Chapter Seventeen

*Ragnar*

Regreee has raided three more houses, each one yielding more of the supplies she is hoarding in her bags. She seems to have shaken off the worst of her fog from last night and yet I can’t say the same. Every time she enters a new house, I wonder if I will have enough time to run to the human encampment, shred its walls to pieces and then drag the cretin from his dwelling. Once I have him in my grasp, I would use my talons to skin him alive. Piece by piece. Elijah. The name is a poison in my mind.

“Ragnar?” Regreee questions, pulling me back to the present. She is holding up a brown bottle, its liquid contents sloshing with each movement.

“Yes, my mate?” I ask, staring at the bottle with no recognition. Speaking is getting easier in my monstrous form, but the words are still slightly warped.

“I found the last thing I need. We can head back tomorrow! This is peroxide, the house has two more bottles. Plus, they aren’t expired!” She exclaims, her happiness contagious. I can’t help but to grin at her. She runs off excitedly, back into the house she just left. A new poison invades my mind.

What will happen once we return to her sisters? I consider them all to be part of my pack but the thought that she might crawl back into her home in the ground and not come back out is like a claw strike to my chest. I can’t lose her.

She isn’t just my world. She is the sun when it rises and sets. She is the air in my lungs. If she crawled back into her home and was lost to me? I do not know how I would react. Especially if we are not fully mated before then. My beast would be thrown into a rage. No. I cannot let that happen. I will fight him with every ounce of strength I possess. Insidious laughter slithers through my mind.

If we lose our mate, I will burn this world to the ground to get to her. The truth in his words is absolute. The rage of the unmated is something to be feared. Once more I feel like I am being torn asunder by my doubts and fears. My mate needs time. Regardless of the war in my mind I refuse to push her. My nature will not allow us to hurt our mate.

“Hiding her in these homes isn’t going to work. I can smell her from at least three streets away.” The deep, growly voice catches me completely by surprise. Whirling I release a snarl at the intruder, shame making the sails along my back stand straight up.

Another of my kind is staring back at me, barely thirty feet separating us. He is familiar to me and once again I berate myself for letting him get close to us without sensing him. I’ve been aware of him in the background as we traveled, not close enough to be a threat but close enough to on my radar. He is a big male, too cunning for his own good. I was too lost in my own thoughts to scan the surroundings like I should have been doing.

“Go away. Now.” I snarl, sending a vibration out that is nothing like the soft ones I send Regreee. Some of the abandoned vehicles’ windows shatter and the ground rumbles beneath my paws. It is the warning of a Memnar male protecting his mate.

“Calm. I am not after your mate.” He growls back, his own beast rising to the surface, answering the threat from mine. I failed her once today; I will not fail her again. Venom races through my sails, unique to my genetic make-up. Just because he is my own kind, doesn’t mean that he won’t fall just as easily to my claws, teeth and spikes. A shudder runs through every nerve ending as I become hyperaware.

“Then leave.” I grit out, pumping the threat of violence into the two words. The threat of a battle sends a charge through the air, another vibration shattering the windows of two of the homes. A quiet shriek from the house Regreee is in puts me on edge.

“Ragnar!” She shouts, her voice closer than the shriek was. She is moving through the house. I can hear her. So can he. His ears twitch in her direction, blatant curiosity written across the scales on his face.

“Stay!” I bark at her, not tempering the anger in my words. It falls on deaf ears as she stumbles to the front door, which sits ajar.

“Holy shit.” She breathes, her eyes widening at the sight of the other male. Potent rage pumps into my veins. My muscles swell and the threat of violence turns into a promise. I lunge for him with no warning. He doesn’t get to look upon her lovely face with curiosity. Nor does she get to examine him. What if she finds me lacking? What if she prefers his cobalt blue scales to my luminous black ones?

Our bodies collide with a massive bang. My beast writhes within the bonds of control that I have placed upon him. As angry as I am, I am not so lost that I don’t notice that the other male doesn’t fight back. In fact, he quickly rolls into a submissive position, showing his underbelly to me. Rage fills me that I can’t shred him limb from limb. From cubs we are taught to recognize the symbol of submission and to honor it.

“You cannot take her from me. She is MINE.” I snarl, our language falling much easier from my monstrous lips.

“Your mate holds no appeal as I am already mated.” He responds, retaining his submissive pose.

Finish him. He is lying. He has no color on his sails. He wants her! My beast roars into my mind, wanting blood. Hating that he looked upon her sweet face. Hating that she looked back.

“You lie.” My voice warbles as my beast adds his own.

“Not about this.” Those three words deflate me faster than anything else. No Memnar would lie about a mate, especially not a male.

“Where is she?” I ask, stepping back to wrestle internally with my beast.

“Ragnar?” Regreee’s sweet voice threatens to bring the violence right back to the surface. Fighting it, I partially turn to face her. One eye on the male, the other on her.

“Stay. Please.” I repeat, hoping she can hear the desperation I feel, a desire that she will not get any closer to this male. He climbs to his feet in my peripheral vision. Tension coils into my muscles, preparing to jump at him if he so much as moves an inch towards her.

“There are more of you?” She asks, heeding my wishes to stay put. Her grip on the doorway is turning her knuckles white. I want to shift and hug her to me, to tell her that it will all be alright, but I cannot. Not while he is present.

“There are six of us in this area. Two reside in the neighboring town while the four of us live here. I am Talnag.” The male says, answering my mate in stuttered English. Suspicion creeps in, my beast on high alert. There is only one way he would know the language of the humans.

“Your mate, where is she?” I ask in English, wanting Regreee to understand. The male’s face shutters with rage and I sense his own beast clawing to be freed. Interesting. Marginally I shift, placing myself further between him and my mate.

