by Becca Van
Slave Gold 4: United Alliance
River Caisson never expected to find a slave gold bracelet wrapped around her upper arm after a beautiful dark-haired woman bumped into her on her way home from work. And she never expected to somehow end up on an alien planet called Safura, surrounded by handsome men with glowing purple pupils. Nor did she expect the four leaders of Safura to claim that she is their mate. Stryk, Palk, Toak, and Hakk Mag are astounded when a female appears on their table in the feasting room, but as soon as they touch her they know she is meant to be theirs.
Convincing River is another matter. The four men aren't her only concern. While researching everything about the enemy, the Pendags, the four Mag brothers are trying to talk the leaders of Aeros, Cardinal, and Zennox into a united alliance, but the other leaders aren't sure they want an alliance.
It's up to River and three other human women to convince them otherwise.
Genre: Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Science Fiction
Length: 44,128 words
SLAVE GOLD 4:
UNITED ALLIANCE
Becca Van
MENAGE EVERLASTING
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting
SLAVE GOLD 4: UNITED ALLIANCE
Copyright © 2015 by Becca Van
E-book ISBN: 978-1-63259-911-7
First E-book Publication: November 2015
Cover design by Harris Channing
All art and logo copyright © 2015 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
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All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
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www.SirenPublishing.com
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Epilogue
About the Author
SLAVE GOLD 4:
UNITED ALLIANCE
BECCA VAN
Copyright © 2015
Prologue
Whoever shall find the slave gold will know much turmoil until love unfolds.
The voices will sing their hymn and pull you from within.
The paths you take will be divided, and the choices you make
will be forever united.
No time, space, or age will withstand or endure, unless the love you feel is pure.
Love is a gift from the gods and will last through the ages
for those who will discover love untold.
Branwen, the Celtic goddess of love and beauty, the daughter of Lir, placed the spell on the pure-gold slave bracelet and hurled it toward the Earth as she stood atop the tallest mountain, using her powers to send it far from her just before she died of a broken heart after the loss of her best friend and brother, Bran. Knowing she would never find that which her heart sought, a mate of her own, Branwen vowed that at least whoever found the slave bracelet would be able to choose love over heartache.
* * * *
“We need to set up a meeting and form an alliance with the other worlds.”
Stryk Mag sighed as he turned to face his brothers. The enemy was near and threatening all the other planets in their galaxy. The only way he could see them keeping everyone on his and all the other worlds safe was by aligning with them. He and his ruling siblings hadn’t wanted to expose their world to any other, but not because he feared they would try to infiltrate their planet. No, he hadn’t wanted to join them because of fear of war, but the exact opposite. Females were rare on their world, and they’d kept their distance in fear that males from the other worlds would try to steal the few women they had. However, now that the rumors of frequent sightings of the Pendag close to their home world and the other planets had grown more frequent there was no other choice.
“How close is the enemy?” Palk asked.
Stryk met his brother’s gaze as he turned away from the window, walked over to the table in the conference room and took a seat.
“They’ve been spotted in the tenth quadrant.”
“Fuck!” Hakk ran his fingers through his short black-brown hair.
Stryk met each of his brothers’ gazes and knew his face of concern and anger probably mirrored theirs.
“There have been rumors regarding the Zennox, too.” Toak scowled as he shifted in his seat.
“What rumors, brother?” Stryk tapped his fingers over the holotech and moments later the smell of the strong scent of hot bava assailed his nose. He lifted the cup and took a sip while he awaited Toak’s reply.
“The world leaders of Zennox found a mate, and it seems the planet the female came from is full of single females.”
“Where did you hear that?” Palk leaned forward eagerly, and Stryk realized he was doing the same thing.
“I had to stop at quadrant seven when the propulsion system fried. While waiting for the part I needed I stopped at the Bevtech Inn and heard a group of Zennoxian
warriors talking with…excitement.” Toak shifted in his seat.
“And?” Hakk asked eagerly.
“The Zennoxians have apparently met with the ruler of a far off planet to set up bringing single consenting females to their planet.”
