Chapter 2

Lynix

I moved amongst the residents of Nomoria with ease. The majority of the Graysa only came up to my chest, and they moved out of the way for me as I walked through the city streets with a meat stick in each paw. Their food was good here, which was one of the reasons I stopped here on my travels. That and the Graysa didn't bother me. They were a snobby, uptight species who traded gossip as well as goods. They liked me, because no one gossiped as well as the Queen's Beasts, and I had the loosest tongue of all the Beasts. So I didn't bother hiding my mane, my tail, or my paws. They knew who I was and knew that I enjoyed spending coin on their food.

I stopped at a stall with an array of sweet suckers. Queen always liked them, and I wondered if Kini, my brother's mate, would like them too. Bastian had recently brought home his cora-eternal, and she was settling into our home well, thanks to Queen.

Bastian and Queen, as well as the rest of my brothers, had wanted me to stay home to get to know Kini, but as soon as she told us that there were more human women who'd been stolen and were somewhere on this planet, I couldn't waste time at home. All my life, I had expected to remain alone with only my brothers and Queen for company. I'd told myself I would be okay with that and repressed my desire for a mate to call my own.

But then Bastian had arrived with a mate perfect for him, and my jealousy had heated my blood until I'd felt smoke come out of my ears. I wanted that too. I didn't want Kini—she was Bastian's—but I wanted what they had for myself. I wanted my own mate.

I wasn't going to find her staying in the safety of our home, Akoma. I had to get out, search the planet. Which was why I found myself in Nomoria. It wasn't just for the food. The Graysa would have heard about any new rumors. They had scouts far and wide.

I had day-dreamed about my mate many times. She'd be beautiful and her smile would light up the dark. She'd gaze at me adoringly and hang on my every word. She'd ooh and ahhh over my strength and intelligence. She'd beg for my cock, and she'd scream my name when I made her come over and over again. She wouldn't be able to keep her hands off me. Her cunt would be sweet, and she'd let me fill her as many times as I wanted. She'd be perfect.

All I had to do was find her and rescue her. She'd be mine forever.

I finished my meat sticks, and then made my way toward a common social hall for the Graysa. The sun had risen a few rotations ago, and the town was bustling with new life. Chits ran between their mothers' legs. Vendors hollered from their stands looking to sell the goods they'd prepared during the dark. The atmosphere was joyous, for now. Graysa were known to bicker and fight amongst themselves, but most everyone was in a good mood now that the sun was up.

I pushed open the doors to the social hall, and immediately felt a shift in the air. My ears perked up. My tail fluffed as the fur on my neck stood on end. Graysa were bunched in chattering groups, craning their necks to see something at the far end of the building. The food on the tables was forgotten. Drinks half-filled left open. "What the fleck?" I muttered as I drew closer to the source of the attention.

The shouting grew louder as I drew closer, and I shouldered my way past an arguing pair of Graysa. They made way for me, their eyes lighting up as I passed.

Contained in a semi-circle of Graysa, with their back to a wall, stood some type of being covered in a heap of rags. A group of Graysa patrol stood with their weapons drawn—long poles topped with a chain of barbed spikes that they called maceks. The being hissed from beneath its mask as it dodged the Graysa's maceks. In one trembling rag-covered limb, a blade glinted. At first, I had thought the figure was an animal, but now I thought different as this was a sentient, intelligent species capable of using a tool. The Graysa were growing impatient as the being let out a growl, but the trembling of the figure belied its fear. One Graysa slashed with its weapon, catching the being around the bottom of the rags. The macek chain tightened around a solid form beneath the rags. The being let out a strangled cry and toppled over. Bright red blood seeped through the rags, and I scented the air.

My body went tight. My claws extended. Something about that scent was familiar but also not. All I knew was that it made my lips peel back from my teeth, and a growl rumble up from my throat, deep and menacing with a warning.

At my growl, the Graysa guards spun around while the being writhed on the ground with gasping breaths. The guard holding the macek tugged, bringing the creature on the ground closer to him, and a fresh set of pains cries emanated from the ragged bundle. The machets on my forearms lifted without my meaning to. I didn't like the pained sounds from this creature. What the fleck was it?

Fyak, the burly head Graysa guard who never liked me ever since I smacked his son for stealing from my favorite vendor, stepped forward. He held the macek weapon that remained wrapped around the creature. "Beast Lynix, this is Graysa business."

"What is that?" I gestured toward the creature on the floor. My machets remained lifted, and Fyak eyed them.

"It has been stealing from us for several rotations. It will be punished as soon as we subdue it."

