Page 166 of Gladiators of the Vagabond Boxset

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I didn’t really like the thought of Fierce going off on his own, right when rescue was coming.

But I understood his need to make sure this place was secure.

We were fairly sheltered in this small valley, with the mountains rising up around us and the canyon back the way we came.

That path up that we’d taken was well hidden, so it was pretty safe to assume not a lot of those naga knew about it.

On the other hand, we had made a lot of noise not that long ago.

When I heard Fierce roar, I was on my feet immediately, frantically searching for him in the trees.

I was about to run blindly after him when Snarl got in my way, the hound’s huge body easily blocking me.

Fluffy was on his back, but as soon as they got close, she leaped from him onto my chest, and I automatically caught her and clutched her close.

She was purring in a much higher pitch than Fierce’s now-familiar rumble, but it was soothing anyway, as if the small animal were trying to tell me everything was fine.

“Come on, what if he’s hurt? Why did he roar like that?

” I demanded of the huge hound, feeling silly for actually expecting him to reply somehow.

How was Fierce communicating with him, anyway?

The red eyes closed in a slow blink, which I vaguely recalled could mean reassurance for cats, or something.

I wondered if he was conveying the same thing.

I waited, hating every second that I saw or heard no sign of Fierce.

Just as I was about to push the hound out of my way and go after him, the low hum of a shuttle engine broke the silence.

A small, sleek vessel pierced the lavender cloud layer not too far away, circled the clearing, and came in smoothly for a landing.

My eyes flicked from the ship-to-surface vessel to the forest Fierce had disappeared into, but I had to conclude that meeting his friends and sending them after him was a better idea than trying to mount some kind of search and rescue myself.

The hatch lowered a moment later, and a tall African American woman rushed down the gangplank, followed by the biggest alien I’d ever seen.

He was more impressive than that big red naga from that morning, close to eight feet tall and packing so much muscle it would probably make even Fierce look small.

His bullish snout was pierced by a golden ring, his arms and spine covered in spikes.

His green scales made him a veritable tank, and the long tail swishing behind him was clearly extremely agile.

Then there were the two huge horns spreading out from his skull, spanning close to three feet.

My heartbeat sped up in an instinctive fear response, my eyes going wide as I considered my best options.

Was this guy safe? Did I need to run or stay very still?

My panic had to have been obvious, and, if not for Snarl pressing his bulk against my thighs, protectively standing in front of me, I would have bolted.

“Hey!” the human woman called out, impressively jogging through the tall grass in high-heeled leather boots.

“It’s okay, he’s not as scary as he looks.

Are you hurt? Where’s Fierce?” she said in rapid succession, her hands out as if to make it obvious she wasn’t going to harm me.

It wasn’t her I was worried about, but at least the big green guy was holding back, watching me, searching the clearing, but not approaching.

“I’m Hina. I’m alright. Are you friends of Fierce?” I asked, nervously winding my fingers in the soft, thick pelt of Fierce’s hound. Fierce had been gone far longer than I wanted him to be, and he should have heard the shuttle landing. Why wasn’t he back yet?

“Nice to meet you, Hina. I’m Abby, and this is my mate, Ziame,” the woman answered as she pointed at the green hulk behind her.

Yikes, that guy was huge, how was that even possible?

But I caught the flick of his long, mobile ears and the heated look in his eyes as the woman spoke.

However fearsome he looked, that single look conveyed his tender feelings for this woman in an instant.

“Yeah, we’re friends of his. He came down to Serant to help with a recovery mission, found your tracks, and then disappeared.

I’m glad to discover he found you!” Abby explained.

She’d crossed the meadow and reached my side.

She stuck out a hand for me to shake across Snarl’s back.

Her other hand reached out to pet the hound behind his ears, which he eagerly leaned into.

“He went that way, I think to check we were safe… I heard him roar just before you guys landed,” I said as I pointed in the direction Fierce had disappeared.

I’d noticed a few more big guys coming out of the small ship behind Abby’s Ziame.

They were all similarly sized to Fierce: muscled—one pierced and tattooed, another with black skin like stone, cracked and lined with glowing purple fissures.

None of them looked even remotely similar, except that they each looked dangerous and huge.

At my pointed finger, they all turned to look at the forest as one.

Right on cue, Fierce strutted out of it, his chest splattered with blood, three claw slashes raking across his abs.

He was grinning smugly as he dragged a huge animal of some kind into the clearing by the hindleg.

His other arm cradled a white and gray ball of fluff against his shoulder, and the bag he had taken with him was slung at his hip, overflowing with vines of the not-wisteria plant I’d admired before.

I just about melted into a puddle at the sight.

He’d gone out to get my plant, and he’d run into an animal in distress.

I was betting his caveman tendencies were showing, feeling the urge to show off his kill.

As a civilized woman, it shouldn’t have been working, but it was totally sexy that he’d gone and slayed a beast.

The other guys were all exclaiming various things that made them sound impressed as they jogged his way.

There was manly shoulder-slapping, an inspection of his kill, over which Fierce was grinning proudly.

But his yellow eyes never left mine, staring at me as if to say: I did this for you, babe. Are you impressed?

He dropped his kill and came my way, his chin tilted at a proud angle as he held out the bag of plants to me. I took it, my eyes lingering for a moment on the ball of fur he still carefully held to his shoulder. Whatever animal it was, it had tucked itself into his neck.

“Thank you,” I said as I opened the flap to the bag and realized he’d done his best to dig out an entire plant, roots and all.

There was a sizable clump of dirt still attached.

That was a good starting point; it meant there was a better chance I could successfully pot it and grow it aboard a ship or in a lab.

In response, he cocked his head and smiled.

When I reached out and pointed at his bleeding belly, he shrugged.

He said something, his eyes darting to Abby, who shook her head, her beautiful, thick braids clicking their beads together.

“He says he’s fine. He hopes you like his gift.

” Her eyebrows winged up in question. “So, are you two together?”

I found myself heating in the face; this was such a weird situation to be in.

Was I really going to just be dating this alien after I’d just discovered myself stranded in outer space?

I had no clue where I was or what planet we were on.

Abby had just said this was Serant, but I had never heard the name before.

Fierce growled something in his own language, stepping closer and curling his arm around my middle while he glared at the approaching aliens.

They were done admiring his kill and were now staring curiously at me.

One of them, a male with red skin and no fewer than four arms, was staring at me so avidly that it was making me a little uncomfortable.

At Fierce’s glare, the guy huffed, rolled his eyes, and threw his two upper hands into the air—it was a sign of surrender of some kind, though not graciously.

I had a feeling that Fierce had just adamantly stated his claim on me in front of everyone.

Yup, I knew it, he thought I was his mate or something.

I still didn’t know if that was okay with me or not.

But I liked Fierce; there was no harm in trying to figure it out, was there? Not as if I could ever go home.

“Come on,” Abby said with a roll of her eyes.

“Let’s get out of here. I’m sure you’re eager for a nice hot shower and a break from all the testosterone.

” She took my hand and led me around the guys in the direction of the shuttle.

“Cute pet you’ve got. What is it?” she added, pointing at Fluffy, perched on my shoulder.

At the sudden silence behind us, Abby and I shared a surprised glance.