Chapter 5

Yanna

It wasn't that I fully trusted the Lion Man yet. I couldn't be sure why he was being kind to me and taking care of me. But I had no other options. I couldn't survive on my own. I had nowhere to go.

If only we could communicate. I ached to ask him questions. I desired to tell him my story and explain my fears. And maybe apologize for giving him a nosebleed. I didn't apologize for stabbing him. That had been self-defense after all. If he was in my shoes, he would have stabbed a Lion Man too.

I fingered the bandage on my head and wiggled my toes in their wrappings. Whatever he'd given me in that bottle had eased my headache and soothed the soreness in my muscles.

I watched him as he gazed into the distance. The black bushy end of his tail twitched in the dusty ground. He seemed to be thinking, or coming to a decision, because with a confident set to his shoulders, he hauled me into his arms and stood up before striding to his vehicle. I marveled at the machine—it was like motorcycle without wheels. Did it just glide across the ground? How did it work?

So he was like… a biker Lion Man Alien. And for some reason, he'd decided I was worth caring for. Or at least, I was a possession he didn't want damaged.

The way his expression had twisted into pure rage when he'd picked up the pink alien by the neck should have terrified me, but instead all I'd wanted to do was get closer to him. I'd felt safe in his anger, because at my core, I knew it wasn't directed at me. That anger had been fixated on something that had hurt me. I had thought the Lion Man was going to snap the pink alien's neck. And call me bloodthirsty, but I wouldn't have been sad about it.

Instead, he'd carried me out of there like a knight in shining fur and was now taking me away from a place that was full of aliens who had vilified me. He set me on his bike, right up by the handlebars, and then settled his bulk behind me. I couldn't resist leaning back slightly to soak up his soft, furry warmth as the bike rumbled to life. I let out a little squeak, the sound lost over the purring of the machine, as we lifted into the air by powerful jets of air. The bike was surprisingly stable, and we sped away from the city walls with a speed that sent my hair whipping around my face.

My eyes watered. My teeth clattered. But I didn't give one shit as I reveled in the freedom of the bike's flight. Was Lion Man terrifying? Absolutely. Was he seemingly willing to kill for me? Also yes. So with him at my back, I felt a bit like I had a chance at survival on this crazy planet.

I gazed around me, marveling at the intricate shapes of the mountains that rose on either side of us. Growing in the cracks of the rock were twisted, gnarled tree trunks with long flat leaves like massive blades of grass in an orange-red color. The pink sun beat down on us, and I knew in about an hour that my freckles would be more pronounced across the bridge of my nose.

We rode for what felt like hours. A few times, my eyes closed, but I refused to fall asleep. The endless mountains began to blur together, until Lion Man banked a hard right and steered the bike between two rock cliffs.

The scent in the air changed. Humidity crept in, and soon we were riding over a flatter ground with more vegetation which changed in color from a dry, burnt orange to a lush blue and purple. Fields of flowers bloomed around us, and we soared over a stream of water that trickled and babbled below us. An insect of some sort smacked into my cheek, and I wiped away its guts from my skin.

The terrain changed again as the trees grew in density, and that was when Lion Man slowed the bike until we touched the ground. With a twist of his wrist, the engine shut off. My ears still rang with the noise of the vehicle, but soon the surrounding sounds filtered in. Rustling of leaves. The rushing water of another stream. Some shadows overhead dotted the sky, and I shaded my eyes to see winged creatures about the size of vultures soaring overhead, emitting squeaks and squawks. We were near a copse of trees, and the ground here was uneven—dirt mounds rose about four feet in the air all around the small clearing.

Lion Man dismounted, and as he stood beside me, he pressed a hand on my thigh. He spoke one word, which I took to mean stay. So I waited on the bike, because I was too tired to be brave. Not only tired, but starving. And those winged vulture-like things over head had wicked curved beaks that could surely pluck out my eyeballs.

Lion Man went down on all fours, his tail arched behind him like a rudder, as he crept toward a mound. I craned my neck, unsure what he was doing, when he suddenly pounced on a mound. His entire upper body disappeared into the loose dirt of the mound, and his tail pinwheeled as his clawed back feet dug into the ground. I scrambled up onto the seat of the bike as I wrung my hands anxiously. What the hell was he doing? Why was he risking himself? I needed him, and here he was sticking his head in ground holes. Didn't he know never to reach into a strange hole? That was like Earth 101.

Something yanked on him from inside the hole, and I nearly came out of my skin. "No!" I cried as his back feet dug into the ground, claws tearing massive trenches in the dirt.

