by Luna Hunter
SAVAGE
Warriors of Kaizon - Book 3
Luna Hunter
Copyright 2019 Luna Hunter.
Published by Luna Hunter at Amazon.
This work of fiction is intended for mature audiences only. All characters represented within are eighteen years of age or older and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. This work is property of Luna Hunter, please do not reproduce illegally.
Contents
About this book
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
Epilogue
Also by Luna Hunter
About this book
JOAN
I didn't think aliens were real.
Until Surlok saved my life.
He's a towering mass of muscle, with huge horns and sharp claws. The alien warrior cuts my attackers down, and then the savage beast turns his hungry gaze my way.
I have to save my friends, but Surlok has different plans.
Every muscle in his body throbs... for me.
SURLOK
My king says human mates are our future.
I don't see how the weak creatures could be of any use to us indomitable warriors.
Until I saw her. Joan. Perfection made flesh. My two hearts quicken at the mere sight of her, and her scent sends me into a frenzy.
I must have her.
No matter what.
Even if it means sacrificing everything.
SAVAGE is the third book in the steamy Sci-Fi Romance series Warriors of Kaizon, by Luna Hunter. Each book follows a different couple and can be read as a standalone. No cheating, HEA guaranteed!
Chapter 1
JOAN
“Do you think the rumors are true? The ones about the horned demons?”
I scoff at Belinda’s comment. She’s always looking for some juicy piece of gossip, but this one’s too much, even for me. “That would be nice, wouldn’t it?” I say. “But no way in hell that’s true.”
“How can you be so sure? Governor Livingston has been overthrown, hasn’t he? What else could have done that?”
“Yeah, explain that, Joan,” Eileen joins in.
The sound of a snapping twig catches my attention. My hand hovers over my weapon as my eyes scour the tree line. The trees sway softly, the moon casting a dim light over the forest. Nothing seems to be out of the ordinary. Must have been the wind.
I turn my attention back to my squad mates and shrug. “Are you two seriously telling me you believe that shit? Faith, please tell me you’re with me on this one. You don’t think a horned demon just fell out of the sky and razed Livingston’s fortress to the ground, right?”
Faith looks up from her embroidery and flashes us that dreamy smile of hers. “I think the world is filled with mystery,” she says. “Who knows what’s really out there?”
Belinda pumps her first triumphantly. “I’m counting that one for our team!”
“Figures,” I say, kicking a pebble into the fire. “Seems I’m the only rational one here.”
The distant sound of marching feet breaks up our little chat. “Shh!” I say, quickly kicking dirt onto the campfire. “They’re here!”
My girls each grab their weapons and move into their positions, and watching them move as a single unit brings a smile to my face. I’ve drilled them well. Faith takes the left flank, Eileen takes the right, while Belinda covers our rear.
I move out in front, stalking through the woods, my eyes adjusting quickly to the darkness as we edge closer to our goal: the Black Hounds.
They’re one of the most dangerous gangs of raiders out there. While most groups, like the White Foxes or the Doomed Platoon, are just loosely organized gangs of mercenaries, opportunists, and psychopaths, the Black Hounds are drilled. They’re organized. They’re methodical.
That makes them exceptionally formidable opponents.
The Black Hounds are moving in on the Wolfcoast now that Livingston has met his timely demise. The stories of how the governor went out are all over the place, but one extremely ludicrous one keeps popping up: Apparently, a horned demon obliterated his forces and torched his castle!
Sounds to me like someone’s been eating the wrong shrooms. Either way, he’s out of the picture, and that leaves us with a gigantic power vacuum in the Wolfcoast, as Livingston ruled this place with an iron fist. All the raiders, mercenaries, and gangs up and down the coast smell opportunity.
It’s what brought the Black Hounds here.
And where they go, I follow. We’ve got some unfinished business, you can say. And my business isn’t finished until every man with that paw print tattooed on their chest is dead and buried.
Joan’s Blades, they call us. We’re the protectors of the innocent. We fight for those who can’t. That’s why I’ve tracked the Hounds from Ironcourt, past Greyview, down to the Wolfcoast.
It all comes down to this.
“Remember, nobody shoot until I give the command,” I whisper, my heart beating in my throat as I peer down at the winding road. From on top of our hill, we’ve got a perfect vantage point. My finger is resting on my trigger, itching to pull, eager to finally get my revenge.
This one’s for you, Mama.
“Afraid we will steal your kill?” Eileen says. “We all know Xane is yours to take down. Trust me.”
“I’m serious, girls. We only get the drop on them once.”
“Yeah, yeah, you only told us that a thousand times already,” Belinda whispers back. “This isn’t our first rodeo.”
I can’t help but smirk. I’ve drilled these girls well, taught them everything I know about warfare. Because that’s what we’re in: a war, with no end in sight. We need to neutralize the raiders, overthrow the governors, free all the women, reinstate democracy… we’ve got one hell of a long way to go, but I’m not stopping until we get there.
