Heart and Claw Update

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“Three thousand caps?” she asked, the sound of clanging metal informing him she’d discarded his armour. “Is that what your life is worth to you? You’d die for the chance to get rich?”

“Yes! I told you that already!” he shouted into the shadows. “I haven’t got anything to go back to, it’s do or die for me.”

He put his back to the corner, holding his sword out to illuminate as much as possible. He’d known there’d always been the possibility he’d be literally backed into a corner during the hunt, but that didn’t mean he’d lay down and take it, he’d give this beast, Pearl or whatever it was, as much trouble as he could manage.

Like a striking snake, she leapt out from the shadows, clamping her powerful claws around his leg, the armour peeling away as she retreated immediately back into the darkness. There were warning lights flashing inside his helmet, the systems warning him that his armour was compromised, as if it wasn’t obvious already. He delivered a swift kick to Omega’s temple before she could disappear, the beast grunting in pain as she slunk deeper into the room. Cooper struck out with his sword, but all he saw was the point of her tail, and then she was gone again.

As much as she might have feared the electricity, this was her domain, and Cooper was literally fighting blind. The shadows at the edge of the sword’s influence played tricks on his eyes, each minute movement convincing him Omega was nearby, but she never revealed herself, toying with him as she bided her time.

The next strike came from the side, Omega moving so quickly she was nothing more than a blur of scales. With one clawed hand she speared into his chest piece, her fingers slipping into the grooves, using her momentum to pull the armour apart. The cuirass stripped away, bolts and joints flying, Omega dropping it by his feet as she disappeared, the armour clattering as it settled. Cooper could see most of his underlying clothes now, there was nothing to protect him from being skewered on the spot.

“Just give up, you can’t fight me,” she growled, Cooper unable to tell which side of the room her voice was coming from. “You’re stumbling around in the darkness of my home, and your armour can’t protect you anymore. Are you still set on capturing me?”

Cooper removed the stifling helmet, and flung it into the shadows, hoping he might luck out and hit her. He heard it bounce off what must be the wall, rolling away somewhere to his left.

“I’ll take that as a no…” she whispered into his ear.

Something pushed into him from behind, and he hit the ground, his sword tumbling out of his grasp, the electric blade cutting off as it clattered against the floor. His world turned to black, Cooper’s heart racing as he brandished his rifle, fitting his finger into the trigger well and firing wildly into every direction. Muzzle flashes lit up the room in milliseconds, the crack of each bullet making his ears ring. He felt something stomp towards him, the ground rumbling beneath his back, a mass encroaching over him.

His rifle was plucked from his hands, and a weight was pressed onto his stomach, Cooper emptying his lungs as he searched for his killer. Warm breath on his face assured him she was right in front of his nose, but he couldn’t see anything. He winced away, waiting for the final blow.

Then, there was nothing.

In the next moment, there was a flood of yellow light, Cooper peering up to see a lightbulb dangling from the ceiling had turned on, Omega tugging the hanging string that powered it. She wasn’t attacking him. Cooper held up a protective arm as she crouched down beside him, crossing her long legs as though she was about to start meditating.

“There,” she said. “problem solved.”

“What?” Cooper asked, his fear slowly ebbing away to leave him confused.

“Problem, solved,” she repeated, slowly annunciating each syllable. “Your armour is knackered, and you’ve been thoroughly disarmed. You have no means to fight me, so now we don’t have to.”

“But, you could have ended it,” he said, his mind having trouble processing this turn of events. “You had me pinned, you could have just killed me!”

“I never wanted to kill you,” she replied, raising a hand at him. “It was you who wanted to kill me, and you wouldn’t listen to reason, so I had to neutralize you. Therefore, problem is solved.”

Cooper looked at her warily, his distrust palpable. She’d been playing him for a fool for days now, was this some kind of trick? No, she could have finished him off the moment he’d set foot in her lair. Even with all his weapons and preparation, nothing had seemed to put a dent in her except for the sword, he was nothing short of being at this thing’s mercy.

“So what now?” he grumbled, his suit creaking as he sat up. “You gonna feed me to your pack when they wake up?”

“Why would I do that?” she asked, cocking her head in confusion.

“Why would you do any of this?” he shot back, raising an arm to count the points off his fingers. “You threaten to kill me and then didn’t, you pretended to be someone you weren’t, traveled with me, and ate my food for the past three days!”

