Her Alien Beast

by Presley Hall

  My heart surges into my throat as Axen struggles to get to his feet, breathing hard and sweating as the venom works its way through his system. With his blue skin and white markings, he’s never really looked human, but now he looks like something else entirely. He looks like some primal war god, standing on a battlefield as he stares down his death.

  I search around for something to distract the animal, anything, so that Axen will have a chance to press the advantage. The arwuar lunges for him again, thick body colliding with the tree as Axen crouches.

  Moving quickly, my mate reaches up, forcing the snake’s mouth open with sheer brute strength, teeth bared in a snarl as the monster tries to simply pulverize him to the ground. Most of its body is out of the den now. Fuck, it must be more than thirty feet long.

  A sudden vision of what will come next flashes through my mind, nearly stopping my heart.

  I imagine Axen’s arm failing as the venom begins to take hold. I imagine the snake coiling around him and crushing him to death, squeezing the life out of him before tearing him apart with its cruel fangs.

  I can’t let that happen.

  Grabbing the satchel I brought to carry the plants, I shove myself upright and brace myself against the rock I’ve been using for coverage. I grip the bag’s strap and whip it around my head, then throw it as hard as I can. There isn’t anything in it yet, so it’s not heavy enough to do any real damage, but it’s a distraction.

  The bag hits the snake just as it’s about to sink its fangs into Axen’s shoulder and rip his arm off completely. The monster jerks, probably out of surprise than anything else, and whips around to look at me, head flaring and dual tongues slipping out to curiously taste the air. It hisses and starts to slither toward me faster than I can react.

  “Elizabeth!” Axen’s wild cry cuts through the air.

  I’m frozen in place, sure that I’m about to be eaten alive. The arwuar rears up above me, and I take a step back on my injured leg, collapse onto my ass and hands when my knee gives out again. I try to crawl backward, but there’s no escape from the massive beast.

  Then Axen is there.

  Moving quicker than I’ve ever seen, he jumps on the beast with a roar, hooks his fingers into its obliterated eye, and brings his other arm around, digging his knife into the snake’s throat and slicing across.

  It’s a hacking motion, a fight to get through the animal’s tough hide. I watch with wide eyes as a fountain of red blood sprays over both of us, making me flinch and lift my hand to protect my eyes.

  The snake gurgles and whips Axen to the side, one final twist of its body crushing him to the ground. I scream in horror and fear as Axen jerks the snake’s head to one side, but it’s not enough to stop him from being grazed by its foremost fangs. They cut two deep lines across his chest like the swipe of claws.

  He throws the snake off him as the beast writhes and screams. He stumbles to his feet with a grunt, every inch of him trembling, and my stomach twists. There’s so much blood coating him, and I know he received enough venom to outright kill a normal man.

  The snake is still shuddering as Axen pries its jaws apart and reaches in, severing its tongue by the root. When he pulls the tongues out, I see that they’re connected to a small sac, dripping with clear fluid. My eyes widen as Axen smiles, exhausted and victorious, and turns to look at me.

  He drops the tongues and sac, and with one final blow, cuts off the arwuar’s fang and drives it into the beast’s skull. It chokes, remaining eye rolling back in its head, and finally dies.

  “Oh God, Axen,” I whisper, tears in my eyes as I stare at my mate. He’s so badly wounded that I have no idea how he’s still standing. I force myself to my feet and limp over to him as he exhales and drops the knife, his eyes closing.

  He turns to me, pressing his nose to my hair. “It’s all right, my kira,” he murmurs, cupping my face with his blood-soaked hand. He nods to the gland attached to the tongues by our feet. “It’s there.”

  And then he sinks to his knees.

  “Axen!” I scream, trying to get him upright. I’m too injured to help him walk, there’s so much blood, and I can practically feel his strength waning. His eyes close again, his shoulders sagging. His fingers go limp on my face as his hand falls, and he barely catches himself as he collapses on his hands and knees.

  I fall to my knees beside him, rolling him onto his back. There are tears in my eyes, welling so fast that I can barely see.

