Hunger Awakened
The Feral
Charlene Hartnady
Copyright © May 2018, Charlene Hartnady
Cover Art by Melody Simmons
Copy Edited by KR
Proofread by [email protected]
Produced in South Africa
[email protected]
Hunger Awakened is a work of fiction and characters, events and dialogue found within are of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, either living or deceased, is purely coincidental.
With the exception of quotes used in reviews no part of this book may be reproduced or shared in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including but not limited to digital copying, file sharing, audio recording, email and printing without prior consent in writing from the author.
Created with Vellum
Contents
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
About the Author
Also by Charlene Hartnady
Excerpt
Chapter 1
Oh no!
Her shoulders slumped while her heart pounded. Vicky forced herself to maintain eye contact as Patrick walked towards her. Maybe she was reading too much into the look on his face. Maybe …
“You’re broke,” her accountant said, dropping a file on her desk before planting his hands on the wood surface and staring down at her.
Vicky knew her finances were bad. She hadn’t realized they were quite this bad. That it had happened this fast. “Broke, as in …?” She widened her eyes, sucking in a deep breath. Maybe he was being a bit too dramatic.
His stare softened. Patrick took a seat in the chair across from her. Oh boy! “Broke as in, sell your wheels. Broke, as in, watch your furniture get carted away. Broke as in, you’re in the minus.”
“Shit!” She pulled the file closer, not opening it. “Dammit! I can’t believe this. How is this possible?” She knew the answer to her own stupid, stupid question.
“You have very little revenue still coming in. The overhead on this place is through the roof.”
“What about my half of the money from the sale of the house?”
“Gone. I repeat, your overhead on this place is high.” He looked around them, making a whistling noise. Vicky knew exactly what he would see. A spacious, well-appointed office with a waiting room out front. There was also her personal assistant. And the view. Her magnificent view of the park. “Image is everything,” she mumbled.
Patrick snorted. “You’re telling me. Problem is, image costs money. All of this costs more money than what you have coming in. A lot more.”
“I don’t get it.” Anger burned inside her. Vicky tried hard to get herself back under control and failed. Her world was crashing down around her. Just when she had started to feel marginally better. Just when she thought she could get over what that bastard had done to her. She jumped to her feet and paced to the large window, for once, not even seeing the green grass, the trees, the dogs on leads, the joggers, the ducks on the lake. None of it. “How is it that Jeff cheats on me and he’s doing better than ever, while I’m on the verge of losing everything?”
“I’m so sorry, Vicky,” Patrick offered. “It isn’t fair.”
It didn’t make her feel any better. “No,” she responded. “I really need to know. He lied, he cheated, he’s the bastard in all of this.” Her business partner ‒ make that ex-partner. Ex-husband. He was her partner once though, for better or for worse. In both business and life. The Love Doctors. The two of them had been the couple to see. The relationship specialists. “I got to keep the name, yet, he still manages to get the clients.” The Love Doctor. She felt like laughing. It hadn’t helped her one bit. Her clients had disappeared quicker than candy a birthday party. They all went to him now.
“He’s a bastard. No doubt.” Patrick shook his head. “What he did to you, Vicks …” More shaking of the head.
“Why then?” Her voice broke. “How is he still in business? Moreover, how is he still thriving? I don’t get it. I don’t.” She shrugged her shoulders once. They felt heavy. Everything inside of her felt leaden and weighted.
“He may have cheated but he ended up moving in with her. Jeff and his fiancée are very happy. At least, they look it on the surface. You said it yourself, image is everything.”
Jeff and that woman were happy and it made her feel physically ill. They had the family home, the dog, the … Arghhhh! She couldn’t think about it without getting upset. Let alone talk about it. Would it be rude if she covered her ears and started to make noises so that she didn’t have to listen to any more of this?
“Kerry is starting to show.” No more, please. “She has that whole glowing thing going on. She’s young and pretty and glowing and they make a really beautiful family. The wedding date has been moved up so that they can get hitched before the baby comes. I don’t say this to hurt you, Vicky.”
It did hurt though. Vicky bit down on her lower lip to stop it from quivering.
“I really don’t.” He reached over, looking for a second like he was going to clasp her hand and then thought better of it. “Point being,” Patrick continued despite her discomfort, “they look happy. They paint a perfect picture. The general population would rather buy advice on love from Jeff.”
“So, I’m the woman who couldn’t keep her husband? There’s something wrong with me then?” She pointed to her chest.
Patrick didn’t say anything. She pulled on her ponytail, letting her fingers slide down the length of her hair. “He cheated with a woman almost ten years our junior. I left him. I left his sorry ass. It wasn’t the other way around. No one knows that, do they? They don’t know how he begged me to forgive him. How he got on his knees. No, they see them playing happy families and assume there’s something wrong with me.”
