Veral hissed. “What do I want with your female?”
“Shit, you speak! I don’t know… I don’t even fucking care! Fuck her or eat her. Whichever you prefer. Just don’t hurt me!”
Veral inhaled, his mandibles expanding as Dale’s eyes grew rounder. “I remember you,” he growled. I thought you scented familiar before… You hunted my mate.”
“Fuck, your mate? I didn’t know. I mean, hey, come on, it’s all just pussy. If I accidentally did anything to hurt your… uh… mate, just take Meg. She’s a good fuck. I promise. I’ll be sad to have lost her.”
“A good… fuck?” Veral sneered.
“Man,please. I’ll do anything. Have mercy!”
“Like you have mercy on those who take, rape, and eat?” Veral queried, his mandibles rattling in time with his vibrissae as he tipped his head again thoughtfully. “You speak to the wrong one for mercy. My mate is not here.” He chuffed cruelly. “The only thing you can do is die.”
Veral surged forward, his claws slashing out as Dale screamed. The sound was cut short on a gurgle of blood, the male’s body twitching as Veral bent down to look him in the eye, his claws buried in the male’s throat as blood poured in gushing streams down his neck.
“Quiet,” Veral hissed in irritation.
He held the human in place until the male fell forward. Stepping aside at the last minute to avoid contact, the sound of his claws slipping free from human flesh squelched loudly. He grimaced at the gore, but it could not be helped. He would clean them later.
Turning his head, his eyes searched out and found the human female cowering and she backed away. He stalked toward her with an impatient grunt.
“Please, I don’t want to die!” she cried out.
He stopped a short distance from her. “Are you certain?”
“What? …Yes, of course I’m certain!”
He rattled his mandibles in frustration. “Think of that before you make an alliance that could kill you,” he spat out. His point made, he stepped back, away from her. She stared at him mutely.
“You’re letting me go?”
“Would you like me to kill you instead?”
“No!” She looked away into the dark and bit her lip. “Do you think… could I stay with you?”
Veral growled in frustration. “Human females, always asking for protection. No,” he snapped. “I have a mate. Look for a worthy human male to take care of you.”
She shrank. “Sorry.”
“Do not be sorry,” he muttered in exasperation. “My female would not like you to be sad or hurt. Terri is taking the other females to the gate. If you wish to find safety, I suggest you join them there.”
“Terri is here?” the female gasped as she bolted to her feet. Her expression clouded with confusion. “Terri is your mate?”
He rumbled an affirmative and turned toward the fires burning in the near distance.
“Wait,” Meg whispered urgently.
He cocked his head and twitched his mandibles.
“Marcus is up to something. I don’t know what, but he hasn’t been partying with the guys. Be careful, okay? If Terri mated with you, she must care for you a lot,” she said softly. “I’m sorry I asked you to take me. I’m just… scared. She deserves a good guy.”
Veral considered her thoughtfully. “I thank you for the warning and accept your apology. You are not a bad female. You are stronger than you look, I think,” he said. “Find my anastha, my Terri, and leave this place.”
She jerked her head in a hasty nod and fled in the direction of the gates. He didn’t bother to stay and watch. A sense of urgency consumed him. He needed to get back to his mate… but first, the Reapers, as he promised.
With a growl, he sprung forward, racing through the shadows toward the firelight that seemed to mock him as it danced in the air. Something was not right.
21