Weaving Fate

by Octavia Kore

  Weaving Fate

  A Guardians of Inore Novel

  Octavia Kore

  Copyright © 2021 by Octavia Kore

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

  This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information and retrieval system without express written permission from the Author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  Editor: LY Publishing

  Cover Artist: Sam Griffin

  Formatting: A&A Formatting

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Description

  Glossary

  Before you hop in:

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Epilogue

  Authors’ Note

  Also by Octavia Kore

  About the Authors

  A web of lies. A broken vow. And two souls whose fates have been woven together.

  Growing up in the foster system taught Clara how to be resilient. She learned how to adapt to all sorts of situations, but she wasn’t at all prepared for what life would throw at her. Alien abduction, painful experimentations, and the loss of her hearing are just the tip of the iceberg. Escaping her extraterrestrial captors should have been the end of her worries, but Clara finds herself a prisoner once more when she’s taken by a terrifying beast in the forest. The alien she wakes up to is broody and distant, but it doesn’t take long for her to uncover the possessive, hungry male hidden within.

  The sacred vows he made as a child were supposed to last a lifetime. Being made a guardian means never taking a mate, so why does Zaheer’s guardian insist that this hideous little alien female belongs to them? Wanting her goes against everything the priests have taught him, but the harder he fights against the threads of their bond, the more tangled their web becomes. Zaheer has more important things to worry about than fighting a battle of wills with his guardian, but when one of his pack members goes missing, he must decide where his loyalties lie.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. This work of fiction is intended for adult audiences only and may be triggering for some. Strong language is used. Proceed at your own discretion. This book is an MF romance novel. It contains adult situations, graphic sex, and violence.

  Thank you to our alpha and sensitivity readers. You guys are awesome!

  And to our significant others, Michael and Aaron, thank you for supporting our dreams, giving us inspiration, and loving us no matter how weird we are. We love you.

  Glossary

  Aanih (ah-nih) - A Krunkeeli word to describe something as ugly/unattractive/distasteful. Zaheer’s nickname for Clara.

  Bak (bah-k) - Fuck.

  Banith (bahn-ith) - Small creatures Clara encounters the first time she leaves the tree with Zaheer.

  Grutex (groo-teks) - Alien species loosely allied with the Venium.

  Guardian - Krunkeeli who can shift into a canine-like creature.

  Iino (EEn-oh) - White bark tree.

  Ishtar (ish-tar) - Leaves of a specific tree that turn a burnt orange color during the cold season.

  Jiil (h-EEl) - Water root.

  Jivah (hEE-vah) Bloom - A flat, mushroom-like bloom that can be found growing on the outside of trees. The oldest known bloom of this kind acts as the landing to the entrance of the Oparian Tribe’s temple and is referred to as the Hand of Vaasna.

  Kheenqiets (kEEn-kwihts) - Krunkeeli god.

  Krunkeeli (Kruhn-kee-lee) - Alien species native to Inore.

  Lohru (low-roo) - Plant used for dye.

  Mehki (meh-kee) - Grow on the crown of a Guardian when they have found their mate.

  Minill (min-ihl) - Minutes.

  Oparian (Oh-pair-ee-an) - Zaheer’s tribe.

  Ouea/Oueas (oh-wEE-uh) - Hour/Hours.

  Pajoo (pah-jOO) Incense - Sweet floral incense burned in Krunkeeli homes.

  Prija (prEE-hah) Bloom - Bloom that absorbs and reuses waste.

  Quaqesee (kwah-keh-see) - Six-legged tree dwelling animal on Inore.

  Skalldina (skahl-dEEn-ah) - Bird-like creature that nests in trees.

  Tahi (tah-hee) - A small pest of Inore.

  Tsa (t-sah) - A mostly forgotten guardian term for “mate.”

  Ushoo (OO-shOO) - Neighboring tribe.

  Vaasna (vahs-nah) - Krunkeeli goddess.

  Venium (veh-nEE-uhm) - Alien species native to Venora.

  Before you hop in:

  Earth and all its inhabitants are locked in a battle for survival. The Grutex, a massive warrior race of aliens with multiple sets of eyes, have been terrorizing humanity, abducting and experimenting on them for far longer than anyone realized. Not only have they been genetically modifying themselves, they’ve also been secretly weaving the DNA of alien species from across the galaxy into unsuspecting humans for generations.

  Now, with no one to stand in their way, the Grutex have returned to collect the results of their experiments. In a lab worlds away from Earth, the human subjects are forced to go through the awakening, a painful process that allows the dormant alien DNA within them to surface. It’s a roll of the dice to see which features or abilities will show themselves, but for many of the humans in the lab, the outcome leaves them feeling monstrous.

