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Warning: This excerpt contain detailed intimate scenes intended for an an adult audience, and very naughty character art. 🥵

Hannah and Tanis

The second installment in The Girl with the Gray Eyes trilogy is with the editor and due for release 14th January. Book three is complete and will be coming hot on the heels...


The Girl with the Gray Eyes: https://tinyurl.com/TheGirlWithTheGrayEyes

The Warrior in the Shadows: https://tinyurl.com/TheWarriorInTheShadows


 


Excerpt, The Warrior in the Shadows Copyright © 2023 L.V. Lane


Prologue

Shadowland

Hannah Duvaul, ancient technology specialist

Three days had passed since I entered Station fifty-four and six hours since I had finished my work. The station was now fully operational, and Rymor was once more safe.

I wished I could say the same thing about myself.

A battle had raged outside for days between the Shadowlanders and the Jaru. Not long ago, it had come to a savage end with the arrival of new forces, and now the only Jaru I could see on the screens were dead.

My time within the station remained a brief moment of sanity in an insane world–a tiny piece of Rymor that the ancients had buried eons ago in the midst of Shadowland.

I couldn't hide here forever, no matter how enticing the option was, and I needed to find out what was happening now that the battle was over.

I turned the outside viewer off but couldn't yet persuade myself to open the door. Someone would come to look for me soon; I was surprised no one had been beating on the door already.

I had never aspired to visit Shadowland, despite my deep-rooted fixation with the alphas who lived here. Prior to the station collapse, I'd thought little of the strange, isolated symbiosis that existed between those inside and those outside the wall.

Only it didn't feel so isolated anymore, not when viewed from this side.

Rymor's wall, a great illusion created by the ancients, rendered impenetrable by an energy barrier powered by the stations and receptors scattered throughout the surrounding lands, the most notable of which was Station fifty-four, was once more operational.

I'd done what I intended to, despite how improbable it had seemed along the way, the many weeks of arduous travel, death, and fear through a country consumed by war. It was a miracle I'd reached the station at all.

That miracle manifested itself in the form of Shadowlanders, led by John Tanis, who had saved us from a Jaru attack.

It was the first time I'd seen someone killed; I wished it had been the last.

Pushing those memories aside, I picked up the standard-issue Pulse Beam hand-held weapon I'd found in one of the storage rooms. During the fierce fighting outside, it had given me a measure of comfort, even if I wasn't convinced I could use it. It could be deadly in trained hands. Unfortunately, I couldn't pass the first test and turn it on. I experimented with flicking a few switches on the side while pointing it at the floor.

I was being ridiculous! The trigger was obvious, and it wouldn't fire unless I pressed it.

I examined the switches on the weapon again. There was a tiny red light at the top.

I didn't remember that?

 

John Tanis (Tanis), Shadowland leader

A battle outside Station fifty-four had ended not long ago, and now we were left dealing with the dead and tending to the wounded.

At times I could almost forget the savagery of the world I lived in, but today it was impossible to ignore. I thought back on the easy, empty life I'd once known in Rymor and imagined how it might feel to return; to sleep that peaceful sleep, to forget all the killing, death, and loss.

It wasn't a choice anymore. I'd been exiled ten years ago, and the Shadowlanders were my people now. Even if I could, I wouldn't walk away.

The station was operational. At least, I suspected it was operational. There had certainly been a mighty rumble that had brought activities in the surrounding area to a standstill and startled nearby birds to flight.

It was time to find out what Hannah was still doing in there.

Inside, a long corridor stretched before me, and at the end, it opened out into a well-lit circular room. Hannah was standing next to a curving interactive desk with, of all things, a Pulse Beam firearm. The telltale red power light on the top gave me cause for concern. "Hiding Hannah?" I tutted. "And from the looks of it, the station's been operational for a good while."

She froze before turning slowly around.

"How did you get in?" Her fingers remained locked around the weapon, not exactly pointing at me, but not exactly pointing away, either. "Where are Adam and the others? Are they all okay?"

"They're fine, including Garren, you'll be pleased to know. We're getting ready to leave for Thale. You and the rest of the Rymorians will accompany us...at least for a time."

Silence stretched between us. She wasn't happy about the news, which made me curious.

Maybe she wasn't as attached to Garren as I thought?

Yeah, that definitely interested me.

Maybe she had spoken to Bill and couldn't wait to get back to him?

And that pissed me off.

"And I got in through the door. I can rig a locked pad if I have to," I said more casually than I felt given she was still pointing a live firearm at me.

Her eyes narrowed. "I wonder how that particular skill was acquired."

Omegas, you never knew what would come out of their mouths next. Her scent was clean and compelling. I just wanted to fuck all that attitude out of her until she was soft and compliant like a good little omega should be. To make her forget Garren and Bill, to stake my claim.

It's only scent, I told myself. I'd been around unmated omegas before. I could keep my damn head. "So, you now have me labeled as some sort of criminal. It's rather minor compared to my other occupation as a cold-blooded killer." As I moved farther into the room, she backed up a step. "Sorry to disappoint you, Hannah, but I studied basic electronics for a time before they allowed me to choose my path." My attention shifted from the woman who should have been mated long ago–it would definitely have settled her prickly disposition–over the equipment in the room. "Can't see me as an engineer? Neither could I, which is why from the age of ten, and due to my mother's fierce petitioning, I was allowed to focus on a study area of my choice. I'd already passed my mandatory exams, so they had no valid argument for denying the request, unorthodox though it was. From then on, I studied only warfare, weapons, combat, and the history thereof."

