Book excerpt: MianDon't run. Don't fight. Just hide. That's all we can do against the Sasor barbarian horde - huge megalithic aliens, born to fight, who can shape shift at will into monsters. We're only human, and me, just a slave among them.Getting caught is not part of the plan, but when they raid our village, I do the only thing I can think of to spare the whole. I offer myself up to their leader. Infuriating, and strangely funny, I have a lot to learn - his languages and customs, the roles I'm meant to fulfill in his tribe, and how to keep him at arm's length when he's seemingly everywhere, blocking any chances I have to find a mate, and keeping me at his side.?NeheyuuShe's funny, this human. A fast learner, already adapting to our language with ease. She's forgiving. Quick to smile, it's easy to smile back. Too easy. She's slipping under my skin, infecting me and my manerak.The monster that I can become seems more ready to do her will than my own. Like she's controlling it. I should let her go. I should let her find a mate. I should let the tribes that come for her, take her?My manerak says no. Its defiance is something I've never felt before and I will need to find a way to deny them both - but how can I when my manerak wants her close?