I have to go before he kills me.
Payton grabbed Jack’s collar, then pressed the pod icon. A second later, she dropped into the ground to the sound of her name on his lips. She closed her eyes and wrapped her shaking arms around Jack. He crawled into her lap and whined. She hadn’t wanted to hurt Themba. Not really. She’d just wanted him...away.
That look on his face stayed with her as she was rushed over the tracks. Pain. Deception. Hurt.
She had warned him. Still, she was overwhelmed with guilt.
A few minutes later, a rush of air pressure pushed her up and out of the pod. She fell to the ground with a thump. One glimpse at her comlink confirmed what she already knew. The icon to call a pod was greyed, and there weren’t any more lines next to it.
She was podless and screwed.
Payton laid on her back and stared at the odd-looking—very alien—sky. “I really did it this time, Jack.” She turned toward him. He was sitting, watching the jungle, as vigilant as ever. “I tried to murder someone and I wasted our last pod. I mean, I could’ve just walked away, right?” She shook her head, remembering the crazed look in Themba’s eyes when he’d kept approaching her.
He wasn’t that hurt. Was he? She hadn’t seen any blood dripping from where she’d stabbed him. In fact, she might not have even hurt him at all. But surely he would be mad at her for attempting to kill him? No, correction. She hadn’t wanted to kill him. She’d only wanted him to back off.
Back off because he was possibly the best lay of my life?
No, back off because she’d been screwing an alien and she’d finally came to her senses.
Payton turned back to watch the cloudless sky. It really was beautiful. There were other visible planets and stars, but not as close. It was serene, alien, and breathtaking. “Maybe I overreacted, Jack? It wasn’t like he wasn’t doing to me what I had asked him to.” Heat radiated up her neck. She’d acted like a horny teenager. All sex and no thought behind it whatsoever. Even when she’d began to come back to her senses, she’d been down to let him finish working her over.
It had been the penises. They’d thrown her for a loop for the second time.
“Ugh. A lifetime of therapy is definitely in my future.”
She took out her phone, turned it on and snapped a picture of the sky, then took one of Jack. She was about to power it down but instead, switched the camera to the front view.
She wasn’t horrified by what she saw. Yeah, she looked bad, but it wasn’t her worst. The last fight she’d had with Mike had been the worst.
Her normally tanned skin was darker. But that could be attributed to the unrelenting sun or the dirt that caked it. Her hair was a stringy hot-mess. Her clothes were so filthy that a washing machine wouldn’t be able to salvage them. She would need to take a torch to them when...if she got out of this mess.
She studied her face more, wondering what Themba saw in her. She’d never considered herself beautiful, gorgeous, or remarkable. She was average at best. When Mike, star athlete, smart and rich, had taken to her, she’d wondered what he’d seen in her as well. She hadn’t spent too much time thinking about it though. She’d just been happy to have caught his eyes.
But that was before, and her naivety was long gone.
Mike had seen someone easily manipulated. A puppy. A fool. Someone to kick around. She wasn’t that person anymore. Her brown eyes no longer held a spark of youth and happiness. They were cold, hard, and distant.
“You’re not pretty, and you aren’t special,” she spoke into the mirror matter-of-factly. “But you’re too smart to believe in cheesy pick-up lines. Take a look around, girl. You’re on an alien planet. He can do whatever he wants to you, and no one would care. Themba is trying to get his freak on with some human tail. Nothing more. Nothing less. Now that he got what he wanted he might leave you alone.” Why did saying those words make her sad? She pushed that crazy feeling away. “Get to Level Three, Payton and go home.”
She sighed. Go home. That thought made a rock form in the pit of her stomach.
Payton turned off her phone and stored it. What would she find home? She’d missed the divorce court date. Would it still be granted in her absence? Mike had contested it, saying they could work out their problems. Why? He didn’t love her. Heck, he didn’t even care about her anymore.
“It’s about control,” Doctor Rebecca had told her. Payton had taken the control away.
The judge probably issued an extension to see if she would turn up or had thrown the case out altogether. How can there be a divorce if the plaintiff wasn’t there? After all the years of abuse and all the months she’d spent on the run, hiding, living in roach motels and bussing tables and waitressing, she would still be his wife. She would have to start the proceedings all over again.
She couldn’t do that.
She would rather die than go back to being under his thumb or hiding again.
There was nothing on Earth for her to go back to.
She had no one but Jack, and he was by her side. If she won, would she be forced to return to Earth or could she find another planet to live? The idea didn’t make her sad. At least she had options. She would determine what she wanted to do after she won.
Payton got to her feet. If she wanted to make it to Level Three and discover a new life for her and Jack, she had to get moving and find somewhere to hunker down until the evening alarm.
After evicting a furry little family from a burrow of mud and leaves, she and Jack stayed hidden for the rest of the day. The burrow stunk to high heaven, but it was well hidden. It was all she could hope for at the moment.
The evening alarm rang and just like all the previous night’s, Ben’s voice sounded over the comlink. “Roll call. Ben is recuperating from his injuries, but still here.”
“Payton is recuperating from her injuries as well,” Payton said, following Ben’s suit at talking in the third person.