I shouldn't have baited her. While I probably could rig a locked door pad, I'd taken the easy route and asked Adam, the appointed leader of the Rymorian expedition, to open the door. I should have sent Adam to talk to her; I was beginning to wish I had.

"I want to go back to Rymor. They'll repair the tunnel eventually. I could stay here, wait for them," she said, the pulse beam trembling in her small hand.

"What? Wait here for a year or two on your own?" I said, amused that she was ready to abandon my younger brother, less so that it was probably so she could run back to Bill. "Not really a practical solution, or are you hoping they will send a transport? Or that Bill will come to your rescue?"

Her posture stiffened but given I'd once referred to her former partner as a bastard that needed putting down, and she'd been sleeping with Garren for weeks, I was surprised the comment got a rise.

"I want to go back," she said more firmly. "You said I could go back."

"Unfortunately, we can't always have what we want. Not today anyway." I took another step forward, and she backed up, stopping abruptly after finding the desk behind her.

"Except you, of course. You always get what you want, don't you, Tanis."

My laugh was brief and humorless. "I think you have me confused with Bill."

"Bill? What does he have to do with anything? Besides, you're nothing like Bill."

"I appreciate the unintentional compliment," I said. "And he has everything to do with this."

She held the weapon out, her fingers shaking

So, we are going there, then.

"I have to go back home." Her voice carried a hint of hysteria. Still, I was reasonably sure she wouldn't shoot me, and if she did, it was almost certainly on stun.

I moved closer still, stopping no more than a pace away. Her knuckles were white where they wrapped around the PB, but I looked her in the eye when I said, "Rymor no longer exists for you, Hannah. At least not the Rymor, you know. Better to forget it sooner rather than later."

Her lips started to tremble. "No!" She fumbled her grip on the weapon before her fingers settled on the trigger. "You said you would let me go back."

"I said that I would consider it, but I certainly made no promise. Besides, this isn't my decision." When I offered Adam the option of returning to Thale, he'd jumped at the chance.

I straightened my stance and waited to see what she would do. Her fuck-me scent was making me a little woozy. The desk behind her was the perfect height to bend her over and...I probably should be focusing on my imminent death.

The moment stretched until finally, she sighed and put the firearm down.

Thank fuck! I closed the gap and picked up the weapon to check the settings.

No, I wasn't mistaken. She really did have the safety off. I put it back down with a grunt. "You had the safety off. I ought to spank your fucking ass...And the setting was up high enough that you and the rest of the room would have been wearing my liquefied remains."

She swallowed and fidgeted. "I didn't need the details."

"So, did you speak to him?"

She blinked up at me. This close, I could see the gray of her eyes, that she was as exceptionally beautiful as she appeared from a distance. "Who?"

"Bill, who else?" I'd boxed her in against the desk, but given she had pointed an operational weapon at me, I considered making her uncomfortable a minor payback.

"No, of course not. I told you before, I don't want anything to do with him."

"Probably a good thing," I continued calmly while trying to ignore the fact that she might have shot me and smelled fucking incredible this close. "You'd be useless at lying. He would probably figure out within seconds that you've been fraternizing with Shadowlanders, and that would really piss him off. So, you must have updated someone. Who did you talk to?"

She blinked a couple of times. "Dan."

"Dan? Just another man in your life? What's Dan's part in this?"

Her brows drew together again with that. "Where is this conversation going? Dan Gilmore. He is an ancient technology expert, a genius really. He's also an omega....I just tried to kill you!"

I raised an eyebrow. "I think you may be overstating your prowess, but yes, I suppose you did contemplate it at least."

"You don't seem very concerned. Why am I the only one shaking?" She stared down at her shaking hands.

I stepped back to give her some space. "I've spent three days being nearly killed. I have...several arrow wounds, I've lost a lot of blood, and feel like shit. People trying to kill me is an occupational hazard. That little stunt you pulled barely got a rise." I huffed out a laugh. "It would probably make Bill's day–you accidentally shooting me. He's been sending people to kill me for years. I guess at least I know now that you're not one of them."

"You really think that, don't you? That he wants to kill you."

"I don't think, I know." I shrugged. "You seem to forget that I'm not squeamish about extracting information when circumstances require it. I have an extensive amount of evidence." And the scars to prove it.

"Why does he want to kill you?"

"That's not a conversation for now. It's time to leave, and your friends will be worrying for your safety, as misplaced as their concern might be, given you were the one about to shoot me," I said dryly.

"I don't know if I can go out there again."

Vulnerability. Hannah had an air of damaged beauty, which for reasons I couldn't quantify, felt integral to who she was rather than the result of recent events. Some people didn't belong in Shadowland. I'd been brutally honest with her back in Julant when I'd made it clear I considered her a danger to herself and a liability to her team. I'd tasked Garren with keeping her alive during that perilous race to the station. Pity my half-brother had embraced the request so enthusiastically–I still wanted to punch him in the face for that. "Unfortunately, you don't have any choice." I smiled, trying to lighten the mood.

"I'm not giving you a choice, Hannah," I added softly when she didn't move."You should probably collect anything you need, except the weapon. And if I really must carry you, then I will."

I saw that moment when she realized that I would follow through on the threat. She nodded and drew a deep breath. "I am ready."

"You don't look ready," I said because she didn't, and she probably never would be. "But I guess that doesn't really matter."

She took a last, longing look around the station before we headed together back out into Shadowland.


