by Jenika Snow
Evernight Publishing ®
www.evernightpublishing.com
Copyright© 2014 Jenika Snow
ISBN: 978-1-77233-058-8
Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs
Editor: Karyn White
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
DEDICATION
Thank you Evernight and Stacey for being so great every step of the way. Thank you to my family for always being there and putting up with my time being diverted on working on another story. And, of course, thank you to the readers for being so supportive and wonderful.
MATE HER
Warriors of Hades, 2
Jenika Snow
Copyright © 2014
Chapter One
Minka was going to die. She knew that with every part of her, and the fear of reality had her stumbling. She fell forward, her feet getting tangled in a grouping of thick vines, and braced her hands forward. She landed on the ground hard, and a scream of agony left her as her wrist bent backward. The sickening snap of her bone breaking in two came through, and the nausea of the pain rose up like the violent, dangerous monster coming after her. Minka looked behind her; sweat dripping into her eyes as fear and adrenaline pumped through her veins at a fast, angry rate. Despite the clearly broken wrist, she pulled herself off the ground and stumbled forward again. This time she kept her balance, pushed the pain back, and moved forward. The rage-filled roar that came from behind her was coming in closer, and she knew she had to pick up her speed. The creature that followed her, a Razorra Beast that was big and nasty, with scales and talons as long as her legs and fangs as thick as her ankles, was starving, and she was the meal it wanted for this evening. It was one of the many dangerous predators that were native to this part of the planet she was on. Although Arambria was a planet able to sustain human life, it was also deadly at every turn. When the small ship she had been on with a handful of other humans—a rare species anymore—set for the selling block in the alien slave auctions, had detoured onto this planet she had prayed to whomever would listen that she would just die right then and there. She would much rather die than be the slave to a disgusting creature that would that would probably torture and maim her. And then as the cargo ship she had been on had docked on the planet to gather some supplies, all hell had broken loose. Razzora Beasts, creatures of monstrous size that overpopulated this planet, had attacked the ship as soon as it had landed. It didn’t matter why the creatures had attacked, because she had used the distraction to escape while her captors had been engaged in combat. Many of the other humans had escaped with her, and although there were deaths among them as they fled for their lives, they kept pushing forward. In the end, five humans had survived, her included, and they now lived in a deserted cave they had found nestled between an outcropping of jagged rocks. She didn’t know how long she had been here, and had been going off of the rising and setting of the three suns of this planet. Twenty times they had risen and set, and that was twenty times too long. This planet might be able to sustain human life, but humans were not meant to live on this wretched planet. Finding edible food had caused sickness in a few of them, but they didn’t die, and now they were more conscious of what to search for to eat. There was also a fresh spring that ran through the cave, which was a lifesaver.
Minka ran harder and cradled her injured arm to her chest. Sweat covered her from head to toe, and strands of her long, tangled rats’ nest of dark hair stuck to her forehead. She just needed to get to the cave where the rest of her group was. Today she had been one of the people to get food for the others, and Jobe, the man assigned to go with her, had saved her life by distracting the creature. But she had heard his death scream, knew he was in the beast’s belly right now, and if she didn’t get to the cave,which was too small for the animal to get in, then she would be joining Jobe very soon. The thick branches of these blue and black trees scraped along her arms, and she screamed out as the acid from the leaves touched her flesh. The poison bubbled along her skin, and as much as she wanted to rub it away the only thing that would neutralize the toxicity was water, and that was in the cave. She strived not to trip again, but the foliage was so damn thick and tangled. Her nerves were shot, and fear was stealing her breath.
“Help me.” She cried out, seeing the cave in the distance, and the jagged outcropping of the entrance that would save her life. There were three heads that poked out of the entrance. They looked right at her, right at the danger that surrounded her, yet they turned and left her to die alone. They moved back in the safety of the cave, forgot about her, and now she knew where she stood. She may not have been cordial with any of them, because this situation they were in had them fending for themselves. But she had been closer with Jobe. He had given his life for her, shared meals with her, and she had been with him sexually once because she had needed an outlet for her emotions. Maybe sex was far from what they should have done at a time like this, but this was all any of them had … each other. At least that was how she’d felt. Clearly the others couldn’t give two damns about her.
But then Minka felt the sting of something land in her neck. She reached up, felt the hard, thorn-like quill of the Razzora, and knew she was done for. The creature used it to numb and paralyze its prey, and in a matter of minutes she’d be lying on the floor, aware of what was happening, but not able to do anything but wait for the inevitable.