“It’s not fair. It’s really wrong and yet …” Patrick shook his head, “that’s what the numbers are saying. I told you not to get that billboard. It cost more than what you had, Vicks.”
“I was so sure it would work.” Vicky pushed out a heavy breath. “Business has picked up.”
“You needed that phone to ring off the hook. You got … what? Three, maybe four new clients?”
“More like two.” She sat down on the edge of her desk, looking down at her shoes. “I really thought it would work.” Stupid, stupid billboard idea. “What now? What next?”
Patrick shrugged. “If you want to try to make a go of the business, you need to drastically downscale.” He looked around her office. “You can start by letting your PA go.”
She sucked in a breath. “I can’t do that. Maggie and Will just put a down payment on a new home. I—”
"You have no choice, Vicks." He looked at her pointedly for a few seconds, something flared in his eyes. It was a pity. Her stomach rolled.
“I would suggest filing for bankruptcy though. I don’t think you can salvage your business at this stage, unless something major happens.”
The blood drained from he
r face. Her limbs felt weak. Her mind raced. “Major like how?”
“Like a serious influx of cash ‒ but we both know that isn’t going to happen. You need to be realistic at this stage.”
“I would lose everything if I filed for bankruptcy. I’m thirty-five years old, I can’t lose everything I’ve worked so hard to build.”
“You can still start over. You’re resilient, someone who always lands on her feet. You are a qualified relationship therapist. You have a degree and that’s got to count for something.”
Vicky covered her face with her hands and huffed out a breath. “I don’t think I—”
“You don’t have a choice.” He spoke softly, but with conviction. “File for bankruptcy, close the business, and get a job.”
“How the hell do I go back to counseling couples with marriage problems? How do I possibly campaign on keeping them together when I no longer believe in love? In happily ever after?” It shocked her to hear herself say it. Yet, it made sense. It made perfect sense.
“No wonder you’re struggling as a Love Doctor.” Patrick put on a weird voice when he said Love Doctor. “As a relationship specialist. You don’t believe in love. I don’t blame you though, Vicky.”
"No, I guess I don't believe in love anymore. Jeff ruined that for me, big time. It's all just a farce. You're right, I need to shut this whole thing down. File for bankruptcy and …" she shrugged, "I'm not sure what my next step will be. Couples counseling though …" She shook her head. "I hated that type of counseling right off the bat. I preferred bringing people together rather than trying to keep them together."
“Why did you choose this line of work in the first place?”
“To make money. Charge by the hour and all that. I liked the idea of becoming a doctor, but blood makes me queasy. I guess,” she pulled in a deep breath, trying to get her emotions under control, “I love the whole falling in love thing and I like bringing people together. At least, I used to enjoy it very much. Now I’m just jaded and cynical. I hate that.” She said the last more to herself.
“It’s normal to have those types of feelings. My point is that you used reason and logic to choose a career, well, mostly. That’s what I’ve always admired about you. It’s only been a year since … well … since the rug was pulled out from under you.”
“If by having the rug being pulled out from under me, you mean catching my husband bonking a much younger woman, then yeah, you would be right.”
Jeff, her high school sweetheart. Her first love. First everything. What stung the most was that they had just started trying for a family. Thankfully she’d found out about his lying, cheating ways before it was too late to run the hell away.
“It’s only been a year. Your wounds are still fresh. It’s logical that you would still be so emotional about all of this. I’m urging you to try to be rational though. To take emotion out of business decisions. What you’re doing right now isn’t working. You need to change tactics.”
What she needed was a fresh start. Only problem was that fresh starts cost money. “You’re probably right.” She blew a breath out through her nose. “I wish that billboard had worked.”
“Forget the damned billboard.” Patrick sounded annoyed.
“Fine,” she all but whispered. “I’ll figure something out.”
Chapter 2
Here.” Cadon threw an oversized loincloth at him. Talon couldn’t believe humans enjoyed wearing this type of garb.
He watched as it fell at his feet. The material the color of a winter’s sky. He picked the garment up. Oversized was being conservative. It was huge. Several loin cloths could be fashioned from the material. Why the need to cover so much skin? It was unnecessary.
Cadon caught his look of distaste because he chuckled. "Don't let its size fool you. Wearing that thing will be tight and uncomfortable, for sure."
“It is.” Soren pulled on the material around his neck. “You’ll feel like it’s strangling you,” he tugged at the fabric near his ass, “everywhere.”
