Page 17 of Bradi

Chapter Six

“That no good, insolent, ungrateful bi—” Bradi took a deep breath. He was pissed at Marisa, but he cared for her. He’d wanted to keep kissing her and make love to her again in hopes she’d heal herself, but he’d nearly lost control of his shifter side.

Being back on his home planet made his control weak, and he couldn’t risk harming her. He’d needed to step away and put some distance between them long enough for him to calm his beast. And he needed to look for a safe place for them to camp. The suns were beginning to set and nightfall only meant that the evil things would come out to play. Depending on where they were, they might be able to make it to an inhabited village or compound within a few days’ walk.

He shuddered to think of what kind of reception he’d get. He hadn’t spoken to his family in nearly twelve years. The terms he’d left on had been anything but pleasant. The death of his mother had left him with a sharp tongue and a fogged sense of right and wrong. He didn’t think that his father would welcome him with open arms now, that much was for sure. Hopefully, he could get Marisa some medical attention and get them a ride off this godsforsaken planet.

It still blew Bradi’s mind that she’d refused to leave him after the POD had crashed. He’d have thought that she’d relish the opportunity to rid herself of him. Of course, she’d be left all alone on an unfamiliar planet, but still. The woman was headstrong enough to make her throw caution to the wind and risk her life just to prove a point, whatever that point may be.

He heard her call his name once more, this time in a whisper, and he smiled. She was a pampered woman. She probably was afraid of a little bug. “Let her sweat. It’ll teach her not to speak to me like a dog. Now, if she wanted to bend over and let me fuck her like a—”

Something wasn’t right. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end and he tipped his head to the side, smelling the air.

Panther.

Shedding his clothes quickly, he shifted into his panther form. It had been years since he had been able to shift without worry and his inner beast was happy to be free. Bending down, he sniffed the ground and followed the scent of many of his kind. His heart hammered in his chest when he realized that the others had made a beeline straight for Marisa. No doubt the smell of fresh blood and human was too much for them.

Bounding through the brush at the edge of the beach—he stopped when he saw Marisa stroking the top of one of the panther’s heads. Stunned, he could do nothing other than watch the spectacle unfolding before him.

How had she calmed the animal?

His senses told him that this was a group of werepanthers, not normal animals. They only respected humans if they were marked, and even then, that didn’t always save them. They were also known not to attack if the victim carried the scent of a powerful warrior panther.

Instantly, he thought back to the POD and making love to Marisa. He’d put his mark on her then. He’d staked his claim. The beasts before her could smell it upon her.

Focusing his mind and still in awe of the scene before him, Bradi tried to think of what else would make the others yield to Marisa. Had she tapped into the power he’d seen her use? Had she managed to kill one with her bare hands, proving that she was a skilled warrior? He highly doubted it.

Coming to his senses, he walked toward Marisa slowly, in anticipation of a fight. When the other panthers only turned and snarled lightly, he understood that they wouldn’t harm her.

A large male panther moved in from behind Marisa and from the way it dropped its shoulders, Bradi could tell it was thinking of exuding its power. There was no way in hell that he’d give up Marisa.

She’s mine, he thought as he leapt before her with a vicious snarl.

“Oh gods,” Marisa whispered.

Fear radiated off her, and Bradi knew that it was him she was scared of.

She looked around nervously as tears glistened in her eyes. “Bradi? Bradi, please help me. I didn’t mean to upset you. Please.”

Each time she called out to him, using his name, he wanted to shift back into his human form and wrap his arms around her. That would no doubt scare her more, and if the Commission ever found out that he was part supernatural then he’d be let go and possibly brought up on charges—and that’s if they didn’t sentence him to death for hiding who and what he was. Hell, he’d be lucky if they threw him in the brig. Death at the hands of people who feared and hated his kind wasn’t something he relished. Not many would.

Project Exorcism had rid the Commission of most of its supernatural problem, or so they thought. Bradi knew better, but he wasn’t about to start talking.

Bradi swiped his claws at the large male in a show of dominance and it heeded his warning. It turned and ran toward the woods, followed closely by the rest of its group. A piece of him longed to run with them. He missed the days when he and his siblings, well, all the ones who could fully shift that was, ran together.

He looked up at Marisa and took another step toward her. She tensed and the smell of her fear excited the beast. “Bradi, please, I’m sorry. Please, don’t leave me here. Bradi, please—”

The soft plea in her voice brought the man within him back to the surface. He spun around quickly and ran off into the forest to find his clothes.

*

Bradi stood silently in the shadows, watching Marisa. She sat on the beach with a large stick clutched tightly to her, wiping tears from her cheeks. He wanted to run to her, hold her and tell her that everything would be all right, but he didn’t. Instead, he took the coward’s approach and rustled the bush next to him with his hand to alert her to his presence.

She wiped her cheeks again and righted herself. “Bradi, is that you?”

“Yeah,” he said, unsure if he could offer any more without breaking down and confessing all his secrets to her.

She sprang to her feet and ran toward him. Throwing her arms around his neck, she sighed. Bradi froze. “This huge eel came out of the water, and then all kinds of big leopards ran out at me. One knocked me down and I threw sand in its eyes. I thought it was going to rip my throat out, but it stopped and started to sniff me.” She tightened her grip on him, and he wrapped his arms around her slowly, cringing slightly at her use of the word leopard as his kind preferred to be called panthers.

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