6Axel shook his massive panther head trying to clear it. Damn, that particle beam had hurt. It had done a real number on him. That’s what he got for being a hero. Pain and more pain.
Axel could barely walk now, much less fight. Though it hadn’t knocked him completely out, the blast had numbed every cell in his body. Luckily, they’d calibrated it for an average cat shifter and not an alien one. If the stupid archaeologist had walked just a tiny bit faster, he might have moved fast enough to have spared both of them this fight.
He felt a hand rubbing his hindquarter and rounded to kill the person who dared touch his panther ass.
“Stand down. Protector mode engaged.”
His mind screamed “What the f**k?” in English, but what came out of his panther maw was a loud, disbelieving roar. What in
