Page 16 of The Alien Warrior's Heart

Survival.

This moment was about keeping himself and the female alive.

The human dug her fingers into Garbas’s frame, brown digits welding to steel. Her body pressed against his as if she wished to disappear. Her hair lifted in the breeze and she bit down on her bottom lip to keep quiet.

He admired that bravery.

She was a strong, little thing.

Zar jerked his gaze away from her and sought refuge in the shrubbery below. This landscape was unfamiliar to him. He’d ventured this far on the hopes of picking a fight with the Heronas, but he never thought they would take him to their city.

Zar’s eyes sharpened on a small cave. It bled into the mountain, disappearing beneath the earth. The Heronas’ hover crafts would not be able to follow them inside as they were far too large to fit.

“Hang on,” Zar growled.

She let out a little shriek as he pointed the zapten down. Using the connection he shared with Garbas via the neural translator, he urged the zapten to go faster.

The machine responded instantly.

The Heronas followed him, speeding up as well. They sensed his plan and tried to encircle him, but Zar was too far ahead.

He grunted as Garbas crashed to the ground. The human jumped so high he had to grab her by the ankles and drag her back to him. She landed in a huff in his lap, her skirt gathered at her waist and dark fingers desperately tugging at her tunic.

But Zar’s gaze was not on her exposed heat. He slammed his foot on the ground and tilted the zapten. Garbas bent in half, folding so far back that they could slide inside the narrow opening.

The Heronas’s hovercraft lingered outside.

Success.

Zar wiped the sweat from his brow and strained to see past the shadows in the cave’s narrow tunnel. He dragged the female to the ground and tapped on his flickering interface. It took two more tries than usual before Garbas transformed.

The human gasped at the way the giant zapten shrunk to its portable form, but they had no time to admire the technology. They were running in blind, at the mercy of whatever beasts lay waiting in the mountain.

Still, it was better than falling into the Heronas’s hands again. If those bastards were wicked enough to force a mating, they would not hesitate to do much worse.

And if they ever managed to capture the human again, she may not meet a Plutonian with his convictions.

The truth was that the Plutonian traditions were not followed by everyone in his species. The principles of restraint, self-control, commitment and integrity did not appeal to those who only wished to gratify themselves.

If this human came into contact with one ofthosePlutonians…

The Heronas wouldn’t need to drug them to accomplish their plan.

The very thought of this human being in such peril made Zar’s spine dagger shoot out.

Denizi.

Focus.

He needed to focus.

They weren’t out of danger yet. Even now, the Heronas could be coming after them. Or they could be circling the mountain, waiting for them to exit through the back.

“We need light,” he growled.

The female’s eyebrows pulled tight together. She did not want them to stop. Her slender fingers pointed forward. “Muv.”

Zar slid a hand into the pocket of his pants. He always kept supplies on hand for emergencies. Thankfully, when the Heronas took him and confiscated his zapten, they had not found the cases in his hidden pocket.

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