Heart of the Beast

by Sonia Nova

  Not that she seemed to want – or need – his help.

  It didn’t matter. He had been dragged into her situation, whatever it was, and he wasn’t about to let her go without an explanation. She owed him.

  CHAPTER 4

  KIRA

  There had been no sign of the pirates for blocks now, so Kira came to a skidding stop in an alleyway.

  Catching her breath, she looked around to assess her surroundings. This appeared to be a residential alley. There were tall apartment buildings on both sides and garbage vacuum tubes lining the narrow road. Of course, being in one of the shadier parts of Riala, most of the garbage had either never made it to the tubes or the tubes were broken. Piles of junk were scattered all over the ground. The smell of rotten food and animal feces hung heavily in the air. There were stray animals living in the alley.

  Still, this was as good a place as any to pause and reassess her mission. She wanted to make a quick report to Agent Grimmor. She needed to update him on her condition and confirm her whereabouts, but there was a… complication.

  The Ezak-X she had run into in the bar was standing right at the end of the alley, looking impatient. His pitch black eyes were trained on her as he took a few steps toward her.

  Kira frowned. Why had he followed her? He could have just as easily lost the pirates running in a different direction. Did he want something from her? Was he that stubborn that he still wanted her to answer his questions?

  Maybe he was also undercover, Kira realized, and had somehow guessed that she was as well. Kira hadn’t yet run into another agent in the field while working undercover, but she knew it was always a possibility. Especially meeting an Ezak-X – every male of the species she had met worked for the Alliance military, and she didn’t expect this guy to be any different.

  That must be it. He must have just earned a spot on an undercover team. It surprised Kira a bit, as the species wasn’t known for their ability to quickly pick up subtleties of interaction and foreign customs. She wouldn’t have thought the race would make a good candidate for undercover missions.

  But this Ezak-X seemed entirely comfortable playing the part of a pirate down on his luck. His worn leather jacket and boots looked as genuine as could be, and his relaxed posture didn’t immediately make her think of the alert, stiff Alliance soldiers she knew.

  He continued to stare down at her, and Kira wondered if his intimidating appearance was an asset in his undercover work. Those horns, gray skin, pointed teeth, and the scar running along his face and over his eye… Kira would be lying if she said it didn’t make her feel a little uneasy. Not that she would ever show it.

  “Is there something you–” She had been about to way want, but the sound of something large hitting the ground behind her made Kira jump. She whirled around, shocked out of her thoughts, and brought her hand to the knife at her hip.

  A gasp left her lips. She froze, filled with a chilling fear.

  She had thought the scarred Ezak-X was a bit intimidating, but the creature that stood in front of her now was something else altogether. All the folktales she had grown up hearing from her grandmother told her that this was a monster and she should run.

  Logically, she knew that couldn’t be the case.

  There was some rational reason that a massive, gray, hairy figure with giant horns had just jumped into the alley from the nearest fire escape. The creature was easily taller than even the Ezak-X, and it stood on all fours. In a way, it reminded her of the Ezak-X. Just… twisted and all wrong.

  Instead of the black mane that the Ezak-X had, this creature was covered in black, splotchy fur. Its horns were bigger than an Ezak-X’s and its face was much less human. Longer, somehow, with something like a canine snout and fangs.

  Had this creature been following them the whole time?

  Kira took a step back as the figure moved toward her, and immediately collided into the Ezak-X. Again.

  Her heart beating fast, she hadn’t even noticed the Ezak-X reach her in the middle of the alley. She quickly changed direction and took a step away from both the Ezak-X and the newest arrival. She looked at the two of them and realized… it almost seemed like they were together? Shit…

  Kira. You can handle this.

  She willed herself to calm down. She had been trained to deal with the unexpected. Clearly, she had missed something here when assessing possible dangers. The situation wasn’t at all what she had thought it was.

  That didn’t mean it was time to panic.

  She took a deep breath and felt her pulse begin to slow. Terror wasn’t about to help her get out of this situation, whatever it was.

