Free Among Galactic Ruins by Anna Hackett

to the fire. It still flickered,
warm and cheerful, despite the chaos around it.
    Damon . There was no sign of him. Her
chest was tight and she could barely breathe. Where was he?

Chapter Eight
    Lexa sprinted through the camp, the sand
surprisingly cool under her bare feet. She shot at any wolves she
saw.
    Still no sign of Damon.
    A terrible feeling was filling her chest.
Maybe the wolves had snuck up on him? Dragged him away?
    Then she saw him.
    He was covered in blood, surrounded by four
wolves. His shirt was in tatters, torn up by sharp claws, and it
appeared he’d lost his weapon.
    She pushed for more speed. She was too far
away. She wanted to shoot but she wasn’t a good enough shot to
risking shooting with him so close.
    The nearest wolf launched itself at him.
    No ! He had no weapon.
    But he stayed calm. He dodged to the side,
grabbed the wolf and swung it onto its back. With a quick move, he
snapped its neck.
    The others rushed forward, but he was ready.
He kicked one hard enough to send it stumbling, then he grabbed the
next, turning with it in a macabre dance. He tossed it aside. The
third leapt high in the air and from somewhere on his body, Damon
pulled a knife. It was the one he’d taken from the man outside the
Desert Dragon.
    A quick stab upward into the underside of
the wolf and Lexa could tell he’d hit something vital. The wolf
just…collapsed and landed on the sand like a pile of fur.
    She was close enough to see his face now.
Hard, focused and deadly. That expression sent a shiver through
her. She had no trouble believing he’d been an undercover
agent.
    Then she saw that the other two wolves were
back on their feet and rushing him again.
    That’s when Lexa noticed a third wolf, this
one even larger than the others, slinking forward out of the
shadows.
    No . She closed the last few meters
and fired. The wolf dodged at the last minute and her laser did
nothing more than kick up sand in the beast’s face.
    It lifted its huge head, its glowing eyes
fixing on her. Then he bounded forward with a flex of muscle.
    Oh, God . She held up her pistol with
shaking hands and tried for bravado. “Come on you big brute!”
    Behind the beast, she saw Damon swivel.
“Lexa!”
    The wolf took her to the ground. She felt
claws snag on her clothes, but she focused on nothing but jamming
her pistol up into the wolf’s neck. She pulled the trigger and held
it down.
    At first, nothing happened. Her heart
clenched and visions of being ripped apart danced in her head.
    Then the wolf stiffened and something warm
and sticky gushed over her.
    Blood. Ugh . She kept her finger on
the trigger until she heard a clicking sound. The laser pistol had
run out of charge.
    “Lexa.” Damon gave the beast a giant heave
and rolled it off her. She caught a glimpse of the bloody damage
the laser had done to fur-covered flesh and looked away.
    Damon yanked her up and into his arms.
“Where are you hurt? Don’t worry, baby, we’ll get you healed.
You’ll be okay.”
    The worry in his tone made her breath catch.
“Damon, I’m fine.”
    “I’ll find my medscope. I promise, not even
a scar. You’ll be fine.”
    “Damon!” She spoke sharply to break through
his panic. The man had faced down four huge desert wolves with his
bare hands but her bloodstained clothes sent him into a spin. She
cupped his face and made him meet her gaze. “It isn’t my
blood.”
    That seemed to get through. His hands patted
her down, once, twice. “You’re sure?”
    “Positive.” But as she got a good look at
him, she realized much of the blood covering him was his own.
    Claw marks scored his chest and arms. God,
he was badly injured. She touched his face and saw three deep
gouges on his cheek. She rested a hand on his shoulder and saw
another wound. She pushed the tattered remnants of his shirt away
and saw an ugly, ragged bite mark.
    “Oh, Damon, did you let them gnaw on
you?”
    He gripped her shoulders. “You ran in there
like…like some damn