Free GalacticInferno by Mel Teshco

closed.
    “Ally, what is it?”
    “They’re coming,” she whispered. She couldn’t see any craft.
She didn’t need to. Renate’s words came back to her as if he was saying them
right then. If the other males should happen to come near, you will
experience something we call trans-alien hypersensitivity. Their thoughts are
centered on you now, and the closer they get to you the more heightened their
awareness of you—and you of them. And the easier they will find you.
    His hands encircled her forearms and he turned her around,
snapping her from whatever it was that had her frozen at the window. “Let’s get
out of here,” he growled.
    She nodded. And it took just seconds for her to clip on
Bonnie’s leash and scoop up the cat—she wouldn’t leave Leopold to starve inside
the house.
    As Renate slung the backpack over a shoulder they raced for
the back door.
    Leopold hissed, aware of the tension, or perhaps he sensed
the craft heading their way. Ally put the ginger cat on to the long grass
outside, trying not to think about what might happen to him when they were
gone. He’d survived this long, it stood to reason he’d survive many more years
to come.
    The still dusk air abruptly vibrated with sound overhead.
    Oh. Shit.
    With one hand snared in Renate’s, her other hand wrapped
around Bonnie’s leash, she ran for all she was worth, pulse pounding as she
sprinted beside Renate. Adrenaline tore through her veins with the knowledge
that this time they just might not outrun and hide from the craft closing in
above them.
    Renate pulled her into an alleyway, where big buildings
loomed either side of a narrow lane and shielded them in shadows.
    The aircraft that slid above the buildings emitted a
high-pitched whine. And as the sound receded, Renate said urgently, “We don’t
have much time before they return. We have to keep going.”
    Chest heaving and lungs burning, all she could think about
was the deep knowing she was “felt” by the aliens promised to her. She gave a
jerky nod and he squeezed her hand in return.
    They took off sprinting down the ever-darkening alleyway,
their footsteps echoing eerily and all too loud. Bonnie emitted a ragged growl
a nanosecond before Ally saw the flash of hungry eyes ahead.
    She stilled beside Renate as shapes emerged from the
shadows. Feral dogs. A dozen or more of them. She shuddered. She didn’t need
sunlight to imagine their sharp fangs, their ribbed and undernourished bodies
after gorging for so long on human remains—and then nothing.
    Renate pulled a rifle out of the backpack. And without
taking his eyes off the dogs he said softly, “Back away slowly. The moment even
one of them breaks from the pack, you run like hell. Get out of the alley and
find somewhere to hide. Take Bonnie, she’ll protect you.”
    “I’m. Not. Leaving. You.”
    He leveled the gun at the dogs. “Just this once please do as
I say.” When she stayed put, unwilling to leave, he said hoarsely, “Go!”
    No! I can’t lose you!
    She swallowed past the fear and grief lodging inside her
throat. “I don’t want you to be a hero.” She backed away a few steps, heart in
her throat, her pulse flailing loudly in her ears. Tears were streaming down
her face but she barely noticed, too focused on the alien who was more man than
anyone she’d ever known.
    She took another couple of backward steps, all too aware the
dogs were moving toward them, step-for-step. Tears flowed harder. “Did you hear
me, Renate? Don’t be a hero. Don’t you dare die on me!”
    The dogs abruptly broke formation. Bonnie whined, fearful.
Only then did Ally spin around and push into a run. Gunshot ricocheted in the
alley, thunderous in her ears. She heard a yelp, followed by another shot.
    There’s so many of them. He’ll never make it.
    A loud thud sounded and then another. Renate had been
reduced to striking the attacking dogs with the rifle butt? Snarls echoed down
the alley, along with an all-too-human curse.
    Heart