He hated being around the mines. The equipment was too loud, not only hurting his ears but upsetting his balance with the intense vibrations they sent out. That wasn’t even taking into consideration the horrible smell of the place. Wrinkling his nose, he crouched down next to the massive tracks that were left near the humongous drill that had been completely destroyed. He turned his head and gave the machinery another curious glance.
He hissed. What destructive power!
“I wish I knew what this creature looked like. I am having a difficult time imagining it!” he shouted out to his pack brother. “It must be enormous. The drill is solid, and it still snapped apart like a pup’s teething toy.”
“This is definitely something different… You are right: the tracks this creature left are massive. It is unlike anything I have ever seen,” Bilax said from the other side, a good distance spanning between them. The male’s ears were laid back with concern. Bilax ran a hand over one of many deep pits that looked as if giant spikes had been driven into the soil on either side of what appeared to be a track left by a round body sliding against the ground, carving a wide, deep rut into the soft yellow earth.
“I suppose that it is too much to hope that these pits are just holes from burrowing animals?”
Bilax snorted. “Wishful thinking. It is too uniform along the length of the main track.”
Tanji sighed. “I figured as much. They look deep. Anything that plunges any part of its body into the ground that deep is bound to give me nightmares.”
“Maybe our queen is right, and it will eat you,” Bilax said as he bent to scrape up some material into a tube. “Stop wasting time.”
Grinning, Tanji braced his legs and dug down to the full depth of the pit to the point that it ended. Brushing the dirt off himself, he eyed it with concern, taking several rapid image-captures with his comm before lifting it to hail their alpha. Exeri’s face appeared, barely visible in the darkness that surrounded him deep in the mine.
“Anything?” the male growled.
“Yes, on the south side of the mine, they were starting a new tunnel. There is another piece of broken machinery there, away from the security cams. We are lucky that it left a track in the broken topsoil. Bad news is—I think this thing is a lot worse than we assumed. Sending you the images now.”
Exeri frowned and fell silent as he looked over the data. “Have you checked the depth of the strike holes?”
“Yes. The depth of these strikes is incredible. Easily four times the length of my arm. There are dozens of such holes around the main rut where it seems to drag a portion of its body against the ground. My guess is that it has long, narrow legs to move its body around—and at high speeds, given what we’ve seen on the vid. Though it drags a part of its body on the ground, it must not be of significant weight since the moment it got into the brush, all signs of its passage disappeared.”
“This is very concerning,” Exeri said.
“Tanji, over here,” Bilax interrupted with a low growl.
Hopping over the track, Tanji joined his pack brother. “What is it?”
The male gesture to the equipment, his expression grave. “Look at the drill… Does that look like a bite mark to you?”
“Impossible… What could bite through metal? It’s definitely teeth marks, though. The puncture marks are clear. Whatever this creature is, it tore into the drill like our queen ravaged the little Ontang chocolates you made her. I wonder if our pups will inherit that from her,” he said, trying to lighten the mood.
“Silence, Tanji,” Bilax hissed.
From somewhere among the stillness surrounding them, metal creaked and fell, the sound deafening.
“Time to clear out,” Exeri snarled. “Collect whatever additional data you can find. The mine is empty. Whatever it is, it’s not coming from here or attracted to the mine itself. Judging by the size you are reporting and the direct damage to the equipment, we need to report this to Danya. We need to get a team sent down.”
Chapter 23
Gods, the sun felt good. Hayley smiled as she lay on the grass. After the stress of the day, it felt great to be outside enjoying some sunshine with the pack. Never mind that she was also taking full advantage of the chocolate bars Bilax made for her. She nibbled on a square as she looked at the males stretched out around her in the grass outside of their dwelling. She had thought it would be a good way for them to unwind together, but it didn’t seem to be helping.
