Bethany's Heart (Unearthly World Book 3)

by C. L. Scholey

  “Bethany,” she said and pointed to her chest with her hand encased in double fur-lined mitts.

  The creature cocked its head and stretched his arm without moving his body closer, to touch her hand. A black fingernail traced the leather material. He looked puzzled. His hand splayed against the mitt and he separated his fingers. The wind was frigid; the air too cold to expose body parts for too long, but Bethany came to a quick conclusion. If she were built closely in resemblance to him in any way, there was less of a chance she’d be eaten. She pulled the mitt off her hand. The other alien made a crude sound and suddenly his mouth hung open. He growled something but the larger one shushed him and moved closer to her. Bethany lifted her hand and pressed her bare flesh to his. His hand was wonderfully warm. She felt strength beneath his touch.

  The two stood gazing at one another. His hand was so big. It wasn’t fur covered as was most of his chest except for an oval bald patch on his belly. His arms were huge and bare in spots with four horizontal inch-thick strips of white fur, the tips of fur waving in the breeze. The back of Bethany’s hand was already red and she began to pull away, needing the protection of the leather fur-lined mitt. The creature enveloped her entire hand in his as he curled his fingers around, turning her hand into a fist. For a brief moment Bethany was tempted to yank free, but his hold, though firm, was gentle. In seconds her hand was blessedly warm, cocooned in an oven of flesh.

  “Fnnn,” the creature growled again.

  “Finn,” Bethany repeated. The creature became animated and excited, nodding his head, grinning, then quickly lifting his hand to cover his mouth and hide his teeth.

  Bethany moved forward, standing toe to toe with the alien. Red eyes gazed down at her from his great height. She had been positive she had felt the warmth of those eyes. It seemed strange to her she felt little fear. She should be afraid, she supposed. She had felt more fear when living in her dorm on campus at college when the world fell apart. Nature attacked without warning if not provocation. Fires blazed, volcanoes erupted. At every turn was loss. Racing home she ran straight into bereavement, nothing was spared anywhere, but she was home.

  No, Bethany realized, why fear her demise in the form of this being when she had lived on the edge of death for years. Raising a tentative hand she reached up to pull his hand away from his mouth. His teeth were even more terrifying and huge while displayed. He was smiling, Bethany knew it. He was also afraid he would frighten her. She was close enough for him to rip apart.

  “Bethany,” she said and again pointed at her chest. “Beth-a-ny.”

  “Bhhhet-y, Bet-ny, Beth-ny.”

  “Close enough.” Bethany smiled at him.

  “That overgrown furry dog isn’t sleeping anywhere near me,” Bertha yelled and Bethany watched the woman return to her home and disappear inside. She cast a glance to Finn.

  “You have no idea what a lucky bastard you are,” Bethany said and laughed.

  “Bethany?” Tasia’s hushed voice called from behind her.

  The woman was creeping towards them. Bethany smiled at her dear friend, she should have known wherever she was Tasia would be close by. When she was a few feet from Bethany her hood blew back exposing her face, Finn made a series of startled growls and grunts. He released Bethany’s hand and moved forward. Tasia squealed in fright when the alien gripped her face in the palms of his hands. Bethany shot forward to grab Finn’s arm. The other alien lifted her off her feet.

  Twisting, Bethany gazed up at the huge alien. The look on his face was indeterminate as he watched his partner’s assessment of Tasia. A single arm was wrapped around her waist and Bethany was two feet off the ground. Her back was pressed to his rock solid chest. She could feel her panic rise. The remaining women called out fearfully from a distance.

  “He’s not hurting me,” Tasia called back, her words were garbled as the huge beast’s enormous fingers were on her mouth, her jaw, then cheek. Tasia had him gripped by the wrists; she was lifted to her tip toes in his close examination of her. “I’m fine, Bethany. His thumbs are wiping my skin. Maybe he’s never seen a black woman before.”

  “Finn?” Bethany cried out as Finn began tugging at Tasia’s fur parka, exposing her delicate throat to the elements.

