Shift Out of Luck (Bear Bites Book 1) (6 page)

Y
ou'd think being abducted
by aliens would be the worst thing that could happen to me. And you'd be wrong. Because now, the aliens are having ship trouble, and they've left their cargo of human women - including me - on an ice planet.

And the only native inhabitant I've met? He's big, horned, blue, and really, really has a thing for me...

My mate, the resonance of my khui, my new reason for existing, has just planted her tiny, strange foot in my chest and kicked. It’s almost as if she does not want to mate.

Her strange, dead eyes are wide with fear, no comforting glow in them. I want to tell her that she’ll be fine. That she’s mine now and I’ll take care of her. That we’ll take down one of the monstrous
sa-kohtsk
and pull a new khui from its depths so she will no longer suffer.

But I’m puzzled as to why she would hurt herself. I rub my chest where her tiny foot landed. Without her leathers, her body seems even smaller, and she’s soft and ridge-less. She seems to have forgotten this, too, as she gives me an indignant look, then howls with pain and clings to her foot.

I don’t understand her. Maybe her lack of khui is affecting her senses. “I will not harm you,” I say to her slowly, because she looks terrified. “You are my mate, now.”

“Tht hrt dmmt!”

“Let me see your foot,” I demand. If she has no khui, she probably does not heal as she should, either. When she continues to give me a frightened look, I reach forward and place my hand on her ankle.

She bellows something and thrashes at me again. Her hand curls into a fist, and she smacks it into my face, knocking my lip against my teeth. A flash of pain shoots through my mouth, and I snarl.

She immediately goes quiet, flinching backward, her hands raised to shield herself.

I am sickened at her reaction.

This woman, this small creature who has half the stature of a sa-khui is my mate. How can she possibly think I would harm her? But she is cringing back even now, as if expecting a blow to fall. Rage fills me, because this is not a normal response.

Someone has hurt my mate in the past.

I reach forward and turn her pale face toward me. She fights, but her eyes close again, and she begins to tremble. I gaze at her small, flat features. Her skin tone is regular, except for mottled bruising along one side. There is the evidence I suspected.

“Who did this to you?” I ask.

T
welve humans are left stranded
on a wintry alien planet. I’m one of them. Yay, me.

In order to survive, we have to take on a symbiont that wants to rewire our bodies to live in this brutal place. I like to call it a cootie. And my cootie’s a jerk, because it also thinks I’m the mate to the biggest, surliest alien of the group.

My khui is an idiot.

It must be. Why else would it ignore the women of my clan and the moment we enter the den of the dirty, ragged humans, it begins to bleat in my chest like a quill beast? Or that it chose the frailest of the sick humans to select as my mate?

A mate that glares at me with knowing, angry eyes and refuses to eat the medicinal broth that I bring her? That pushes aside my hands when I try to help her to her feet? Who scowls when I bring her water?

It's clear that my khui is full of foolishness.

"Did you resonate for anyone?" Aehako asks at my side. He stuffs a fur into a traveling bag. We are preparing the humans' cave for travel, since they are too weak to do so. Everything must come with us, Vektal says. It does not matter that it is stained and filthy, or useless. The humans have so little that he is sure they will treasure whatever they have, so it must come. Two of the hunters that resonated for females have been sent off to get furs from the nearest hunter caves, because the humans are poorly equipped to face the harsh snows, and they have no khui to keep them warm.

This will be remedied shortly, however.

A sa-kohtsk is near. The large creatures carry many khui, and we will hunt one for its meat and ensure that the humans will not die of khui-sickness.

I think of the hollow eyes of my new mate and how miserable she looks. Most of the human hides are a pale color, but my human is paler than most. That must mean she is sicker. I will insist she be one of the first to get a khui.

Aehako repeats his question. "Raahosh? Did you resonate?"

I don't like to lie, but i also don't want anyone to know, not when my mate is glaring at me as if she is furious.

Raahosh is scarier than most.

