Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
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THE ALIEN’S LAIR
Uoria Mates IV | Book 9
Ruth Anne Scott
Personal Note
Thank you so much for your interest in this book and the Uoria Series as a whole. Uoria Mates launched my career as an author in 2015. Since then it’s been a multiple time bestseller and read by thousands of raving fans. I’m truly humbled by your support.
This is the fourth Uoria Mates Series and should be read in order. If you’re a first time reader, worry not, I’m including the complete Uoria Mates I for your viewing pleasure to get you started. To read this book, please read the Uoria Series (now conveniently available in complete box sets) in the following order.
Uoria Mates I
Uoria Mates II
Uoria Mates III
A Uoria Christmas
Another Uoria Holiday
Again, if you’re brand new to Uoria, I’m including the complete Uoria Mates I to get you started. I’ve included some extras and goodies for you as well, don’t forget to check them out.
Buckle up and let’s go on this sci-fi romance adventure!
CONTENTS
The Alien’s Lair
EXTRAS
Exclusive – The Bear’s Princess
Exclusive – The Dragon’s Slave
About the Author
Chapter One
Ellora struggled against the hand over her mouth. Her fingers clawed at its skin, but it didn’t relent. The ground beneath her feet disappeared and she started to kick, hoping that she would be able to make contact with whoever it was behind her and they would let her go. Finally, she heard a door close and the cold stone of a wall on her cheek as the person who held her pressed her to it.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” a man’s voice said into her ear. “Be quiet and I’ll be able to help you get out of here.”
Ellora didn’t know if she should trust the voice. She didn’t know if there was any reason why she should believe that this person would help her and wasn’t just another of the Order who were trying to capture her. She struggled again and the man held her tighter.
“I knew your husband.”
With those words, Ellora fell still. Her body went limp and the arm around her waist softened and gradually moved away, but the hand over her mouth stayed in place. The man’s mouth came to her ear again.
“I’m going to let you go,” he said. “I need you to stay quiet. Don’t say anything at all. I will explain everything to you, but you are going to have to trust me. You are just going to have to listen to what I have to say and be willing to do what I need you to do. Can you do that?”
Ellora nodded and felt his hand come away from her mouth. Just as she had agreed, she stayed quiet.
“Good. I’m going to take your wrist. Follow me. You’ll be able to see in just a minute.”
Ellora felt the man take her wrist and let him guide her through the darkness. The wall that she had been pressed against was close enough that her shoulder brushed against it and she found comfort and security in it. Suddenly it fell away and she felt him pull her through a door and close it. A bright white glow started and grew quickly and soon Ellora could see the man in front of her holding a lantern. He put it at his feet and the light shined up on his face. He was younger than her, but there was something ancient in his eyes that looked like pain and secrets. There was something strange about his appearance, but she couldn’t quite place it. She knew that he wasn’t Mikana, and he didn’t look Denynso, either. There was a vaguely human quality about him, but something in her told her that he wasn’t human, either.
“My name is Mhavrych,” he said.
“I’m Ellora,” she said.
“I know,” he said. “I told you. I knew Aegeus.”
“I never heard him mention you.”
“He wouldn’t have,” he said. “Of everything that he couldn’t tell you about the Order, I am the greatest secret.” He hesitated and Ellora saw his face harden even further. “Even the rest of the Order doesn’t know about me. They only know what I am trying to protect.”
“If they know about what you are trying to protect, how do they not know about you?” she asked.
“The Order believes what the Order believes,” he said. “They think that they are the only ones who can save the Universe, when they don’t even know what they are protecting it from.”
“I don’t understand,” Ellora said.
“I wouldn’t expect you to,” Mhavrych said. “Not yet. But I don’t have the time to explain it to you now. Your husband knew things that no one else in the Order did, and that is what caused what happened to him. I spent many years fearing that he was dead because of me.”
“He’s not dead,” Ellora said, as much to convince herself of it as she was telling him.
“I know. I’ve seen him.”
Ellora’s eyes widened and she took a step toward Mhavrych as if being close to him would somehow bring her closer to Aegeus.
“Where is he?”
“When I saw him, he was on another planet. He was enslaved by a man named Ryan and was among an army of strange blended species that he had created. I thought that I was going to be able to help him, but before I could free him, Ryan moved him again.”
“To Earth,” Ellora said. “He brought him to the facility where he has been breeding hybrids. There are many people who are after him, now. One of my sons is still on Penthos facing the army.”
“Penthos,” Mhavrych said, nodding. “That was where I was when I saw him. It was only for a brief time and I didn’t even have the chance to speak to him.