Maybe she should tell Ben about the blue flower? On second thought she wouldn’t. If that flower affected Ben the same way it had her, he would be trying to screw any alien that came his direction.
“Danny is here. Tired. But here.”
“Yesenia is present.”
“Min is equally tired and could use a good bath.”
“Miranda and the kids,” there was an audible yawn, “are still here.”
Silence.
“Esme?” Ben asked.
Payton held her breath.
“Esme? Come on. Answer us, sweetheart.”
Silence.
Payton howled. “No! No! I told her to run and call for a pod.” Payton didn’t hear what anyone said next. She turned off her comlink and raged. Why hadn’t Esme used the knife?
Chapter Thirteen
Themba stalked through the high grass, only stopping every few clicks to check the virtual map on his comlink. He was glad now that he’d paid for the extra amenity.
When prey used a pod to escape, they were taken to a predetermined area. With the map, a hunter could follow the prey. Although the map wouldn’t give a precise location, it showed the underground emergency pod network, and from there, the hunter could find the general area where the prey would land.
Themba had followed Payton’s track, and while he had hits of her scent, he couldn’t pinpoint her exact location. She was close. He was sure of it. At least he was on her trail, and she couldn’t call for any more pods.
He was both happy and scared of the fact.
Happy because she couldn’t run away from him again and scared because she didn’t have a mechanism to escape another hunter either.
Themba didn’t want to think about the latter. He couldn’t bring himself to give her up. Not yet, anyway, but that day was fast approaching. Instead of spending their limited time together, she was hiding from him. His reaction to the flash of hormones she’d release in response to the zokde flower had been over the top aggressive. He owed her an apology.
She probably thought he was an uncontrolla
ble beast. She’d told him to stop and he couldn’t. He wouldn’t blame her for thinking the worst. If he’d known how the zokde would affect her and him, he wouldn’t have used it. He would’ve insisted she power through her pain while he tended to her wounds. That would’ve saved him from the guilt of rutting with his true lifemate on the ground.
And she was his true lifemate. There was no denying that.
He really needed to find her.
A rustling came from his side. He sniffed at the air. Not Payton. Desire didn’t spike at the scent. This scent caused the opposite reaction.
Male. Talth.
Themba flung his arms out to the sides and pushed his claws from beneath the skin on the tips of his fingers. He settled low and angled himself toward the noise, ready to attack. Payton was somewhere close, and possessive energy surged within him.
“Show yourself!” he declared.
Two hunters stepped from behind a thicket of trees. One was shorter and broader than his taller, skinnier partner. Hard plated skin made them look fragmented and disjointed. They’d opted to go shirtless, exposing their upper bodies. They had a slinking gait with hunched shoulders and arms so long the tips of their fingers reached mid-calf. Their dark bodies were covered with bushy hair from the tops of their heads to the striped lines down their butts.
Talths. He’d been so consumed with finding Payton that he hadn’t paid attention to the hunters following him. They weren’t dressed for the heat. They didn’t have protective covering on their skin. Their pants and hair were a mess. They were dirty, even though they had access to bathing facilities every night.
Opportunistic hunters.
These two didn’t care about themselves and surely wouldn’t care for any prey they caught.
“Leave here,” Themba warned low and threatening.
One lifted a shoulder. “We’re stalking our prey.”
“The only prey I smell in this area is mine.”
The other chuckled. “So you say.”
“So says the rules,” Themba responded. “I’m allowed to hunt my prey without interference from other hunters.”
“We don’t see it that way. The prey is yours only when you have her in the processing center. Until then...” He shrugged nonchalantly.
Themba lifted an eyebrow. His irritation grew every second he wasn’t hunting Payton. “You would risk punishment from the game attendants?”
“The punishment will be well worth the reward.”
“So you plan to sell your prey then?”
“No, not sell. Keep. Humans are excellent breeders. She’ll serve us both. Give us many offspring.”
Themba growled and flexed. Payton wouldn’t give anyone children but him. “Where I’m from, I would be well within my rights to kill you. Leave. Now.”
The Talth shook his head. “There are only four females left in Level One. Our time is running out. We must capture a mate soon, or all opportunity will be lost.”
“This one is mine.”
“She is ours.”
Themba saw red as he rushed them.
PAYTON HELD HER BREATH as she watched the exchange. Themba had been stalking around her general area for the past hour but hadn’t been able to pinpoint her. He’d come dangerously close once, but the stench of her burrow had done well to hide her scent. He had a good nose, she had to give him that.
She was glad he appeared uninjured and most of all he was alive. A small part of her wanted to tell him she was sorry for the way things ended, but that look in his eyes and a healthy dose of common sense told her to stay quiet.
Themba looked pissed even before Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dumb showed up. She shook uncontrollably, imagining all the different ways Themba would kill her for stabbing him. Now she also had to worry about these fools trying to run a train on her.
No, thank you.
Themba ran forward, and the first thing that came to her mind was the stupid alien was going to get himself killed. He was strong but while his strength was in his lithe, lean muscles, the other two aliens were brutes. One punch and Themba would get knocked out.
