“Hey,” she said, trying to talk to him again, though she had no idea if he could understand her.“Hey, likeIsaid, it was nice of you to save me but nowIthink it’s time we went our separate ways.Imean, we can’t just?—”
The words died in her throat because he reached up and pulled down the mask.Heleaned towards her and for a moment, she wassurehe was going to bite her.Instead, he pressed his face to the side of her head and inhaled deeply.
When he pulled back, the gold in his eyes seemed a little brighter…a little less obscured by the milky film.Andhe uttered one low, rumbling word?—
“MINE.”
Then he bent down and wrapped one huge arm aroundCassie’sknees.Beforeshe could even protest, he swung her up over one broad shoulder like she was a sack of flour.
“Hey!”she cried breathlessly.“Hey!”
But the giantKindreddidn’t seem to hear.Hewas already moving—jogging along at a steady pace, weaving between the damaged and defunct vehicles withCassiebouncing on his shoulder, her long brown hair swirling in the wind as the breath was knocked out of her by his steady gait.
Her arm where theInfectedhad bitten her was stinging fiercely, but she barely noticed.Shewas too busy trying to figure a way out of this situation.
But no matter how she shouted and struggled and pounded on theKindredwarrior’s broad back with her fists, he seemed completely unaffected and she couldn’t get loose.Hisgrip on her thighs was too tight and also she was afraid to go completely crazy—what if he dropped her on her head?Hewas so tall it would be a long way to fall.
It seemed there was nothing she could do—he was taking her somewhere else and she couldn’t get free to stop him.
Cassie just prayed he wasn’t planning to eat her.
3
RAVIK
Smells good…smells right.Mine—must keep safe.Mustnot let go.Mine…my mate…MINE.
Such were the thoughts running throughRavik’sdiseased brain as he jogged through theDeadZoneterritory, making sure to keep a firm grip on the struggling female over his shoulder.
She was shouting something—something he was sure he ought to understand.Itseemed to him that mouth noises used to make sense.Theystill did sometimes, when they came fromSeverin.Whenhis partner spoke,Raviklistened and he could still understand him…most of the time.
But the human woman over his shoulder—he thought she was human anyway—was making noises that didn’t make sense to him.Heonly knew that she smelled right—smelled like a female who could be his mate—and so he had to take her.Hedidn’t remember much of the past or how he andSeverinhad gotten here or why they had come in the first place, but the scent of a female who could be a mate was undeniable.Andthere was something special about this one, too—something that drew him to her.
MatureElite.
The words flashed in his mind and were gone again before he could grasp them and find out what they meant.Heonly knew she was special and important and he had to keep her safe from theInfected, who roamed theDeadZone.
Several times on the way back to the bunker, anInfectedtried to get in his way—tried to take his woman.Ravikstrong-armed them out of the way, punching and shoving his way through and moving quickly to keep their grasping hands from latching onto his female.Heheard her scream in terror several times, but there was no note of pain in her tone, so he kept going.
At last, after looping around the territory to make sure none of theInfectedwere following, he came to the hidden entrance of theBunker.Therewas aloompatree standing to one side, its spreading purple branches hiding the steel panel.Ravikbrushed them away and stepped up to the ocular scanner.Hepressed the call button and waited.
After a moment, a green light came on and he heard a familiar voice.
“Ravik?Isthat you?Whatdo you have over your shoulder?”
Ravik put the struggling female down.Keepinga firm grip on her, he turned her so she was facing the hidden camera.Thenhe dug deep inside himself, trying to find the words.
“Wo-man,” he said at last.“Hu-man.Mate.”
“You spoke!”Severin’svoice sounded surprised.“Youhaven’t spoken for three solar months, at least!”
“Woman,”Ravikrepeated, more sure of himself this time.“Mine,” he added, for good measure.
“Well, we’ll just see whatshesays about that,”Severinremarked.
At that point, the human woman began making mouth noises again—this time she seemed to be speaking to the camera.
“Grabbed me…need help…fromEarth,” were a few of the words thatRavikactually caught.Hefrowned, trying to put them together.Theyalmostmade sense.Infact, his head felt less fuzzy than it had in weeks.Therewas something about the human woman—something about her scent that seemed to clear his mind.Helistened intently, hoping to find out more about her but she was speaking so rapidly now,Ravikcouldn’t follow.
