Chosen By the Hunter (Xarc’n Warriors #14)

Chapter 1 Dottie

The circle of knitters swam in my vision as I attempted to untangle the yarn barf that was currently holding my project hostage.

I was drunk. No, nix that. I was hammered.

The entire knitting club was, all thanks to Nina bringing in several bottles of her latest homemade moonshine.

She’s hoping to get something tasty enough to actually sell at the next Trader’s Market.

The good news was that this batch was ultra-tasty.

So much so that I’d gone back for seconds.

The bad news was that it was also deceptively strong.

We’d all rocketed past slightly buzzed and a little tipsy and all the way to drunk off our asses before we knew it.

And now we were a room full of extremely drunk knitters trying to remember the difference between a make-one-left and a make-one-right.

Luckily for me, I preferred my knitting projects to be easy and mindless, and I wasn’t trying to figure out the fancy lace knit shawl that the rest of them were knitting.

I chose projects that were mostly just stockinette in the round.

I could just continue knitting the same mindless stitch over and over from now until I ran out of yarn.

That was, if I could get the yarn to cooperate.

We were so loud doing all the fun things that drunk people did, arguing and laughing and making jokes, that we’d actually received not one, but two noise complaints.

By the time poor Roger had shown up at our door the second time trying to put on his best stern face, it was already dark out.

Though, to our credit, it was early spring and it got dark quite early.

“Sorry, Roge,” Natalie said. She was the closest to the door. “We’ll tone it down.”

“Lights go out in fifteen,” Roger said. “Y’all should start heading back to your rooms.”

Fifteen? I looked up at the clock. “Wow! It’s almost ten!”

There was a chorus of shocked exclamations and panicked squeals as several mothers and one father—men knit too—realized they’d left their younger children in the daycare past pickup time, and their kids probably thought they’d left them for good. Poor things.

I was glad to be done with that phase of my life before the bugs came, but at the same time, I rather envied the support systems these parents had now.

Raising children during the apocalypse may be more dangerous and unpredictable, but there was no rushing to get the kids to soccer practice or dance lessons.

Don’t get me wrong, those things absolutely did exist, just in different forms. But everything was nearby and often set up as part of the system to give parents time off so they could work and actually be part of a functioning community.

This knitting club, for example, was considered an official community-building activity, which was why we had use of this meeting room once a week from right after the second shift until lights out at ten o’clock.

Like many successful settlements in the bugpocalypse, New New Franklin, often shortened to just New Franklin, worked on a two-shifts-a-day basis. It was centered around when the scourge, the alien space bugs that had descended on the planet years ago, were the least busy.

And despite having already destroyed the nest at the downtown core of the old town of Franklin, we still kept those hours.

Stuffing my future sweater dress, tangled yarn and all, into my project bag, I searched the area for my glasses. I didn’t need them when I was knitting, especially stockinette in the round, but I did need them to get back home, especially in the dark; my eyesight was really crappy in the dark.

“They're behind your cup,” Natalie said with a wry smile.

She was right. I grabbed my glasses, shoved them on my face, then picked up the cup, eyeing the liquid warily.

No fancy wine glasses for us. There was still a tiny chug at the bottom, but I was already pretty smashed as it was.

Next to me, Janice, who ruled the roost over at our building’s kitchen, picked up her cup and shrugged.

“Waste not, want not.” Then she downed the remainder in a big gulp.

Eh, it wasn’t like I had to wake up early tomorrow. My shift at the library wasn’t until after lunch. I shrugged and did the same.

The moment it hit my stomach, I realized I’d officially drunk too much. Oh well. I was on my way home anyway. I’d just make sure to drink some extra water before I went to sleep.

Janice, Natalie, and I lined up at the sink to rinse out our cups and put them on the drying rack.

And with a quick round of goodbyes and the promise to meet again next week, we all headed out.

Some hurried off to the community daycare just a few hallways down.

New Franklin was small enough that we raised our children as a village.

And as daily survival tasks like getting enough calories and not dying became easier, more people were freed up to extend daycare hours and run afterschool activities, so everyone could actually have hobbies again.

The rest of us exited the extensive community center for the residential buildings. Janice and I lived in the original survivor building; we were roommates. And Natalie lived in the hunters’ building, which was just a little farther away.

“You know what?” I said as I threw on my parka, which was a little overkill for the current temperature.

Technically it was already spring, but this morning had been a tad chilly.

I was glad I’d brought my parka out because it was even colder now that the sun had set.

“I was unhappy when they decided to move all the fun stuff out of the main survivor building, but I’m kind of glad now, even with extra back and forth we have to do. ”

“Me too,” Janice said. “I already work and live in the same building. I’d go stir crazy if I didn’t have an excuse to leave.”

“It’s such a small thing, but it makes it feel like we’re actually living and not just existing, you know?”

Both women nodded in agreement. And then we opened the doors and stepped out into the cool early-spring night.

The walk back to the building was quick and eventless, protected under the covered pathways, and we soon found ourselves in front of the first building.

I was happy and tipsy, and feeling warmer than I should with the booze, and my brain naturally went to food procurement.

That should sober me up a bit and make the next morning a little easier to handle.

“Go on ahead,” I said to Janice. “I have some books I need to offload at the hunters’ compound.” I hefted my oversized bookbag.

“Oh! You have the manuals!” Natalie exclaimed, probably a little louder than she meant to. “Rajiv’k’s been excited to get his hands on them.”

