***AUTHORS NOTE***

Sorry for the super late updates. I'm in the process of battling my depression and getting caught up on school.

This chapter is technically going to be a two parter from one big chapter, but I'm not finished editing the other half. I'll try to get the second half done before the end of the week.

I hope you guys enjoy.

Also...

G

THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS GOREY SCENES SOME READERS MAY FIND DISTURBING!

***END AUTHOR'S NOTE***

Xai'an could hardly believe his eyes when he was suddenly jerked awake with the energy of a Bulaik. They were a six legged animal on Yautja Prime that was a combination between a bull and a rhino on this planet. They stood as large as an elephant and could easily kill an Elite Yautja if they did not tread with caution due to their extreme strength, endurance and durability.

With the drugs pumping through his system he was ready for war and let out a deep, guttural roar. And he would have tried to attack the first person he saw in his berserker state had she not pulled the mask off her face to smile down at him. Tears lined her eyes yet she looked so happy.

Zena. Z. His mate was here for him. Her face did something that the mask he should have recognized right away didn't. It told him he was safe and it relieved him. It relieved him in such a deep way that he was almost ashamed of it. It also let him know just how much his female meant to him.

He had been ready to accept his fate of being an ooman lab rat as long as she was safe. He knew Baaul would have done right by her until he could find a way out on his own or died, but here she was. In full battle gear no less. He liked it. He liked it a lot. Too much...

While strapped to the table he got to watch her effortlessly impale her fellow man with arrow after arrow to protect him. Each movement let him see her soft body slide over her toned muscle underneath. The look on her face had his blood pumping to impossible levels making him nearly salivate at the need to mate her. He was desperate, really, with his need to fill her with his seed right then and there. Even in the middle of all that blood. Oh, to conceive their young on their joined battle ground is what had him reaching for her after his restraints had finally been removed. Pauk, he was painfully erect and ready. There was no greater joy than to hunt with your mate.

However, she was correct when she stopped his advances, even when her lovely face reddened at the sight of his cock and he struggled to listen to reason. She was still right. Now was not the time.

Xai'an needed to focus because they were still at a disadvantage. He also knew the only reason he even remotely forgot about the enemy was because of the drugs pumping through his blood. He had to concentrate so his primal needs didn't get them both killed. He would mate her later, and it would be relentless, but right now he needed to burn off this excess energy in a different way. A bloody way. Lucky for him there were plenty of oomans just on the other side of that door.

He knew his hearing was better than his mates so she wouldn't have heard the ooman female outside quietly demand for more gas which is why she had suddenly stopped communicating with her. Hell, he wouldn't have heard it either had Z not scolded him when she did.

Xai'an rushed to the door and slammed it shut with a loud bang just as he heard the sounds of a gun readying itself. Not a moment later there was an explosion that rocked the massive steel door against his shoulder, but it did not give.

"What the fuck was that?" Z cursed as she instinctively hunkered down. He was proud that she didn't avert her gaze from the door though. She knew to keep her eyes on the area most likely to be a threat. Dunking your head away from threatening areas meant you wouldn't be able to see if someone came up while you were groveling and killed you.

"Gas. Want to put Xai'an to sleep again. Easier to take Z down." He answered as he started grabbing bodies of the men that had fallen and tossing them in front of the door with ease. Even if they used a real explosive next time they'd have to get passed the mountain of bodies first.

Z didn't hesitate to start helping him shift the ooman males even though she obviously struggled with their weight. He kept it to himself that he found it cute to know she was so violently aggressive on his behalf, yet she had problems moving 200lbs of dead weight which honestly made him think about that tiny canine back in her mother's home. Somehow, he just knew she wouldn't appreciate the comparison. Pity.

When they were finished, their pile was almost as tall as she was. This would definitely hold off the oomans for a while. He took the opportunity to take her mask again that had been abandoned on the table he had been on and held the small thing up to his face. He needed to find out what they had done with his armor.

