Hide to Stay Alive (Club Release 1) (32 page)

I peek over my shoulder.
Zyf! In a flurry of movement, I dodge the hand that reaches out to
grab me. Laughter comes from one of the other males that’s running
nearby. A snarl comes from the one closest to me. I dodge his next
attempt to catch me. The male snarls louder causing fear to snake
around my lungs in a death grip.

The edge of the jungle is
just a few steps away. If I can make it into the lush area I’ll
have a better chance of escaping. A grunt from the male closing in
on me lets me know he’s about to try to get me again.

I dart to the side and
drop down. Satisfaction courses through me when he passes me up. I
bound into the jungle with their shouts ringing through my
ears.

If I can just find a place
to hide I know I’ll live to see Zar again. The sound of footfalls
closing in on me has my heart sinking all the way down to my toes.
I don’t give up though. I speed around a tree and duck under a low
hanging vine.

I hear one male run into
the vine and smile. My smile dies when I run around another tree
and right into a male body. I instinctively step on his big bare
foot and then try to dodge around him.

A snarl comes from the
male. “Not this time, little human.”

I scream when a hand fists
in my hair and pulls me back and up against a firm chest. The males
aren’t real muscular looking but this one is strong and I have to
assume the others are as well.

Needing to get away from
them, I hit the one holding my hair and struggle to get away. He
laughs and holds me out at arm’s length. My heart races and fear
closes in on me stronger than ever as all three of the aliens stare
at me. My uniform reveals all of me to them. The lust in their
pitch black eyes has my stomach crawling up my throat.

“
Don’t touch me. Din Zar
TocGar will kill you.” I try to sound as confident as I can. Being
here has taught me to aggressively go after a predator.

The mention of Zar’s name
makes the one holding me snarl. “I’d like for him to try.” His
angry gaze rakes over my body. “Your male killed our friend. A
friend we treasured. Now, we are going to take what that scum,
TocGar, treasures.”

In a swift move, the male
yanks me in close and tosses me over his shoulder. The air whooshes
from my lungs when my stomach makes contact with his shoulder. I
kick when a hand grazes my ass. Laughter comes from all three of
the aliens. A hard slap to my right cheek has fire heating my rear.
I gasp in a breath and try to squirm free.

I can’t let these assholes
take me. I belong to Zar.

Another blow lands on my
ass, this one is hard enough to cause tears to spring into my eyes.
Fiery heat singes my butt. I still as fear slithers around in my
belly. These males are mean and determined.

“
Be still, little human.
Unless you want us to throw you down and fuck you right here on the
jungle floor,” my captor says in a gruff tone.

I pull in a gasping breath
and for the first time notice how bad the male holding me smells. I
gag and hit him on the back. The need to get away from them claws
at my chest. I don’t want them to touch me. I belong to Zar. I hit
my smelly captor again and struggle.

As they start walking
deeper into the jungle, one of the other males approaches. I see
his big dirty bare feet right before his hand grips my hair and
pulls my head up. I smell the same stink coming from him and gag.
Do these guys know what a bath is? Would soap and water
help?

He laughs and then his
eyes narrow. The short thick orange eyelashes around his black eyes
freaks me out. “Stop fighting us and we’ll go easy on
you.”

“
Quit making promises you
can’t keep, Mocso. She’s tainted by TocGar. We can do whatever we
want to her.” A hand slides up my thigh and roughly squeezes my
left cheek.

I shudder and my captor
laughs in an evil tone that has my stomach trying to leap its way
out of my body. To them, I truly mean nothing. A fresh wave of fear
spears my heart.

Mocso releases my hair and
runs his hand down my back. I cringe when he slaps my ass. I have
to get away from these males before they hurt me. Covertly, I start
scanning the jungle looking for any type of escape my lush
surroundings may offer.

The male off to my left
inches closer and touches my hair. “Soft. I can’t wait to fuck her.
She must be good since TocGar had her hidden out in his house.
Let’s do it now. Toss her to the ground, Glip.”

“
No, Stil. I don’t trust
TocGar. We are too close to his home. Fucking her can wait until we
are safely back on our spacecraft and heading home,” my captor
states in a commanderly tone.

Stil grunts and then
sniffs my hair. “I want her now.”

“
No, you fool. If we wait,
we can all have her as much as we want without having to worry
about TocGar and his friends. Now shut up and keep moving. By now
our craft has landed and is waiting for us.” Glip’s grip on me
tightens showing me how angry he’s becoming.

I have to get away from
them. Pushing down the panic trying to rule me, I stay alert. The
deeper we go into the jungle the harder it is to suppress the fear
and panic that’s steadily trying to grow within me. I can’t let the
powerful emotions paralyze me or I’ll never escape.

Stil steps closer. A
second later, the male touches my hair and lifts a few strands to
his nose. He inhales and then snarls. I gag at the extra dose of
bad smelling alien. I’m sure I’ll throw up if all three of them
gather close around me for any length of time at all. How can I
fight while throwing up? Zyf, I will if I have to.

“
I want her now, Glip.
We’ve gone far enough from TocGar’s home. As good as she smells, I
won’t take long.” Stil pushes Glip and then tries to roll me off of
Glip’s shoulder.

Glip snarls and barks,
“Get back, Stil. You can fuck her when we are safely on board our
spacecraft.”

“
I can’t keep walking with
this erection. Her scent is driving me crazy as well as the sight
of her curvy body. I have to have her now. Rep was my best friend.
I need to relieve my mourning for him. She can do that for me,”
Stil replies in a low scary tone.

