Page 130 of I'm Not Your Pet

Thud, thud, thud,even louder now.

Close.

So close.

Right outside the open door.

My heart was thumping loud enough I feared the intruder would be able to hear it. Briar’s breathing was erratic to my left. I could feel the panicked puff of it glancing over my shoulder. I had no doubt the other humans were faring even worse. But in that moment, I couldn’t do anything but focus on the people in my immediate vicinity.

Roark would be proud, I told myself, knowing it was true.

Take care of them.

Even in the dark, we were close enough that when I glanced at him, I could see that his eyes were pinched tightly shut.

“Found you,” an unfamiliar voice grunted.

It wasn’t Roark’s voice, though it was admittedly similar in cadence.

The newcomer’s English was clumsy—much like Roark’s was—though there was a confidence to it that made it obvious he knew more of the language than my Sahrk did.

Fear, unlike anything I’d ever known surged through my body.

Use what Roark taught you, I reminded myself. Surprise is your best friend.

As the creature approached, his shape became more apparent. If I hadn’t been able to guess from his voice alone, the broad shoulders would’ve betrayed him. There was no denying that whatever creature this was, was a male. His silhouette blocked the door entirely, and as I dragged my gaze upward, with startling clarity I realized I recognized the shape of his head.

A Sahrk?

Was it one of ours?

Maybe someone else had tripped the door mechanism like I had?

Maybe we weren’t the only ones running free?

I tried to hope, but that hope was quickly dashed by Briar’s immediate response.

“Fuck,” Briar swore quietly. “Fuck, fuck, fuck?—”

And then he was being yanked around my body like a fucking rag doll. Tendrils snaked inky black around him, yanking him close to the beast in the doorway.

Before I could react, the new Sahrk was speaking again.

“Safe,” he said, garbled and rough.

“What…is…happening?” My words were maybe a bit frantic as the unfamiliar Sahrk hugged Briar to his chest and took a few more steps into the room. “Briar?”

There was a beat of silence as I debated if I could go for this guy’s knees with Briar still held aloft.

“He’s safe,” Briar said, sounding like it pained him to do so. Immediately, I stopped planning my attack.

What the hell was going on?

“He’s safe?” Was Briar hooking up with someone on board already? Did he know Sahrks mate for life? Hehadto know that. We’d talked about it. Extensively. As the resident Sahrk expert, I’d relayed all the information I’d gathered about the species to every human present to prepare them.

Oh well.

At the moment, it didn’t matter whether or not Briar was the next in line for a Sahrk wedding. What mattered was our current predicament—and the fact that Roark was somewhere on the ship more than likely locked inside the helm, terrified.

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