And then the mound exploded. Debris flew everywhere, and a rock pinged off the front of the bike. My heart nearly stopped as I made to leap off the bike. But a roar stopped me as the dust cleared. There, standing in the crumbled remains of the mound, was Lion Man holding a worm-like object in his massive paws. The worm had to be over six feet long, and as thick as my own torso. It writhed and flailed like one of those inflatable men at car dealerships, and at one end, a hole snapped open and shut, the edges rimmed in a row of teeth. It was like the snake that had killed the guard that enabled me to escape, and I immediately braced. Did he know how dangerous those things were?

But I shouldn't have worried, not as Lion Man sank his teeth into the worm and ripped out a bloody, bony chunk. The worm shuddered and went limp in his grip.

Lion Man spat his bite on the ground and a yellow fluid dripped from his chin. He looked at me, purple eyes triumphant, and held the worm aloft with one hand.

I…wasn't sure what to do. I didn't know why we were exploding mounds and killing giant worms. Was this Tremors? But I had to admit Lion Man had put on a good show. So I put my hands together, and I clapped.

Lion Man preened, his hide rippling, as he actually raised one arm and—in the most human gesture I'd seen in a long time—he flexed his biceps. I couldn't help it. I laughed.

I didn't know what I expected Lion Man to do with the dead worm, but it certainly wasn't to start a fire, skin the tough gray skin off the body, and start slicing the worm into round disks like it was a choice filet. Sure I was hungry, but was I that hungry? And part of me felt a little bad. One of these worms had saved my life. Sort of. Yellow slime oozed from each disk, and the smell was somewhere between a can of tuna and taco seasoning. Which was hell on my senses.

But Lion Man had ripped this thing out of the ground, and seemed extremely proud of himself. He chest rumbled with some sort of purr as he speared several worm disks with a stick and set them to roast on a spit over the fire. He'd even chopped up some leaves like they were chives and had sprinkled it on the meat.

As the meat cooked, the smell changed into something resembling a burger. When he deemed them cooked, Lion Man wrapped the disk in a leaf and handed it to me. For a moment, I pretended like I'd just visited my favorite neighborhood food truck. If I closed my eyes, maybe I could pretend this was prime angus beef wrapped in unbleached parchment paper.

Lion Man watched me intently. He did not take his own worm disk. No, of course not. There would be no distracting him. He was waiting for my reaction with bated breath.

Look, I was hungry. Starving. But that didn't mean I could ingest just anything. Sometimes my stomach had a mind of its own if it got something it didn't like, and the last thing I wanted to do was vomit this worm meat all over the ground.

I took a deep breath and didn't look too long at my food. I closed my eyes and took a bite.

It did not taste like chicken. In fact, it didn't really taste like meat. It had a flaky texture like fish but had an odd sweetness to it that wasn't altogether unpleasant. I'd never tasted anything like it before but thank whatever deity on this planet that my stomach accepted the strange food. My gag reflex did not kick in. And with each bite, I grew more and more used to the flavor until I'd somehow inhaled half the worm disk, and Lion Man was practically buzzing with pride at my side.

He had polished off two disks himself in the time I'd eaten one and was currently lapping the juices off of his paw pads with long licks of his broad tongue.

I looked away, because I still felt the remnants of that tongue between my legs. I still couldn't believe he'd done that. Or how he knew to do that. Did he have a horde of human women somewhere? His knowledge of my anatomy had to come from someone or something. Right?

I wanted to believe more than anything that he had a stolen cache of women somewhere that were safe and fed, and he was taking me there. But some strange part of me that I didn't want to explore also felt a little…jealous. Which was insane. I had to assume my jealous was linked to loneliness and maybe some sort of Stockholm Syndrome. He was all I had right now, so of course I'd feel some sort of attachment to him.

I picked at my worm, feeling uncomfortably full and also confused. Why couldn't I just be grateful he wasn't eating me? Why did I have to bring any sort of affectionate emotion into this? I didn't like others. Why should I like some Lion Man Alien?

The fire crackled in front of me, drawing my attention to it, and also to Lion Man who was busy with something on the ground with his back to me. I shifted my weight to peer around his bulk.

He had lined a section of the ground-about six feet by five feet, with layers of grasses and covered the top with large, broad, flat leaves. He patted the top, which bounced under his paw like a mattress. Then he turned to me and tugged me toward the leaves.

