Page 12 of Born Savage

Not tonight.

Not when there was a more than decent chance either Borgata soldiers or a cackling crew of Night Dwellers was about to transcend on the six of us. Six. Six fucking huge ass Savages to take down one woman. I’d thought it ridiculous.

I’d been advised otherwise.

How long and how far had we traveled over rough, dangerous terrain to hunt this woman? Weeks of enduring birds the size of prehistoric creatures, lions weighing over two thousand pounds, and other animals forever altered into flesh-eating freaks of nature. Let alone the number of Dwellers we’d encountered and killed.

But here she was, much more talented in the act of battle than she’d been given credit for or that I’d believed.

The woman was fearless, capable in the art of fighting. She’d also managed to start a fire. How?

Wrath knew what I thinking, studying the smoldering embers. I’d heard of such skills, pyrokinetics rare.

A deep breath allowed the only indication that the woman felt anything but animosity and anger. She’d proven to be formidable already, cunning in her abilities in both knowing the safe zones within the city and her use of weapons.

The Savages behind me were tense, the noise from those we intended on executing as annoying as the standoff the woman was offering. She had no intention of backing down. For whatever reason, I took a deep whiff, which had been a small part of how we’d found her.

Her incredible scent.

Females carried a natural smell that transcended dirt and blood, sweat and urine. Warm. Intoxicating.

And highly addictive.

Perhaps I’d believed she’d cower in terror, yielding to us without a fight. I’d been very wrong. She stood with a smirk on her face, eager to engage in a fight. Her scent of arousal was all about besting her opponent.

It was rare to find one so capable, every action taken calculated. The way she’d slaughtered the group of Night Dwellers had been a joy to watch. She’d managed to slip away, which had delayed our arrival. Now it was obvious she wouldn’t be easy to handle.

I had my doubts we would have gotten this close if it hadn’t been for discovering her weakness.

She had a sense of humanity. Rescuing the child and the animal could have been her ultimate downfall.

Only we’d been tasked to ensure nothing happened to her.

And to take her to safety. The reason was still unclear, but I owed the people responsible for saving my life as well as several of my companions payment in return.

While I’d been told that she was special, I hadn’t anticipated either her ferocity or her beauty. I didn’t care about the reason we were here, the task we were given. We followed orders. That didn’t mean I wasn’t annoyed.

Something had stirred deep within me, a hunger I couldn’t understand.

She’d tried very hard to hide her femininity, her hair stuffed under a cap, nondescript clothing in black an attempt to disguise her figure. Given her height, only those close enough to see her features would even notice how young and vulnerable she was.

Strangely enough, it had been years since my sense of attraction had been activated. The scientist in charge of the project had told me desire was only to be used as a tool and not as pleasure.

Today, I was questioning his judgment as much as I was my own.

“You heard me,” she growled. “Get away or I will kill you.”

Vicious laughed, the sound carrying. Which she didn’t like.

She jerked away, almost stumbling in her effort to gain some distance between us. But instead of running, she reached behind her head, grabbing her sword. I’d watched her in action, admiring her level of skill. She’d been taught well, something we’d all been warned about.

Her innate hatred of Savages had also been proclaimed. Given the lengths most Savages had gone to just to survive and keep from being sent to the Exile Games, I couldn’t blame her.

We were different, but she didn’t know to what extent.

The woman was prepared to use the sword even though she was heinously outnumbered. I’d enjoy watching her attempt to escape if there wasn’t the issue of dealing with the danger from the other Savages, rogues more than soldiers. Yes, I understood why. Everything they’d been promised had been a lie, our kind left to face the fallout of a broken government who’d lost their way.

However, they’d picked on the wrong person to use for promised freedom, which wouldn’t come, only imprisonment after bringing her to the person responsible for hiring them in the first place.