“I was bored,” she explained with a shrug of her scaly shoulders. “You think it’s fun being able to talk, but have nobody around to speak to? The moment I heard that gunshot out in the valley, I just had to find the shooter, and I’ll admit, you were a pretty fun diversion. You should be glad you fed me,” she added. “After you told me you worked for that dick Hendrix, I might have made a meal out of youif you hadn’t shared.”

She began to laugh, throwing her horned head back to the ceiling.

“I had to struggle to contain myself every time you said you’d take Omega down no sweat, almost let slip a chuckle here and there. I’ll admit, when you went off to take out my back, that was a bit of a wildcard moment, but it went according to plan, which is more than could be said for you, eh Cooper? You thought this would be like any other mark, but the reward blinded you from seeing that your Omegawas sleeping right next to you the whole time!”

She held her belly with a clawed hand, eventually getting her amusement under control.

“So no, I’m not going to eat you or let my pack feast on you. I wanted a bit of excitement, and I got more than my fill. For that, you can go.”

“Fuck you,” Cooper snapped.

She narrowed her eyes, fixing him with a cold stare. “What did you say?”

“Fuck you!” he said again. He got to his feet, jabbing his finger in her face, Pearl blinking as she glanced between him and his extended digit. “Where am I going to go? I have no home, and I spent most of my money stocking up to hunt you. I’ve barely got enough to feed myself for a week, tops. I was going to walk out of this rich, or dead, not this… in between bullshit.”

“But you are a hunter!” she protested, so close that he could feel her warm breath on his hair. “You don’t need money to survive, I’ve seen your tracking skills.”

“I don’t want to survive,” he spat. “I want to spend my days behind ten-foot walls, where I don’t have to watch my back every minute of the day. I want to live where I don’t have to worry if I’m gonna starve the next night, or spend another day out in the freezing cold. None of that’s possible without money.”

“There’s other jobs out there,” she tried. “someone of your expertise can’t be thatshort of work…”

“It’s not that simple,” he said, folding his arms dejectedly. “Every day I’m hunting further and further from the cities, and one day I’m gonna slip up, and be too far away to get help. Something faster, or smarter than me is going to get the drop on me, hell, you’ve already done that, and then I’ll die out there in the Wastes… alone. The thought of it just terrifies me.”

“We’re all scared of that happening,” she said, her tone sympathetic. “I know how much roughing it out in the wilds can take a toll on the mind.”

“You should just end it,” he said, turning away from her, his voice wavering. “I’d rather die here on the hunt than return to Hendrix empty-handed. Man like that would work me to the bone after ruining his power armour.”

“Don’t be like that,” she sighed. “Look, go use my shower, run your head under some cold water, you’ll feel better. Trust me.”

“Sh-Shower?” he asked. Hardly a minute ago she’d tried to kill him, his mind couldn’t keep up with what was happening.

“Yep. You’re a mess, and you could use a good wash. It’s just down the hall to the right,” she said, pointing a claw over a shoulder as though there was nothing strange about their situation. “It’s not really a shower per se, but it’s clean, and it’s the least I could offer after intentionally leaving you at the mercy of my pack.”

When she didn’t elaborate, she nodded towards the exit with her horned head. “Go on then, a good cold splash will clear your head.”

Cooper walked past her, keeping a constant eye on her in case she suddenly attacked him while he was distracted. What was going on? They’d been at each other’s throats a second ago, and now she was offering him hospitality? Her glowing eyes tracked him as he went, her chops still pulled up in a smirk. As he reached the passageway, he turned, the maw of darkness giving him pause.

“It’s too dark,” he complained.

“Oh, right, forgot you humans don’t have nightvision. Turn on the generator on your left. No, other left.”

Somehow he hadn’t even seen the bulky machine on his way in. It looked more or less the same as the ones on the lodge, albeit a little on the smaller side, with less protective panels encasing the machinery. As he flicked the on switch, he noticed there was a couple of discarded parts on the ground nearby, one of them catching his attention. It was a rotor, rusted around the edges and badly in need of maintenance. The one in the machine worked perfectly well, the generator beginning to jostle on the spot as the motor started chugging.

“You stole this rotor from the lodge,” he pointed out.

“Yep,” she chuckled. “Was looking for a replacement, happened to catch my eye during my escape.”