Since it was his mate's mask, he was easily able to access his own to see where it was. The ship's AI had programmed her gear to sync with his own as was standard with mated couples. Thank pauk he had entered her blood into his ship's database before he left or this wouldn't be possible.

Her mask was so small over his face, but he still managed to see clearly. They had it in the room next to this one according to the masks map identifier when his mask scanned the room. Idiot oomans. Keeping his gear so close was sheer arrogance in their part.

Using her masks aiming mechanism, he locked onto the wall with the plasma cannon on her shoulder and blasted a hole through it. Smoke from the plaster had his mate coughing unable to breathe, so he pressed the mask to her face and activated her breathing unit before climbing through the hole. He could hold his breath much longer than her anyway.

Xai'an knew he had to rush because the oomans would know exactly what he was up to. That's why the first thing he looked for was his plasma cannon. It was lying on a small platform on a desk center of the room that was encased in glass. He thought about going for the mask first to try to activate his breathing unit as fast as he could, but he'd rather have a weapon handy to keep them at bay. No doubts they would try to use that gas on him again but they needed to be alive to shoot it.

"I got the door, Xai'an! Get your gear!" Z had climbed through the rubble of the wall and had her bow aimed and ready for the only door. There was savage shouting on the other side as the oomans tried rushing to get in before he could finish putting on his gear. They apparently needed clearance so it gained him a few more seconds.

Xai'an turned his back to the door, trusting her to guard him while he rushed to strap on his armor that was carefully displayed on a moving metal table. They had been doing tests according to the screens and magnifying equipment next to it all. Tests that they would not live to complete.

He got his mask and chest plate on when Z started firing both her plasma cannon and her bow at the same time. It was impressive enough to Xai'an that he turned to watch her as he finished getting the rest secured onto his body. The fact that she could do both at once amazed him. He hadn't even met a Yautja who could do both.

He thought she had good aim with that bow before, but with the mask she was impeccable. Every arrow she loosed was a headshot and she was reaching for another arrow before the first one would even finish leaving her bow. She was merciless. Ruthless. Going for the one sure instant kill of her fellow oomans... Paya, she was magnificent.

He knew it hadn't taken him long to get battle ready, but with Z there to protect he felt slower than a newborn. When he was finished, he activated the breathing unit. It formed a small barrier around his body so nothing but oxygen could filter in. That gas would be useless against him now.

Yes. Now he was ready and he let out a massive battle roar that let everyone know he was ready. There were shouts on the other side of the door as if they knew what the sound meant, but he wouldn't give them time to act on it.

Xai'an charged the door, blasting his plasma cannon as he ran. His was much more powerful than his mate's so the blast thrust back the thick steel door into a sea of ooman males, killing them instantly, but there were still plenty more. Good! He wanted this place submerged in their blood! Z would finally be able to truly see just how worthy he was for her!

He thrust out his wrist blades into the closet ooman next to him while he automatically targeted the cannon so it would start picking off everyone except for Z while he was busy getting real physical. His blade hit so hard that he literally cut the male in half, sending a spray of blood and meatier things over the oomans behind him. Some of them screamed, but many just started firing their weapons. It enraged him because Z was right there in the pauking room! Didn't they know they could kill her? He didn't want her getting hurt!

Two oomans seemed to appear in the sea of bodies holding a large cylindrical metal weapon. At first he thought it was one of their bazookas but when they fired it, he realized that this was what they used to fire the gas. When they shot it, the projectile zoomed over his head to hit the wall behind him.

There was an explosion from the impact and he glanced just enough to see his mate roll out of the room, stopping in a kneeling position to fire her arrows just before white smoke started to eat up the narrow hallway.

Xai'an wanted to inform her to switch her mask's vision to see beyond the haze, but she already seemed ahead of him because each one of her arrows hit its mark while her cannon continued to fire. Within seconds she was completely hidden by the cloud the oomans created to take him down. It seemed to disorient the ooman males that tried aiming at her and couldn't see her. In a matter of five ooman seconds she had managed killed ten oomans. While he had only killed as many in minutes. Many of that number had been simply because the morons had died under the weight of the door he blasted. Though he was beyond proud of her combat skills, he would not let his female best him!

