Page 30 of Fated to the Hunter (Xarc’n Warriors #13)

He moved so quickly, he was no more than a blur. Just like the last time I’d seen him, he wore nothing but a leather loincloth and a few pieces of armor strapped to his body by a harness. It showcased his broad shoulders and pecs and drew attention to his washboard abs.

One moment the bug was whole; the next, Rhaz’k had slashed it in half with one of his glowing double swords.

Before the internet fell, the prevailing rumor had been that their melee weapons were imbued with plasma energy.

The alien warrior grinned at me, the show-off, displaying a row of sharp teeth and a pair of fangs.

He tilted his head to the side as if in challenge, accentuating the heavy set of his ram-like horns.

Not to be outdone, I picked up my axe and bashed the scuttler still stuck in my trap on the head before Rhaz’k could. There was no damsel in distress to rescue here. I could take care of myself, thank you very much. Whether I wanted to or not; I had no one else.

The alien warrior scowled at me, clearly miffed that I’d gotten to the bug before he did. “Why are you out of your cabin, female? You should not be trapping scuttlers. It is unsafe.” His words sounded like a series of grunts and growls, but the translator on his belt came to the rescue.

Trapping scuttlers? Did he think I was trying to do his job? Hell no! I was trying to find food.

“You should return to your cabin, female.” He leaned in and sniffed loudly and snarled. “You smell of the strange male who has been around your home. He should not stay with you. Tell him to leave. Now.”

I stared back, shocked at the audacity of his words. Who did he think he was?

I got all up in his face, or tried to; he was at least a foot and a half taller than me.

“First of all, I can invite anyone I want into my home.” I poked him hard in the chest with my finger.

Ouch! His chest was hard as rock. “And second. I’m trying to find food.

Winter is coming, and I need to make sure I have enough. ”

He perked up. “If you are low on sustenance—” he made to grab my finger, and I jerked it back “—I can provide for you, female.” He almost looked gleeful that I was low on food, the jerk.

Of course he was. This was how these Xarc’n warriors got you. There’d been plenty of tales of Xarc’n hunters offering women food before kidnapping them into their shuttles.

“Thank you, but I’m quite capable of providing for myself. I’m not desperate.”

I still had food left, and I had most of my life under control. Most. All except for the fact that my ex, who I couldn’t stand, was living in my house and using up my supplies.

The only reason I’d even let Tristan stay was that I’d thought it would deter Rhaz’k from sniffing around. Tristan had shown up a few days ago, begging for food. He’d looked so pathetic, I’d let pity get the best of me and given him a meal.

There was no way we were getting back together, but sending Tristan out there was a death sentence; I didn’t want to be party to that.

There’d been enough death already. I didn’t even know how he’d managed to survive all this time.

So, believing his presence would discourage Rhaz’k’s attention, I’d let Tristan in.

It wasn’t that I didn’t appreciate the Xarc’n warriors’ help. I did. It wasn't lost on me that without the warriors hunting the bugs on my mountain, I’d have been overrun with the nasty creatures by now. I was very thankful for their help.

What I didn't appreciate was Rhaz’k sneaking around my bedroom window in the middle of the night and watching me sleep. That was creepy as fuck. I’d had nightmares of his yellow eyes and dangerous-looking horns for days. I’d had to close all my blinds when I slept.

So, that was how I’d first found out I had hunters on my mountains. Not the best first impression. Subsequent encounters with his surly, bossy ass hadn’t been any better.

There was another Xarc’n warrior who hunted here.

Instead of watching by my window, this other one had watched from the woods.

I’d pointed my shotgun at him, thinking he was a bear.

When my neighbor Sandy’s home was burned down by raiders earlier this summer, he'd offered her a home in his shuttle, and she’d accepted.

I was glad someone was caring for Sandy. She seemed happy with him, and unlike Rhaz’k, Turr’k was actually nice.

If Rhaz’k thought the same thing would happen with me, he was in for a big surprise.

I didn’t find him creepy anymore, now that he was more than just a pair of glowing eyes and horns outside my window.

In fact, he was kind of hot. No, that was a lie.

He was scorching. According to the media, these Xarc’n warriors had been engineered to be the perfect fighters; they sure had the bodies for it.

Why? Why did he have to open his mouth? If he wasn’t such a domineering prick who thought he could tell me what to do, I might be interested.

I doubted he was interested in me like that anyway. The way he ordered me around, he probably thought of me as some idiot he had to care for because of a sworn duty to protect the planet and its inhabitants from the bugs.

“No,” Rhaz’k finally said. “You are not desperate, but you have not been successful with your hunting and fishing today.”

It was true I hadn’t been successful today, but I still had some of the supplies I’d picked up last time I was in town and a cellar full of food he didn’t know about.

My previous trip to town had been early last spring, right before things got bad.

The stores had been having trouble keeping their shelves stocked, but I still came back with a decent haul, including a bunch of food storage supplies and a truckload of perishables.

I’d spent a fortune that day and hadn’t regretted it. Money after that point had been useless. The next few weeks had been spent processing everything for storage, until the grid went down.

The only thing I was low on now was meat. Unfortunately, it was also the only thing the bugs were interested in.

“So, you’ve been stalking me again? I thought we had an agreement.” I put my hands on my hips. “We share the mountain, but you stop creeping on me. It’s not that hard.”

He frowned. “You are mine to protect.”

Oh no. We were not having this conversation again.

Ignoring him, I released the dead bug from my trap. The trap would need to be disinfected with fire before I could use it again. I didn’t know exactly what pathogens the bugs carried, but everything they touched reeked of death.

On the survival forums I’d once been a part of, they’d suggested disinfecting everything that came into contact with the alien creatures, and then burning the carcasses after. The hunters did the same, and they must have good reason.

Rhaz’k carried the two dead bugs to a flat rock and set them on fire.

“Give me the trap,” he demanded.

“No. I’ll disinfect it when I get home.” If he threw it into the flames now, I wouldn’t be able to pick it up until it cooled. The sun was setting, and unlike him with his exceptional night vision, I needed light to get home.

He put a small device in a nearby tree, a surveillance camera, and aimed it at the burning pile. Then he snatched the trap from my hand before I could stop him and tossed it into the fire.

“Hey!”

Fuck this. I threw my hands up into the air and turned toward my home. I was done with his crap.

Then he found the other trap tied to my pack and ripped that off my bag as well.

I whipped back around. “What the fu—”

Before I could finish my sentence, I found myself lifted up into the air and tossed over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

Oof! Why was his shoulder so damn hard?

“Let me down!” I pounded my fists against his back, but he didn’t even flinch. All I was doing was hurting my hands.

He didn’t reply. Instead, he just marched silently through the woods.

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