“Eileen, climb that tree and tell me what you see.”
She holsters her gun and shinnies up the tree quicker than I can blink. That girl has a talent for climbing; there’s not a tree she can’t climb or a boulder she can’t top.
“They’re about to come through the gap!” she says.
“How many?!”
“Two dozen, maybe more.”
Damn it. That’s six men each, if not more. We have the higher ground, and we’ll never be in a better position to take down Xane…
“Your call, Captain,” Belinda whispers.
I close my eyes for a brief second to think. Instantly, I see her face in front of me. My mom. Xane’s there, too.
He’s the one with a knife pressed against her throat.
“Just lower the gun, little girl,” he growled. His stark blue eyes are burned into my mind, just like every other single detail of that day.
“Run away, my dove,” my mom said. “Go!”
I didn’t listen to her. I never did. Instead, I pulled the trigger on my dad’s gun and hit the raider right in the cheek. I thought I killed him.
I was wrong.
And then that blue-eyed bastard slashed my mom’s throat.
My eyes snap back open. I’m gripping my gun so tightly my knuckles are white, and bile fills my throat. I’ve made up my mind.
“If any of you girls want to step down, then do so now,” I say. “We’re definitely outnumbered and possibly outgunned. I won’t fault any of you for backing down, but I can’t walk away.
“We’re with you, Joan,” Belinda
says.
“One hundred percent,” Eileen says.
“Yes. You can count on us,” Faith joins in.
I can’t help but smile through my tears. “Thank you, girls. Let’s do this.”
Chapter 2
SURLOK
Kysus is still tonight as I stride towards the throne room. My steps echo down the empty halls, and with a bit of imagination it almost feels like the world isn’t crumbling around us.
I’m afraid it's merely the silence before the storm.
The twin suns are set at their lowest point, my tall frame casting long shadows on the walls of our ancestral home. This is where I grew up, and life seemed to be filled with promise back then.
How different it has all turned out.
The Sickness has ravaged our people. Our women are infertile, and society is on the verge of collapse. I like to think we can still pull back from the brink of destruction, but with every day that passes, I feel a little more foolish for hoping so.
If anyone could have stopped the Sickness, it’s me. I lead the Science Division. In the end, I’m responsible.
And I have failed.
The suns are setting on the Kaizon. I can’t even remember the last time I saw a Kaizon female out in the open. They have all gone into hiding, seeking safety in the caves of Mount Cernd, or they’ve fled our planet entirely. Only us warriors are left, ready to self-destruct.
The doors to the throne room are already open. Wranar is seated on the throne, debating loudly with Drarsan.
“What do you mean?! House De’Riv has rebelled?!”
“Correct.”
“But they are our closest allies!”
“Not anymore. Ah, Surlok, it is good to see you. Come in.” My brother Wranar greets me warmly, motioning for me to come closer. I still haven’t got used to seeing him, the youngest of us all, perched on Father‘s throne. It’s not in line with tradition, but we live in desperate times now, and they call for desperate measures.
Vukaror, the oldest and our rightful leader, has left our planet in search for suitable mates elsewhere, and with success. We received a message from him, about creatures called ’humans’ on a planet called ‘Earth’. Apparently, they are quite suited for mating!
Since then we’ve done all we can to mobilize a fleet, so we can all migrate and build a new world there. I’ve even had to divert my attention to researching new warp drives, instead of focusing on the Sickness.
It’s been a struggle. With our society on the brink of collapse, it’s difficult to keep everyone productive and in line. We could use Kerax and his iron fist but he’s disappeared completely.
That is why Drarsan, Febakur and I agreed to put Wranar in charge. He’s the shrewdest of us all, and the best suited for the job. With Narbok and Torbok already underway to Earth, us four are all that remains of our House’s legacy…
I greet Drarsan and Wranar by butting my horns against theirs in our customary greeting. “Where is Febakur?” I ask.
A heavy silence fills the room. “That is why I summoned you, brother,” Wranar says.
“I don’t understand. I’m expecting updates from him on the new prototypes I developed. I expected him to have returned from the royal shipyard by now.”
Wranar sighs deeply. He is the youngest, but it seems like he’s aged two decades in the last two years. “There is no longer a royal shipyard to speak of, Surlok.”
“Explain,” I growl. “If this is a joke, I do not find it amusing.”
“I do not joke, brother. At 0400 hours this morning Ibalen De’Riv launched an attack on the royal shipyard.”
“Treason,” Drarsan spits venomously. I have never seen him so angry before, and a shiver runs down my spine. “Our fleet will reduce his House to ash!”
Wranar’s face doesn’t move an inch, which worries me deeply. He’s starting to look more like our father every day.
“In the chaos of battle, it seems one of the reactors overheated. The explosion set off a chain reaction, obliterating everything in sight. To put it simply: There is no more royal shipyard. There is no more fleet.”
All blood drains from my face.
“And Febakur?”
“Missing,” Wranar answers.
