Hunter's Claim: The Alliance Book 1 (3 page)

I should have left him,
she thought
as the lock finally sprang open.
I’ve killed my sisters and
myself to rescue those responsible for us being in this
position.

Jesse fell back and slid between the bench
and the wall of the van as the huge male jerked the last of the
chains off of him and wound them around his thick palms. She bit
her lip as she watched him lean forward for a moment, as if waiting
to attack. That was exactly what he did when they heard the
muttered curse outside the door. All she saw was a blur of shadowy
movement before the doors to the back of the van exploded
outward.

Jesse didn’t wait to see what happened next.
She had done what she could to save the huge alien. Now it was up
to him to run back to his people. She had her own family to
protect. Jumping from the back of the van, she rolled under it
before sliding out the opposite side near where she had been
hiding. She grabbed the black backpack and squeezed through the
ripped sheet metal, ignoring the pain as it cut a deep slice across
her stomach.

She ran as fast as she could away from the
loud roars and the bloodcurdling screams that filled the night air
behind her. She had finally come face to face with one of the
aliens and it had left her shaken and confused. In the back of her
mind, she hoped he survived and was able to get back to his people.
Maybe he could convince the others of his kind that the Earth was
better left to its own self-destruction.

Hunter listened carefully, waiting to see
when the human would return. He had worked a small blade out of the
hemline of his vest. He was trying to break the metal band around
his wrist when he heard the hushed sound of the latch on the door.
Relaxing, he hid the blade in the palm of his hand.

It had been several hours since the last man
had come out to check on him. He had hoped they felt confident
enough in their chains and locks to wait a while but it would seem
they were rightfully paranoid. He would have to work fast once the
male left again if he was to save himself.

He frowned when the door barely opened
before it closed again. He sniffed the air to see which of the
humans had come in this time. He barely controlled his reaction
when a delicate, sweet scent washed over him. He fought the urge to
growl in frustration at not being
able
to
taste the air with his tongue. He wanted to know if the air held
the same sweet taste as the smell. He did not recognize this scent
or understand why he felt such a need to know more about the human
who carried it.

A moment later, a small beam of light
illuminated the darkness. He could not see the figure of the human
because of the way he was strapped down but he knew from the scent
and breathing patterns that it was a female. It didn’t take long
before the figure moved far enough to the front of the van for him
to see.

Vivid dark brown eyes stared back at him in
fear. He couldn’t see much of the female’s face because of the dark
cloth that she had over most of her face but he swore he had never
seen so much emotion in one set of eyes before. He wasn’t sure what
this human wanted. She had not been with the others. He would have
smelled her sweet scent if she had. A dark thought crossed his mind
that she might belong to one of the males. He had not gotten close
to the one that had driven the transport that he was in. He had
only heard the male’s voice. A low rumble of rage swept through him
that any female, much less the one staring back at him, would
belong to such a male.

He listened as she spoke in a voice that was
barely audible. She paused before ripping the cloth down from her
nose and mouth. Her words were soft and it took a moment for the
translator embedded in his ears to understand what she was
saying.

His whole body tensed when she unwittingly
rested her left hand on his stomach. The vibration of the purr that
escaped him at her touch shocked him. The purr turned to a growl of
anger when she jerked her hand off of him.

His eyes narrowed when she leaned over him
to whisper in his ear. Her voice was very soft and held the faint
tremor of fear. Her warm breath fan
ned
over his cheek as she explained that she was in danger from the
other humans as much as he was if she was caught.

His fists clenched as a fresh wave of rage
washed through him at the thought of this female putting her life
in danger for him. He forced himself to listen carefully as she
explained what she was going to do and asked if he understood what
she was saying. He nodded twice to show her he did.

Her fingers were icy cold and shaking as she
carefully picked one side of the tape free. He never looked away
from her, unsure of what she intended to do next. He hated being
defenseless. He was at her mercy and that did not sit well with him
as either a male or a Trivator warrior.

Her face creased into a look of apology
before she ripped the tape from his mouth. He ignored the burning
sting as the tape pulled his skin. Turning his head, he spit the
rag out of his mouth with a low snarl of hatred. Turning his head,
he glared at the small female and flashed his teeth in warning
should she try to harm him.

“Please, listen to me,” the female begged
nervously as she glanced at the door before looking at him again.
“They want to kill you in a very horrid and painful way. I… I can’t
let them do that but I can’t let you kill me either. Please, please
understand me. I can undo the locks holding you down. I’ll undo all
of them but one.”

Hunter stiffened as she stepped closer and
reached out to touch him. She barely touched his jaw but it was as
if she had suddenly held him in a paralyzing hold. The sensation of
her thumb rubbing tenderly against his skin was igniting a fire in
his loins that he hadn’t experienced in years.

“Do you understand what I’ve told you?” She
asked as she continued to stroke him.

It took a moment for him to focus on what
she had said. She would release him. Well, give him the ability to
release himself and she was telling him where other warriors could
be found. That meant that she had been close to them. He didn’t
like the idea of her being around the other warriors. Many of them
had not had female company since they came to this world. That made
them dangerous even with the relief rooms set up for them.

“Yes,” he responded harshly when he realized
she continued to wait for his answer.

He held himself still as she moved closer to
his head and set the small light down near the lock holding the
chains around his upper body. After several long minutes, a soft
sigh escaped her. A smile of amusement tugged at his lips as she
slowly set the lock down. He could have escaped once he had one of
his arms free. He felt confident he would have been able to escape
if given enough time. He carefully slipped the blade in his palm
back into the sheath hidden in his vest.

He paused lifting the chains when the female
called out a warning. His eyes followed her as she moved to the
third lock. He sat up, carefully holding the chains so that they
wouldn’t make any noise.

