Odd Coupling (3 page)

“
Oh, no!”
I hit a giant…man?

She ran over and dropped to her knees
beside him. Anxious to check for injuries, but hesitant to jostle
him, she aimed the light at his face to see if he was conscious. At
first sight, she yelped in surprise and scrambled away as fast as
she could crawl, scraping her hands and knees across the
gravel-littered road.

Not human. Alien. Cat. Big
one.
In shock, she panted to catch her
breath as her heart pounded. She was on the verge of all out panic.
No, not even close. She was beyond that. She’d run into an alien.
In the middle of nowhere, she’d hit and injured one of
them
with her
truck.
I’m so screwed.

She forced her breathing to
slow and tried her best to calm down. She most definitely couldn’t
afford to hyperventilate and pass out, not now. The guy wasn’t
dead—yet. He’d moved his arm and moaned. Maybe he just needed
medical attention.
Sure. That’s right,
Bethany. Call 9-1-1. Halo flight his alien ass to the nearest
hospital. That’s so not happening.

Another moan came from him. It sounded
as if he was in terrible pain.

“
Okay, just see if he
is…broken or something,” she muttered while trying to gather her
courage as she stood. “You’re not a scared-y cat.” She winced at
the poor choice of words and hoped like hell the giant cat alien
hadn’t heard her personal pep talk.

She sidled over to him,
kneeled down again and visually checked him for injuries. While
she’d been talking to herself, he’d rolled onto his back. His new
position made it easier for her. First, she glanced at his legs.
The tops of his boots reached to about mid-calf. He was clothed in
a uniform similar to the ones the other aliens had
worn
,
except his
was almost ripped to shreds. She was relieved when she didn’t see
any blood at all on his trousers.

At that moment, she heard baying in
the distance. The noise came from beyond her high fence, close to
where she’d estimated the fire ball had crashed. She’d heard them
many times. Caleb, the foreman on the Clayton ranch, raised coon
dogs for hunting, but his pride and joy were his guard dogs. They
were vicious, and rumors circulated that a single one could maul a
man to death. The howls grew louder by the second.

They’re
tracking…catman?
She was too rattled to
remember his species name.

Gunfire sounded in the distance, and
fear gripped her, not just for herself, but for the alien too.
Caleb was against anything that involved the aliens or their
Alliance. He was the local leader of the opposition, Pure Earth.
The group had become more vocal and pushy the past few months, and
Bethany wasn’t one of their supporters. She had to move catman.
Fast!

In a rush, she pointed the flashlight
beam at his chest and gasped in alarm at what she discovered. Fresh
blood soaked the tattered uniform top that clung to his massive
upper body.

“
Dammit!”

Bethany flicked the light up to his
face. His eyelids pressed tighter together and he groaned,
revealing sharp teeth. There wasn’t time to try to understand his
features, but she thought she saw a blood smear on the side of his
face, near where an ear should have been, if he were
human.

“
I know you’re hurt, but we
have to get away from here. Try to stand. I’ll help
you.”

Bethany prayed he heard her and could
understand her instructions. The dogs were too close now, and she
was afraid the high fence wouldn’t stop the men who followed if
they saw the alien.

He grunted in agreement or from pain.
She wasn’t sure. To her relief, he turned over onto his side. As he
rolled away from her, she got a good look at the sides and back of
his uniform. The rest of his clothing was ripped up just as his
pant legs, but there was no sign of blood.

She stood and tried to take hold of
one of his arms above the elbow. Her hand didn’t come close to
closing around the massive biceps. Bethany looped her arm under and
around his and pulled. She almost let go the second he let out a
growl after she’d yanked up on his arm. He shuffled to his feet and
stood groggily. After one look at his massive silhouette, she
estimated he towered above her by well over a foot. She was short,
five-foot-four. Catman had to be over six and a half feet
tall.

“
Try to walk. My truck is
this way.” This time she gave a gentle tug on his arm.
Please don’t fall on me
.

He lurched toward the truck. Bethany
helped him along, encouraged by the fact that the more steps he
took the more balance he seemed to regain. By the time she got him
there and had opened the back door of the crew cab, he stood
steadier. The overhead lamp came on and gave off enough light for
her to see him swipe at his face with one hand to push his long
hair away from his eyes.

“
Climb in, hurry. Lie down
on the seat. I’ll get you home.”

She placed her palm flat against his
broad back to urge him to move faster. The dogs were almost to the
fence. He crawled into the truck and used his hands to pull his
upper body along the seat while he stepped up on the running board.
The soles of his boots were wider than the top of the metal step.
Once he was inside, Bethany almost shut the door, but stopped just
in time when she noticed his tail hanging out the
opening.

“
You forgot something,” she
muttered and grabbed the middle section. In her haste, she gave it
a firm shove to anchor it between his thighs. He hissed nastily,
and she jumped back. “And don’t hiss at me! I’m trying to save your
damn ass.”
And your tail.

She slammed the door, then
jumped into the driver’s seat as fast as she could, put the truck
in gear and took off down the road. After a few yards, she turned
down a wide
sendero
,
which led to the main road. The tall
brush on each side of the mowed pathway provided much needed cover
and made it impossible for Caleb or his ranch hands to see her
truck. As an extra precaution, she flipped off the one working
headlight and prayed no one had seen them. Starlight would have to
suffice.

The locals weren’t too trusting, and
they made no secret of their dislike for the Alliance. Bethany
figured she was one of a handful of residents who had an open mind
about the aliens. To her way of thinking, they existed. They were
so far advanced over humans it was almost unimaginable. So if they
came in peace and didn’t want to rape the planet or eat the
inhabitants she was okay with them. Sadly, there were organized
groups all over the world who didn’t think the way she
did.