****
Brawn moved through the thick trees, trying to gather prey for his and his brothers’ meal for tonight. Thorque and Lukin were back at the ship, steadfastly trying to repair it. After one of the engines took a beating during hyper speed they were forced to detour to this godforsaken shit of a planet until the part could be fixed. But they were making good progress, and they should be on their way to their home planet of Hades before the next nightfall. The toxic Bolla trees opened up, and the clearing showed a field of Daggina flowers with their thorn-like petals that shot out as a defense mechanism for anything that threatened them. Brawn unfurled his wings, let them stretch out the fourteen-foot span, and felt the power move through him. In one giant flap of his wings he rose above the tree line and scanned the surroundings. The planet was lush with foliage, but it was a carnivorous world, one that took from anything that set foot on it. He scanned his surroundings, trying to find something more edible than the shit plants they had found. He needed meat, but as far as he could scent the animals he had come across were not edible, not unless he and his brothers wanted a lot of pain while eating and digesting their food.
He flapped his wings, let the wind run over his skin, and needed to get home where the heat would protect him as well as help regulate his body temperature. His kind was made for the hot, fiery temperatures of Hades, for the flames and lava, and the black Azteccena Mountains that covered his world. They could survive in this cooler climate for a short time, but not for long, and with each passing day they stayed away from their planet, or the very least out of their temperature controlled ship, they grew weaker. A Warrior of Hades was never weak, never let something as simple as the fucking temperature let them off their guard. But some things were left out of their hands, and so they tried to keep themselves out of situations where they were vulnerable, even to a weaker species. They killed, maimed, and fought for what was theirs. Their kind was feared amongst the galaxy for their ruthlessness, and for their cunning ability to fight
until the end. But the battles they had fought had been when others thought to take control of Hades. Of course they had ventured off of their planet for battles when it was needed, and although they fought to their last breath, Hades warriors always killed immediately so their weakness for temperature didn’t make them vulnerable.
He scanned his surroundings again and again, training his superior eyesight on anything that moved that could be his prey. And then there he saw it, a nasty fucking Razzora Beast plowing through the Bolla trees, tearing them down in its clear haste to get whatever it was chasing. Brawn looked in the direction of where the soon-to-be meal of the creature was, and zeroed in on the spot. There, lying on the ground with a dart in her neck was a human female. It only took Brawn a second to react. He used the power behind his wings, spread them out to their full length, and flew in her direction. The beast was getting closer to her, and although Brawn shouldn’t interfere or care if she was about to die, there was something in his gut that told him he needed to get to her. He dove down, moved through the timberline of the trees, and right before the Razzora reached her, he landed on the ground beside her. He had her in his arms and was getting ready to be airborne again when the Razzora broke through the last tree. The creature roared out when it realized Brawn was taking its meal.
Brawn bent his knees and lifted into the air, but not before the Razzora ran one of its claws down Brawn’s calf. The pain was searing from the toxins the beast excreted, but Brawn pushed through the discomfort and flew toward the ship. It was a few miles away, but he eventually saw the massive silver and black spaceship that was a second home to him and his two brothers. The feel of his blood slipping down his legs and the dizzying feeling of the poisons moving through his system had him faltering in his flight. He tightened his hold on the human female, brought her close to his chest, and dropped low. Once he was on the ground he made swift work to the ship. He was going to pass out if he didn’t get an antidote for the infection that was starting to eat away at his body from the inside out. It was a tactic the Razzora used when trying to incapacitate their prey at a close distance. Brawn could hear his brothers in the rear of the ship as they continued to fix one of the engines.
“If you hadn’t been so quick to run to the auctions, we might not have overheated the rear engine,” Thorque said, and the sound of a tool hitting the ground filled Brawn’s ears.
“Don’t act like you were not just as hard-up to go to the auctions and find a breeding female as I was,” Lukin growled out.
Brawn moved swiftly to the rear and stepped onto the loading deck that was lowered. “Brothers,” he said through a tight throat. He needed to get the medicine in his system now before his body completely shut down. Thorque and Lukin looked over at him, and in seconds they were striding toward him with concerned looks on their faces. They both glanced down at the female, but he didn’t have time to explain anything right now. She had gotten stuck with a quill from the animal, and she needed to have the poison extracted from her bloodstream or it would do irreparable damage, if not kill her. But his brothers could read him as if he had spoken the words out loud. Thorque took the female and was striding into the medic room of the ship while Lukin helped Brawn right behind them.
“A Razzora Beast?” Lukin asked in a strained voice.
“Yeah.” Sweat started to cover Brawn’s body as the poison worked faster and harder through him, his twin hearts pumping the toxins through his veins. The interior of the ship was set to well above one hundred degrees to have their natural settings somewhat similar. At night they lowered the temperature, which matched their world, and as the suns were setting now it was much cooler than during the day. But they’d have to have the female acclimated to a comfortable temperature room, because no way could she survive the over one hundred and fifty degree temperature the ship would increase to once the suns rose again.
