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  “Suits yourself. More pussy for me.”

  I step out of the foliage, no longer content with waiting. I have seen enough.

  “No,” I growl in humanoid.

  The translator that Surlok has made is quite an invention. All I have to do is think what I want to say, and the translator embedded in my ear translates it into humanoid and whispers it back into my ear. All I have to do is pronounce it, which is proving quite difficult.

  The two humans whip their necks around. Their eyes grow as big as saucers, their limbs trembling, their pants growing damp.

  “Fuck! It’s one of them alien freaks — I thought it was all lies, but it’s fucking true!” the one with the gun says.

  The other human just runs away as fast as his trembling legs can carry him.

  “Coward!” the human curses. He raises his gun and points it at me. “You’re going to make me a rich man, you horned freak!”

  He pulls the trigger.

  The bullet bounces off my chest.

  “Wha—”

  Before the male can complete his sentence, I crush his windpipe with the ease of crumbling a piece of paper. He falls to the ground, gurgling with blood, gasping for air, and he dies a moment later.

  The cowardly one gives me one final terrified look before he disappears between the trees.

  “Jip,” I say with a quick nod.

  My warhound speeds off. A frantic cry is suddenly snuffed out, replaced with the bone-crunching sound of my hound feasting on his prey.

  With the males taken care of, I turn my attention back to the female dangling in front of me. My mind races with all the possibilities.

  Where shall I start?

  Chapter 3

  Makayla

  I’m not sure what I prefer: Dying of dehydration or being found by the poachers who laid this trap for me.

  I’ve been held captive before, by Governor Livingston and his men. Those bastards were mere inches away from branding my bare bum with their mark before Vuka intervened and smashes their heads to bloody bits.

  I make up my mind: I’ll choose death before I ever submit to a man.

  That was the first time I ever saw him. Vuka looked like a true beast in that moment as he savagely ripped their heads from their trunks, his massive chest covered in blood, his eyes glowing as red as coals.

  Turns out he’s actually a sweetheart. When he’s not ripping people’s heads clean off or using his claws to cut through them like butter, he’s kind and generous.

  Not that I’ve ever had a proper conversation with him. Only Jade has learned the Kaizon language. His ship taught it to her, before it shut down completely. Now, we three girls communicate with the alien warrior mostly by pointing. I’ve tried to wrap my head around the alien syntax, but nothing I’ve ever read could’ve prepared me for learning a proper alien language.

  A bear growls nearby. I’m dizzy and tired, drifting in and out of consciousness. All the blood has pooled in my head and I feel weak, but not weak enough not to feel afraid.

  That’s a third option I hadn’t considered: Being mauled to death by a bear. Why not, let’s put it on the list.

  I open my eyes and squint.

  That’s one strange-looking bear!

  His eyes are orange, like a sunset. That’s new. I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen a bear with orange eyes before. Or horns, curling from their forehead like a ram. Or skin the color of a dark storm.

  Don’t think I’ve seen a bear wearing armor before either.

  Wait a second…

  The realization hits me like a ton of bricks, my brain fog clearing up in an instant. My eyes snap open wide, adrenaline surging through my entire body.

  It’s a freaking KAIZON!

  It’s not Vuka, though. These horns are different. They curl back, like a ram’s would. The resemblance stops there, though. There’s nothing sheep-like about this man’s absolutely massive stature, his strong jaw, or his intense gaze.

  Vuka’s message must have gotten through! This must be one of his brothers, come here to help us! I’m so relieved I could cry.

  “I’m so happy to see you,” I stammer. “Can you help me down?”

  The alien warrior walks right up to me, so that his face is mere inches from mine. His eyes study me like I’m an animal. He breathes out his nose with a grunt, the warm air hitting my face.

  He sniffs me.

  The relief slowly ebbs away — something tells me this man has no intention of lowering me down just yet.

  “Human?” he grunts, his voice low and primal.

  I breathe a sigh of relief. He knows English! That’s going to make communicating a whole lot easier than I feared. Vuka doesn’t speak a word of any human language — all that leaves his mouth are strange guttural grunts and growls. Watching Jade answer him in the same alien tongue is something I still haven’t gotten used to, not even after all this time.

