Chapter 2
Maya
The pod door opened with a click and a hiss, followed by the universe’s worst metal-on-metal grinding sound. The pod’s stale air rushed out, and moist, sulfur-tinged swamp gas rushed in. Maya coughed and blinked against the dim light filtering through the mist.
The trip had taken far longer than she’d expected. Much longer. The delivery agent had promised the pod would land on the nearest habitable planet, and they’d been just outside New Rhea when the attack happened, so why had it taken so long that the pod had started warning of low oxygen?
And yes, she’d totally panicked when that had happened, clawing at the console, desperate to get a call out to somebody, anybody.
Suffocating in a metal tin can in the middle of space was not the way she planned on going out.
But apparently moving around had been the wrong thing to do, because it used up the oxygen even faster, and the pod had taken her survival into its own hands and gassed them.
She’d only woken moments before the final impact.
Her whole body was stiff, especially her neck, but she was alive. And so was Commander Chaos.
Her first look outside confirmed more trouble. The pod had settled into a bog… or maybe a swamp, she couldn’t remember the difference. Either way, the pod was sinking, the muck rising fast enough that it was threatening to spill in already.
Commander Chaos wriggled in her arms.
“You really don’t want to do that, buddy.”
But as always, the rambunctious dragus pup didn’t listen. It leaped down, much too confident in his choice of landing spot. His front paws sank in immediately. He yelped, panicked, and launched himself right back into her embrace, smearing her with mud. Alien muck coated her sleeves and her chest.
“Perfect,” she muttered. “Just what I needed.”
There better not be any brain-eating parasites in this water.
With Commander Chaos once more secured in her arms, she scanned the area to look for solid ground. Staying with the pod was out of the question unless she wanted to know just how deep this bog was.
Evening was closing in on the planet, or moon, or whatever this place was, and the sun was already setting, but there was just enough light for her to see. Maya tightened her grip on Commander Chaos and stared out from the sinking pod.
There was a line of trees in the distance.
Or at least, she hoped they were trees. Trees needed solid ground, right?
These better not be the type that could survive being submerged.
If she got to them and found out that they were indeed just the tops of giant underwater trees, she was going to burn them down with nothing but her rage alone.
A sudden shriek had her heart dropping to her stomach as she stared up into the sky.
Giant winged forms were heading toward them.
And they seemed to grow infinitely larger with every millisecond that passed.
Commander Chaos, his tiny body full of inexperience and hubris, snarled at the sky, his eyes tracking the creatures.
“Shh,” Maya hushed. “No barking.”
Technically, dragus didn’t bark like dogs; instead, they made yipping sounds, as well as strange, high-pitched hissing sounds to communicate.
They also growled and snarled. But for the lack of a better word, they’d decided to call it barking to make it easier.
The yipping was usually reserved for small dragus, and older ones tended to abandon that form of communication.
But it was too late, the loud yipping had already caught the baleful attention of those bird-things. Maya had no idea whether they were predators or friendly giants, but she wasn’t planning on waiting around to find out.
The pod suddenly moved, sinking down on one side, just enough for the water to rush in.
“Shit!”
She scrambled to grab the supplies under the seat, which were conveniently stored in a portable pouch. She strapped it on, then picked a wet and miserable Commander Chaos back up.
“Time to go.”
Then, without giving herself too long to actually think, she plunged into the cold, mucky water.
She sank in almost to her thighs immediately and swore at how freaking cold it was.
There was a wet suctioning sound, and the pod next to her suddenly sank a good deal more, and water started pouring into the interior.
She struggled against the swamp water, which was thick with mud. Tough strands of gods-knew-what stuck to her legs, pulling her back. Slowly but surely, she was making progress. Not that there was an option to go back.
Except the flying creatures were almost here now, and… what in the Jurassic Park was this? Pterodactyls?
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!”
She didn’t need to wait around to find out if they were predators. They had to be, especially with the way they were circling them now.
One of the anachronistic amusement park escapees bombed them, claws extended, and Maya screamed.
So this was the end. She was going to die on some unknown planet, and these anachronistic dinosaurs were going to tear her apart.
But there was a sudden loud zing of a blaster, and the claw in front of her face got shot right off.
It landed in the muck several feet away, still sizzling from its singed edges.
She was looking around wide-eyed, trying to figure out what had just happened when a loud sound had her ducking and covering her ears, causing her to drop Commander Chaos into the mud. The pup squealed and whined, paddling to stay afloat. Luckily, dragus were born with the natural ability to swim.
The sound didn’t abate though, but it clearly hurt the flying creatures a hell of a lot more than it did her, because they shrieked and turned, flying in circles like they were confused.
One of them dove toward the trees, and it was only then that she saw him.
The Tallean male stood with a large machete-like weapon in his hand, waving it as the pterodactyl lookalike swooped down on him. The creature was big enough to pick him up, even though most Talleans were almost seven feet tall and muscular to boot. This one was no different.
