Chapter 24
JAY
Axel is fearless, slowly inching toward the Exxlar, and showing no hesitation as Leon whispers, “Careful, son.”
I’m bloody scared, and not at all fearless, but so pumped too. If I were human I’d be useless and stuck on the Derecko (waiting to see if my commander and captain were coming back alive), but now that I can actually put up a fight, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere safer.
I let my fear fuel my anger as I move in behind the Exxlar, so he can’t take off through the airport.
“Just because we’re not going to kill you, that doesn’t mean we’re against beating the hell out of you, ‘general,’ if that’s what it takes to end this,” I say impatiently, sick of all the fear and worry that is squeezing the happiness out of me at a time that should be the happiest in my life.
I could be pregnant with my first hatchling, thanks to one of my three soulmates, and I’m not letting this barmy bastard ruin that.
“We’ll beat the hell out of you and any other Exxlar-filled men you brought along. ”
The Exxlar twists around and gives me a sly smile. “What makes you think I brought men?”
Something not human lets out an angry grunt overhead, right before the damn thing crashes on top of me. Its weight slams me into the ground. We roll together for a moment before it pins me there and I cough up blood.
Fuck, my lungs! It definitely broke some ribs and probably punctured one of them, because pain sweeps through my chest when I take in the cool night air.
I try to inhale and exhale very slowly as I process what’s happening around me. There are screams and loud thumps as more of them attack from above, knocking the wind out of the captain, commander, and my new hybrid friends.
“What have you done, Trembly?” I choke out, assuming he invited a hellish nightmare species to Earth—maybe to help him conquer it. Then the thing digs its claws into my shoulder, and I get a good look at it as my eyes widen with an explosion of pain.
It’s not some creature from the Exxlar planet or somewhere else. It’s a fucking bear. A huge black bear that is trying to kill me.
“Get off,” I cry as I put all my strength into a punch to its furry throat.
It whines and lets go of my shoulder, falling on its side with a heavy thud.
Now that I can move off the ground, part of me wishes I was still pinned. Everything hurts so fucking much but I harness more anger to push through it, hauling myself to my feet as pure, unadulterated rage boils up inside me.
I thought I was pissed before but now I’m this asshole just sicked a bear on me pissed.
Eight of them are fighting with Trembly as he throws punches at Braxton.
We are outnumbered and all of us are wounded.
Leon is in the worst shape with something dislocated in his neck, which is bent unnaturally to the right.
Three of the bears are squarely focused on him, going for his throat with their claws and teeth.
I hobble toward him, and wince, hand on my wounded shoulder.
Nox kicks the bear that fell on him toward Axel and then flies past me, hurling himself into the three bears like he’s a cannonball.
Axel doesn’t even blink as he’s suddenly forced to take on two bears at once, doing what he must to keep their attention on him.
Blimey. Now that’s what I call love! Nox is willing to get mauled by three vicious beasts to protect his father, and Axel doesn’t mind taking on two bears just so his brother and father don’t have to deal with four.
The bear that fell on me is still recovering on the ground, from my punch, and I find myself a bit lost in the heat of battle, not sure who to help.
Leon and Nox seem to be doing just fine with three bears.
Braxton is fighting Trembly and a bear on his own, but he’s the only one here who’s probably in the same weight class as Leon, so I think he’ll be okay.
And Hex is only fighting one bear, so I guess I should help Axel, since he’s the only one fighting more than one bear alone.
But he’s actually doing very well with two on one, looking startlingly unbothered by his predicament, despite the gash in his earlobe, and blood dripping onto his shoulder. He laughs whenever one of the black bears swipes a big fat paw at him and he dodges it.
“Ha! You missed!” he jeers. “Maybe next time! Uh—nope—missed again!”
Before I can decide whether to throw myself into the fray with him, or Leon and Nox, one of the black bears spins away from Axel and decides to charge at an easier target: my hobbling ass.
The bear does that right when the smaller one I took down gets back on all fours, and bounds out from behind me, joining the effort to humble Axel so he can’t intervene while I’m shredded to pieces.
God, I wish I could fight like him.
Hex insisted on me doing hand-to-hand combat training in the VR pod, so I could competently defend myself if I ever lived among humans again, assuming many would see me as a threat just for growing up with NVs.
But I refused to take those lessons seriously because I was so pissed at the idea of being forced back to Earth. The captain was just trying to keep me safe and I was a sodding prat about it, skipping most of the lessons I was supposed to hop into the pod for.
I filled up on wank material instead, and now I’m going to die on this bloody planet before I get the chance to apologize for behaving like a bloody git.
At least I took six hot loads from three sexy aliens before going out.
Cheers to that!
With unnatural strength and speed, the bear rears on its hind legs and grabs me before I can dodge its paws, lifting me up and leaning my head toward its open mouth. Its hot breath hits my face as it lets out a guttural roar and I scream at the top of my lungs.
I kick at the furry bastard to try and stop it from biting off my face, but only half of the kicks connect with its soft spots, and none of them are strong enough to make it let go.
“Need a little help over here!” Axel shouts. “But not for me, I’m kicking ass!”
I roll my eyes, annoyed that those will be the last words I hear, but then I see a crimson cloud in the corner of my eye.
It’s the captain’s aura!
Another bear flies through the smoky color and hits the bastard who won’t let me go. I realize Hex must have picked it up and thrown the damn thing before I’m dropped on my ass.
The bear that had me stumbles, but doesn’t fall over before it pushes the other bear off it. They both gain their footing and bare their sharp teeth at Hex. He bares his fangs and claws back.
“Go for the eyes or snout!” Nox hollers. “It’s working for us!”
I jump up and go for the bigger of the two bears, throwing myself onto its back and putting it in a headlock. You’d think attacking the throat would work too, but that just seems to piss it off.
Hex kicks the smaller one in the snout and then goes for the one that is swiping at me, over its shoulders. He punches it in the eyes so hard it looks like he’s cramming his fists into its skull.
The thing howls with pain, covering its face with its paws, and falls forward. I let go of it, landing on my feet, and the bear that’s still standing lumbers toward me.
Hex leaps into the air and comes down on it, elbowing it in the back, and then his arms and hands are going so fast his movements are a blur.
The Exxlar collapses to the ground as it takes several blows to the head.
My heart stops as I wait for it to pass out, and I’m worried I might pass out with it.
My mouth is full of the taste of blood, I’m dizzy, and every breath barely makes its way out of my chest as I wheeze and cough.
Finally, the bear stops moving and Hex climbs off and takes me in his arms, carrying me as easily as he would carry Human Jay.
I’m not sure what Trembly did to him before we got here, but it seems like he has recovered from it, and a bear falling on him.
That gives me hope that my hybrid lung will heal fast.
Hex searches for Braxton, and when he sees that Trembly is sprawled out on the ground beside the commander, looking lifeless, he lets out a relieved sigh.
“Everyone, get to the ship, now!” he shouts before he takes off at a sprint toward the tarmac.
One bear cries out in agony as Axel throws one last punch, and then roars echo through the airfield as we make a run for it.