I scream when Stil shoves
Glip to the ground, sending me a few feet from Glip. I gasp for
breath as pain flares through my hip and shoulder. Big bare feet
charging my way have me scooting backward.

Right before Stil can grab
me, Glip tackles him and starts punching him. Mocso yells and jumps
onto Glip. “Break it up. You two can fight later. We have to keep
moving.”

As Mocso tries to separate
the fighting males, I inch backward. Once I’m behind a tree, I
stand and start running for all I’m worth. My father taught me to
never run in a straight line so I zig-zag through the lush foliage.
Every chance I get, I dart around a tree.

Footfalls pounding behind
me has fear pinging through my heart. I run faster. I can’t be
taken. I have Zar to live for. I have a future here on Zaphin. A
new beginning.

With my heart beating
wildly, I run as though my life depends on it. It does. Life is too
precious for me to give in easily. I charge forward at a faster
pace. My breath is now sawing in and out of my lungs.
I’m athletic, I can do
this
, I tell myself and hope it’s
true.

A strong hand grabbing my
hair has me jerking back and shrieking in surprise. Pain floods my
scalp as my hair is used to whip me around. I look up into Mocso’s
black eyes. His orange eyelashes make his pitch black eyes look
even meaner.

Panic swells in my chest
and clogs my throat. I can’t go with him. I can’t let him take me
from Zar. As he starts pulling me along by the ends of my hair, I
scan his body for a weapon. My heart leaps with excitement when I
see a knife strapped to his thigh.

Fear coils tightly in my
stomach. I don’t let it rule me. In a quick move, I flick the strap
holding the knife in place and pull it out of its sheath. Before he
can react, I stab him in the thigh.

A vicious snarl comes from
him right before he swings his fist at me. Seeing the blow coming,
I dodge so that only the side of his fist grazes my cheek. I stab
him again and twist the knife. He lets out a snarl of pain and
reaches for his wounded thigh.

I try to jump back but
find that the bastard still has a tight grip on my hair. My stomach
turns at the sight of his orange blood on the knife. I can’t let my
squeamish side hinder me. Feeling desperate, I put the knife to my
hair and hack it off. For good measure, I stab his thigh again and
twist the knife hard. He roars and kicks me back a few
feet.

While he is pulling the
knife from his thigh, I turn and run as though the devil is after
me. I start zigging and zagging through my lush surroundings. It
won’t be long before all three of them are after me.

That morbid thought has me
picking up my pace. I don’t slow down even when leaves slap me in
the face. The lingering sting keeps me focused on getting to
safety. I can do this no matter the cost.

A silent scream lodges in
my throat when I hear the pounding of feet. With my heart racing, I
can’t tell exactly where the sound is coming from. I peek over my
shoulder and get some relief when I don’t see any of them. My luck
could change at any moment though. I step on something creepy and
hope I didn’t just kill a little creature. Fear has me pushing
on.

I run and run until my
lungs are screaming and I’m gasping for breath. Pain knits my side
but still I run on. Only when my thighs start going weak do I stop
to catch my breath. Wildly, I look around as the fear of being
recaptured wraps around my chest and squeezes my heart.

Footfalls pound through
the jungle. I take a step back and jump when vines wrap around me
and start pulling me in closer to the trunk of a tree. I want to
cry from relief as I realize I’m being pulled in by a hugmar tree.
A feeling of security replaces the panic in my chest. Vines start
covering up every inch of my body.

The big, velvety leaves
have my body hidden within seconds. The last thing I see is a blur
of movement in the distance before my face is covered by hugmar
leaves. I shiver as I remember the flash of someone moving. I hope
they don’t find me.

Hide to stay alive,
runs through my mind. Fear tries to suffocate me.
I force myself to start breathing the way Din Zar taught me. A warm
pulse from the hugmar tree helps me calm down even more. I’m so
grateful to this amazing plant for helping me.

Footfalls stomping by have
me tensing up. I listen and wait to see if the aliens hunting me
are going to find me. I long to be in Zar’s arms. The vines tighten
around me giving me a sense of peace.

In a tone so low I can’t
hear it, I breathe out the words, “Thank you.”

The lifesaving plant
vibrates slightly in response.

As the minutes pass by, I
remain quiet and still. Even though the aliens looking for me seem
to be gone, they could easily backtrack and find me if I try to
leave my hiding spot and head home.

A sense of total calm
descends upon me as I realize I’m not alone anymore. Din Zar TocGar
will come looking for me.

CHAPTER

35

~ Zar ~

♥

I frown when my wrist-com
sounds an alarm. I push a button and my stomach leaps into my
throat when I see that my home has been broken into. Hallie needs
me.

Von steps closer to me.
“What’s wrong, Zar?”

“
My home has just been
invaded with Hallie inside. I have to go.” My heart is pounding out
an angry beat. If anyone harms my little Hallie Mead, I’m going to
kill them.

My brother jumps into
action. “I’ll go with you.” Von looks around as we head to my
vehicle. I hear him calling to Tairin but right now all I can do is
focus on getting home and killing anyone that has messed with my
precious seema.

As a buzz hums through my
brain, I realize that Tairin is getting into the vehicle with us. I
vaguely remember that Zairin is away on another mission. At least
one of the twins is able to back me up. Before I take off, Ryk
jumps into the vehicle. I smile grimly as I take off. With this
crew backing me up, my enemies don’t stand a chance.

I power drive through the
jungle as never before. My mind and body go into mission mode. I
have to save Hallie. She means the world to me.