The males were anxious. She could feel it coming off them in waves. Their report to the overseer at the Megaraisi Corporation hadn’t gone well. That was too generous—the asshole was less than helpful. She couldn’t understand why they weren’t sending reinforcements—like the entire fucking Intergalactic Fleet as far as she was concerned. Although the Simah hadn’t managed to get more than a basic shape from the security vid, the creature was obviously so enormous that even an Arobi pack going head to head with it alone could be practically suicidal.
Plucking a wildflower from the grass beside her, she glanced over at Exeri sprawled nearest to her left. “What are you going to do?”
A long, rattling sigh echoed out of his large chest. “I do not know. We need assistance, but we will not get it from the corporation. They refuse to spend any more credits on this zone than what they are already paying out in our salary. We are expected to handle it.”
“It’s bullshit,” she muttered as she stared up at the clouds rolling above them.
“What are we supposed to be doing again?” Tanji called over from where he lay, his head turned toward her, one ear tilted at a lopsided angle as he grinned upside-down at her.
“Hunting clouds,” Bilax grumbled unenthusiastically.
“We’re relaxing,” Hayley clarified, rolling her eyes. “Part of the fun here is to see what kind of shapes there are in the clouds… Like that one there looks like a rabbit.”
Simah cocked his head. “It looks more like a magrak, an impressive beast from Mora Two. See how the tiny peaks in the clouds form its dripping fangs, and it has two giant horns on its head?”
The entire pack hummed in agreement, and Hayley sighed.
No shared references? Check.
Glancing over at Exeri, she noted that he wasn’t even looking at the clouds but instead he was glaring at the nearby mountains as if suspecting the creature to come barreling down from them at any moment. He was not relaxing. If anything, lying out in the grass seemed to be making him even tenser.
Tanji rolled onto his belly and lifted his brows at her. “How long do we want to lie in the grass? It looks like the linsek beetles are out and…”
“What kind of beetles?” she asked.
“Linsek. Nasty little biting insects about the length of your hand in size… as I was saying, there is one starting to bite on my tail.”
He whipped his tail up, and about a foot up its length was an enormous iridescent emerald beetle with a wedge-shaped head sporting several horny protrusions. Hayley squeaked as it swung dangerously close to her, but Simah snapped around to grab the tail before the insect had the opportunity to drop on her. He yanked the beetle off, making Tanji yelp as a dark scale came off with it, and threw it as far as he could back into the grass.
Hayley scuttled off the ground, already checking her body for bugs. “Please tell me I don’t have one of those mutant bastards hanging off me anywhere!”
Bilax pushed up to his feet and checked her over as Tanji glared at Simah. The male ignored him as he turned to Hayley with an apologetic look. “I know that you wished to do something amusing as a pack, but perhaps we can walk a bit rather than lie in place like a blood offering? Or go back inside if you would like to lounge?”
Nodding, she looked to Bilax. “I’m good, right?”
“You are good,” he soothed. He shot Tanji a disgruntled look. “You, however, could have found a better way to suggest a change of location instead of waving around the beetle. If it had fallen on our queen and bitten her, I would have ma
de sure to bite you for every mark she suffered.”
Tanji’s eyes widened at the threat, but Hayley caught the mischievous sparkle in their crimson depths. “I would much prefer it if our queen bit me. In fact, I would take great pleasure in it,” he rumbled. “If that were the promised retribution, I will go hunt another one and toss it down her shirt in hopes that she would bite me in the exact same places and let my tongue soothe the stings from her own skin.”
The male’s expression was so eager that Bilax growled and Exeri stiffened at the suggestion. They looked about ready to clobber him. Even Simah looked at him in horror.
“Tanji…” Simah began.
Hayley burst out laughing. “I bet you’d like that, wouldn’t you?” she chortled as she flapped her skirt to double-check that nothing clung to her. She didn’t miss how the attention of all four males converged on her briefly exposed upper thighs. Blushing, she dropped her skirt and waited expectantly for them to react. All four of the males seemed pained as they looked away, but Tanji was the one who sighed openly, earning him glares once more from his pack, which made Hayley laugh again.
