Page 13 of Owned By the Hvrok

Alien. Deep. Resonant.

“Raa’shurr.”

She didn’t know what it meant, but the sound of it rumbled through her chest like distant thunder. It wasn’t just a word, it was a command wrapped in a growl. Something primal. Something ancient.

She knew, instinctively.

Come.

Every part of her body screamed against it. Her muscles were tight with fear. Her legs felt like jelly. But her feet moved anyway, trembling steps across the cold metal floor.

She stepped out of the cage.

And into his world.

He loomed in front of her now. Closer than ever. His head tilted slightly, as if inspecting her.

She realized something then: if he wanted to hurt her, he could do it without effort. Snap her in half like a twig. Crush her like a doll. And no one would stop him.

The thought sent shivers down her spine.

But he didn’t touch her.

Not yet.

She stopped just short of him. Close enough to be able to touch him. Close enough to feel the faint shimmer of heat rising off his body. She stared up at the blank helmet.

And he watched her.

No words. No gestures.

Only that terrible, imposing presence that wrapped around her like a vise.

She was free of the cage.

But not of him.

And somehow, that was even more terrifying.

CHAPTER 9

She stood frozen.

Not from cold, but from fear. Raw, visceral fear, the kind that clawed up her throat and wrapped icy tendrils around her spine. She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t blink. Could barely think.

Like a rabbit before a wolf… or something worse.

The being loomed above her, still and silent. She didn’t know what to do. What to say. Whatcouldshe say? Would he understand her? Would he even care?

Then, he moved.

Slowly. Deliberately.

One of his arms lifted, the armored gauntlet rising toward her. Sylvia flinched, instinctively bracing for impact. But the armor shimmered, then vanished, peeling away from his forearm in segments, but fluidly like liquid shadow, revealing bare skin beneath.

Her breath caught.

His hand was large—inhumanly so—fingers longer than a man's, more elegant, more dangerous. His skin was a deep, vivid blue. Smooth and unblemished, faintly iridescent under the ship’s low lighting. And then…

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