2. Two

two

"You scared her, Cavi!" I snarled and snapped my teeth at my brother. If this female weren't in my arms, I would sink my teeth in his belly.

"Drym!"

Kragen's sharp voice turned my head to him.

"We are not the enemy. We will not hurt your female. It's clear she needs care. Let us help you."

My arms pulsed. They were right, of course. I needed to let them help, but some instinct wanted to keep them away. I shook my head, my tail thrashing behind me. My words came out as a whine. "I know she needs help. I just can't. I can't put her down."

I dropped my head in shame. This female needed help and I was keeping her from it.

We had always worked together, the six of us. We were made at the same time and grew at the same rate. We learned quickly that each of us had a skill that complemented the others. As a team, we were unstoppable.

Kragen nodded in understanding. "Okay, we'll work with that, but Cavi needs to get close to look her over."

I growled louder; the sound bouncing off the walls of the cave.

Kragen's patience snapped. "Her blood coats the air, Drym!"

My growl stuttered into a whine.

Kragen's eyes flicked over my shoulder and he dipped his muzzle. I felt the sting of a needle and sighed in relief. A sedative wouldn't affect me long—no medicine did—but it would calm me enough to let Cavi see to her.

Cavi was in front of me in a blink and gently took her from my arms. My limbs were heavy but I tracked his tiniest movement. He laid her on the table, scanned her quickly, and then barked orders.

"Quin, grab a suture kit. Some of these cuts are deep. Thurl, start cleaning her feet."

Kragen stayed next to me. Lending me support, but also there in case I needed to be restrained. Cavi started at her head and cleaned her wounds as he came to them.

"Scratches, mostly."

"She was running through the woods, panicked," I told them what little I knew. "There were men and dogs after her."

A collective growl filled the air as we all reacted to her being hunted. None of us liked to see harm come to a female.

They had put females in with us, of course, even before we reached maturity. They wanted to see if we would breed them or kill them. We refused to do either.

Roul went a little mad from the tests. The females he was given were always terrified, no matter what he did to calm them.

He was the largest of us, and his red eyes revealed his purpose. Aggression. Force. He and Thurl were true weapons. The tip of the sword. Kragen and I were the wielders. Bred for intelligence and strategy, we planned. We saw all avenues and possibilities before we landed on the best way to accomplish a mission.

Cavi and Quin were our healers. Cavi was better in emergencies, field triage. Quin kept us healthy and saw to any long-term care that was needed.

That wasn't to say we weren't all deadly. We were. They tested us for that, too. Forced us to fight for our lives, or that of our brothers.

Quin had cleaned her left arm and given her a local anesthetic so he could sew a deep gash in her bicep.

I wanted to rip his head off.

"I don't understand, Kragen. Why do I feel like this? This never happened with the other females." I wrapped my hand over my eyes to block the sight of her in pain, but not looking was worse.

"I don't know, Drym. When she's stable, we'll have Quin draw blood. Maybe it will provide answers."

"We should have left one of the scientists alive." Red edged my vision and I took a deep breath. I couldn't lose control. Not while she was near.

Roul had moved to my other side, just in case. "We did," he snapped.

Yes, but none of us knew what happened to her after we escaped. It caused Roul pain to even mention her. I wouldn't have normally been so careless. "Why do you think they were hunting her?"

Kragen shook his head. "I don't know."

"Roul," I flicked an ear at him but couldn't look away from the female. "Can you track them? Find out what they were doing?"

He spun and I heard his claws scrape the rock beneath our feet as he took off.

Kragen called after him, "Do not engage!"

All we received in response was a grunt.

Cavi had finished cleaning her face, neck, upper chest, and right arm. He moved to the torn hem of the shirt she wore and lifted it. I took a step forward. Kragen threw his arm in front of me.

"I think we should let Drym check her torso in private. He can clean her, and if there are any wounds that need care beyond what he can provide, he will let us know." Kragen grabbed my snout. "Right?"

"Yes. Yes, that would be better." Tension eased from me as Cavi dropped her shirt and began to clean her legs. I didn't like them touching her at all, but my control was getting better.

Her eyes flew open and her head whipped around. She thrashed and the others held her limbs. My vision was well into the red and I ripped through Kragen's hold and moved to her, batting Quin aside.

Her eyes hit mine and I crouched next to her. "Shh, little one. You are safe."

"Are you real?"

I didn't want her to fear me. I didn't want her to scream and throw herself into the corner and make herself as small as possible.

But I couldn't lie to her. "Yes, we are real."

Her chest rose as she inhaled, her eyes closing on an exhale. "Thank god."

We all looked at each other in shock. That was not a reaction we'd ever gotten before. She relaxed, so Quin and Thurl released her and resumed cleaning her legs.

"Can you tell us what happened?" Kragen slipped a bottle of water into my hand.

I twisted the cap and offered it to her. She struggled to sit up, so I put my hand between her shoulder blades and supported her. I wanted to shout for joy when she leaned into my touch. She drained the entire bottle.

"Thank you." She took a deep breath. "I was kidnapped after work, taken to a house and kept in a basement with other women. The men hunted us."

"Why?" I couldn't keep the anger from my voice. I saw it reflected in her eyes.

"Sport. Boredom. Because they could. Who knows why twisted rich men do anything?"

She looked at each of us before her eyes landed back on me. "You guys really are enormous, hunh?"

I chuckled. "Yes. I am Drym."

"Hi, Drym. I'm Kendal."

I went around the same way she had studied each of us. "This is Kragen, Cavi, Thurl and Quin. Our brother Roul is investigating the men who chased you."

"Good." Her features hardened. "I hope he kills every one of them."