With another roar he went into a fury, taking advantage of their stunned state. They had fully expected him to fall due to the gas, making his mate easy pickings for them. He would not let them touch a hair on her head!

Xai'an whipped his arm back, tossing three oomans into the air, his wrist blade slicing through their body armor easily. He roared again and ran through the mass of oomans, slicing, tearing, tossing. There were so many that it was almost a disadvantage for them to shuffle around because it made it so much easier for him to kill them in single blows. And he gave no mercy. He used everything at his disposal. His blades, cannon, whip, shuriken, spear, his claws, EVERYTHING. Wave after wave of oomans met their end at his and his female’s hands and it was PAUKING GLORIOUS!

Z managed to stay behind him at a kneeling position so he could freely use the whip without risk of hitting her. Since he was so much taller than her, he could whip it around, especially when kneeling. One hand cracked the whip down while the other launched the shuriken toward an ooman holding what looked to be a tranquilizer. He could only guess they had figured out the gas had no effect on him anymore and were trying to inject that wretched poison directly into his blood.

Over his dead body they would!

The shuriken sliced the male through his middle in a spray of red and sawed through him and into the male behind him as his whip effectively eviscerated three heads from the shoulders of oomans next to them. He roared triumphantly as the gun fell abandoned to the floor.

The gas the oomans had released had nearly dissipated entirely now so he could see better with his normal vision. There was so much blood now that the hallway stunk of iron and his heavy boots squelched with every step. He lost count at the amount of oomans he had slain, but he knew his mate was starting to breathe heavy from her efforts. Her arrows lined the walls and floor from her valiant skills. There were even a few in between them which told him that some of the oomans had managed to get behind him. Whether their intent was to attack her or him, she had ended them. His female was absolutely amazing, but oomans could only go so long before their bodies gave out and she was tired.

His bio scans showed that her heart rate was dangerously high and her muscles were on the verge of collapse from over use. Her skin a sheen of sweat as her shoulders shook with every labored breath.

Thankfully the oomans were thinning. This would be over soon. He sent her a quick message to her mask instead of speaking because in the chaos of death it was unlikely she'd hear him anyway. He told her to conserve her energy and let him handle the rest. She complied.

His whip and shuriken were soaked in ooman blood and he knew they would get clogged up soon. His plasma cannon was also getting dangerously depleted. No matter. Xai'an preferred the feeling of blood on his hands anyway.

He roared again, his hands sprawled out at his sides in a carnal challenge. He charged the remaining oomans, not missing the fact that the pauking female scientist had long since fled. His claws ripped into their soft bodies, one after another. Not even their pathetic armor helped slow him down. Severed limbs flew, raining blood as they went.

Xai'an grabbed a pair of oomans and tossed them into each other with his strength, crushing skulls and breaking ribs. One ooman turned to run, a coward fleeing from battle, and Xai’an was on him in an instant. His claws sliced through the meaty muscle of his back until his fingers circled the vertebrae and he ripped the oomans spine and head clean out of his body, roaring in victory.

He held up the wet flopping vertebrae over his head, roaring again and slammed his fist over his chest to show the oomans the fruitlessness of their efforts against him. Another ooman ran up to him, screaming out his own rage and Xai’an whipped the ooman spine at him, cracking the skulls together hard enough to take the ooman down for the count.

Every so often an arrow would pierce an ooman that got too close to him and he was pleased to know that she was still watching his back. Not just watching him fight, but watching out for him.

When the last ooman fell he stood straight and proud as he looked back at her, his hand still clutching the ooman spine. Her heart rate was accelerated, which was expected due to her frail body. She hadn't listened to him about letting him handle the rest and it sapped her strength, but that's not had him growling deep in his throat. He could smell her faint arousal. She was impressed with his prowess. His skills.