by Becca Van
She had decided she was going to try and fulfill her responsibilities to her planet. They deserved her loyalty first and foremost. She knew she was never going to be the same person, but hopefully she would eventually get over the pain of leaving her mates behind. She was going to have to dedicate herself to her career, as she knew it was the only way she would survive without Dreab and Erup by her side. If she worked twelve hour days, seven days a week, she might, just might be able to get through a day and then be able to fall asleep at night.
Once the men left, Sandi waited another ten to fifteen minutes before she made her move. She went into the kitchen and grabbed all the food she could to last her a couple of days, as well as a hide flagon filled with water. She quietly left their house, keeping to the shadows, hoping no one would see her. She had a few close calls as she headed toward the dark tunnel leading outside. She had to duck down behind large rocks as people moved about, obviously heading for the morning meeting. She gave a sigh of relief when she finally got to the tunnel and began the trek uphill. She hoped she didn’t encounter anyone coming back from an early morning flight.
Sandi looked about her as she stood on the large rock outcropping on the mountain side. She was about to give up hope of finding a way down when her eyes suddenly alighted on a small, narrow path on the far side of the large, flat rock. She carefully began her descent down the mountainside. When she finally arrived at the bottom of the mountain, she was thankful she had made it in one piece. A couple of times she had begun to slide and was lucky enough to be able to grab a bush close by. She looked up at the sun and knew more time had passed than she realized on her treacherous trek downhill. She finally made it down, and she picked up her pace and began to jog along the flat ground. The hide sling she had fashioned to carry her food and drink was annoying as it hit her in the side. There wasn’t much she could do about it. She didn’t stop, she just kept going. It was a lot farther than she thought it would be, but when she finally found her downed spacecraft. She was elated. She took her sling off over her shoulder, pulled out the flagon of water, and took a drink. She didn’t drink too much. She didn’t know how long she would be here and wanted to pace herself with drinking her precious water.
Sandi walked around her craft and nearly cried with disbelief and frustration. The wings of her cruiser were broken. One of them had been sheared right off the side. There was nothing she could do to make it fly again. She sank down onto the ground and finally let her frustration out. She cried for the third time in ten years—the first time when her parents had died and now twice since she had been on Eagron. She berated herself for not taking the time to examine the ship after her crash. But she had been too astounded at seeing the two handsome men standing feet away watching her. Then she had forgotten all about her ship when they had produced wings out of nowhere. She had been afraid and excited. She was drawn to them and felt a yearning in her heart. Maybe she had known that those two men would be the loves of her life. She had let everything she had learned be pushed aside. Her body and heart had taken over, and her mind had taken a back seat.
Sandi finally pulled herself together, wiped away her tears, and set about examining the ship. She moved to the side without a wing and ducked down through the hole. She squeezed her way through until she was in the cockpit, sat down in the pilot seat, and began flipping switches. Nothing on the systems control panel worked. It was totally dead. She even tried rebooting everything, and then in her frustration, she slammed her fist down on the panel. She had wasted so much time getting back to her ship, and all for nothing.
Sandi was about to climb out of the cockpit and start the long trek back to Dreab and Erup’s home when she saw a large bird in the distance, flying in her direction. She decided to stay where she was until the bird or Eagronian flew away. She wasn’t going to chance running into anyone from the notorious Redloh Clan. As the bird flew closer, Sandi was thankful she hadn’t taken a chance. It was definitely one of the angel-look-alike men. He could be from Dreab’s clan, but she was not willing to chance it. She ducked down in the cockpit seat and hoped the male didn’t stop to take a look at the ship. Luck didn’t seem to be on her side.