The scent of blood was driving me crazy. My whiskers twitched. My saliva pooled in my mouth. "Let me see it first."

Fyak bristled. "This is my village, Beast. You hold no authority here."

The Graysa watching began to mutter in low tones. I despised this arrogant fleck, and I stepped closer to him. My chest inflated. "I want to see what's beneath the rags, Fyak."

"It must pay for its theft?—"

I yanked the macek out of his hand and cracked it over my knee. The broken end holding the chain fell to the ground, and a soon as the creature felt the chain go slack, its struggles began anew. But the barbs were locked into the rags, and possibly the flesh of the creature. Its writhing only scented the air with a fresh gush of metallic blood. My nostrils flared, and I licked my lips.

Fyak stared at his weapon on the ground in disbelief, and I gave him a little shove. He staggered back, pinwheeling his arms, and one of his guard caught him before he hit the ground. His eyes fired at me, but I ignored him. I crouched down beside the panting bundle of rags. Through the threadbare fabric, a pair of brown eyes stared at me.

I grasped the fabric and tugged. The creature went into a screaming fit, and the switchblade it held in its hand slashed down. The blade sank into my thigh, and I felt the sharp prick just barely puncture my thick fur. I made no sound, only stared impassively at the blade as it jutted out of my pants.

Eyes on the blade, the creature panted before lifting its gaze to mine. And then it said one word. One word I'd heard before, and which made all my senses come alive. "Shit."

I grabbed a handful of rags and yanked. The sound of fabric tearing cut through the chatter of voices and the panting of the creature. A head came into view—long dark brown hair that hung in matted, greasy clumps. Two brown eyes. Skin the color of the desert sand marred with many colors. Blood trickled from a delicate nose.

A human.

A human female.

She sat before me battered, terrified, and bleeding. She needed rescuing, and fortunately for her, I loved playing the hero. While she wasn't exactly the picture of health and beauty at the moment, I was sure she'd be perfect as soon as I got her food and sleep. She'd be so grateful to me that she would?—

With a war cry, she yanked the blade out of my thigh and plunged it right into my shoulder.

I roared. More from shock than pain, but I couldn't deny, that this stab hurt. With a growl, I ripped the blade out of my shoulder. The tip dripped with my blood, and the human's eyes glinted with what I could only guess was victory.

"It's feral!" Fyak hollered from behind me, but I ignored him.

Free of her rags, the human wriggled out of the macek chain and made a dash for the back door. But she stumbled on bloody bare feet and didn't make it far before I gripped the back of her raggedy shirt and hauled her in the air. Her legs flailed, her arms spun, and she kicked and hollered like a pissed off chit throwing a tantrum. Her language was a mix of words I didn't know, and my stomach bottomed out. She didn't speak the same language as Queen and Kini? My translator implant recognized their language, but it couldn't seem to place this human's. How the fleck was I going to tell her I was her savior?

Because right now, in her eyes, I was her enemy just as much as Fyak was. With her lips peeled back from her blunt teeth, faced scrunched in anger, she screamed as she tried to rake her short nails across my face. But she couldn't reach, and that only made her scream louder. Fleck, her voice was piercing, and my head began to pound.

"You saw it," Fyak said with gritted teeth. "Now hand it over for punishment. This is our land. Our rules. Not yours, Beast."

Punishment was public flogging with their barbed maceks. I'd seen them carry it out, and I'd seen the wounds the maceks could inflict. But a human's flesh was thin and vulnerable, not tough like a Graysa or any other creature they'd ever encountered. A flogging would kill this human.

I couldn't let her die by macek lashing. But convincing her I was saving her from her death was going to be hard when she wanted to do nothing but stab me.

"Enough!" I shouted at her, but she didn't have a translation implant. She couldn't understand me, and my barked order only made her hiss at me and lash out with a bloody foot. Fleck, she smelled too. Where the fleck had she come from? Why was she here?

She flailed out again, but her efforts were weakening. Her thin chest heaved, and through the threadbare shirt she wore, I could see the outline of her ribs. Her face was gaunt, her eyes sunken. This human was starving. And yet she didn't want to stop fighting. Her survival instinct was strong. I was three times the size of her, with claws, fangs, and weapons strapped to my chest, and yet she fought me with nothing but her small fists.

I could see the moment realization crept into her eyes. Despite her hunger and fear, intelligence shone in her brown eyes. Resignation. But something told me as soon as soon as she had food in her belly and I turned my back, she'd be back to fighting.

"I'll handle this creature," I said to Fyak.

