Free Catching Alicka by Dakota Dawn Page A

was humbling. Earth was in rough shape. He’d been raised in paradise, compared to her. Their children would get to see their world through Alicka’s excited and thankful eyes. She is a true gift . There was no way he would let anything happen to her.
    When they pulled up to their hunting grounds just outside of the city, she bounded out of the hovercraft and looked around.
    Quietly, she leaned into him. “Do you see any gorrcans?”
    Parroting her quiet tone, he answered, “No, but I’ll let you know when I do so I can hide behind you.”
    Xander burst out laughing. Alicka shushed him and rolled her eyes at Slanon.
    “This is serious. How well do gorrcans hear, see, and smell?”
    Those bright blue eyes of hers were so serious, he couldn’t help but love his little warrior mate even more.
    “We’re going to set up in a clear stand so we can watch for them from a safe distance. We’ll tell you about them at the stand,” Tor stated as he pulled his gun from the craft. Xander and Slanon grabbed their own weapons.
    “Do you have one for me?” Alicka asked in a sweet voice.
    “No, you haven’t been trained in how to use our weapons, yet.” At her perturbed look, Slanon held back a smile. “Today, your job is to help us spot them.”
    Tor’s idea of putting her up in a stand was a sound one. He just hoped she stayed there without too much of a fuss.
    “Okay, but promise me you’ll teach me how to shoot your gun.” Big blue eyes looked up at him expectantly.
    “I promise. Have you shot many guns?”
    “Yes, my dad loved them. He has eighteen guns and I’ve shot all of them.” She looked at his gun. “My dad would flip over yours.”
    Tor grunted. “He sounds like a good man.”
    “Yes, he does,” Slanon agreed.
    Xander raised a hand and everyone stopped and silently looked around. He and Tor inhaled the scents around them. There was a faint trace of gorrcans. They traveled on in silence.
    Slanon was proud of Alicka for remaining quiet when she had to be full of questions.
    The stand came into view, and after they were inside it, Alicka whispered, “Did you smell any gorrcans? I caught the musky scent of something for a bit, but it was covered by the smell of flowers when a good breeze blew by.”
    “It sounds like you caught their scent. As heavy as it was, there had to be several in that area last night.”
    Xander set his sword down and took a drink of the water he’d brought.
    Slanon offered his mate a drink and she smiled prettily as she took the bottle from him. “So, gorrcans have a musky scent. Tell me more about them.”
    Tor and Xander took up posts in the stand and searched the woods around them.
    They were in a slightly clear spot and up off the ground a good fifty feet. He pulled up a picture of one of the massive, one-eyed gorrcans on his wrist device and showed it to her.
    Blue eyes scanned the picture and then a few more before she nodded. “The bigger they are, the harder they fall.”
    Xander chuckled. “That’s quite a mate you have there, Slanon.” He winked at Alicka. “You’re going to be a fierce little mama.” Alicka blushed and Xander laughed.
    “You’ll get used to them one day. Now, let’s get back to discussing our prey. Gorrcans can be up to fifteen feet fall. As you saw in the pictures, they walk around on their back legs most of the time. This keeps their slightly shorter front legs free to swipe at their prey with their sharp claws.
    “Right now, their fur is a silver color and easily detected in the evening. That’s why we’re here at this hour. Once a moons’ cycle, their fur changes because of a chemical they produce. That chemical makes their meat a delicacy, but it also makes them crave meat over their normal diet of fruit and plants.” Slanon gestured at them all. “We are meat to them. That’s why I need you to stay in here when we go out hunting them. You’d be a tasty little snack for a gorrcans.” He couldn’t stop the thought of how good