Sandi watched as the male landed not far off to the side of her craft, and she took the opportunity to quietly move from the cockpit to the back of her ship. She was hoping to make it to one of the large storage compartments and hide in it until the threat was over, but she didn’t make it. She didn’t even hear the male land on top of the glass cockpit. The next thing she knew, the canopy was slid back, and a large hand reached into the ship and grabbed hold of the back of her T-shirt. She tried to shrug out of the T-shirt so she could get away from the big man, but he reached in with his other arm, wrapped it around her waist, and hauled her up and out through the canopy hole. She screamed as she tried to fight him off, but it was like fighting a brick wall. He wrapped his other arm around her shoulders, effectively trapping her arms to her sides. She kicked back, trying to hurt her assailant any way and anywhere she could, but she just wasn’t strong or big enough. He had her up in the air before she could blink.
The sound of large wings flapping with enormous strength echoed around her as she wriggled, still trying to get free.
“I’d stop that if you don’t want me to drop you,” the male stated with a fierce growl.
Sandi froze as she felt his hold on her loosen in warning. She clung to his forearms, praying he wouldn’t drop her.
“Who the hell are you? What do you want?”
“I am Retep Dnop, leader of the Redloh Clan, and you are now my woman.”
“Like fucking hell. I’m mated with Dreab and Erup Reyrd. You can’t take someone who is already mated.”
“It seems I can and I have. There’s nothing you can do about it. You can’t be mated to the Reap Clan. They would never let their woman out of their sight.”
“Well, they didn’t exactly. I snuck away,” Sandi replied, regretting her spontaneity.
She realized she should have listened to her new mates. She had let her stubbornness get her into this mess. Even though knew she loved her two new mates, she knew she had to do this for the people back on Earth. She had signed up to keep them and the planet safe. She intended to do just that and, in her determination, had gotten herself into trouble.
“Their loss is my gain. You are mine now.”
“I don’t care what you say or think. I’ll never fucking be yours,” Sandi replied through clenched teeth. She saw Retep move his free arm up to hold her across the chest, and she took the opportunity staring her in the face. She opened her mouth, bent her head, and bit down on his arm with everything she had.
Retep yelled in pain and released her. She was suddenly plummeting back down to the ground. She was looking death in the face. She didn’t scream. She was too scared to. She was frozen with fear and closed her eyes, waiting for the pain she knew would come, before she died.
Sandi screamed as she smacked into a hard, muscular chest. Tears were coursing down her face, and her breath slammed out of her lungs. She opened her mouth, trying to get air, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get a breath. She opened her eyes and stared into the crazy leader’s face as he watched her struggle. Her eyelids closed again as black spots began to dance before her vision, and she became dizzy and disorientated. The last thing she heard before she passed out was the crazy Redloh Clan leader’s laughter.
* * * *
Dreab entered their home with Erup on his heels. He knew as he entered, Sandi was no longer there. He turned to Erup and saw the worry evident on his brother’s face.
“She’s not here. Where the hell would she go?”
“Um, there’s only one place I can think of,” Erup replied.
“No. She wouldn’t, would she? Not after the warning we gave her, surely?” The sinking feeling in Dreab’s gut told him Sandi was stubborn enough and probably didn’t care what they told her about the dangers. She had been so focused on wanting to assess
her ship’s damage. She had wanted to see if she could fix her ship so she could leave. They obviously hadn’t done a good enough job pleasuring her. Dreab was going to spank her ass when he found her, and then he and Erup were going to fuck her within an inch of her life and talk her into staying with them.
They had already initiated the start of the change by getting her to swallow their seed. She would end up like they were with wings. He hadn’t known until after she had pleasured him and his brother with her mouth that she would be initiating a change to her genetic make-up. He had scented the change in her skin and wanted to tell her but didn’t know how. He knew his Sandi would have a fit if she knew what was happening to her. He was unfamiliar with the female species of Earth and, until now, had no idea she would be able to become like them. She would be able to soar through the sky with them and maybe they could even make love to her when they were airborne. Not to mention it would help strengthen their bond. He hoped eventually she would want to have their younglings. He could just imagine her belly swollen with their offspring.