  While the war on Earth hasn’t come to an end, Clara’s nightmarish time as a test subject has. With the aid of a rogue scientist, she and most of the other humans escaped, only to crash land on a nearby alien planet. The story of the escape can be found in Kept from the Deep, book two of the Venora Mates series. The Guardians of Inore is a spinoff and contains a few familiar faces, but can be read as a standalone.

  Characters from the Venora Mates series mentioned within this series:

  Jun - A nurse and human test subject who assists in the escape from the lab.

  Nuzal - A former Grutex scientist who aids the human test subjects. Mated to Jun and Brin. Friend to Clara.

  Brin - A Venium Havacker held prisoner by the Grutex. Aided the humans in their escape. Mated to Jun and Nuzal.

  Telisa - A senator from Earth abducted at the same time as Jun.

  Layla - An escaped human test subject with the ability to learn languages exceptionally fast.

  During the events in Weaving Fate, the other humans––along with Nuzal and Brin––are working frantically to get off Inore and reach the Venium homeworld. A small group of survivors and Nuzal set off into the unfamiliar forest to gather water and food, but things are not as peaceful and serene as they appear. Weaving Fate begins with this eventful journey.

  Prologue

  Clara

  The ceiling of the lab swam in and out of focus above her as Clara
lay on the hard exam table. Oh, God, she thought, noting the blurred edges of her vision. Not the dream again.

  Clara struggled against the clawed hands that grasped her limbs, but they felt strong and her body so sluggish. She’d complied with them before during their many blood draws, but there was something different this time. When the Grutex scientists strapped her arms and legs down, pinning her to the exam table, Clara fought even harder.

  “If you continue in this manner, you will be sedated,” one of them threatened.

  She knew she shouldn’t resist, that it would only make things harder on her, but she couldn’t seem to stop. More straps were banded across her chest and thighs, and soon enough she was completely immobile. Clara watched aghast as one of the scientists hung a bag filled with thick purple liquid on the wall behind her. The male at her side tapped on the inside of her forearm and slid the tip of a needle beneath her skin. They were giving her an IV of some kind, but she wasn’t sick or in need of medication. She watched as the liquid moved through the tubing, shimmering as it worked its way down and into her veins.

  Within moments, Clara knew something wasn’t right. Pain lanced through her head, and the most horrific noise filled her ears. She barely registered the sounds of her own agonized screams as she tried to shake her head.

  “Stop! Please, stop!”

  “Quiet, human! This isn’t going to kill you!” the scientist standing above her shouted.

  Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes and slid down her face and into her ears as she gasped. The room began to spin nauseatingly fast, and her stomach roiled as the pain intensified, threatening to empty itself.

  “Make it stop! Make it stop!” she screamed.

  The Grutex voices were muffled by the buzzing and ringing in her ears, but she strained to listen. “Sir, the scanners are picking up unusual signals coming from the device attached to her ear.”

  Her cochlear implant. They’d allowed her to keep it after pulling her from the cryopod when she explained its purpose, but she’d been warned that it would be removed if it interfered with anything they did. One of the males had even allowed her to sleep in the cryopod where her implant would be able to charge.

  Oh, God, please don’t take it.

  “You gave me your word that this would not be an issue and now you’re telling me otherwise?” the larger of the scientists demanded.

  “I thought…” The other male hesitated in the face of his superior’s anger. “I’ve never dealt with a human equipped with this device before, especially during the awakening process. I thought it would… There was a low probability of it malfunctioning.”

  “A low probability?” The larger one growled. “Disable the glecking device!”

  Disable it? No, no, no! She couldn’t lose that, couldn’t lose her hearing. “Wait! Don’t disable it! I can’t hear without it!” She watched from the corner of her eye as the smaller male filled another syringe with pink liquid. “Please don’t take this from me! Please!” But they ignored her, plunging the needle into her skin. She struggled for a moment longer before her body went blissfully numb and everything went dark.

  It’s just a dream, Clara reminded herself as she felt her body pitch to one side. Every single moment of her time in the lab was etched into her memory. No matter how much time had passed since their liberation, it seemed that she couldn’t even escape the most minute detail.

  When she opened her eyes again, the dream had changed and Clara was standing alone in a room. A long table with various objects sat in front of Clara and she looked up at the scientist that loomed over her. His lips moved as he spoke, but she heard nothing. Most people didn’t understand how loud silence was. It was like being dropped into a sensory deprivation chamber.