A little click down the passage drew his attention, Cooper turning to see the mineshaft become bathed in the light of more bulbs. They flicked on one by one, revealing the way he’d entered up until the junction. He’d seen the lights during his clearing of the mine, where they all controlled from this generator? And had this beast set them all up? How?

He had no idea what was going on right now, this beast was no beast, and it was offering him a shred of comfort after he’d tried to kill it. Everything had been so crystal-clear the previous day. Tranquilize the beasts, then shoot the flare gun and wait to get paid. Now he didn’t know what to think or do.

Perhaps he should just splash his face with water, like she’d said. He might even wake up from this crazy dream once he did.

***

Cooper retraced his steps, passing beneath the clotheslines strung up in the ceiling of the passage, making the turn towards the offshoot. The sound of flowing water bounced off the stone walls, the way forward illuminated by the occasional lightbulb dangling over his head.

With the helmet no longer there to filter the smells, he could breathe in the scent of the mine for the first time. The air was damp, but not quite as musty as he would have expected it to be. It was a little on the warm side, which was a pleasant change from the icy temperatures outside. The creators of the mine must had bored out vents to circulate outside air through the shafts.

The passage widened into another large chamber, and it appeared as much the same as the one where he’d downed the first deathclaw, the gravel in the passage giving way to a room of stone. As the noise of water suggested, most of the floor was occupied by a small pool of dark, blue water, the rocky ground sloping into a sort of bowl-like shape. To one side was the smallest waterfall he’d ever seen, a few streams of water dribbling over a cliff near the ceiling. There must be a natural spring up there. The rest of the room was mineral outcrops, shining like glass as they reflected the lightbulbs.

He glanced around the chamber, peeking behind a cluster of stalagmites protruding from the floor to make sure he was alone. He’d tranquilized every deathclaw that had escaped from the lodge, but he didn’t want to be lured into a false sense of security again.

Checking the passageway to make sure Omega wasn’t sneaking up behind him, Cooper pressed a small mechanism in the collar of the power armour frame, the latch snapping into place with a click. The frames around his arms moved his limbs to his sides, and there was a groan of mechanics as the rear of the suit bloomed open, Cooper ducking beneath the collar as he freed his legs from the suit.

Once he was clear, the armour clamped back into place with an electric whine. Although the valve and the rear plating was still intact, the suit was almost naked compared to what it had looked like before he’d entered the den. It had been a walking tank before, but now it was just a headless frame, precious wires and cogs exposed to the air. It wasn’t completely useless however, the exosuit could still assist the limbs with extra power, but its fighting days were over.

He walked over to the waterfall, his boots getting wet as he stood just out of the stream. Closing his eyes, he pulled his hair back and leaned his face into the water, the explosion of frigid liquid making his senses reel. His face was plastered in sweat, and the stuffy helmet had boiled the grime into his skin, and it felt good to wash it away.

After dunking his face a couple times, he set about removing his chest piece. Omega had been right, he felt wide awake now, but he wanted to take it a step further. It had been weeks since he’d gone without a bath or shower, a tentative sniff under his armpit confirming he was in dire need of one.

Setting his armour and fatigues by the power armour, he stepped out of his underwear, his feet almost slipping as he stepped into the stream. Calling the water cold would be an understatement, it felt like liquid ice was cascading over his shoulders. Cooper was no stranger to taking icy cold showers, he even enjoyed it to a degree, but even he found himself stepping out of the waterfall after a few cold minutes of washing.

He looked around, soon noticing a small box off to one side of the pool. At first it looked like a tall battery, with the front face composed of a grill that protected a fan located just behind it. A cable trailed from it towards the passageway, where the nearest lightbulb provided a soft amount of illumination to the chamber. It must be connected up to the power grid.

He reached down and flicked the on switch, and a strong blast of warm air hit him in the face. The fan had whirred to life, the little box beginning to pivot slowly to the left and right. It was a heater, he realised, he’d seen plenty of these back in NCR, but one wouldn’t be enough to bring the chamber to a comfortable temperature.

He angled the little box so that it faced the waterfall, then he returned to the ‘shower’, Cooper kneading out the knots in his shoulders as the hot air and the cold water evened out, bringing the temperature into a bearable equilibrium. He exhaled as the adrenaline from his fight with the pack washed away, leaving him exhausted and sleepy, Cooper closing his eyes as he let the water drip from his hair to his feet.