They met in a clash of claws and blade. But the fight only lasted a few seconds as the sharp sound intensified.
It was so bad now that Commander Chaos was whimpering, and Maya sacrificed her own comfort so she could cover his ears. The poor pup had great hearing, and it must be horrible for him.
The flying menace decided they were not worth the perforated eardrums after all. It turned and fled, following its friends over the trees. The moment it was gone, the sound stopped.
Maya eyed her rescuer, unsure what to make of him. He’d just saved her from certain death, but that didn’t mean much.
“Today must be my lucky day,” said the male at the far shore, as he threw her a line. “Hurry up, female, before they come back. You smell awfully tasty.”
She eyed the line, unsure if she was jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. But what other choice did she have?
Here goes nothing.
Ranek
A human female holding a furry creature in a bejeweled harness was not what he’d expected to find.
The female had brown skin, just a shade darker than his own, and warmer, as if it had been touched by the sun's glow, even when it was covered in mud. Her hair was swept up out of her face in a large, puffy bun atop her head, and there were black smudges under her eyes, remnants of her makeup.
She wore a simple outfit, and the uniform shirt had a company logo on the chest. Was that the company she worked for? Was she paid for the work? Or forced to work?
He squinted at his new companions as he hauled them in from the swampy waters.
Dragus R Us.
Dragus?
Those were the terrifying beasts that hunted the Reka 5 wilderness in packs.
They’d caused Reka 5 so much grief in the early days that the colonists had erected giant fences around the different sections of the colony to keep them out.
One dragus was no problem for a Tallean male since they weren’t that big and went only up to this human female’s waist. But dragus always hunted in packs, and where there was one, there were many.
Before this moment, Ranek had only ever seen these dangerous creatures in videos, and in every one of them, the creatures had been attacking something or someone.
But this creature before him was nothing like the beasts in the videos.
For one thing, it was still a juvenile. It had several white patches of fur on its body, and its ears folded over halfway.
It was furry all over, and the fully grown ones in the recording had fur only from the nose to the midsection, their lower half covered by thick, leathery skin.
Instead of attacking, the creature clung to the female, terrified, as if it believed the human was its mother. The human seemed right at home with it, comforting the little bedraggled mess of a creature.
The female was just as dirty now that he had a good look. She was caked in mud, but her sorry state didn’t detract from her beauty and her curvaceous form. And the dirt and mud didn’t dull the sparkle in her eyes.
Since his entry into the outer planets, Ranek had met many human females, and there was one thing they all had in common: They were full of grit and determination. His sample was a bit skewed, however, since many living in Vosthea and Reka 5 had escaped slavery under Dominion rule.
He gave the rope one last tug, grateful that he’d thought to bring it along, then extended his hand out to the female. He expected her to throw herself at him, grateful for the rescue. To his surprise, she plunked the wet, muddy, and disgruntled ball of fur into his arms instead.
The creature immediately realized it was in the arms of a stranger and a predator to boot, and scrambled to get away.
It bounded out of his arms and landed on solid ground before shaking its body violently in a bid to get dry, sending mud splattering in all directions. A large splat landed on Ranek’s chest.
Fuck. That was one of his last clean shirts. Well, clean-ish anyway.
“Argh!” The female slipped, sliding down the sloped surface of the bank again, and landing with a splash in the muddied water.
Ranek reached down, grabbed her arm, and hauled her out of the bog. She was lighter than he’d expected, and the momentum carried her against him, plastering more mud across his chest and shoulders.
She looked up at him, her eyes wide and filled with uncertainty. The moment caught him off guard, striking through the armor he’d worn for ages. Something in the way she clutched to his shirt, mud streaking her face, pulled at instincts he hadn’t trusted in years. Protectiveness surged through him.
“Thank you,” she said, clearing her throat.
Ranek stood rooted to the spot, mesmerized, forgetting how to make words or even how to breathe. He knew there was a proper response for that, but all he could do was pull her closer to his body and hold her.
Despite the organic stench of the swamp gases, her natural fragrance still punched through. Now that she was so close, it filled his lungs.
Stars! What perfume was she wearing? It shouldn’t be legal, the way it made a male want to drop to his knees in front of her. A mix of floral notes and spice, it wrapped around him, making his body tighten in ways he hadn’t expected.
He wanted to snarl at the thought of other males catching even a hint of it. He wanted to keep it all for himself. His claws flexed, his chest ached, and for one insane moment, he considered burying his face against her throat and drowning himself in it.
He was still standing there, trying to control himself, when the thought hit him like a ramming battle cruiser.
Mine!
The errant thought speared into his head. Heat surged through him, a rush he hadn’t felt in years. Every fiber in his being told him that this gorgeous female was his mate. But that couldn’t be right.
His mate was dead.