Even though she barely knew this man, it wasn’t difficult for her to see him as the only thing that stood between her and a terrible fate. She didn’t understand what made him different from the others, but this wasn’t the time to dwell on it.
A whooping sound broke the silence, followed closely by the crash of a heavy body through the trees. She could not see anyone yet, but they had clearly been discovered.
And now they were being chased.
Castor picked up his pace, reaching a hand around to steady the girl who clung to his back. He made no further effort to conceal the noise of their flight, aware that several Alphas had already picked up her scent.
The Omega was no longer in heat, thank the gods, but she was unmated. Females were true a rarity in the Forbidden Zone and highly coveted. Many of these Alphas slaked their urges with each other but would tear this fragile female apart if given even the smallest opportunity.
And the thought of it made his blood boil, a sense of possessiveness over he barely recognized as his own emotion. He understood himself that he was prepared to protect this girl with his own life, for reasons he could not even explain to himself.
A clearing opened ahead, the cabin only a hundred yards away. When a snarl echoed through the air, Aura turned her head to look just as another male burst through the trees.
The Alpha’s face was barely recognizable as human, the scowl twisting his features more animal than man. His fingers bent into claws as he stalked toward them, shifting to run on all fours as he raced toward them.
They were an equal distance from the cabin as him, but the feral Alpha headed straight for them instead of attempting to block their path. That was all that saved them as Castor deftly sidestepped and reached the cabin door before the other Alpha could pivot to catch up.
Aura was shoved through the door and it was slammed shut in a blur of movement. Castor worked the heavy latches, securing the portal as the Alpha on the other side smashed against the wood repeatedly.
Castor pressed his back against the door and regarded her with a stormy expression. He waited to ensure that the door would hold before finally moving away from it and pressing her toward the pile of furs. The walls shook around them from the force of the creature outside heaving itself against the barrier.
“Stay,” he commanded, repeating the word she assumed was among his favorites.
Castor circled the room, methodically checking the latches on each shuttered window. He peered through the small view-holes in the wood as Aura silently watched him, too terrified to make a sound.
Finally, she gathered enough courage to speak.
“What are you looking for?”
He turned back to look at her, expression inscrutable. “More to come.”
Chapter Seven
The noises coming from outside of the cabin set Aura’s teeth on edge and her bones to shaking. Castor had calmly informed her in halting speech that half-a-dozen Alphas had surrounded the house, searching for a way inside.
He had not reassured her they were safe.
And she didn’t ask that question because she knew that he would tell her the truth.
The pile of furs she had so resentfully settled on before was now the only place she felt even remotely safe. Something about the smell of it and the configuration of how she had arranged each piece soothed her, even if she didn't know why.
She settled down into the concave space she had made for herself and tried not to listen to the sounds coming from just outside the door.
At first, Castor had described for her in detail what was happening out there. He wouldn't allow her to approach any of the gaps in the shuttered windows. The Alphas had grown tired of bodily attacking the cabin but still stalked outside, prying at the logs that made up the walls and pressing their noses against the small view-holes, trying to catch another whiff of her scent.
Some of them had turned on each other in sexual violence and at least one had been mounted by a larger male just outside the door. His screams were audible even when she pressed her palms over her ears.
But now Castor was silent and appeared to be ignoring her. He held a piece of complicated metal tubing in his hands and was shoving something into the hole at one end. There was a mechanism on the side that confused her, with a little loop of metal just large enough for his finger to fit through.
“What is that thing?” she asked when the silence became too much for her to stand it.
He looked up with a brief expression of confusion and she had to gesture to the contraption in his hands before he understood the question. When his mind was elsewhere, it became more difficult for him to parse her language.
“Gun.”
That wasn’t a word she had ever heard before, but trying to get him to explain just left her more confused. All she could pick out from his description was that he would point it at the men outside and that would somehow protect her. She understood the word for a projectile, but the rest was nonsense.
It was difficult to understand how a long cylinder of metal would do anything to keep her safe. Aura just waved him away when he tried to explain further.
But Castor continued to watch her as the gun rested across his lap as if he’d been reminded of the gulf that separated them.
“Come here,” he said.
Aura hesitated to leave the safety of the furs, even as she recognized that thought was entirely irrational. She wanted to hide her head like a child afraid of the dark, burrowing deep into their bedding at night. There was nothing about the small sleep space that would protect her from harm, but still, she didn’t want to leave it.
Castor’s gaze grew stormy. His eyes narrowed and a soft growl escaped his lips. That was enough to send her stumbling to her feet, kicking furs up as she went. She noted with regret that her movement had disturbed the pleasing arrangement of the furs, before approaching the dangerously still Alpha on the other side of the room.
He obviously wasn’t a man who appreciated having to repeat himself.