Soren and Pace laughed. Talon grunted. He still wasn’t sure why Leukos had chosen him for this assignment. He pushed out a deep breath, mentally preparing for the task ahead. Probably because he was level-headed, could think on his feet and because, like the others chosen, he’d lost a mate. Which meant he wasn’t looking for or interested in human females. In females, period. Back to being level-headed. At least he knew his prick wouldn’t do the thinking or the talking for him. It was one small consolation.
There were days when he missed his mate terribly. Lark had been a good companion. His chest tightened for a moment. There was no time to dwell on such things, Talon pulled on the loincloth. The fabric covered both legs, all the way to his ankles. So impractical. The material was, thankfully, soft. He pulled his cock to the side, having to suck in a breath to zip the garment closed.
Good thing he no longer had any use for it because his prick felt like it was being squashed to death in there. Talon made another grunting noise, arching his back. It didn’t improve things. How did humans handle this? It was terrible.
“Nothing helps.” Soren was grinning. “Hopefully we will get used to the discomfort.”
“I wouldn’t count on it.” Pace was frowning heavily.
Talon had to agree with Pace. There was no way he was getting used to this. He pulled the shirt over his head. “Are you sure these are normal human attire?” He rubbed a hand over the garment. “Why is there a picture of a bird on the front?”
“Yes, it’s perfectly normal. Humans have very strange taste in things.” Soren made a face. “You saw the pictures of the humans. They wear all sorts of colors.” The male was trying to force his feet into tube-like things that fit around them awkwardly. Talon couldn’t remember what they were called. “They are shoes,” Soren announced, obviously catching his quizzical look. “Humans do not walk around much without them.”
“I remember from our training. They look worse than the human loincloths,” Cadon interjected, eyes wide and staring at the foot tubes.
“My feet feel squashed,” Soren groaned. “This can’t be right.” He shook his head, looking down at his feet.
“I’ll take those.” They were flat rubber, with a piece that fit between the toes. Talon tested them out, feeling the rubber slap against the soles of his feet with every step. It was doable though. At least his feet would be mostly free. That was something at least.
Cadon quickly snatched up the remaining rubber shoes, leaving Soren and Pace to wrestle the tubes onto their feet.
Once they were all dressed, Cadon handed each of them a bag.
“Let’s go over the plan,” Talon said, looking each male in the eyes, from one to the other. “Cadon, you take us through everything. You were the one who conducted the preliminary research.”
Cadon nodded once. “Inside the bag is money. Humans use it to buy the things that they need. You cannot just take something. You have to give some of the money in return for an item. There is also a plastic card that has money inside it. The card can be used instead of the paper money.”
“I still do not understand how such a small plastic card can have so much paper money inside of it.” Soren narrowed his eyes. The male shrugged. “I guess we’ll figure it out.”
"Yes, we will." Cadon nodded. "There is a cellphone with each of our numbers programmed in. We will use it to stay in contact with one another. I hope you all remember how to use it." He paused. When no one said anything, he continued. "Do not forget to charge your cell phone by plugging it into the wall."
It didn’t make much sense, but Talon nodded, as did the others. Soren was right, they would have to figure it all out. “The goal is to learn as much about the humans as possible. The females are of particular importance. We need to be able to teach the others all we learn so that they will be in a better position to win one as a mate when the time comes.”
“I’m not so sure it is a good idea to split up.” Pace shook his head, brow furrowing.
“Neither do I,” Soren said, still tugging at the fabric at his ass.
“Why don’t the two of you stick together then?” Talon offered.
Pace looked at Soren, who cocked his head. “Yes, sounds good to me.”
Pace nodded. “That’s settled then. What about the two of you?”
Talon looked over at where Cadon was standing. The male looked at him with indifference. “I think we’ll stick to the plan and spread out,” Talon said. “More chance of getting somewhere with these females.”
Cadon nodded. “Fine by me.”
“A hotel is the name of human accommodations. Other names used are Motel and Bed and Breakfast. B and B for short,” Talon reminded them. “We use the card money to pay and we can order food there as well. Find one, get settled and get started.”
All three males nodded. “Now remember,” Cadon cautioned, “human males are intimidated easily. All humans, for that matter, scare easily, so we need to be as unassuming and polite as possible.”
“Agreed.” Talon nodded. “Let’s stay in contact with one another. Each of you is to check in on a daily basis,” he added. “That way, we will know that everyone is safe. The two of you can contact Cadon and I will, in turn, check in with Cadon. We need to do this every day as the sun is a quarter of the way in the sky. Let’s make the next six weeks count.”
“I’m sure we will all be experts by the time we go back,” Pace said, his voice filled with arrogance.
Hunger Awakened (The Feral Book 1) Page 1