She survived against the odds… Janelle’s life is defined by a crumbling, underground research base. Imprisoned for twenty years after the base was bombed, she and the few Creckel survivors are running out of time as the last of their resources are depleted. With no hope for rescue, Janelle and her companions wait for the dreaded Reaper to finish what the bombs missed. Half-human, half-Kryptid, Reaper is part of the Vanguard—an elite peacekeeping force determined to help the survivors left behind by war. New intel leads him to a remote research base where he discovers Creckel survivors—and a lone human woman, the first to awaken his dormant mating glands. Janelle’s life hasn’t prepared her for the breathtakingly stunning, genetically engineered warrior. His words, filled with impossible promises, make her believe there is a happy place for her somewhere in the world—with him by her side. But is that world too vast? Too strange? Too terrifying… like the shady people that populate it? ————————- NOTE: This is the extended version (20,000 more words) of the story that was originally released in Pets in Space 5.