MINE! [New World Book 8] by C.L. Scholey Read Free Book Online

nodded. “Yes, he begged me not to hurt you. The other, Jack, was an ass. I will tell you the shuttle you were on is on its last legs. Next atmosphere and the males will— I’m guessing —die.”
    The shield came down, no new tail. Becky thought the ‘I’m guessing’ was tossed in posthaste to avoid a repeat. Her thoughts focused on what he said.
    “Then I’m alone.”
    “No, female, you have me.” Huck flopped into his chair again, cringed as he shifted, no doubt his ass hurt, and Becky marveled the chair was made of a tough substance. A regular chair and Goldilocks would have busted it.
    “You could at least call me Becky. And I mean there are no humans left.”
    Huck sat straighter. “Cobra has humans there. Females, children, males.”
    “Nice try.”
    “You will mate me, Becky. We will go to Cobra, he will grant us a home. Then I can be the Tonan I was born to be. A warrior. I will battle with my Tonan companions against enemies. I like being death. I was born to spill blood. I like to kill.”
    “Creepy, cupcake.” The mental image alone was invading her thoughts.
    “Uhg. Don’t fucking call me cupcake .”
    Huck’s chair went flying again, so did the table until he was standing in front of her. He picked her up, scooping her up under her arms as though she were a small child, her legs curled at the knee and he dropped her on the bed and stalked out.
    Becky sat for a moment stunned. For a second, she thought he was going to smash her skull in. She pressed her back against the wall and drew her knees up. For a moment, she had been scared. Becky hadn’t been afraid of any man since she was eleven and her father taught her every move he knew of until she could toss a wrestler on his ass without a problem. Normally, her instincts kicked in. Instead of striking out, she had pulled her hands to her breasts. His hands were sweaty. Not in a yucky way. Moist and warm, and huge as shit. Confusion muddled her brain.
    Why didn’t I hoof him in the face?
    * * * *
    Huck stood with his shoulder against the doorframe to the room Becky was sleeping in. She lay on her side, knees drawn up, and ankles crossed. She was a human with many emotions. It came as somewhat of a revelation. Huck only ever sensed terror or pain on a human female. Their captive area reeked of fear, never ending horror. It was the only scent he knew, really. He’d heard humans had many emotions but wasn’t privy to them all. This, her, was so confusing and new to him.
    A Tonan female could be as cold as a male; Huck had only been with cold Tonan females who didn’t want to mate and didn’t want a child. Huck knew his mother was like him, or part of him, his father had been like the renegade Tonans, evil. When Huck was born he had a baby shield. It wasn’t from his biological father. His mother thought his father would mate her, he lied. She found herself pregnant and alone and in danger from warriors. A pregnant female carried a scent so intoxicating they were hard to resist. It was why in their history a shield formed, to save the females. The act was self-preservation or the race would die out. Nature at its best.
    Terrified, Huck’s mother went to the strongest and oldest warrior she knew to ask for protection. The warrior not only protected her, he mated her. To their surprise because his must was so high he was able to give Huck the baby shield he needed. A shield the warrior would have given his own son.
    The relationship Huck had with his shield was stranger than most. Huck should have been born evil, but without a shield, he would’ve died. When his shield first materialized into the grey protection he sported, both Huck and the shield mind warred. At any time Huck could denounce the shield and become vulnerable. The shield was meant to be created with love. The shield was meant for another.
    There were times Huck hated his shield. If the shield were a gift from his true father, neither Huck nor the shield would care what Huck did.