Mate Her (Warriors of Hades 2)

Running.

The Razzora Beast chasing her. Pain from the quill in her neck. All of that came rushing back to her, but she kept still, kept quiet, and tried to slow her breathing.

Obviously, she wasn’t dead, or at least she assumed she wasn’t, but she didn’t feel sick or tired, and nothing on her hurt. Surely she would be in some serious pain if she had survived that Razzora chase.

Pushing up on her elbows, she glanced down at the small tube in her arm, followed that to the machine that was attached to a system above her, and then glanced around the rest of the room. She was clearly on some kind of ship, and knew that because of all the metal and technology that surrounded her.

She also knew she was on a spacecraft because of the familiar hum in the room. There was a table beside her, and it was dark, smooth, and made up of this shiny onyx kind of stone. It was empty, but there was a tube similar to the one in her arm that sat on top of it.

“You’re up.” The deep male voice came from beside her.

Minka turned around swiftly, her head feeling slightly dizzy from the jarring movement. She gripped onto the table and stared at this man—no, this monster—who stood just a few feet from her. He leaned against the entryway, his arms crossed over his bare chest, and stared at her as if he was trying to figure her out.

She still wore her ratty clothes and knew she was dirty as hell, but this alien looked upon her as if he wanted to devour every inch of her.

“Where am I?” Her throat was so dry, her palms sweaty, her heart beating a fast rhythm.

“On our ship,” he said evenly, but he didn’t move closer. For that, she was so thankful.

She looked around again and then faced her alien savior—or abductor—once more. Licking her lips, she nodded slowly, trying to decide how to best proceed. On the one hand, this male clearly saved her life. She remembered falling to the ground, and then everything had gone black.

That Razzora Beast was right on her heels, but somehow, by some miracle, this man had come to her rescue. But what did he want in return for keeping her safe and clearly mending her back to health?

He moved away from the entryway and over to the contraption that displayed this weird language full of symbols, shapes, and flashing lights. It was the machine she was currently hooked up to, and her heart started working overtime as she watched him punch in some commands.

But she didn’t know what she expected him to do. Hurt her after saving her? Make her some kind of slave to his people? She had seen many aliens while onboard that auction cargo ship, but she had never seen this demon-looking breed. His body itself was frightening just in the height and muscle mass.

He was easily seven feet tall, and even though she was five-foot-eight in human height, which was above average for her species, this man made her look tiny and childlike. His red-tinted skin also cemented the thought that he resembled one of the demon species that lived on the hotter planets in the galaxy. His back was massive and broad, with muscles that were layered and bunched beneath each other. But it was the dark wing tattoos that covered the entire space of his red back that had her transfixed.

Was that just a marking of his kind, or did wings come out of his muscular flesh? She knew many breeds had the ability to transform their shapes, whether it be turning into horrid-looking beasts, having extra deadly limbs, or even having wings sprout from their bodies.

“How do you feel?” he asked and then turned around. His chest had these strange lines over his pectoral muscles. Maybe war wounds, or war markings of his victories? His eyes were the same dark, cold blackness that matched his short black hair and the ink on his back. And then there were the deadly-looking claws that tipped his fingers, ones that looked like they could tear her apart with no effort.

God, she was here sizing him up and had no clue what he wanted with her. “I’m fine,” she said softly.

He nodded once and went back to crossing his arms over his chest. He kept his stare on her, as if it was some kind of tether to her and couldn’t break it. “I can see the nutrients Thorque gave you are already putting some meat on your bones.”

She knitted her brows and glanced down, only to see that her belly wasn’t as concave as it had been, her ribs were not protruding as much as they were earlier, and that she didn’t have that gnawing hunger in the pit of her stomach.