  “Stay with me,” I beg, lightly tapping his cheeks to keep him conscious. His eyes move behind his closed lids, but they don’t open again. He’s so pale, and his breathing is slowing down. I can’t feel his heartbeat.

  “No,” I choke out, tears falling as fear threatens to overwhelm me. “No, stay with me! Don’t leave me. Stay awake!”

  His lips twitch, and his head rolls to the side, limp. He doesn’t answer.

  “Axen!”

  23

  Axen

  Everything is a haze.

  I received a lot more venom than Elizabeth did, and I can feel it working through me like liquid ice, freezing each appendage in turn. As it continues, it will crystalize my stomach, freeze my lungs, and stop my heart.

  But if I am to die, at least I know that my mate and child will be safe.

  I can hear her calling for me across the vast, cold darkness that’s slowly crushing me to the ground. Her hands are warm on my face, and I tilt my head, forcing myself to open my eyes as she calls my name.

  “Elizabeth,” I whisper. I try to focus on her, my lungs and vocal cords barely able to make noise. “Take the gland to Kaide. He’ll help you.”

  She chokes out a breath, shaking her head. There are oceans and storms in her eyes. She grips my hand tightly, her voice sounding far away and distorted. She’s still pleading with me to stay alive, but I can’t fight against the pull of the darkness.

  “You must…” My voice trails off. It’s dwindled to practically nothing, and it takes all my strength to force the words out. “Go to Kaide. He’ll inject you with the anti-venom.”

  “No! I can’t leave you.”

  I smile. Or at least, I try to—I’m not sure how well I succeed. I breathe her in one final time. My wild little huntress.

  A single burst of strength is all I have to reach up and tug her down to me, to kiss her before the world goes dark. If it is the last thing I feel, the last thing I do or see, to have her lips on mine will be a victory worth dying for.

  She kisses me back, as if she might be able to keep me alive by feeding me her own air.

  “You’re not going to die,” she insists, her fingers tightening around mine. “You’re going to make it. I swear, you’re going to make it.” Warm droplets hit my face, and I know they came from her eyes. “You can’t die, Axen. You’re my mate. I need you, dammit.”

  I need you.

  In the cold and vast darkness of death, a single shred of light shines through.

  I need you.

  I try to keep my eyes open. I want her face to be the last thing I see.

  “I need you, Axen. You can’t leave me.” She touches my face and puts our joined hands on her bare stomach. “You can’t leave us.”

  Us.

  My mate. My child. I can’t… I need to get up. I can’t surrender to the darkness.

  I focus on the bright spark of light, on her voice. I clench my jaw and force myself onto my side. She gasps, scrambles to try to help me up.

  “That’s it. Yes, Axen. That’s it. Come on, stay with me.”

  I groan, gritting my teeth as I force myself to get my feet under me. Elizabeth tucks herself under my arm, holding me tightly. Every step is painful, and I can still feel the great weight of the cold, crushing darkness sinking into my skull and every inch of my body. I can barely see. All I’m aware of is the heat of Elizabeth beside me and the thrumming pulse of my own heart as my body fights frantically to stay alive, to be here for my mate, to make sure she returns to safety.

  She
stumbles under my weight, gasping. I can’t catch her, can only force myself to stay upright and let her use my body to pull herself up again.

  It hurts.

  Everything hurts.

  I thought I knew pain, but even her initial rejection of our bond didn’t feel quite this crushing, this heavy, this cold.

  We stumble through the forest together, our steps erratic and uneven. I try to keep an eye and ear out for further danger. We’re both losing blood, and other predators may have been drawn by the sounds of the fight. I grip her as tightly as I am able as we head back toward the village.

  It’s slow going. I can barely see, barely breathe. My stomach is freezing cold, my legs struggle to move, and I’m only distantly aware of the sudden absence of tree cover.

  We’re out in the open, too exposed. I have to keep Elizabeth safe.

  “Almost there,” she gasps from beside me. “We’re almost there, Axen. Stay with me, please.”