“You know, when I said I wanted to see you out of that armour, I didn’t think I’d be getting a showwhen it happened.”

Cooper spun around, cupping his junk with his hands as he saw Omega standing next to his power armour. She was leaning on the frame’s shoulder, looking as casual as a beast of her stature could manage, one clawed foot crossed over the other.

She shamelessly played her glowing eyes up and down his naked body, and Cooper felt his cheeks start to redden. He shouldn’t feel embarrassed having his body being examined by an animal, but he knew firsthand that she was no simple beast. In fact, he’d been convinced she was an actual person up until ten minutes ago.

“Do you mind?” he asked, hunching over awkwardly as he stepped a little further away from the light.

“Nope. This is my cave, so I get to go wherever I want. You’re the intruder here, Cooper, coming in and shooting your little dart gun at me and my friends.”

He felt a pang of regret at that, and he turned his back on her, slowly releasing his hands from between his legs when he was sure she couldn’t see his privates. He felt her gaze on his back, but he had no choice but to endure it if he wanted to get cleaned up.

“I was thinking about what I said,” she began, still standing by the frame when he checked where she was. “It’s kinda my fault that you’re in this situation in the first place. I let you wonder into my den under false pretenses, and me ruining your little toys has set you back. If you need a place to hang out, the den’s got plenty of room.”

“You’re… you want me to stay here? I just knocked out your pack, and you were chasing me through the dark trying to kill me a few minutes ago. Why would you want me anywhere near you?”

She smiled, the way her reptilian chops pulled back making her seem a little less monstrous.

“Again, wasn’t trying to kill you. You have to understand, me getting the chance to have a conversation with someone is pretty much a novelty to me, and I’m desperate enough to befriend my hunter if it means getting some… relief.”

“Don’t your packmates talk?” he asked.

“Not exactly,” she replied. “They can speak deathclaw, but they can’t do human like I can. I’m somewhat of an enigma among our kind.”

“I’ll say,” he muttered, slathering the water down his legs. He turned towards the pool, sparing her a self-conscious glance as he waded into the water, shielding his groin again until he was safely waist-deep, the gloom giving him enough cover to give him some privacy. He let himself float on the water’s surface, aware of every moment that her gaze lingered on his body, which was pretty much every second.

“When we were travelling before,” Cooper began after a bit of silence. “Was all that stuff you said made up? Going to the Abbey, being a bookworm and all that?”

“Everything I said to you was the truth! Except the parts that weren’t,” she added, her gaze falling to the floor. “I did say I was a Mutant, and that’s true, I just let you… come to your own conclusion, and played along after that. My name really is Pearl, but I wasn’t part of the Master’s army, obviously. Do you need some body wash, by the way? I have a spare bottle of lotion around here somewhere…”

She leaned off the frame, the suit creaking, Pearl moving off to one side of the pool and stooping down to collect something. When she stood back up, she waded into the pool rather than walk around it, Cooper covering himself up and inching away from her.

“Calm down,” she said, handing him a plastic bottle, the purple liquid inside sloshing as she gestured with it. “I just wanted to test the water. I’m surprised you haven’t turned into a human popsicle, Cooper.”

She chuckled, Cooper silently taking the bottle from her hand, keeping as far away from her fingers as possible. She noticed his hesitation, shooting him a frown as she waded to the edge of the pool.

“Am I really that repugnant, Cooper?” she asked. “Should I go get my robe so I can get you to look me in the eye again? I thought humans hated offending their hosts?”

He didn’t want to come off as rude, but she was an unsettling sight. Pearl and her counterparts were perfectly capable of impaling him on their claws, and the memories of her striking him from the darkness made him wary of her.

“I’m just… still in shock from all this,” he said, trying to put it as politely as possible. “I went from being chased down by you anim… things, to talking with one. It’s a little jarring.”

“You’re afraid of me,” she muttered, her shoulders sagging.

“No, it’s not that,” he insisted, Pearl smirking at him mischievously. She suddenly pretended to leap at him, Cooper flinching away in alarm, frowning as she filled the chamber with her laughter.

“Oh, isn’t it?” she teased. “We’ve already spent two cold nights in each other’s arms, Cooper, is my appearance putting you off that much?”

“That was different,” he defended. “I thought you were… something else.”

