by Laurie Roma
3013: PRIMAL
3013: THE SERIES
Laurie Roma
The 3013 Series
3013: MATED by Laurie Roma
3013: RENEGADE by Susan Hayes
3013: CLAIMED by Laurie Roma
3013: STOWAWAY by Susan Hayes
3013: SALVATION by Laurie Roma
3013: MENDED by Kali Argent
3013: TARGETED by Susan Hayes
3013: CHAOS by Laurie Roma
3013: ALTERED by Kali Argent
3013: FATED by Susan Hayes
3013: GENESIS by Laurie Roma
3013: REVOLUTION by Kali Argent
3013: PRIMAL by Laurie Roma
Novellas
3013: SYNERGY by Laurie Roma
3013: ASYLUM by Kali Argent
3013: SCARRED by Susan Hayes
3013: PRIMAL
Reva Golaris is a Helios shifter who has lost everything. After her mother and two of her fathers were killed in a brutal attack on New Vega, she has no time to grieve. Her need to avenge their deaths drives her into a killing rage that no one can stop. Not even the one male she has dreamed of giving her heart to…the brother of her enemy.
For years, Lord Malik Rego never thought he would find the one female he wanted to claim as his own, until he met Reva Golaris. The fierce beauty captivated him, but everything changed when he discovered his sister, Quilla, is behind a criminal empire. Malik will bear the shame of his sister’s crimes for all time, but it is impossible to ask for Reva to do the same.
With their future in peril, Malik will have to push Reva away to save her. However, she has other plans that don’t include surrender. During a race across the galaxy, sacrifices will be made, and bonds will be broken. Will their love be strong enough to conquer the stain of betrayal, or will their savage natures be more than they can control?
Revenge is sweet, but vengeance is primal.
3013: PRIMAL by Laurie Roma
First E-book Publication: September 2016
Cover design by Black Butterfly Designs
Copyright © 2016 by Laurie Roma
ISBN: 978-1-942979-05-0
Kobo Edition
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission, except for the case of brief quotations in reviews and articles. Criminal copyright infringement is investigated by the FBI, and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental. It is fiction, so facts and events may not be accurate except to the current world the book takes place in.
DEDICATION
This is for anyone who has ever been betrayed.
There is something called Bachi, and it will definitely come around.
PROLOGUE
The year is 3013.
Earth barely survived the Alien Wars that have ravaged the planet, and an unknown virus had nearly wiped out the entire population. On the brink of extinction, humans struggle to rebuild their civilization, although nothing would ever bring back what once was.
Enforcing martial law, a new age of mankind is born, where warriors rule and women are the ultimate prize. Only the elite earn breeding rights and are granted leave to claim a woman in pairs. Men dream of the day that they will be able to claim a woman to love, but for those chosen being claimed means the end of their freedom and a beginning to a lifelong bond with two strangers. The warriors may have the choice, but the battle for their woman's heart has only begun…
CHAPTER ONE
Betrayal. It was a bitter notion to think of, let alone experience. It could change lives, or end them. Treachery broke people, shattering their trust into a thousand tiny pieces. But being deceived by someone of the same blood was so much worse.
It cut far deeper.
Lord Malik Rego felt the pain of that lesion in his heart and soul. His sister, Quilla, had destroyed countless lives, and their people had been stripped of their safety. She had not only betrayed him and their family name.
She had betrayed their entire world.
Known as the Dark Planet for their frequent electrical storms and dangerous inhabitants, Tartarus was a world that sat at the edge of Alliance-controlled space. Humans had named the Tarins the Lords of War, calling them barbaric demons that fed off the energy of others. It was true that they lived off the blood-lust they got from battle, or the energy and strength they received during sexual release, but energy exchanges were just a means of survival for Malik’s people, not a way to control or harm anyone.
Still, other races feared the unknown.
As one of the strongest Tarin lords on their world, Malik had sought to counter the damage done by his ancestors, but it seemed like for every step forward, there were several giant steps back. He alone had seen the need to form an agreement with the other known races, and for years he had sought to make the other lords understand that they were in jeopardy of becoming obsolete if they didn’t keep up with technological advances.
But Tarins hated change, and they too feared what they did not understand.
Before the formation of the Alliance, humans had traveled the stars searching for signs of life on other planets. Several vessels had been sent out into deep space to explore, and their directives had been to study and analyze before making contact with any alien race. They had also been instructed to avoid primitive races without the technology to match that of Earth, and to observe without interfering.
All those directives had been violated when human ships had landed on Tartarus.
The crew of the first ship to arrive had logged information about the planet into their database, studying it from afar. As they had scanned the various mountain ranges, they had realized that the mineral ore contained within the mountains was a stronger power source than the one they had been using. The captain of that ship had contacted two other vessels, waiting for them to arrive before they had landed on Tartarus.