  Finn turned to look at Bethany, growled threateningly and released Tasia only to grab the other alien roughly. Bethany was immediately released and landed on her ass on the ground in a heap. She scrambled up and darted over to Tasia, snow flying in her wake. Both aliens exchanged heated banter. Finn was gesturing wildly at both women.

  “Tasia, I think he is wondering if you’re hurt,” Bethany said. Her heart that had been pounding in her chest began to calm.

  “Well, he’s definitely pissed the other dude touched you.”

  That thought had occurred to Bethany as well and made her uncomfortable. She tried to shrug off the anxious feeling. “Well, I can’t stay out here much longer. I need to warm up and eat something. We both should. It’s been such a long day, filled with surprises.”

  Tasia took Bethany by the arm and began dragging her away from the arguing aliens. They were decidedly spookier when angry. Finn noticed the women were leaving and he raced forward, stopping them. When he spoke his growls and grunts were softer. He reached to gently trail an ebony fingernail over Bethany’s furs.

  “He wants you to stay,” Tasia said.

  “The wind is picking up. The temperature is dropping. They look as though they don’t feel the weather, but I do. We were out almost all day, I’m exhausted.”

  Bethany pulled from Tasia. She hugged her arms over her chest, hoping the alien would understand she was cold. She motioned to her mouth to indicate she was hungry. Finn followed her as she made her way to her home. Bethany looked at the opening; he was way too big to fit. Bethany made a motion with her hands he was to stay. She went inside and returned with two steaming mugs. Finn sniffed at his then took a small sip. He smiled his terrifying smile at her and drained the mug all at once.

  A blizzard was building and Bethany felt helpless. She had to go in and leave them out in the cold. There wasn’t any way around it. Sadly she ran her hand down Finn’s arm. She pointed to the igloo, then to the opening indicating his large size and the igloos entrance smaller size to Finn and shook her head. She glanced about as the wind picked up. Thinking hard she grabbed Finn’s hand and led him around her home. Snow had piled high, an added insulator, and Bethany dropped to her knees. She pulled armfuls of snow away, scooping a hole into the mound of snow. It didn’t take long before the cold snow melted at her knees and she was shivering. Her teeth clattered as her movement slid the icy substance into the cuff of her mitt to slip farther inside and freeze her wrists.

  There was a time not too long ago when Bethany could remember making snow forts with her friends, snow angels and ponies. She could stay outside for hours, only to come in, warm herself and head back outside. She wished this was one of those times, but her mother wasn’t waiting with a warm drink or fresh bannock. There would be no caribou stew flavored with blackberries ever again. It saddened Bethany to think of the loss. It had been a year since she had seen a ptarmigan, the birds were gone. Never again would she have manniit, the egg month.

  Pleasures others in the world took for granted when Bethany was young were gone as well. So many simple treats were so expensive out in the middle of nowhere, but she wouldn’t have traded her childhood for anything. She took nothing for granted; it’s what gave her strength now in the most trying time of her life.

  So lost in thought, Bethany was startled when she felt an arm around her waist and Bethany was hauled to her feet. Finn was smiling at her—she kinda wished he would stop. He made soft growls she understood were his words in his language. He pushed her towards the front of her home, indicating she was to go inside. Bethany was frozen; she stood shaking for only a moment, feeling helpless. She hoped the aliens could dig themselves some type of shelter before the storm stole their lives.

  * * * *
<
br />   Finn was on a mission, a new one. They had found females, ascertained the extent of their needs and now he needed to infiltrate their home, without causing damage. A madman on speed couldn’t have dug out a faster shelter. Finn ran his hand along the inner wall of his shelter which was the outer wall of Bethany’s home. The two warriors settled side by side, their backs to the entrance making an effective door.

  “Are you going to crash through it?” Blu asked.

  “Not yet, I have to consider what brute strength would do to their structure,” Finn muttered. “I need to think for a while.”

  “Your little female is odd.”

  “My female isn’t odd,” Finn said snarling.

  “First she attacks you, then she peels her furry pelt off to touch you—which was disgusting by the way. I know humans bleed red blood; I was waiting for a gusher. Then she gives us liquid food and abandons us at the back of the house as though we are pets.”