“So? Past Pearl is still present Pearl. It was nothing personal, I had to gauge you, just like how I have to gauge everyone else I meet out there, cause I don’t know who’s after me or not. Do you know what it’s like, having to watch over your shoulder twenty-four hours of the day, worried someone’s gonna hit you with a sleep dart or a stun baton, start dragging you off to some pen or cage?”

Cooper had his fair share of sleepless nights, his weapons close at hand as he worried he might go to sleep and never wake up, but it felt rude to say as much, so he kept his peace.

“I thought not,” Pearl continued. “Everyone who knows what I really am is either after my head, my blood, or thinks I’m just a wild animal in need of a good case of killing. I’d like to spend just a second in the company of someone who just sees me as a normal person. As normal as I can be, of course. Is that so much to ask?”

He could see where her frustration was coming from. If she thought as much as she talked like a human, then he couldn’t blame her for following him around these past few days, living so far out from the coast must be a lonely experience.

“You’re right, you’re right,” Cooper relented, upending the bottle and slathering the lotion over his chest. “I’m sorry, it’s just… Aside from the whole, deathclaw thing, I don’t usually have an… audience, when I’m cleaning myself.”

“No need to be so self-conscious,” Pearl said, satisfied with his answer. She sat down on a rock behind and to his left. “You’re tall, well developed, especially around the legs and butt, probably from all that walking you do. Your long hair suits your beard, makes you look… softer. If anything, those New reno women you love so much should be paying you for a chance to cop a feel.”

She was being downright salacious, Cooper thankful that the gloom was obscuring his burning face. In his few fleeting encounters with women during his younger years, it had been Cooper that had done all the pursuing, and it made him feel oddly embarrassed to be on the receiving end, and by a deathclaw no less. Did she actually think he was easy on the eyes, or was she just fooling around? It wouldn’t be the first time she’d tricked him into believing something that wasn’t true.

“You lived in this mine for long?” he asked, changing the subject.

“Ever since I was free,” she replied. “Don’t worry, place was abandoned when I found it, nobody died. At first it was only the first couple of passageways that weren’t blocked, but after I picked up my pack, we started clearing the rubble and expanding our den.”

“I think one of your friends was doing that when I came through just before,” Cooper said. “there were crates full of rocks, and a half-blocked passage.”

“We usually only haul the rocks when there’s not enough room to walk passed. They’re not heavy or anything, it just takes a long time. We used to use the minecarts, but one of the girls accidently severed the tracks with one of her toes. Clearing got a lot slower after that.”

“Doesn’t seem all that slow to me,” he muttered. “You escaped the lodge, what… eight days ago now? That’s hardly any time to clear out a collapsed mineshaft.”

“Oh, I wasn’t talking about our breakout from Hendrix’s lodge,” she said. “That wasn’t the first time I’ve been locked in a cage, and may not be the last, either.”

“So what was the first? You’ve been in Hendrix’s possession before?”

“Not… exactly,” she replied cryptically. “Tell you what, I’ll give you my whole life’s story over a meal, the real one this time, no more lies.”

“I guess I’m pretty hungry after our… fight,” he said, wetting his arms with the water. “Do you have a towel for me?”

“Yep. I’ll get it, no need to stand up.” She lifted herself off the rock, her talons clicking against the stone as she circled the pool. “Oh, are you all done with the body wash? Pass it over, can’t leave it in the water or it’ll wash away.”

He chucked it over, Pearl snatching it out of the air and placing it on the ground. “We could eat in here if you want,” she added. “You don’t even have to get out of the pool.”

“I’ll prune if I stay in here for much longer,” he replied. “Besides, it’s hard to focus while one of us is naked.”

“Cooper,” she cooed. “Haven’t you noticed I’ve been naked too this entire time?”

He didn’t respond, fighting the momentary urge to look between her legs.

“The towel, right,” Pearl said, breaking the silence. She flashed him a wink, then turned around, her tail flicking behind her as she stalked into the passage. After a few minutes, she returned, two bundles of clothes under her arms. She tossed a grey towel towards him, Cooper wrapping it around himself as he stepped out of the icy bath.

“I’ve also got some spare clothes if you want,” she said, placing a pair of long pants and a jacket by the foot of the pool. “Shouldn’t be as smelly as your other clothes.”

“You just keep clothes on hand for visitors?” he asked.

“They’re spares, in case I need spare material for my robe.”

