Alien Bride: A Dark Alien Sci-Fi Romance

by Penelope Woods

  “You can’t dwell on what just happened,” Akron reiterates.

  It’s not that easy. I didn’t get a proper goodbye. I was pulled away from one of my mates.

  He was the first of the pack to treat me with respect. I went along with this because he convinced me. But now he just persuaded me to let him die.

  It feels so fucking wrong.

  There are thoughts a mother cannot share with the world, let alone their child. When he or she is born, what am I supposed to say? That I let their father die to save the others?

  Our family didn’t need a hero. It just needed love.

  We get to the small craft and Akron nudges me on board. “You stay here,” he says.

  With no options left, I agree.

  As time passes, I can’t stop thinking about my baby. In less than nine months, I will have a child. I don’t want to have to tell them I let their fathers die.

  I need to get off of my ass.

  Another deathly roar rumbles through the canyons. I have nothing left to lose, so I step out of the craft.

  “Akron, wait!” I yell.

  The crowd turns.

  “I’m not staying behind,” I say. “I’m coming with you. To fight.”

  Akron nods and wipes his forehead. “You sure you’re ready? We could all die.”

  I step toward them. “I have to act on my principles,” I say. “I’m readier than I’ve ever been.”

  He tosses me a gun. As I coil my fingers around the handle, it lights up red, ready to shoot. I feel its power.

  My heart feels heavy. My body is wrecked. I’m in so much pain I can’t think straight. But I’m ready. “Let’s do this,” I say.

  “Okay,” Akron grunts. “You and I will head this way.”

  One of the workers edges through the crowd. “And us? What do you expect us to do?”

  Akron points to a separate path. “You know this planet better than I do. We’ll split up and flank him.”

  The worker nods and directs the others to follow.

  This is going to work. This has to fucking work.

  Following Slain’s screams, we walk through a tall canyon. The wall casts a shadow over our heads. Suddenly, the air turns eerily silent. The wind stills.

  “Akron,” Slain shouts.

  All of us look up at once. The Emperor stands above, green energy surrounding his body. He is holding Vraik and Lök hostage with the force of his hand.

  He looks like a monster.

  “Slain, let them go. You’ll never hear from us again,” Akron says.

  Slain grimaces. “Where did you store the Resnyx?”

  “The Resnyx is gone,” Akron says.

  For a moment, there is silence as the Emperor takes all of this in. But once it registers that he is ultimately powerless to find the rare element, he becomes enraged.

  His body shakes, and his power seems to radiate the soil. Our bodies rise into the air.

  “You have no idea what you have just done,” Slain says.

  He drops us, and we hit the dirt, rolling.

  Lök and Vraik try reaching out to me, but Slain immediately reacts.

  “You must die,” he commands.

  Vraik is sent flying near the cliff. His foot catches against the edge. He uses a small boulder to hold himself up.

  “Emma!” he shouts.

  Slain laughs, manically evil. Defiant of all life, he raises his arms and throws his weight at Lök. He too soars through the air, back hitting the canyon wall.

  He falls, limp, eyes closed.

  “No!” My voice is blood-curdling.

  Slain ignores me. Apparently he doesn’t believe a woman is any threat to him. But he doesn’t know my power.

  I’m a mother, and I’ll do anything to protect my family.

  I unload my weapon on him. One bullet hits his shoulder, sending him a few feet back. Another hits his chest. Green goo sprays across the dirt.

  Akron joins me, firing at least ten rounds into his disgusting body.

  I expect the asshole to fall to his death, but the bullets do him no harm. Rekker was right. The Resnyx has made him stronger than ever.

  Slain lunges toward Akron, throwing his fist into his abdomen. His fingers slide through the skin, opening him up.

  Akron screams as Slain holds onto his heart, squeezing. “You will all suffer my wrath,” he beckons. “For I am your God. The power of righteousness rests inside my palm.”