“Come on. We’d better see if we can find her,” Dreab growled as he walked out of their temporary home and headed to the surface tunnel.
“I think we should move her to our real home down below, Dreab. If Sandi feels more comfortable, she may not want to leave so badly. And we should tell her that her body is changing. Her scent has changed slightly, and I think she is becoming as we are,” Erup stated wisely.
“Yes, I think you’re right. We should have taken her there from the start. I’ve really mucked things up, haven’t I? How the hell is she going to take the news of becoming an Eagronian?” Dreab asked with frustration.
“Never mind that now. Let’s go get our woman.”
* * * *
The two brothers arrived at the crash site and looked around carefully. Erup saw the hide skin filled with food and a hide flagon of water on the ground near the broken-winged ship. But there was no sign of Sandi.
Erup jumped up on top of the spaceship and plucked a large white feather from the top of it. He held it up to his nose, growled low in his throat, and looked to the sky toward the west. He saw a speck flying in the far distance and watched in horror as the leader of the Redloh Clan dropped a large object from his arms then folded his wings in and dove for the victim. Retep caught the body before it could hit the ground, and Erup heard the sound of deep, masculine laughter drifting back to him on the wind.
“Retep has her,” Erup growled as he watched the cruel Redloh Clan leader get farther and farther away. Erup flapped his wings and was about to take off after his woman when Dreab stopped him.
“We can’t go in there by ourselves. We wouldn’t survive. He’d have his minions waiting for us. We would be dead before we even made it close to him, and besides that, we have no idea where his hidden lair is. We need to plan, Erup.”
“Did you see what he did to her? He dropped her, letting her think she was going to die. What sort of sick fuck is he?”
“Just what you said. A sick fuck. We need to get something of his he really wants and make a trade for our woman,” Dreab suggested.
“And how the hell are we going to do that? We don’t even know what he cherishes the most.” Erup growled as he tried to get away from his brother’s hold.
“Yes we do. He wants his clan to be more powerful than ours. He wants to make the rules, to have the power to make and break rules to his own advantage. So we give it to him. We let him think we concede to him as our better. We’ll take our strongest single males with us, and we will all bow down to him.”
“We can’t do that, Dreab. You don’t know what an upheaval he will cause to our system of justice. He would throw all that we have out. No one would be safe from him or his clan. You can’t submit the whole hierarchy of our system to one insane male. Think of the destruction and enmity he would cause among all the clans. He would have brother fighting brother. There would be no harmony. The females already mated would suffer the most,” Erup said, incredulous of his brother’s plan.
“I didn’t say things would stay that way. I said we will look acquiescent, not that we really would be. Let’s go. We’ve got work to do,” Dreab stated, his voice full of steel.
Chapter Five
Sandi regained consciousness just as Retep was coming in for a landing. Nothing looked familiar, but then, she hadn’t been able to explore any of the planet as yet. She held her body loose, still breathing evenly and deeply, with her eyes open to slits, hoping not to alert her captor she was awake. She must have given herself away somehow, because he started laughing at her again. The man definitely had a screw loose.
“You don’t have to pretend. I know you’re awake,” Retep said as his feet hit the ground and he retracted his wings. He grabbed Sandi, and instead of letting her down, he slung her up over his large shoulder.
Sandi didn’t say anything, but she did take the time to study the scar tissue near his shoulder blades. She knew it didn’t hurt to have wings come out through their skin and then go back in again, but she wondered if she could hurt him by sticking her hand into the cavity. She was about to find out. Taking a deep breath, trying to calm her roiling stomach, Sandi shoved two fingers into the scar tissue and nearly vomited as her fingers sank into her captor’s body. She pushed harder and smiled with satisfaction as Retep yelled and began to pull her off his shoulder. She grabbed hold of a handful of feathers and held on tight. When Retep pulled her off him, using his brute strength, Sandi plucked a handful of feathers as she was thrown to the ground.