Many of the protesters were urged by
religious fanatics, who deemed all the off-worlders to be demons
from the pits of hell, or whatever, who were sent to devour human
souls and prey on virginal women at the same time. Bethany had to
laugh at some of their claims sometimes when she watched them rant
on television, but she realized it was foolhardy to dismiss them
outright. Like an idea or a mob, they could be
dangerous.

Another group hit far closer to home.
The Purists hated the aliens simply because they weren’t human. To
them, close didn’t count. They wanted to cleanse the planet of all
alien infestation. If you weren’t a true homo sapien, born and bred
on Earth, then they wanted you gone or dead. According to Caleb,
dead was preferable.

Bethany had good reason to be
cautious. John Clayton gave his foreman free rein when it came to
his sixty-thousand-acre spread. The only town near all the ranches
was small. There was a grocery store, a couple bars, a post office
and an abandoned stone church, and old man Clayton owned it all. So
whatever Caleb wanted, Caleb got.

Bethany avoided the town at all costs.
She packed in all her supplies, and tried to stay to herself. There
were two entities she couldn’t ban from her property—the Texas game
warden and border patrol. Unfortunately, state law gave them the
right to come onto her land at any time. If she could stop them,
she would. They made her nervous since the two officers had a
tendency to leer. The United States were still united, but the
government had joined the New World Organization. Individual states
were charged with the job of regulating their own
citizens.

If it weren’t for her own ranch
foreman, she didn’t know what she’d do. Juan had been on the ranch
since her father had bought it thirty years ago. A few years shy of
sixty now, he was still going strong, and she knew it’d be
impossible for her to survive there without him. Thought of him
jarred her memory. He’d planned to deliver feed and corn tomorrow
afternoon. Her problems were multiplying faster than she could do
the math. Bethany had to figure out what to do with the alien
before he arrived.

At the moment, she didn’t know if she
was more frightened by the sounds the big alien made or irritated
by them. It was hard to tell. He was different, not like the cat
she’d seen on the televised report. That one had been tall, but
he’d also looked much leaner and smaller than the one in her truck.
Her catman was huge, and from what little she’d felt, his body
bristled with muscles.

She risked taking her gaze off the
road to glance over her shoulder and check on him. He’d been silent
for a while. His outline was hard to make out in the darkness. He
was half sitting on the seat, face pushed into the fresh air that
blew in through the right-side passenger window as he gazed out at
the dark scenery. A pang of sympathy struck her. She figured she
should at least offer an apology. Maybe he’d talk to
her.

“
I’m sorry I hit you with
my truck.”

He didn’t move or respond. He just
remained in the same position. It occurred to her that maybe he
didn’t understand what she’d said. She’d just assumed that since
the other aliens were able to speak several of Earth’s languages he
would too.

Unsure of what she should do next,
Bethany focused on the road. The barn light up ahead meant they
were close to her house. She slowed to make the turn into the front
yard and made a mental note to close the gate later or in the
morning. His rich, velvety voice startled her.

“
You helped me, little
female. Thank you.”

He speaks English?
She missed the gate post by inches.

“
Uh, sure, no problem.
Sorry,” Bethany responded. She cleared her throat and tried to keep
the conversation going. “You have blood on your chest. Are you
still bleeding?”

“
Not mine. Two four-legged
creatures attacked me. Their blood stinks.”

“
The dogs? You hurt
them?”

“
They led humans to the
crash. They had weapons. I killed them and ran.”

Bethany hit the brakes and slid to an
abrupt stop in her front yard. She whipped around and glared at the
alien. “You killed the humans?”

“
No. The dog creatures.
Others chased me. I climbed over a tall wire barrier. You knocked
me down.”

“
Oh, okay.”
Oh, god, Bethany. It’s not okay. Get a
grip.
She tried again. “Well…how do you
feel right now?”

“
Dizzy. My head hurts. I am
bruised.”

“
So the blood on your chest
is from the dogs?”

“
Yes,” he answered with a
harsh groan.

Bethany didn’t want to know how he
killed them, and she hoped he wouldn’t share.

“
Okay then, we should get
inside before someone sees you. Do you think you can
walk?”

In the dim light he nodded dazedly.
Bethany pulled the truck as close to her front porch as possible
before she turned off the engine. For once, she was glad she’d
forgotten to leave the porch light on.

Chapter Three

Moments earlier

A bright light roused him and he
groaned. The pain in his head was worse now, but he ignored it. He
was flat on his back on the hard ground. A human female spoke to
him. She told him to get up. Although the feminine tone sounded
fretful and urgent, he understood she wanted to help
him.

Vren rolled to his side in an effort
to obey. She tried to assist, but when she looped her arm around
his and pulled, his bruised muscles protested. Instinctively, he
growled in response to the pain. Despite the fact his nose was
inundated with the smell of smoke and chemicals from the crash, he
scented a brief burst of fear from the female. No doubt, he’d
scared her. It was regrettable. He hadn’t meant to frighten
her.

He allowed her to help him to her
vehicle. Once she opened the door, he followed her instructions as
best as he could. The constant stabbing pain in his head worried
him, and he hated being in such a weak condition, but he needed to
rest. He climbed in and collapsed onto the cushioned
seat.

Her hand on his tail
startled him, and when she pushed it between his legs, he
instinctively hissed in outrage. It was an intrusive act, not an
invitation to couple.
She’s
human
, his pain-addled brain reminded.
Still, he was insulted and confused, all at the same time. However,
her response amused him. The little female was feisty, and she
seemed to have overcome her fear of him.