And for you.
She moved to the pile of clothing, keeping her eyes and the blaster trained on him. “You won’t find me.” She crouched and gathered the items into her arm.
“You don’t sound quite so confident suddenly,” Drakkal said. “But I am. I’ll find you, female, wherever you go.”
“Oh, I’m confident. I know how to hide. But if youdohappen to find me, I’ll shoot you.” She backed away from him and continued down the tunnel, her bundle of stolen possessions clutched to her chest.
He didn’t move but to turn his head and follow her progress. “It’d be rude to shoot someone with his own gun.”
She smirked, her features easing in her amusement. “It’s my gun now.” With the hand holding the blaster, she reached back to quickly raise the jacket’s oversized hood. Shadows obscured her face.
Drakkal’s instincts were at war; it was only that inner conflict that held him in place. He wanted to give chase, wanted to rut with her, to claim her, but at the same time he knew she wasn’t bluffing. It didn’t matter if she was his mate, didn’t matter if he believed she didn’twantto shoot him—she would if he pressed her.
She wagged the barrel of the blaster at him as she reached the end of the tunnel. “Don’t follow me, azhera.”
And then she stepped into a side corridor, vanishing from Drakkal’s view.
For several moments, Drakkal was frozen, his breath heavy and ragged, his cock aching and throbbing, as that internal war raged. He hadn’t gone to Murgen’s in search of a mate—he hadn’t even thought about seeking a mate for many, many years. What was the point of it?
But now that he’d found her, now that he’d scented her, he knew he wouldn’t be able to stop himself. Her threats didn’t make a difference. Drakkal would hunt for her, and he would find her. Because she washis.
All she’d accomplished here was to gain a small head start.
Drakkal shoved himself away from the wall and stalkedafter the terran, following her scent. Though her fragrance was so distinct, so intimately familiar to him already, the task was complicated by the simple fact that her smell had seeped into his fur through their clothing while they’d walked. He could scent it on the air, but it also wafted fromhim.
He turned into the doorway through which she’d vanished and hurried down a long, narrow corridor. It ended at a single sliding door—an elevator entrance.
“Vrek’osh,” he growled as he pressed the call button. This was more than asmallhead start.
Seconds ticked by. Drakkal clenched his fists and paced along the corridor, his tail swinging with increasing speed and erraticism.
“Come on,” he said through his fangs, mane bristling. Tension rippled through his muscles, filling them with anticipatory energy; he needed to run, to chase, to claim what was his.
The door began opening. Drakkal darted forward, forcing his way through the widening entryway and into the elevator car. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to carefully press the inside control to direct the elevator to the surface. The last thing he needed was to break the control panel and make the elevator inoperable. He’d already lost enough time.
The door closed, and the elevator began its rapid, softly humming ascent. The air was redolent with her fragrance, and his cock stirred again, twitching and pulsing with a resurgence of desire. He lowered his right hand to it and grasped his shaft, squeezing even though he knew it would only momentarily ease the pressure.
When the elevator stopped and the door opened again, Drakkal charged out like a ravenous beast released from its tether. He emerged in a dark, dank alleyway that let out on a brightly lit street ahead. His nostrils flared as he scented the air, drawing in the stench of metal, concrete, and garbage thatsuffused the city, the smells of the sweat and skin of countless alien species, the aromas of exotic perfumes and spices. He was interested only in one scent—the sundrinker fragrance—and it was so faint, so diluted, so overpowered by everything else, though the terran couldn’t have passed through here more than a few minutes ago.
He raced forward, ignoring the puddles underfoot, pausing only when he was out of the alley. He found himself on one of the many bustling retail streets of the Gilded Sector. People of various races, many of them well-dressed, walked along the edges of the wide street, which was lined with businesses presenting polished display windows and high-priced items. Across the street and about twenty meters to his left was a restaurant with an outdoor seating area that was cordoned off by forcefield walls. Sleek hover cars touched down and lifted off all along the street, dropping off and picking up well-to-do passengers.
Drakkal scented the air again but he could only detect the merest hint of the terran’s scent here. He turned his head from side to side, scanning the street for any sign of her. The jacket she’d taken from him wasn’t the pinnacle of fashion, but it was nice, and blended in well with the more casual of the pedestrians here—especially the ones who wanted to looktough. Paired with her smaller stature, which would allow her to fade into the crowd with ease, and the fact that she’d covered her golden hair with a hood, he had little chance of finding her.
A couple of grimacing ertraxxans made disgusted sounds as they walked past Drakkal, giving him a wide berth. Drakkal met their gazes and growled, baring his teeth and flexing his claws. The ertraxxans increased their pace.
Drakkal’s growl dragged out, rumbling his chest, as he resumed his search. His body seemed to be torn in bothdirections. She could’ve gone anywhere; there were dozens of pedestrian pathways here, most of them at least as busy as this one.
“Vrek’osh.”
More of the people walking nearby were staring at him now, many of them putting on airs of offense—as though they’d never seen a naked body before. His pulsing cock softened, but it only brought minor relief from its ache. He turned his head to the left; a pair of gold-and-teal armored peacekeepers were posted on the corner less than fifty meters away.
Public nudity wasn’t a crime in Arthos, but everything operated differently in sectors like this one. The city’s wealthy residents—like most of the people here—typically got their way when it came to things they deemeddistasteful. Drakkal wasn’t foolish enough to think those peacekeepers would hesitate to drag him off whether he’d committed a crime or not.
He snarled and shook his head, ruffling his mane. He wanted nothing more than continue the chase, but the trail had already gone cold, and he wasn’t in the mood for a trip to the nearest Eternal Guard outpost.
You win this round, little terran.
He lifted his left arm, meaning to activate the holocom embedded in his prosthesis, but stopped himself. What good would it do to call for help now? He couldn’t very well stand here and wait for someone to pick him up, and he wasn’t eager for the conversation that would arise when one of his friends arrived.