He shuffled over to the pile of clothes, but before he dried off, he gave Pearl a frown, making a turn around gesture with his finger. “You’re no fun,” she pouted, but eventually she complied, facing the wall as he dressed himself. He kept an eye on her all the same, his eyes drawn to her chubby tail as it waved back and forth like a cat’s.

“Alright,” he said, pulling up the zipper on his new jacket as he slipped on his shoes. “I have some leftover mirelurk, a few mutfruits, might be able to make a meal out of it.”

“I’m not going to make you share out of your own supply in my own den,” Pearl replied. “We have plenty of meat here. Come on, we’ll dine by the entrance, get some fresh air in us.”

As he hurried to catch up, he stooped to collect his pack, watching as Pearl unrolled the other bundle of clothing she’d brought with her. It was her robe, and she pulled it taught over her shoulders, slipping her arms into the baggy sleeves as she covered up.

“Why are you wearing that?” he asked, Pearl cocking her head. “I’ve already seen you without it, disguising yourself would be pointless.”

“It’s for the cold, silly,” Pearl chuckled, her tail whipping around to slap him on the rump. She didn’t hit him nearly as hard as she had during their fight, but the appendage still sent him stumbling forward. “Scales don’t help as much against freezing temperatures as they do bullets… or darts, to pick a random example.”

He followed after her as they made a right turn, her talons and his boots crunching against the gravel. After moving through the first intersection, for the first time in what felt like hours, Cooper saw natural light, spilling over the turn at the far end of the tunnel. His relief was quickly replaced with alarm, however, the man holding out an arm to stop Pearl.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“I set up a couple mines here,” he explained. “Watch your step.”

“Oh those! Yeah I set one of them off before, nearly busted my arm in the blast. The heck did you put in those things anyway?”

“Rubber spikes. Made them so I could… well, you already know why. Sorry about that,” he added.

As they rounded the bend, the mouth of the tunnel splayed out before them, fresh snow sweeping across the plain outside. Cooper told Pearl to stay put as he got onto his hands and knees, crawling his way towards his own mines and carefully disarming them. After disabling three of the traps, he scratched his head in confusion.

“Pretty sure I had four here,” he mumbled.

“I just said I tripped it. On purpose of course,” she added hurriedly. “Wanted to see how big the blasts were, so I threw a rock at one before I followed you inside. Told you I was smart enough that your traps wouldn’t work on me, didn’t I?”

“You said you had meat, right?” he asked, setting his pack down as he looked out beyond the tunnel. The wind had picked up while he’d been occupied, the powder flowing through the air as as the gust swept from left to right.

“Gamey fresh beef,” she explained. “How hungry are you?”

“Starving,” he said, the topic of fresh food overcoming his inhibitions for the moment.

“Wait here then” she said, making for the exit. “Back in a pinch.”

She faded into the frozen haze, Cooper getting a fire going as he waited for her. He set up the circle of embers close enough to the exit so the tunnel didn’t get filled with smoke, but far enough away that the wind didn’t smother it.

After a minute longer, Pearl returned, dragging something along in the snow behind her. She deposited it next to the fire, Cooper blinking as a carcass slapped heavily onto the stone. Its pink, crinkly hide looked like someone had taken a machete to it, its neck splitting off into two identical heads, beads of blood dripping down its lips.

“Where’d you get a brahmin?” Cooper asked, craning his neck up at her.

“Where’d you think? Hendrix has plenty to go around on his little farm.”

“Don’t think that’s dangerous? Hunting around a lodge owned by the guy who wants you captured?”

“I know that place inside and out, Cooper, you should know that. Haven’t been caught yet, and I don’t plan on that changing anytime soon.”

“Looks fresh,” he added, noting there was no rancid smell coming from the animal.

“There’s a little nook just out and to the left here,” Pearl explained. “We keep all our carcasses stored there, the snow helps preserve them.”

“You just keep your meals outside? What if something steals them?”

“Now what kind of idiot would willingly come so close to a deathclaw den? No offence to you personally,” she added with a laugh.

Ignoring her comment, he fished inside his pack for his collapsible stove, folding the little legs out as Pearl flexed her hand. There was a string of snicking sounds as her claws unsheathed, Pearl plunging her hand into the brahmin and starting to butcher it. Cooper grimaced as the blood began to pool on the stones, her claws flowing through the skin of the bovine with almost no resistance, the blood and meat slipping through the parting skin. That would have been himif Pearl had been the feral animal he’d thought she was.