Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 108211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
At last all but the biggest one with the crayon colored skin had run away. The wild man and Cade squared off, both growling at each other. Andi watched, her heart pounding. Was her Protector going to be able to win this fight? Cade was huge but so was the attacker. Oh God, if he lost and she wound up being taken by the huge green wild man…
But she had underestimated both her Protector’s strength and determination. Cade waited until the other man lunged and then moved with lightning-quick precision. He latched on to the side of the other male’s throat and made a ripping gesture with his mouth.
Andi didn’t hear the flesh tear but she didn’t have to—a moment later spurts of deep green blood were gouting out onto the bulbous plants and the wild man was growling and crying at the same time. Andi wondered why he didn’t put a hand to his throat to try and stop the arterial flow, but it didn’t seem to occur to him. He just whined weakly and backed away, clearly conceding the fight to Cade.
“Good job,” Andi told her Protector in a shaky voice. The whole attack had taken less than three minutes, but she felt as though they’d been fighting for hours. She’d had no idea there were packs of roving wild men out here or she never would have left the ship!
She looked back, wondering if they ought to return but it seemed like a bad idea. For one thing, they were now closer to the town than the ship. And for another, what would they do? The ship had no power so there was no way to even rehydrate any of the food cubes for dinner. And there was also no way to contact the Mother Ship. No, Andi decided, the only thing she could do was go on.
Resolutely, she turned back towards the town.
“Come on,” she said to Cade, who was wiping some of the green blood off his mouth by rubbing his face against the plants. “Let’s go—we need to get out of this field before they come back. Uh…do you want to get up and walk? Up? Up?”
She made a rising gesture with one finger and Cade seemed to understand. He got to his feet again, towering over her like no human man had ever been able to do. Andi noticed there was still green blood on his chin. She wished she could wipe it off, but she hadn’t brought any napkins. There was nothing to do but keep going.
“Come on,” she said to Cade again, and pushed forward, towards the town.
What else could she do?
12
CADE
Cade kept a sharp look-out for any more attackers. He knew exactly what the pack of males had wanted with his female.
They wanted to breed her, whispered a primal voice in his brain. They must not be allowed. No one but you must breed your mate!
Cade growled deep in his throat—he agreed with the voice completely. His female must be protected at all costs from strange males or any other dangers.
He would keep her safe, he promised himself. There were many strange smells here in the new place and not all of them were good. He would have to remain alert. His female was a highly desirable target and all males would want her—would want to breed her. But that wasn’t going to happen.
Cade promised himself no one would breed her but him. He would kill anyone else who tried it.
13
ANDI
The town seemed pretty small when they finally reached it. The houses were all single story and round with round doors and windows. They reminded Andi of Hobbit holes in the old LOTR movies. They were painted pastel shades of shell pink and baby blue and mint green and there were neat white stone paths that led from each round door to the broad, smooth sidewalk which scrolled along in front of all the houses.
Andi stepped onto the sidewalk, which seemed deserted, and Cade followed. She wondered who she ought to speak to and what she ought to ask for. A place to make interstellar calls, she supposed. And also possibly someplace to stay for the night, since sleeping in the dark and powerless ship with a huge hole in the floor didn’t appeal to her at all.
The rows of houses went on and on and they didn’t encounter a single other person. Andi was beginning to despair of finding anything she needed or indeed, anyone to talk to, when the sidewalk made a bend and they suddenly found themselves in front of what appeared to be a shop of some kind.
There was a sign out front with strange, angular alien writing on it. Andi stared at it a moment and, thanks to the Translation Bacteria in her bloodstream, the alien squiggles resolved into words she could read.