He pushed on my shoulder and head gently, and I got the sense he wanted me to lay down. Had he made a bed for me? On my side, I folded my hands under my head, and immediately, my body sank into the softness of the leaf mattress. The Lion Man nodded, clearly happy with my position. So he'd killed and cooked a worm, and now made a bed for me? This was crazy. If he didn't stop this nice shit, I was going to start to actually like him.

I wasn't sure what made me reach out and grasp his paw. My fingers barely curled around the width of his wrist. I patted my head with his paw, and said, "Yanna."

His claws flexed, and his eyes took me in. Then his mouth moved as his lips formed the two syllables of my name. "Yanna."

Something about his gruff voice saying my name, humanizing me, made my insides squirm. I nodded.

He then lifted my hand and patted the soft mane on his neck. "Lynix."

Lynix. Maybe that wasn't his name. Maybe he thought we were naming body parts. But Lynix fit him and it was better than calling him Lion Man in my head. "Lynix," I repeated.

His lion lips spread wide, and his fangs gleamed. Then he reached for my face. Gentle fur brushed my nose. Eyelids. I closed them and allowed myself to drift to sleep with Lynix the Lion Man watching over me.

Lynix

As the human—Yanna—slept I carefully packed up the rest of the wimple meat. It wasn't my favorite food, but I had wanted Yanna to eat as soon as possible. I'd heard the rumble of her stomach over the sound of my bike. She'd needed to eat and sleep.

Now, she slept so deeply that soft snores left her lips. A small gnit landed on her nose, and I brushed it away. Yanna didn't even stir.

I stored the wimple meat in the packs of my bike and returned to Yanna's side while she slept. I felt emboldened that she told me her name. I'd made her laugh. I was slowly gaining her trust after flecking up a few times, and that made me want to pound my chest and roar into the sky.

I fashioned a shelter over her. Queen and Bastian's mate had told us about the damage the sun could cause to human skin, and Yanna's arms were turning pink in a way that concerned me. Could she cook like the worm in the fire? Her skin was just so… unprotected. It was like somewhere in the past in evolution, human skin had slowly been scraped off to reveal this tender, easily abused flesh to the elements. I shook my head, wishing I could give her some of my fur.

My mind strayed to Yanna's expression after I'd caught the wimple and flexed. Her full lips had stretched wide, her eyes sparkled, and the husky sound of her laughter had hit me right in the chest. I wanted to see that look on her face again. I wanted to hear her laugh long and loud.

I should head home to Akoma. Let Yanna meet Queen and Kini. But the dark was still far away. We had time. So far, all she'd known on this planet was pain and terror. I'd show her that there was joy here too. Fun. Happiness. Good food and safety. And I wanted to be the one to show her. Was that selfish? A little bit. But I told myself I was doing this for her.

While she slept I cleaned my bike, organized my saddle bags, and walked a path into the dirt around her. When she finally stirred, I might have made a little extra noise because I was bored and wanted to see her pretty eyes.

Did my chest puff out when she sat up and looked around for me wildly, only calming when she spotted me nearby? Yes. Did I feel a hardening in my groin when her lips stretched into a small smile? Absolutely.

I'd gathered some fruit for her while she slept, and pointed to it as she rubbed her eyes. She popped a few berries in her mouth and chewed with a pleased expression. She looked rested. Her eyes were bright, her skin flushed but plump. And she touched the shelter I'd made for her with a shy smile.

Soon, we were back on the bike riding in a direction that was off the path toward home, but I knew would be worth our time. Yanna sat in front of me on the bike, her head swiveling this way and that as we passed over more wimple mounds and tree clusters. The vegetation grew denser, until I had to slow the bike down and direct it down overgrown paths. Branches swiped at my arms, and I curled myself protectively over Yanna so she wouldn't be hurt.

Up ahead, a cliff rose, creating a shadow over the path. Yanna's neck craned up, and when we burst out into a clearing, her gasp could be heard over my bike's rumbling.

A thick waterfall poured from the top of the cliff into the clear pool below. Steam and spray swirled around the rocks lining the water. Along one side of the water, a stiff bank led to a tree with a rope swing hanging from it, the end knotted. I remembered when our father had hung that swing, and I could still hear the laughter of my brothers as we swung from it and plunged into the warm water below. With Queen and our father, we'd explored many lands of this planet before we settled in Akoma. And this waterfall was one of my favorite places I'd ever been.

I let my vehicle settle to the ground, and as soon as I switched it off, Yanna clamored off it and stepped toward the shallow edge of the pool. She held out her hand and swiped her fingers through the stream. She turned her head and met my eyes, and I knew in that moment I'd made the right decision. Her smile was radiant, and every tense line in her face had smoothed out. She pointed to herself and then the water as if to ask if she can go in. I nodded.

