Page 35 of Hunted By Khor
“Everything is about breeding with everyone. Some simply pretend otherwise.” He settles against the rocks, watching me eat. “Your Earth, they sent you here knowing exactly what would happen. Your sister, she lives because you breed. The Consortium profits because we breed. Even the planet continues because breeding continues. All existence serves reproduction.”
“That's depressing.”
“That is truth. Depression is interpretation.”
As the sun reaches its peak, he makes me rest. Forces me to drink more water than I want, knowing we might not find more. The heat is unbearable, but he creates shade with his body, wings I didn't know he had extending from his back. They're not for flying, just display and protection. The membrane between the bones is thin enough to see through, creating filtered light that makes everything look underwater.
“Tell me about the creatures we're hunting.”
“Sketh-kar. Live in the lava tubes near the crater. Excrete substance during mating that hardens into crystals. Those crystals, dissolved and refined, become what Consortium wants.” He shifts, and his wing membrane ripples. “Dangerous because they are unpredictable. Sometimes sleep through harvest. Sometimes attack anything that moves.”
“And during mating season?”
“During mating season, they are insane. The secretions affect their minds. Make them violent beyond reason.” His tail coilsaround my ankle, possessive even while explaining danger. “We go in fast. Collect what we need. Leave faster.”
“What if something goes wrong?”
“Then you run. Back to the den, seal yourself inside. Wait for another hunter to claim you.”
“I don't want another hunter.”
“Body wants compatible male. Any compatible male would do.”
“That's not true.”
“No?” He pulls me against him, and immediately my body responds. Wet heat gathering between my legs, nipples hardening, that ache starting deep inside. “This is specific to me? Not just the tonic making you ready for breeding?”
I want to say yes, it's just you. But the truth is more complex. The tonic makes me need breeding. But my mind, the parts still mine, want him specifically. Want his particular brand of violence and control. Want the way he makes me feel owned and free simultaneously.
“Does it matter?”
“To me? Yes.” His hand spreads across my stomach, possessive. “Want you to crave me specifically. Not just breeding. Me.”
“Why?”
“Because then you might stay. Even after portal opens. Even with choices available.”
The honesty surprises me. He's usually all action and dominance, not vulnerable admission. But there it is, underneath the alien psychology and breeding drive. He wants to be chosen, not just submitted to.
The sun starts its decline when we hear them. Footsteps on stone. Multiple sets. Not trying to hide.
Khor is on his feet instantly, pushing me behind him. But it's not Vek or the other young hunters.
It's a mated pair. The female is human, or was. The transformation has gone further with her than with me. Scales patch her skin, her eyes have the vertical pupils, and she moves with inhuman grace. The male beside her is massive, bigger than Khor, purple-black scales that seem to absorb light.
“Khor.” The male's voice is deeper than anything I've heard. “Traveling to crater?”
“Dex.” Khor relaxes fractionally. “Yes. You?”
“Same. Second payment due soon.” He looks at me, and his nostrils flare. “Yours is not bonded.”
“Her choice.”
The female laughs. The sound is bitter. “Choice. Yes. We all have such wonderful choices here.”
“Senna.” Dex's voice carries warning.
But she continues. “How long have you been here, little one? Days? A week? Still thinking you'll go home to Earth when the portal opens? Still believing you have options?”