“All right. Let’s go in. I think big ass bugs kind of killed the whole lounging around outdoors thing for me,” she said with a wistful sigh.
Exeri smiled as he took her small hand in his large one. “It is not so terrible out here. Next time, however, we walk or do something that does not involve lying where the linsek beetles hunt.”
Hayley offered him a grateful smile. “I was just hoping that with all the shit going on we could just relax and enjoy each other’s company for a bit. I didn’t mean for it to turn into this huge fiasco. Now what should we do with the rest of our day?”
“We could play cards?” Simah suggested.
“Slapjack?” Bilax asked with interest, but Simah scowled at him.
“We could watch The Truth About Cats and Dogs,” Tanji said. “I saw a short advertisement for it. It is an older vid from Earth, but it looks delightful. It is all about mistaken identities and love that persists despite everyone’s expectations.” He smiled at Hayley. “Besides, I think I would enjoy a cat,” he added.
“I’m trying to imagine you with a cat but am having a hard time seeing it. You’re not exactly the mellow sort,” she snorted.
“Looks can be deceiving. I can lie and bask in your lap all day if you would but rub my tummy,” he said hopefully.
“Not only are you the biggest flirt, but that’s the worst line I’ve ever heard,” she said, laughing. Glancing over at Exeri, she nudged him a little. “What would you like to do, big guy?”
He hesitated, his eyes roving over his brothers before fixing on her with a certain amount of heat that made her toes curl. “Whatever allows me to lie closest to you,” he said quietly.
Swallowing thickly, she nodded. When she was later curled up between Tanji and Exeri, their big bodies pressing close to hers as they watched the vid, the idea of getting a “little closer” was all the more appealing.
Unfortunately, the males did nothing, despite Tanji’s teasing words. Hayley knew she could have initiated something, but she was too embarrassed to make the first move. Instead, she sat through the vid, her body wound tight with frustrated need. She knew that they scented it too from the tension in their muscles and the way their glowing eyes turned to her, but no one made a move on her.
That was disappointing. She tried to tell herself that she didn’t mind, but a small part of her mind called her out on it—the little traitor. She yearned for things to move to the next level… but how was she going to be able to communicate her need in a way that didn’t make her either want to die of embarrassment or commit herself in a way she was not ready for?
Damn it!
Chapter 24
Exeri stepped through the garden, his clawed feet leaving soft impressions in the damp ground as he scanned his flowers. His loathing for his employer beat heavy in his breast even as he tried to embrace the calm serenity of the garden. He had swallowed his pride and called again to ask for reinforcements, only to be denied. Whatever this creature was, he was worried about the safety of their queen while it was roaming so close.
His thoughts drifted to their female, currently sleeping peacefully in her bed, as he took a deep breath and considered his garden. He loved his flowers, and each one of them belonged to the greatest treasure in his life: Hayley. He hadn’t imagined just how important she would be, that she would become the very center of his world.
It was only right that his gardens be a tribute to her.
Until he had her, all he had was his garden to keep him going. After so much ugliness in his life, his garden had been his one source of peace since arriving on Antari Minor with their territory deed. Much in the way that Bilax had his culinary creations, Exeri had his garden. And never did his garden shine more than in the early morning. It had become his favorite time of the day—the early morning hours when the sun just crested the horizons and the world was still damp with dew—in which to find solace among the blooms that he nurtured. The nearby mountains still curled with mist.
Antari Minor was a hard, unforgiving planet, but it was beautiful. It was the perfect place for his pack, for them to heal and start over. He needed to let go of the anger that had been burned into his very soul, as did Bilax. The young fighter had been thrown in his kennel with him when neither of them tolerated other males. They had fought, nearly tried to kill each other in fact, and only when they were both worn down and bleeding did they finally manage to tolerate being kenneled together. Over time, that changed to friendship, and when Simah had been tossed to them, they accepted him as part of their pack.
