Page 57 of Monstrous Hunt
:It’s the one thing DSC can’t understand.:With the youngling nuzzling her skin, Natalie shifted her over to her breast. Her eyes closed, a soft smile on her lips.:Love.:
26
NATALIE
“Idon’t want to go back to the States,” Holly said from her chair across from me. “Not now. I want to learn everything I can.”
About you. Myrm. Dyni. Aliens in general.
I couldn’t hear her thoughts on the grid but she was easy to read. I would have been—am—just as curious about alternative lifeforms and new technologies.
We’d returned to the beach house for now, though Axxol swore to keep the cave nest ready for us to retreat to at a moment’s notice. I feared retaliation from DSC, especially since our baby’s birth, but so far, we hadn’t been able to detect a single dyni squad.
They know what I am, now. They know about our baby.
They won’t leave us alone forever.
:We will be ready,:Kroktl said on the grid, his rumbling tone cutting like diamonds.
Akylla was already crawling on the floor between the living room furniture, even though we’d only been home a few days. At this rate, she’d be running next week. Verbally, she still babbled like a toddler but on the grid, she could communicate very clear emotions and thoughts, including her name.
“I want to help too,” Snyder said. “I’m fully invested in your survival now.”
Sitting beside me on the couch, his arm draped around me, Kroktl’s lips peeled back from his teeth, but he didn’t say a word. He would never trust the human who would’ve left me to die in a heartbeat. I didn’t blame him whatsoever, but we might have use for the man. If human agencies ever came calling, it would be nice to have a front man who could smile and play the politics that I didn’t care about.
Besides, I would never not find it amusing to watch the way Snyder turned beet red anytime he looked at one of my guys. They never wore clothes, and they touched me. A lot. Though they were always mindful of the human’s eyes, blocking his sight of anything too intimate. He’d learned to scurry from the room anytime we got too affectionate.
“It’s up to you,” I finally said aloud. “Though I warn you, if private details are leaked to anyone, you’ll wish Axxol had gulped you down in one swallow before Kroktl’s finished with you.”
“Got it.” Pale, Snyder nodded. “What do you want me to work on?”
“Keep compiling a list of alien sightings, just as you’ve been doing, and share that file with Rizan. We may want to travel to those locations to investigate further.”
“Of course.” He hurried out, looking back over his shoulder.
Naturally Kroktl glared at him, letting a low growl rumble his chest.
“I was wondering…” Holly began, waiting until I turned my attention to her. “Do I carry any Myrm cells?”
Once, I’d been intimidated by her beauty. She was easily the most gorgeous woman I’d ever met in person, plus she was smart and dedicated to our research. I’d always felt like a scruffy, awkward sparrow standing next to an elegant swan. That same insecure woman had been the teensiest bit worried that my mates might look at her…
And find me lacking.
:Now who’s the idiot,:Axxol growled, filling my mind with an image of me spread on the bed, his face between my legs.:I’m still waiting for my taste.:
:Keep fucking waiting,:Kroktl retorted.:She just had a youngling ripped out of her abdomen. You can fucking wait an eternity for all I care.:
Cheeks heating, I replied out loud, “No. Not that I sense, at least.”
Holly’s face fell. She fiddled with the edge of the seat cushion and nodded but didn’t meet my gaze. “I was just wondering.” She forced out a laugh. “I guess finding my own squad of hot alien dino-shifters is out of the question.”
“Not necessarily.”
Her gaze jerked up to mine, her eyes lighting up with hope. “Really?”
“I don’t really know, to be honest. Maybe it was the fragments of mrion cells in my DNA that pulled Kroktl toward me, or maybe we were just compatible.”
Kroktl let out a rattling purr.:Or maybe you smelled fucking divine, and I couldn’t keep my snout out of your hot, sweet pussy.:
