Chapter 2
TWO
He harmed Mina.
That thought blazed through Sevik’s head anew with each thump of his heart, flooding him with waves of roiling heat. He felt his control over his holoshroud wavering, felt its projected disguise threatening to flicker, threatening to expose him.
The male human struggled beneath him like a wild animal, desperate and reeking of terror. He flailed, writhed, kicked, and clawed, but Sevik would not be dislodged.
He. Harmed. Mina.
Sevik hammered his fists into the man’s face again and again, setting a brutal rhythm. The human curled his arms around his head to shield himself; Sevik only rained blows upon the man harder, faster.
Each punch landed with a dull, meaty thwap . He’d heard such sounds countless times throughout his life. They were especially insignificant and unsatisfying now after hearing the hollow thud of Mina’s head striking her vehicle’s window. Sevik needed more—more volume, more impact, more damage inflicted.
He needed more to drown out the memory of that sound, of the quavering fear in her voice, of how wrong this all was.
Zekt’al , none of that should matter to me!
But it was Mina. Mina .
A growl tore out of his chest, and he bared his fangs, further quickening his blows, punishing anything within the path of his fists. Pain and warmth radiated in his knuckles, but the sensations were muted.
The smell of human blood, with its iron tang, filled Sevik’s nose, tainting the crisp night air and Mina’s clean, sweet, alluring fragrance. His nostrils flared. Something within him reveled in that blood scent—a dark, ferocious, ravenous thing in the pit of his being, the primal part of Sevik that had carried him through a life of struggle and strife.
A life he was supposed to be hiding from.
Snarling a curse, Sevik stilled his hands. The human’s black knitted facemask glistened with blood and condensation, the flesh around his eyes was swollen, his lips were split, and his teeth, at least those not missing, were stained red. His ragged breaths drifted into the night in small, fleeting clouds, and his limbs lay unmoving in the snow.
He harmed Mina.
Sevik clenched his fists so tightly they shook. He had every reason to kill this human…and only one reason not to.
Fuck.
The male groaned, and his head lolled. Droplets of his blood were scattered across the snow, coloring it pink and red. Mina’s purse lay to the man’s left, while the knife, its blade partially covered by the snow, lay to his right.
Gritting his teeth, Sevik shoved himself to his feet, lifted his gaze, and swept it around the lot.
The only remaining vehicles were Mina’s SUV and Sevik’s truck, which was parked closer to the store’s entrance. Any tire tracks left by the recently departed cars were already filling in with snow. Cornerstone’s interior lights were dimmed, and the employees, who usually parked behind the building, seemed to have gone home for the night.
Yet even with this spot being beyond the reach of the store’s exterior lighting, it was only a matter of time before someone drove by on Main Street and saw something.
Witnesses were complications, and complications were to be avoided.
Sevik snatched up the fallen knife, tucked it under his belt, and strode to Mina. She lay on her side next to her vehicle with her eyes closed, her coat open, and a light dusting of snow atop her, breathing but unaware.
She looked so small there, so pale and vulnerable. And even now, so fucking beautiful.
He’d seen this scenario before. He’d been the aggressor, and he’d taken from people who’d already had so little. Innocents were caught in the crossfire all the time. What made her different? Why the fuck did he care at all?
Why does my route always take me past her café when I’m in town?
Why do I always glance through her window as I walk by?
Why do I always glance through her window as I go by, and why do my eyes always find her instantly no matter how many humans are inside?
Growling, Sevik knelt, scooped up some snow, and scrubbed his bloody hands clean. After wiping them dry on the sides of his shirt, he slipped a hand under the female’s neck. “Mina?”
She didn’t respond. Her pulse was slow and faint against his palm, and her skin was cool.
Keeping her neck supported, Sevik carefully lifted her into a sitting position and checked her for wounds.
The red flesh on her forehead was swollen, pulled tight over a lump forming beneath. Her mouth and the skin around it were also reddened, though not as severely. A shallow puncture wound on her side had stained her sweater with blood.
Sevik gritted his teeth and somehow resisted the violent urge to return to her attacker.
“Mina,” he repeated, patting her cheek. “Wake up.”
Again, she did not react.
Each beat of Sevik’s heart was a distant boom. His knowledge of humans was lacking, but he knew head trauma was a serious risk to them. Who could say what damage had been done under the surface?
“This isn’t easy to get on this planet,” he muttered as he lowered a hand to the small case on his belt and glanced around the lot again. He already had his med injector in hand when he returned his attention to Mina. Angling her head aside, he pressed the tool to her neck and activated it. “You owe me, female.”
With a click-hiss , the tool injected her with the serum that had saved Sevik’s life many, many times. He could only hope it would have the same amplified healing properties for a human as it did for most other species.
Mina still did not stir.
Headlights from the street cut across the parking lot.
Sevik pressed his shoulder against Mina’s vehicle and curled over her, shielding her with his body. He quickly returned the injector to its case and grasped the pistol hidden under his waistband at his back. Tension rippled through him as he watched the lights glide across the ground; the vehicle was turning onto Main Street, which ran parallel to the front of Cornerstone. It would drive right past this little scene.
For an instant, the headlight beams hit the back of Mina’s SUV, spilling bright light across the snow only feet away from Sevik. Then the vehicle straightened, and the beams swung away.
Sevik didn’t draw his weapon, but neither did he release it.
Snow crunched beneath the vehicle’s wheels, and the engine rumbled. Sevik flattened himself against Mina’s car as much as he could without crushing her.
The vehicle rolled past. It was another SUV, with SULLFORD POLICE written on the side in gold and black letters.
Cyr orkaal . Nine hundred people in this town, yet it had to be one of the three fucking cops who drove past now?
He glimpsed the face of an older human male in the glow of the dashboard instruments within the cab—likely the police chief, Dick Harrigan—before the vehicle moved out of sight.
Sevik didn’t ease until he couldn’t hear it anymore.
Releasing the weapon, Sevik glanced at the male who’d attacked Mina. He knew how this would look to the local authorities. Two injured, unconscious humans in a dark parking lot after the store had closed, one of them severely beaten…and only the town’s gossiped-about outsider, Viktor Novak, left standing.
Suspicion would fall on him. Blame would fall on him. And whatever the truth, the authorities would draw their own conclusions, would create their own narrative.
He was supposed to be hiding, was supposed to be… What was the human term? Lying down? Lying…low?
This was anything but that.
Yet whether on Vabos or here on Earth, the instincts Sevik had honed over the years would serve him well.
He eased Mina down again, rose, and stepped away from her. Something tried to pull him back to her immediately; denying that urge was far more difficult than he could’ve anticipated.
How had he managed to stay away from her before now? He’d been drawn to Mina from the moment he’d seen her through the front window of her shop a year ago, when he’d first arrived in Sullford. How had he resisted? Why had he resisted?
Because things couldn’t have gone far before she noticed some differences in our anatomies. Aggaan sin thar!
Sevik tugged his gloves from his pocket and slipped them on. His claws, rendered invisible by his holoshroud, slipped through the cuts at the ends of the fingers. He grabbed the male human by the coat and hauled him off the ground, tossing him over his shoulder. The man groaned with the pain and confusion of the not-quite-conscious.
With long strides, Sevik carried the man toward the store’s entrance, activating his neural transceiver as he walked. The readout flashed into his field of view, highlighting the building’s various computer and electronic systems.
If for nothing else, he was grateful that he’d already hacked into so many of the town’s systems. It would save precious time now.
Neural commands set the implanted transceiver to work. Before he’d even reached the entrance, the cameras were deactivated with their recordings for the day wiped, the alarm was disarmed, and the automatic lock on the entry door was disengaged.
Cornerstone’s door slid open as Sevik neared. Without slowing, he stepped inside and dumped the human on the floor.
The man grunted and curled onto his side, grating out what must’ve been a curse.
Sevik continued deeper into the store. He grabbed a bottle of wine from a shelf on his way to the coolers, where he collected six cans of beer connected by plastic rings. Alcohol in hand, he returned to the front of the store, where he paused to kick the man in the stomach.
The man doubled over with another groan.
“Hurt?” Sevik asked.
A strained sound of assent emerged from the man’s throat.
With his thumb claw, Sevik sliced away the foil around the wine bottle’s spout before prying the cork out. A firm shove from his foot rolled the human onto his back. Sevik planted his boot on the man’s chest, pinning him in place.
“Touch what’s mine again, and I’ll cut off your fingers one by one and shove them down your fucking throat.”
He tilted the bottle and poured the red liquid onto the man’s face. Some of it fell into the human’s mouth, but his sputtering and writhing splashed much more onto the floor.
Sevik dropped the bottle beside the man. It landed with a clang , but the thick glass remained intact. He tore a beer can from the bunch, popped the tab, and poured that onto the man next. The empty can soon joined the bottle on the floor.
As he opened another beer, Sevik leaned down, putting more weight on the man’s chest. The wheezing human weakly grasped Sevik’s leg.
Growling, Sevik caught the man’s cheeks and squeezed, forcing his mouth open. He poured the amber liquid directly into the man’s mouth.
The human choked and squirmed, spraying beer and spittle over his own face as he struggled to swallow. Part of Sevik wanted to see this fucker drown, though it would be an easier death than he deserved.
Sevik poured faster, watching the man struggle until the can was empty.
Still breathing. Too bad.
Need to get back to Mina. Wasting too much time on this esklaat .
Opening a third beer, Sevik pried one of the man’s hands loose and pressed the can into it.
The human coughed and retched.
“Drink.” Sevik dropped the remaining beers atop the man’s chest before slapping his cheek. “Might help with the pain.”
Not sparing the man another moment, Sevik exited the store, removing his gloves and stuffing them back in his pocket. The door closed behind him, and the lock engaged. Scanning his surroundings ceaselessly, he hurried to his truck, climbed in, and started it. He pulled up beside Mina’s vehicle, turned off the engine, and hopped out.
Mina remained just as he’d left her—tiny, pale, and dusted with snow. He pressed his fingers to her neck. Her pulse was a bit faster and stronger. A minor improvement, but it was something.
Delicately as he could, Sevik brushed the snow from her coat and pants. He gathered her in his arms, holding her against his chest, and brought her to his truck. Somehow, she looked even smaller once he’d laid her on the back seat. Sevik leaned into the cab and folded one of his spare coats, tucking it under her head for support.
Closing the door, he returned to her vehicle and collected her purse from the ground. He pried it open and peered inside. Her keys were at the bottom, beneath her wallet, her phone, an electronic tablet, a pack of tissues, and a few other strange human items.
Sevik sighed. “Not how I’m supposed to be spending my evening.”
He tugged open the driver’s door of her car and climbed in.
His knees bumped the bottom and sides of the steering wheel, which also pressed against his chest. With a growled curse, he tossed Mina’s purse onto the passenger seat, reached down between his legs, and blindly felt for the release. The wheel dug into the side of his arm, and his cheek came dangerously close to pressing the horn.
It felt like the space was getting tighter with each moment.
Finally, his fingers hooked the bar. He tugged it up and shoved back with his legs. The seat jolted backward and slammed against the ends of its rails, shaking the whole vehicle.
Zekt’al , but she was a tiny thing.
Oddly, that thought diffused his annoyance.
He shut the door even as he pressed the button to start the engine. A flick of a lever cleared most of the snow from the windshield with the wipers; he wasted no time shifting into gear and pulling out of the parking lot.
Reaching Mina’s home was simple enough—it wasn’t even half a mile away, straight down Main Street. Thankfully, most of the town’s other businesses were closed, and the road was all but deserted. He pulled into her driveway and parked behind the building, where she usually kept her car.
Sevik grabbed her purse, killed the engine, and pulled himself out of the vehicle. His steady heartbeat marked each passing moment.
It was only a matter of time before someone would pass Cornerstone and notice his truck in the parking lot. It was only a matter of time before the masked human regained his senses and created a commotion inside the store. It was only a matter of time before the serum either healed whatever damage had been done to Mina…
Or before it killed her because it was incompatible with humans.
That possibility made his stomach twist. He clenched his jaw and shook away the alien feeling.
Death was nothing new. People died all the time, and he’d done plenty of killing himself. Why feel grief now, when she was still alive? Why feel it for her at all?
Because it’s Mina.
Get fucking moving.
Only as he was turning away from her car did he notice the bags on the back seat—the groceries she’d just bought, including the jars of sauce he’d taken down for her. His fingers tingled with the memory of their hands touching when he’d handed a jar to her. That delicate brush of skin had awoken something hot within Sevik, something with a fierce yearning.
After retrieving the bags, he locked her car and returned to Cornerstone. Though the snow and bright streetlights counteracted the night’s darkness, the snowfall was heavy enough to reduce visibility and provide him with some cover as he moved. He kept out of sight as much as possible and used his neural transceiver to erase his presence from any surveillance devices he passed.
His heart rate had quickened by the time he reached his truck. Using the side of his boot, he kicked the bloody snow nearby, breaking up the crimson stains until they were unnoticeable. Then he tugged open the driver’s side door, climbed into the cab, and placed Mina’s belongings on the passenger seat.
Grasping the back of the seat, he twisted to check on her.
Mina Anastasia Walker was unmoving but for her breathing.
He closed the door, started the engine, and drove. Just before exiting the lot, he sent a neural command to reactivate the store’s alarm system.
Sevik had no doubt the alarm would be tripped soon enough, but there’d be no evidence of either himself or Mina having been anywhere near Cornerstone when it happened.
The town remained unsettlingly peaceful, like all the people of Sullford, many of whom had been out only an hour ago, had vanished simultaneously. Yet there was no peace to be found inside Sevik’s truck.
Mina’s scent dominated the air. It was layered, a blend of smells for which he’d learned the names largely by sampling scented candles at the grocery store. A hint of coffee—lingering on her from the café—with raspberry, lavender, and something clean and crisp, reminiscent of snowfall. That fragrance built a heady fog in his mind and flowed into his blood on growing waves of warmth.
His gums ached, and he clenched his teeth as he fought back primal instincts to bite her, to mark her, to mate with her.
To imprint upon her.
Sevik growled. His hands tightened around the steering wheel, making it creak. Heat coalesced low in his belly.
Only one thing made it possible to resist the lure of that scent, to deny the insistent impulses. The faint smell of blood—Mina’s blood.
He latched onto that scent and held it at the forefront of his mind.
She’s hurt. I will not harm her further.
She’s hurt.
And I’m not human.
Sevik slowed as he approached Mina’s café. He’d sometimes watched her through its front window—watched her smile brightly to customers, watched her wipe her brow and catch her breath after a busy afternoon, watched the longing looks that sometimes crept onto her face when no one else was around, especially while she was reading. He’d seen her around town too. He’d seen her grin as snowflakes tumbled through the air, had seen her stick out her tongue to catch them upon it. He’d seen the warm summer sunlight play upon her dark brown curls.
Mina was vibrant, kind, and alluring. He had never been drawn to a female like her.
Never wanted a female like her.
It would’ve been easy enough to stop and bring her up to her apartment, which was over the shop. Would’ve been easy to lay her in her own bed. But to think it would’ve been easy to leave afterward, to cease his involvement in this, would’ve been foolish.
He still had no idea what the serum would do to her, and he couldn’t leave her to the unknown.
And part of him still insisted that he take what he wanted. That he take what was his.
Because even if he couldn’t have her, Mina was fucking his.
So he kept driving, heading for the only secure place he knew—his residence.
Sullford’s soft lights and brick and wood buildings gave way to dark woodland as he followed the road out of town. Tall, white-crusted trees loomed on either side, offering glimpses of rugged terrain between their trunks.
Sevik made his turns with little conscious thought. He’d been sure to familiarize himself with the land upon arriving here, making navigation second nature.
Maybe one day it’ll be second nature to stay out of situations that don’t involve me.
He squeezed the steering wheel again. Things were different. Everything was different. This wasn’t Vabos, he didn’t have connections here, didn’t have the power and influence he’d once commanded. The smart thing to do was keep quiet, avoid attention, and bide his time.
But what was the point of such an existence? Without risks, without struggle, without rewards, why bother? He would create an opportunity to return to Vabos, kill that traitorous fucking coward, Brekker, and take back what was his. Yet why deny himself pleasure until then? Why stop living while his heart was still beating?
He knew better than to underestimate anyone, even these relatively unadvanced humans, but he refused to cower in hiding.
Grasping the rearview mirror, he angled it down sharply. He couldn’t see Mina’s face in it, but he could see her chest, slowly rising and falling, and one of her dainty hands, its pale skin contrasted by the dark gray paint on her blunt claws.
The only way he could’ve left her behind tonight was by never having been there in the first place. He was neither arrogant nor delusional enough to believe that he would’ve been able to witness her get attacked, shrug, and leave without a second thought.
Not Mina.
After several turns onto increasingly narrower roads, Sevik reached his property. The trees opened to reveal his cabin and the serene lake beyond. It had already frozen over, and the wind had blown most of the snow to the shoreline, leaving the ice bare.
He pulled in under the carport, turned off the truck, and slipped out. After checking her pulse again, he carefully lifted Mina from the back seat and carried her into the cabin. In the entry room, he slid off his boots before he removed hers, along with her coat, setting them aside to dry.
The automated interior lights came on, and the holo-shades he’d installed adjusted the tint of the windows, preserving his view while making it impossible to look in from outside.
Not quite realizing what he was doing, he walked through the kitchen and climbed the stairs to his loft bedroom. The vaulted ceiling and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the snowy forest on the other side of the bed made the room feel spacious.
He swept the covers aside and laid Mina on the bed. Again, he couldn’t help noticing just how small and delicate she was, just how lovely. Something warm stirred in his chest at the sight of her there, in his bed, surrounded by his scent and adding hers to the air.
She seemed to…fit here. And something deep inside Sevik urged him to lie beside her and hold her, to share his warmth with her, to experience her softness, to shield her from the universe with his body, to?—
Vazk , what the fuck is wrong with me?
The only reason he’d ever had a female in his bed had been to rut. There’d been no affection involved, no cuddling, no comfort. They’d use each other for sexual release, and he’d send them on their way. He had no desire to share his bed beyond that.
But with Mina…
Sevik forced himself into motion again. Her sweater and pants were wet, the former stained by blood. Barely keeping his hands steady, he removed the damp garments. Every bit of pale, smooth flesh revealed in the process was a test of his willpower, especially when his skin met hers.
It was soft. So fucking soft.
Mina’s heady scent only made it harder, overcoming all others to cloud his mind. He raked his gaze over her body; those slender, shapely legs, the little flare of her hips, that narrow waist, the smooth plane of her belly, the swell of her breasts, her elegant neck…
Sevik once more filled his lungs with her fragrance. His gums itched, and his fangs ached to mark her flesh, to leave a sign for all to see that she was his.
With a claw, he hooked the material connecting the cups of her bra and lifted it away from her skin. The only things hiding her cunt and her small, pert breasts from him were a few scraps of white, lacy fabric.
His cocks strained behind his slit. He wanted to rut her, needed to imprint upon her. To make her his in every way.
Take.
Take.
Take.
A flick of his claw would slice the material, and the bra would fall away…
No!
He shook his head sharply.
Aggaan sin thar, she’s wounded and fucking unconscious.
Sevik forced his gaze to her side. He lightly touched his fingers to the skin around her wound as he tried to ignore the effects of her scent, nearness, and feel. The puncture wound was no longer bleeding. It seemed to be closing, albeit slower than it would’ve for Sevik’s kind.
“Fuck,” he rasped as fire blazed through his veins and his confined cocks twitched. He held his breath and clenched his jaw, but the pressure only worsened the ache in his fangs and deepened his desire.
Lungs burning, Sevik pushed away from the bed, caught hold of the blanket, and drew it over Mina’s body, tucking it up to her chin. Slowly, he exhaled.
This would be difficult, but he welcomed the challenge. Welcomed the chance at conquest.
Mina let out a heavy breath that ended in a soft moan and turned her head to the side.
Sevik’s tension eased against a wave of soothing warmth. He moved a hand to her face and stroked her cheek with the backs of his fingers. Was her forehead a little less red, a little less swollen?
He traced her delicate features with his fingertips. Her skin was losing its chill, another hopeful sign. When his hand encountered a coiled lock of her short brown hair, he swept it behind her rounded ear.
Canting his head, he gently combed his fingers through that hair. It was soft, and the curly strands clung to his fingers and bounced back into shape in such an endearing fashion.
He’d never been so fascinated by hair.
Sevik withdrew his hand. There were still important matters to attend, and he’d learned long ago not to put pleasure before such business.
Though she was tempting enough to make him want to forget that lesson.
Gathering her wet clothes, he descended the stairs. This would be a long night, and it’d be much, much warmer than he was accustomed to.
Sevik couldn’t stop the grin that spread across his lips.