Sandi backed away, still clutching the large feathers in her hand as Retep stood over her, his face a mask of fury and pain as he roared at her. When she scrabbled through the dirt on her hands, ass, and feet, one of her hands landed on a large, sharp rock. She contained her cry of pain and picked up the rock. She watched as Retep stepped forward and hauled her to her feet. He drew back one of his large arms, his intention very clear. If he actually managed to hit her, he might kill her. The men on this planet were so much stronger than a human. Sandi didn’t stop to think. She ducked his flying fist, leapt back quickly, slammed the sharp rock against the side of Retep’s head, and got out of his way. She watched as he stood swaying on his feet before his eyes rolled back in his head and he toppled to the ground.
Sandi took off in the opposite direction and was thankful she had her flight boots and uniform on. Her uniform actually helped to regulate her body temperature when she was flying in space. It would be a great help since this planet seemed to be quite a few degrees hotter than Earth. And her boots were sturdy and would be up to protecting her feet from the rugged terrain.
She kept up a slow, steady jogging pace until she was too hot to keep going. Her face felt as if it was bright red, and her uniform was soaked with sweat. She headed to the tree line and sat down for a short rest in the shade. What she wouldn’t give for the hide flagon of water right now. She was so thirsty. Her deep, even breathing as she’d jogged along had made her mouth dry. She felt as if her tongue was stuck to the roof of her mouth, and her lips were dry and cracked. She closed her eyes for a moment against the bright glare of the sun, hoping like hell she had knocked Retep hard enough that he wouldn’t come after her again.
Sandi must have dozed off, because when she opened her eyes it was twilight. The stories Dreab and Erup had told of wild animals that roamed at night made her jump at every small rustle she heard. She quickly rose to her feet, stretched her tired, aching muscles, and set out once more. She kept her pace steady but also kept her eyes and ears peeled, hoping the two men had been lying about the wildlife. She had no idea how long she had been traveling before she realized she was being followed. The hair at her nape stood on end, warning her of impending danger. She slowed her pace but kept moving, listening intently to every sound. She had seen glowing eyes peering out at her from the trees but tried to ignore them. She still had her rock and was not squeamish about using it again. She just hoped none of the wild creatures
thought she looked appetizing.
But it seemed luck was not on her side today. She heard a low growl off to the side and behind her. She turned around slowly, not wanting to startle the creature into attacking her. She moved backward toward the tree line, hoping she could scale a trunk if necessary. She nearly tripped over a large branch since she was keeping her eyes on the glowing, yellow eyes creeping closer. She glanced down then dropped to her knees and grabbed the thick, long limb. She shoved the rock in her other hand into the waistband of her uniform and held the tree limb ready. She kept her limbs loose, not wanting to tighten up too much and affect her swing.
Sandi screamed with rage when the thing pounced. She waited until the last minute then swung with all her might. The loud crack of wood hitting flesh and bone made her stomach churn, but she swallowed down her nausea. It was survival of the fittest, and she intended for that to be her. The creature dropped to the ground, but it was still breathing. Sandi could hear its breath rasping in and out of its lungs. It looked like a cross between a panther and a reptile. It was one of the ugliest creatures she had ever seen. Its tail had sharp spikes protruding from it, but it was covered in black fur and it was twice her size. The large, elongated teeth protruding from its mouth reminded her of a saber-toothed tiger. She lifted the branch high once more and was about to whack it in the head again, to put it out of its misery, when it opened its eyes and looked at her, not moving, not blinking, just watching her. She was mesmerized and was certain she could see two of its offspring reflected in the deep-yellow, golden orbs. She blinked and slowly lowered the limb. She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t kill a creature that was only trying to feed its young. She didn’t know how the animal did it, but it had portrayed its family to her in its eyes. Sandi cautiously turned away and began to walk once more, carrying the heavy limb over one of her shoulders. She looked back to where the creature had laid stunned, only to find it had disappeared into the night.