  “What…” she said, slowly trying to get out her question. “I know you’re an Ezak-X.” She nodded toward the horned male. “But what is… what is he? What’s going on?”

  “This is Zorq,” the Ezak-X said casually. “An Ezak-T. The Krezlians made a few of them before deciding to go in a more humanoid direction.”

  Kira nodded slowly. She had never seen or heard of an Ezak-T before, but it made sense that the Krezlians would have created more than the Ezak-X. When the Alliance had freed the Ezak-X, they must have freed the other experimental species as well. She wouldn’t have expected to see them working for the Alliance though.

  “Hi,” she said, looking into the Ezak-T’s blood red eyes, framed by short black fur. Zorq, she reminded herself. He had a name.

  The creature made a grunting noise in response.

  “He’s my partner,” the Ezak-X said.

  “Partner?” Kira asked, surprised. Undercover agents didn’t have partners. It made it twice as likely that your cover would be blown, and then the Alliance would lose two agents at once. It simply wasn’t done. Or if it was, the agents didn’t know of one another.

  “You two are pirates…” she said, realizing her mistake aloud.

  Shit.

  Hadn’t she also been trained to never trust her first assumptions? She knew that making inferences based on facts was what would keep her alive. Not assuming some aliens were on her side simply because of their race.

  And now she had earned the attention of two random pirates that had nothing to do with her mission. This just complicated everything.

  “I thought all Ezak-X worked for the Alliance,” she continued. It would be in character for her undercover identity to have the same questions as she did, so she wasn’t worried about the Ezak-X suspecting her even more than he already did. It was a fair question.

  Still, she regretted asking it as she watched his expression darken.

  “Not all,” he said, his casual tone turning low. “Fuck the Alliance. Not like they’ve ever done anything for me or my partner.”

  Kira’s stomach did a flip. This was bad. She was straight from the Alliance, on an Alliance mission. There was no more time for chitchat.

  As admittedly curious as she was about these pirates and how they had ended up together on Riala, this had nothing to do with her mission. There were no reports of Ezak-X pirates being involved with the disappearances of the human women, and especially not of a horned beast like the Ezak-T. And it wasn’t like witnesses would easily forget either of them.

  She had to get out of here, now. Before either of them figured out who she was and who she worked for.

  “Well, have a good night, you two,” she said shortly, starting to walk toward the far end of the alley.

  She groaned as the Ezak-X took a few short strides and blocked her path.

  Not again…

  Stopping, she crossed her arms and looked up at him. “What?” she asked, not hiding the annoyance in her voice. “Can I go, please?”

  “Those pirates chasing you,” he said, as if he hadn’t even heard her. “Who are they?”

  Kira just looked up at him, ignoring the instinctual fear she felt at his intimidating appearance. She kept her expression neutral and met his piercing dark gaze without flinching.

  “And you never answered my question,” the male continued.
“Who are you? I’m Xeegan. And I already told you this is Zorq. But you haven’t told us your name.”

  What the hell? Did this guy think they were about to become friends or something, just because they had been chased by the same pirates?

  Kira didn’t have time for this.

  She just shook her head and moved to walk past him.

  This time, the Ezak-X – Xeegan – didn’t block her path. Thankfully. She was about to get as far away as possible from this weird situation as she could.

  Then, she felt the warmth of a huge hand on her shoulder. Startled, she looked behind her to see that Xeegan had reached out and grabbed her. She just stared at him, waiting for him to say or do something so she could react. He hadn’t blocked the movement of her arms in any way, so she knew she would be able to grab her knife at any time if she needed to. She wasn’t in any danger.

  For now, at least.

  The Ezak-X leaned down toward her, his face just inches from the top of her head, and… inhaled?

  Kira blinked, surprised.

  What?

  She shook his hand off her shoulder, and he didn’t resist. But he also didn’t lift his face away from her. She heard him breathe in again, deeply.