  I glance at the alphas, completely paralyzed by a new fear. All of them are injured. Rekker is healing in the med-bay, but he has promised to stay with the last remnants of the Resnyx.

  The miners have abandoned us.

  “No...” I whisper.

  “You,” he says, turning his sight to me. He lets go of Akron’s heart, allowing him to fall to the floor.

  Akron’s wounds heal, but he’s not moving.

  “Please,” I beg. “I am pregnant.”

  A grin cuts across his face. “Good. I need a kin. You will be my bride in heaven above,” he says.

  He wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me close to him. I struggle, but he easily restrains me.

  His hands coil around my neck, choking. My airways shut, and I can feel the quick pang of betrayal.

  Life has betrayed me and my baby.

  I need to get us out of here. But how?

  I whisper, “Rekker has the Resnyx. He is in the med-bay, waiting for you.”

  He lets go, dropping me hard. “What did you just say?”

  I fall, crying and sucking in huge breaths of air. “He has the Resnyx...”

  “Do not lie to me, whore,” he says.

  “The miners gave it to him for safe keeping. He thought… he thought we could win this,” I say.

  “It is not your destiny to win,” he says. “Soon, I will hold the power of the cosmos. I will be one with the universe.”

  Pleased with himself, Slain turns.

  I run to Akron. Lifting his neck, I try to get him to wake. “Akron, come on. Wake up.”

  “I was born to lead the universe to oblivion,” Slain says.

  A great rumble causes him to stop.

  Vraik lifts himself up the cliff. Lök opens his eyes, groaning.

  Akron starts to breathe.

  A giant red light shoots across the horizon. A grid forms over the landscape. A computerized voice resounds: “Five minutes remaining,”

  “A starfisher?” Slain whispers. “But… how?”

  I tear up. “Rekker,” I say. “You thought you were in control, but he knew you would be foolish enough to leave your home. You’ll never get it back. That is why he has the Resnyx. He came here to die with it. He came here to die with you.”

  Slain drops back, falling to the dirt. He kicks and nudges away from us. He looks pathetic.

  “You won so many bodies, but you have lost the final war,” Vraik says, standing.

  Slain’s eyes widen. “No...”

  Another sound comes from the opposite direction. A second spacecraft rises above the canyon.

  “Yes!” I shout.

  Laser beams fire directly at Slain’s body, knocking him into the ground. His chest is impacted, but it heals.

  “Rekker...”

  I run toward the craft, waving my arms. “Over here!”

  Slain tries to stand, but another round of lasers hits him, knocking his body toward the cliff.

  “Two minutes until detonation…”

  The fast-flying craft is not the only thing I see. A crowd of miners appear over a hill.

  They have been subjected to a life of slavery, forced into a system that was fake all along. There were no mates for them, just a dead-end road, a path toward their shallow graves.

  They attack.

  They swarm the Emperor, violently swinging their tools against his failing body. He screams, choking on his own blood.

  Lök, Vraik, and Akron come to my aid. “Come on. It’s time to go,” Lök says.

  “One minute until detonation�
�”

  Together, we run toward the flying spacecraft’s light. It beams us inside. The miners follow

  “Ten seconds until detonation…”

  When I’m inside, I can’t believe my eyes. Rekker stands, manning the vehicle. His body is young again. His muscles, rippling hard.

  He turns, smiling. “Hello, sweetheart.”

  The alphas join his side.

  I fall to my knees. “You… You… You survived,” I stutter.

  “Just a minor fix,” he says. “As soon as the machine healed me, I knew I had to take the risk. I couldn’t let you go,” he says.

  I run to hug them, kiss them, and touch them, but as soon as I take the leap forward, I hear Slain’s final scream.

  “I am oblivion.”

  “Let’s go,” Akron shouts.

  We zoom out of planet Ferän as the starfisher bomb detonates the entire planet.

  With fire and rubble trailing our ass, Rekker turns on our forcefield and sits back.

  “Well, that was interesting,” he jokes.

  Earth – here we come.

