Page 32 of Riv's Sanctuary

Finding the sat phone, he pinged Geblit as he headed back to the main room.

The female had been pacing and she stopped as soon as he entered, her wide eyes cast his way.

He kept his eyes on her and realized only a few seconds later that her gaze didn’t falter.

She was scared but she was also watching him as if should he try anything, she was ready to retaliate.

It almost made him laugh.

Almost.

The phone pinged and the signal dropped.

Growling at the phone, he pinged Geblit again.

The ping bounced back and forth for a few seconds before Geblit picked up the call.

“Riv!”

“You excrement pipe.”

“You can’t send her back. I called in the favor,” Geblit dropped all pretense of friendliness.

“My sanctuary is for abused animals.” Riv’s eyes narrowed, his gaze falling on the female. “Not wide-eyed yammering females.”

“Riv, I had no other choice. I only went to the creature exchange to find a companion for Cargga. I didn't expect to see the human there and the zookeeper gave me a good price. I thought she'd be a good buy!” Geblit wailed as if he was the victim in this and it only made Riv’s nostril’s flare. “Cargga doesn't want her and I can't take her back. Riv,” Geblit paused, “You have to honor the favor.”

He didn’t have to do jack shit. Especially when it involved having a female living on his farm.

The only thing holding him back from demanding that Geblit return and take her away was the fact that he did owe Geblit a favor.

Phekking hell.

Pulling out one of the hover chairs by the table, he sat on it as he ended the call. He set the sat phone down and crossed his arms, his eyes on the female.

She was standing in the corner like a scared umu. But he knew all about umus. He had several of them on the Sanctuary.

They may look soft and innocent but they could turn into terrible little beasts in a second.

She was no different. Most beings weren’t.

He knew this from experience.

As he stared at her, eyes narrowed, he watched her shoulders straighten slowly as her throat moved.

Wide brown eyes glanced around the room before they landed on him once more and her fisted hands opened to flatten against the strange material of her trousers.

Her pale chest was on display and he realized she was missing half of her dark tunic, leaving her exposed. Her torso was soft, he saw no muscle definition there and it surprised him a little.

Females of his kind, the merssi, were almost as strong as the males, with muscles to show for it.

This female, she looked soft all over.

And she’d had the audacity to challenge him?

Maybe that’s why she’d gotten caught in the first place. Maybe her survival instincts were lacking.

What had she been doing at the creature market anyway? She was no animal. This was an intelligent being.