  Okay… She was officially, completely, creeped out by him. Was this the Ezak-X way of making a move on her or something? Yeah, no thanks.

  “Goodnight,” she said curtly.

  Xeegan turned toward Zorq, who, thankfully, was not coming any closer and trying to smell her, too.

  Kira didn’t stay to listen to whatever the Ezak-X had to say to his partner. As soon as his eyes were off of her, she took off running as fast as she could, deeper into the neighborhood.

  CHAPTER 5

  XEEGAN

  “Xeee?”

  Xeegan barely heard Zorq say his name. His mind was a million miles away.

  That female’s scent…

  It was intoxicating. Even now, he could still smell her scent in his nostrils. She had smelled sweet, like hezoan honey, but with a tinge of spice that he could barely find words to describe. Cinnamon? Maybe closer to a rare Ghelian spice that he had tried once, but couldn’t recall the name of.

  And now, she was gone.

  He could still feel how strong yet delicate her shoulder had felt beneath his palm. He brought his hand to his face and breathed in. A trace of her sweet scent lingered and Xeegan savored it.

  Of course, she had run from him. Xeegan and Zorq intimidated even other pirates. She had acted tough, but she was probably terrified of them. Xeegan had accused her of being a spy in his earlier annoyance, but it was much more likely she was a just a regular pirate or a refugee looking for work wherever she could find it.

  He looked down the alley in the direction she had run. If he left now, he could easily catch up with her in seconds. Maybe seeing her again would explain the unfamiliar feelings that accompanied that sweet scent. Not only did he like her smell, but just thinking of the sweet scent made blood flow to his cock. It ached, like he needed… craved… something.

  It was a pleasant feeling, but it was also one he had never felt before. And Xeegan didn’t like the unknown.

  He shook his mane, shrugging off the sensation.

  Whatever… Let the female go.

  There was no need to go after her. Yeah, she had piqued his curiosity, but Xeegan had no desire to explore those unfamiliar feelings. The female was annoying anyway. She had run straight into him, spilled his drink, and then gone on to refuse to answer his questions or explain what she had gotten him into.

  Those Mehelians…

  The fact that there had been Mehelians in the group that was chasing her intrigued him. He wondered if they were involved with the pirates he had met with earlier. It was possible that if he showed up to another meeting with the off-planet pirates, they might recognize him as the Ezak-X who had run from them.

  Shit… That wasn’t good.

  There was only one way to find out for sure though. As much as Xeegan would have liked to head back home with Zorq, he felt a grudging responsibility to go back to The Crown to track down Zeon.

  After the female had run into him, he had only had a moment to glance at the empty table in the back of the bar. It was possible Zeon and the Ghelian had just walked up to the bar to order more drinks, or gone outside to talk details, or a myriad of other options.

  It wasn’t that Xeegan was especially worried about Zeon, but he wanted to know where his informant was and if he had found out anything helpful.

  “Zorq,” Xeegan said, finally turning to his friend. “What do you think, back to the bar?”

  The Ezak-T looked down the alley in the direction that the human female had run, and made a questioning noise.

  “No,” Xeegan answered the question he was pretty sure Zorq was asking. “Let’s let her go. We’ve got other things to worry about. Zeon, remember him?”

  Zorq nodded.

  Together, they headed back to the bar, this time at a normal walking pace instead of a breakneck run. They still kept to the alleys and, thankfully, didn’t run into a soul until they were back in the courtyard behind The Crown.

  “Want to hang out here?” Xeegan asked Zorq. There were fewer pirates outside, mostly alone or in groups of two or three, smoking and huddled around the few gas lamps around the perimeter of the courtyard. It would be easier for Zorq to stay under the radar and avoid attracting attention out here.

  In fact, if a pirate just glanced at him in the shadows, they might not even think twice about it. Despite his size, Zorq blended into the shadows with surprising ease.

  Zorq nodded and found a dark corner to hide in.

  “I’ll be right out,” Xeegan muttered as he pushed open the doors to the bar.

