Page 4 of The VaDorok’s Unexpected Mate (The Mate Index: Dorok #1)

Kull crashed through the window of the metal den with his brethren, the thrill of the battle pumping through his blood.

As expected, the ruckus did not go unnoticed.

Green aliens bearing some vague resemblance to the Edoka charged at them, their projectile weapons firing bolts of searing light.

The large biriate blade of his spear absorbed them, nullifying their heat as he brought it up against them.

Those that he could not counter or dodge, singed his fur with an acrid scent that made his nose wrinkle.

The Agraak were agile and quick but lacked the sheer size and strength of the VaDorok.

His legs ate up the ground as he lunged forward, his biriate spear cutting the air in front of him to drive into the males as he closed the distance between them.

Whirling around, he heaved his spear through the air and felt considerable satisfaction as the blade buried itself in the male with such strength that it flung him a short distance across the room.

Jogging forward, he yanked his spear from the body of the fallen male and spun, skewering another on its long blade.

A look of surprise fleetingly came to the male’s face before he fell backwards with a shove from Kull, his body slipping free from the spear with a squelch before crumpling to the floor.

Blood splattered on his fur, the gore spilling from them soaking into his boots.

He bared his teeth and pressed on, cutting a path among the small number of Agraak flooding into the room.

Ribbons of alien blood splashed over the walls from the force of VaDorok spears, and many other Agraak fell where they stood, brought down by the Edoka’s blasting weapon as the male followed in after them.

They brought down male after male, soaking the floors and walls of the room with blood until a high-pitched whine pierced the air.

The aliens were retreating, believing that they would be able to escape.

Kull’s lip curled in a smile of pure malice as he charged after them only to be brought up short by a shout from Vidok.

The male was charging after his little female as she ran, and half slid, across the mire.

Foolish female. She should know better than to run out ahead of her mate into danger.

He fully intended to ignore them until Borax’s shouted order to follow the female put a halt to his intentions.

He gritted his teeth in a silent snarl. There was to be no chasing down the enemy.

Their mission had one specific purpose that they expected every warrior to heed: save the human females.

Kull had no interest in the females. He wanted to tear apart the intruders who soiled their world with their laboratory and experiments, and brought vulnerable females to a world that would surely kill them.

He wished to be the vengeful hand of Tirzon, the great hunter and lord of the dead, who so dearly protected Mother Udula, and by extension every female.

A growl of displeasure rumbled in his chest, but he fell into line, jogging lightly as he and the other warriors followed Vidok as the priest chased after his female down one long hall and then another.

She came to a door, her fingers tapping randomly on it to no avail.

Kull snorted and shook her head. Useless.

Turning in place, his nostrils flared, scenting the pungent stench of an Agraak nearby.

He grinned. She was not going to get it open anytime soon.

He was going to have the opportunity to hunt after all.

Stalking away from the group, he followed the scent to the next hall, where he surprised several guards who apparently thought that they could box them in from behind.

The males stumbled back at the sight of him, tripping over each other and their own feet in a blind rush to get away.

Adjusting his grip on his biriate spear, he jogged toward them, the blade of his weapon deflecting blasts long enough for him to come in close enough to strike.

He rammed his spear into one male, pinning him briefly against the wall where he twitched like an insect before he yanked his weapon free and turned his next foe.

One by one, he cut through them as they attempted to run.

One male, however, had managed to get away.

Kull caught sight of him disappearing around the corner and gave chase until he finally had the male within sight.

The male fought with his weapon as he shouted at another that Kull could not see.

No matter. Warning or not, any Agraak he came upon would die.

Kull grinned hungrily as he charged forward and let his spear fly loose with a violent snap of his arm.

It sailed through the air, plowing into the body of the male as he ran.

The small blasting weapon flew from the Agraak’s hand as the force of the spear carried him off his feet a fair distance.

The spear’s length continued to vibrate in place for several seconds as Kull ran toward it, eager to pull it from the prone body to feed another Agraak to his spear’s blade.

He loped forward around the slight bend, finally bringing the other male within sight.

This Agraak was larger and more heavily armed, and was holding onto a small, dark-haired human female brutally with one hand.

Kull let out a furious roar as he raced forward, eager to spill the offender’s blood.

The female’s head turned toward him, and he stumbled a little in reaction when he saw nothing but fear in her eyes as she looked upon him.

Something within him recoiled in dismay at that look, and he immediately felt sick that she would be so terrified at the sight of him.

He shook his head. It did not matter. He was there to rescue her.

She did not have to accept him for him to accomplish what needed to be done.

Releasing another roar, he ran toward the male, retrieving his spear on the way.

The female struggled in the Agraak’s grip, her body twisting as she jabbed her elbow hard into the male’s gut.

