Alpha

by Luna Hunter

  In truth, I never considered these human males to pose any kind of threat. Jip should have been able to take on this entire group and a dozen more without even breaking a sweat.

  Unfortunately, that’s not what happened. Nothing in my live ever seems to play out the way it should, the way that would be fair, the way that would make sense.

  I thought that when I found my nera, things might change, but no. The universe continues to toy with me.

  “There he is, everyone! See, I told ya that big lug was gonna come runnin’ the moment I put a bullet in that poodle’s belly. Hey, big guy — wait a minute, is he naked? Am I seeing that right? Ebert, are you seeing that too?!”

  “Yes sir, that’s one naked alien alright.”

  “Well, goddamn. I could have lived without seeing that sight — put things in perspective, you know?”

  “What, Barend, are you saying you’re not blessed with a cock that size?”

  “You mean a third leg?! No, Adger, I ain’t got no third leg. Wish I did that, would make stalking through this fucking woods a whole lot easier if I could rest one of my legs a little bit.”

  I ignore the human male’s babbling completely. They will get what is coming to them, but right now I have to focus on my friend. I drop down to my knees next to Jip. He raises his head and places it in my lap. His entire body is shivering, and ice grips my insides. I place my hands on his wounds, but blood just pours out through my fingers.

  “Hold on, little one,” I whisper in my native tongue. “I’m going to save you. It’s going to be okay. No one’s going to hurt you anymore. I’m sorry I wasn’t here, but I’m not leaving your side, okay? Just hold on. Fight for me, buddy.”

  “Hey big guy, stop whispering to that dog and listen to what I’ve got to say, if you know what’s good you for. We’re here to make you an offer. We saw that handiwork you made of Siebe, Jelte and Dauwe. Real shame, those were some damn fine men, but what can you do? When faced with one of you fuckers, it seems men drop like flies. Never believed it myself, but looking at you, I ain’t too proud to admit that I might’ve been wrong. You’re one tall motherfucker, I’ll give you that. Yo horns, you listening to what I’m saying?”

  I grab Jip’s weakened body and lift him up.

  I turn around to see Makayla standing in the door opening, her face turning pale. She’s hidden from the view of the men, her naked frame shivering. Seeing her so vulnerable makes me even angrier — a feat I did not think possible. Already I am angry enough to power the sun a thousand times over.

  “Hey, don’t make me put another bullet in that beastie of yours! Nasty thing, that. I will if that’s what it takes to make you pay attention! We’re here on Livingston’s orders, and you’re going to want to listen to what he’s got to say!”

  “Barend, maybe he, uh, doesn’t speak English? I mean he’s one of them freaks, you know? They probably speak Freaklish or whatever.”

  “If he can’t understand us, then the Governor’s sent us on a fool’s chase.”

  “I’ve been getting that vibe for a while now, to be honest.”

  “Come on Ebert, your vagina is showing! Man the fuck up, will ya. There’s twelve of us, and one of him.”

  “Yeah, but did you hear about Livingston’s castle? They say one of them took down a hundred men.”

  “Sure, and he slapped a fuckin’ helicopter out of the sky, right? Do you believe any of that horseshit? He’s a mortal, okay? A big freaky mortal with horns and a cock the size of my arm, but he’s still alive which means he can die. So if he doesn’t turn around and start answering my fucking questions, then I’m going to end that life of his real fucking quick!”

  I walk up the walkway and hand Jip over to Makayla. Seems I’m already going to break my promise about never leaving him alone — these human males are testing my patience, which has never been my strong suit. They must be dealt with.

  I will not show mercy.

  “Take him to the medical room,” I say. “It is extremely important.”

  “I-I don’t know where that is,” she says as she accepts Jip’s injured body. She can barely carry him, but she’s fighting and doing her best. I know my nera can pull it off.

  “Second left and third right.”

  “Wait, I don’t know what to do!”

  “You’ll figure it out.”

  I turn around just in time to catch a bullet with my chest — a bullet that would passed through Jip and Makayla if it had been fired a microsecond earlier.