  Eighteen

  Emma

  Love does not come easy.

  You have to find it. But to do that, you have to leave familiarity.

  You have to take the biggest risk of your life.

  That’s what I did. And my alphas followed my lead. Each and every one of us sacrificed a part of ourselves to get where we are today.

  Love is sorrow. Love is pain. Sometimes, it’s near damn impossible. But you fight for it. You hold on as long as you can.

  The truth becomes more apparent than ever. Love is the only answer.

  Akron stands near the escape pods. The miners stand by his side. It’s hard not to feel a little sad about his leaving, but I know he’s ready to get his life back in order. Ubara is a planet in need of a leader. I have faith he’ll fix things. He’ll make it right over there.

  “You sure you don’t want to come to Earth?” I ask.

  He chuckles. “What, and be forced to wear a cloaking device all day?” he asks. “No thanks. I think I’m ready for something bigger.”

  “Like what?” Rekker asks.

  Akron grins and holds out his palm. “You still have that Resnyx?”

  “Don’t tell me you’re going down that road,” Lök replies.

  Akron turns serious. “The sentinels are still roaming those streets. I’ll need a bargaining chip if I want to gain power.”

  “The only thing the Resnyx brings is chaos,” Vraik grunts.

  Akron nods. “Trust me. I’m not going to use it,” he assures us, glancing at the crowd of miners. “But our people deserve a chance at peace again.”

  Rekker looks worried, but one of the miners steps forward and says his piece. “For you, the fight is coming to an end. But for us, the war still rages. When we win, we will destroy the element.”

  All of us share glances, but I’m the first to respond. “Take it. It’s yours.”

  “What?” Rekker asks. “You can’t be serious.”

  I hold my ground. “Rekker, give it to him. He’s right. Besides, we have another planet to get to.”

  Rekker slides his hand out of his pocket, revealing the glass vial. It’s amazing such a small container can hold something so powerful.

  Rekker says, “Keep it safe.”

  Akron nods. “Will do, brother.”

  We hug. We say our goodbyes.

  I watch them take off into the star-filled sky.

  Location: Earth

  It’s been four days since Earth’s invasion.

  Four days since I met my captors. Four days to escape my life and fall into an unfathomable type of love.

  Now that I’m back, it’s just so hard to fathom. It feels like I’ve lived a lifetime. I’ve seen so much. I proved I can survive anything.

  Earth is rebuilding. We removed the Resnyx extraction unit. The bridge my aliens pulverized is now under construction. Government surveillance cameras scan the city streets for aliens, but people don’t seem to be worried anymore.

  Things have changed, maybe for the better. Time will tell. Something tells me everyone needed to go through something like this to come out a little bit stronger.

  Cloaking systems on, my three aliens stand by my side, invisible to the world around me.

  There’s a lot we’ll still have to face. Our marriage will come with plenty of challenges. But I’m not worried. We can make this work.

  We walk the streets.

  “This is Earth?” Lök asks.

  I laugh. “What did you expect?”

  He takes my hand. “I never really gave it a second thought,” he admits. “Anywhere with you is heaven.”

  The other alphas come around to each side of me. I feel their kisses, listening to their words of devotion and care.

  “You have saved our lives,” Lök says.

  Vraik says, “We owe you everything.”

  They don’t love me because it makes them feel better about their own lives. They love me because they want to give me the world. And even though they don’t have to do that, they still make these gestures.

  That’s love.

  I thought I lost it…

  “We want you,” Rekker moans.

  “Now,” Vraik says.

  I gulp. I want them so bad, but this has to wait. There’s something else I really need to do beforehand.

  “Not yet,” I say. “There’s someone I need to see.”

  I follow the old path to my house, bracing in front of the door. Sweat forms around my forehead as I take hold of my key.

  I just helped defeat an evil warlord emperor. Yet, for some reason, this is still the hardest thing in the world to do.

  “You got this,” Lök says.

  “I’m so scared,” I admit.