 

Chapter 1

Hannah

I was supremely aware of Tanis's presence as we walked along the corridor. After he'd stood so close, my lungs felt saturated with his essence. My body was tingling with arousal in the way it had ever since I'd met an alpha, only it was worse around Garren and Tanis. The itch under my skin manifested a desire to preen and posture before the dominant male, to do anything that might encourage him to rut.

I threw a look over my shoulder as we neared the door.

Bad idea. Our eyes locked, and the air lodged in my lungs. My stomach performed a slow, sensual dip, and a flood of slick pulsed out.

His nostrils flared, a rumbly growl emanating from his chest before he closed his fingers over the back of my neck and yanked me to him.

Our lips met, and I swear electricity crackled between us at that very first touch. I was on him, trying to climb him, arms entangled around his neck, nails raking flesh, legs wrapping around his body, and he, crushing me to him in a way that lit me up. His tongue speared my mouth, and I sucked on it, purring manically, rubbing my crotch against his body, seeking friction of any kind against my sensitive clit.

Deep, mindless urgency ripped through me, his scent smothering me in a way that felt like home. He had saved me during that fateful first Jaru attack and plucked me from danger. I'd been half in love with him ever since, maddened by the way he held himself aloof, and then Garren came along...

His lips wrenched from mine.

I blinked, dizzy and confused but also desperately horny.

He peeled me off and set me down a pace away, his hands clenching into fists when I wavered like he was fighting the urge to put his hands on me again.

I wanted his hands. Only the small separation allowed some measure of sanity to return. I was also with Garren, I knew if he had been here, he'd be inside me already, and I would be just as mindless from him. They were both compelling alphas and men, different in attitude and ways. Where one was darker and commanding, the other was light and more ready to smile.

I was out of my depth with both of them, either of them.

"I'm sorry," I said. Not that I was really sorry, I just needed something to break the stifling impasse before I launched myself at him again.

"I'm not," he said, and that fast, all the raging lust hit me again.

"What will happen now?" I said, squeezing words past the tightness in my throat.

His lips tugged up slightly on one side. "Now you'll open the door, and we will both continue on to Thale."

"What about Garren?" Heat flooded my cheeks. I felt stupid the moment the words tumbled past my lips.

"Garren will continue with your protection. But Hannah–" He waited until I lifted my wary gaze. "You may be his for now, but you were always mine."

With those shattering words still ringing in my mind, he palmed the door activation plate, flooding the corridor with natural light.


 

I stepped through the door of Station fifty-four and squinted against the glare of the bright, natural light, breathing in air that wasn't saturated in Tanis and trying to pull myself together.

Being back outside was like waking from a dream and discovering that reality was a nightmare.

The last time I'd stood here, a battle had been taking place, and men, horses, and cries met in a cacophony of terror. The mood was calm and tired now, the frenzy replaced by orderly sobriety as soldiers moved with purpose on overlapping quests. Bodies littered the ground around the station, and flies thickened the air, excited by the gluttonous bounty. Soon the carrion feeders would arrive to complete the grisly cycle of life. Several fires had been lit, and the smoke drifted sluggishly in the arid air.

I glanced at Tanis, who had watched my silent study of the scene. There was a faint trickle of blood at the side of his throat. My chest rose unsteadily as I realized I'd put it there. I liked seeing my mark on him, wanted to make more, to savage him with my nails and teeth.

He smirked and pressed his fingertips to the scratch before inspecting them. "Staking your claim, Hannah?"

Although I shook my head, my eyes screamed, yes.

He gestured toward the tree line. Tearing my gaze from his, I followed his indication to where I could see Adam, the appointed leader of the Rymorian expedition, talking to another man on the far side of the clearing.

"I think you've kept your people waiting long enough," Tanis said.

When I glanced back, I found his expression unreadable. The enigmatic leader had returned. He walked away, leaving me alone at the top of the steep rise that housed the buried power source.

I turned toward the forest. My lips were tingling, and my cheeks were hot. I probably looked thoroughly kissed...and if the wary glances the passing alphas sent my way were any indication, I was throwing off pheromones.

Feeling very much abandoned, I drew a deep breath and went to join Adam.

Spotting me, his face split into a grin. I smiled, too. He greeted me with a hug, the kind, friendly, neutral hug of a man who was a beta and happily married, and how much I needed that simple human connection. "Ah, Hannah, it's so good to see you. Is it done? Operational?"

I nodded. Shared relief blossomed between us. It was done. Despite the odds, it was done.

My curious glance took in the man standing at Adam's side, who gave me a nod. He was unknown to me, with short curly hair, dark skin, and a body on the unhealthy side of lean. There was an air about him that made me think him another field scientist.

I looked around. "Where is the rest of the team?"

"Helping with the preparations to leave. Everything got scattered." Adam gestured over his shoulder toward the station. "Did you talk to anyone while you were inside?"

"Only Dan Gilmore briefly. I asked him to erase our communication. I thought it better to check with you first before making an official update. I also left the satellites disabled for sixty hours–it seemed like the right thing to do."

Adam's face softened with those words, and tension left his shoulders. "Yes, a great idea," he said. "We'll be long gone by then."

"If you're not going to say it, I will," the man next to Adam said. "Thank fuck she didn't talk to Bill."

Adam nodded his head at the speaker. "Hannah, meet Jon Sanders. A fellow field scientist," he said, confirming my assessment. "Whose opinions are possibly more extreme than mine."

Jon Sanders? Why was that name so familiar?

"Diplomacy was never my strong point, but after spending two months locked in a pigpen wondering if every day was my last..." He didn't finish the thought. "All we need is Bill thinking Hannah's waiting at the station and sending a bunch of trigger-happy yahoos in. The station's operational, so he knows someone's here. Better if he's not sure who, and better still he thinks it decided to start itself. We need to leave as fast as possible."