  Finn took a breath before telling Blu he was a dumbass moron as his sister-in-law would say. “Beth-ny was afraid at first. If I were her size I would attack first and then ask questions. She didn’t peel her furry pelt off her skin. Obviously, these humans had to adapt to the weather and made outer coverings; they are intelligent beings. They aren’t furry creatures after all. They must be as bald as the other females we have seen. I think her offering of food was gallant considering they must not have much. And we couldn’t fit in their home opening so she brought us here hoping we could make our own. That alone proves she considers us intelligent. Not pets. You should be able to understand the difference.”

  Blu had the decency to blush. He had, after all, acquired the first human female the Zargonnii had ever seen and declared Bay a pet he had promptly pawned off on his brother Zane.

  “So before you so rudely dragged me off your female, was the other female injured?” Finn could see he had hit a sore spot. Blu still hadn’t lived down his mistake. Thankfully for Blu’s brother, Zane, all had worked out well for the human Bay who had grown to love Zane and Zane’s young son, Draven. They had recently had a female daughter—it was a rarity in the Zargonnii world for males and females to live together. Finn loved the idea; it was why he was here on Earth. It was impossible to cohabitate with a female Zargonnii who were mostly the dominant of the species, but not a human female who could be dominated, in a loving protective way.

  “Oh, stop pouting, Blu. You were frightening my Beth-ny. Bet-ny, Beth-n…I don’t think I’m saying her name right. And no, I don’t believe the other female was hurt, as I had thought she was. Her skin was smooth and soft; her dark brown eyes were bright with life not pain. She’s beautiful, almost as stunning as my female. I’ve just never seen skin so dark on a human. I was startled at first—and then very pleased.”

  “And the good healer came to life.” Blu’s words dripped with sarcasm.

  “It didn’t occur to me human females came in all sizes and shapes and colors. I knew hair and eye color differed, but these creatures are so diverse. What a smorgasbord of delights. Titus will be pleased with the discovery.”

  “If we can get close.”

  “We’ll be close soon enough. The storm is getting worse. Once it’s blinding to the humans and there’s no escape for any of them, we can knock part of this shelter down. First we have to make certain our shelter is built strong enough so the humans won’t freeze once this back wall comes down. In the short time my female touched my hand, hers became chilled to the bone where we had no contact. I can keep her warm, which is a relief. My poor little female must know the water is rising and she and the others are in danger. I don’t think my female will prove difficult when the time comes to board our ship.”

  “Bethany.”

  “What?” Finn asked.

  “You say her name as one word, not two. She may not like always being called your little female. Bethany. Try it.”

  “Beth-ny.”

  “No, you’re missing a part.”

  “Bethan.”

  “Closer. Come on big guy, you can do it.”

  Finn glared at Blu. “Bethh-aaa-nny.”

  “You’re hopeless.”

  “Perhaps, but no matter how you say it, Beth-a-ny is mine.”

  Chapter 3

  Bethany lay on her side covered in furs shivering. Her teeth pressed tight together to keep from clacking. Icy air slipped up her nose to invade her protesting lungs, coating them in a cool film which grew with each breath. She felt if she were to develop parasites they could play on a skating rink forming inside her. The fire was almost out. Tiny tendrils of smoke teased in spirals no larger than a foot above the encircled area, trapped in their dance. Miniscule shadows pirouetted on woe-begotten furniture, no more than pathetic sock puppets. Everyone had grouped together during the storm in one shelter, as was the norm over the years, including Bertha, but this was decidedly different.

  Their furs were piled high beneath and above them. The women lay in a scatter of heavily clad arms and legs pressed together for heat. There was no warmth to be had, all were quivering. They had no way to warm themselves. Frosty tendrils of frigid air swirled about waiting to claim them all. The final sips of heated broth were gone, their food supply exhausted. If the storm lasted too long they would die. It was only a matter of what form of death would take them first.

  Nothing living could be found in such extreme cold. The holes they made for ice fishing could turn lethal if they could break through the ice at all. More than once Bethany or one of the others had needed to be pulled from a watery grave. In the morning Bethany would remove the fur of one of the blankets they used and they would boil the hide for nourishment. They were desperate. Even if they removed every hide of fur from rugs, clothing and sleepwear they would still die.