He immediately volleyed a flurry of protests at me. "We cannot appear weak. Punishment is how we maintain order here. We can't let some foreign creature steal without repercussions, and?—"

"I'll punish it," I cut him off.

He blinked at me. "What?"

"I'll punish h—I mean, it." I couldn't let him know what she was. Rumors might fly soon, but I'd be long gone with this human by then.

"But that's?—"

I tossed him a handful of coins, each bigger than the last. "That should cover what this creature stole."

He bobbled the coins in his hands. One clattered to the ground, and the crowd surged forward, but Fyak sneered at them to stand back before he snatched it off the ground. He sniffed, eyeing the coin and the creature as if making a decision, but I knew Fyak well enough to know that coin would win out every time. I'd given him enough to cover more than this human could steal in a full cycle around the sun.

Finally, Fyak snapped his fingers. "This creature is yours. I want you both gone in a pleat, and I don't want to see it on these streets unbound. Understand?"

Fyak's tone bordered on insulting, and I wished to smack him straight out of this building. Instead, for the female's sake, I gave him a fanged, fake grin. "I understand."

With a toss of his head and a swish of his cloak, Fyak shouldered his way through the crowd toward the front door. His guards followed.

The crowd immediately stepped forward, eager to get a look at the creature in my hands. One of them reached out to touch her bloody leg, and I growled at him before bringing the human against my body. She fought as her fingers dug into the thick fur of my mane, but my strength was no match for her frail body. With my arms wrapped around her to protect her from the crowd, I strode toward the back door and shoved my way outside into the alley. A few of the Graysa made to follow, but with one more growl from me, they gave up their pursuit.

The human trembled in my arms so violently that her teeth chattered. I had seen this happen to Queen once when she'd thought Bastian had been hurt. She said it was her adrenaline crashing, and I could only assume this was the human's problem. It was hard to tell with her condition as it was. Her skin was lighter than Queen's, but not as pale as Kini's. Livid bruises covered her. Blood was nearly everywhere, and her lips were flaky and cracked. She was an absolute mess, but as I hugged her tighter to my chest, I couldn't stop myself from snuffling the top of her head. Beneath the stink was a scent that called to me. I had always believed in coincidences. Could she be my mate? There was no other reason why Fatas would have put us both in Nomoria or why I had been called to the social hall at just the right time to protect her from a deadly lashing.

I tried to imagine this human gazing at me fondly. But just then, she turned her head, opened her mouth, and bit down on my arm. Again, the bite didn't hurt, but I rumbled a surprised sound as I tried to dislodge her teeth.

She only let out a growl and shook her head like a predator trying to tear through a prey's flesh. Except she wasn't doing anything with those teeth. I sighed and kept walking through the back alleys. Eventually she relaxed her jaw, and I could feel the rapid beat of her heart pounding underneath my paw.

I had no doubt if she had an actual weapon, she would likely do actual real damage. I would have to hide my laser guns. And I knew I wouldn't be getting much sleep for a long time.

I usually rented a room at an inn, but this time, I'd sprung for my own small hut. I'd never been more grateful to not share a thin wall with neighbors, because as soon as I approached the door to the hut, the human began to flail and scream again. I clapped my hand over her mouth so we didn't draw attention, and only earned a bite on my paw pads for it. The bite stung, but I held on as I shoved my way through the door. As soon as we were inside, I dropped the human on the ground and bolted the door shut behind me. By the time I turned around, the human was on her feet, swaying slightly, her head swiveling as she no doubt searched for a weapon.

And of course, there was one in plain view, a laser gun sitting on a table where I'd left it. With a cry of triumph, she lunged for it and nearly got a hand on it before I wrenched it from her fingertips. She screamed and punched with a closed fist, catching my hip, before dashing away to the far corner of the room where she panted like a caged animal.

"Fleck," I muttered as I rubbed at my forehead. My head was killing me. Bastian had said Kini had run from him, but quickly submitted to his obvious dominance. But this female clearly had no intention of doing that.

Except her strength was fading fast. That lunge for the gun might have been her last effort, because her head lolled to the side. She blinked rapidly and tried to focus, but in the next moment, her knees buckled as her eyes rolled back. I lunged for her and caught her a second before she cracked her head on the floor. She let out a low moan. Her fingers twitched. Her lips moved.

I had thought she was just weak and battered. But I started to worry she had more serious injuries. And that was when I spotted a concentration of blood on her clothes. Between her legs. Some dried. Some fresh. Panic fired my blood, and I thought about calling home to one of my brothers, Whitten, but instead decided this couldn't wait. With the female in my arms, I raced to the washroom.