Despite the expressive language and his vocal distrust of Bill, Jon Sanders had an emotive way that I warmed to. Charming in an unorthodox kind of way. Still, I was confused as to where he had come from since, other than my mission, all Rymorians had been recalled.

"What did Dan have to say?" Adam asked before I could broach the subject of Jon being here. "Anything important we should know?"

"Yes. He said there had been talk of a war. That Rymor had declared war on Shadowland. I explained that the Shadowlanders had helped us, and that we wouldn't have reached the station without them."

Adam grunted. "War? Against Shadowland? Good thing we got here in time. I doubt he'll get traction for war now the station is operational. I doubt it would have happened either way. Gaia holds tight to their power. They won't backtrack on a millennium of policy without a burning platform."

"Does this change our plans?" Jon asked Adam.

"No," Adam confirmed.

"What plans?" I asked. "Our plans to wait at Thale until the remaining Jaru leave?" Silence greeted my question, and tension entered Adam's posture. "What are you not telling me?"

"The Jaru have already gone," Adam said quietly, "but it's not safe for us in Rymor anymore. Our stay in Thale is indefinite."

"Indefinite?" Perhaps Tanis telling me of our destination should have triggered a warning. Indefinite? What did that even mean? I was still a little woozy from Tanis's kiss and wasn't functioning at my best. I thought I might throw up.

"Here, sit down." Hand on my shoulder, Adam directed me to the ground, crouching beside me. "Sorry, that came out more abruptly than I intended." His eyes held mine. "Look, there's no easy way to say this, but we can't go back. Not after what happened."

"What's happened? Are we going to make a report? Perhaps they could send a transport?" I didn't want to speak to Bill. Even contemplating it made my stomach churn yet staying here indefinitely was nothing short of crazy. "Why would we need to stay out here?"

"Reporting won't make any difference," Jon said tiredly. "More likely to fuck shit up beyond all recovery. We weren't held hostage by accident."

"Held hostage by who?" I demanded, looking between Adam and Jon.

"This isn't Hannah's fault, Jon."

"Yeah, I get that," Jon replied. "You said she could be trusted. Now she's talking about running back in and spilling our plans to Bill."

Not so charming, unorthodox, or otherwise, I decided.

"She can be trusted. She is trusted," Adam said. "Damn it, Jon, you've only just told me what happened with the transport. You know about her relationship with Bill."

Bill–again. It had taken weeks to move past that minefield of a relationship, and now someone new had arrived who probably still thought we were together. Maybe Bill even believed so.

My feelings toward Bill had shifted through many transitions, yet Jon as a newcomer, knew nothing about that.

What if I had spoken to Bill? I'd become convinced that he'd never cared for me as I'd once cared for him. His discord was apparent from the perspective of time and separation.

"Yeah, I know Bill. I wish I didn't," Jon said, his eyes narrowing on me. "Maybe he sent her out here to kill Tanis. Lull us all into trusting her before she finishes his dirty work for him."

I burst out laughing. I probably sounded hysterical. Given what had transpired behind the station's closed doors, Jon's cool, flippant assessment had been a little too close for comfort. "You think I'm here to assassinate Tanis?" I felt my temper rising, and heat engulfed my cheeks. "I admit he does bring out the occasional violent urge but so far, I have controlled it. I don't trust Bill any more than you do. I told Dan as much. We should provide an update though, and I was suggesting that option to Adam, who as far as I'm concerned, is still in charge."

Adam rubbed his jaw, and I could see he was poorly stifling a smirk.

Jon didn't even try to hide his crooked grin. "Okay, I admit Tanis does lack some basic social skills and women wanting to kill him isn't unusual."

I was sure Tay would attest to that, which further charged my temper. The thought of any woman having that level of closeness to him brought out my claws.

"You may be his for now, but you were always mine."

That statement was going to mess with me to no end.

"I'm part of this. I deserve to know what happened. Why are you even out here? I thought all the field scientists had been recalled?"

Jon glanced briefly at Adam.

Adam nodded. "Tell her. She needs to know."

"I was part of the first repair team," Jon said. "The transport that crashed."

Now I remembered that name from a month ago, back at Julant. It had unleashed Tanis's fury when Adam mentioned that Jon was on the crashed transport.

"I was told you were dead." Ancient technology wasn't an area with many specialists–two less after the crash. Rymor never needed them since maintenance was automated, and faults near unheard of. Ancient technology had relegated itself to a forgotten skill, a historical curiosity. The earthquake changed all that.

The media coverage when the transport left with a repair team was intense. Then nothing had been reported for days until Bill called me to his office and told me the terrible news. It had crashed. The people onboard, including the two technical experts, were presumed dead, and the Shadowlanders were now considered hostile.

When I left, the people of Rymor knew nothing about the transport crash nor that the power restrictions were symptomatic of a bigger problem–notably, they had no protective wall.

"We came down after the halfway point," Jon said. "An explosion. We managed to level out, but the landing was rough, and a flight observer died. Barely had we landed when we came under attack. At the time I thought they were Jaru, but I soon realized something was off. Our captors took us north. We lost another man along the way, a field scientist they beat to death. We traveled for weeks to an old trapper lodge just over the border. There we stayed until Tanis's men rescued us a few days ago."

"The rest of the transport crew survived? They're here?" I asked, horrified by what they had endured.

