was often, especially when my body knew all we were getting was another mushy, weirdly-textured packet of cold, rehydrated survival food.
Hours? Days? Years? It felt like a fucking eternity locked here in the dark.
Pain was constant now. I wasn’t sure if I hurt so much because I really was that injured—or if I simply didn’t have anything else to think about to take my mind off the pain. I’d found an emergency kit in the food stash with a small vial of ibuprofen. I couldn’t tell that the tablets had helped at all—and now I was afraid to take more. I wasn’t sure how long ago I’d taken the first dose.
The kit also had a small pair of scissors which I used it to cut up the rough blanket to form a sling for my arm. Between one good arm and my teeth, I couldn’t get it tied as tightly as I wanted, but it was better than dangling loose. Every little jolt of my left shoulder made pain shoot me so badly I almost wet myself.
Which was another problem entirely. The kit had a small roll of toilet paper but there wasn’t so much as a bucket in the corner to use to relieve myself. Of course getting as far away from the bed area to do my business exhausted me, even though it was only a few feet. There was a slight notch in the ceiling above the mattress that I could use as a hand hold to lever myself up. I kept my right leg as still as possible, testing each time how much more weight I could put on it. Wave after wave of pain rolled through me until I was shaking and sweating. But I kept trying.
I had to be able to run when the time came. And if not, I’d fucking crawl. If I got the chance to escape, I’d take it.
Even though it was pitch black, I couldn’t sleep much at all. My mind kept playing tricks on me. I’d hear Kroktl’s deep rumble or even his raptor’s screech, and I’d jolt awake. Heart pounding. Ready to—
Only to realize it was only a dream.
Urgency gnawed deep inside me, spreading like black ice through my heart and mind. Something was wrong, more than my hurt shoulder and knee. I had random bouts of shaking, but I wasn’t cold and didn’t have a fever. Crying, which wasn’t like me at all. Sure, have one good sob fest, but then I put on my granny panties and did what needed to be done. Now? I felt like a neurotic mess. I didn’t feelright. Weak and sick and hurting so much. I could only imagine what kind of nasty infection I might have picked up inside a T-rex’s fucking mouth.
Maybe it was only my hormones, mixed with worry about the guys. Wondering if they would be able to find me despite the layers of rock shielding me. Wondering why Axxol had me trapped down here anyway. It didn’t make sense. Was I the lure to bait his trap? Get Kroktl to come in and rescue me, so he could kill him? But why? He could have killed him before he brought me here.
Get a grip, Nat.I uncapped another bottle of water and made myself hydrate. Snryx would be proud.
Which only made another sob lodge in my throat.
At least I have another bottle to piss in.
* * *
AXXOL
I stayed away as longas I could. I didn’t want to see her. Smell her. I especially didn’t want to touch her. She had food and water. She’d be fine for days. Weeks, even.
So fucking tell me why I was shifting the stone block away from her snug little cave barely forty-eight hours after taking her. Anticipation thrummed through me, my nostrils flaring. Eager to inhale her pheromones. My mouth watering at the memory of her skin on my tongue. Wondering if she felt it yet. If she’d feel it at all.
Her mating instinct was strong. For a human.
