Page 48 of Monstrous Hunt
As soon asmy talons touched earth, I plowed straight into our alpha. I didn’t care if every available Dynosauros squad waited to attack. I fucking leveled him, knocking him off his feet twenty plus feet in a tumble of claws and teeth. I didn’t have to see the specs of creamy blue on his thighs. He reeked of hormones, his raw scent a blatant claim on our mate.
Axxol snarled on the grid.:She consented.:
I sank my teeth into his shoulder and gave him a vicious shake.:Good.:
Releasing him, I scrambled to my feet and charged ahead into the brush. Doing my fucking job as the point, scouting ahead to pinpoint the threat. Rocky, steep terrain surrounded us, covered in surprisingly verdant foliage for such an arid land.
:It’s the rainy season.:Data from Lohr’s sensors flooded the grid, identifying the plants and lifeforms that had passed this way.:Nothing alien to this locale yet.:
Rizan spun in a slow circle high overhead, providing the route toward the suspected crash site. We’d chosen to jump just a few clicks away just before dawn to avoid being seen by humans. I turned my head from side to side, scanning for any lifeforms, while Rizan noted them on the radar map and Lohr identified them. Slowly spiraling down to the coordinates the human had noted on his map.
A set of tall, stone pillars, some over sixty meters tall. Oddly enough, some of the weathered surfaces looked like faces.
:Or dicks,:Axxol said.
Leave it to the lead dick to see one.
Well-defined trails wound through the valley with bicycle tracks. Humans came here frequently.:What alien sighting was reported here?:
:A trailing light in the sky followed by a blue flash,:Rizan replied.:Ground shaking, stones moving, even though no seismic activity could be recorded.:
:I’m not recording any unusual ozone levels in this location,:Lohr said.
I hopped onto a nearby boulder and stretched to my full height. Nose tipped to the wind, eyes wide open, I scanned with all my senses.:When was the report taken? Could it have been the squad that attacked us at the cave?:
:Negative,:Rizan replied.:The sighting was only five days ago.:
Too long ago for me to be able to smell their scents, though Lohr would be able to find traces of their passage on the ground.
Rizan swept back over the loose ring of stones, his wings barely clearing the tallest pillar.:There’s a blackened circle on the ground, but it’s too small for a jump ring.:
:Probably a human’s campfire.:Lohr’s shell moved past me in his normal unhurried pace.:I’ll take a sample.:
Impatient as always, Axxol brushed past him.:I’ve got it.:
He lowered his massive head to the ground and cracked open his mouth, letting the air hit his tongue. He didn’t have the same sensors as Lohr but I could taste the charred earth with the slightest hint of ozone on his tongue.
:Definitely a jump. Very small and controlled:Surprised admiration flickered through the grid.:This took a great deal of precision.:
Trailing his tongue along the path, Lohr paused to sample the stone pillar.:Limestone core. The touch of many human hands. Nothing unusual.:
:Speaking of humans, a group approaches,:Rizan warned.
My head turned toward the mark he dropped on the map. Too far away yet for me to pick up their scent to determine if my target was in the group or not. I had the memory of Snyder’s scent locked and loaded.He’ll be the first to die.
Lohr dropped his tongue to the outer edge of the blackened circle on the ground. It took me a moment to realize no data filled the grid. Not even a detailed reading of the soil’s composition.
:How remarkable,:Lohr said.
A wave of blue light knocked me flying off the rock. Rizan screeched, the map spinning crazily in my head. Static. Then the grid went dark.
22
NATALIE
Ruefully, I dropped my lovely, thick robe that was now crusty with cum stains onto the pile of stinky pajamas on the floor. Naked once more, I climbed onto the bed. That seemed to be a constant occurrence around my squad. Not that I could really complain. It didn’t really bother me any longer.
It’s so fucking quiet.