Payton hadn’t expected the one-inch claws to suddenly appear on his fingertips, his canines to elongate or the fierceness of his fighting skills. Themba met the other aliens head-on, and with one swipe, he disemboweled the taller of the two. Another clawed hand cut through the air in blinding speed, and he’d left the other alien with a mangled arm, attached by a thin strip of skin. And just like that, the fight was over.
All this aggression in him told her one thing. He’s going to kill me when he gets his hands on me.
Themba’s collar blinked orange, the color Spencer’s had when he’d wanted to fight Ben. Then Themba fell to the ground in a fit of spasms. The disemboweled hunter whimpered and tried desperately to put his intestines back into his stomach cavity. The other tried to stop the blood spurting profusely from his arm.
Without warning, the ground opened, and Themba dropped into it.
Payton watched in silence, waiting for the other two aliens to get taken away as well. She wasn’t so lucky. They stayed where they were, trapping her.
It took longer than expected for the gutless alien to die. The other tried his best to help his friend manage his intestines, but with only one working arm, he wasn’t much help. Payton felt bad for them. Initially. She’d never seen anyone—alien or human—die, and it was an experience she didn’t want repeated.
Long after the gutless alien lay unmoving on the ground, his friend stayed by his side, and howled. In the end, he tried to drag his friend’s body away, but wasn’t able to get far. When the sun began to wane, the alien laid his friend’s body across his lap and waited. When the evening alarm rang, the ground opened, and the aliens fell into a pod.
Both Payton and Jack bolted from the burrow to relieve themselves. When she was pulling up her shorts, Ben started roll call. This time Miranda didn’t answer. There were more tears shed for Miranda and the kids.
The hunters were picking them off like flies.
What if they’d been taken by aliens like the ones who’d expected her to breed with both of them? Payton shook that depressing thought right out of her head. She couldn’t let what happened to Miranda impede her progress, and if she thought about it too hard, she would be overcome with paralyzing fear.
Payton didn’t know much, but what she knew for sure was that she couldn’t stay where she was. Themba had come dangerously close to finding her and so had those other two.
She kept off the beaten path and sometimes doubled back and went in different directions. When she and Jack came upon a pile of animal crap, Payton did the unthinkable and something she’d firmly told the survivalist instructor she wouldn’t do.
But when one is trying not to get murdered by a pissed off alien, one does what one must.
She picked up the crap and smeared as much as she could stand on her skin and clothes, then covered Jack’s brindle coat with it. She avoided her wounds. They were covered with dressings, but she didn’t want any of the crap to soak through to her injuries. She threw up a few times, but in the end, she was sure their scent was masked.
She walked on.
“Pst. Payton!”
I must be hallucinating.
It was an easy assumption to make. She’d been walking six straight hours, and the pain in her legs made her eyes water.
“Payton! Over here!”
She stopped and frowned. Her brain was mush. Her eyes burned, and her skin itched. She clearly wasn’t thinking straight. Am I going crazy or do I hear Ben?
“Payton, over here.”
She turned in a sloppy circle, trying her best not to fall from extreme fatigue. “Huh? Ben?”
“Yeah. This way.”
She squinted. It was dark, and of course, she didn’t recognize a damn thing. “Ben? You’re going to have to do better than that.”
“At your four o’clock. The bottom of the tree.”
Payton turned to her right and spotted
what appeared to be two trees fused together and walked toward it.
“Down here,” Ben said.
Jack wagged his tail and danced around some leaves. Payton kneeled and pushed the leaves out of the way. Staring back at her were grey eyes. “Well, I for one am glad to see you.”
“I heard and smelled you before I saw you.”
She snorted. “We’ve been walking since the evening alarm, and I picked up this nice fragrance along the way.” She wiped her hand down her body. “Au de animal shie-it.”
Ben burst into a laugh. “The sun will be coming up soon. The loneliness must really be getting to me if I’m inviting you guys to hang out with me, especially as bad as you smell.”
If they joined up her countdown would slow up. It would be inevitable. But Ben was right. The sun was coming up soon, and she’d been so worried about escaping she hadn’t searched for another hiding spot.
The loneliness was getting to her too.
“Is there room for both of us?”
“It’ll be tight, but we can make it work.”
That’s all she needed to hear. Payton climbed into the opening and helped Jack in. “You’ve been here since you got hurt?”
He shook his head. “No, this is my second spot. I had another place but had to leave it.”
“Hunter?”
He nodded. “I have a woman—alien, hunting me. Well, not exactly hunting me because she already claimed dibs on me.” Ben started to say more but closed his mouth. Then he blew out a breath and added, “I’m easy pickings because of the ankle.”
“Is it still bad?”
“I can’t run, can’t really walk and can’t fight worth a damn.” He ran a hand down his face, frustration taking over. “The female hunter had to protect me against another. It was pretty embarrassing.”
Payton yawned and her eyes began to droop. “Sooo, you have a girlfriend?”
“Something like that. Two weeks ago, would you have thought this is where you would be?”
“You mean on an alien planet dangerously close to becoming some alien’s mate?”
Hunted by the Alien Prince Page 13