He should have known that the master would have had something in mind to make them a rounded-out pack. They were well into a suitable age to stud. The introduction of Tanji had sealed their fate. Though the newest of their pack was placed in their kennel because he refused to stud, Exeri had known that it would not have stopped their master. He hoped that the younger male would never find out how close they came to being put out to breed. They were saved only because they were contracted to go to Vora with the bounty hunter.
Now, though, it was all in the past. Now they had Antari Minor, and they had their queen.
Drawing a deep breath of cool, pungent air, Exeri bent to examine the newest blooms. He only took the very finest young blooms as a gift for their mate. The fact that they made her smile and her eyes soften with pleasure when she looked upon them was extra rewarding. Bending low, he smiled as he caught sight of a large deep pink flower that reminded him of the exact shade of their queen’s lips.
Perfect.
With one claw, he sliced through the fiber of the stalk and lifted it up. Its potent perfume flooded over him, sweet and musky. He was certain that this would also make Hayley give him more of the beautiful smiles that he coveted. He frowned as an acrid odor overwhelmed the flower. It mixed with the familiar scent of a male who definitely did not belong in his territory.
Exeri growled, not bothering to turn his head and look at the male full on. “What are you doing here?”
The Calystii shrugged as he entered the garden, dragging deep on an Earth-made cigar, one of the planet’s regular exports outside of mates. Females, alcohol, precious gems and metals, and tobacco were all in high demand.
“Do not growl at me, Arobi. I am just doing my job, same as you.” The male chuckled. “The board just wanted me to check in on you after the last missive we received. Naturally, it concerned us that you would request more assistance to capture a wild beast. Especially when we got word that you were seen with a female. The board wanted me to make sure that you were not being distracted… especially since the little matter with this creature has yet to be cleared up.”
“I assure you, Danya, that we are doing everything in our power to find it. Do you imagine that we like the idea of it roaming in the mountains so near our territory? This beast is proving much more difficult to find. It is not behaving as other cre
atures have, and as I reported to you, it is much bigger than what we typically handle. It may be a species that we have yet to encounter coming from the deepest part of the mountains.” This time, he turned and leveled a hard look at the male assigned to his pack. “The question would then be: if it is not native to this area, what is drawing it here?”
The Calystii shrugged again, his tiny pale gray scales picking up the light, sending bands of pink through them. Exeri narrowed his eyes on Danya, noting that, as always, the male wore impractical attire to visit his territory. The hem of the luxurious robe brushed dangerously close to his garden soil. A male of high status. It was proclaimed not only by his clothes, but by the huge golden hoops that hung from his ears, the diamond nose stud, and the complicated styling of his golden braids. Danya hated coming to Antari Minor, so Exeri could only imagine that his employers had to be very concerned… or he was sent there personally, for another reason.
“I do not believe that, in this instance, calling for aid is unreasonable. Though the board seems to have other ideas. Although it is dangerous, we will find it eventually,” Exeri growled. “We always do.”
Danya nodded as he puffed again on the cigar. “I know. Although your species, as uncivilized as you are, is a special nuisance that I have been saddled with, you have always proved your worth.” He sighed. “Now, about your female…”
“Our queen is none of your concern,” Exeri snarled in warning. “Our species is not regulated to stud packs anymore. We take mates again in accordance with our old customs. The board has no input on our mating and breeding.”
The Calystii cocked a brow at him and withdrew his cigar, his gaze turning speculative. “This is true, but the board has a vested interest in your pack, especially if there might be special circumstances, like now, which may require greater numbers of Arobi on hand. They are not attempting to take away your right to mate and breed. In fact, they’re interested in encouraging you to do just that if there are no distractions from your work—which you have assured me that there are not.”
Arobi's Queen: A Mate Index Romance (The Mate Index Book 11) Page 15