by Erin Raegan
“Uh, no, Nate and I have done more than enough for you guys,” I said and looked at my brother’s stricken face. I shook my head. We needed to go. “You can drop us at that camp.”
“Those human warriors are not to be trusted,” Fihk said scathingly.
Olynth pressed close to my back, growling low in his chest.
“Probably not with you guys around, but by ourselves, we’ll be fine.” I stepped forward to get away from the suffocating heat at my back. I didn’t mention that I would kill any one of those soldiers that had any nefarious intentions towards us. I didn’t know those men in that camp, but it looked like the best place to hold up. Safe from the Vitat at least.
Linda came back out with a bag across her chest and suitcase in her hand. Star was devouring a Pop-Tart, and I watched as Nathan pulled out a few cans of food and handed them to her with a shy smile.
Olynth was growling to Fihk. “I will stay here with them, but they will not be going to the human camp.”
“You cannot stay. I need you on Dahk One,” Fihk muttered.
I kept my eyes averted and on Nathan as he sat with Star and pulled out comics, nerding out for her. It brought a reluctant smile to my face. He was getting so big, flirting with girls. I had no idea it was time for that already.
“No,” Olynth snarled.
“No? Have you forgotten your responsibilities?”
“They have changed,” Olynth growled.
“Have they?” Fihk chuckled grimly. “You have not acknowledged the bond.”
“It is not your concern,” Olynth snarled.
“If you continue to deny it, the female will suffer, and you will lose control and harm her.”
“Wait, what?” Blinking away nostalgia and images of a tiny Nathan looking at me as though I was the only girl in the world, I looked at the two of them as they growled at each other.
Fihk ignored me. “The rage will overcome you. On your own, there will be no one to protect her.”
Olynth bared his fangs in fury. “And it would be you? You will protect what is mine?”
“Is she yours?” Fihk asked acidly.
“She is not yours,” Olynth roared and shoved Fihk.
“Hey, hey, what the hellcats you two?”
I wasn’t stupid enough to jump between them, and apparently neither was anyone else. Standing beside Albun, Tohn grinned as though it was all very amusing, and Gunnor grunted and marched away. Fihk didn’t shove Olynth back, but his furious look made it clear he wouldn’t take any more aggressive reactions from him either.
“Acknowledge the bond, my friend. You do her and yourself a disservice denying this gift.”
“Gift?” Olynth sneered and backed off, balling his hands into fists.
“Gift,” Fihk said again and looked at me with a longing that startled me.
Olynth roared again and charged. Fihk didn’t take his eyes from mine as the big guy barreled into him. They went down hard, exchanging several blows. Nate and Star jumped up from the porch and rushed to Nick and Linda, closer to the house. Tohn stopped grinning and looked a little worried. I was on the opposite side of the clearing from everyone else, the two fighting idiots between us and the woods at my back.
I supposed the Dahk should have smelled them before they came up, but apparently, their confusing argument muted all their super sniffers, along with their common sense.
Besides, who knew the Vitat went anywhere without screeching like banshees?
But they did, and I found out just how sucky that was when two white arms wrapped around my waist and dragged me back into the woods. A clawed hand muffled my shout, and I prayed someone saw me. But I was a few feet into the woods and way too close to sharp, hungry teeth before two enraged roars startled the birds from the trees.
The hairs on my arms stood on end as several screeches, inches from my ears, answered them. I was surrounded by Vitat.
I was thrown to the ground, landing on my shoulder. The wind was knocked from me, then again when one of the Vitat pounced on me. I thought their bulbous, white heads were terrifying from a few feet away—it was nothing like being face to face with one.
Layers of sharp teeth snapped at me.
My pack was beneath me, and I had no time to wrestle with it. I rolled quickly, avoiding losing my whole head in its mouth. Its gangly arms reached for me, its claws shredding the back of my jacket. I lurched forward and wrapped my hands around a thick, loose branch. Rolling back to my back, I lifted it in time to shove it between the alien’s snapping teeth. It crunched on the branch heavily with a snap.
