Page 27 of Savage Giant

But first, I needed to learn their reasons for setting foot in Starblessed territory. With just one pullshanna left alive, an interrogation would be easier.

“Why are you here?” I asked, stepping closer, my whole body tensed as I readied myself for the next and final fight. “Why have you dared to trespass on my people’s land?”

His face darkened with rage as he peered at his fallen brethren. His nostrils flared and a rumbling growl escaped his throat. Blood dripped from his face—I’d punched him several times as all four males attacked me at once. Fists swinging, I’d managed to hit his companions hard enough to knockthem down, hard enough to leave them so weak and dizzy, I’d managed to snap each of their necks without too much difficulty.

“Why?” I roared. “Why have you come here? You are on Starblessed land, and I know you disregarded the markers lining the southern border of our territory.”

An evil grin slowly spread over his features. “We were taking a shortcut through your territory on our way to raid the Resomma tribe for females, when we happened to detect your scent… along with the intoxicating scent of the female in your presence. A human female.” He chuckled. “It has never occurred to my people to look to the humans for procreation, but I cannot imagine any other reason you would be keeping the company of a human female.”

Rage swelled inside me, the growl that left me was loud enough to shake snow off the nearest branches.

He laughed again. “No one would expect a raid in the snow.” His expression became serious the next moment, and he said, “Your female smells better to me than any Montikaan female I’ve ever encountered. I intend to take her for myself.”

“She would never offer herself to you for mating. She feelscalledto mate with me, just as I feelcalledto mate with her. You are a fool to think she would accept you, just as you are a fool for venturing into Starblessed lands.”

“Perhaps I won’t wait for her to offer herself to me.” His eyes darkened. “Perhaps I will simply take her. Humans aren’t familiar with our customs, anyway.” He laughed. “Perhaps she likes it rough.”

I rushed at him in a blind fury, but he zipped into the trees before I could catch him. I hurried after him but struggled in a particularly large snowdrift that reached to my chest. A howl of outrage left me, and once I emerged from the drift, I followed the path he’d created in the snow. Not that I would’ve haddifficulty tracking him without the path—his odd, unfamiliar scent remained strong in the air.

Dark rage heated my blood. He was heading in the direction of the cabin. He wanted to take Cari for himself. Even worse, he planned to force her to mate with him, rather than follow the Montikaan customs of courting a female and waiting for her to offer herself to him. Both scenarios infuriated me, but knowing he meant to hurt her and scare her… I couldn’t fathom my sweet human having to endure such a fate.

I must reach the cabin. I must save her from the beast who meant to torment her. I’d heard stories about the Fashorans from the elders in my tribe, though I’d never met one before. It was said the males born in their tribe greatly outnumbered the females born, though no one knew why. They were also considered treacherous, without honor, and some claimed they’d turned their back on the Great Spirit, that they no longer used their healing powers to tend to the lands they lived on.

I prayed Cari was still in the bathroom, prayed that the extra time it would take the Fashoran male to move the bed aside would give me an advantage. I needed to catch up with him soon. I’d always prided myself on how fast I could run, but running through the snow wasn’t easy, and the male I was chasing seemed to be in top form.

Cari. Cari, I’m coming. Please remain hidden.

Please be safe.

CARI

For a few seconds,I couldn’t move. I remained frozen in terror as the strange Montikaan male barreled toward the cabin.Just before he’d started running for the porch steps, he’d made eye contact with me through the window, and the coldness in his gaze had left me shaken.

I spun on my heel and hurried for the back door. If I remained in the cabin, I would be a sitting target. Even if I locked myself in a bedroom, I had no doubt he would manage to tear the door down. Maybe I could lose him in the forest.

Where was Gorran? Worry clutched my heart. I prayed he was alive and unharmed, but I found his absence deeply unsettling. What if this beast had wounded him… or worse?

I fled out the backdoor just as I heard the front door crashing open.God help me. I slipped down the snow-covered steps, then jumped up and rushed into the forest, struggling against the deepness of the snow, ignoring the pains that wracked my body from falling on the stairs.

A growl resounded nearby. Gorran?

I didn’t dare stop running, even though I wanted to look around and see if there was another Montikaan nearby. The growl sounded again and again, and suddenly he was right there, standing in front of me, panting hard and looking so angry, I almost ran in the other direction.

But his gaze softened a few measures when he met my eyes.

He bolted forward and took me in his arms.

Behind us, I heard snarls followed by laughter.

“Are you all right, pretty human? Did he touch you?” Despite the rage still flaring in his pale depths, he used a gentle tone that nearly broke my heart.

Words of apology lingered on the tip of my tongue, but instead, I said, “I’m fine. No, he hasn’t touched me. What’s happening?”

He gathered me close to his side, wrapping an arm around me, allowing me to feel the current of his warmth and hisprotection as the strange Montikaan male leisurely walked our way.

“There was no wounded male in the forest,” Gorran explained quickly. “It was a trap. Four males from the Fashoran tribe ambushed me. They caught our scents as they were taking a shortcut through the Starblessed territory, and they wanted to draw me outside and away from you. I killed three of them, but this one got away before I could stop him.”

My stomach dropped, and a cold sensation prickled my flesh that had nothing to do with the frigid gusts of wind or the snow. Four males from another tribe had wanted to separate Gorran fromme. That probably meant… I couldn’t complete the thought. I pressed myself closer to Gorran.

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