is a slight shift in the breeze before the scent of an animal comes to me. Great. Sak.
Glancing over at Pascel, I signal to him to retreat, pointing at the female so he knows to take her. With another hand movement, I signal him to shut her up. The last thing we need is for them to call for reinforcements. One I can deal with. But only if I have to.
Backing up slowly, I glance at the flying craft one more time. It doesn’t appear to be going anywhere, and the only thing I must make sure of is that there’s no way for her to call it to her. Based on the way my body is reacting to hers, I’d be very upset to lose her.
As it is, all I want to do is go back to my encampment and drag her into my tent. Even though that’s not the wisest idea and definitely not what I need to be dwelling upon right this moment. Letting Pascel and Sunny get ahead of me to watch their backs, I follow later, retreating as quickly as I can.
I catch up to Pascel within moments, despite the fact that he’s running back the way we came, leading Sunny. Loud hooting surrounds us as the sak call others. Echoing answers bounce through the trees.
Snatching up Sunny, I sprint at high speed to the edge of their territory. I’ll have to come back after their mating season when they’ve migrated and bring along some of my trusted males to attempt to climb up to the craft. That’s the only way.
Breaking out of the praline trees, we reach the edge of the cliff, and I debate how to get down. We need to retreat quickly because the sak won’t stand for us to be this close to their mating grounds. I’m not surprised, but I had to at least try. Growling my frustration, I smell the female’s body answer my call. Not what I need right now!
Setting her down, I crouch in front of her, snarling out my demand. “Climb onto my back and hang on tight.”
Her mouth opens to argue, but snaps closed as her eyes dart to the forest. I don’t even have to look over to know what she sees. I can hear and smell the group of sak heading for us.
Scrambling onto my back, her arms almost choke me as I straighten and toss her bag to Pascel. Without a word, he loops his arms through it and drops over the edge of the cliff. Wrapping her legs around me, I grip her ass with one hand as I release my claws in the other and plunge over after him.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
- Sunny
“I DON’T KNOW!” Why doesn’t he believe me? As we stand in the forest looking up at the tiny craft, my frustration builds. I’ve already told him I didn’t purposely bring the spacecraft here. That I don’t remember.
“Don’t you think if I knew, I’d tell you? I wouldn’t be wandering around wondering where I am. If someone sent me here, I’d have a message or at least know where I’m going!” His smaller, lilac companion is crouched down beside me, staring at me with a strange expression. “Do you know what I mean?” I direct at him, since he’s listening to me. Kaneer has wandered off a few feet and is looking back at the forest.
When all I get is a non-committal grunt, I pause. My eyes skim over the smaller man. They are similar, but Pascel definitely has lighter skin and a slighter frame. I notice he has some of the lighter markings on the exposed parts of his arms too. If I saw them on a human, I’d assume they were self-inflicted cut marks, but now I realize they’re a brand or tattoo. Silvery white, they’re very faint on him. But instead of the muscular bulk of my captor… Kaneer, this man reminds me more of the average men on Earth. He’s still at least six and a half feet tall, but he looks like the younger of the two. “You can understand me, right?”
I hadn’t really considered whether this new guy spoke this strange language that I seem to be able to communicate with. He nods, before adding, “Now I can.”
As I stare at him, I think back to what I’ve been saying. Shit. I’m going to have to be more careful and literally try to concentrate when I attempt to speak their language. Even though I