Ka'Cit's Haven (Riv’s Sanctuary #3)

Alien meat. It certainly wasn’t chicken and she wasn’t going to ask what it was.

The last time she’d been curious, she’d almost thrown up her meal and she was too hungry right now for that to happen.

Her stomach growled and she glanced up at him but if he’d heard, he was ignoring it. Or maybe he was ignoring her.

He seemed to be focused on a particular spot on the wall in front of them that wasn’t interesting in the least, and when she twisted in his arms, he seemed to close his eyes and inhale deeply in response.

“Ka’Cit?”

Just then the door opened and the loud laughter of whoever had just entered filled the room, pulling her and everyone else’s attention toward it.

It was a huge brute of an alien.

Big, strapping, and he seemed to have an entourage of smaller aliens of the same species following him.

He looked like a warthog, that’s the closest thing she could liken him to, and his entourage was made up of four smaller warthogs who surrounded him.

He had tusks that came forward from his mouth, his eyes were inset, and he had hulking shoulders.

As soon as they came through the door, the big alien’s eyes homed in on hers and Nia spun so her back was turned to him.

Something about the alien made her uneasy and she decided to pay attention to the drink before her in the hope that he’d ignore her.

The alien kept speaking to his cronies in a language that she couldn’t understand, and his voice became louder and louder, telling her he was moving in her direction.

Ka’Cit’s arm moved against her side and when she looked up at him, his eyes were so cold she could feel a chill.

These newcomers were bad news. She could tell.

She could feel it in the air itself.

They were close to the bar now, and she realized the alien switched languages for her translator implant picked up his words.

“Now, what do we have here?”

Oh God, she wished he wasn’t referring to her.

She was aware that he’d come to stand by the counter and when she risked a glance his way, she found his eyes on her.

Fuck. Her.

Did she have an alien attractor magnet somewhere on the back of her head?

“Where did you come from?” His words seemed innocent but his tone wasn’t.

Nia stiffened and she was aware the room had suddenly gone silent again but the idiots beside her didn’t seem to realize that.

Plus, she was still in Ka’Cit’s arms. Did the alien not see that?

“Don’t think it heard you, boss?” one of its cronies said.

“What’s a Niftrill doing out here on its own.”

“It’s not a Niftrill. You’re just as blind as those phekkers.”

“I said,” the brute repeated, “where did you come from?”

A large hand landed on the back of her head, grasped her hood and pulled it down her head. Nia froze.