“What were you doing on Penthos?” Ellora asked.
Mhavrych stiffened slightly.
“I have work there,” he said. “It has to do with what I am protecting.”
“For the Order?” Ellora asked.
Mhavrych shook his head.
“From the Order,” he said. “There was a time when the purpose of the Order was to protect the Universe and all that exists within it, but as your husband discovered, corruption was extensive within the ranks. Though there are still members who believe in the original mission and fight hard for it, there are others who have been so influenced by the corrupt members that they no longer remember what they are meant to do.”
“I need you to tell me what you are protecting,” Ellora said. “I lost my husband to this for many ye
ars and I’m not willing to give up fighting to be back with him.”
“I wouldn’t ask you to,” Mhavrych said. “I still need his help. I need the help of everyone who has been fighting Ryan. He is the final link to what I have spent many years trying to guard. I tried to help them. I saved a warrior named Nylek from the hybrids and a couple named Kyven and Emerie from an animal who lives deep within the planet.”
Ellora felt her heart jump.
“Kyven?” she asked.
Mhavrych nodded.
“Yes. He was trapped beneath the ground in a cavern with a creature known as a Meldor. Its weakness is light. I was able to get it away from them long enough for them to get out of the cavern.”
“Kyven is my son.”
She could see Mhavrych straighten and nod slightly.
“He looks like Aegeus.”
“He looks much more like me,” Ellora said. “It’s my son Maxim that favors his father.”
The man looked at her earnestly.
“What I need to do has greater importance that I can even explain. Aegeus knew. He understood the danger of the corruption within the Order and the threat that it held not just for Uoria, but for everything. I need you to help me.”
“I will do anything that I can,” Ellora said. “But they’ve already caught me. They know that I’m down here.”
“We can get out,” Mhavrych said.
He led her to what looked like an old wooden chest in the corner at the far end of the room. Ellora watched as he drew a key from the bag at his hip and used it to open the chest. Inside there was an old, dirty cloth sack.
“What is that?” she asked.
“This is what I have been protecting,” he said. “If we can get out with this, we have a chance to finish what your husband started.”
Chapter Two
Severine cradled the baby to her chest and wrapped it tightly with the cloth, securing him to her so that she was able to carry him more easily. Behind her Rilex was finishing gathering all of their supplies. She knew that he had an element of excitement about going through the network of chambers and tunnels that were beneath the surface of Penthos, but she still felt a sense of nervousness. It had been so long since she had been in the tunnels and the memories of the times that she had spent there were still strong. Even though Ryan had proclaimed that these tunnels were meant to be their home and keep them safe when they weren’t in battle, they had never felt truly safe. They were only permitted to go into them after they had already gone through extensive training and drills, going until their bodies couldn’t handle it any longer and they began to collapse into the searing hot sand. She didn’t want to walk through them again. She didn’t want the chance of encountering the army. But she knew that this was the best way. Going back up to the surface would expose them and put them in more danger. This section of tunnels were rarely used and she knew that chances were, they weren’t going to encounter any of the hybrids as long as they moved quickly.
Ready, they started out of the chamber and down the tunnel that led them back in the direction of the ship. The further they went, the more reassured she was that they weren’t going to encounter any of the rest of the army. Around them the bunker looked old and abandoned. It was as if the last time that she had been down in them during her training was the last time that anyone had used them. It was a strange sensation walking through the tunnels that were once so tightly crowded and feeling that it was only her, Rilex, and the baby who were down there.
They had been traveling for several minutes when the tunnel branched off. Rilex slowed in front of her and looked both directions.
“Which way?” he asked.
Severine searched back in her memories, trying to remember the last time that she was in this area and where they should go that would bring them back in the right direction. It seemed that she had been here before, but that she didn’t remember the branching of the tunnels. She shook her head.
“I don’t know,” she admitted.
Rilex looked in both directions and pointed at one.
“This way,” he said.
“Why?” she asked.
He shrugged and shook his head.
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I just feel like this is the way that we should go.”
She nodded. That was enough for her. They turned and started down the tunnel. They had only taken a few steps when they started to notice more signs that this area hadn’t been used in quite some time. Remnants of clothes and blankets had seemed to break down into the ground, and canisters of what looked like rations were so eroded that they could no longer read the labels. Rilex held his torch up higher as they walked and she knew that he was trying to shed as much light through the tunnel as possible so that they had as much awareness as they could about what lay ahead.
