Tomak went rigid in disbelief. The human could see him, she was looking right at him and by her elevated heart rate and tense unwavering stare, she knew he was there.

Was it the lenses covering her eyes? Yautja technology was still vastly superior to what this inferior race could accomplish, so how could they design something that would allow them to see a hunter even when cloaked?

When her male companion turned to look at him next, he reacted just as he had anticipated before. So how was it that the female could see him? It seemed he had chosen his prey, now all he had to do was wait for the opportune moment to strike.

When the female turned her back to him, he expected her to warn her partner of his presence, but her silence surprised him. This human was different.

Tomak was very well aware that humans were frail, nervous things. They could be scared quite easily. Most screamed and ran at the sign of trouble, but this one did not act right.

Did she have a thinking disability? It wasn't something he could check for.

He switched the view on his mask and decided to scan her for any physical disabilities hidden in her body, but the image he received was beyond belief. Almost every aspect of her lit up like a fireworks display! But not because of a physical weakness. Her energy readings were far exceeding levels considered to be above average for her species.

It almost mimicked that of a– No, that could not be. They would never come out this far.

DNA tampering was taken advantage of by many dishonorable beings, however, as unlikely as that scenario was, it was a better explanation for her spiking energy readings. The extent of such power would make her far better than her contemporaries as well. However, he thought it unusual for such an elementary species to have the technology to create a potentially formidable asset. There were only a few species in the universe that could purposefully and successfully mutate a living creature's DNA to their liking. His own being one of them.

This discovery fed his desire to pit his strength against the human's creation and hang her skull as the centerpiece of his wall. What were the chances that he'd find such rare prey?

Once it was their turn, Rae practically flew off the chair and maneuvered to the edge of the small plateau. She was more than happy to get off the lift, still a bit shaken by what she thought she saw. And to add to that, everything felt off, like she could sense something was wrong. To distract herself, she turned and addressed Damon in a casual tone, "Do you like parks?"

He was in a seated position, adjusting his feet in the bindings with practiced ease. "Yeah," his eyes lit up.

"Good. I'll show you the best route to get there. They are practically on the far side of the mountain, so I figured you could get a feel for the slopes." Although she enjoyed parks from time to time, her real motive for getting over there was to get as far away from the lift as she could. And thankfully for her sake, Damon seemed fine with that.

"Sounds good." He stood up and adjusted his mask, then motioned with his gloved hand, "After you."

With a few starting hops, Rae glided down and took a left onto a blue trail. Damon followed close behind.

It would have been enjoyable had she not felt like she was being watched, other than Damon, of course. She couldn't be sure, but swore she saw something moving in the trees, but she dismissed the thought immediately.

As they neared the park, Rae eyed her first obstacle with excitement. On a good day, it was her favorite spot on the whole mountain. It offered jumps, tubes, boxes, and rails for days. It was perfect for letting off some steam; just the place she wanted to be.

"Let's go!" Damon went up ahead and hopped up onto a rail and slid down it before perfectly landing with both feet down.

Rae rode parallel and jumped onto a box, executing a perfect twist prior to landing solidly on her board. Feeling the snow flick as she shredded seemed to boost her confidence to tackle something a little harder. She knew more speed was required to execute it though. The number of times this specific rail had caused her to wipe out was up there, which was partly why she gave it a break. Maybe today would be different.

As the beginning of the rail got ever closer, Rae lifted her left foot and then her right, essentially picking the board up in the air as she jumped up, catching the metal beam underneath. The sound of scraping metal got her heart racing as she prepared for that wicked change in direction. When the bar bent to the left, Rae managed to adjust accordingly. What only lasted a couple seconds felt like forever until her board finally made contact with the snowy tundra once more. Rae was elated! She had finally conquered what she felt was the monster of this terrain park.

"Nice!" Damon rode up beside her and pulled down his mask, revealing his dimpled smile, "Since you're such a pro, why don't we take this off-road?"

Rae slid to a halt, digging her toes in as she looked up at him in shock. "Off the trail? Are you crazy?!"

"Come on! It's not so bad, you've got plenty of space between these trees," he argued, gesturing with his gloved hand.

"It's dangerous!" she countered.

He got moving again, "It's fun! Unless you're too scared!" he called out, turning towards the unpredictable terrain.