  “Y-yes,” I reply. “I’m human! You’re a Kaizon, right? Can you let me down? Did you get Vuka’s message?!”

  His eyes light up, taking on the glow of hellfire. “Vuka?!” he growls, his entire body shaking with rage. His heavy brow is furrowed, every muscle in his massive frame bulging with raw strength. “Know Vukaror?!”

  “I, err, maybe.”

  He pulls out a long blade and my heart skips a beat. Is he going to gut me like a pig, just because I know Vuka? Isn’t he supposed to be his brother?!

  The blade slices through the air and I suck in a breath, saying my final prayer. The rope snaps and I tumble down, only to be caught by him. His claws dig into my skin as he grabs hold of me tightly — a bit too tightly, if you ask me.

  “You can let me go now,” I say. My feet are dangling in the air, this beast holding me up effortlessly, like one would carry a child, one hand easily gripping my waist.

  His eyebrows raise. “Soft,” he says, his voice still reminding me of the deep roar of a bear. “Weak.”

  “Thank you,” I say sarcastically. “That’s just what I needed to hear. You know, I preferred it when I couldn’t understand you Kaizon types if all you’re going to do is growl one syllable insults at me.”

  He drags one sharp fingernail across my cheek, down towards my neck, completely ignoring my quips. I swallow the lump in my throat, a tingle of fear running down my spine.

  “Name?”

  “Makayla,” I answer, licking my dry lips. “What’s yours?”

  “KERAX!” he shouts directly in my face. He beats his chest triumphantly with his free hand.

  I shake my head to stop my ears from ringing. “Well, Kerax, can you watch out with that claw of yours before you do some serious damage? Human skin isn’t as thick as your yours.”

  He cocks his head quizzically. “Human… skin?”

  With one quick flash of his claws, he rips the top of my shirt right open, taking my bra along with it. To my horror, my naked breasts spill out, and for a few seconds I’m too flabbergasted to even move.

  The nerve of this alien!

  I regain my wits a moment later, and deliver a swift kick between his legs. That’ll teach him!

  “Ow! Fuck!”

  It’s like kicking a damn mountain. All I end up doing is bruising my foot, for Kerax doesn’t move an inch. He’s staring at my full breasts, his almond eyes now glowing purple. He licks his lips, exposing his sharp fangs in the process.

  “Fuck?” he asks.

  “Err, no,” I say. “No fucks. Nope nope nope.”

  Once again, this mountain of a man is not interested one bit in what I’ve got to say. His free hand gropes my breasts, roughly tweaking my brown nipples, his sharp nails digging into my skin. A shot of adrenaline is fired down my spine, a mixture of pain and pleasure making my body arch. I can only stop myself from moaning with a tremendous amount of effort.

  No man’s ever touched me like that before.

  His dominant behavior awakens something inside me. A fire that I quench as quickly as it flared up. I’m not going to let
this alien manhandle me like this! I don’t care if he’s a Kaizon warrior, if he’s eight feet tall, if he’s as quick as lightning, or as strong as a mountain. He could rip me in half if he wanted to; I’m just betting on the fact that he’s got a decent bone somewhere in his chiseled body.

  Not that there’s anything wrong with Jade hooking up with Vuka. The Kaizon are beautiful in a very primal way, but he saved our asses ten times over. He proved himself to us. This Kerax guy, however? He’s a snarling, sniffing, groping savage.

  Despite the thumping desire in my sex, I’m going to have to say no thank you.

  I grab his claw with my two hands and push him away as hard as I can. It takes an extraordinary amount of effort, but I manage to move him an inch.

  “No! I say as loud as I can. “Not cool!”

  “Not cool,” he repeats as he places his hand back on my breast. “Warm.”

  It takes all the strength I got to move just his pinky finger. “Let me go, you brute,” I puff. “Who the hell do you think you are?!”

  “Kerax,” he growls, baring his fangs to me.