The Tarins had seen their arrival as an act of war.
As far as historical records went, humans and Tarins had different recollections of what had happened. The story that had been passed down the Rego family legacy had been that the humans had invaded, stolen the ore, and killed the Tarins on sight. Humans had stated that the Tarins had just attacked as soon as the ships had landed.
Malik figured it had probably been a combination of both stories.
Piecing together recollections from the descendants of those who had been there, it sounded like the Tarin version was more accurate, but he believed the Tarins had probably planned to kill the invaders as soon as the ships had been spotted no matter why the humans were there.
In truth, most Tarins didn’t need a reason to kill.
Still, the Tarins’ swords had been no match for the humans’ more advanced weaponry and technology, but for the first time in their lives, the Tarins had been fighting a common enemy. Their strength of will and force of numbers had made the humans retreat, and only one of those ships had left Tartarus, however, not with a full crew.
Hundreds of Tarins had died, and that had bred a hatred for outsiders.
A few years later, Earth had contacted Tartarus again. The humans had apologized for the loss of lives during the previous battle. Malik wasn’t sure if they had expected the same in return, but it didn’t matter. The Tarins had wanted no part of any pact with the humans, and they had closed off their planet, choosing to remain isolated instead of allowing any other species on Tartarus.
Though, Malik had sought to change that.
After the war with Earth, the Tarins had sheltere
d the remaining females, but over the years that had altered from protection into something corrupted by greed and self-indulgence. The lords had begun priding themselves on having harems of females to show who was most powerful, and that had led to the enslavement of not just Tarin females, but females from any race they could capture.
Malik Rego had been born into a new generation who fought against the old ways. When he’d become lord after his father’s death, Malik had formed the Coalition of Eight with his friend, Lord Jaden Tor, and six other lords to fight against those who enslaved females. After some convincing, Malik had also persuaded the coalition to agree to a treaty the next time Earth contacted them.
Time had brought many changes to both races over the years, though, Earth had evolved far more than the Tarins the next time they met. Earth had experienced their own war when the Zyphir, a colony race of insect-like creatures, had attacked. And in the aftermath of that war, the United Federation Command Alliance had been formed.
On behalf of the Tarins, Malik pushed to form a tentative truce with the Alliance. They agreed to trade technology and credits for the mineral ore the Alliance used in their high-powered jump drives installed on their space vessels. Despite being more military based, the humans hadn’t wanted to form a full treaty with the Tarins, not with the civil war raging on Tartarus, but they had been willing to offer aid.
Not that the other lords would have accepted.
Malik had allowed an Alliance outpost to be built on the far end of his land, nestled against the side of a mountain. From the air, it looked like a small, circular city with large stone walls built around it for protection from invaders, but the truth was that it had been built that way to keep the humans inside.
Visitors were only let out of the Hades Outpost if a group of Rego’s warriors escorted them, and only after they received permission from Malik himself. He had seen the benefit of keeping all visitors under close supervision on his land, but it also gave him direct access to the Alliance, and allowed him to keep track of what they were doing. His goal had been to bring Tartarus into the new age, and the only way to do that would be to have relations with the other races.
And he had been right. Everything had changed.
Malik always had a talent for maneuvering through complicated situations, but he’d never realized that his sister had inherited the same skill. Only, she had used hers to create a criminal empire that had brought shame down on all of them.
Now, Malik was sitting in a large sitting room on the vessel the Alliance had given him years ago, searching the stars for Quilla so he could make her pay for her crimes.
It had come as quite a shock to the other Tarins that Malik had possessed the ship. It would have been considered outdated if the Dragon Warriors hadn’t used their magic to upgrade it, but now, the sleek vessel was something advanced far beyond anything the humans had, and it all but ran itself. They had made everything extremely easy on the Tarins, most of whom hadn’t ever traveled in space before. The entire ship was operated by voice command, and every luxury had been provided onboard.
The Dragon Warriors were a powerful race who wielded magic with a thought and could shift into their dragon forms to fly the skies. Change had come to Tartarus when Dragon Warrior Katra Tesera had come home with Jaden Tor.
And her brothers hadn’t been far behind.
First, Ryker and Killian Tesera had come for a visit, then Xavier and Galan Tesera, and Thorn and Brydan Volis had visited with their mate, Alexis. Well, they weren’t actually visiting anymore, since they had created a castle of their own on Tor land to stay close to Katra, much to Jaden’s dismay.
Alexis had just given birth to Gideon and Kadan Tesera, so they would be sticking around since their babies wouldn’t come into their magic for a few years. However, Ryker and Killian had thankfully returned to their home world. They would be back, though, and Tartarus would have to be on guard since they didn’t like following any rules.