The light touched a curve in the tunnel and she could see that it opened into a small chamber that was similar to the storage rooms that they had used in the newer bunkers to hold their weapons and rations. As soon as they stepped inside, however, she could see that this room had not been used to store the items that she would have expected. Instead, a skeleton encased in tattered cloth lay in the middle of the floor.
Severine gasped and stepped backwards, trying to get away from the image of the body lying in the storage room. Rilex, on the other hand, strode forward directly toward it. He took the light of the torch with him and she felt the chill of the darkness settle around her. She stepped into the room with him, needing the light. Rilex was crouched down beside the skeleton, carefully touching the fabric that clung to it.
“These are old,” he said. “This body has been here for more than 100 years, at least.”
“Who is it?” Severine asked, knowing full well that there was no way that he would be able to identify the person, even if he had known it when it was alive. “Can you tell if it’s a man or a woman?”
Rilex moved a piece of the fabric aside and it fell from the ribcage. Severine could see that the person was lying on its stomach, its arms tucked under it and its face down. As the fabric fell away from its ribs, she could see that there was something under it. Rilex seemed to have seen it at the same time and gently moved the bones to reach for it. He pulled it out and turned toward her, a book in his hands.
“What is it?” she asked, her voice tremulous.
Rilex settled onto his heels and gingerly lifted open the cover. Dust rose from the pages as if they were disintegrating right into the air with his touch. Rilex stared at the pages and the words that it contained with such intensity that Severine felt like he was no longer in the room with her, but somewhere else with only the book. He turned the pages slowly at first, and then faster, moving through them like he was desperate to find out what was on the next page and the next. Ignoring the discomfort that came from the skeleton, Severine stepped closer to him and crouched down, touching her hand to the baby’s back to hold him close.
“What is it?” she asked.
She reached out to rest her hand on Rilex’s arm and felt him jump beside her as if she had struck him. He looked at her for a few seconds and then back at the book. His hand touched it almost reverently before his eyes slid back up to her and met hers. Deep in their recesses she could see the streaks of the shooting stars and noticed them flash brighter.
“This is something from long ago,” he said. “Something that I would never have thought that I would find. Not here.”
“What does it mean?” Severine asked.
Rilex let out a long breath and glanced at the skeleton.
“You said that you wanted to know my origin,” he said. “The origin of my kind.”
“Yes,” Severine said. “Is that what that book is about?”
Rilex nodded.
“It is linked to it,” he said, “but from long before me. This happened in a different time and a different stream than my life, but it is as inextricably connected to it as you are. “
“I want to know,” Severine said. “
Tell me.”
Rilex shook his head and closed the book, tucking it close to his chest.
“Not now,” he said. “It’s a long story and one that I won’t be able to tell you now. We need to keep going and get back to the others.”
“The others,” Severine murmured.
Those words had hit her suddenly and unexpectedly, carrying with them more meaning than she would have expected them to. She felt a hint of a smile come to her lips.
“What?” Rilex asked.
She looked up at him, realizing that he had heard what she said even though she thought that she had barely uttered the sounds.
“You said something.”
“The others,” she said.
Rilex nodded.
“We need to get back to them,” he said. “They might still be waiting at the ship for us, but they might also have started toward Maxim and the rest of the crew that remained here.”
“No,” Severine said. “I know that. It’s just the words…the others.”
“What about them?” Rilex asked.
Severine ran her hand along the newborn’s back as he cuddled against her chest. She could feel his sweet, peaceful breaths as he slept comfortably with the sound of her heartbeat keeping him comfortable and relaxed.
“You said that I should be proud of where I came from and the heritage that I have, whatever that is. “
“You should. However you came to be, that is what made you and what brought you here to save the lives of countless others and to be the mother of this child…and the partner for me.”
“There’s that word again,” Severine said. “Other. I feel like that’s us.”
“What do you mean?”
“You know who you are. You are sure of yourself and your heritage. You share the culture and the history of that species. Even Eden and Pyra’s son will know his heritage clearly. He will know that his mother was human before he was born and that his father is Denynso. I know that they will make sure that he knows about both sides of his culture and what created him. Even if he lives out his entire life on Uoria and only interacts with the humans who live there with the warriors, he will still know that he has part human blood and what that means. That gives him a sense of connection and acceptance with both kinds. It isn’t the fact that he has both species in him. That isn’t what matters. What matters is that he knows about those cultures and is taught about them by people who willfully and purposefully gave him life. When he is asked who or what he is, Lysander will have a strong sense of identity. That isn’t the way it is for me or the rest of the hybrids that Ryan created.”
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