by Octavia Kore
She averted her eyes and shook her head quickly. “Nothing.”
Oshen’s brow furrowed as he peered through the opening out into the torrent that raged beyond the walls. There should have been something by now. He would check in with his brutok once they had recovered his mate.
What if she was injured, unconscious, abducted, and taken offplanet? A snarl ripped from his throat just at the thought. He would tear apart any creature that dared to keep his gynaika away from him. Once it was safe to return to the search, Oshen was going to find her and this time she was never leaving his sight again.
“Oshen?” Something pressed against his shoulder, shaking him roughly. “The storm seems to have passed. We should go now.” Oshen’s eyes shot open and he bolted upright, glancing around the dim interior. Gulzar was crouched down at his side and a hand rested against his leg. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.” He tried to keep the agitation from his voice. Zar wasn’t the enemy, but he was still having a hard time admitting he had feelings for the male. The storm had almost completely stopped at this point, dark clouds gradually replaced by a clear sky. They had all agreed to follow Zar to the section of the wall closest to Kyra’s home, hoping this was where the captor had decided to flee.
Zar growled when they came upon the hole in one section of the wall. There were claw marks, as if someone or something had dug straight through it. Evafyn ran a slender hand over the jagged edges and grimaced. The ground was soggy beneath his feet as he stepped away from the wall and he spun in a circle, inhaling deeply as he searched for Amanda’s scent. Only the smell of the damp forest reached him and he frowned, trying again to catch even the faintest hint.
“It’s not here,” he murmured.
Beside him, Luz flared his gills as he gazed around at the windswept forest. “I do not know which direction they would have gone, brother.”
To his right, Fyn inspected a tangle of branches near the barrier, kicking the pile in frustration. “The rain and wind have destroyed any signs that we might have followed.” Her hands rested on her hips as she tipped her face up toward the sky, her eyes closing as she huffed out a breath.
“I believe they may be in this direction.” The siblings turned to where Gulzar stood among a cluster of trees that had taken a decent amount of damage. “I can feel a pull this way.”
Oshen narrowed his eyes on the male. “Pull toward what, exactly?”
“Our mate.” Zar frowned. “Who else?”
Luz let out an exhausted sigh. “For two males who are supposed to share a mate, who should share a connection to one another, you seem to butt heads an awful lot.”
Oshen knew he should apologize. “It’s still new,” he grumbled instead. “We should stay close. Since we have no other leads to go off of, we should investigate whatever pull Zar is feeling.”
The group picked their way slowly through the woods, stopping every now and again to try and catch Amanda’s scent, but nothing remained after the rains. Luz and Fyn walked on ahead, scouting for any tracks or clues that they were headed in the right direction. Beside him, Lief squinted, his eyes scanning the distance.
“What is it, brother?”
Lief was built similar to Oshen, tall and lean with broad shoulders, but the male was a warrior. Scars crisscrossed his black skin, and he could tell you the story behind each and every one of them. Long white hair hung loose down his back instead of being twisted into the more traditional braid. The male turned his green gaze on Oshen.
“Something just doesn’t feel right about this. Why chase your female when there are so many humans on Earth to choose from?”
Oshen had wondered that himself. If this was indeed the male from solars before who had caused her to have such horrible dreams, what was it about his mate that attracted the attention?
“I do not know, but I plan to find out.”
Zar led them further into the woods, his head cocked this way and that as he followed whatever he was sensing. When they caught up with Fyn, she was frowning and whispering to her wrist.
“What is it?”
Her head jerked up. “Nothing.”
Oshen narrowed his eyes. His sister was keeping something from him. “You are an awful liar, Fyn.”
The female turned to scoff at him, her breathing huffing out as she laughed. “I am not.”
“You are absolutely Daya’s daughter. Confess.”
“You are her son.”
“You keep secrets just as she does—horribly.” Oshen blocked her path when she attempted to move past him. “I have been there for almost every moment over our shared thirty-four solars of life and you think I wouldn’t know when something was amiss?”
“You do remember I am the older one, right?” she scoffed.
“Only by eight months!”
“Eight blissful months of being an only pup.” Fyn flipped her golden braids over her shoulder. “Best eight months of my life.”
“Here we go again.” Lief’s gills flared in annoyance.
“There is never a moment of peace with the two of you.” Luz stopped walking and turned toward his bickering siblings.
“You’re as truthful as a braxing Grutex.” Oshen pulled his upper lip over his fangs in a snarl.
A gasp had Fyn rocking back on her feet as if she’d been physically wounded, her fushori bright with indignation. “You dare?”
“Your wit is as dull as your fushori.”
“Our fushori are the same color, you stone skull!”
“Enough from you two!” Luz commanded, moving to stand between them.
“It is getting stronger,” Gulzar whispered.
Oshen spun toward the other male, meeting his gaze as hope flared within his chest.
We are going to find you, he promised his pups as he rushed to catch up with Zar. We will bring you and your dam home safely, mikra.
Chapter 30
Amanda
Xuvri paced the room, his hands running over his sloped head as he mumbled incoherently to himself.