Rajiv’k was Natalie’s Xarc’n warrior mate. The Xarc’n warriors were muscle-bound alien fighters who’d arrived on Earth shortly after the scourge had. They followed the abominations across the galaxy in an attempt to wipe them off every planet they tried to take over.

Of course, most of Earth’s governments hadn’t believed they were here to help and instead spread rumors that claimed they were here to take over the planet.

That was a dark chapter in Earth’s history and the reason why our planet got fucked the way it did.

Now, we were working with the Xarc’n warriors to save what we could. Well, at least some of us were.

“I can take the books,” Natalie said, offering a hand.

“Here,” I said, handing her my much lighter project bag instead. “Take this if you want to help. I want to come visit anyway and say hi to everyone.”

I had ulterior motives. The food in the original main survivor building was decent, especially now that Janice and her team had a good set of recipes designed to use up the food we’d stockpiled, grew, or traded for, but nothing beat Evie’s cooking.

Over at the hunters’ compound she was a bit of a legend and I didn’t quite believe it myself until I visited one fateful evening and had some of the leftovers.

We used to have Siobhan’s pies, which rivaled Evie’s mystery mashups, but Siobhan spent most of her time with her hunter now making deliveries across the continent.

Finding an excuse to go over had been why I told Rajiv’k that I’d bring the manuals to him when I got them. Nothing was going to stand in my way of food. I just hoped they had leftovers today. They usually did.

The smell of delicious food greeted me the moment we stepped inside. So did the rush of warm air, making my cheeks feel hot and red. Several pairs of eyes turned to us, and Natalie’s cousin, Alice, grinned and waved.

“Hey Dottie! How’s it going over at the new library?”

I grinned. I found it funny that they still called it the “new” library even though we’d moved it from the old building to the community center a while back.

“Good! There’s more space, but it’s already starting to fill up.”

As Natalie and I made our way into the main room, Alice narrowed her eyes at us. “You’re both drunk.”

Natalie giggled. “It’s not my fault.”

“Nina brought the newest batch of booze she made. It was good, like, really good. But also really strong,” I explained. “I feel great now, but morning is going to suck.”

“Eat something,” Alice suggested. “It’ll help. We’ve got some leftovers. Evie made enchiladas. I’ll pack you some to take home.”

Jackpot! Mission accomplished!

I made my rounds, saying hi to Jack and Lena, and Connie and Jorg’k.

Tooth, New Franklin’s squirrel mascot, was nowhere to be seen, and I assumed he was already tucked into his nest for the night.

Waffle, Tilly’s Pomeranian and Maltese mix, was demanding her share of pets and cuddles.

Then, after my short stay, I was stepping back out into the cold with a container of saucy enchiladas in hand.

I walked fast, my only goal being to make it back inside before the yummy food got cold. I turned the corner and bumped right into a giant purple chest.

“Whoopsie!”

I looked up, up, and up, into a pair of striking golden eyes.

The eyes belonged to a hunter I’d seen around but didn’t know well.

His face was chiseled and stern, but in the dim glow of the LED lights illuminating the covered pathway, I could just about make out the streaks of gray in his hair.

He must be the Overseer from the lost mothership.

Damn it! I didn’t remember his name. But he was visiting New Franklin for the first annual Trader’s Market that just passed. It wasn’t just the salt-and-pepper hair, though. I also recognized him because the tip of one of his horns was missing.

I’d seen him in passing and admired what a fine specimen he was. He might be a little older than the rest of the hunters, but he kept himself trim and was a total silver fox. And here I was completely plastered to a well-formed and very muscular chest. Warm hands grasped me by the shoulders.

“Something smells good.” The lowly growled words had lust tickling my belly.

My eyes landed on the container of food in my hands, tied all pretty in a kerchief.

“Oh.” The single sound came out more as a giggle than a word. “It’s the enchiladas. They have leftovers if…”

I trailed off because I was suddenly aware that I was still completely smashed up against him and neither of us had made the effort to get away. To my credit, he was ridiculously warm, and I hadn’t zipped up my parka, so I was soaking in his heat like a lizard under a lamp.

He smelled so good too. Musky and masculine and… I found my fingers tracing the details of his abs, wondering how his skin could be so warm even when it was freezing out. His skin was soft too, even though his muscles were hard as steel.

A rumbling purr emanated from his chest.

Purring? For little old me? I must be imagining it.

Maybe he was cold after all and it was a shiver.

There was a rather confused look on his face, which was utterly adorable.

So adorable in fact that the thought of kissing him completely bypassed my brain and went straight to my arms and lips. I blamed it on the booze.

One moment we were standing there in the cold, and the next we were sloppily making out like two teenagers. It felt completely awkward at first; he’d probably never kissed anyone before, and I hadn’t done so in over a decade. But boy, was he a fast learner.

The sexy-as-sin hunter had me clinging to him and moaning into his mouth with every sweep of his tongue. One of his massive hands slipped under my parka, drawing me tight to his body by the waist. The low rumble in his chest vibrated through me, making every nerve ending light up.

I leaned into him, my fingers clawing at his firm pecs as he backed me into the nearest wall, never breaking the kiss. I was panting and out of breath by the time he let me up for air. I wobbled unsteadily on my feet as I ducked under his arm.

“Bye, sexy warrior.”

Then I was heading back to my room feeling happily buzzed.