After kicking the thing in the chest, I crab-walked backward, gasping in pure fear. I heard fighting and growling behind me, but I kept my eyes on the eyeless thing lunging for me. The branch snapped into pieces, and its teeth gleamed in a terrifying grin.
I jumped up and tore off my pack in one go, grasped the handle, and took off farther into the woods. Wrestling with the zipper, I got my hand around a can of spray as the thing barreled into me, knocking me onto the ground on my side.
Tucking my knees up to my chest, I kicked out, hitting it in the head and the neck. It went back then bounced forward again, but I had the spray’s safety off and aimed. I squeezed my eyes shut tight and sprayed the alien as it knocked me on my back again, its claws tearing the skin on my shoulder and wrenching my hair back.
It screeched so loudly, I felt blood trickle out of my nose and ears. As the spray was released into the air, I hacked and hacked, rolling onto my chest and crawling forward.
I felt the alien fall backward then meet a vicious growl. Olynth’s blades sang through the air as he whipped them around, severing the thing’s head.
Coughing and coughing, I felt through my pack for a bottle of water and gulped it down. My hand shook as I poured it over my eyes. Thankfully, they only burned a little, but my lungs were on fire, and the skin of my face and chest burned like nothing I had ever felt before.
Hands took over for me and dumped bottled water on my face and palms. Nathan was crying and calling my name as he helped me. I wanted so badly to tell him I was okay, but I couldn’t stop coughing or get enough air to clear my lungs.
Olynth was roaring and fighting with something from behind me, and Gunnor’s grunts were loud and frustrated. Fihk was calling my name, and I blinked rapidly to look at him as he crouched by my brother in front of me.
“Sweets, what can I do?” Fihk barked in frustration.
“Water,” I croaked.
Nathan looked frantically through my pack for another bottle and fumbled with the cap. Fihk snatched it from him and snapped off the cap, spraying water everywhere. I moaned in despair, but another bottle was handed over by Nick. Fihk snatched it and took hold of my elbow and brought it to my lips with his other hand.
I gulped greedily, coughing and hacking between swallows. Linda was behind Nathan and rubbing his back as he sobbed. It took a few more seconds, but when the bottle was gone, I sagged against Fihk. He wrapped an arm around my back and another under my thighs and lifted me from the ground.
My head rested against his leather-clad shoulder as he walked from the woods back to the house. The world was blurry, and my lungs and face still burned, but I knew it could have been worse, so much worse. I was lucky to be alive.
Fihk walked right over several new Vitat corpses as we left the trees. Linda, Nathan, Nick, and Star followed us, along with Albun and Tohn. Olynth and Gunnor stayed behind, roaring and fighting.
“What’s wrong with him?” I gasped through another cough.
“He needs a moment. Gunnor will help him regain control,” Fihk murmured. “I am sorry, sweets, that should not have happened.”
I didn’t reply. What was I supposed to say? It’s okay? No, it wasn’t. Their argument, whatever it was about, was stupid, but it wasn’t as if the Vitat had given any kind of warning. They’d surprised us all.
Fihk stopped on the porch steps and set me down, crouching in front of me. Nathan burrowed under my l
eft arm while Fihk ran his eyes over my body, his eyes snagging on the blood on my shoulder.
“It’s not deep,” I told him.
He gnashed his teeth and reached out to it but stopped himself. Instead, his hand veered to my chin, and he nudged it up. His thumb ran along the scrapes there, his claw tracing the dip in my bottom lip.
He stiffened, and his eyes flashed to mine. They flared with disbelief and a fierce emotion I couldn’t decipher. He bared his fangs and cursed low and furiously. His hand tightened on my chin, and his other hand grasped my hand, pulling my wrist to his nose. He inhaled deeply and snarled. I trembled.
He jumped up and backed away from me.
“What?” I asked, looking around.
“Run,” he growled hoarsely.