  The noise and overwhelming bitter alcoholic scent of the bar overwhelmed his senses for a moment, as always, before he became used to it. He strode toward the back table where he had last seen Zeon.

  A group of women of different alien races were gathered around the table, drinking and laughing. They smiled at him when he approached.

  “Can we help you, big guy?” the nearest woman asked, winking at him.

  Xeegan furrowed his brow. “Have you seen an Ezak-X tonight? Like me, but with a shorter mane and different clothes?”

  The women shook their heads. “Sorry, hon,” one answered, before they returned to their conversation, realizing he wasn’t interested in whatever they had been hoping to offer.

  Xeegan walked to the bar, finding a good vantage point where he could see the whole crowded room. He scanned the crowd carefully, taking in the face of every pirate and black market operative present. He even tried to uncover Zeon’s scent amidst the stench of alcohol and sweat, but it was no use.

  There was no sign of the male.

  Not even any of the Ghelians or Mehelians he recognized. Would Zeon have been stupid enough to follow the pirates to some private location? Fuck. Probably.

  This was going to be harder than he thought.

  Xeegan went back outside and found Zorq.

  “He’s not here,” he updated his friend. The Ezak-T nodded. “This could be bad. I want to know what happened. Let’s track him.”

  As good as Xeegan’s sense of smell was, Zorq’s was phenomenal. His tracking skills rivaled those of the universally renowned Earth dogs that were used across galaxies. In the same way, nothing could hide from Zorq when he got onto a scent trail.

  “Can you pick up anything?” Xeegan asked, though he could pretty much predict the answer.

  Zorq was already sniffing the air. The Ezak-T started to move toward the gate that led to the alley – not the one the human female had led them through earlier, but one on the other side of the courtyard.

  They went through the gate, latching it behind them.

  There was no lighting in this alley, but that didn’t slow either of them down, as both of them had fantastic night vision. Xeegan wasn’t sure exactly what things looked like at night for his friend, but he hi
mself could see everything in just as much detail as if there was a shining sun out, only in shades of black and gray.

  Zorq led him down the alley, and then stopped to look around and breathe in deeply. He rose to his hind legs and poked his nose higher in the air, inhaling.

  “Did you lose the trail?” Xeegan asked, taking a moment to sniff the air himself. He could barely detect Zeon’s scent, and realized that was exactly what Zorq had picked up on. When he took one step further down the alley, the scent was gone – as if Zeon had just ceased to exist halfway during his trip down the alley.

  Something had happened here. The only question that remained was how Zeon was faring after the “something.”

  Xeegan crouched down to examine the gravel that paved the alleyway.

  “Signs of a scuffle,” he said, motioning to Zorq to look as well. “Here.” He pointed to a group of indentations in the gravel. “And here.”

  Zorq got on all fours and examined the marks. Xeegan knew that the stance was more comfortable for him, although sometimes the Ezak-T avoided dropping down in order to blend in among pirates who expected to see only other two-legged races.

  “Xeee,” he growled, gesturing with his nose toward a dark patch on the gravel about a foot away.

  “What is it?” Xeegan asked, shifting his position so he was closer to the stain. He breathed in.

  Oh.

  That’s why he had been able to pick up Zeon’s scent here. The naïve pirate hadn’t just left skin cells and clothing fibers, like Zorq was able to sense so easily, but something more.

  Blood.

  The metallic edge to Zeon’s scent suddenly brought a tightness to Xeegan’s chest. Something bad had happened to the guy, no doubt. Something that had ended in bloodshed and his complete disappearance.

  Xeegan pushed aside the rush of guilt that threatened to overcome him, and replaced the unwanted feeling with annoyance. It was much more palatable. He had been right not to count on the other Ezak-X. He wasn’t ready for a job like this, not yet, maybe not ever.

  Either way, this was life. Zeon must have known the risks when he defected from his cushy life in the Alliance military. Especially coming to Riala and walking straight into the life of a pirate.