Palk smiled and then frowned as he looked at Stryk. Stryk’s heart was pounding in his chest, and his body hummed with excitement. Now he wished that he and his brothers had tried to align with the other worlds in their galaxy sooner, but at least they were trying to form an alliance now.
“For all we know the female could have the personality of a Pendag,” Hakk said as he took a sip of his drink.
“I don’t think so.” Styk frowned.
“And how would you know?” Hakk asked. “These females could have scales and tentacles.”
“He's right," Toak said. "Because one of the warriors described the female to one of the other warriors who hadn’t set eyes on her.” Toak went on to explain what he'd overheard.
Stryk shifted in his seat as excitement permeated his body. “From the description she sounds like a fucking goddess.”
“Do the Zennoxian leaders even know about the enemy?” Palk asked redirecting the conversation back on track.
Stryk nodded his thanks to his brother. He wanted to talk about the female too, but with their planet in danger, the situation was top priority.
“I don’t know. From what I’ve read in the archives the males were the reason their birthrate dropped and not because of the Pendag or other enemies. Those males used to have such aggressive tempers they’d fight to the death.” Palk sighed. “Although they have the technology I don’t think they’ve ventured too far from Zennox for generations.”
“Then they need to be informed.” Stryk sank back into his chair. “Their planet is only one hundred light years from ours, as is Cardinal and Aeros. We need them on our side if we are going to win the coming war.”
“I’m sick of this shit,” Toak said angrily. “The Sytex were finally eliminated by the Cardinals and now the Pendag are back. When will we be able to live out our lives in peace?”
“They destroyed all that we held dear, brother. If it wasn’t for the Pendag we would all be mated with nurslings by now.” Stryk rose and walked back to stare unseeingly out the window.
He’d grown up with the stories from the seniors about how the Pendags had tried to take over Centaury when they were totters. Those grey bastards wanted to take over the Central galaxy and rape the worlds of their natural resources. Water was in limited supply on Pendag and the beings had been trying for years to conquer Centaury, Safura, Aeros, and Cardinal. There was also the fact that the Pendag hadn't been successful taking over a planet that was more primitive than their own, but he hated the Pendag with a passion and didn't like to think of them if he could help it.
What puzzled him more though was that he’d never heard of them trying to target Zennox. He wondered if their planet had a natural plant repellent or if it was because the warriors of Zennox were just too damned aggressive. Stryk had a feeling it was the aforementioned reason and if he could get all the leaders of the other planets to agree to an alliance, he was going to ask the Bim brothers if it would be all right to send in a team of his most prolific and smartest scientists to test his theory. However, that was a discussion for another day as was the information regarding the females.
“Have the Aeros rulers agreed to the meeting?” Stryk asked.
“They have,” Toak acknowledged with a nod.
Stryk met Palk’s gaze. “What about the rulers of Cardinal?”
“They’ve agreed.”
“Hakk I want you to contact Zennox. Don’t take no for an answer, but make sure you don’t piss the rulers off. Be as diplomatic as possible. The first meeting of the Alliance is set for three sunrise’s hence.”
Hakk nodded. “Where are we going to meet?”
“Right here, brother. We need to show the leaders and their warriors trust. By letting them come and meet here we’re showing them we have faith in an association with their worlds and that we have faith that they won’t harm our people.”
Hakk grimaced but nodded again.
Stryk had never imagined that the people and planets in their galaxy would one day need to tie themselves together to fight against an endemic horde of the Pendag and although he and his brothers had concerns about the unity of their worlds, he knew it was necessary to their survival.
Theirs and the other worlds were already struggling with the continued existence of their races. He hoped in the end the alliance would stand strong and that the Zennoxians would be willing to share the information about this new species of females so they could find mates and repopulate their planet, before they all ceased to exist.
Chapter One
River was just about to leave her office when the phone on her desk rang. She was tempted to ignore the incessant peal but knew if it was her boss and she did, she would get a reaming from him the next morning, so with a sigh of resignation she dropped her bag on her desk, reached for a pen and answered the phone.
“Price and Waters, River Caisson speaking.”
