Free Get Your Shift Together (Bear Bites Book 2) by Ruby Dixon

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.
----
RAAHOSH
    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.

BARBARIAN LOVER (Kira’s Story)
    Book 3 – Now Available on Kindle Unlimited! Click here to borrow.
    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?
----
AEHAKO
    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