Page 17 of The Alien’s Mate

She screamed and kicked and flung her fists about, but Flannagan was a big guy. He threw her to the floor once they had reached the large hall, and she tried to lunge for one man’s gun but was cruelly kicked back to the floor. So much for him being a good guy.

Dr. Bryce strode toward the computer panel by the front glass and activated the entrance tunnel.

“Should we really do this when he’s still awake?” asked another of the security guards.

Melinda didn’t even turn. “He will know we are the ones to give him his toys. Besides, there will be several solid steel doors separating him from us. We’ll only send in Lila.”

She pressed the first button, and a short but sharp alarm sounded as the first door unlocked and began to slide open. Lila could feel the security crew’s nervousness, and several of them raised their guns.

“Bring her forwards,” ordered Melinda, but the guards hesitated. When another short alarm ran, and the second door began to open, Dr. Bryce called, “Hurry now.”

Lila was grabbed by the arm, and before she could even scramble to her feet, she was dragged toward the tunnel. She gazed at the glass, saw the massive shadow hulk between the trees as the yellow eyes observed the scene, and she felt her entire being sing, as if he called for her.

But she did not want to get back into that cage. She didn’t want Dr. Bryce—or West and Howland—to win. In a panic, she gazed around for an exit, an escape, anything. That’s when she saw it, the small, red button on the control panel, glittering like a ruby in the fluorescent light. The fail-safe.

Looking around, she saw Flannagan’s pass card swing from his belt. If she could only get it, she might at least be able to reach the control panel before they shot her.

In one last effort, she swung her hand at his crotch; he screamed and released her, and she hurried to snatch the card from his belt. He stumbled after her, swearing and threatening to beat her up, and Lila tumbled to the side, nearly falling as she threw herself toward the panel.

“Lila, no!” Dr. Bryce screamed and dashed toward her. “Stop!”

But before she even knew what she was doing, Lila fumbled with the card into the slot; Flannagan aimed a shot at her but missed. Shards from a broken monitor rained over her, and she covered her head with her arms, but she was not discouraged. They could kill her, if they wanted, but she would take them down with her as she unleashed Hell.

As the card finally slid into the slot, she flipped open the plastic lid and slammed her hand on the emergency switch, and a loud alarm filled the room as all the gates and doors unlocked and slid aside.

Everyone stilled. The guards had abandoned her to aim their guns toward the steel tube, and Dr. Bryce was slowly backing away from the glass, toward Lila. Out from the trees, the tall, greyish-blue alien came stalking, his teeth bared and his body ready for a fight.

“What have you done?” Dr. Bryce hissed at Lila, and then, everything happened quickly.

A roar vibrated through the entire hall as Atlas came hurling through the steel tube, guns fired rapidly, men screamed, and Melinda threw herself over Lila and dragged her underneath the control panel. There, they both covered their ears as the sharp and loud sounds of gunfire echoed throughout the large domelike hall. The bloodcurdling screams made Lila’s hairs stand on their end, and from underneath the panel, she couldn’t see anything but the blood splatter on the floor, and the security guards as they fell to the ground, their heads and spines ripped from their bodies.

When the sounds stilled, and only the alarm wailed, Lila saw Atlas’s legs as he turned toward the panel.

CHAPTER 8

THE BEAST

~

Melinda whimpered as she crawled up against the wall. The alien strode closer; his growls couldn’t be heard over the sounding alarm, but they could be felt on the floor. Lila grabbed onto one of the table legs and held it tightly.

Scarlet blood dripped from Atlas as he stopped just before the panel. He waited there, swayed slightly back and forth, and suddenly, the alarm quieted. It still rang in Lila’s ears, from the siren, the guns, and the screams, but now, she could also hear his growls—and at once, she felt her pulse quicken with lust.

The beast crouched and peeked under the table, and Dr. Bryce screamed and cried but Lila only gasped. He looked at her with his burning eyes, his rumble turning to a purr, and he reached his hand out for her. Yet, he didn’t grab her but reached past her. With a quick movement, he grabbed hold of Melinda’s leg and dragged her out from under the control panel.

Lila quickly crawled out of hiding to see what he would do to the woman. The alien grabbed Dr. Bryce’s throat and lifted her into the air. Melinda croaked and gasped for breath, clawing at Atlas’s hefty arm, but he stood stoically, like a statue, and growled at her.

“P-please,” Melinda wheezed. “Atlas, don’t—hurt me… please! I… love y—” Her neck snapped with a dull pop, and the life left her eyes in an instant. When he released her, she fell like a heap of sand to the bloodstained floor, and it chilled Lila to the bone to see it. Just moments ago, that woman had shouted at her, slapped her. Now, she was dead.

It was at that moment, when everything was still again, she felt the tremble in her. If Atlas wanted to kill her, there would be no escape. He turned his gilded gaze at her; his strong jaw was clenched, his muscles were taut and pumped, and Lila could do nothing but stare at him from the floor.

He chuffed at her, tightening his massive fists. “Ell-ah.”

She felt tears sting behind her eyes as she nodded. “Y-yes, Atlas. It’s me.”

He grunted and tore his eyes away from her. Bending down, he snatched Melinda’s pass card from her dead body and turned it a few times in his hands. It looked like a miniature in his grip. Then he grunted again and signaled her to stand.

On trembling legs, she did as told. Gazing around the gruesome scene, she felt her stomach turn. Flannagan’s head was still attached to his spine—but the rest of his body was lying several feet away. Many other guards had met the same fate, and as she got a better look at them, she recognized most of them. She had had her dinner with them, spent nights talking to them; and still, they betrayed her like that.