They walked into the medic room, and Brawn saw that Thorque already had her on one of the suspended tables. The tables were welded from the very lava that flowed through the mountains of Hades, and Thorque had made sure that when they were constructing their ship that it matched the warriors’ specifications.
Lukin helped Brawn to the other table, and within seconds he had a needle in Brawn’s arm and the antidote already injected into his body. Brawn looked over at the female, and as his vision started to clear and his strength returned while the medicine worked its way through him, he finally took note of her. Thorque had her already set up with a needle and tube going into her arm, and the light green fluid that would neutralize the poison pumped into her. Thorque had already gotten the quill out of her neck, spread some med gel on it, and was bandaging it up with a thermal gel patch that would cut the healing time down to mere hours. He then started make quick work of the broken bone of her wrist.The healing gel they had seeped into her pores and instantly started knitting her from the inside out. Brawn looked at her face, saw the blood and sweat that had the dark strands of her hair sticking to her, and looked at the long, crescent shaped eyelashes that touched her cheeks. She was small compared to them, tiny in fact. She was also too thin, and he had a feeling it was because whatever camp she was with—because no way one lone female could survive this world alone—had trouble finding enough nourishment. They would have to correct that, because she needed to be strong, full, and not weak for the trip.
He looked at Lukin and Thorque, saw that his brothers were a few feet back from her, and noticed the deep-rooted desire that covered their faces. The breeding need was upon them well before they had found this woman. In fact, they had been heading to the intergalactic auctions several planets away to purchase a female that they would share as a mate. But it seemed fate had intervened and given them a woman of their own. She was of a different species, a weaker one at that, but as there were no naturally born females on Hades, the male population had to get their women from auctions, take them from other planets, or on rare occasions actually court one. The latter was next to impossible for a male of his world to do, mainly because they had no patience, and once the breeding and mating desire hit, they were on the hunt for a woman to carry their sons.
“She will be okay?” he asked his brother.
Thorque nodded, and ran a hand over his face. “She will, but, brother,” he looked over at Brawn. “Are you thinking what I am?” Thorque then looked at Lukin, who had his attention full on the female.
“I am, and I think all of us can agree that we won’t be letting her go,” Brawn said with determination. “She will be ours, if nothing else because I saved her life,” he said, but honestly it had nothing to do with her owing them anything. She was a fertile female, they were in need of one to share, and she had been right there for the taking.
“We will take her back to Hades,” Lukin said, and they nodded in agreement.
She probably would not like it, but what other options did she have? They could protect her, would cherish her as a bonded Hades warrior did with his female, and they would make sure she didn’t need anything.
“She’ll be out for the remainder of the night, so I think we need to work on the engine so we can be in flight for when she wakes and realizes we are taking her,” Thorque said.
It might have sounded cruel to take her against her will—well, she was unconscious so it wasn’t really against anything—but the truth was she would be dead right now if he hadn’t found her. It was safer for her to be with them, because leaving her on this planet was not an option.
“I’ve increased her nutrients through the IV by half to give her a jumpstart on advancing her muscle mass and caloric intake,” Torque said, and went over to the system controls that regulated how much or how little both of them got through the IV. “She should put on a substantial amount of healthy weight within the next twenty-four hours.”
“Good, because she’s rail-thin,” Lukin said and moved toward her. He pushed away a piece of her dark hair from her face, and the possessive side of Lukin came through like the Razzora Bea
st trampling through the Bolla trees. But Brawn felt it, too, and so did Thorque. The ingrained part of their animal side told them that this was their woman, regardless if she claimed them as well. They were in their breeding phase, and because they had found her she was theirs. It was as simple as that.
“Let’s get finished on the engine, because the sooner we get the fuck out of here, the better,” Brawn said, and his brothers grunted in agreement before leaving them alone. He rested back on the table and closed his eyes. He felt stronger by the second, but instead of leaving right away he looked at the woman again. Her breasts tented her ratty, holed-up shirt, and the stiff peaks of her nipples poked through the material. Her concave belly was showing through one of the longer tears in the shirt, and what used to be pants, he assumed, were hacked off in places. She was also filthy, probably from living under a rock just to survive this harsh planet. It may look beautiful on the outside, but deep in the heart of it all was a planet full of hunger that could strip a person away. But he could tell underneath all of that grime she was quite a stunning creature. He needed to get her well, needed her body to have curves and fullness, because if she was to bear them strong warrior sons she couldn’t be a weakling. He rested his head back on the table, closed his eyes, and felt the strength in him reach capacity. He hoped she’d see what they were doing as keeping her safe, and not taking her away from her life. Humans might be weaker, slower, and inferior to his kind, but if this female had survived even one night in this world, than she had to have some intelligence to her, and that was what he was hoping for.
Chapter Two