Terri’s eyes misted and she swiped at her eyes with the back of her hand as she looked down at her. “Please,” she whispered. “Come with us. I promise I’ll get you to the coast and I will see to it that you are provided with a small memorial for her. It’s better than dying here with her. Live on, and remember her.”
The woman swallowed and reluctantly nodded as she tenderly lowered the little girl to the ground. A small group of women surrounded her, their hands touching her shoulder in reassurances, murmuring comforting words as if they’d done so numerous times to soothe each other. She leaned into them, melding among their number.
Glancing around, Terri spoke quietly. “Let’s move out.”
With minimal hushed complaints, the captured females fell in behind her. Becky reclined in the collector cart and gave her a weak smile and a thumbs-up even as she panted around her pain. To Terri’s disbelief, she was the only one who seemed entirely cooperative with her efforts. The others followed reluctantly, searching for Veral, motivated only by the desire to not be left behind rather than confidence in Terri to lead them to safety. The collector cart shifted forward as Terri stepped away from the group of women, its wheels rolling soundlessly as they filed out of the building.
20
Veral stood as a silent sentinel on top of the strange cell as he watched Terri lead the women out and across the compound. His fingers twitched with a desire to take Terri and put distance between them and the females. He hadn’t cared for the way they had pressed in close around him, their overpowering desire to cling to him suffocating him. He thought he had been irritated before with the ceaseless wailing and frightened screams of the females from the caravan, but at least then the females were not tempted to touch him like these were.
His skin still itched with distaste and his vibrissae snapped angrily in the air as he recalled how close some of them had come to leaning against him. Before Terri had called out to him, he had warned more than one female off by flaring his mandibles. Even that hadn’t been a foolproof deterrent. It was only due to his commitment to Terri and his oath given to her that he tolerated it.
Veral growled as his processors rejected the assessment. He was unable to lie to himself and claim that it was merely the commitment of their mate bonding. He felt genuine affection for his female. Everything within him was tied to her, even the very heart of him.
While she’d been aboard his ship sleeping, he ran through the downloaded catalogs of information he recovered from the satellites, looking for any information pertaining to human mating. He saw odd rituals involving offerings of flowers and glossy brown pellets, and even jewels. He understood jewels, as Argurma males and females both often presented gifts of jewels to celebrate triumphs and honors, but it was odd to see it as part of mating courtship. Then he finally arrived at the concept of love.
As he watched his mate strike out, the longing in his heart told him what he instinctively knew, contrary to all programming that should have overridden such a malfunction beyond what would be considered healthy attachment to a mate.
His heart belonged to her. Every affection and devotion was hers.
Terri made himfeeland made him remember glimpses of buried memories and sensations from long ago.
There would never be a Veral without Terri by his side. He loved her.
As soon as the last female cleared the compound, he bared his teeth with a silent snarl as he turned toward the communal fires. He would deal with the Reapers and make it quick so he could hasten back to his mate. Though his people would consider his processors malfunctioning, he ignored any calculations that suggested it would be more expedient to rain terror on the camp with his own hands. Although he desired it, thirsted to cause panic within his enemies, he didn’t want that fear to alert anyone to his mate’s presence and that of the escaping females while they were still in the confines of the compound. Instead, he kept to the deep shadows, out of the reach of the torches, as he crept nearer to the central fires.
He paused as a pair of humans blundered into the torchlight just in front of him. He recognized them at once. Dale, stinking of fermented grain and sweat, dragged a familiar dark-haired female. Veral cocked his head, his mandibles working in a rare show of indecision firing through his processors. He wanted to hurry into the heart of the camp with his mate’s “gift” where it would do far more good than if it were set around the structure where she’d planned to place it. Yet he was hard-pressed to pass up the opportunity to destroy one of the males who’d held him captive.
Clicking in anticipation, Veral made his decision. He would kill the male quickly, though not so much that he didn’t get some sort of satisfaction from the male’s pain and terror.Thenhe would complete his task.
Satisfied, he crept closer.
“Come on! Hurry up, would ya? For fuck’s sake, Meg, I don’t know why you’re dragging your feet about this. We’re going to grab a couple more of the girls for a bit of fun and join Marcus after he’s done with some business.”
“You know I don’t know like it when Marcus joins us,” Meg complained in a small voice.
“Fuck, you are always complaining. Maybe I shouldtrade you in for one of the new girls like some of the guys have been saying. You are my whore—you don’t get to voice an opinion. I’ve told you countless times. Do you really need me to beat it into you again?” he snarled. “Now look, you’re ruining my buzz, so shut your hole. Crazy fucking bitch.”
“I’m sorry, Dale,” she whispered meekly in reply.
Veral growled loud enough to be heard as he drew closer. He wanted to smell the fear pouring off the male. Dale stopped in his tracks, his eyes bulging as he looked around. Veral knew that the male couldn’t see him… Not yet. His dual tongues stroked over his lips, his mandibles yawning wide, and he savored the flavor of the male’s mounting distress as he growled louder and dashed by him so that Dale would feel the barest brush of the predator who hunted and toyed with him. Normally, Veral preferred to strike with speed and efficiency. It made sense to kill enemies emotionlessly, without passions incited, but this male deserved to suffer for daring to chain him.
“W… what the fuck!?” Dale stuttered, his voice trembling. Veral bared his teeth in triumph, unseen.
“Dale?” Meg whispered as she attempted to step closer to the male.
“Fuck.Fuck!I told Marcus we should have found a way to get through the armor and scales and killed that motherfucking alien! I ain’t dying for stupid shit. Sorry, darlin’, looks like it’s you or me. I enjoy living too much,” Dale said, a sheen of sweat showing on his brow. Meg gaped at him as he gripped her arm and shoved her out ahead of him hard enough that she fell to the ground outside the circle of torchlight. “Take her, alien, she’s all yours!” he hollered.
“Dale, you limp-dicked asshole!” Meg shrieked as she struggled to rise.
Veral didn’t spare the woman a glance as he stepped over her legs and stalked toward the human male, his claws sliding down over his fingertips. Meg jerked as she sensed him move by her, whimpering as she drew her legs up to her body. Veral’s attention could not be diverted from the male. Dale could have thrown credits at him if he’d possessed any and it wouldn’t have done any good.
Veral’s honor demanded satisfaction.
With a wide, terrible grin, Veral stepped out of the shadows, savoring the male’s reaction. Dale shouted out a sound almost like a squeal of terror and backed away so quickly that he stumbled over his own feet and fell to the ground. Veral considered just how he would like to tear the human apart, his processors analyzing what would bring the most pain in the limited amount of time he was working with.
“Please, man, don’t hurt me,” Dale wheezed. “I gave you the bitch! Spare me, I beg you.”