She came to stand between his spread knees, watching him cautiously. It made her nervous to be so close to the barred window, although Castor appeared undisturbed. He rose from the chair he had been sitting in and shifted to stand behind her.
Castor hefted the metal contraption in front of her, forcing her to take hold as he supported most of the weight. The thing was heavier than it looked. One end of the tube rested on the edge of the view-hole and he made it clear with gestures that she should always keep that end facing away from herself.
When he held her hand to wrap her fingers around the mechanism on the underside, a thrill ran through her. Even with only a wooden wall separating her from death and despite the inherent danger of their situation, her body still responded to his touch.
But he wasn't concerned with that, at least not at that moment. Instead, Castor showed her how to hold the gun so that the recoil would not kick the stock back into her pretty face.
With a nod of his head, he indicated a man who crouched along the tree line. Then his hand squeezed hers, forcing the small piece of metal under her finger to snap back.
The bang surprised a yelp from her. It was loud enough to startle even the rabid Alphas outside. She watched in shocked surprise as one of them slowly fell, blood spurting from the small hole in the center of his chest and spreading like a crimson stain beneath his fallen body.
Aura shoved the thing away with a sound of disgust and scuttled back from the window. She understood now that this gun was a weapon of destruction and she didn’t want to be anywhere near it.
Castor seemed unbothered by her distress and calmly loaded more material in the metal cylinder, creating another projectile to launch at the men outside. She understood that those Alphas out there would kill her if they could but she had little stomach for violence, already a queasy feeling grew in the pit of her stomach.
He gestured for her to come closer again.
Aura shook her head, violently enough to make the room
spin. “I don’t want to touch it.”
“Must learn,” he snapped. “Kill them or they kill us.”
“We didn’t have anything like this on the station.”
“No gun in space, could pierce wall.”
He was too right. This thing could blow a hole in the side of the station that would suck all the oxygen out with it. She was thankful such things did not exist in her home.
And thoughts of home immediately took her mind to a dark place. Auntie Nona and the twins were still up there somewhere with no knowledge of what had happened to her. Aura couldn’t imagine that the Sotiri had provided any assurances to her family, if they even realized that she still lived.
No one could know that she was now trapped in a cabin on an alien planet with sure death waiting just outside the door. And the only man willing to protect her held a weapon in his hand with an expectant look on his face, as if he couldn’t imagine why she’d be unwilling to use it.
“I don’t want to,” she said, voice small.
Castor regarded her for a long moment. She could see several emotions pass over his stormy blue eyes but his expression remained inscrutable. Finally, he seemed to come to some decision. He turned back to the window and lifted the weapon up to sight down the barrel.
“Stay back.”
Aura did not need to be told that twice and retreated to the pile of furs, content to sink into the soft mound. She jumped each time that a shot rang out, but remained huddled on the floor in the makeshift sleep space, covering her ears until he moved to reload again.
Castor didn’t seem bothered by the dirty business and she could only imagine what he had needed to do in the time he had been out here. Not that she knew how long he had been out here. And if she were honest with herself, Aura was afraid to ask. If he had not managed to escape then what fate awaited her?
“Is there enough of those for all of them?”
Castor picked up one of the little silver balls that sat next to him. “Three bullet more.”
Aura understood that was the word for those projectiles, even if she hadn't ever heard it before. She was just thankful that he could speak in at least this rudimentary way. “How many Alphas are still out there?”
“More than three.”
She waited for him to say more but Castor’s attention had returned to the window and the Alphas outside. It was difficult for her to understand how he had no apparent fear while she quivered in the furs like a child. Embarrassment followed at the thought of how her behavior must look to him.
Steeling herself, Aura rose slightly and let the fur slip off her shoulders. The view-hole was too far away for her to see through it from here, but she made a show of bravery as she crawled to the edge of her furs and craned her head. “How many?”
“See five, maybe more in trees.”
Her heart skittered in her chest, but Aura forced herself not to balk. “Will they eventually go away?”
“No. Have your scent now.”
Castor’s voice remained calm, but his own nostrils flared as if the thought of these other Alphas scenting her made him angry.
Her hands clenched into tight fists but Aura forced her arms to remain at her sides. “What will we do?”
He turned away from the window and set the weapon down so it leaned against his chair. “Some will die from frenzy. Wait until morning to see.”
See what? She wanted to ask but resisted the urge. Because if he did not have enough of those little balls to kill the men out there or chase them away, then the only other option would be to try to run. He couldn’t have enough food in this cabin to last more than a few days, especially with her here with him.
And she didn't want to contemplate what it would mean to go outside, particularly if the only other alternative was to starve.
As if thinking it created a direct line to her stomach, her belly growled loudly enough to echo off of the walls of the cabin. She looked at her hands in sudden embarrassment as Castor glared down at her.
“You eat.”