"Yes, the two technical masters survived, as did the other field scientists onboard. The remaining flight observer was working with them. He died while we were there, killed by one of his own." Jon said. "They had Rymorian technology. At least one PB firearm. They still have it since we didn't find it among those killed...We found Rymorians among them working for an undercover agency. They didn't know a lot other than the primary contact that went by the name of Karry. He wasn't with them at the time. It turns out Karry had orders to locate Adam's group and extract them. If the extraction failed, then his orders were to kill you all."

I shook my head, my denial never forming into words.

Kill us? Someone had been sent to kill us–and kill me?

Adam nodded confirmation, his face solemn. "It's true, Hannah. I wish it were otherwise. Someone in Rymor is behind this. Anyone powerful enough to bring so many people out here with weapons is a threat for reasons far eclipsing our personal safety. We need a lot more information before we can return. I've no idea where we're going to get it. People are trying to kill us, their motivation unclear. For now, better that they know nothing about our location or plans. With hindsight, I would rather Dan had remained ignorant. I trust Dan, but anyone who can do this–well there's no saying what else they may do or what they might have access to."

Blood drained from my face. "Oh god. I need to warn Dan."

I went to scramble up, but Adam moved with me, his hand on my arm gentle but insistent.

"It's too late, Hannah," he said softly. "We can't risk more communication."

I wanted to argue, to plead, if need be, but Adam's face was set. Tears welled at the back of my eyes, but I blinked them away. What was done was done. Dan was an intelligent man. He wouldn't be reckless, would he? "When will we leave?"

"Soon, I think," Adam replied, releasing my arm. "Tanis is eager to return to Thale."

I nodded. A part of me longed to return home, see my sister and family, and resume my normal life. And yet so much had happened, all those revelations and incidents that shattered my confidence in a man I'd once been intimately acquainted with. I didn't trust my judgment of what was right. I didn't trust my judgment of people, and I thought Adam's decision not to return might be for the best.


 

Garren

Chapter 2

Hannah


I was still reeling from these revelations when I became aware of someone on my periphery. Turning, I found Garren waiting.

"I'll leave you to catch up," Adam said. On a distant level, I was aware of Adam and Jon moving off, but I only had eyes for the alpha who stared back at me.

Tall and built, with shoulder-length blond hair and blue eyes, Garren was like the living embodiment of a mythical Viking god created in loving detail and placed upon the mortal world. He was a fantasy and reality all rolled into one. The strange plate and leather armor, the sword at his left hip, the rough, primal beauty of man and alpha.

His lips tugged up. He took a step forward and hauled me into his arms, and how good it felt to be there.

He stilled abruptly and gave an exaggerated sniff before lifting his head and pinning me with a glare. "Tanis's scent is all over you."

"I-he-we..."

Garren growled, and not in a sexy way, more, the hairs lifting in the back of your neck, blood is about to spill, way. I swallowed hard, wondering what failed cross-wiring in my brain might be responsible for the sudden unmistakable clench to my pussy and the gush of slick.

"We didn't... we only kissed."

His nostrils flared and his eyes narrowed. "I'm going to thump the bastard.... Later. I need inside you."

"God, yes please."

Our hands clashed as we both reached for the catch on my suit. What followed was a chaotic jumble of urgent fingers and muttered cursing as my clothes were parted enough for him to slip his hand inside.

"You're very fucking wet, Hannah." His lips pressed my throat, teeth nipping the skin as his fingers speared deep into my pussy, making it hard to concentrate on his words. "Did you like him kissing you?"

"I...Oh!" His fingertips found the entrance to my slick gland, and he petted the sensitive bundle of nerves without mercy, making me twitch and groan.

"Answer the fucking question," he growled in my ear, "or I'm going to fucking stop!"

"Yes!"

He stopped anyway. "No!" What the fuck did I just say?

“Unmated omega. Causing no end of fucking trouble," he muttered as he put me on my hands and knees and came down behind me. A jangle and clank followed, and I waited, quivering with need, before he directed the blunt head of his cock to my pussy entrance and filled me with a savage thrust.

"He's not the one fucking you, now, is he?" Garren said, slamming into me slow and deliberate, slapping our flesh together and sending a delicious jolt that sparked nerves to life.

"Not the one plowing this tight, needy omega cunt, I am."

His aggression lit a fire in me, and I loved every rough word, every possessive touch, every deep fuck of his hard cock.

"Not the one ruining this pussy, I am."

He began to power into me, his knot swelling, bringing that tingling anticipation and no indication that he might withhold that pleasure. Fast, urgent, driving my body relentlessly toward the delirium of release.

"Hope the bastard suffers a hard on all day. Hope he can't get your sweet fuck-me scent out of his nose. Hope his balls are blue!"

Garren fucked me, but I wasn't only thinking of him. No, I was thinking about Garren and Tanis, focusing on that tendril of scent that lingered, of being between them, of taking them both.

His strokes slowed, working the knot in until it lodged perfectly, seeming to swell larger still.

"You may be his for now, but you were always mine."

I came, body turning rigid, heat and pleasure sufficing every pore, and deep, glorious contractions over his hard cock and knot. Garren ground his pelvis against mine, and a hot flood bathed the entrance to my womb.

Here, right here, knotted and well fucked, I understood myself.

But as the heady sensations dimmed to a glow and sanity returned, I questioned my actions.

What the fuck was I doing?

What the fuck was I going to do?


Excerpt, The Warrior in the Shadows Copyright © 2022 L.V. Lane

Coming 14th January

The Warrior in the Shadows: https://tinyurl.com/TheWarriorInTheShadows

 

NSFW version of Garren is coming to my Patreon on January!

