The Breeding Experiment - Laurann Dohner Page 0,6

burning for air, but he didn’t breathe. The gas was still present, a light fog visible inside the shuttle.

He stabbed the second one in the rounded top of the head with his dagger and slashed at its stomach with his clawed hand. It used at least five tentacles to shove him away, but it was too late. It dropped, dying quickly.

He shut his eyes and let his rage take hold, his body transforming into battle mode. The dagger clattered to the shuttle floor as he released it.

He leapt through the ripped-open ceiling and landed on the roof on four paws.

More of the aliens waited in the shuttle bay of whatever ship they’d been brought to. There were over a dozen—clearly surprised to see him. He evaluated his attack plan even as he wiggled out of the torn clothing still attached to his body.

Once free, he sprang off the roof of the shuttle. When he landed in their docking bay, his body almost buckled, his body betraying him, but he refused to pass out. His rage helped him push the weakness back. He was also able to suck in fresh air to fill his lungs.

He attacked the closest Elth, pounced on it and tore it open with his claws. It cried out in pain but quickly stilled under him. He went for another one, listening as his translator interpreted their language.

“Take it down!” one of them shrieked.

“Throw more canisters,” another screeched.

Gnaw ignored them, attacking as many of them as he could. They had defenseless bodies that were easy to kill—but the Elth were smart. Whatever gas they’d tossed into the shuttle had not only been an inhalant, it had done something to his skin. It was slowly weakening him, making him drowsy.

They deployed more canisters into the large shuttle bay, white smoke billowing from the devices. He tried to avoid it, killing more of the Elth. They couldn’t move fast enough to escape him as he took them out one by one…

The smoke was spreading swiftly, and Gnaw glanced around, trying to find an exit. He needed to get out of the bay, find a way to wash his skin if he stood any chance of fighting against whatever chemical they were using.

There was a door near him, and he ran for it. It didn’t auto-open. He ran so fast, he slid into the metal barrier—hard. It stunned him but he rose, using his claws to tear at the panel. The metal gave way under his sharp tips and sparks flew. The door began to open, and he dropped to all fours.

On the other side wasn’t fresh air, though, or freedom.

The opening was filled with more white smoke.

Trying not to breath, he rushed forward. There was nowhere else to go.

“Deploy gas on all levels!” one of the Elth squealed.

Gnaw ran but the smoke blinded him. His lungs burned, and he slammed into a wall he couldn’t see. The smoke grew too thick and the drowsiness increased. His skin itched badly. But he kept moving, kept looking for an escape.

Until his front paws gave out on him, and he went down. Darkness filled his mind.

They’d caught him.

* * * * *

The scary aliens stared back at Darla through the glass wall that separated them.

She’d woken up in the room with her sister and nine other women from the shuttle, but there was no sign of Gnaw or any of the men. She had no idea if they were dead or just being held somewhere else.

“What do you think they want?” Becky whispered.

Darla wished she had an answer for her baby sister. “The fleet will come for us,” she whispered back.

“They grabbed us right in front of the fleet! How could this happen?”

“I don’t know,” she said, keeping her sister behind her.

“You’re going to pay for this, you freaks!” It was the loudmouth blonde from the shuttle. She walked up to the glass wall and made obscene gestures at their captors. “The fleet will hunt your ugly squid asses down and we’ll have a fish fry! Calamari, asshole. Look that up!”

Darla inwardly winced. She remembered the woman’s name from their transport. “Maybe you shouldn’t agitate them, Barbara,” she whispered.

The blonde snarled at her. “Fuck off, animal lover.”

Darla clamped her lips together as Barbara turned her anger back to the glass wall and the aliens standing on the other side.

Their upper bodies reminded Darla of a ghost. They looked as if someone had thrown a fleshy sheet of white over their elongated, blob-like upper