  I’m trying. I want to tell her I’m trying, but all that comes out is a weak groan. I stumble to my knees, and can’t bring myself to get up again. I know we’re close to the village. If she can just get there, Kaide can help her. He will give her the anti-venom, and she’ll survive. Her child—our child—will survive.

  Darkness is coming for me, freezing and heavy. Soft grass meets my chest and cheek as I fall to my stomach, the last of my strength leaving me. I close my eyes, hearing the sound of my brothers nearby. She just has to get to them.

  I can’t open my eyes again.

  I can’t feel her.

  I can only hope she managed to make it the last few steps on her own.

  In my dreams, I can hear Elizabeth calling my name. But there’s no fear or sorrow in her voice now. Just joy.

  Just love.

  She looks up at me, her eyes softening with the same adoration that floods my chest at the sight of her. I approach her, no pain in my chest, no aches in my body. I drop to my knees in front of her and kiss her swollen stomach, my hands flattening on the outsides of hers.

  It’s peaceful here, in the presence of my mate. Her hands wind into my hair, and I stand, pulling her to her feet so that I can embrace her and kiss her deeply.

  As her lips move against mine, I hear a noise behind me.

  We break apart, and I turn to see Vendar standing in the doorway. A stab of guilt rushes through me at the sight of him. He died on the battlefield before he was able to know the joy of having a mate. His life ended, but mine has continued—with all the joy and pain that living brings.

  But he doesn’t look angry. In fact, there is a smile on his face. His expression is calm, and his eyes shine with happiness. He nods to me, and then I watch him turn and walk away. The door shuts behind him as Elizabeth buries her face in my neck.

  “It’s all right,” she whispers, her voice the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard. “It’s going to be okay.”

  I close my eyes, kissing her again. My arm tightens around her. She looks up at me and cups my face, resting our foreheads together.

  It’s the most at peace I can remember being in my entire life.

  24

  Elizabeth

  “Help!”

  My scream is harsh, my voice hoarse from crying, my vision blurred.

  Axen lies on the ground beside me. I try to lift his heavy, unconscious body, but he’s so heavy and I’m so weak. I stumble to my bad knee and grit my teeth, clutching my stomach as nausea roils through me.

  “Help!” I scream again. “Somebody, please!”

  A shout rises up from the village, and a moment later, Droth, Kaide, and Bohrir come rushing out. Their eyes widen when they see us, and then they all come rushing over.

  “What happened?” Droth demands. Kaide and Bohrir each take one of Axen’s arms, hauling him up, as their leader helps me to my feet.

  “We were attacked by an arwuar,” I tell them. Their eyes widen further in horror, upper lips curling back in instinctive snarls. “Axen killed it. He got the anti-venom.” I hold up the tongues and the sac for them to see.

  Droth nods. “That is good. Come, we must move quickly.”

  I nod, grimacing as he starts to help me toward the village. He looks down at me, his brow lowering when he sees my injured leg. “Are you poisoned too?”

  “Yes. It got me, but Axen said there wasn’t enough to risk my life,” I gasp out. Droth grunts, and I bite my lower lip. “But… he said the baby might be at risk…”

  The Voxeran prince nods, tightening his arm around me a little as he hurries us into the village and toward the new medical facility. Construction on the building only recently wrapped up. I definitely didn’t expect us to be using it so soon, but I’ve never been more glad for my own impatience and foresight. Droth, Kaide, and Bohrir lead us inside. There are no beds in the hut yet, so Axen is lowered down onto the floor while I brace myself against the wall.

  “I’ll prepare the anti-venom,” Kaide says.

  “Give it to him first.” Gritting my teeth, I look at Axen. “I can wait.”

  Worry builds up in my throat all over again as I look at my mate. He’s so pale, and there’s just as much thick, clear venom leaking from his wounds as there is blood. His eyes aren’t moving under his lids anymore, like they were before. I’m sure he’s unconscious, comatose, close to death. The thought of losing him makes me sob and shake with nausea.

