Page 62 of Captured By The Alien Barbarian
My eyelids flutter at the sound of movement nearby. Instincts as old as time scream at me to stand and defend myself, but my mind is foggy. How did I end up in this situation?
“Welcome back to the land of the living,” a familiar voice utters. Peeling my eyes open, a hazy sight of blue skin meets my gaze. I groan and attempt to shove the male away, only to be consumed by a wave of pain so intense that it leaves me disoriented and gasping for air.
“Careful now. The medicine has only just started to take effect. You’ll be weak for quite some time.”
I stare at the male hovering above me, struggling to speak, since my tongue feels swollen and unresponsive. A flurry of questions swirl within me: why is he here? Why am I here? Why would he waste precious medicine on me, an outsider to his tribe?
Melvall seems to pick up on the chaos within my mind as he sits back on his haunches and looks down at me. He sweeps a blood-red hand over his scalp, slicking back sweat, then holds his hand out in front of him with a grimace of disgust at realizing just what he did.
“I’m going to smell like you,” he says, shaking his head.
With a grunt, he shoves one of my drolvden back, futilely commanding it to sit and stay. The three of them whine and wiggle back toward me as soon as Melvall’s attention shifts.
“How did you get ambushed? I thought you were a better hunter than this,” Melvall says. “It can’t be that hard to keep a little female hidden from sight.”
Little female... Ariana!
My beautiful little Ariana—my Nika—is in grave danger. I desperately attempt to stand, commanding my limbs to take action, but they flail wildly instead, colliding with Melvall in the process.
“Ariana,” I manage to say, the words sounding slurred even to my own ears.
“You still have water in your lungs, and your body is far from healed,” Melvall says. He slams a hand against my chest, forcing me to lie back on the ground with surprising force.
I resist, trying to break free. Ariana is alone and defenseless. She needs me.
“If you continue moving, you will die.”
Narrowing my eyes, I glare at him, even as my energy dwindles. My resolve to protect Ariana remains strong.
“Your drolvden alerted me.” Melvall once again shoves the drolv back from my body as it tries to sneak forward. It growls and snaps at him, but never quite bites him. “The damned things wouldn’t stop howling all night long. When you didn’t make our usual meeting, I figured something was wrong. I had hoped you’d merely kicked the mangy beasts out of your den to mate with your female.”
Melvall averts his gaze for some time before saying, “Your female is gone.”
The male then grabs my face with both hands and urgently shouts, “Breathe! I didn’t waste that medicine on you just for you to die from shock. Your mate needs you to live.”
I gulp in deep breaths, feeling the cold air filling my lungs and chilling my heart. Shivering, I feel useless. I can’t save my Ariana if I can barely breathe. How can I save my Ariana when I can barely breathe, let alone fight for her?
Suddenly, visions of my father flood my mind—blood everywhere, his hand clutching his stomach wound, and his other hand pointed at me while yelling, “Get away from me! Get away!”
“Your mate needs you,” Melvall says, shaking me out of the horrifying memory. “If you don’t want her, then I’ll hunt her down for myself.”
Enraged, I lunge at him, but my movements are clumsy, and I only manage a weak slap instead of a powerful strike. My claws don’t gouge his flesh as I had intended. I’m pathetic.
“Mine,” I croak, determined to defend my mate to the death, making sure Melvall knows I won’t give her up. “Mine.”
The male has the audacity to laugh at me, throwing back his head as he reveals sharp white teeth. “Oh, I don’t doubt that. Despite the mud that coats your filthy hide, you reek of her.”
I don’t miss the longing on his face. The curl of his lips softens to a smile. He doesn’t fight me. Every male wants a female. But in this one instance, I know that Melvall won’t challenge me for mine.
He’s insane not to. My Ariana is perfect. But I won’t point this out to him.
“I owe you an apology. When I found you, I was faced with a choice. I could leave you or find your female.” He looks away, guilt evident in his eyes. “I searched for your female.”
I narrow my eyes at Melvall, who quickly holds up his hands defensively. “Not like that. I thought, if it was me in your position, you would want your mate safe. I had hoped you might recover on your own. When I couldn’t find her, I returned, and you were still in bad shape. In fact, you were closer to death. So, I used the medicine, even though I know your tribe despises it. Sorry about that.”
To be honest, I can’t fault him the logic. Ariana’s safety was the priority.
“I’m sorry, Taccit, but your den was empty by the time I got there,” Melvall says.