Us humans were looking at him as though he had a screw loose, but Tohn and Albun were looking between him and me with growing horror. Fihk’s muscles bulged each step away he took, and he bent over, baring his fangs at me, snarling nonsense.
“Nathan, go to Nick,” I told him and stood.
Nathan shook his head, but I shoved him away, and Nick, thank god, snatched him up and backed away with Star and Linda.
“What’s wrong with him, Tohn?” I held my hands out to my sides.
The bald alien cradled the top of his head with wide eyes, looking back and forth from the woods to Fihk.
“What is it?” I hissed as Fihk’s eyes tracked my every movement with that eerie snarl.
He gaped at Fihk. “You are his Pythe.”
“His what?”
“His mate,” Albun added with the same wide-eyed shock.
“Mate?” Nathan shouted.
“It is impossible,” Tohn swore.
“What is?” I asked, my impatience growing. Fihk―bossy, sweet, infuriating Fihk—was looking at me as though he was going to take a bite out of me.
Strangely, for a second, it didn’t look as though I would hate it. It was an altogether different kind of bite than the Vitat.
“She cannot have two.” Tohn fumbled for his comm unit.
“He is showing the effects of the mating rage,” Albun said and circled behind Fihk.
Fihk snarled and tracked him for a second before looking back at me.
“Run, Bahyly,” Tohn said then growled into his comm unit.
“Run?” Nick and I asked together.
I shivered in fear.
Fihk gasped and coiled his body tightly, crouching and roaring to the sky. He bared his fangs. “Run!”
I ran.
Chapter 8
Fihk
I could still feel her warm skin on the tips of my fingers. The scent of her sweet musk coated my senses. I watched as she tensed in fear, her eyes widening as I crouched before her.
My Pythe smelled of terror and confusion.
I knew I needed to control the instinct, but I was too far gone. How Olynth had managed to hold back as long as he has, I would never understand.
I could scarcely remember why I should.
She looked between the other Dahk males. Their names were lost to me. I snarled and crouched, keeping my mate in my sights.
I smelled her growing distress and wrestled with logic and instinct.
I could. Not. Hold. Back.
She tensed, her bright eyes gleaming and moving like liquid.
The female spoke to another, and her chest heaved. Bahyly. Her name was Bahyly.
I would hurt her—the need to mate was too great, and she was so small.
I caught her feminine smell on the wind and bared my fangs. “Run.”
Run, little one.
The chase would make it all the sweeter when I caught my prey.
Chapter 9
Bailey
Tree branches whacked me in the face as I ran through them.
Nathan’s anguished scream would haunt me. We thought we could trust these aliens.
What was I thinking?
I knew better. I knew better.
You could never trust anyone. I’d let my guard down, and now I would suffer for it. Nathan would suffer for it. Logically, I knew Peyton was mated to one of these guys. But they had never mentioned Tahk going into a mating rage and hunting her down. They had never mentioned her having to run for her life from him.
If that was the case, the girl was off her rocker.
If I had a second to calm down, I may have been able to look at this logically, but I couldn’t. And Tohn had even told me to run. How the hell was I supposed to outrun a guy with wings?
I couldn’t.
Furious tears burned my eyes. I felt betrayed. When had they earned my trust? I would never have given it to them freely, but the tightness in my chest told me I had. Somehow, they had taken it from me.
My boots slipped on wet leaves and clumps of mud. I couldn’t get enough traction and having to dodge trees was slowing me down.
I heard him behind me. He was taunting me, staying far enough away from me to make me think I had a chance, but close enough that I knew I never did.
I heard the others following him and shouting.
I gasped and slipped, rolling down a hill. I coughed and jumped up to my feet and took off again. Fihk’s low chuckle taunted me, echoing in the trees. My lungs hadn’t recovered from the repellent, and it was making it too hard to keep up a fast pace. My thighs burned, and my body was tense. I knew I would feel the ache for days.
Well, I would if I lived through this.
