THERE’S A PART of me that wants to trust her. There’s even a part of me that is attracted to her and I’m not sure why. It’s Beast causing most of the problems right now and if nothing else, I’ve learned to listen to my animal instincts more than my human ones. So why am I fighting Beast on this?
Females are unique to us. There hasn’t been a female birth among Shadow Warriors since we came to Earth. When we mate with humans, the babies are always male. Males carry the strongest genes of our race, and something in our genetic structure caused only male children to be born after we settled here. The spaceship with my ancestors was the only one out of twenty similar ships that made it to Earth. We never discovered what happened to the other ships. My great-great-grandfather’s home ship began its journey with two hundred adults and one hundred children. Only half of the people survived and after an aborted attempt on another planet that looked hospitable ended tragically, those who survived landed on Earth with only a handful of women remaining.
We have volumes of texts that define our history before our forefathers came to Earth. Each spaceship carried a set of our histories. On our planet few women carried the gene that produces K-5 and allows us to shift. The women who did were mighty warriors. It was estimated that one in one hundred women were born with the special gene. Now it isn’t even a possibility. We mate with humans and produce strong boys who turn into beasts. In one way it made the transition to this world easier for us. We need women to survive and as much as our people fought among themselves, women, as the providers of life, were sacred and still are.
This is why I demanded a female liaison officer from the Federation. Easier to keep her alive or so I thought. Marinah is proving difficult. I need to understand what causes Beast to come unhinged when other men are near her. When Boot had her hanging over his shoulder, Beast didn’t object. It’s the first time one of the men has touched her within my purview that Beast didn’t show displeasure. Then, when they were laughing, Beast exploded. Why?
“You seem deep in thought. Can I hope you’re rethinking keeping me here for much longer? I don’t see building trust overnight and who knows how much time we have before the hellhounds return.”
I glance at the stubborn set of her jaw and see her father. “In order for us to help you, there are certain things we need before I share our secrets. Once I share, I have no way of knowing if they will be used against us.”
She nods. “The Federation also has secrets that will leave us vulnerable if you decide to attack the Federation.”
Maybe we’re getting to the heart of the problem. “The Federation actually thinks we would attack them?” The look on her face gives her away. Her government is stupid. We want safety and peace for our people. If the Federation leaves us alone, we will do the same. I wave away her reply before she gives a properly rehearsed one. “Does your president agree to you sharing your secrets at all?”
She shrugs. “My president gave me permission to say or do anything that would make you willing to help us again.”
My eyebrows arch and I’m intrigued. “Anything?”
This should be good. Her cheeks turn pink. “Come on, you saw how they dressed me. You haven’t figured out that they hoped you would fall head over heels and take me up on anything I offered.” Pink cheeks turn a deep red. “They think you have a woman shortage and that was the reason you asked for a female liaison officer.”
I shouldn’t want to laugh. “And you allowed them to send you here to have sex with monsters.”
“Stop referring to your kind as monsters.” It’s her turn to wave my words away. “I figured I wouldn’t survive the airplane ride or meeting you if I was lucky enough to step off the death trap. I’ll remind you that I almost didn’t survive my first day here, so my thought process is not that far off the mark.” She takes a deep breath and meets my eyes full on. “My father never considered your kind monsters. He had more respect for your people than he had for most humans. He didn’t speak of his work often, but he wanted me to know Shadow Warriors were not to be feared. He was a good man and a great judge of people.”
I’m not letting her off that easily. “You were okay with sacrificing yourself… sexually?”
She shakes her head and her eyes remain on mine. “I was never okay with it, but I knew my chances for continued survival at home were slim because my job is nonessential. As soon as the next round of hellhounds attacked, I’d be wearing a red stripe and sacrificing myself in a different way. I came here because I wanted to go out doing something valuable for my country and, because of my father, something for Shadow Warriors.” She finally looks down and I realize the eye contact didn’t set Beast off. Maybe he’s sleeping. “I wanted my father to be proud even if he’s no longer alive to see it.”
I stare at the other side of the room as I come to a decision. “Hellhounds aren’t hounds at all.”
She’s smart and remains quiet for a minute as she processes what I just said. “How could you know that?” she finally asks.
I’m crossing the line here for some strange reason. Maybe it’s talk of her father or maybe it’s Marinah herself. Everything she feels—joy, anger, sadness—shows in her expressions. If she can do that on purpose and lie about everything she’s just said, she’s a very good actress. I open Pandora’s box. “Because we’ve captured and studied them.”
Her chair flies back when she jumps up. I’m not sure where she thinks she’s going. She takes three steps away from the table and her shoe catches the edge of the carpet and she face-plants in front of me. Again.
I stand with my hands on my waist and watch her roll over. Blood drips down her chin and she appears disoriented. I can only shake my head. “You need more work than Boot might be capable of delivering.”
Her hand goes to her chin and she wipes away the blood. “Actually, the Federation trained me to fall from an early age. It’s my greatest talent.” Her voice from so far down echoes slightly.
Her humor comes from her father. I remember his well.
“Any chance you could help me up? The training I received ended at falling.”
I lean over, grab her under the arms, and lift her upright before she can do more than release a small squeal. I huff out a breath at the noise. There is nothing warrior-like about her clumsiness and yet I still see potential. Our bodies are only a few inches apart and her scent is incredibly unique. The blood on her chin, the soap she washed with, and the aroma that marks her female wrap into something that I haven’t scented on a female before.
Beast wakes and for the first time this evening and he doesn’t want her dead. He shoves oxytocin and dopamine through my system to make me horny. I know his game and this isn’t the time. I jerk him back without giving away that there’s an internal war of lust going on inside me.
“You have hellhounds?” she asks in a shaky voice. “Why… how?” Her eyes stay glued to my chest and a drop of blood from her chin falls on the floor.
“We’ll get you cleaned up and I’ll show you,” I say softly seeing something in her I’d missed before. She’s damn sexy in a way that I’d never thought would attract me. It’s subtle, and between her feistiness and awkwardness, I’m hooked, which isn’t good. While these new thoughts rock through my skull, she’s still trying to come to terms with us having hellhounds.
Her neck stretches, the veins pulsing rapidly, and her eyes lift to mine. Horror shows in her gaze. When a hellhound dies, it turns to dust. Capturing them alive was our only option. They are perfect killers and studying them was our only chance at defeating them.
“You’re crazy,” she whispers.
I give her an intense look. “Finally something we can both agree on.”