“River, glad I caught you before you left. We have a meeting with Waterhouse Construction first thing tomorrow and I need you to have all the contracts ready for signing.”
River glanced at her calendar and just caught back the sigh forming from whooshing out of her mouth. Tomorrow was the last day of the week and she’d hoped to keep the first two hours free so she could catch up on some work so she didn’t have to do it on her days off, but there went that theory.
“Sure, Micha, I’ll have them ready.”
“Thanks, River. See you first thing.”
“Yeah, bye.” River sank into her chair and powered up her computer again. She loved working for Micha Banks and his adopted brother Nikolai Perov but sometimes she wished she’d taken a less demanding job. She’d been working for the land brokers for the last three years and although she was PA to Micha she often found herself doing some of Nikolai’s assistant’s work, too. Not that she really minded and she didn’t begrudge Hannah for needing help every now and then because the other woman had her hands full with her three kids. River didn’t have any family and no significant other either so she was only too pleased to help Hannah out when needed, because she would rather stay and work late than go home to a cold empty apartment. But she was tired and since she hadn’t really taken any vacation time in the last three years, from the moment she’d been employed by Micha, she felt she was long overdue for a break.
“Yeah as if Micha is going to let me have time off. The man and his brother are machines,” River muttered as she pulled up the file and got to work.
By the time she was done it was going on eight o’clock and her eyes were sore and gritty from staring at a computer monitor for so long. After bundling everything together she put the contracts into a folder and took them to Micha’s office. He was going to want to look over them before the meeting to make sure everything was in tip top order.
She hurried down the empty hall, left the folder on Micha’s desk, and headed out. She was hungry since she hadn’t taken the time to stop for lunch but she was too tired to cook. Deciding to grab some take-out on the way home, relieved some of her stress at not having to think about something to cook, and after she’d eaten she would strip off and crawl into bed. The sooner the better.
River waved good bye to the security guard and headed out. Summer had well and truly settled in and the moment she was outside the heat swamped her, but she expected nothing less in Austin, Texas.
It only took her ten minutes to reach her favorite Chinese take-out shop and when she had her order only another ten minutes of walking and she was at her apartment block. With a tired sigh she reached out to open the door but as she lifted her arm she felt someone bump into her from behind. Her heart racing, she spun around but frowned when she didn’t see anyone, and then she spied the back of a woman who was crossing the street. Her ha
ir was so long it reached her knees and it shone a blue-black under the sinking rays of the summer sun.
“Sorry,” the woman called, her hand in the air as she waved, but she didn’t turn to look at River.
“Sure you are,” River muttered as she entered the building and headed to the elevator. Normally she took the stairs but she was bone weary and decided to be lazy for a change. She stepped into the lift, pushed the button for the third floor, and leaned against the wall. Moments later she was inside her small one bedroom apartment kicking off her shoes and heading for the kitchen.
When she felt something tingle against the bare skin on her upper right arm, she looked down and her mouth gaped open. She drew a deep breath when her heart stopped in her chest and then she lifted her left hand to trace over the bright gold and rose bracelet encircling her bicep.
“What the hell?” she mumbled, and she clutched at the counter as she felt her world spin out of control. She heard a low buzzing sound in her ears and when she blinked she quickly closed her eyes again. River felt like she was trapped on the inside of a tornado, not sure if it was her that was spinning or the world around her, but when she realized that she could feel the edge of the counter beneath her fingers she knew that she wasn’t moving.
She wondered if the heat had gotten to her and if she were dehydrated, but then she couldn’t seem to think at all. All she could do was hang on as her world went mad. The buzzing got louder and louder. It took her a few moments to comprehend that what she was hearing was actually voices. At first she didn’t understand what the voices were saying and then one musical female voice seemed to rise above the others, and as she heard the words in her mind, she felt her body lift up into the air. She felt so heavy and lethargic yet also felt as light as a feather, and although she was nauseous, she didn’t think she was about to throw up. Her eyelids were too weighty to lift, so she gave up trying, and when she sensed her body was being encompassed in a huge wad of soft cotton, the chanting became comprehensible.