His eyes fell on her and he huffed, “You weren’t supposed to be pregnant yet. This means things have to change.”
“What things?” Amanda asked quietly from her position atop the exam table.
“You were supposed to be mine,” he whispered to himself as if he hadn’t heard her question. “I can hear you. I hear you in my mind—I feel you in my head. That must mean you are mine.”
“You hear me inside your mind?”
He turned to look at her, stepping closer. “Right here.” He pressed a finger to his temple before running his knuckle gently down the side of her face. “You were the first one… the only one to ever speak to me in such a way.” Amanda watched his gaze fall on the covered tank across the room.
“But I’m not your mate.”
“Lies. They have told you wrong,” he insisted. “They bred what was mine.”
Amanda shook her head, her throat tightening. “I’m not yours. You hurt me. People don’t hurt the ones they care about.”
“Hurt?” Xuvri huffed and shook his head. “Claim, not hurt.”
His sentences were short and choppy, and Amanda could see he was slipping deeper into whatever madness had hold of him. “You chased me, knocked me to the ground that night at the lab.”
“Yes. The claiming hunt. The chase. It excites.”
“Excites you?”
Xuvri shook his head. “Excites the females.” He looked at her like he couldn’t believe he was having to explain it. “Females want it, want to run. We prove ourselves worthy of them.”
“But I didn’t run because I wanted you to prove yourself to me. I ran because I was afraid of you.”
“Not true. Humans fight the hardest because they want us to be better, to be stronger.”
“I don’t belong with you though. I have two mates already.”
Xuvri shook his head as he stepped away from her, continuing his pacing of the floor. “That’s not possible.” Even the fly ali
en was watching him now. “You are my mate. You are my strong, perfect female.”
“Why are you taking humans in the first place?”
“The Grutex are dying out. We need mates, and humans are compatible.”
Amanda swallowed thickly, looking back at the tank. “Did you have children with her?”
Emotion flitted over his face. “She was not strong enough to carry them.”
Maybe she wasn’t looking at someone who had set out to terrorize her. Maybe this was a male that had gone mad from loss. It didn’t excuse what he had done to her or the mutilation she had seen, but it tugged at something deep inside her.
“Xuvri, I’m sorry for what happened to her, what happened to your children, but you can’t just use me as a replacement.” He frowned down at the floor, closing his eyes and shaking his head as if he didn’t want to hear her words. “My babies have fathers who are worried about them. You’re taking their children away. You’re going to take their fathers away.”
“No. I will be their father. I will raise them.” A shudder racked her as he approached. His eyes were glossy again, his movements erratic. “It doesn’t matter who created them because I will be here for them.”
“I am not yours!” she yelled in frustration, her fists slamming into the hard plates of his chest. “I will never be yours!”
Xuvri snarled, snatching her hands up painfully and pulling her into him. “Enough—”
His face went slack as he grunted, releasing her hands and falling to his knees with a loud thud before he toppled over sideways. Behind him stood the alien Xuvri had called a Tachin. He held an empty syringe in his clawed hand and stared down at the Grutex’s body.
“I could not listen to another word from that brainless, shell-skulled idiot,” he grumbled. “He was wasting precious time.”
Amanda felt his gaze shift to her and she barely stopped the whine that tried to escape her lips. She doubted this alien was going to have anything better planned for her.
“I tried to help him, but he brought me faulty products. You, however, are already proving to be far better quality.” He stepped to the side, grabbing a vial and another syringe. “I may not even need to take you apart like I did the other female. I replaced limbs and organs, tried to get her to function correctly, but she was weak. I told him she would not survive, but you—” The needle pierced the covering on the vial, filling with the dark blue liquid. “You have given me not just one but two chances to test this theory.”
My babies. This monster was going to not just experiment on her, but her unborn children as well. Amanda felt tears well up in her eyes as he advanced on her.
“Please don’t do this,” she whispered.
“Oh, none of that. This will not hurt you. We will simply attempt to override the genetic makeup of your offspring, to change them, make them better. They have the chance to be more, to be Tachin.”
“Why wouldn’t you just find your own female?” Amanda scrambled backward on the table, but there was nowhere to run.
The male’s wings buzzed in apparent irritation at her questioning. “Infertility. It is perhaps the one thing we have in common with the Grutex.”
“If the Grutex are infertile, then why are they still taking people?”
“Not all are infertile. This one did manage to impregnate the other female multiple times, but none were viable.” If flies could sneer, she was sure that was what she would call the expression on his face. “The Tachin, however, do not reproduce in the same way. Our females cannot incubate our young so we must come up with new ways to further our species.” He reached for her, sliding a hand over her stomach. “The data I can collect from you will no doubt prove useful for the home hive.”
“You’re insane if you think I’m going to let you do this to me,” Amanda hissed.
“It will be a quick procedure, female. You will survive.”
“You’re damn straight I will,” she growled as she brought her hands up and jammed the tips of her fingers into one of his large black eyes. Something warm and wet ran down her arms as the alien screamed. He twisted away from her, stumbling as he clutched the wound with both hands.