Come and join the fun!


 



 
 
 
  • Feb 20, 2023
  • 1 min read

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You wake up naked, smothered under a wall of hot flesh.

Your wriggling sees the beast move, and the mountain crushing you, shifts.

A gasp escapes your lips when his big hand connects with your ass.

“Be still,” Silas growls.

𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘈𝘥𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦: 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘕𝘖𝘛 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘚𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦, 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘤𝘺, 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘧𝘶𝘭 (𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘺) 𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘨𝘢, 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘺-𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮, 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘏𝘌𝘈.

ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝔽ℝ𝔼𝔼 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕂𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕝𝕖 𝕌𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕞𝕚𝕥𝕖𝕕


 

Coveted Prey Series Guide on a Page


 

Coming to the Patreon in Dec!

TEASER IMAGE ~

My Patron's picked Tempting the Orc in the monthly art poll, and we are locked in and ready for the early December reveal! This super sweet and naughty set of drawings is coming to my NSFW Patreon tier in December!


 
 
 
  • Feb 20, 2023
  • 14 min read

Almost here...


Prologue

Theta was the first dynamic to be revealed in a human infected with the Copper virus. A junior research assistant accidentally infected himself, or so it was alleged. Thetas are hyper-intelligent and driven toward the accumulation of wealth, prestige, or both.

Of all the dynamics, I believe the theta dynamic to be the most ruthless.

My wealth of personal experience has supported this conclusion.

~ Doctor Lillian Brach


The remote spaceport, Kix29

Abby

“Have you ever met a delta?” Jenna asked as our ship prepared to dock at Kix29, a space station in the middle of nowhere that was soon to be my temporary home.

The transport I’d been taking to Tolis, a perfectly habitable planet, had suffered multiple technical failures. I tried to ignore that I was floating around space in a hunk of metal that had problems, but it was hard when you wore magnetic boots because the artificial gravity kept failing.

I shuddered.

“I thought gammas liked deltas?” Jenna asked, distracting me from my space phobia.

“I don’t know much about them,” I said honestly, focused on the small portal window we were standing beside, through which I could see the station umbilical heading toward our ship. The transport juddered as the metallic clips locked us into place. Kix29 wasn’t much better than a transport, just a bigger lump of metal floating around in the void of space now that I thought about it.

“You’re really freaked out,” she said, smiling now.

“I am,” I admitted. “I was supposed to be on Tolis a week ago.”

Jenna was one of life’s adventurers. A lota dynamic, she personified the caste with her unbridled curiosity for everything in life. We’d met during the two-week transit.

“I started reading about them after I met you,” she said. “Sounds fascinating. Did you know they have a hook?”

“I, ah, did hear about the hook.” Heard about it and dismissed it. Clearly it was anatomically ridiculous. I mean, the alpha knot made sense, since some animals had them. “I’ve never met a delta. I don’t suppose I ever will.”

“What about the online forums, where you can” —she started giggling— “hook up with them. Ever been tempted?”

I hadn’t heard about the online forums. I shook my head slowly, but my lips tugged up. “That sounds terrible.”

“Why?” She shrugged. “Apparently, it’s very pleasurable. Well, it’s also really kinky. All kinds of hot and steamy stuff goes on. Did you know they’re together? Deltas share everything, including each other and their chosen gamma.”

“I’ve never thought about that side of it,” I said because, unlike Jenna, I wasn’t curious, at least not about deltas.

“It’s all there in the paper I read last night,” she said. “I should have been sleeping, but sleep is so overrated. Lillian Brach, she’s a famous omega who used to be in charge of the viral research program until her theta subordinate snatched the top job. Thetas, they just can’t help themselves, full of elitist ideology. They really don’t play well with others. I’ve read plenty about omegas, and contrary to popular opinion, there is nothing to suggest they lose all mental acumen the moment they reveal.” She huffed out a breath and rolled her eyes. “Sorry, I’m getting distracted. Where was I? Oh, yes! Deltas. It was Lillian Brach’s paper—very detailed, and absolutely fascinating. You should read it sometime.”

I nodded vaguely, trying to catch up with all of that. I hadn’t mentioned that my parents were thetas. People tended to look at you funny when you said anything about knowing one in real life. And she was right—thetas kept to themselves and had a superiority complex a mile wide. My parents were comparably measured examples of the dynamic, while my older brother was closer to the god complex end of the spectrum. They didn’t really mix with other dynamics, although all dynamics were guilty to some extent of gravitating toward their own, except gammas, who were the rarest. Mixing with our own wasn’t practical. I’d never met either a gamma or delta.

“The hook part is just a rumor though,” I said confidently. I couldn’t imagine a viral doctor paying credence to gossip. I might never have met a delta, but I’d met plenty of alphas, and allegedly, deltas were much like them. More likely, it was the deltas themselves who’d started the ridiculous story.

“About the hook? Oh no, that’s definitely not a rumor.” She shook her head vehemently.

What?!

“A lot of safety checks,” she said, indicating the portal window and the umbilical cord connecting us with the station. A loud hiss signified that the umbilical had finally docked and the hatch had opened.

Meanwhile, I was having a minor mental breakdown about the delta hook. It had to be small, right? Where would it even go?

I shuffled forward under the swell of bodies that sought to exit the ship.

“I’ll send you the details of that hookup site,” she said, winking dramatically. “I can tell you’re curious now.”

“Please don’t.” I shook my head, although I was laughing too. They were really the worst source of humorous material.