Her mind screamed all the possible dangers: ditches, hidden roots, rocks, drop-offs. The list was endless. As Damon confidently crossed the tree line however, Rae bit her lip and grudgingly followed.

She held her breath as she went off the main trail. After about twenty seconds, however, she relaxed some. The ride was definitely bumpier, but not as scary as she originally thought. Quick movements were required to avoid trees, but it wasn't impossible. In fact, she hated to admit it, but Damon was right, it was fun. He was farther ahead, but she knew she'd catch up.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she wondered if Naomi was being convinced to do the same. Then again, that was highly unlikely. She smiled, knowing how strong-headed her friend could be, especially when it came to skiing. As kindhearted as she was, no one could pressure her to do something she was uncomfortable with.

That thought had her berating herself. And what are you doing, she thought angrily. Her board skidded over something uneven, sending her heart rate to the roof. This would be the first and last time she did this, she decided.

Maneuvering around yet another tree, she felt her board suddenly stutter and trip. She panicked as she lost control and fell backwards. Her last image was of dark tree bark before everything went black.

Tomak was watching the whole time, following her every movement. When she fell under the snow, he quickly scanned her vitals, immediately noticing that she was knocked unconscious. With all that snow on top of her breathing would be almost impossible and the ditch she was in seemed too deep for her to climb out on her own. It looked like the female would die.

It was unfortunate. A waste really, with all that she could supposedly do, and she could not even save herself. The human male was too far away to be of any help to her now. It seemed her fate was sealed.

Instead of turning away to busy himself with something more important, like he should have, he watched the little female as her heartbeat slowed. He had hoped to hunt her, but in this current circumstance those plans were spoiled.

Unless he intervened.

He snarled in disgust at the mere implication of it. Saving prey only to kill it. No great hunter would do such a thing, even if it was valuable prey. Yes, they would have been disappointed, but not in any way moved to take action beyond what was natural. He did not understand why he was so agitated! Such actions were not against the code, but they certainly were not in alignment with them either.

It was beneath him.

It was ridiculous.

And here he was going through with it.

A rattling sigh left him.

With precision and poise, Tomak dropped down and landed before the tree. His eyes flicked to the perimeter of his view, checking to make certain he wouldn't be seen. He then gathered armfuls of snow, tossing it to the side, digging the girl out, and allowing her to breathe again.

Now Tomak was in a complicated predicament.

If he left her to the humans, she would most likely be taken to a secure location where he could not follow, and her survival would be questioned based on the knowledge that she was found unconscious and lying beside a large ditch that she obviously came out of. The humans would then investigate and search for answers, which could potentially lead them to finding him.

This left him with only one option. A displeased growl bubbled deep within his throat.

Her body was limp when his arm curled under her torso. Doing so made her look so weak and flimsy, a distasteful thing to yautja. Standing back up, he lifted and hung her over his sturdy shoulder. Her weight wasn't a burden in the slightest, even with her equipment connected to her feet. But it bothered him to be carrying a small unconscious female.

It was unnatural.

Yet, his plan of action was not discarded due to discomfort. From youth, he was trained to put emotions far back into his mind. It was more of a human quality that would cloud their thinking. As for his kind, nothing would hinder them from the hunt, the glory, the honor. All aspects of their life were nothing short of perfectly adapted instincts.

In a rush to get out of the premises, Tomak leapt high into a nearby tree and carried his loot as far out as he could get. If his plan worked, he would be polishing and adding a new skull to his collection in no time.

Damon took a sharp right, barreling out of the trees and back onto the well-groomed slopes. "Wooo! Now that's how you snowboard Rae," he quickly peered over his shoulder. "Rae?" She wasn't there. He dug his heels in causing the board to shudder to a halt. "Rae!" he called, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Rae!" Listening intently, he waited for her, hoping she would come crashing out of the tree line any second now.

But she didn't.

As fast as he could, Damon raced to the bottom of the mountain. He needed to get to Sean and Naomi. They had to find her. Damon cursed in anger; he never should have convinced her to follow him. He had hoped to impress her, but now his efforts seemed childish and pointless. "Where are you, Rae?" he whispered breathlessly under his mask.

Author's Note

So, as you can see, the chapters are getting longer! You're welcome.

Oh, and it's just a prediction, but I have a feeling a lot of you are gonna like this next chapter. I'm going to do much more than intrigue you. ;)