He rose from the chair and fetched two more wrapped bundles from the chest before striding across the room to drop one on her lap. He returned to his sentry position by the window with the other in his hands.
Aura unwrapped the cloth with trembling fingers and a hunk of dried meat fell into her hands. It was probably too much to ask for freshly cooked meat, but at least he was keeping her fed.
A companionable silence descended for some time as they ate. She knew that he watched her although he made some effort to hide it. But Aura found herself casting surreptitious glances his way only to find him staring at her. Each time their eyes met, she felt a spark work its way down her spine and then flare to life in her belly.
She didn’t understand what was happening between them. He wasn’t her captor exactly, but she felt forced into proximity with him and that closeness made her uncomfortable. Not to mention that every time she looked at him, it forcibly reminded her of everything he had done to her body. And how much she had liked it.
And she wanted to know more about this man who was different from any she had encountered before, and entirely different from any of the other creatures who inhabited this strange place. What manner of man was he?
“How did you come to be here?” Aura asked, surprising even herself with her boldness.
Castor did not respond or even look up from the meat he was tearing into pieces. She knew he had heard her speak, but he seemed to consider whether to respond.
So she waited in agonizing silence, recognizing that she walked a very taut line.
“Crash. Weeks ago.”
He had only been here for weeks? Perhaps that was why he was so different from the others she had encountered who seemed to only want to tear her apart, their gazes lit with violence and aggression.
Although he had fucked her like he had every right to do it.
With a shiver, Aura pushed that thought away. She didn’t want to acknowledge her own culpability in their current situation. Her body had welcomed him more times than she cared to count and she hadn’t yet spent enough time in her own head to figure out why. The Sotiri had done something to her, that much was clear. And perhaps they had done something to the men here that would explain their bizarre behavior. There was no point to guessing and only one person in the room might have the answers to her questions.
“I want to know what’s going on here.” Aura steeled herself against the glare he leveled at her, forcing herself to continue. “Who are you? What is this place?”
Narrowed eyes landed on her from across the room, Castor obviously preferred her to be silent. But his regard was not completely repressive as a slight bit of curiosity burned behind his gaze.
“You more awake now.”
She looked at him in confusion. “Awake?”
“Alert.” He tore off a piece of meat with a grunt and shoved it into his mouth. “You ask questions.”
He didn’t say it like the observation pleased him. “Will you answer them?”
“Not in heat now. Does not mean you understand.”
Perhaps he was too primitive to know what had happened to them either. This man was probably just another victim of the Sotiri. “Maybe you don’t know anything, either. You certainly speak like someone with little knowledge.”
A dangerous glower descended over his features and she immediately regretted the biting words. This man could be just as dangerous to her as the ones outside. And there was no wall separating them.
“I’m sorry,” she blurted, but it was too late.
He rose like an uncoiling snake to tower over her. At his full height, he seemed impossibly tall from where she sat huddled in the furs. Each step he took toward her sent another thrill of fearful anticipation through her thudding heart.
But he didn’t fall on her like one of the ravening beasts outside. Instead, he knelt on the floor just outside of the circle of furs and glared down at her, expression dark. Even though she expected violence, the h
and that rose to brush a coiled hank of hair back from her face was gentle.
But his words were as sharp as the bite of a pit viper.
“Lie down.”
Chapter Eight
The low growl that slipped from between his clenched teeth was outside of his control. But this little slip of a girl incited all of the involuntary reactions he had thought he mastered a long time ago.
He was not an Alpha without control. His subjects understood him to be a man of the greatest restraint, honorable in a world filled with corruption. But now he was a prince without a throne and trapped in a place where only his instincts ensured his survival.
And now the gods had sent him one more challenge to test his discipline.
Castor wanted to tell the insolent girl that her language was one of many he had studied at the Academy, polyglotism was required for the role his father had assigned him as a diplomat. Any hesitation in his speech was a matter of disuse, not ignorance. He wanted to ensure that she understood who it was that she spoke to like he was a bug beneath her shoe.
And most of all he wanted to fuck her into complete submission.
He hated that she had aroused these base urges in him, urges that he had spent a lifetime mastering.
But at the moment, he consoled himself with her fear. The spicy hint mixed with her natural scent wafted into his nostrils like the sweetest perfume. Of its own volition, his hand rose to glide along her bare thigh. One fur wrapped around her shoulders and was tied at the waist with cord, but it provided little in the way of a barrier against his searching fingers.
He felt compelled to touch her. The fever of her estrous had faded but he still felt heat bloom along her skin as she responded to his touch. She stared up at him with wide fear-filled eyes, but she could not stop the little gasping sounds that fell from her lips as his hand continued its path upward.
The small thatch of fur between her thighs was already damp with evidence of her arousal. His fingers tangled in the curled hair as he spoke. The words were spoken with deadly calm, but inwardly his mind seethed.
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