Alien Conquest (Fated Mates of Xaensskar #2) - Jude Gray Page 0,38

as good as he got.

Gods, but I’d missed this.

I flung myself into the fight as Corsovians hurriedly gathered, shouting and gleeful, attracted by the sounds of crunching bones and the scent of hot blood.

For a while, I let the fight take me, and the little Drimuti slipped to the edge of my mind. And I did what I swore I would never do.

I failed to protect her.

Chapter Twenty

KREIA

I was mad enough to kill, but instead of stomping into the cabin and yanking Avanya out of Dexx’s arms and attempting to kick both their asses, I ran away. Pain, doubt, and distrust shoved me along, and when I heard cheers, shouts, and the distinct sounds of a fight behind me, I realized Dexx wasn’t coming after me.

I’d never really trusted anyone but Galen, and it was going to take me a while to figure out this whole lifemate situation—if I decided to go back to Dexx. I could let him convince me that he wasn’t embracing the awful Avanya, but I knew what I’d seen with my own eyes.

It wasn’t even that I was jealous—I was possessive of him, yes, but what bothered me the most was that Dexx couldn’t see the Hgrir for what she was. I’d hated her from the moment I met Vihn, and it irked me severely that Dexx couldn’t see past her big blue eyes and her pretty face. He fell for her poor acting. And that just pissed me off.

I stomped along, growing angrier with each step, but I came to my senses before I got too far. Corsov was no place for me to be wandering alone. I could still hear sounds of violence, and I knew without going back to look that Dexx and Bo were the ones fighting. And from the sound of it, most of the others had joined in as well.

Assholes, all of them.

And Avanya was there, gloating, soaking it all in, hoping Dexx would still be standing when it was over so she could try to seduce him into her bed.

No way was I going to run off and let that happen.

I sighed, then turned around to go back to the camp, my pride a bit tattered but my anger a little cooler, then shrieked when I slammed against a big, hard body, bounced off him, and landed on my ass on the ground.

It was Dexx’s guard, Graez, and despite the pain in my tailbone, I was relieved. I held out a hand, smiling as he pulled me to my feet. “Thanks, Graez. I was going back to camp. I suppose Dexx and Bo are still beating each other silly?”

He said nothing, just watched me, but I pretended not to notice. I’d been a boy to Dexx’s guards since they’d known me, and I couldn’t blame them for their curiosity.

I hooked my arm with his. “Lead the way, please. I’m sure you know where the danger spots are. I was half afraid I’d fall into a—”

I caught movement in my peripheral and jerked my head around, expecting to see an angry and battered Dexx, my heart lifting before I realized it wasn’t Dexx at all.

It was Avanya.

“What the fuck,” I said, immediately angry. “Are you following me?”

She smiled, and it chilled my blood. She kept her cold glare aimed at me, but her words were for Graez. “We don’t have a lot of time.” She waved a contemptuous hand at me. “Get rid of the whore before the idiots finish beating each other senseless and come to look for the little cunt.”

“Avanya—”

“Kill her, Graez. We can’t have this bitch wrecking our plans.”

I looked from one to the other, stunned. “Graez?”

“Graez and I have been working hard to get me into Dexx’s heart and bed for a long time, Drimuti. You’re not going to fuck that up.”

“But,” I stuttered, confused, “why? What is this?”

“I’m going to mate with Dexx and become his lifemate—not his fated mate, but his lifemate, nonetheless. Someday in the not so distant future Dexx will die, and I will, after a suitable period of mourning, marry my fated mate.” She gestured at Graez. “We will live happily ever after, wealthy, powerful, and with every dream we ever had coming true.”

I turned to run, but Graez grabbed me, clamped a hand over my mouth, and snaked an arm around my ribs. He jerked me against him and lifted my feet off the ground, and with Avanya at our backs, he began to jog away from the camp.