Page 18 of Monstrous Hunt
:Stem cells,:he replied.:Use the amniotic fluid.:
That might work. Though I’d have to be careful not to take too much—
:Save her,:Kroktl snarled.:Whatever it takes.:
I prepared my most delicate filament instrument, mentally running through the maneuver, while calculating the best placement pattern in her brain. If I could get her heart working, and then her lungs—
:Wait,:Lohr said suddenly.:I’m noting fresh activity from your scan.:
I didn’t even realize that I was still monitoring her brain activity. Shifting my focus, I studied the brightening spots throughout her brain indicating electrical pulses. The fine, complex system of nerves throughout her body began to respond, making her twitch from head to toe as those muscles spasmed.
Awed, I took a snapshot of her neural network and compared it to the nearly blank picture just moments before.:She’s not just regenerating her own neurotransmitters. She’s forging brand new pathways.:
:I have no idea what the fuck that means but it sounds bad,:Kroktl retorted.
:She was brain dead,:I said bluntly with a sharp mental jab at Axxol.:Every system in her body shut down. It was all I could do to keep stimulating different problem areas. She suffered multiple organ failures. That was bad enough—but then I lost her brain activity too.:
Kroktl fell to his knees, taking her down with him. His big body shook, his hands stroking over her. Checking her heart rate, pulse, and breathing. “Natalie? Can you hear me?”
Her eyes fluttered but didn’t seem able to focus on him.
“You fucking bastard.” Rizan glared at Axxol, his feathers stiff with rage. Shoulders wide, talons extended, he was one breath away from challenging our alpha.
Lohr braced beside him, his chin jutting with aggression. “That wasn’t a single jump but at least twenty. At once. No wonder she suffered ill effects.”
With an indolent, smug smile on his face, Axxol crossed his arms and casually leaned back against a railing. “A regrettable experience, but it was necessary. Let’s see the other squad trackthatjump.”
“Did you not hear me?” I asked incredulously. “She was dead. Despite all my efforts, she was gone. It’s a miracle that she’s even breathing right now, and I don’t entirely understand how.”
“I knew you could keep her alive.” Axxol shrugged. “And if not, then she wouldn’t be a worthy mate anyway.”
A sound tore out of Kroktl’s chest that I’d never heard before. An oddly hushed yet intense shriek—but no less threatening despite its lack of volume. “Who are you to decide whether my mate is worthy or not? You have no idea what challenges she’s already faced and overcome with grace, courage, and dignity that you can’t even comprehend.”
“She’shuman,” Axxol sneered, his eyes burning with blue power. “Too weak to even survive a jump. And you want to pass those inferior genetics down to your young? Be my guest, but don’t drag me into it.”
A few days ago, Kroktl had struggled to keep his raptor contained around other males. Now he had a blatant threat from our alpha, who deemed his mate unfit. Not just for him, but for the squad. For all of us.
The raptor quivered inside him, bulging the surface of his body. But he didn’t shift. He didn’t even reply immediately—as if those words didn’t deserve a response.
I wholeheartedly agreed, but it still stunned me. It stunned us all.
Before Earth, we never questioned our alpha. We went into hundreds of missions with his commands reverberating in our skulls. We acted as one body. One mind. One squad. The best fucking squad in Dynosauros. I always thought we were the best because of Axxol. He was a BGR+, loaded with super-secret shit that even I didn’t have access to monitor.
But this entire situation with Natalie only revealed the truth with glaring clarity.
Despite his so-called superior genetics, our alpha hadn’t been able to adapt as well as we had. Hewanteda fight. He wanted a reason to kill another member of the squad. As if that would cement his leadership position, rather than destroy the squad we’d become.
Kroktl refused to take the bait, simply because his mate needed him.
Each of us had adjusted to being separated on this planet, but Kroktl had excelled at adaption to our new existence. Finding Natalie had only made him bigger, faster, and more intelligent. Not just a stronger asset, but a stronger individual. His fierce devotion and tender care of his mate was a new side of his personality that I had never seen.
In all our missions, I’d never seen Rizan take a stand for anything, let alone against our alpha. Or for Lohr to immediately step up to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with him.
Cradling Natalie in his arms, Kroktl pushed to his feet and turned his back on our alpha. “Then it’s a very good thing she’s not your fucking mate to worry about.”
Challenge burned in Axxol’s eyes. “Don’t you want to know why I defied HQ and stayed here against orders?”
Kroktl turned away, heading deeper into the house. “No.”