  Soft weeping to Bethany’s left made her sad. In the dark she wasn’t certain who it was. They were a strong bunch but as of late each fought a battle within, knowing death was a certainty. Bethany blamed herself, she was responsible for their lives, insisting farther north was safer; she had failed. Or perhaps their luck had finally run out. Their seal oil lamps, a kudlik, used to hold melted fat and wicks as lanterns were empty. Their wood torches were nubs. The air dipped into the negative temperatures. Their home might as well be their tomb, their furs their coffins.

  As the hours passed the weeping subsided, only Bethany remained awake. Her nightmares tormented her even when sleep eluded her. She wasn’t certain what drew her attention to the back wall. At first the ice dripped, which was an anomaly in the below zero temperatures without the aid of fire, then ran in a river down the side. A river gone wild, oozing across the ice wall, opening a sliver to beyond. A black hole became apparent as more ice formed puddles.

  Sitting up Bethany watched, heart in mouth, wide-eyed, as part of the wall disappeared, giving way to an eerie black void even shadows were too afraid to invade. Amidst the darkness was a beacon, a hope, as light was referred to. The light created was coming from the glow of two red eyes. Finn stared at her for a moment, his strong facial features bathed and reflected amidst the glow, before crawling through the opening he had made, an opening which iced in seconds where the water had once dripped. Bethany was frozen by his stare. He crept forward, followed by his partner. Looking all the world as though crawling from the crypt of Hell with their wild hair dancing in the stillness of night and stale air. Bethany remained motionless. Her short gasps misted once expelled past her icy lips. Cold air invaded her cheeks making her tongue cold, her words were thick.

  “I’m dreaming.”

  The huge creatures advanced. It registered in her mind they were real, she was aware of them, wondering how they fared in the storm, if they were alive. Only Bertha had been outraged Bethany had offered them food, and Bethany couldn’t have cared less what Bertha said. All any of them had left was decency, kindness and honor—except Bertha, and she had never, to Bethany’s knowledge, bothered to explain why, even though the others had asked her many questions.


  Mouth gaping at the scene, Bethany had suspected the aliens had the power to break through their walls. Indeed, they hadn’t, just simply melted them. Both were a formidable sight, larger than life. Furs slipped to her waist and the chill made her chin quiver. A hurtful whimper tore from her lips, Bethany never whimpered, she was too strong. How could this be happening? Freeze, starve, or aliens? She hadn’t meant for the beings to die. Had they died and now come seeking revenge? Or was their intent evil to begin with while the women lay vulnerable? It couldn’t be when Finn’s touch had been so gentle.

  Her breath expelled in a whoosh when she remembered to breathe. Finn’s large body was close enough to lift her hand against his broad fur covered chest if she chose to, she didn’t. Human males weren’t this big, this powerful. His gaze traveled the length of her, down to her squirmy feet under the furs. His red eyes burned to penetrate her frozen flesh and Bethany sighed with pleasure, she couldn’t help herself. If he was to cook her alive at this very moment she would still sigh from the relief of the frozen temperatures. He was warming her, thawing her frigid limbs through her multi layered clothing.

  She winced when he pulled her mitts from her hands and warmed the numbness from her, as would a heated tongue laving her skin, each finger at a time. The heat traveled into her palm, a lover’s caress, her breath increased when he turned her hands and sensually began again.

  Oh, to be warm again and to stay warm for once after years of freezing everything but my damned emotions.

  Her face, she knew, was filled with sorrow while thinking of their plight, until he scared her with his smiling jagged shark teeth and slightly cocked head of hair reaching to caress her in an eerie way. His way of diffusing her skepticism. Spooky but effective.

  When he finished warming her he took her upper arms in his hands and settled her back against the furs and ran his glance over the fur ball nest they had created. Finn warmed them all. The furs began to steam against the freezing night air. There was no fuel left to start a fire. The only light visible was that of Finn’s and his partner’s eyes. Red laser dots roaming across the furs and walls a litter of kittens would have a field day with.