Her words cut. She is smooth and pale and weak, and yet I am the one lacking? I shrug and shoulder the pack. "It matters not. We will see what happens when the khui are in the humans."

"I didn't resonate." Aehako looks glum, his broad features downcast. "Do you think more will resonate when they come into season? Perhaps they're not in season." He gives me a hopeful glance.

"Do I look as if I know human seasons?" I snap. "Finish your bag. We need to hurry if we are to get the humans close enough to the sa-kohtsk to hunt it."

Aehako sighs and returns to work. I tell myself he is young. In fact, he might be the youngest hunter in our clan. He will get over his disappointment, or another human will resonate for him later. Or even a sa-khui woman, perhaps one not yet born.

All I know is that I am resonating for one of the dying humans, and if she dies, she takes all my hopes and dreams with her.

A
s one of
the few humans stranded on the ice planet, I should be happy that I have a new home. Human women are treasured here, and one alien in particular has made it clear that he wants me. It's hard to push away the sexy, flirtatious Aehako, when all I want to do is grab him by his horns and insist he take me to his furs.

But I've got a terrible secret - the aliens who abducted me are back, and thanks to the translator in my ear, they can find me. My presence here endangers everyone...but can I give up my new life and the man I want more than anything?

There are tracks in the snow, and I follow them out of the caves and onto the nearby ridge, where Maylak's healing plants grow in abundance. They are wedged into a small valley, buffered from the worst of the winds. Kira is here, grabbing leaves off of a plant angrily, a scowl on her face.

She turns and glares at me as I approach. Am I the recipient of some of her anger? I grin to myself. Her cheeks are flushed with that unusual pink color that some find ugly in humans. I find it charmingly adorable. She's so many interesting colors - pink and brown, and her eyes are the vivid khui blue courtesy of the symbiont. "Hello, my small friend," I call out in greeting.

"Not your friend," she mutters. "And I'm not small."

I chuckle at that. "You should pull a few of the intisar plant there," I tell her. "It's good for eyesight."

She shoots me another glare.

I don't mind. I prefer her angry expressions to the sadness in her eyes that is so often there.

"I don't need herbs for my eyesight," she tells me.

"No?" I tease and move to her side, then point at another bush. "That one is for potency."

She gives me a shocked look, and the pink returns to her cheeks.

"I do not need it, of course," I tell her. "My cock can stay erect for many hours without flagging. It is mostly for the elders or men that have been ill for a long time and wish to couple with their mates."

The noise she makes is strangled. "I don't want to hear about your...penis." She shoots me another vicious look. "Maybe you should go and talk to your friend about it more. She seems interested."

"Are you jealous?" I ask, pleased. I've tried to make it clear to Kira that I am interested in courting her, but she's rebuffed me at every turn. Has she changed her mind? I admire her fine brown hair as it blows in the wind and imagine it spilling over my chest.

And then I have to adjust my breeches again.

"Jealous? Ha! Why should I be jealous? I'm ugly, remember?" She taps the shiny metal shell attached to her ear. "I heard every word of your conversation!"

I cannot keep the delighted grin from my face. She did hear me speaking to Asha. And she
is
jealous. This pleases me greatly.

Perhaps Kira is not so aloof after all. It's time to present her with my courting gift.

W
arning
:
This fairy tale contains a hero in desperate need of his sleeping beauty, a heroine who wants to mate with her beast, and an alpha trying to keep it from happening. This is meant to be over-the-top, extra sweet, and lots of fun. Come roll around in it.

B
EAR BITES

Does a Bear Shift in the Woods?

Get Your Shift Together

Shift out of Luck

Shift Just Got Real

I
CE PLANET BARBARIANS

Ice Planet Barbarians

Barbarian Alien

Barbarian Lover

Barbarian Mine

Ice Planet Holiday

B
EDLAM BUTCHERS

Off Limits

Packing Double

Double Trouble

Double Down

Double or Nothing

Slow Ride