Chapter 1

CW: animal attack, description of injuries

Julie

Just breathe, unclench your jaw, you're safe now. You and all the other abductees are in a nice cool den full of food supplies. I was doing my best to remain calm given this crazy situation.

Last night I'd gone to bed in my Chicago apartment two blocks away from the restaurant I worked at, and today I'd woken up in a cryotube on a fucking spaceship. Then our ship crashed, and now I'm on a strange planet with a group of ten other women. The animal life here was no joke. Something that sounded like a t-rex roared in the distance only serving to add to my anxiety.

At least the food was good. Whoever had seasoned this jerky had done a good job. It was the perfect balance of sweet and savory, with a zesty little kick.

"I think we should do a round of introductions before we fall asleep for the night," Gabby announced.

I liked Gabby. She had a calming presence about her along with a kind smile that I desperately needed after a day like today.

"I'll go first," she volunteered. "I'm Gabby, short for Gabriella. I'm twenty-eight years old, I'm from Indianapolis, Indiana, I'm a big fan of BTS, and a huge anime nerd."

"I'll go next," I volunteered. Why not?

"I'm Julie Garcia, I'm twenty seven, from Chicago, and I'm a professional chef.

Fatima, a beautiful tan woman with long black hair went next and then Ashley, a very curvy woman with creamy skin and blonde hair.

"Hi, I'm Ashley. I-"

A creaking sound from the level above made everyone go silent. No one dared to even breathe as loud footsteps thudded above us. A set of large pawed feet stood at the top of the dirt steps. The mystery person slowly walked down, revealing what looked like a mix of brown bear and blue alien with horns.

He scanned the room and I held my breath. What was he looking for? Was he mad that we were in his house? Was he going to eat us?

My breathing slowed as his gaze zeroed in on me. For a brief moment in time we all sat there in silence. No one moved, no one spoke.

Look away, look away! I silently urged the alien bear man to look anywhere, at anybody but me. But he didn't his gaze did not sway from my face as he stalked toward me, one large pawed foot in front of the other.

Oh no. No, no, no, no, no! He moved toward me with a determined look on his face. Once we stood toe to toe, I was keenly aware of how large he was and how small I was in comparison. My neck hurt just looking up at him.

His nostrils flared and I thought for sure this was the end. This was how I would die, not by spaceship crash or by purple water, but by being devoured by an alien.

I braced myself for the worst when I felt a large warm hand grab me by the waist. Before I knew what was happening, I was flung over the alien's shoulder and he took off in a run.

This guy was fast. Like fast, fast. I blinked and we were outside of the shelter.

"Julie!" Gabby came running after us.

"Gabby!" I reached out to her but it was too late. The bear alien was already sprinting through the forest.

"Put me down!" I pounded on his back. I didn't really expect him to stop but it felt good to take my anger out on the guy.

This whole situation was shitty. I had been taken from my very comfy life, doing what I loved, and now that I had literally nothing left, this guy up and grabs me just to make my day that much worse.

"I said put me down, damn it!" I yelled and pounded on his back again and to my surprise he stopped.

He reached around and pulled me from his back and set me down on solid ground. His expression was hard to read; he looked both surprised and ashamed.

I was able to get a better look at him now that we were under the bright light of the moon that took up half the sky. I hated to admit it, but he was exactly my type minus the blue skin and bear part. He was muscular but not in a gym bro kind of way. He was broad like those competitors in the Scottish Highland Games. The guys with functional muscle who had thick bodies that showed how much they liked to eat.

His arms, legs, and back were covered in brown fur, while his face, neck, and chest were smooth with blue skin.

"I-" he looked around in shock, as if he were coming back to his body after a black out.

"I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me. I'm not usually like this."

Whoa… I could hear that he was not speaking English or Spanish, but somehow I could still understand him. This was wild.

I had vague memories of the alligator aliens injecting me with something, but I didn't realize at the time that it had been a translator.

"I will take you back to your dekes. You may use my den for as long as you like."

Dekes didn't translate but I assumed he meant my people, aka the other women.

I crossed my arms over my chest and gave him my best glare. "Yes, I would like to go back."

He solemnly nodded his head. "Come, I will show you the way."

He turned and started walking and I nearly had to run to keep up with him and his long strides.

"Hey, wait up!" I chased after him.

The bear alien stopped and waited for me. "Sorry, I'm not feeling like myself tonight."

This male looked genuinely concerned about his behavior and I was tempted to believe he might be as he nervously ran his hand through his hair and looked ashamed of what he'd done.

We'd only taken a few steps toward the den when I heard a low growl. I turned in the direction the noise had come from but I only saw darkness.

"What was that?" I whispered.

Mr. Bear, as I decided to call him, grew tense. "Ugnar, three of them," he whispered back.

Three giant hyena creatures stepped out of the shadows with teeth bared. Shit. The odds of me getting eaten tonight had just gone back up.

"Stay behind me," the alien instructed. "I will not let you come to harm."

I did what I was told, and the irony of trusting my kidnapper for protection was not lost on me. It wasn't like I had a lot of options at the moment, though.

As I moved behind my protector, one of the hyena's snapped its teeth at me. I let out a whimper, which caused another to lick its lips.

"You and I will step toward each other at the same time."

We both took one giant step toward each other, landing me squarely behind Mr. Bear and all three giant hyenas hissed at once. Then, out of the shadows, an even larger hyena stalked forward and growled.

"Mot!" He cursed, and the word roughly translated to fuck in English. "I'm going to have to grab you and run."

"Again? I thought we were supposed to move slowly," I countered.

"That was before their pack leader showed up; now we must run."

Before I could protest he threw me over his shoulder and took off in another sprint.

I was getting real tired of this shit. It was starting to feel like everyone and everything was trying to kill me.

We whipped through the trees as the hyenas lashed out over and over again, trying to slash and bite us. Beyond the tree line I could see a rock face with a boulder sitting in front of it. Was that where we were heading? What was this guy's plan after that? It was a steep wall. There was no way we could climb it.

"Ah!" I let out a yelp as the alien fell to the ground and I along with him. He quickly got back up but winced as he put weight on his leg, which now had a deep gash in it. He gritted his teeth and limped toward me. Surely he wasn't going to pick me up again. But he did.

"You're hurt!" I protested.

My words fell on deaf ears as he staggered as fast as he could toward the rock face. Once we reached the wall he put me down and pushed against a boulder.

"Ah!" He cried out as a hyena jumped on his back and sunk its teeth into his furry blue skin. Soon another hyena leapt onto him, clawing and biting its way to the male's neck.

With a roar that rattled the rocks surrounding us he ripped one creature off and threw it against a tree. The crunch of bone against wood was beyond chilling and I didn't have to look to know the creature was probably dead. Then the alien fell backwards, crushing the other hyena between his weight and the ground.

The remaining two hyenas prowled around us as the warrior alien pushed the boulder aside revealing an entrance.

"Come!" he motioned for me to move inside, and I obeyed as quickly as my feet would carry me.

The male slid inside after me and rolled the boulder back, blocking anything else from entering the small cave.