The air inside the cryo-pod hissed, a sharp, clinical sound that signaled the end of my long sleep. I stumbled out, my legs feeling like lead, only to find the colony ship Aurelia silent. No klaxons, no automated greetings—just the low, rhythmic thrum of a failing engine and the smell of ozone. I wasn’t alone.
Through the frost-edged glass of the observation deck, I saw him. He was a mountain of muscle and obsidian scales, his eyes glowing like dying embers in the dark. He wasn't one of the colonists, and he certainly wasn't human. He was the reason the ship had drifted off course. Alien Beast by Luna Hunter
"You're awake," he rumbled. The vibration of his voice didn't just hit my ears; it rattled my ribcage. The air inside the cryo-pod hissed, a sharp,