She opened her mouth to say something to him
before turning in horror at the sound of footsteps approaching.
Hunter had heard the other human the moment they had begun walking.
He planned to rip the last lock off but the female had already
moved to it and was working furiously at undoing it. He flicked his
tongue out, finally giving in to the need to taste the air around
her. An assortment of flavors hit him hard in the gut. He could
taste her terror. She had not been lying when she said the other
humans would kill her. The fear was thick in the air around her. He
could also scent the faint aroma of blood.

He would have to check the female for injury
after he took care of the other humans. As much as it galled him,
he owed this female a life debt. Well, life debt might be
stretching it as he was confident he could have escaped but the
fact that she was risking her life thinking he was going to be
brutally killed was close enough for him. It was obvious she did
not have a protector. He would assume that responsibility until a
human male could be assigned to her.

He rose up as soon as he was free from the
bench and wound the chains around his fists. Holding still, he
waited until he heard the male’s voice just outside the door before
he made his move. He hit the doors with enough force to rip them
from the hinges. The metal door struck the thin male who had been
driving, instantly killing him.

He didn’t pause as he jumped from the back
of the transport. Using his senses, he rushed across the large
empty area between the transport and the room where the other males
and the female were. It was time to show them what happens when
they have angered a Trivator warrior.

*.*.*

Hunter threw out the chains in his left hand
as one of the human males came rushing out of the door of the small
room. He snarled in satisfaction when he heard the sound of bone
breaking under the blow. The human’s loud scream of agony echoed
throughout the building.

He jerked hard on the chain before he turned
and rolled to the left as the huge male who threatened to hang his
balls on the back of his truck lifted one of the Earth weapons he
carried. The sound of skin and bone ripping made a sickly noise as
the chain he had wrapped around the thin human’s arm tore it off as
he pulled it away. A single shot silenced the male’s incoherent
screams.

“Kill him!” The female yelled out in terror.
“Kill him, Kyle.”

“You should have fucking let me earlier,”
Kyle snapped back as he moved backwards toward the office. “I can’t
see a fucking thing.”

“Don’t let him near me,” the woman
whimpered. “Don’t let him near me.”

“Shut the fuck up, Betty,” Kyle bit out.
“Get back in the office. If he tries to come through the door,
we’ll shoot his ass.”

Hunter chuckled darkly when he heard the
door slam behind the human called Kyle. It would appear the female
did not care about the male. She had locked him outside with the
beast.

“I will slice your balls off,” Hunter
whispered menacingly. “But I will not hang them on the back of my
transport. I will feed them to you.”

“Stay… stay the fuck back,” Kyle snarled,
raising the weapon in his hand and firing into the darkness where
Hunter had been. “You just stay the fuck back.”

Hunter was already on the other side of the
male. He had scaled the tall beam up to the one that ran over the
male’s head. He dropped down lightly on the male’s right side. He
grabbed the male’s arm as he swung around and broke it before
wrapping his other hand around the male’s neck.

“Now human,” Hunter whispered, flashing his
teeth at the male. “Threaten me, now.”

Kyle’s choked cries ended as his body
suddenly jerked. His eyes widened for a moment before they glazed
over in death. Hunter cursed as he felt a burning in his side. He
dropped the body of the male and twisted to the right. Three holes
in the door let small beams of light through.

“How bad are you hurt?” Another dark voice
asked calmly from next to him.

Hunter bared his teeth at Saber. He had
known the minute re-enforcements had shown up. It was one of the
traits that made the Trivators such great warriors. They were drawn
to each other in time of need or could react as one when in
battle.

“What took you so long?” Hunter snarled out.
“They had me strapped to a damn metal bed with chains,” he nodded
to the dead human on the floor. “He was threatening to cut my balls
off and use them for decorations.”

“We lost you a couple hours ago but knew we
weren’t far. I thought the plan was for us to follow you to where
the humans had their lab?” Saber said.

“The plan changed,” Hunter growled. “There
was another human here. We can still get the information we need
from the female inside.”

“Dagger is good at that,” Saber comment.

“What am I good at?” Dagger said,
materializing out of the darkness. “I was about to go after the
other human when I heard the shots. You hit?”

“A scratch,” Hunter said with a shrug. “Was
the other a female?”

“It smelled like it,” Dagger said with a
sharp-tooth grin. “She smelled sweet, even her blood. Did you try
to gut her or something? You don’t normally miss if you are close
enough to touch skin.”

Hunter frowned at Dagger. “She only had a
small amount on her from a wound before she saved me,” he
responded.

Saber held up his hand. “What the fuck do
you mean ‘before she saved you’? Who saved you?” He asked.

“A human female. She heard what the others
planned to do to me,” Hunter said with a frown. “She said she
couldn’t let them do that.”

“Maybe it was a trap like the other female.
You know that these females cannot be trusted,” Dagger speculated.
“She could have been testing you.”

“No,” Hunter replied with confidence. “She
was terrified. She said the other humans would kill her if she was
caught. She told me where the Support Center was being set up so I
could find help. I could hear the truth in her voice and scent her
fear. She was not lying.”

“Then why did she smell so strongly of blood
if you did not try to kill her?” Dagger asked impatiently. “

Hunter’s eyes narrowed. “She was not wounded
badly when she was with me,” he bit out. “We will find her once we
have taken the other female in.”

Saber nodded. “Let’s get this over with,” he
said with a grin. “I’m hungry.”

Hunter watched as Saber swung his foot out
and kicked the door. He barely missed getting his head blown off
when the female in the room screamed in terror. Dagger snarled at
Saber who had dropped and rolled to the side.

“You are going to get your head blown off
one of these days,” Hunter commented as Saber stood up and brushed
the arm of his sleeve.