  “It was a rhetorical question — look, never mind. This is not how we greet women here on Earth, okay? I’m going to tell Vuka, and he’s going to give you an earful!”

  “Vuka!” he roars. I sense the shift within him. His eyes fade to red, his muscles primed for combat. “Vuka says Earth women breed-ready. Mate?”

  His eyes scour my body, drinking all of it in. A shiver of anticipation travels down my spine, laced with fear. It’s been so long since Vuka sent out that message, I honestly didn’t think any more aliens would show up.

  And I certainly didn’t expect one of them to rip my clothes to shreds and command me to mate with him within five minutes of meeting him, that’s for damn sure!

  “I don’t know what’s Vuka been telling you, but it’s a lot more nuanced than that! First off, you don’t just say ‘mate?’. Unless you’re Australian. And granted, I’ve never been there myself, the downfall of modern society making intercontinental travel rather inconvenient, but I do feel confident in saying that you are very much not Australian. No, you’re an alien. So therefore, saying ‘mate?’ is not a socially acceptable way of greeting a woman. Are you taking notes?”

  My answer does not seem to placate the alien warrior. I don’t know if his translator is broken, or if he just doesn’t care about anything that comes out of my mouth. Probably a mixture of the two. Either way, this Kerax fellow has made up his mind about what he wants to do: Me.

  He lowers me to the floor, my boots touching the soft ground once more. I could run away, but I know it’s hopeless. I’ve seen the strength, the speed, the agility of these alien warriors.

  And I don’t want to give this Kerax character any more reason to be angry with me. His hands move to his armor, a curious mixture of metal and leather, and he starts to undress himself right there and then, in the middle of the woods, his hands unfastening clasps and buttons all over him.

  My mouth goes dry. I’m so shocked that I don’t even try to cover up my exposed body. Instead, I just watch muscle after muscle come into view. His skin is a dark gray, threatening and tantalizing at the same time. It reminds of the dark clouds of smoke that billowed into the night’s sky as Governor Livingston’s fortress burned down to the ground. I feel the exact same way I did that night: Happy, anxious and scared, all at once.

  That feeling is amplified times a thousand when he unshackles the bottom layer of his armor. The heavy piece of metal drops to the floor with a heavy thud, exposing his thick, purple, ridged cock to me.

  That finally jolts me into action.

  I look away as quickly as I can, but not quickly enough to stop the hard, throbbing member from being burned into my retina. From now on, whenever I close my eyes, all I’ll be able to see is that dangling, purple spear.

  I back away with my eyes averted as I try my hardest to keep my heart from racing and my mouth from watering. You’re not like this, I chastise myself. Get it together, Makayla!

  My train of thought is broken by a sharp stick poking me right in the butt.

  I whirl around to see a dog looking up at me, wagging his tail, carrying something in his mouth. Except I’ve never seen a dog quite like this — his body is sleek, his legs are powerful, his snout is elongated. Oh yeah, and there’s a horn on his forehead. Hard to miss that.

  Just when I’ve decided this peculiar-looking dog is rather cute, I see what he’s holding in his mouth.

  It’s a severed hand.

  I scream as the dog lays the severed hand down at my feet and wags his tail, blood dripping from his jaw as he impatiently waits for me to play fetch with this severed, half-eaten body part.

  “Jip!” Kerax says.

  The dog whines, picks the hand up again, and wanders over to the Kaizon. He kneels down and strokes the dog’s short fur as he coos alien words of affirmation to him. For a brief second, the brute looks caring, and dare I say, friendly.

  And it is at that moment that I notice the two dead human bodies laying on the forest floor. My heart grows cold, a primal fear taking hold of me. How did I miss that before?!

  Kerax notices my distress and rises up again, and he’s so big that he seems to take up the entire view.

  That’s why. It’s hard to see anything except his massive frame, his demanding eyes, his swinging dick. Now I know what he really is: A killer.

  “Calm,” he says.

  “Be calm?! Me?! You’re a murderer! You killed those men!” I say, pointing wildly, my entire arm shaking.

  He glances down at the bodies like one would a piece of dropped toast. “Yes,” he nods. “Yes.”

