Kiera smiled. They’d settle in. It always took a little time.
And farther out—far enough that even the curious humans would stay safely behind the viewing lines—were the habitats meant to make visitors’ eyes go wide and their mouths drop open.
The chooley enclosure was one of the prettiest–a rolling, misty grove filled with pale gray “mushroom trees” and soft, floating seedpods that drifted like lanterns.
The chooley itself was curled in a nest the size of a kiddie pool–all fluffy lavender fur and enormous, expressive eyes shifted color like a mood ring depending on how it was feeling.
Right now they were a dreamy sea—glass green…until it noticed the huge wolf standing at Kiera’s side. Then the eyes flashed bright, alarmed purple and the Chooley let out a tiny, offended squeak, as if to say, Absolutely not!
Kiera laughed.
“Oh, don’t be such a diva,” she said affectionately. “You’re perfectly safe.”
At the far end of the sanctuary, separated by multiple redundant safety fields—because Kiera was careful and Commander Rarev was thorough—loomed the Vorn habitat. Even from here, she could see the dark shape moving through the red—stained scrub brush like a living tank.
The creature’s thick body rippled with muscle as it prowled, and when it lifted its head, the air seemed to vibrate with a low, hungry hum. For a moment, the Vorn opened its jaws—just slightly—and she caught the glint of those three concentric rings of jagged teeth…and the twitch of the tentacles that framed its mouth, flexing as if tasting the wind.
The sight sent a chill skittering down her spine—fear, yes, but also awe. The Vorn was terrifying…and magnificent. Exactly the kind of animal that deserved a safe place where no one would try to hunt it for trophies or slaughter it out of ignorance.
Kiera breathed in the mint—and—mineral air, listened to the chiming trees, and watched her strange, wonderful sanctuary humming with life…and felt her heart swell.
This was what she’d always wanted–adventure, purpose, and a place where the unwanted and the misunderstood animals of the galaxy could be protected. And standing by her side–too big, too calm, and too intelligent for comfort–was the newest, strangest rescue she’d ever brought home.
Kiera just knew they were going to get along…but she had no idea how strange things were going to get very soon.
7
BRUX
Brux was elated. Finally, he was home with his mate! He had never seen or smelled any place like this new land but it was absolutely perfect. Then again, any place would have been perfect with her.
He looked lovingly at his new mate. Kiera was so beautiful, he couldn’t help himself–he wanted to look at her and smell her all the time. Luckily, she seemed to feel the same way about him.
“Come on boy–let’s go home,” she remarked as she looped an arm around his neck and stroked his fur. Her touch was pure ecstasy to Brux–every brush of her soft fingers through his fur made him shiver with joy.
Surely the Goddess was smiling on him, he thought, as he walked by his new mate’s side through the beautiful, good—smelling new world. After so many long months of sorrow and loneliness, she had turned her face towards him and sent him the most beautiful woman in all the universe to care for him.
And also, for him to protect. He could smell the scent of some strange and dangerous predators wafting on the cool breeze. They appeared to be restrained, but Brux still didn’t like them being anywhere near his mate.
However, he was beginning to get the idea that she was the caretaker to all the animals he had seen on their walk around the compound. This must be her job–her calling. But why was there no one else with her, helping her?
As though she’d read his mind, Kiera started talking.
“Well, boy–I hope you like it here. I know I love it–even if it does get a little lonely sometimes,” she said, ruffling his fur. “Until we get the sanctuary completely finished and staffed, it’s just me and the work—bots.”
She nodded at a silver—skinned, bipedal bot that was moving a large bale of some purple, dry, grass—like material into an enclosure filled with tiny, squeaking creatures that appeared to be rodents of some kind with pastel fur and huge, floppy ears.
The work—bot moved with slow, methodical precision–clearly it didn’t have much brainpower behind it.
Speaking of brainpower, Brux could feel his increasing by the minute. Every bit of sentience and intelligence that had leaked away in the long months after he’d lost his first mate was returning to him. The more Kiera touched him and talked to him, the more he understood her. She was literally restoring his mind with her kindness and her love.
Though he knew it would take some time to get his bipedal form back, Brux didn’t mind waiting. As long as he could be close to her, he was content to stay in his animal form.
He still retained a lot of his animal instincts, though. For instance, when he saw movement in the tall, chiming reeds near the edge of the petting—zoo perimeter, every primitive instinct inside him snapped tight as a bowstring.
Something pale and spiny was rising out of the lavender grass cover—it moved too fast for Brux to really see it and for one terrible heartbeat, it looked like a predator rearing up to strike.
Brux’s hackles lifted. His lips peeled back from his teeth in an instinctive snarl. The creature made a sharp, rasping hiss that sounded far too much like a threat, and when it moved again, its body didn’t look like any harmless herbivore he’d ever encountered.
