Free Alien Soldier's Baby (Scifi Alien Romance) (Zoran Warriors) by Luna Hunter

Outside I hear people running down the hall, panicked shrieks, children crying.
    I’ve heard chaos like this only once before. On Cotonia VI, in the town of Bahaan.
    The slaughter of Bahaan is what our historians call that day. If I had known beforehand what a dark, traumatic moment that town would come to represent in our species history…
    I never would have bought my mother a house there.
    “They’re here, aren’t they?” I say, standing up so fast the chair flies back. “The Ygg.”
    Frostpaw is still shaking his head, unwilling to accept the truth. The sounds of sheer terror echoing through the cavern walls tells me everything I need to know.
    “Where’s Kelly?”
    “Down at the hot springs,” the female says, her paws clutched to her heart.
    “Impossible,” Frostpaw mutters. “Impossible.”
    I grab him by his silver neck fur, lifting him up in the air. “Snap out of it,” I growl aggressively.
    When he sees the fury burning in my eyes, I see the focus returning in him.
    “Gather your men. Remember what I told you. Fight for your life. Everyone’s survival depends on it,” I snap.
    He nods decisively, and I let him down. I pull a small, obsidian dagger out of my boot, the handle feeling familiar in the palm of my hand. I would have preferred a spear of some kind, but there’s no time to lose.
    Kelly’s life depends on me now.
    I run into the hallway, and I’m nearly knocked off my feet by the fleeing Berans. They’re running on their hands and feet, like true bears, and at quite a pace. I wade my way against the current, cursing under my breath.
    I can’t lose another second.
    “Where are the hot springs?” I bark at one of the Beran guards shepherding his people down the hall when I come at a cross point. He points me towards the left and I run down the tunnel, as fast as my legs can take me.
    I pick up the scent of water. I’m on the right track.
    The fleeing crowd thins quickly and the sound of panic dies away as I take a few turns, following my nose, until the only thing I hear are my own footsteps and my heavy breathing.
    My knuckles have turned white from holding onto the dagger so tightly, every fiber in my body prepared for a giant bug to jump at me from the darkness.
    That’s when I see them.
    The bodies.
    Several Beran lay strewn all over the floor, their limbs severed, their guts hanging out. Ygg have feasted on their insides, and the bodies are crawling with smaller insects that follow the Ygg horde like a pest, feasting on the scraps left behind for them.
    I gag when the scent hits me. No matter how many times I’ve smelled it, I never got used to the stink that clings to those insects. Never.
    “No, no, NO!” I growl, my voice echoing off the walls. Not again .
    I run forward, squishing the bugs under my boots as I go. I take a left, a right, another left, another right. Did I go the right way? I lose the scent of water among the stench of the insects and the bodies.
    Where is she?!
    A high-pitched scream breaks the silence.
    “Kelly!” I yell, following the sound.
    I turn the corner, and the horrible sight stops me dead in my tracks.
    A giant bug stands hovering over Kelly. It’s got her body pinned underneath it, as its pincers snap menacingly. The metallic sound makes me sick to my stomach. Kelly is struggling, but the monster is much too powerful.
    “No!” I roar, jumping forward, the knife in my hands.
    Before my blade gets a chance to connect I’m knocked backwards, the beast’s hind legs kicking me with the power of a starship. I smack against the wall, the wind knocked out of me.
    “Koryn!” Kelly cries, stretching her hand towards me.
    A second later the beast strikes.
    Its pincers come together in a sickening, gut-wrenching snap as it cuts Kelly’s left leg clean off.
    I feel her bloodcurdling scream in my very bones.
    Gathering my strength I rise up, sprint towards the beast and slide down onto my back, gliding underneath the monster. I roar as I stab its