We made our way along the umbilical and onto the sturdier space station. Several thousand people lived on Kix29, supporting the mining operation and the local planet below. I would be stuck here for a week until a ship bound for Tolis arrived, while Jenna was heading for Ridious and shipping straight out.

Jenna hefted her backpack higher onto her shoulder before offering me a wave. “If you ever meet a delta, I definitely want the details. Take care, Abby.”


Chapter 1

Jordan

I had a feeling the skinny beta prick was cheating me as I watched the hands being played. Kade was knocking back drinks like it was an Awakening Day celebration, but I wasn’t in the mood.

The spaceport, Kix29, was situated in the Sirius system, supporting a substantive mining operation. They liked to claim they were part of the Empire, but in truth, it was fringe.

How the fuck had we ended up here?

A long fucking story, but I suspected our boss’ hacker friend had something to do with it.

This whole operation had been bullshit from the start. My skin was itching, but I got like this sometimes.

The only thing that would make me relax was beating the shit out of someone.

The skinny beta was looking like a promising candidate.

Yeah, I understood that I was unhinged. A lifetime of therapy couldn’t sort my demons out, not that I was interested in discussing my feelings with anyone. I figured there was no point in trying, so I might as well embrace the dark and all that jazz. The bouts of insomnia weren’t ideal, but they hadn’t killed me yet. A few other people might have died because of my less than congenial mood swings, but hey, they’d had it coming.

Kade kicked me under the table.

“Got that eye twitch going on there, buddy,” he said, smirking.

I scowled at the fucker, although he didn’t lift his eyes from his hand of cards. Little punk knew that was baiting.

My communicator bleeped, so I excused myself from the next round, rising from the table where five other players sat smoking and drinking, and clipped my earbud in.

What the fuck are you doing in Sirius?” Lucian demanded. Our boss was a straight talking alphahole with more money than god and a snarky attitude if things didn’t go to his exact plans.

He also had a hacker in his pocket that we’d nicknamed the Gecko because the freak was always going on about them and who delighted in making my life hell. I’d never met the Gecko, but I’d be sure to acquaint him with my fist if I ever did.

“Ask your dickhead gecko lover,” I snapped. I wasn’t one for mincing words either—not always the best approach with Lucian, but given he was light years away, I felt safe to vent.

I’m gonna strangle the fuck,” Lucian snarled. I didn’t need the visual to know he would be prowling back and forth in front of the windowed wall that looked out onto his club, likely wearing a smart dark suit, hair impeccable. Depending on the time of day, a couple of beta pets might be waiting to attend to Lucian’s every need. Peppermint Moon catered to the dynamic elites and wannabes—just one of many interests the corrupt business mogul had on his books.

“You’re gonna need to get in the queue,” I replied. My eyes were on the table, where Kade was tossing down another lost hand. “We’ll be back in a week. Due to ship out tomorrow.”

Got the package?” Lucian asked, all business again.

“Yeah, we got the package. Let’s hope it’s worth this bullshit.”

Fine then,” Lucian said, and the communication closed out.

“Do you know any computer hackers?” I turned back to the table and pinned the slimy beta clearing up the shiny credits with a look.

“H-Hacker?” Bobby, Bobbit, Bobbin? Whatever the fuck his name was, he gave a telling stutter in his vague response. He didn’t know a hacker, but he was up to something here and had guilt written all over his face.

My eyes narrowed on the squirming man.

“Fuck, Jordan,” Kade muttered. “Can you give it a rest? He’s not here. These are real cards. Drop it, will you?”

My head swung in Kade’s direction.

He raised both hands in silent surrender. “Whatever,” he said. “Sorry, guys, we’re out.”

His chair scraped across the floor as he stood and pushed out the door.

I pinned Bob the beta with a glare before pivoting and stomping after Kade.

“You don’t need to be a dick all the time,” Kade said as I fell in step beside him.

I didn’t answer. He was mouthy when he’d had a drink, and I’d learned not to rise to the bait. He was built like a tank, so beating on him was spectacularly unrewarding.

“One of us needs to be a dick, or you’d have your ass handed to you daily.”

Okay, I’d gone there. We were deltas, a complicated dynamic. We were rare.

I was five years older than Kade. We’d both come through the orphan’s program on Chimera, the unwanted offspring of a drug addict and alcoholic.

Kade’s mother was a drug addict, but he didn’t do drugs.

My father was an alcoholic, but I didn’t drink. We both had plenty of other vices, so it wasn’t like we were missing out.

I was a lost soul until the day Kade’s scrawny ass was dumped in the home by law enforcement after they’d found his mother dead. He’d wanted to fight everyone, tried it too. He was nine, and I’d been fourteen. I’d let the little punk wear himself out by beating on me every day in the gym.

He’d had a lot of anger, but I didn’t care. I’d found my missing piece, and we’d been inseparable ever since.

That was the thing about deltas—we were always in pairs. Part of that was because we were rare, and part was because of our unusual situation regarding our most compatible dynamic partner.

Kade stopped abruptly.

“Did you hear that?”

I stopped too. “Hear what?” Before he could answer, my communicator beeped, and a voice that made me want to pummel on the owner said, “Incoming. It’s about to get busy.”

I fucking hated the Gecko, but there were times when he was useful…

The spaceport alarms blared, and orange ceiling lights began to flash.

“What the fuck is happening?” I snarled into the communicator.

Raiders,” Lucian’s hacker said.

* * *

Abby

The spaceport, Kix29, in the distant corner of the Sirius system, supported the mining operations here. The location was almost fringe.

Okay, I was trying to make myself feel better. It was definitely fringe.