A hesitation flashed in her expression but in a moment, it was gone as she shucked her pants. Her shirt fell to the top of her thighs. I dropped my gaze to the ground, even though I wanted to look more than anything. A splash followed, and I peered up to see her wading through the water, her hair splayed around her in a dark curtain.

As she bobbed on the surface, I climbed up the steep bank to the rope swing. She watched me as I unhooked the swing from a hook on the trunk of the tree. She said something in awe as I grabbed the swing with both hands and let my body weight take me out over the water. She screamed in delight and clapped as I let go and hit the surface with a smack.

When I surfaced, she had whirled around and was sputtering. Water dripped from her chin as she cupped her hand and sent a splash of water at me with a squeal. I splashed her back, and her peals of laughter turned into excited screaming.

When she held out her hands in surrender, I stopped sending waves of water crashing over her head. She panted, mouth wide in a smile, as she leaned back to the let the sun warm her face. I didn't make an effort to touch her. I'd learned my lesson, no matter how much I wanted to. Fleck, she was beautiful. Her hair shone. Through the clear water, I could see the dark patch of curly hair between her legs as her shirt rode up to her stomach. The fabric clung to her full breasts. Fleck, I ached to draw her into my arms and taste her mouth, her cunt, and suck on her pert nipples, but I restrained myself even as my cock hardened. I'd made the right call keeping my pants on.

She swam away from me, glancing over her shoulder as if asking me to follow. So I gave chase. She let out another squeal as she stroked away from me toward the waterfall, where she ducked behind it and swam the length only to pop out on the other side with a laugh.

I chased her around the pond, grabbing at her without any threat or intent until she put her hands up in surrender and floated on the surface.

I swam a few laps before hauling myself out of the water. My pants were soaked, weighing me down, and while Yanna floated on her back with her eyes closed, I took off my pants and laid them out on a rock to dry.

I didn't bother covering myself. I climbed up toward the rock swing and stretched out there as the sun warmed my wet fur. Yanna floated for a while, and the gentle waves caused by the waterfall kept causing the bottom of her shirt to lift, giving me a tantalizing view of her pretty cunt. And while I didn't touch, I looked. I looked my fill. I remembered how she tasted. How she moaned. How she came on my tongue with a cry that had shattered my senses.

My cock was a spike between my legs, and my balls hung full on the warm rock beneath me. Did she have any idea how tempting she was? I looked away before I lost control. I tried to think of things that weren't turning me on—like the sound of Tain snoring. The smell of Bastian's dirty clothes. The taste of?—

"Aaaah!"

A scream cut through the air, and I leaped to my feet. In the water below, Yanna screeched and flailed while a giri flew around her head buzzing angrily. With a growl, I dove into the water and surfaced next to her. She'd torn her shirt off in her fright and spun it frantically in the air to try to chase off the giri, but the flying insect was a fighter, and it aimed its stinger right at her face. I wrapped an arm around Yanna's waist and hauled her against my body as I snatched the giri out of the air. Its stinger prodded at my paw pads, but my skin was too thick for the giri to penetrate. I held my paw under the water as the giri fought, but in a few moments, it gave a last twitch before successfully succumbing to the drowning. I released the giri's body and prodded its limp, squashed form as it floated away from us.

Yanna panted against me, her wide gaze on the dead giri as it drifted toward the waterfall where it disappeared under the white foam. Her head slowly turned, and our eyes met. Completely naked, she was plastered against me with her legs around my waist and her arms on my shoulders. Her naked breasts rubbed against my fur and her heated core rested just above the tip of my hard cock.

Her breath hitched, and I went very still as my claws curled to dig into the sandy bottom of the pool. I didn't push her away. I couldn't. My body wouldn't let me, because all I wanted to do was sink into her heat. The memory of her taste bloomed on my tongue.

"Swim away from me," I murmured in a hoarse rasp. "Now. Before I do something I shouldn't." My words curled with the steam of the spring before rising above our heads.

I couldn't be sure how she interpreted my words in a language she didn't understand. Her arms remained locked on my shoulders. Her legs tightened around my waist instead of loosening.

My hand slid down her smooth back, and with my paw pads, I felt each notch of her spin before I curled my paw on her round ass. I pressed her against me, and her eyes fluttered as a soft moan left her lips that went right to my cock. At the sound, I sort of lost my mind, and that was the only reasonable explanation I could give for what happened next.