Rescued By the Hunter by Lynnea Lee

Chapter 23: Nikki

“I heard those rat bastards are locking you into your own home by attacking anyone that tries to leave.”

I leaned back on the couch as I talked with Meghan over video chat. I finally had my own phone, and she’d borrowed Roger’s to catch up.

“They’re trying to starve us out. Which is silly because if we starve in here, there won’t be anything left for them, either.”

“Seriously, I’m surprised they’re so persistent. If so many of them are there, then who’s guarding their building?”

“The hell if I know. Maybe they have nothing left there.”

I made a note to ask the hunters to check the place out. “They’re sending Mal’k over to help you guys forage. He can airlift groups to different areas and bring them back when they’re done.”

Meghan paled on the screen. “Did you say Mal’k?”

“Yeah, what’s wrong? I know you’re scared of the hunters, but haven’t they shown they are good guys yet? You’re okay with Koriv’n.”

“Yeah, but Koriv’n isn’t weird.” She looked around awkwardly and put her face close to the phone, covered her mouth, and whispered, “Mal’k sniffs me. Like, a lot. He followed me around the compound the second day I was there, sniffing me. It was creepy.”

“But he didn’t do anything, did he?”

“Isn’t sniffing enough?” she asked.

“I think he likes you. You know these hunters pick their mates with their noses.”

“Shh! Don’t even say that!” she squeaked.

I laughed. “He’s safe, Meghan. Give him a chance.”

“I know they’re good guys, and it’s great that you and the ladies at the compound found happiness with these hunters. But it’s not for me. I see one, and my first instinct is to freeze, or run, or both. Mentally, I know he’s safe, but my body doesn’t. I can’t stop it. The first time I saw Tarv’k and Koriv’n, I almost shat myself.”

I giggled. “That bad?” I couldn’t imagine ever being that terrified of the hunters. Koriv’n was a big teddy bear. Ferocious and deadly, but only to anything that sought to harm me.

“Are you done with my phone yet?” Roger asked in the background.

“Yeah, we’re good,” Meghan replied. “They’re sending us a few dozen jars of applesauce and jams.”

“In that case, you can use that phone any time you like. Phone time for applesauce is a good trade.”

“I’ve got chocolate too,” I added. “The good stuff.”

Koriv’n had unleashed a large collection of the quality stuff on me. I’d already gone through a whole box on my own. As much as I loved chocolate and wanted to hoard it all for myself, it felt better to share.

“Don’t let the pregnant ladies find out,” said Roger. “They’ll hunt you down. No joke.”

Meghan laughed and turned her attention back on me. “I’m glad you’re happy there. I guess having a hunter here is better than getting cornered and tied down by those rat bastards. Even if the hunter sniffs me. You take care over there and send a few eggs over when those chickens are old enough!”

“Of course!”

We said our goodbyes and I went in search of my mate.

What I found instead was Alice and Natalie blocking my way to the roof.

“Hey, Nikki,” Natalie said. “Have you seen Tooth? Connie’s looking for him.”

That was strange. The chubby rodent was typically easy to find, just open a package of anything edible, and he came running if he was in the vicinity. “Maybe he got into the storeroom.”

Oh boy! What a mess that would be. Luckily, Evie had put most of the long-term storage foods into plastic bins and glass containers. However, we still had a few loose bags of chips and ramen.

We went to check the storage room but found nothing—no torn open packages of junk food, but also no Tooth. I picked up a package of peanuts to help us hunt down our AWOL rodent, then proceeded to check every nook and cranny of the compound, starting from the bottom floor and working our way up to the rooms.

Nothing. Tooth was nowhere to be seen.

“Maybe he’s on the roof.” I headed up the stairs to the roof, only to find Alice in front of me again, blocking my way.

“We should check the storage room again,” she said awkwardly.

I narrowed my eyes at her.

Then the door to the roof opened, and Connie stepped in, Tooth on her shoulder.

“Oh! You found him.”

“What?” She looked confused for a moment, staring at the peanuts in my hand. “Oh, um. Yeah. I found him. Sneaky little bastard. Haha. Hey, want to go downstairs?” She stood next to Alice, the two blocking my way up to the roof.

Alright, something was up. I was pretty sure now that Tooth hadn’t been missing at all. Something was happening on the roof, and everyone was in cahoots to stop me from getting up there.

Their eyes went to somewhere behind me down the stairs and I turned just in time to see Jack pretending he wasn’t signaling wildly at the three of them.

“You know, it’s a beautiful fall day, uh, evening. The roof is great. You should go check it out and get some fresh air.” Connie sidestepped me and headed down the stairs as if she hadn’t just stopped me from heading up to the roof like ten seconds ago.

I looked at the door, confused. When I turned back to the two cousins, they too had disappeared.

What the fuck was going on?

Only one way to find out. I opened the door and stepped out onto the roof, right into a wide, mauve chest.

“Nikki! I was just about to find you.” Koriv’n gathered me into his arms and turned.

