Unlikely Bonds

Chapter 23: A Love Like No Other

I drew my bow and was firing before my mind even had a chance to process what I was doing. It was like my body’s instincts immediately took over all control to preserve our life. My plasma arrow took the male in the shoulder, knocking him back several feet. I started to loose another when motion to my right forced me to flip back onto another branch. Right where my head had been, there was another Yaujta male’s claws. Unlike the one below, who was wearing nothing more than a loin cloth, this male was sporting some bone armor and mask.

The male snarled at me and lept for me. His enormous muscle mass, gave him the power of speed, but even with that, he could not match my flexibility. I twisted out of his reach and slapped the largest part of his head with my bow like a hammer. Bright green blood sprayed out, but he wasn’t down yet. Nope. Just pissed off.

He snatched my bow and yanked it out of my hands. I knew I would not win an arm wrestling match with him, so I let him have it and flicked my wrist for my blades to come out. Using the momentum of his pull, I thrust the blades into his stomach, screaming with the effort it took to slice through his rib cage. The large male fell to the forest floor, dead before I even broke through the first rib. I roared out with a savage victory I hadn’t known was in me, having been raised more human than Yautja.

My victory was short lived, because there was another male rushing for me through the tree tops. I snatched my fallen bow and began to fire. The first shot hit its mark on the male, sending his bulbous cranium into explosive bits, but the second which was aimed for the three males behind him, only shattered a poor tree because they divided up.

I went for the one I could see. I had a bio mask, unlike they did so I would have an advantage if they tried to ambush me. I hit a button on the bend of my bow just before firing. The arrow that came out exploded the tree that the malehide behind in sparks of fire. Roars of pain sang in my ears and I knew he was burning. The magma arrow was designed to burn so hot that it could melt through virtually any material. A tree was no match for it.

Something violently shook the branch that I was standing on, causing me to throw out my arms to correct my balance. The distraction from the injured Yaujta on the ground was all that was needed for one of the males to slam a thick hand around my neck, squeezing so hard that I thought he was going to pop my head off my very shoulders like a cherry. I couldn’t even scream out from the pain.

I tried to engage my blades but the other male disengaged my gear, pulling it off of me. Their beady eyes glared such hatred for me, but for a moment, they looked at each other and a look of unspoken words was passed between them.

My vision was starting to get flashes of white specs and I knew that he was either going to kill me or I was going to pass out. Either way, I was defeated. The strength in my limbs left me, every ounce of strength I had left went into fighting to keep my brain functioning due to the loss of air.

A hand reached for my mask that hadn’t been there a second ago. Realizing I had passed out for a moment sent a rush of adrinilene through me and I dug my claws into the males arms with every ounce of my remaining strength.

The male roared in anger, but I didn’t care. I didn’t care because I saw Volok launched in the air behind them. He was magnificent as his powerful thighs bulged from their effort to jump. His ripped torso twisted with cat like grace as he thrust his spear straight through both males. The sickening wet ‘pop’ of their skulls did absolutely nothing to dampen my swooning.

His roar of anger, possession, and challenge was the most bone chilling and yet arousing sound I had ever heard in my life. It absolutely thrilled me, giving me another wave of adrenaline. I shook myself and forced my heavy legs to steady. As long as Volok was here with me, I would not fall.