With so many Dragon Warriors roaming around Tartarus, it was probably the safest place in the universe besides their home world of Arcadia. All of them had been extracting information from the slavers captured so far, and Malik was sure they would be able to get more information from any that hadn’t been caught yet. The civil war might have ended, but for Malik, it wouldn’t truly be finished until Quilla was dead.
After discovering that his sister was behind the slave trade on Tartarus, Malik had found a wrist unit hidden beneath a floorboard in her quarters. All data had been wiped from it…or so she’d thought.
The Dragon Warriors had used their magic to retrieve a list of names from the wrist unit. After Malik reached out to his contact within the Alliance, a Strike Force Team had been sent to round up the eighteen elites in league with Quilla, while another team had been sent to search for the mercenaries on that list.
One of the contacts on the list had been a lieutenant that had transferred from the Hades Outpost to Alpha Station: X5 several months ago. Malik went straight to X5 after leaving Tartarus, since he knew that particular elite. The lieutenant had been detained until they got there, and they’d also found two officers who had been paid a lot of credits to wipe the system when they didn’t want certain ships that stopped there on record.
When confronted, the officers had instantly given in, and one of them had even started sobbing. Malik and the other Tarins had been disgusted, and they had gladly left the two officers in the hands of Commander Valerie Giarro and her two Helios mates.
The lieutenant had showed no remorse for what he’d done to help Quilla over the years. When the man had tried to get away, Malik admitted that he’d lost his temper when he’d run the man through with his sword…five times. It wasn’t like the traitor would be missed. He was just a pawn in a sick, twisted game. All of the humans said they’d been working for Korsek due to the credits he’d paid them. The sad reality was that Quilla had only been using the name Korsek to run her operation.
She was a female who had been selling other females.
Malik had been prepared to search every space station and planet until he found Quilla, but it would have been like searching for a single drop of water in the ocean. They had been close to X3 when Jaden had contacted them to let them know that Quilla had just been sighted on New Vega…and she had left more destruction in her wake.
“You’ve gone quiet, brother.”
Turning his head away from his view of the stars, Malik look over at Darius and Iolas Rego, two of the warriors that had come on the voyage with him. It had been another week’s journey to New Vega, and they were almost there. Perhaps it was knowing that he would have to face the repercussions from what Quilla had done that had him so tense, or maybe it was being stuck in an enclosed space for days that had him so on edge.
“Hellfire, how did I not see it?”
It was a question Malik had asked repeatedly. They had spent the first week after discovering Quilla’s treachery searching Tartarus, to no avail. He’d wanted to believe she hadn’t left the planet, but all the signs said she had taken a ship she’d stashed away just like he had. The similarities between them were uncomfortable to think about, but he hoped to use it against her as he continued to search for her.
“If you keep blaming yourself, I will have to strike you,” Darius said darkly.
Malik knew he wouldn’t, though. Not unless they were training together. Like Aldric—his second-in-command who had stayed home on Tartarus to look after Rego Palace—Iolas and Darius had been born to females in the harem Malik’s father had kept in chains. Many of the warriors in Thallen Rego’s inner circle had shared females, but Malik’s father kept his favorites away from the others.
Darius was a few years older, but had never held the circumstances of his birth against Malik. Instead, he had been a loyal friend and brother since the day Malik had taken his first breath. It was just speculation, but Malik had noticed the way Darius looked at some of the other males. He couldn’t help but wonder if that was the
reason Darius was on the training field more than any other warrior instead of bedding the willing females in the palace.
Even if other Tarin warriors would take exception to a male who preferred other males, it didn’t matter to Malik. He just wanted Darius to be happy, as he wished for all of his warriors. However, unlike him, most of the Tarins had archaic ways of thinking, set in old customs, so he understood why his friend would hide his preferences.
Iolas had been one of the last of their father’s young, and even though he had grown up without memories of Thallen Rego, he hated the male for what had been done to his mother. Pharon and Lazio, the other two warriors that were on the ship were younger than the rest of them. All the young born from the females in captivity felt the same.
They hated their father with the heat of a thousand suns.
Hellfire, it seemed like most of Malik’s warriors were related to him, but it wasn’t something any of them spoke of. Actually, it was something they all tried to avoid. Sometimes it was difficult looking at so many faces that resembled his own, that resembled their father. It was hard seeing facets of a male they all hated so much, but his half-brothers were strong warriors, with honor and a moral code.
Malik could sense Darius and Iolas’ concern for him. He wasn’t able to feel other people’s energy as strongly as some Tarins, but he knew them well. Malik’s gift was a little more physical when it came to manipulating energy, however, he still felt as if he should have known what his sister was doing.
“The truth is, looking back, I see hints of what she was doing,” Malik admitted with a sigh. “I could have stopped her, but I underestimated Quilla because she was female.”
“We all did.” Darius paused before speaking hesitantly. “I found her in my bed a few nights before the New Year celebration.”