The blow did not do much, but it did startle the guard enough that she was able to slip from his hold and sprint out of range of his reach.

Good. The further out of the way of harm she was, the better. Kull could collect her as gently as possible after dealing with the guard.

The male’s eyes followed the female only momentarily, but it was enough to delay his reaction as he brought his blaster up that Kull was already leaping through the air when the blaster fired, thrusting his spear out ahead of him.

The spear split the male’s neck at a downward angle, cleaving downward into the top of the chest cavity.

Blood arched in violent spurts, drenching his fur further, as bones crunched and parted so that he neatly split the torso as he landed heavily on his feet, the remains of the guard falling to the floor wetly at his feet.

Chest heaving from exertion and excitement, Kull’s head rose, his eyes lifting to track the fleeing female.

Without hesitation, he raced down the hall after her.

He could not let her get too far away, not when his brethren were waiting for him.

Hopefully by then, Vidok’s ulukska would have the issue with the door solved.

Running purposefully at full speed as if chasing a wounded alpak through the snow. He made no sound beyond the fall of his feet hitting the floor. The female was smaller with a shorter stride and far less endurance than him. She would not get far.

He followed her perfume until he caught sight of her once more.

She was quick, but not quick enough. Lunging forward with a burst of speed, Kull lengthened his stride as he rapidly began to close the distance between them.

He drew closer and closer, her scent intoxicating him by degrees with its strange allure until he was finally within range that he could see the exquisite soft strands of her hair fluttering behind her as she ran.

A low growl rose unbidden from his chest as he, at last, closed the remaining distance to finally scoop her struggling, screaming little body up into his arms.

She thrashed violently in his arms, screaming all manner of impolite curses—many of them oddly about his mother—that he found baffling.

But he did not attempt to analyze it further.

Things spoken in moments of terror were usually nonsensical, anyway.

She was clearly babbling and not making any kind of reasonable sense.

It was possible that the Agraak had even damaged her mental faculties with their torture.

If that were the case, he pitied any male who attempted to mate her.

She wriggled like a maggot and with her smooth skin was slippery, especially with all of the blood coating him.

Suddenly, he jerked, and his breath expelled hard with a growl as her foot collided with crotch.

Correction—he pitied any male who mated with her regardless. Vicious creature.

Drawing her up higher into his arms so that they were nose to nose, he bared his teeth in a growl. “Cease, so that I may save your wretched hide. Unless you wish for me to abandon you here and give my excuses to Vidok’s Sara.”

To his surprise, she ceased her thrashing to blink warily at him. “You... you know Sara? The human Sara?”

“Thankfully, I do not have the misfortune of knowing any other Sara. Especially if they all come equipped with such big... attitude,” he grumbled, but something within him relaxed with relief as he felt the tension drain from her body and heard her weak laughter.

“That... that does sound like Sara. Thank the gods,” she mumbled, her body going lax against his chest.

Alarm raced through him, and he gave her a little shake. “Do not die on me. Your Sara would be most vicious and unforgiving, and I would never hear the end of it.”

She chuckled again and tipped her head so that her brown eyes lifted to his face. “Don’t worry, I haven’t survived all that to die now. I’m just so fucking tired.”

That was reasonable. She was clearly coming down off the adrenaline. “Then rest,” he rumbled.

Without thinking further about it, he shifted his hold on her so that she felt more secure, his tail wrapping around him to curl warmly around her legs.

It also secured her more snugly to his body.

Heat curled between them, but then he felt an answering heat rise in response, kindling within the depths of him.

He froze at the familiar, long-dead sensation in horror and momentarily considered tossing her out of his arms and far away from him.

And yet—he could not. Not only because of how vulnerable and fragile she was, but his muscles locked up instinctively against that impulse.

He could not have thrown her from him even if he wanted to.

The fire raced higher through him, blooming and spreading until he practically trembled from the lust that rose from the pit of his belly.

From within his genital folds, his cock twitched and began to engorge with the blood rushing to it.

It would not be too much longer before he was at least partially extruded and battling a desperate instinct to mate and fulfill the ulukskinon.

The very thing that he had been afraid of had finally happened.

The ulukskinon fire had reawakened within him with the arrival of a compatible mate.

He wanted to rage against the female in his arms and the betrayal of his instincts, even though he knew neither were to blame.

The female had not asked for this. Nor was it something that he had felt driven toward.

Nature had taken its course as it so often did, and never did he resent it more.

Growling quietly to himself so as to not disturb the female in his arms, he turned back toward the direction from which he had come.

Instinct or not, ulukskinon or not, he would not be claiming or giving his heart to another mate, especially not one who could die so easily and leave him alone and in pain again.

He would see to it that she arrived safely within their territory, and then he would abandon her there to whatever fate the gods and the tribe had in store for her. It would be best for both of them.