Page 7 of Monstrous Hunt
Stench assaulted my nose. For a moment, I feared she’d died. But no, she huddled on the bedding, her back pressed against the wall, as far away from me as she could get.
“What the fuck is that smell?”
Her jaw tightened, her chin lifting with defiance that I didn’t understand. “I had to go to the bathroom, and there’s no place for me to wash or clean up.”
I scanned my databases. Ah. A human’s digestive tract wasn’t as efficient as ours, and they released excrement when they ate. I’d neglected to account for such basic bodily needs. Wash. Bathe. Toilet. Got it.
“Come along, little human. I’ll get you cleaned up.”
Her defiance bled away, her head dropping forward, her shoulders slumped. “I can’t walk.”
Eyes narrowed, I looked her over, noting that one knee did look to be twice the size of the other. She’d also torn up one of the blankets to wrap her injured arm.
Fuck. Her medical needs might be beyond my expertise. Evidently her physical needs as well. She looked rougher than when I’d first dropped her onto the bed. Thinner, other than the swollen joint, pale, and weaker, which was saying a lot given her far inferior species. Even a few small cuts and scrapes looked inflamed.
I hadn’t taken her to cause damage. Quite the opposite. Not that Kroktl would believe me.
Furious at myself, I ducked inside the cave and scooped her up. She moaned and flinched, sending another sharp slice of guilt through me.
Failure was unfamiliar territory. As the fucking alpha, I commanded the squad, making sure to put each member into the best tactical position for any mission. Even this fucked-up mission.
I’d sneered at their lack of coordination without my command. I’d watched them flounder on this planet without any real plan. I’d waited for the inevitable to happen, though it’d taken longer than I’d calculated. A slight miscalculation on my part. If I’d included Lohr’s impressive analytic abilities into the equation…
No. I couldn’t risk it. I’d rather be wrong—and no one know.
Finally, Kroktl had stumbled across this particular female and the hormones aligned, proving my hypothesis. I’d been right all along. Smug and confident, I’d prepared for him to fail. Even when the remnants of the squad came together, I’d expected them to fight for dominance, ultimately eliminating at least one or two of the weaker members. I’d stayed close, prepared to intervene if necessary. I hadn’t dedicated my entire life to this fucking squad for them to kill each other needlessly.
Yet again, they’d surprised me. They’d worked together. Without an alpha.
Without me.
I fucking hate being wrong.
Carrying her through the winding tunnel, I reassessed the plan. I couldn’t risk leaving her alone, not as frail as she seemed. Another day or two, and her corpse would’ve been adding to the smell of excrement. I hadn’t taken her only to watch her die.
A bubbling, vicious vat of acid roiled in my stomach.
Kroktl was taking better care of her than me.
The tunnel opened to a deep crack in the ground. Water dripped down from above, and even a patch of sunlight managed to flicker through the murk. It was a risk to bring her out of the enclosed cave system, but I doubted even Kroktl’s senses would pick her up here. He’d have to be looking in the exact right place, see that crack, and know to look down inside. She was still deep enough in the ground that her scent wouldn’t escape.
Splashing through the water that pooled in the crevice, I set her down on a smooth, flat shelf of rock beside a deeper current. Lying on her back, she opened her eyes, blinking rapidly, looking up with rapt attention toward the crack high above. I didn’t understand the tears dripping from her eyes.
“Sunlight.” She breathed deeply, closing her eyes. “Thank you.”
I bit back a snarl. Not at her—at myself.Add fucking sunlight to the list of basic human requirements.
I stared at her for long moments. Steeling myself to the inevitable. She was too weak to clean herself. I needed to help her. Without causing undue stress. On either of us.
Scooping up water in my hands, I started at her feet and briskly washed her.I can do this. Don’t linger on the softness of her limbs. Focus on the injuries.
The hot, swollen joint. The angry slash on her other thigh. Looked like one of my incisors had scraped her going down my throat. And no wonder, the way she’d kicked and—
Lust pounded through me. I shoved that memory deep and locked it away. Far away.
She made another soft sound of pain. I lifted her injured knee, carefully supporting the joint so I could set her leg into the cool water. “That might help the swelling.”
Panting, she bit her lip, tears streaming down her cheeks. If she hurt that badly… Fuck. This wasn’t going like I’d planned. At all. “Is it broken?”