  It bounces off me, leaving nothing but a small red mark on my left pec, a minor irritation.

  The man who has been doing all of the talking, the one with the bald head and the sunken eyes, is now staring open-mouthed at me.

  “How the fuck…”

  “See, I told you Barend! Them motherfuckers is, whatyamacallit, impervious to bullets!”

  “Shut up Ebert! Everyone, get ready!”

  The rage that flows through my veins is indescribable. I have been tested before. I have pulled men apart with my bare claws limb from limb, I have crushed their windpipes, I have ripped the spines from their bodies and beat their faces in with them until nothing was left of them. I can be savage, I can be ruthless, I can be whatever I need to be to win.

  But never have I been this angry. Never have I felt this fury before.

  These men hurt my Jip! My baby, my friend, my puppy, and they fired bullets into his belly while he lay dazed upon the ground! And then they took aim at my nera, my mate, my everything!

  I’ve only known her for a day, but it feels like a lifetime. I never would have believed it if I hadn’t experienced it myself, but the feelings coursing through my veins are unlike anything I’ve ever known. The connection we share, the link we have, the love that I feel…

  I might even love her more than Jip.

  Not that it’s a competition. But if I had to choose between them… I pray to to the gods I’ll never have to make that call.

  And now this men are going to pay the ultimate price for their transgressions.

  The Barend fellow is the first to go. I dash towards him so fast that from his perspective it must look like I materialized in front of him.

  My hand closes around his trachea. I watch the life drain from his eyes, his feet dangling in the air, kicking helplessly, cursing me with his final breaths. With one gut-wrenching crunch I close my fist and end his life.

  The other human males look at me in horror, dropping their weapons, raising their hands in surrender.

  On any other day, I would have stopped there. I’ve proved my point, I’ve showcased my superiority. Any further bloodshed is unnecessary.

  But today is not just any other day. Today might just be the most important day of my life. The day where I found my nera — and where Jip might be violently ripped from my grasp.

  No, today I am not in control of my emotions.

  Today I am filled with fury, with fire, with blood lust.

  My skin grows even darker, the armored plates on my skin hardening and tightening. My horns grow an extra inch, as every muscle in my entire body is flooded with the most potent hormones in existence, priming me for one job and one job only.

  Killing.

  I tear the men apart.

  My claws swipe through muscle and bone. I break their arms, I kick through their kneecaps, I bite through their necks. I move so fast I barely know what I’m doing, except that I like it.

  My most basic, most primal urges come out in their full, naked glory.

  All the while, my mind is flooded with the most hurtful moments of my life, of all the times Father rejected me, all the times he praised my brothers while he was nothing but stern and cold towards me. Nothing I did ever impressed him. Nothing I did ever got as much as a nod, as an acknowledgment.

  All I had was Jip. He loved me no matter what. He was always happy to see me, ready to wag his tail, to welcome me by jumping into my arms.

  And now this human males took that from me — and
I’m not stopping until every last one of them is dead.

  When I finally stop, it’s like a storm has taken place. The men are barely identifiable as such — they are nothing more than heaps of gory limbs. I’m breathing heavily, covered in head to toe with blood, none of it my own.

  As the rage fades, it’s replaced with a deep, deep sorrow. If Jip’s not going to make it… then I don’t know if my love for Makayla is strong enough to heal my wounds…

  Chapter 7

  Makayla

  One moment I’m trembling, ready to take on Kerax, to take on the impossible task of fitting his male spear inside of me — and the next moment I’m holding a squirming, wounded alien warhound in my arms, bleeding all over me as Kerax desperately urges me to save his life as he turns to utterly destroy the men who did this to his precious baby.

  Jip is so heavy I can barely carry him, but I have to. I can’t give up, not now. As the sounds of slaughter start behind me I head into the ship, my muscles strained to their limits as the animal shivers in my arms. Was it the second left or the third?!