I gasped. The roof was almost unrecognizable. Fairy lights were strung up, radiating from the top of Jack’s radio tower like a romantic tent of sparkling wonder over the roof. A table with a checkered tablecloth, a candle, and a bottle of wine waited for us. They’d strewn fake flowers all around the area, except for on the long carpet that served as a runway to our table.

“Surprise! Do you like it?” He grinned widely at me, and I resisted the urge to kiss the fang indents on his lower lip. “I wanted something special so we could go on a real date.”

So this was why Alice and Natalie sent me on a wild goose chase looking for a Tooth that wasn’t missing.

“Like it? I love it! Thank you.” I took another look around the romantic setting, glad the flyers had all gone home for the evening. I noticed music softly playing but couldn’t figure out the source. It probably came from a cloaked shuttle. He’d gone through a lot of trouble for this.

Koriv’n led me to the table, which had the two chairs pushed together. I’d learned that these hunters preferred to sit right next to their mates and didn’t understand why we would sit across from them.

Before I could sit, Koriv’n got down on one knee, fumbling with something in the pouch on his belt. He produced a little box and opened it to display a ring with a big sparkling diamond in the middle.

“Nikki, will you marry me?”

I froze for a moment, shocked that my alien warrior was proposing to me. We were already mates, which, for all intents and purposes, meant we were already together forever. But this—this was going the extra mile.

While down on a knee, Koriv’n was close to my height. He looked back at me expectantly.

Oops, I hadn’t replied yet.

“Yes!” I threw my arms around his neck. “Yes! A million times, yes!”

Koriv’n blew out a breath as if he’d been holding it as he waited for my response. He stood, lifting me up off my feet, and spun me around, almost knocking over the closest chair. I wrapped my legs around him, and he buried his face into my neck, nuzzling me.

Applause filled the air, even though I saw no one around us.

Then, one by one, the members of the compound stepped out from behind the shuttles’ cloaks. The door to the roof opened, and Alice, Natalie, Jack, and Connie filed out, clapping and smiling. We were bombarded with congratulations.

“’Scuse me, coming through.” Evie appeared out of mid-air, shimmering as she stepped out of a shuttle’s cloaked area of effect. She put two plates of food down on the table. “Dinner for two! Congratulations, love birds. Bon appetit.” Then she turned to the rest of the compound. “Alrighty, everyone downstairs!”

Evie and Tarv’k gathered everyone together and ushered them down into the building.

“I can’t believe you had everyone in on it. I didn’t start getting suspicious until Alice started acting strange and physically blocking me from getting up the stairs.” I thought of Meghan’s timely phone call. “Was Meghan in on it too?”

“Yes. I talked to Roger and got her to call you while we were setting this up.” Koriv’n smirked, clearly proud at his accomplishment.

He sat down and pulled me between his legs. I perched on one thigh as he opened the ring box again. “I had to guess your size, but if this doesn’t fit, I have many more you can try on.” He dug into his pouch again, brought out a small velvet drawstring pouch, and emptied the contents on the table.

“Wow, you have a whole collection of engagement rings. And I thought your assortment of stuffed toys and chocolate was impressive.”

“I started collecting them when I got to Earth. I have more in the shuttle, but these ones are close to your size.” He took my hand and went through, trying each ring. When the first three didn’t fit over my knuckles, he started to look nervous.

“Koriv’n.” I stopped him from trying the next ring. “I’m sure something will fit. And honestly, I don’t care if you propose with an onion ring. The answer is yes.”

I meant every word, but it was clear Koriv’n was adamant about getting a ring on my finger. He’d collected all these engagement rings, looking forward to this day. This was important to him. So I lined them up, picked up the last one he’d tried, and found one that was slightly bigger. I handed it to him.

“Here, try this one,” I said, giving him my hand.

He slid the sparkly rose gold creation onto my finger, grinning with delight when it slid over the knuckle. I couldn’t help but smile back at how happy he looked. The ring was beautiful, but his reaction was the best gift of all.

“It’s perfect. Thank you.”

I embraced him, and he caught my lips in a human-styled kiss. His strong fingers dug into my hair, holding me like he never wanted to let go. As it always did, his chest roared to life, purring like the world’s biggest cat. Pressed against his skin, my nipples beaded up, and I moaned into his mouth.

I pulled away reluctantly. “Shouldn’t we eat first?” I panted.

“Forget the food. I’m hungry for my mate.” He put the plates onto the chairs, saving them for later, blew out the candle, and laid me down on the table.

“I love you, Kitten,” he whispered. “I traveled across the galaxy to find you, and I’m never letting you go. Ever.”

He leaned over me, and I planted a hundred little kisses wherever I could reach.

“You never have to. You’re my hero, and I’m latching on forever. I love you, too.”

I did. I was glad I’d taken the chance with him that day. It changed my life for the better. It changed my life forever. Whatever the future brought, I was ready to face it with my hero by my side.