“She is out of my reach.” He mutters, his opal eyes watching my movements with thinly veiled amusement.

“Mine is not. If you have a mate, unclaimed yet, then you should know not to interfere with mine.” I switch to our native tongue, letting the warning be known. He dips his head in acknowledgement.

“That is why I am here.” He shifts so that he can see Regreee once more. To her credit she hasn’t moved an inch, trusting me to keep her safe. Guilt hits me again. Had I been doing my duty, I would have stopped him from getting so close to begin with.

“Speak plainly.” I growl out, just barely containing the vibration that threatens to escape. It might inadvertently hurt Regreee.

“This is freaky.” She mutters under her breath but we both hear her. I can’t fault her; it is disconcerting to see another of my kind as well. Especially one that I recognize from the ship that brought us here. Talnag. The name is new to me, but it feels good to have a name for the face.

“I bring warnings. The humans are hunting you.” Fear causes my sails to stiffen once more. Elijah. My rage from earlier comes roaring back. Talnag shifts nervously, sensing my beast rising.

“Let them come. I have a message to give them.” I grit out, letting Regreee’s gasp of alarm fuel my internal fire. Justice will be served for my mate.

“You do not understand. I took up permanent residence outside their walls. They have contact with the Gilgamites. It is…wrong.” Talnag says, his voice betraying his worry.

“They tried to shoot me with their weapons the last time. They failed.” He is shaking his head before I finish speaking.

“You are not listening. They are not only hunting you. I’ve heard them speaking about it. They do not just want you. Now that they know she travels with you, they want your mate.” A snarl is ripped from me at his words. They will not touch her. I would rather die than let that happen.

“The humans will meet their ends if they try to take her.” My beast lends his voice to mine, each word dripping with a promise of pain.

“You are not listening! The humans do not want your mate. THEY want your mate.” He snarls, his own anger clashing with mine. For a moment I am taken aback, trying to process what he is saying. Regreee figures it out first.

“Oh my god. No.” She gasps out, falling into the doorjamb with her shock. My brain switches gears instantly and I am at her side in an instant.

“What is wrong?” I ask her, sniffing for an unseen injury. Her breathing is elevated, and her pupils are dilated with her fear. “Speak to me Regreee.” I demand, needing to fix what is wrong.

“The aliens.” Her fear makes the words almost imperceptible. Understanding hits me like a lightning bolt. I whirl around to face Talnag, disbelief warring with my anger.

“You lie! What do they want with us?” I demand, switching languages once more. He doesn’t do the same, answering me in English.

“My own mate lives among the humans. I have snuck into their holding many times. Among those times, I have heard disturbing conversations. The Gilgamites are using us as an experiment. A breeding experiment.” His words send a shiver down my spine. A niggling of knowledge makes me gasp, hoping that I am wrong.

“How can it be a breeding experiment with no females of our own kind?” I ask, hating that I can already guess the answer. It makes too much sense and yet none.

“Humans, as it turns out, are universal breeders.” He lets the statement hang between us. The ramifications of it are like a bomb having gone off.

“What the fuck does that even mean?” Regreee demands, ignoring my earlier command as she storms towards us, her anger overriding her fear.

“It means, little human, that your species is a coveted resource in the vast universe. Especially to dying species such as ours.” My ears feel hot as the truth of his words threaten to crush me. Mentally I log each species that was on the damned ship with us. I run through my limited knowledge of each of them. We all have one thing in common. Due to our natures, we are going extinct. Even the Memnar. Males outnumbered females 50 to 1.

“So, you are saying they destroyed Earth so that you guys could fuck us?” She demands, placing her little hands on her hips in a show of attitude that brings a smile to my face. Talnag tilts his head curiously, as if not expecting this show of bravery from her.

“Essentially. Even the little creatures were brought in case another species on Earth showed the same trait.” He nods his head a little off to the side of her and I turn to see Floofy crawling towards us. Her ever-present shadow.

“That doesn’t explain how we are being hunted.” She snaps, bringing us back to the issue at hand.

“In one of my many secret missions to the human compound, I overheard a few of the guards talking about their latest missive from the Gilgamites. They were to log any human that was seen forming a bond with one of the alien species. When they came back the other night, they reported that they had found their first bonded pair. You two. I started tracking you that night so that I might warn you.” A new fear to add to my growing list and most of them involve losing Regreee.

“What the hell! I bet those psychos are enjoying this! Fucking Sam and his hoard of bastards.” Regreee shouts, her hands flying to her hair to tug on it in agitation.

“I will deal with the humans.” I say, trying to comfort her. Talnag crushes that attempt with his next bomb.

“You have more to worry about than the humans.” His tone turns regretful, as if this might be worse than a sentient alien species wanting to take my mate from me in the name of science.

“What?” Regreee and I ask at the same time.

“While tracking you, I came across a group of Nagas. They were following your scent as well. Thankfully their sense of smell is terrible, and they weren’t following closely. I overheard them talking of revenge.” His opal eyes crinkle with regret. My beast wants to pummel him to the ground and rip out his throat for bringing this bad news, but the logical side knows I owe him for saving our lives. The mistrust of my beast can’t be completely ignored though.

“What is your motivation for telling us this?” I demand, needing to vent my frustration and anger in any way that I can. Regreee places a calming hand on my leg. Talnag’s expression closes off in an instant.

“Guilt mostly. You are taking the fall for being the first successful mate bond because I was a coward. My mate is human, and she is behind the damned walls. Your fate is mine. Your questions are my own. If I let your bond be threatened, then I would never feel safe with my own.” Talnag growls, a vibration rumbling out of him to shake the ground.