  “I’ve never met someone so strong and resilient,” he replies. “Just tell her how you feel, and everything will work out.”

  I nod and slide the key into the lock, turning. Stepping inside, all of the old senses come back to me. The smell of my house, the sight of the living room holograph, and the sound of my mother’s cough brings me back to a different time and place.

  Things have really changed for me, but on Earth, everything seems the same.

  “Mom?” I ask, tears spilling down my face.

  “I’m over here,” she says, squinting and wading carefully through the hallway.

  She walks right by me, holding a bucket of ice cream, landing her butt onto the couch with a loud “oomph.”

  Is this really happening? Am I truly face to face with my mother again?

  My mom smiles as the hologram on her lap plays the news of the day. “Nice to have you back,” she says.

  I take another step forward, mouth agape. The aliens stand near, still invisible with the sentinel’s cloaking systems.

  “It’s okay,” Rekker whispers.

  “What’s that?” my mom asks.

  I clear my throat. “What have you been up to since I’ve been gone?” I ask.

  She stares at me dumbly and smiles. “Oh, you know me. I’ve been lounging around. They’ve had the same movie playing all week. You’d probably like it - it’s one of those UFO things. Too gory, if you ask me.”

  “Agreed,” I say. “Let’s change the channel.”

  As I reach for the remote, my phone vibrates on the dining room table. I pause and glance at it.

  My mom nods her chin in its direction. “Answer it. It’s been driving me nuts,” she says.

  Slowly, I make my way toward the table. I reach down, but hesitate to take the phone in my hand. The screen shows Ryan’s dumb face. Whenever he used to call, my heart would fill with dread. But now it doesn’t feel so bad.

  I press the green button, hold the phone to my ear. “Cynthia? Don’t hang up. I need to talk to Emma. This is big. No, this is massive. This could make or break your daughter’s career. Do you understand?”

  Ryan hasn’t changed a bit.

  “Rya
n,” I answer. “Um, it’s me. Emma.”

  He breathes a loud sigh of relief. “Jesus, Emma! Where have you been? I’ve been calling you for four fucking days now.”

  “The Avalon report. I get it,” I say, narrowing my eyes.

  He lets out an exhausted laugh. “The Avalon report is way past due. Haven’t you been watching the news?”

  “Some kind of alien invasion, right?” I ask.

  He stutters, shocked by my lack of a response. “Emma, no one knows what happened. It looks like they up and disappeared.”

  “Well, I’ll try to stay more informed,” I say.

  He sighs. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on with you. I’ll chalk it up to stress, okay?”

  “Okay, sure,” I respond.

  “I’m going to need you to come into the office today,” he says.

  My mother takes a giant scoop of chocolate ice-cream. She gobbles it down too fast, and moans. Brain-freeze. It’s an absolute killer.

  I’ve missed Earth.

  I laugh. “You need me to come in? Today?” I ask.

  “You can’t avoid work forever,” he says.

  Is that so?

  “Are you going to fire me, Ryan? Is that what you want?” I ask.

  “Well, no, but...” His voice trails, and I suddenly feel bad for him.

  He was a rebound, a guy who took my heart and used it for his own sexual gain. There’s millions of men like him, but I suddenly understand why he acts like such an asshole.

  He is looking for love in all of the wrong places. Whether it’s with the job at the Daily Star, or with the many women he has slept with in the office, he has not found the one person that can truly satisfy him.

  He needs to find it within himself.

  “I’ve been on a journey, Ryan,” I say. “I’ve taken a long and deep look inward.”

  There is a moment of silence as he digests what I’m telling him. “Are you quitting?”

  “I’m sorry,” I say. “But I can’t stay at a job that doesn’t align with who I am.”

  I have all of the gold in the world. I have the security and comfort from my alpha aliens. If we want to go on a vacation, we can travel across the universe in less than a few hours.

  I have everything I could have asked for. Fire away.

  “We can’t lose you. You were our best journalist,” he says.