Cannons go off. He is far taller than I am, dressed in black armor, and growls softly as he tackles me, forming his body around mine like a shield.
Like he thought that was a grenade blast.
Whoever he is, he’s been in battle, and his instinct was to put my life first.
He looks me over with hunger and pulls me against him. My instincts make me tense and push away. He’s too close to the Myndrous that chased Radar and me, raked open my shoulder, and hunted us for two days.
The Mindoran has canines that protrude from his mouth, even though his lips are pursed as he studies me. He might have a perfect body, with shoulders that stretch his armor and broadplanes of muscle, but he has deep scars that tell me he’s not a pretty boy looking to post me as his claim of the day for his social media followers. No, this Mindoran has seen some shit.
Exhaustion slams into me like a heartless fall from a cliff. I’ve lost the million, and an abnormally large Shifter has claimed me. I had hoped for a Nytheralian or Alustri, someone more…normal.
Not an animal.
A tear breaks free from my eyes. Then another. I try to hide them, but he lifts my chin, studies the wet streaks, and leans in close. His hot breath falls over my cheek.
Panic frays my nerves. I’ve felt warm breath on my neck before, from the Myndrous.Please don’t eat me!
Hot, wet velvet glides over my skin as he licks the tears away. Then he moves to the other side of my face and does the same.
It takes a few moments for him to finish cleaning my face to his satisfaction, and for me to come to grips with the fact that he’snotgoing to hurt me.
Chill out, Tessi. He’s here because he wants a mate. Mindor is an allied world.But looking up and seeing a wolf dude peering down at me is too close to the nightmares that have haunted me for months.
He won’t stop licking me.
My captor sniffs my neck, then licks it and returns to my face. He inhales a breath near my mouth, then licks my cheek again to the point where it’s starting to tickle.
“Okay, okay. I’m fine. Thanks for…uh…not letting me die.”
His jaw cocks like he’s chewing on something when he bashfully looks away. The other couples begin heading for the Mingle Celebration below. Then, without warning, he gets up, hauls me up, and folds me over his shoulder.
I gasp in disorientation and try to steady myself on his muscled back as the lights dim over the race grounds to simulatenight. He hums a low note, stops on a lower landing, and inhales deeply. The Mindoran adjusts his grip on my body. Claws nip at my hips.
Or was that his teeth?I can’t be sure. But it sends an unexpected tingle of interest through my belly.
A part of me wonders if he’s going to try and take me now.Mindorans are known for claiming their mates in front of the pack.
I’ve got to break the ice somehow, or I may never know what he is planning to do to me. In my intergalactic communications class in college, they taught us to offer inconsequential information as a gesture of trust and openness. “Hi. Uh…I’m Tessi.”
I want to say more but I’m struggling to decide what to tell him.
He stops on a landing, slides me over his shoulder, and down his front, but doesn’t let my feet touch the ground like somehow if he does, he’ll lose me.
“Zorrrrrin.” He grimaces and shakes his head. His teeth retract a little more until he almost looks human. “Sorry about that. My Shifter took control when he caught your scent.”
He squirms and stretches his neck, fighting back a ripple of fur through his skin. His eyes find mine again, and I realize his irises aren’t quite human. They’re almost like cats’ but shaped more like four-point stars.
“My brother, my nephew, and me… That’s all that’s left of our pack.” He clutches me tighter until the contours of his body dig into mine, and I get a sense of just howhardhe is. A growl overlays his voice. “We want you. But we must know if your pack will let you be with us.”
“Us?” I get it the moment I ask.He must mean him and his Shifter. Or maybe his family?
“I just have a dog, Radar. We’re all that’s left of my family…pack. He’s three years old. ABR has him in a special room while I’m out here with you. We were scavengers, hunted through shipwrecks for parts to sell.”
He cocks his head. “A dog? That is one of those small wolves that doesn’t shift, right?”
I snort a laugh. “Do you not have dogs on Mindor?”
“Uh, no.” He grimaces. “Only our pups remain in Shifter form, usually until they are around two. Then they stand upright until puberty, when the Shift happens again. Or something traumatic pulls it out of us before then.”