  I manage to stumble my way into the medbay. Never have I been so happy to see an empty table. With a final push of effort I manage to lay the poor animal down on the metal slab, underneath various frightening devices with more needles than I’m comfortable with. The trail of blood I’ve left behind in the hallway makes my heart race. I’ve done my part, now it’s up to this medical computer to save his life.

  I suck in my breath and wait.

  And nothing happens. Jip whines, looking at me with eyes that are way too intelligent and emotional for an animal, and I’m left with my hands in my hair.

  “Come on, ship! Get to work! Save his life! Come on!”

  Nothing happens. Panic takes a hold of me, constricting my throat and making my stomach drop. If Jip bleeds out because of my incompetence, I’ll never forgive myself.

  And I’m sure Kerax never would either, and strangely enough, that seems to hurt even more.

  In a blind panic I madly start pressing buttons, as Jip howls in pain. With a whir the mechanical arms come alive. Needles puncture the dog’s hide, as a different arm bandages his wound to stem the bleeding.

  I drop down to my knees and cry from sheer relief, thanking every god I can think of. Thank you.

  A heavy breath catches my attention. I open my eyes to see a terrifying sight. Kerax is standing in the doorway, covered from head to toe in blood.

  “Are you hurt?!” I ask.

  He saunters inside, leaving a trail of bloody footprints, wearily shaking his head. He looks distraught, emotionally broken. I can not only see his pain, but I feel it, like an icy dagger being jabbed straight through my heart.

  I raise to my feet and open my arms wide for him. He accepts, hugging me tightly, resting his head on my shoulders. I don’t care that he’s covered in blood. All I want to do is rub his muscled back, and tell him it will all be alright.

  He sighs deeply as I stroke his neck.

  “Jip will be okay,” I say.

  I have no idea if that’s true, but I want it to be true. I’d say anything to lift the heavy burden on his mind right now.

  “I hope so,” he whispers.

  Kerax lets me go and and kneels down next to his pet companion, kissing him right on the snout. The animal picks up his head, and gives him the canine equivalent of a smile. Kerax strokes him behind his ear, and I sense he’s growing calmer by the second, the emotional storm inside him slowing down — but the danger of another eruption remains.

  “Come on, buddy,” he says. “Pull through, okay? I need you. I can’t do any of this without you.”

  The contrast between Kerax the Warrior, and the man I see here in front of me couldn’t be greater. Out there he can be a deadly killer, he’s covered with enough blood to prove it ten times over, but this man is caring and kind. Loving, even.

  Something must have happened in the past.

  There’s bad blood between him and Vuka, and I have to figure out why. There’s got to be a logical explanation for it all. I refuse to believe that this man, whose cooing to his dog and stroking him behind his ear, is simply evil and hungers for power.

  Because at this moment, I am feeling his pain, and evil people don’t hurt like this. I’m not sure how or why I my senses are so attuned to his, but none of that matters.

  I just want to make him feel better.

  “I will go gather some herbs, okay?”

  Kerax barely looks up. All of his attention is focused on his pet hound, and the look on his face just about breaks my heart. I retrace my steps to the ships walkway, where I freeze in my tracks.

  It’s an absolute slaughter outside. Everywhere I look there’s blood, and the body parts are so scattered across the clearing it’s hard to tell that these were once people.

  My alien warrior is a true beast when you hurt someone he loves…

  I could run away right now.

  Kerax is completely preoccupied with grief. I know he’s an excellent tracker, but all this blood here must throw his scent off. If I want to escape, I have to do it now.

  But… I can’t.

  It feels heartless to leave him at his moment, when he’s so stricken with grief, even though he technically kidnapped me. Despite that, despite how he tied me up and spanked me and made me see stars, despite all of the carnage I see around me… I think that there’s a good man, buried somewhere deep beneath that great, muscled chest of his.

  If I leave now, when he’s at his low point — there’ll be no coming back from that. He might find me again, but I don’t think he’d ever trust again. No, I have to stay. I think I can change him.

