Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN

At some point in the journey, I fell asleep against Drohako's back. There's something soothing about Grasyi's feet padding on the dusty ground.

My eyes flutter open, only to be met with a landscape that falls far short of the wild, untamed beauty I was expecting.

"Drohako," I whisper as he guides the cat to round the corner of a very austere looking building. "Where are we?"

In the dim light of the night, my eyes wander, taking in our surroundings. The towering structure in front of us casts a shadow that obscures the moon's gentle glow.

"Quiet, we're at the nesting grounds." He slips a hand quickly over my mouth as I gasp.

The nesting grounds? Isn ' t this the one fucking spot he doesn ' t want to be?

"We need a nesting pod. Our child won't survive for long without one," he tells me, all while keeping his hand clamped tightly over my lips. "I should have secured one earlier, but your cunt has obviously drained all the blood from my brain."

Frustrated, I sink my teeth into his rough, calloused fingers with all my might .

Drohako, unaffected by my efforts, rolls his eyes, but releases his hand all the same.

"Why didn't you tell me we were coming here?" I whisper, annoyed.

"Because I can handle this. It's a quick stop, we'll be gone before long." He says with some macho posturing that pisses me off.

"We're a team asshole," I mutter. "You tell me the plan, always."

I keep my scowl even as he dismounts the big cat and lifts me off his back like a doll.

"Fine," the brute agrees.

"So let's go in there and get the damn pod and then get the hell out of Dodge, yeah?"

I tighten the knot on my pants, cursing the fact that my attire is far from practical. What I wouldn't give for some fucking leggings right about now.

"Informing you of the plan is a much different request than including you in it." His lip curls back in disbelief, as though he can't fathom that I'm requesting to accompany him.

"So you're just going to leave me out here? That doesn't seem any safer!"

As I cross my arms and pout, he reaches for a dagger on his hip, carefully transferring it into my hands.

"I don't even know how to use a knife," I complain.

A look of surprise crosses his face as his eyebrows shoot up.

"Put the blade into any soft spot you can reach. Don't talk your way out of a confrontation, I know that mouth of yours. You go for your opponent's eyes, groin, throat. Inflict as much damage as you can and when we're safe at the hunting cave, I'll teach you the proper way to wield a blade." He seems overly confident in my skills. "And Grasyi will rip the throat out of an attacker well before you even realize their presence."

I feel the presence of the enormous feline behind me, its claws tugging at the fabric of my pant leg, dragging me toward the ground. Once I'm seated, he wraps his body around me, resting his enormous head on my lap.

"I don't like this." I scowl up at Drohako. "Hurry, be safe, don't do anything stupid."

"You worry about me for nothing. I am the strongest in my clan," he says as he saunters toward a door at the far side of the wall. With a forceful swing of his sturdy leg, he kicks the door so hard that it almost breaks off its hinges.

"Don't be a dick, don't show-off—you have to come back to me, to us ," I whisper, placing a gentle hand on my stomach.

The heaviness of my words lingers in the air. Deep within me, a tiny life is growing. In this moment, I need Drohako to understand the gravity of his actions, to realize that his choices not only affect him but the future within me.

In a momentary lapse, Drohako's haughty demeanor falters, and a flicker of fear crosses his face.

Just as quickly as it faltered, the mask slides back up.

"You have my word. Now stay put." He jabs his pointer finger in the air at me.

I listen for once. Staying put, I trace the stripes on Grasyi's head with my fingernails as he purrs. I count his whiskers and once I've done that three times in a row, it doesn't do much do calm my anxiety. I lift his hulking head as the cat grumbles and shift the direction my legs are going. The adjustment just leaves my thigh full of pins and needles, and I try to flex my foot to get the blood pumping again.

Annoyed by my incessant squirming, Grasyi places a heavy paw on my leg, demanding stillness.

"You're a moose." I shove his leg to the side.

Petting his yellow fur, I continue to wait, my eyes locked on the open door.

But with all this waiting comes thoughts, and bad ones. This plan doesn't seem well thought-out. It seems really risky. Why wouldn't we wait to do this?

A ball forms in the pit of my stomach.

What if Drohako doesn ' t come back?

I have little time to spiral into my own thoughts as a bright flash and heat pours out of the door.

My breath catches in my throat as a charred Drohako comes flying through the doorway, arms wrapped tightly around some kind of plastic pod.

His body hits the ground with a crack, and I can actually hear the wind knocked from his chest.

Grasyi scrambles to stand, his claw pushing deeply into my skin. The rush of adrenaline as I hurry to Drohako's side masks the pain, making it feel dull and distant.

As I roll him onto his side, his eyes remain closed, giving no hint of his consciousness.

"Drohako!" I thwack him hard on the back.

His eyes shoot open as he's gasping for breath. When his gaze locka with mine, he coughs and sweeps me into his arms. As he gets his legs underneath him, he wobbles unsteadily. But with each bounding leap, his confidence surges.

"What the fuck happened?" I yelp as he throws me over Grasyi's back, stuffing the egg-shaped device into the rucksack on the cat's hips.

He swings his own leg over, mounting the beast. With a kick to its ribs, we're off like a shot. The surrounding darkness grows as we ride into the night.

As we gallop into the darkness, I can hear the raised voices and the clank of boots. They're after us, but compared to the feline, they're too slow to catch us.

"Complications." Drohako kicks again, and Grasyi pushes us even faster into the night.

"Complications caused a fucking explosion?" I demand an answer from him, turning my body as much as I can to get a better look at him as we ride.

Noticing my struggle, he quickly intervenes and flips me around. Now, facing him, my legs intertwine with his as I straddle both the cat and the alien.

"I have the nesting pod. It shouldn't matter how it was obtained," he grunts out.

I'm ready to yell at him again, to give him a piece of my mind, but as I brace my hand against his side, I feel wetness. When I pull my hand back, it's covered with his black blood.

"You're hurt!" I squeak, quickly putting my hand back to apply pressure to his wound.

"It is nothing." He blinks rapidly as the dust from the cat's paws flies into the air.

I jab a finger close to the wound. I shouldn't—it's cruel. His body recoils at my touch.

"Nothing?" I parrot back to him. "You get us to that cave as fast as you can!" I tell him before wrapping my other arm around his torso and burying my face against his wooly chest.

"I thought you didn't know how to stab," he winces as I reapply pressure.

"Shut up," I say as tear fall from my eyes.

I ' m angry, so why the fuck am I crying?

What started as a casual arrangement for rough sex has grown into a connection that goes beyond physical intimacy. I haven't wanted to admit it before, but the constant knot in my stomach and the racing thoughts are forcing me to confront the undeniable fear of losing him.

You know what this emotion is.

"I love you, idiot."

"You're a warrior, whether you admit it or not," he says, putting his free arm around my waist.