Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 79927 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79927 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
“C’mon, boy,” she said to Buck again. She put a trembling hand in his fur, and they went together back toward the home-dome.
Inside, the door sealed behind them with a reassuring whoosh. Safe–finally, she was safe.
That realization was all it took.
Kiera leaned against the curved wall of the entryway and then slid to the floor instead, because suddenly standing seemed like entirely too much effort. She pressed a hand to her eyes.
“Oh my God,” she whispered, and her voice sounded broken and strange. “Oh my God…”
Buck came to her at once, whining uneasily. He nosed her anxiously and Kiera threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his thick ruff.
“Oh my God, if you weren’t with me, I’d be in his ship by now going God knows where!” she told him.
Buck whined, sounding even more worried about her. His whole body was tense, as though he wanted to go back out and make absolutely certain Higgs was truly gone. But when Kiera clung to him, he stood still and let her hold him, his great shaggy head resting against her shoulder.
“It’s okay, boy—I’m okay.” She sniffed hard and got hold of herself by sheer force of will. “I’m just so glad you’re with me.”
Buck made another soft, anxious sound and leaned into her even more, nearly toppling her over with his weight.
Kiera gave a shaky little laugh in spite of herself and stroked his fur.
“Okay–it’s okay now and I’ll be okay too. I just need a little time,” she told him.
As she spoke, she stared out the long plasti—glass window beside the front door.
Outside, the sanctuary looked peaceful as ever under the pale purple sky. The chiming trees whispered softly in the breeze and somewhere in the distance one of the theebles let out a happy cheep.
But Kiera knew now—really knew—that things could go bad out here in a heartbeat. And if Buck hadn’t come when he did…
She closed her eyes and hugged him tighter, refusing to finish the thought. She supposed she ought to call Commander Rarev and tell him that Higgs was becoming a problem…but she hated to bother the busy Monstrum Commander with her day—to—day struggles. He might think she couldn’t run things on her own, and she didn’t want that.
Also, she couldn’t find her think—me anywhere. The thin gold wire that sat like a halo on the user’s head and transmitted thoughts telepathically had been missing for days. So even if she wanted to call for help, she couldn’t.
It was a damn good thing she had Buck, she thought again. It reminded her of that old ad campaign back on Earth–the one about “Who rescued who?” She absolutely believed her rescue wolf had rescued her just now–possibly even saved her life.
From now on, she needed to keep Buck close whenever she was outside, she decided. She hoped that Higgs would keep his distance now, but you never could tell with men. Sometimes they got stubborn and determined to make an ass of their selves.
“I’m glad you’re with me,” she told Buck again.
Then she buried her face in his warm gray ruff again and held on.
16
BRUX
Brux was deeply troubled.
At first, after he had driven the green male away from Kiera and taken her safely back inside the home-dome, he had been too focused on her distress to think of much else. She had been shaking, and sweating and her heart had been pounding so hard he could hear it. All he had wanted at that moment was to get her somewhere safe and let her hold onto him for as long as she needed.
But even later, when she had finally calmed down and they had gone back to their usual routine, the troubled feeling remained.
It stayed with him all through the rest of the day and gnawed at him while Kiera checked on the animals and made notes on her wrist—screen and tried very hard to act as though nothing bad had happened. It followed him as faithfully as he followed her from enclosure to enclosure. By that evening, when they were back inside the home-dome and Kiera was sitting quietly at the little table with a cup of something hot cradled between both hands, Buck understood exactly what was bothering him.
He had failed.
Not completely—he knew that. He had protected her. He had come when she needed him and made the green male release her. He had bitten him and driven him away. Kiera was safe.
That ought to have been enough.
But it didn’t feel like enough.
Because what Buck had wanted—what he had needed to do—was to take his humanoid form and stand before that ugly, stinking bastard as a male. Not a beast…not a pet…not a dumb, speechless animal who could only growl and snap.
He needed to confront the threat to his woman as a male–as a Monstrum warrior, defending his mate.