I slipped and stumbled into a clearing, backpedaling when Fihk jumped out in front of me. He looked feral, so far from the poised alien I had been getting to know. He crouched in front of me on the balls of his feet, his claws out and his fangs bared as he snarled nonsense.
“Don’t.” I gasped for air and stepped back, holding my hands out in front of me.
He snarled again and stepped to my left, slowly circling me.
“Why are you doing this?” I asked him tearfully. A tiny part of me still didn’t believe he would hurt me, but he was seriously destroying that part. He looked at me as though I was his next meal, and though a lot of that was directed toward my body, I didn’t think I would enjoy what he had in mind.
Fihk sniffed the air and cocked his head to the side. His eyes flashed, and he roared toward the woods behind me. Then I heard them. The others were in the woods, circling us. I didn’t have a moment to feel any relief—Fihk lunged with a snarl.
I went down into the dirt hard. My head cracked against a rock, and I blinked at the feral alien above me. His clawed hands circled my thighs and spread them wide so his hips could fall between them. My mouth gaped as I felt the steely, hard length of what was happening in his pants. That’s what this was? Holy shit, twice in one day?
I had the worst luck.
Fihk bared his fangs and burrowed his face into my neck, inhaling. I trembled against him like the terrified little girl I never thought I would ever be again.
I may have been scared out of my mind, but there was no way I was going to lay there and let him shove that giant thing inside me. I spread my arms and reached through the dirt and dead leaves for anything to use against him. My pack had been snatched up by someone after the last attack I’d just barely survived.
I grabbed a loose, heavy rock and brought it down on the back of Fihk’s head as hard as I could. He grunted and reared up, allowing me to scoot out from underneath him. I rolled to my belly and pulled myself to my knees before he shoved me back down.
I coughed in the dirt as he spread his body over mine from feet to head. His hands grasped mine and pulled them above my head, and he spread my legs again as I kicked at him. He ground his hips into my ass, and I actually winced from how hard and huge he was.
“Fihk, please,” I gasped through another cough.
He froze for a second then snarled again, shoving his face into my neck and clamping his teeth onto the skin there. It was the side where Olynth had bitten me the day before. He inhaled and stiffened, then roared into my neck. I nearly p
eed my pants from fear.
I bucked uncontrollably against him, but he was so heavy, it was useless. I fought back with all the energy I had left. My elbows went back, but his hold was too tight on my wrists. My feet swung but only hit air. Turning my head, I sank my teeth into the skin of his arm. It was thick and rough, the scales too hard to break. He didn’t even flinch.
I choked back a desperate sob. “Please, don’t. Please, please, Fihk.”
He stilled above me, snarling and roaring nonsense.
“Fihk,” I gasped again. He seemed to respond to his name.
“He cannot understand you,” a voice called cautiously from in front of us.
Fihk roared, the veins along his arms bulging. My head shot up to stare at Tohn. He was crouched in front of us with Albun a few feet away.
“Get him off me!” I shouted, wincing when Fihk roared again.
“The mating rage has taken hold of him,” Tohn said warily. “We cannot interfere without risking your safety.”
“What the hell, am I supposed to just let him rape me?!”
“He does not understand what he does. The rage has flooded his mind, and he is operating on instinct alone,” Albun said gravely.
Fihk released my arms and dug his nails into the dirt in front of me. His hips lifted, and I felt him crouch threateningly over me. I tried to slowly pull my arms back toward me but stopped and winced at his enraged roar.
“Is this normal?” I tried to get my knees under me, but Fihk roughly shoved my hips back down.
“An unrestrained mating was common practice with our people long ago,” Tohn hedged.
“It’s not now?” I gasped in disbelief. My current situation suggested otherwise. I moved my head away from Fihk’s bared teeth.
“No, the commander’s mating was the first true mating in hundreds of sunspins,” Tohn said lowly. “Bahyly, remain still. Do. Not. Move. You will only provoke him.”
“Do something.” I winced when Fihk lost his shit all over again, roaring so loudly my already bleeding eardrums throbbed.