  “Why?!”

  The alien shrugs. “Men force-mate you. I stop them.”

  Force-mate…? He’s talking about…

  The realization hits me. Of course. The blood and the carnage of the dead bodies overrode my higher level thinking skills for a moment.

  They were the poachers, the men who laid the trap for me, who were no doubt about to rape me before taking me prisoner. And Kerax saved me. I owe him my life.

  That doesn’t mean I owe him my body though. And if I let him work that purple monster inside of me, well, that might just kill me. I need to defuse this situation and fast, before I’m on the receiving end of his alien spear.

  “You speak English,” I say, crossing my arms over my chest. “Vuka can’t. How can you understand me?”

  Kerax taps his ear, tucked away behind his long, dark hair. “Translator.”

  “Good, so you can understand me when I say this THIS is not happening, right? Thank you for saving my life, really, but that doesn’t mean I’m yours or whatever. Such antiquated notions about male ownership of female bodies is so last century. And current century, now that I think about it. Okay, bad example, I’ll give you that. But my point stands. Not happening!”

  The alien’s quizzical stare has got me rambling. Jade always praises me for being so calm and collected, for thinking before I answer. One look at a naked Kaizon, one glimpse at pure muscular perfection, and I’m left babbling like a baby.

  I’m glad the other girls aren’t here to see me make a fool out of myself. Or to see that perfect body of his, because this one is mine. Jade’s got Vuka, and I’m not letting Dev near Kerax — she’ll steal him from under my nose if I don’t stake my claim.

  The possessive thought leaves me reeling. I can’t really be falling for this brute, can I? I mean, I am quite curious to learn what all the hubbub is about, but…

  No, I can’t. This must be Stockholm Syndrome talking.

  Kerax pushes his shoulders back in amusement, his alien eyes sizing me up. It seems my rambling humors him. “Talk too much,” he says.

  “If you think I talk too much, wait till you meet Dev and the others!”

  “Dev?” His eyes flare up, taking on that menacing yellow glow. “Others?”

  Damnit! I put my foot in my mouth again. I explicitly did not want to bri
ng them up, so of course that’s exactly what I did.

  “You mention Vukaror,” he says. “Where?”

  I glance over my shoulder. I got myself well and truly lost. I won’t be able to point him the way to our cabin even if I wanted to, and I’m not sure I want to do that. Although I’ve seen flashes of kindness, there’s still something about him that absolutely terrifies me. And it’s not just the size of his veiny, throbbing man-spear that he refuses to put back in his pants.

  No, there’s an aura to him, a glint in his eyes, that tells me that he’s bad news.

  “Why?” I ask. “Why do you want to see Vuka so badly?”

  A smirk spreads across his chiseled face. “Crown,” is his menacing answer.

  A shiver runs down my spine. I don’t know a lot about Kaizon culture, but there’s one thing I haven’t forgotten. Vuka is, apparently, the King of Kings of his entire warrior species. Which makes Jade the Queen of all Kaizon, and me a… friend of the crown?

  Either way, if he’s interested in taking Vuka’s crown, then that’s absolutely, positively and without doubt not good. Hopefully it was just a quirk of his translator, a small malfunction. Or hey, perhaps he’s talking about a literal crown that he brought back from home. That’s a way better explanation than that he’s a usurper who wants to commit fratricide. There’s only one way to find out…

  “What do you mean?” I ask. “It sounded to me like you were implying you want to take this place. I’m sure I misheard. Correct?”

  Kerax takes a step towards me, his gigantic frame making me feel small and insignificant. Compared to their physiques, we humans just don’t compare.

  “Kerax will lead,” he says as he comes close with every step. The forest seems to disappear around me completely. His intense, burning gaze is all I see. “Kerax will be king!”

  Oh.

  I didn’t mishear.

  This Kaizon really is here to murder Vuka. To make Jade a widow. To let Ka’de grow up fatherless.

  I can’t allow that to happen. I owe Jade my life. If I have to sacrifice myself to keep her and her family safe, then I’ll gladly do just that.