  As a child, Clara hadn’t really understood that she was different in any way. Her first foster family had been wonderful and loving, and when she’d gotten her cochlear implant, they’d been there to help her adjust and to overcome her new challenges. There were a few times over the years when the implant’s battery died and she’d been thrown back into the silence, but none of those times had felt hopeless. Not like this one did.

  This time, it wasn’t as simple as charging a battery. Her implant was gone. Disabled or destroyed, either way, it wasn’t going to be given back to her, and these monsters didn’t care if she could hear or not.

  Clara blinked up at the scientist, wondering how long he was going to speak before he got angry at her for not responding. She’d already tried to explain she couldn’t hear them, but perhaps they hadn’t understood her. The male waved his hand toward the objects, and she frowned at them. None of them were familiar to her. She turned back to him and shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know what the hell you want me to do with these things,” she grumbled to herself. The male’s mouth instantly stopped moving, and his gaze jerked toward the others sitting behind the long viewing window set into the wall across from her.

  “Say that again.”

  Clara jumped at the unexpected voice in her head. She stared up at the male, her mouth going slack as she struggled to comprehend what was happening.

  “Say that again, female. Say it just like you did a moment ago,” the voice instructed her.

  “I—I don’t know what the hell you want to do with these things…”

  He nodded at the others before turning back to her. “You can hear me in your mind?” Clara hesitated before nodding. “Use your words.”

  “Yes. I can hear you in my mind.”

  “Wonderful.”

  Chapter 1

  Zaheer

  “Alpha!”

  Zaheer looked up to see Tratek hurriedly descending from the High Priest’s tree, his hands and feet finding the notches on the pale bark. The male was panting by the time he dropped to the ground, and Zaheer raised a brow, curiously looking him over. “What is it?”

  “There is something I’d like to speak to you about,” Tratek said, glancing back up the tree as his black fur rippled. “It’s a matter concerning the priests,” he whispered along the mental thread connecting them.

  With a sigh, Zaheer turned back to his work, flexing the fingers he had buried in the cool soil. There were beings in the forest stomping all over his webs without a care. Nothing, not even the simplest of creatures, would dare to be so careless in the Krunkeeli’s territory. His tails twisted around one another as he contemplated his next move.

  It was too dangerous to risk ignoring the intruders, but how should he handle such an odd situation? Something faint brushed across his mind, like a leaf dropping into his web. It was gentle and fleeting, but Zaheer’s guardian perked up at the sensation. Whatever was out there possessed a gift given to them by the gods, he was sure of it.

  “It will have to wait, Tratek,” Zaheer said, standing up and brushing his hand off on his outer thigh. “We have something to take care of in the forest.”

  “This is important, sir!”

  “I don’t doubt that, but there are strangers roaming our territory. This is also important. When we return, you will have my undivided attention, but until then, I must leave you here to guard our home.”

  The frown on Tratek’s face and the way his white tuft ruffled told him he wasn’t pleased with the response, but the male nodded anyway. “Yes, Alpha. I look forward to your return,” he said before spinning around and walking away.

  The male was young and although Zaheer found him to be a good guardian and a hard-working member of his pack, Tratek often found everything to be of the utmost importance, and he had a bad habit of inserting himself into business that was not his own. Whatever news he had to share about the priests could wait until they’d figured out who these invaders were.

  “Ivnalth, Baeum, Arzil, and Maylu! Come!” Zaheer called out along the mental thread that connected him to his pack. “Intruders.”

  The sun was high in the sky, but the big branches of the massive Saanqaed trees his people called home blocked out much of its light. If he
tilted his face up and squinted his eyes just so, Zaheer could make out the carefully carved-out homes that hung like fruit. Each one was large enough to hold an entire family, and it was a great honor to receive one. An honor Zaheer and his pack would never know. As guardians of their tribe, he and his pack were sworn to a life of celibacy. Zaheer would never take a mate, would never hold a newly born pup in his arms and marvel at the being he’d helped create; he would never have a true home.

  Even though he’d lost that opportunity long ago, Zaheer and his pack had been given a gift that few had ever had the chance to experience. He had his guardian, and for that, Zaheer was grateful every single day.

  There was excited chatter among the members as they began to gather around him, dropping from nearby trees. Without being asked, each one of them began to shift, transitioning from their two-legged Krunkeeli form into their four-legged guardian. The moment Zaheer released control, his own guardian sprang forward. The pain the shift caused was so familiar now that it was almost unnoticeable, but he could remember the first time he went through it as vividly as the day it occurred. The agony of his bones snapping and muscles tearing as his body was remade would live in his mind for eternity.