Page 13 of Alien's Heart
He stopped just out of arm’s reach from Nox. Up close, Geral was tall and solidly built. Years of farmwork had sculpted his frame, a real farmkit. He moved like an overgrown farmkit too. Lumbering. No grace.
How adorable. Nox was well acquainted with males like Geral, who used their physical size and the little influence they had to browbeat others into submission. Unfortunately for the male, Nox had spent years in a fighting ring. A lumbering farmkit might get one good hit on him, but Nox would finish the fight.
The male pulled back his fist, moving as if he would punch but stopping just short of Nox’s jaw.
“Yeah, I thought so,” Geral said, snorting in disdain. He balled up his fist again. This time, he would not pull back.
Nox stepped to the side. The male’s fist slammed into the side of the vehicle, the rings thudding against the body. Nox grabbed Geral’s other arm and twisted it behind his back. He leaned into the offending male, pressing him against the vehicle.
“Hey! Let me go!” Geral’s words were mumbled with his face squished against the vehicle’s window. A shame that an innocent window was being defiled like that.
Nox grabbed a fistful of Geral’s hair and yanked his head back. Claws scraped roughly against the male’s neck, leaving red welts. “I’m sorry. I am unable to hear you. Speak clearly. Enunciate.” He slammed the male’s face back down. There was a satisfying crunch of bone. Noses were so delicate.
Geral gurgled and thrashed ineffectively.
This was boring. Nox wanted a shower, a meal, and a bed, and this male was keeping him from it, which was rude beyond measure. He slammed Geral’s face into the window once more for that.
“Again, I suggest you leave.” Nox released the man.
He pushed himself off the vehicle and stumbled back, blood trickling down his face. A red smear defaced the window. “You’ll regret that. You’ve crossed the wrong male.”
“Have I?” Nox took a step forward.
Geral flinched back.
“Yeah, I thought so,” Nox said, throwing the male’s words back at him.
Geral scrambled into his vehicle, the roar of the engine drowning out his threats. He left in a spray of gravel.
Nox watched the vehicle vanish down the drive. Every part of him wanted to chase after Geral and drag the male from the vehicle. He forced himself to remain in place.
His claws receded slowly, and the fury inside him drained away.
The vehicle door creaked open. Ruth stood at his side. “I’m sorry you had to deal with that. Geral’s an ass.”
“Do not apologize. This is my purpose.”
“Well, for what it’s worth, I’m glad you’re here. Let me get dinner started. Do you have any allergies or diet restrictions?”
“No. I will consume anything. I will join you in a moment.”
She moved past him and into the house, the door squeaking open and closed.
Nox listened. He expected the rural landscape to be silent, but it was filled with noise. The vehicle’s engine ticked as it cooled. Birds calling in the evening. Insects hummed and chirped. The wind moved through the tall grass, stirring warm air against his skin. Bangs and not-so-muttered curses came from inside the house, which charmed Nox. Livestock in the distance made gentle noises. Some wild creatures made less than gentle noises. This place was alive. It was so different from the stations and ships where he had spent the majority of his life.
This land breathed.
He repeated the seven virtues until the bloodlust faded and the sounds of life surrounded him.
He had been born on Tal and spent much of his youth in a city with his mother, but those years seemed distant. Improbable. Had he ever really lived in a place with such an open sky? Although the sky he remembered was crowded with tall buildings and the stars obscured by urban lights.
When his mother shipped him off to his uncle, Nox remembered being astounded by how close the stars were. They surrounded the station, separated by nothing more than a thin layer of metal and fiberglass.
Now the stars were distant, but they burned so brightly, he believed he could reach up and pluck them from the sky.
Ruth said she was glad he was here. The only person who had ever said that to him was his cousin, Harmony. Conflicting emotions filled him, missing his cousin and the delight he took in Ruth’s words. The struggle was brief. Delight won. It warmed him and made his tail dance, even as he wondered if it would remain so if Ruth learned the truth of what he had done.
A creature emerged from the shadows. Nox recognized the small, lithe form with a grandiose tail. Light from the house picked up the green in the wuap’s coat. The wuap fanned its tail in a warning.