  “You can, but your child cannot,” Droth replies evenly. His voice is tense and tight, betraying how concerned he is. He takes the tongues and sac from me and hands the bloody mess to Kaide, who quickly brings it to a small table I planned to use for distilling the herbs Axen and I have already brought back. I watch, my heart racing, as Bohrir positions Axen on the floor with his head elevated, propped up awkwardly against one wall.

  He stands. “I’ll fetch blankets.”

  Droth nods, and Bohrir leaves quickly. Kaide draws his blade and severs the sac from the tongues, pushing them apart. I can’t just sit by and do nothing, so I hobble over to the shelves of herbs and plants, my hands shaking as I search each little box and packet. I’ve been labelling the things based on what they do, since Axen confessed to making up some of the names. There are some that will elevate the heart rate, which will help the anti-venom work faster.

  I also have the grasses that work as painkillers, which I take for later. There’s too much adrenaline in my system to feel pain right now, but I’m sure Axen will appreciate them, and eventually my adrenaline will wear off. I’ve strained my leg, and I can feel the tendons around my knee protesting. I’ll need painkillers soon.

  Bohrir comes back as I’m gathering supplies, his arms loaded with enough blankets to make a pillow for Axen, which he does. He drapes another one over my mate’s bloodied body to keep him warm. Droth nods to him in thanks, and he leaves again. The building is very small, and there’s barely enough room for all of us to move around.

  I grab a syringe from the tiny stash of medical equipment.

  “Kaide,” I grit out, drawing his attention, and hand it to him.

  “Can I assist?” Droth steps forward as Kaide takes the needle and begins to carefully extract the innards of the sac. I nod, gritting my teeth, and give the prince the painkilling plants.

  “We’ll need to make a salve,” I tell him. “Mince these with water.”

  He dips his chin and takes them to an open section of the table, expertly dicing the grasses and grinding them together. I gather the plant Axen said can increase a person’s heart rate, which is a soft yellowish flower that still drips with nectar even after being cut. I bring it to Kaide, and he adds it to the syringe, his brows lowered and face tight with concentration.

  “Will it be enough? The anti-venom?” I whisper, only now realizing that it might not be. Axen took a lot of damage, and the arwuar’s sac is so small. It might not be enough for both of us, and it might not even be enough for Axen.

  Kaide looks up. There’s no trace of flirtatiousness or humor on his face now. He knows how
dire the situation is, how desperate I am to keep my mate alive.

  “It should be,” he assures me. “I’ll do what I can.”

  I swallow, trying to force down my fear as he crosses to Axen, kneeling down beside him. With a steady hand, he injects him with all but the last bit of the concoction. Then he turns, and I hold out my leg so he can give me some as well.

  Immediately, warmth fills me like a sudden blast of narcotic. It makes my eyelids heavy, and I gasp, sagging down to the floor beside Axen. Kaide gives me an encouraging smile, squeezing my ankle.

  “I need to stitch him closed. Those gashes on his chest.” I press a hand against the wall, trying to force myself back to my feet.

  He shakes his head. “The anti-venom needs time to take effect.” He gestures to Axen as Droth peels the blanket back and starts packing his wounds with the painkilling mash. “It has some healing properties, similar to the epoxy. It will slow the bleeding as well.” He meets my eyes. “He’ll be all right, Elizabeth.”

  “How can you be sure?”

  “He’s still breathing,” Kaide says, giving me a kind smile. “If he’s still breathing, there’s still hope.”

  I look to my mate, my gaze settling on his chest as it rises and falls with his breathing.

  He is breathing.

  The words play over and over in my mind like a mantra.

  He’s still breathing.

  Droth finishes with Axen’s wounds and comes to me next, smearing some of the mash over the bite on my leg as well. I smile shakily at him in thanks. He dips his chin, his shoulders relaxing a bit. It’s heartening to see that he looks less worried now that we’ve both been given the antidote.

  “I need to inform the others,” he says. “Arwuars hunt in packs, it’s very possible we’ll have some following your trail to the border.”

  “I’m sorry,” I whisper, guilt flooding me at the idea of bringing such danger back to my friends. My family.