“You!” he shrieked. “You stupid, filthy—”
A dark hand shot around to grab his face, snapping his head to the side with an audible crack. She watched Xuvri stand and toss the lifeless body aside, his eyes focusing on her.
“Shh.” He rushed to her as she began to cry, dropping down in front of her and pressing his face close to her stomach. “I will not let him hurt you. Not like last time.” He began to rattle softly in the same way Zar had done, and although it took the edge off of her nausea, it repulsed her.
“Please, let me go, Xuvri.”
He shook his head, the vines flying wildly around his face. “You are mine. I searched for you.”
“You stalked me! You terrorized me! I don’t find you worthy and I never will!” She brought her leg up between them, pushing away with all the strength she had.
Although the drug the Tachin had used hadn’t served its intended purpose, it was still obviously affecting him. Xuvri stumbled backward, glaring at her as he fought to right himself. With a snarl, he lunged forward, knocking Amanda back onto the table as he climbed up on top of her.
“No. No, no, no!” he roared as he stared down at her.
The babies within her kicked and squirmed, no doubt disapproving of all the commotion, and the change that came over Xuvri’s face was so sudden and unexpected that she wasn’t even sure she was seeing the same male. It was almost as if someone had pulled a mask away and revealed the terrified creature beneath. He dropped his forehead to hers and took a deep breath.
“Leave.”
She heard the whispered word, but she hardly believed it had come from him. “Xuvri—”
“I said leave! Go!” he roared again, slamming his hands down near her shoulders.
Amanda wasn’t going to wait around for him to change his mind. As fast as she could, she slipped from beneath his body, nearly falling as her weakened legs tried to support her. She was barely across the room and when the door crumpled in on itself, falling with a metallic ring against the floor.
In the hall stood Zar, his violet eyes glowing as he stared back at her. Beside him stood a literal beast. It was nearly as large as he was, with skin that looked like black leather stretched over a steel frame. Its eyes and parts of its body glowed a shimmering gold, and she couldn’t help but think it was the most beautiful and terrifying creature she had ever seen.
If hellhounds existed, this must be one.
The beast roared when he saw her and she felt her heart stop when it lunged, sailing over her head and slamming into Xuvri, who had apparently found his footing.
“Wait!” she screamed as three Venium raced into the room after it. “Stop! Please, stop!”
She felt strong arms wrap around her, pulling her away from the carnage and chaos that was unfolding before her. Amanda knew, logically, that she shouldn’t feel anything aside from hatred for the Grutex male who had caused her so much pain and worry. Watching this creature close its mouth around his body shouldn’t have made her want to cry, but somewhere inside of her, she had understood his grief.
“Zar, stop it! He let me go!” She struggled against him. “He let me go!”
“Oshen!” Zar growled over the commotion. “That’s enough! Amanda is safe now.”
The beast turned with a snarl as Zar’s hand reached out to yank on one of the glowing ribbon-like spines on its back. Its muzzle dripped with blood and it growled so low and deep that Amanda swore she could feel it move through her. This beast couldn’t be her Oshen. The smaller spines on his neck began to rattle as she rushed past him, dropping down to check Xuvri’s broken body. He hadn’t even tried to fight back.
His chest heaved with every labored breath he drew in. Deep punctures from Oshen’s fangs marred his body. She brushed her hand over the skin near his mangled eye.
“I am sor
ry,” he whispered, his lips covered in his own blood. “I am…” His throat worked as he tried to speak again, but his face went slack, his arms sliding from his chest to the floor at her feet.
Amanda stared down at his face as tears welled in her eyes. Strong arms pulled her up, hoisting her into a comforting embrace. Zar leaned his head down to press a kiss to her hair when she rested her head against his shoulder. She was so grateful and relieved that the nightmare was over, but her heart was torn.
“I want to go home.”
Chapter 31
Gulzar
“He tried to force himself on you, stalked you, abducted you, and nearly got you and our pups experimented on! He doesn’t deserve your tears, gynaika.” Oshen was snarling as he paced in front of them.
“I don’t know what you want me to say. I know what he did was wrong, I know he put us in danger, but you weren’t there. You didn’t see him.” Amanda raked her hands through her hair. “I’m not saying he wasn’t wrong, but I think he deserved a chance to fix his mistakes.”
“Did you see the female in there? Did you see what was done to her?” The Venium male scrubbed a hand over his face. “If we had found you like that…”
“But you didn’t because he let me go. The Grutex have been lied to about what human females want, about what we expect from a mating. He had no idea we didn’t mate the way he had been taught—and before you interrupt me, I’m not excusing him. He had lost his female, lost his children, Oshen. I think something inside of him was broken.”
“You’re blinded by your emotions, gynaika.” Oshen reached his hand out to touch her face, but she knocked it away.
“Seriously?”
“Gynaika—” Gulzar watched as Amanda sidestepped the other male as he tried to pull her into his arms.
“Don’t ‘gynaika’ me, Oshen. You have every right to be mad at him, to never forgive him for what he did, but you don’t get to tell me how I should feel.” His mate folded her arms over her chest as her lip trembled. “I can’t change what happened with Xuvri or the human woman who was in there, but we have the chance to help from now on.”
