She blinked up at me.“There’s a gang of violent men roaming the city?”Her voice pitched up alarmingly and I hurried to reassure her.
“We haven’t seen any sign of them in months, they have moved on.”
Her mouth opened but she didn’t say anything.
“Have you eaten?”I asked again, wondering if she was going to faint again.Aside from her blush, her skin still looked too pale, and her eyes hadn’t lost their panicked wideness.
She grimaced.“I had a protein bar for breakfast, I think I just got-” she waved a hand around vaguely.“Overwhelmed.”
I’d eaten a few ‘protein bars’ since arriving on Earth, they were barely better than the ration bars the sytos threw to the slaves.This was something I could fix for her.What better way to begin wooing a female than with food?
“I have meat,” I said, reaching into my belt pouch for the jerky I’d brought.
The moment I presented the paper wrapped bundle she snatched it from my hand.
“Holy shit,” she breathed, tearing away the packaging and revealing the strips of seasoned meat.She devoured the first strip with the violence of a percer sow and I grinned to myself.This female didn’t know it, but I was already planning all the gifts I could bring her, she’d accept my claim in no time.
“What is your name?”I asked when she finally slowed down to savor my lunch.
“Oh,” her cheeks puffed out and she quickly swallowed her food.“Sorry, I’m Jessalyn, you can call me Jessa.”
“I am honored to meet you, Jessa.”Every male instinct in me was bursting with the urge to trumpet an ulto claim, but with no witnesses it’d be little more than show.“I am sorry I frightened you.”
Her brows drew together and she trailed her gaze over my body.
“No offense, but why did you burst in here?And why are you bloody?”
“Ah,” I looked back toward the small dark room I’d emerged from when I’d first spotted her.Somehow, I’d already forgotten what had driven me to take shelter in this strange cool building.My ears pinned back in shame as I realized I hadn’t been keeping track of the percer who’d almost taken my head off.
“I was being attacked by a percer, the window I broke was too small for her to fit through.”I frowned as I rotated my ears, straining for any sign the percer was still stalking the building.They were persistent hunters, it could be hours or days before she abandoned her hunt for me, especially with the scent of my blood still in the air.
“A percer?”Jessa’s voice trembled, I’d frightened her again.
I scratched my injured arm, wishing I could tell her there was no danger.But with a percer roaming the area, there was always danger.
“Percers are large predators,” I admitted.“The sytos bred them to fight us in the arena, a small breeding group escaped when we crashed here.”
“And there’s one outside?”she whispered, darting a fearful look at the room I’d come from.
“It can't fit through the window,” I promised.I wasn’t lying, but it would be wise for me to check the rest of the building for weak spots.“But I should deal with my wound, so the scent of blood doesn’t encourage it to try.”
“It can smell blood from outside?”
I sniffed, noting the heavy herbal scent filling the air.Jessalyn’s home reminded me of a nicer version of a syto ship, enclosed, cool, the atmosphere completely contained.
“The scent in the air may be covering my trail.”
Jessa scrambled off the table and aggressively tapped a small white pod on the counter, a plume of steam erupted from an opening at the top and the herbal scent thickened until my nose burned.
I sneezed and shook my head.“I doubt any creature could smell me over that.”
She blew out a shaky breath and pushed a strand of hair out of her face.
“Okay, noted.I’ll be keeping all the diffusers going full blast from now on.”She paused for a moment before slowly turning to face me.
“Did you say mates?”
I perked up at the subject change.