My insides turn to ice. My prototypes must have caused the chain reaction. I had to design an engine that could get us all to Earth as soon as possible, and that required an insane amount of power. I never expected an attack in our own royal shipyard of all places.
And now it’s all gone. All that we’ve worked for, all our hope of reaching Earth, of finding our brother, and finding the females, it is all gone.
“Are you sure?” I ask, hoping that this is all some cruel joke.
“I am certain,” Wranar says. “Surlok, I… am sorry.”
I thought I couldn’t possibly feel anymore guilty.
I was wrong.
Guilt consumes me whole, filling every fiber of my being. The entire fleet destroyed. Febakur missing, possibly dead. No way to reach Earth.
If the Sickness wasn’t the end of our species, this certainly is.
“Febakur can’t be dead,” Drarsan growls. “He is too tenacious, too cunning. He’s still out there. I’m sure.”
“I hope so, brother,” Wranar says. “I hope so. But my reports aren’t hopeful. It seems the majority of the De’Riv’s forces survived the blast as they fled the shipyard when the explosions started, while ours did not. Our men tried to save the fleet and paid the ultimate price.”
“You’re telling me Ibalen still lives?!” Drarsan says, his fists balled up.
“I’m afraid so.”
All air escapes me. If my brother died because of my incompetence, I am not worthy of the air I breathe. I sit on the steps and rest my head in my hands. Wranar and Drarsan sit down next to me, their hands resting on my shoulders.
“It’s not your fault,” Drarsan says. “It’s that treacherous bastard, Ibalen. To think I used to double with him down in the pits! The thought makes me sick. When I see him, I will snap off his horns and make him swallow them whole.”
“We will reach Earth, one way or another,” Wranar says. “I believe that.”
I dig my hands into my pockets, and my fingers touch the metal edges of my prototype, my pet project that I’ve been fiddling around with.
A sudden thought comes to me. It’s dangerous. It’s completely insane.
But I have nothing left to lose now.
“I might know a way to Earth,” I say. “But you’re not going to like it.”
Chapter 3
JOAN
Gunfire envelops us. The trees are shaking as machine gun fire pelts them, leaves and bark tumbling down. We return fire, but every shot we fire simply bounces off the Black Hounds’ armor.
It’s impossible, but it’s happening.
“I’m pinned down!” Eileen screams.
“Me too! There’s too many!” Faith hollers back.
I reload my gun as fast I can, sweat trickling down my back, as I try to make sense of it all. I thrive under pressure, but right now, I’m coming up with nothing. I’ve unloaded an entire clip onto the first man who came round the bend, and he just laughed at me as he sprayed me with his rifle.
I peer over the tree trunk, and my blood turns cold when I see Xane step forward. He’s got what I can only describe as a cannon strapped to his chest. Rows of bullets hang over both his shoulders, as his icy blue eyes focus on me.
“Give up, Joan!” he screams.
The cannon whirs to life, and a second later the trunk I’m hiding behind is ripped to shreds, reduced to nothing but pulp. I barely manage to scamper away, dropping my gun, fear taking over as I look up at my worst nightmare.
He saunters towards me, a wicked grin on his face. There’s a big scar on his cheek where I shot him all those years ago, a reminder of my biggest mistake — not killing him when I had the chance. If I had aimed just a bit to the left, he wouldn’t be walking around anymore. Mom would still be alive.
Dad wouldn’t have turned to the bottle.
“Thought you’d get the drop on us, hm? We can smell you cunts from miles away,” Xane calls out to me. “Tell your girls to stand down, before I rip them all to shreds.”
“Fuck you,” I snarl.
“Oh, I intend to,” he says with a chuckle as he pounds his fist on his metallic armor. “How do you like our new upgrades? Courtesy of some fancy vault they’ve got tucked away here in the Wolfcoast. If you stop being such a bitch, you might just live long enough to see it.”
From the corner of my eyes I can see Faith, Eileen and Belinda, still pinned down by enemy fire, looking as pale as ghosts. I’m not the type to ever give up, but I can’t watch my friends die.
“I’ll surrender, if you let my friends go.”
Xane laughs bitterly as he wanders closer to me, that massive cannon pointed straight at me. “Oh, you’ll surrender?! From where I’m standing, you have already surrendered. Now, there’s no way I’m letting those three sweet pieces of ass walk free. They’re coming with me. It’s your call; alive, or dead?”
An impossible choice — but I know my girls. Given those options… we’d all choose death.
My hand flies to my waist, and I pull out a knife and fling it straight at his face, praying my aim is true. To my horror, he catches the blade in mid-air. His reflexes are superhuman — his metallic armor does more than stop bullets.
He throws the knife back at me, right into my ankle.
“Mistake, you dumb bitch,” he says, as he points his cannon at my friends and pulls the trigger. A horrible rat-tat-tat fills my ears, and my heart stops for a moment. And then the smoke clears. Entire trees were reduced to pulp. My friends are lying on the ground, hurt but alive.