Page 23 of Gentle Giant

“Carl! Answer, you fucker! Carl!”

The device emitted a gurgling noise, and a man’s voice came through. “What is it, Danny? I’m busy tracking a buck and…”

“To hell with your buck. I saw a real liveSas—”

I jumped out from the bush in a quick fluid movement and grabbed the hunter’s neck, cutting off his speech, preventing him from telling his comrade what he’d seen. His eyes widenedand the communication device fell from his hand. As I continued choking him, I crushed the device under my foot.

It wasn’t long before his feet stopped kicking. A growl of frustration left me and I hurled his limp body into a tree. Usually, my people went long stretches of time without encountering humans in our territory. But within the last two moon cycles, I’d encountered three of them. First the males from the crashed vessel, and now this murderous hunter.

I’d posed no threat to him, yet he’d shot at me anyway, the bullets coming infuriatingly close to Hailey as well. If he’d been peaceful, I would’ve altered his memories and sent him home. But a human with hate in his heart was a danger to my people. If I’d altered his memory and allowed him to go free, he might prove troublesome again one day, might return to the Starblessed territory and harm a member of my tribe. It was a risk I couldn’t take.

Lifting my nose in the air, I filled my lungs with a deep breath. The stench of another human male reached me on the wind. I would have to track down the dead hunter’s companion.

I dragged the body to the cliff where he’d first shot at us and heaved him into the air. I tossed his gun over as well.

Then I set off in search of the other male, following his scent through the forest, moving quickly but quietly. I wanted to return to Hailey as soon as possible. I recalled how she’d trembled in my arms as we’d run to the safety of the cabin, and I wanted nothing more than to hold her and comfort her. To stroke her hair and nuzzle my nose to hers.

But I paused in my steps as a dark thought struck me.

What if she tried to run away?

I growled and glanced over my shoulder, trying to decide whether to return to the cabin or continue searching for the second human male.

The scent of the male grew stronger, however, and I peered through the trees searching for movement. There. Straight ahead. He wore the same type of clothing as his dead companion with the addition of a bright orange vest, making him easy to spot on this overcast afternoon.

I hid behind a tree and waited until the male walked by, then lunged at him and knocked his gun away. He screamed and fell backward, hitting the forest floor hard. He winced and gave his head a sharp shake as he peered up at me.

“Are you Carl?” I demanded.

Shock filled his eyes. “How-how did you know?” His breath became ragged, and he grew pale. “You-you can talk?”

I knelt before him and touched his arm. When he grew very still and his expression calmed, I knew my glamor was working. Whatever question I asked, he would tell the truth.

“Why are you in the forest?”

“I am hunting deer with my cousin, Carl.”

“Are there any others in your hunting party?” I asked.

“No,” he said in a faraway voice. “It’s just me and Carl.”

“Who knows where you are right now?” I held my breath as I awaited his reply.

“No one knows where I am but Carl.” His eyes drooped. The glamor was making him tired. I shook him for a few seconds to keep him from drifting off.

“You didn’t tell anyone that you and Carl were going hunting today?” I needed to be certain. Needed to make sure his friends or family wouldn’t come looking for him.

“No, we didn’t tell anyone.” He blinked slowly. “We snuck off early this morning so we could surprise our wives with a deer.”

I tightened my grip on his arm. “If you saw someone like me walking in the forest, what would you do?” I saw the reflection of my glowing eyes in his dark gaze.

He looked me up and down. “I would kill you and take pictures of your body. I would send the pictures to news stations and try to make some money off them, and I would take your body to a taxidermist and have it stuffed. Then I would charge people one hundred galactic credits apiece just to see the dead Sasquatch.” He smiled broadly. “I’d be a rich man, I would. Famous, too.”

“You have hatred and greed in your heart,” I said quietly, more to myself than to the glamoured hunter. “Even if I were to alter your memories of this encounter, you would still present a danger to my people.”

He reached for my face, his eyes glittering with avarice. “Hand me my shotgun,” he said. “I want to kill you.”

I jerked back so he couldn’t touch me, then I reached for his neck and snapped it, giving him a quick, clean death. I hurled his body off the same cliff as his companion.

---