Page 7 of Sweet Giant

He lifted the weapon higher, aiming for the center of my chest. Just as he pressed a lever on the strange gun, a beam of red shot toward me. I bolted to the side, and he missed.

Then I growled again and tackled him to the ground, trying to wrench the weapon from his hand. During our skirmish, the gun fired directly into my stomach. I roared with the unfamiliar pain and gasped for breath as my vision became blurry. The pain was so great that I felt on the verge of losing consciousness.

Summoning all my strength, I punched the male in the face. Behind me, I heard the woman gasping. I also heard her open the door of the vehicle.

Was she trying to leave? Alarmed by the possibility of her driving away, I peered over my shoulder in her direction. Our eyes met and the desire to keep her as my mate hit me all over again, a wave of intense longing that stole my breath even more than the pain of being shot.

“Do not leave, human female,” I said in a gentle tone as I tightened my grip on the male beneath me, then felt for his weapon, grabbed it and tossed it out of reach. “Please stay. I promise I won’t hurt you. You have nothing to fear from me.”

Her eyes widened further as she stood holding the vehicle’s door open. I sensed cold waves of terror rolling off her, and when she started to get inside the vehicle, I knew I needed to either kill or incapacitate the male immediately so that I could prevent her from driving off.

Now that I’d found my mate, I had no intention of letting her go.

I placed one hand on the man’s throat, planning to strangle him to death. He hadn’t harmed just any woman, but he’d laid hands on my mate. He didn’t deserve to take another breath.

But before I could finish ending him, another blast hit me in the chest. A second weapon. He’d had a second weapon hidden somewhere.

Dark spots danced in my vision, and my body became weakened. The male scampered out from underneath me, retrieved the first weapon from the ground, and started running at my mate.

Chapter5

LIV

I should’ve slammedthe door and locked it, but I sat frozen in the driver’s seat as I watched Mountain tussle with the huge, hairy beast.

Sasquatch. I was looking at a real live Sasquatch. Not only that, but the creature had spoken to me in English. He’d asked me not to leave and promised not to hurt me.

I remembered the general store clerk’s stories and his claim that one of the beasts had rescued his brother from kidnappers, saving his life. Maybe it was true.

Release the female!

He’d ordered Mountain to let me go, then he’d attacked my estranged husband. I didn’t quite understand what was happening, my brain was scrambling to make sense of things, and I winced when Mountain shot the Sasquatch a third time, directly in the chest.

I still couldn’t believe Mountain had brought not one but two Vaxxlian blasters along. I’d never seen him with such a weapon before and wondered how the hell he’d procured it. Vaxxlian blasters were illegal on Earth, and from what I knew, fetched a massive sum on the black market.

My heart lodged in my throat when the huge beast groaned in pain. A blaster shot to the chest would kill most humans. I was stunned that he was still breathing.

As the beast clutched at his chest, his grasp on Mountain loosened and the asshole was able to roll away and jump to his feet. Oh God. Was the Sasquatch dying? I was terrified of the creature, but I didn’t want any harm to come to him.

After swiping the first blaster from the ground, Mountain raced toward me wearing a petrified expression. I tried to close the door before he reached me, but he was too fast, and I was trembling so hard my teeth were chattering. After all these months, seeing him again was a shock to my system.

Even though he appeared scared shitless rather than angry, I still expected him to shoot me or hit me. I certainly didn’t expect him to pull me out of the vehicle, toss me to the ground, and hop into the driver’s seat himself. But that was exactly what he did.

Struggling for breath, I started rising to my feet, only for a ferocious roar to still my movements. I hated this about myself. Sometimes, when I got really scared, my whole body would freeze up.

I couldn’t move. I couldn’t run.

It was like being in a dream where the monster was chasing you and no matter how much you tried to get away, your legs wouldn’t work, or you would tread air.

Mountain slammed the truck door shut and started the vehicle, his movements frantic as he began backing down the long driveway. The Sasquatch chased him, growling and shouting. The beast was fast, but the solar truck was faster, and Mountain quickly made it to the end of the driveway and sped off.

Well, if the Sasquatch didn’t kill me first, I would probably starve to death. The supplies I’d gotten at the general store were in the stolen truck. Awesome. I had no way to get back to town, no way to call for help or communicate with anyone. The video comm in the cabin was busted, though General Remington had promised to have a new one installed when he could arrange it, hinting it would most likely happen in the spring.

Yep, I was screwed.

It didn’t help that I couldn’t stop shaking and my legs wouldn’t work yet. I remained on the cold ground as snowflakes swirled down from the sky.Please let this be a dream. A nightmare.

I pinched myself but didn’t wake up, and my heart hammered against my ribcage as the beast paused halfway down the driveway and turned in my direction. Even from a few hundred feet, I knew he was looking directly at me.

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