Star Side

Chapter 49

His tail cracked against the wall, his thorns leaving great gashes glistening with venom. His wings inflated till they pressed against the walls and ceilings.

Despite the considerable wound on his back and being past his prime, the dead-eyed male was on his feet in a second. The stairwell filled with the bitter scent of his foe's fury.

"You've touched my back for the last fucking time," he hissed, then reached for something at his belt.

The next thing Gilrack knew, burning, raw pain exploded in his shoulder and across his chest. He stumbled back into the dome, food falling to the floor as his left arm failed.

His mate from within cried out with alarm. His instincts wailed. Images of the too-small egg popped across his thoughtless mind.

Failure failure failure!

He dropped the rest of the food. He crouched, claws digging into the floor.

His foe closed in, taking the steps two at a time, his strange weapon leveled on Gilrack and glowing a strange blue.

"Gilrack! Levi! What the hell!"

His tender mate appeared between them. Panic like Gilrack never knew whitened his mind. He reached for her, only to find his left arm failing and only his right able to reach her just as the blue light in his foes weapon coalesced and shot out.

More fire-like pain ripped across one side of his face and his neck. Bright blood speckled his mate. Gilrack's blood.

His mate's mind waves, usually gentle, snapped out with that same protective fury she'd had when she'd curled around her freshly birthed eggs and his tail had gotten to close.

Despite having just given birth, despite her mental wounds, she threw herself across the space between them and their foe with all the ferocity of the angered females of horror stories. She threw the dead-eyed male, weapon and all, as though he were half her size.

He hit the wall with a yelp of pain.

"What the fucking hell, Levi!"

"Right back at you! He attacked first! Without warning, I'll have you, are you..." he stopped. "Shit, are you—Jo—"

Gilrack blinked and his ferocious female had dropped, trembling.

He lunged forward to hide her with his wings, scenting her blood through his own. Not much, but enough to make any recovery from his instincts impossible.

"I'm fine," she tried to push Gilrack away, but only succeeding in moving some of his wings. She puffed from where she hung on his arms. "Worry about yourself—wait, is that a freaking plasma gun? Shit, Levi."

"Figured I needed an upgrade with that thing," he said as he pushed himself back to his feet.

Gilrack moved, tail lashing, teeth and claws reaching to finish his foe.

"STOP!"

Warm, soft, wonderful smelling body pressed against his face, blocking his sight. He breathed heavily past her stomach, struggling to not bite. He couldn't bite. Even his instincts agreed he mustn't bite his female. His mighty, wounded, weak female.

But the threat must be finished.

"Get out of here, Levi!"

"Like hell I'm leaving you—"

"It's an instinct seizure! You invaded his territory! Now get out before he kills you!"

"What about you?"

"I'm fine! GET!"

Gilrack had been trying to pry her from his face, but it was proving difficult without hurting her. Her arms were strong, too strong for the state of her body.

"Gilrack, I'm going to let go, but you have to stay here with me, okay?"

He hadn't understood any of the words spoken, but he could feel her mind waves, panicked, pleading, desperate.

He clicked, growled, demanding to know what she was doing. The foe—the threat—

"Gilrack, buddy, calm down. It's alright, he's gone. It's safe."

Something warm, something precious, washed over his mind. He shuddered as his wings relaxed.

Safe, safe, love. Warm love. Safe.

His instincts backed off just enough for him to whine. Oh, how he hungered for that warmth. How he had desperately longed to feel this from his mate.

Slowly, as it took time to unwind his muscles ready to spring, he relaxed and lowered himself to the ground. The thorns in his tail withdrew, as did his fangs to their normal size.

Only once he'd dropped to all fours did she let his face go. When she did, her trembling legs buckled. He tried to catch her, but his arms failed him, and it was only then that he finally noticed all the blood leaking from chest and shoulder and neck. Too much blood.

Her white hands were lost within it all as she pressed against the one on his neck in particular. Her alarm felt fuzzy in his mind. Her mouth was moving, but the words were still lost on him, and the sound distant.

She got up and ran back to the nest, probably to check on their eggs like a good mother. He tried to follow but, for some reason, his legs wouldn't straighten. They only tipped him forward onto his face.

His vision was blurring.

She'd returned, a wad of her precious nest pressed to his neck. A square of light the divine beings often used to interact with the great tool which was their caves was held in her other, still bloody hand.

"Naomi, I need you, he's bleeding out—"

Gilrack was looking up into her face. Her beautiful face. No face from the caves could compare. It more than made up for her strange legs, which were beautiful in their own way. Strong, with thick thighs and delicate little feet. Had he ever told her how beautiful her legs were? He should have, in case she was self-conscious of the difference between their kinds.

Oh, he could think again. Good. Instincts were tiring. He was tired.

The last thing he saw was a speck of bright blue and purple peeping out amongst the mass of blankets across the gray floor.

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I find myself dreaming grand dreams lately, like getting a new sports bra, a new laundry basket, and *gasp* dare I even think it: a new bathroom mat? Alas, I do not dwell in that upper echelon where all their towels and dishware match and they don't sew the holes in their bedsheets, they just buy new ones. But, I can dream the great dream. For in dreaming we are truly free and we don't shop at Walmart.