  I return with a handful of herbs. Kerax is exactly where I left him, whispering encouraging words to his whimpering hound.

  “How is Jip doing?” I ask softly.

  Kerax glances at the machine. “The ship’s working hard to save him, but he’s lost a lot of blood. It doesn’t look good.”

  “Maybe this will help.”

  “What?” He looks up in surprise. “You gathered all that for my Jip?”

  I’m struck again by how much his English has improved. What were once animal-like grunts and growls, one-syllable commands, are now full sentences, filled with emotion and heart.

  “Of course,” I say. “Anything to help that poor boy.”

  He nods, giving me permission, and I grind the herbs into a paste which I apply to the dog’s wounds.

  “Are you not scared of him?” Kerax asks.

  “At first, yes,” I say. “He dropped a half-chewed hand out of his mouth, I mean come on. That would freak anyone out. But no, I see that he’s just like a puppy now. One that’s incredibly dangerous at the same time, but it seems like everything about you Kaizon is like that, so I’m not really surprised.”

  “Ha,” Kerax chuckles, the first time I’ve heard anything close to a laugh from him. “You’ve got that right. You’re much smarter than any of the human males I’ve encountered.”

  “Not that I’m one to defend human males, don’t get me wrong, but I think you haven’t exactly seen our best and brightest. Takes a dumb ass to shoot a Kaizon’s dog, I’ll tell you that much.”

  “That’s why he choked on his own blood.”

  A cold shiver runs down my spine. Kerax is still a dangerous killer, I mustn’t forget that. At the same time, I don’t blame him. I wish the same upon anyone who hurts one of my sisters.

  “How long have you known Jip?” I ask.

  “All my life,” he answers.

  I grab a stool and sit down. I’m cold as heck, the both of us still naked as can be, but none of that matters now. He needs my emotional support, and I’m here for him.

  “Tell me about him.”

  “What does it matter?”

  “Please,” I insist. “I want to know.”

  He takes a deep breath, gets up and walks out of the room, leaving me stunned. Did I ask too much? Have I offended him?

  Kerax retu
rns, one cloak draped around his broad shoulders, another one in his big hands.

  “Here,” he says as he wraps the cloak around me. “You are cold.”

  “Thank you,” I answer as I nearly disappear inside the massive, warm, furry cloak.

  “Do you really want to know Jip’s story?”

  “Yes, please. I do.”

  Kerax takes a deep breath, gazes lovingly at his hound, and then starts talking.

  Chapter 8

  Kerax

  “I don’t know where to begin. Jip has always been there for me, right from the beginning. Every Kaizon warrior receives a hound when they are born, so for as long as I can remember, he’s been by my side.”

  “Are all Kaizon so attached to heir hounds then?” Makayla asks.

  There is no judgment in her voice, no derision. It’s an honest question, fueled by curiosity. A welcome change from how my brothers speak to me about Jip. I’m starting to like the human female more by the minute — it is not only her body that I’m attracted to, but also her sharp mind and kind spirit.

  “No,” I answer. “In truth, most hounds die in training.”

  “What?! That’s awful!”

  “I agree. But that is life on Kysus. Hard. Brutal. Unyielding. In training we are pushed to our limits, me more so than other Kaizon in existence, and our hounds accompany us every step of the way. When we trek across the barren poles, they are with us. When we climb the highest peaks, they are with us. Most hounds die of exertion along the way — they are fiercely strong and loyal animals, but they do not have the endurance of a Kaizon. They don’t have as many extra organs as we do, no pouches to store fluids for when the rations run out.”

  “Then why take them, why work them to death?” Makayla asks, aghast.

  “To teach us a lesson. That all who are close to you will die. And that you must choose duty over love. Trying to save your hound will slow you down, and then both of you might die, stuck on a frozen peak with no shelter in sight.”

  The blood has drained from Makayla’s face. It seems that the stories about my homeland do not please her. And to think I have given her only a small taste of the hardships a Kaizon has to endure. These humans, they truly do not know what suffering is…