Page 36 of Monstrous Heat
Sadly, it was like etching a message into the side of a deep-space beacon and casting it adrift through a black hole, hoping it would end up flashing the message to the right person, who was also looking in the right direction, at the exact perfect time, and would bother to read the cryptic scribbles. Despite the squad being broken apart, I had utmost faith in our abilities. We were the fucking best. We’d been sent here on a risky mission for that reason.
And the fucking best comms specialist would be scanning this entire planet for such a message. Knowing Rizan, he’d been calculating our estimated locations this whole time and then narrowing his search down to those projected areas. He wouldn’t have to scan the entire planet. He’d already have the probabilities figured out where each of us were hiding.
I connected to the grid for one brief second to flash an SOS. Then I immediately disconnected. Hopefully he’d see the call. He’d be smart enough to locate Snryx and bring him along for the ride.
Most likely, he’d have Lohr too. Three raw dyni males that might all be in rut. I had to assume that they were in heat too, because a squad usually went through the cycle together. A squad did everything together. I was handicapped by being alone on this fucking planet.
But what would my human mate think of an entire squad of dyni in sexual overdrive?
Would she even consider another male? Let alone three more. And if so, how did I feel about that?
My squad? I could immediately picture it. All of us protecting her, fully dedicated to her every wish and desire. They were more than my brothers. They were as much a part of me as she was now, and I’d destroy everything in the universe to protect her. Adding her to our squad would complete us in a way that I’d never dared hope. But if she wasn’t interested…
I’d have to hold them off. I wouldn’t allow them to traumatize her in any way.
Without a doubt, I could hold my own against them, even three to one. I was bigger now, pumped full of hormones from a successful mating. As long as Axxol wasn’t listening on the grid, I’d come out on top. If our BGR came to investigate, I was dead. He’d fucking slaughter me in a heartbeat, and probably the other three as well. I had to hope that he’d feel a heat response for Natalie too and spare her life.
Breathing in her scent, I licked the swollen spot on her head, trying to ease her pain. Would she accept another dynos as easily as she’d accepted me? My ego rejected that thought instantly, but logically, I found the scientific question interesting. Which had come first, biologically speaking? If I hadn’t been in heat when I found her, would she have been attracted to me? Was it my scent and hormones that had lured her in despite her fear?
A human mate. Improbable. Impossible.
Priceless.
And she’s fuckingmine.
21
NATALIE
Iwoke with a jolt. Something pressed over my mouth. Claws dug into my cheek, pricking but not hurting. Red eyes flashing a warning. Now that I was awake, Kroktl tucked me down into a slight crack in a cliff. Hiding me.
Fuuuuuck. What was wrong? I had to bite my lip to keep from asking him out loud. Someone must be coming for him to hide me. Someone not human. Humans he’d just go eat. Instead, he bumped his chin against the top of my head, silently telling me to stay down as he crouched over me.
This time, I had absolutely no urge to flee.
I couldn’t see much at all. It was dark, so I must have been out a few hours. The jungle was eerily silent, just like the night I’d stumbled across his path. Something was out there. Something that even panthers and jaguars feared.
Something that worried Kroktl enough that he practically sat on my back and head. Though I could see a sliver of beach. I didn’t hear anything but something blurred by. Close. Only a shadow, I thought, until I heard the snap of Kroktl’s teeth. He lunged out, crazy fast, but then settled back over the top of me.
My heart pounded, which didn’t help my head at all. It felt like an ice pick drilled into my left temple. My stomach heaved with the pain. It was all I could do to swallow down the bile threatening to boil up out of my throat.
Something thudded against Kroktl. A heaviness that pressed his belly down against my hiding place, blocking the sliver of beach. For a moment, I couldn’t breathe, smashed between his monster and the rock. But then he was gone.
Literally gone. I couldn’t see him anywhere. Not on the beach. I strained to hear him. See something against the darkness. Terror clutched my heart, urging me to pop up my head and look for him. Leap to my feet. Run.
No. Don’t run. Never, ever run.
Something screeched, a high, loud, shrill sound that made me clamp my hands over my ears. I whimpered softly, biting my lip. That sound was nails-on-chalkboard horrible. I didn’t think Kroktl had made that screech, but I couldn’t be sure.
A huge dark shape landed a few feet away, so heavy that I felt the earth rumble beneath me. I wasn’t sure what it was at first, but then he stretched up to his full, impressive height. Kroktl threw his head back and let out a deafening roar that made me whimper again. A warning to whatever had pulled him off me.
What the fuck was big enough to pick him up? My teeth chattered at the thought. His squad. He’d mentioned that he might call them for help. If they were his friends… why were they attacking?
I wished that I could talk to him and ask what the fuck was going on.
His tail slithered over the rocks and touched my cheek. Then pressed on my head, pushing me down. Checking to be sure I was still there, still alright, and then hiding me, even when he was in the middle of a fight. His scent changed, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. More feral, maybe? Dark fluid leaked from his temples again. I didn’t remember the fluid when he’d carried me out of camp, but I hadn’t been paying attention.
A huge, dark shape swept down silently from the sky. Talons extended. A pointed beak that looked as sharp as a spear and just as long. Kroktl whirled, his tail whipping around to strike at the creature in the sky, but it still tore scratches down his back.