How had I, a therapist employed by the military, ended up here?

It was a long and complex story that began with an emergency diversion on a simple transit from one base to another during a three-month field trip, compounded by bad luck and a spectacular level of transport failures, and resulted in me being galactic miles away from my intended destination.

I should be in Chimera now, sipping on a latte between clients.

Instead, I was eating questionable food in a space canteen, surrounded by rough-looking mining personnel. I was used to the military, so it wasn’t that much of a stretch, but the whole place had an edge, like it was on the verge of catastrophe, and it was making me nervous.

I’d been stuck here for a week—a very long week.

I should have been shipping out today, but I’d just gotten news that I would be stuck here for another week.

The canteen was always busy. Thousands of people lived on this station permanently, and docked vessels could swell that number. Dozens of functional white tables and bench seating were lined up in rows, with a service area dispensing food along one wall and the cleanup area for after on the left. I’d found a seat in the middle because it made for a faster exit, and the less time I spent in here, the better.

On days like today, I questioned my career choice. My parents were both thetas and had been disappointed that I didn’t similarly reveal. Being a therapist and helping others was not a path they could understand in the broadest terms, but if I was going to be a therapist, only the highest, most elite kind would meet my parent’s expectations. The best paying customer, courtesy of the never-ending war against the Uncorrupted, was the military command on Chimera.

So here I was awaiting spare parts that were due in the next five days, unlikely to leave for Chimera in potentially another week, and bored out of my mind.

There was no such thing as day or night on the station, only endless, artificial, twenty-four-hour cycles broken into shifts. I missed natural air and the feeling of solid ground beneath my feet, especially since the springy, metallic floors and walls that predominated such stations made me feel at sea. I also missed my work, which was varied and interesting, with a good mix of other dynamics who were part of the Empire’s ever evolving military machine.

But as the alarm blared for the third time today, I would have gladly settled for a job somewhere mundane, with poor career opportunities that didn’t involve space travel…and specifically, finding myself on a remote spaceport with not even a token military presence.

The alarm continued a few seconds before cutting off, and then everyone went back to eating like this was perfectly normal. Perhaps it was. I had been here a week, and it sounded at least once a day. I’d be a nervous wreck if I stayed here much longer.

No sooner had it stopped than it started, again.

I glanced around the canteen at my fellow diners, meeting similar expressions of confusion.

“I don’t think this is another drill,” the beta male sitting two seats down from me said when the alarm continued to issue a bleep-bleep warning.

We were supposed to be safe. When the vessel limped into the space dock, I’d been told it had a state-of-the-art defense system that would protect us from our enemy, the Uncorrupted.

I was a gamma, which the virus revealed to me when I was seventeen. The Uncorrupted wanted to eradicate the virus. If they breached the station, I would be captured, taken away, and experimented on in their quest to find a contagion that would target others of my kind.

There were many and varied stories, both official and unofficial, about the Uncorrupted’s plans. None of them filled me with glee.

The bleep-bleep changing to a whoop-whoop tipped ice into my veins. Overhead, amber lights began flashing in the ceiling.

I shared a look with the beta, rising from my seat and hoping this was simply a more comprehensive drill.

There were two double door exits from the canteen, and I’d started to head for the ones on my left when the alarm abruptly ceased.

I froze.

Another glitch in the system, maybe? After the previous false alarms, collective groans went up.

Staring at my tray of half eaten food, I wondered if I should tidy it up. A few people had sat back down, but the clink of cutlery and the chatter around me felt off. I didn’t feel like eating anymore. When no instructions nor explanation came, I grabbed my tray and headed for the disposal.

The double doors to my right suddenly slammed open, and a man in a brown flight suit, typical of the haulage operations, burst into the room. “Raaidddders!”

A blast sounded, a hole opened up in his chest, blood splattered, and his body collapsed facedown.

The tray dropped from my nerveless fingers to hit the floor with a crash. The lights cut to emergency mode, bathing the room in an eerie green glow as the collective occupants of the canteen ran in a crazed mob, fleeing for the opposite door.

I went with them, swept along in the rush. The row of tables and benches made obstacles of the worst kind as the emergency lights began to strobe erratically. Someone pushed me, shoving an elbow or fist to the center of my back. The blow sent me sprawling, and I landed in an ungraceful heap, where boots of stampeding staff pounded me back down. I scrambled to my feet, only to be bowled over again. My chin smacked against a bench. I bit my tongue and tasted blood.

The put-put of automatic weapons sounded unbearably loud through the screams and the ringing in my ears.

I staggered up for the second time and ran a zigzag path between the benches for the exit. People fell beside me, bullets tearing into flesh and sending great arcs of blood across the white furniture, floors, walls…and me.

The blood of ordinary people whose only mistake was to be present at this station.

The blood of people who were now dead or desperately injured and soon to be dead.

I didn’t want to be dead. I was too young, and there was too much I wanted to do with my life. I just wanted to live.

Blood made the floor slick and treacherous, and I skidded through the exit door, hitting the corridor wall so hard, I bounced off it. Dots swam before my eyes, and blood pooled in my mouth, where I’d bitten my tongue. Bullets tore up the wall beside me, twisting metal and sending sparks shooting. I pressed off the wall, dashing to the left, where the corridor led to the personnel quarters.

Most people veered right toward the docks, but I was committed to mindless flight mode and my legs only understood run.

Another double door waited ahead. A pace away, it sprang apart, and two huge men barreled through. The black formfitting uniform said they were security of some kind, maybe even soldiers. They were tall and built. Alphas, I thought. Conscription was mandatory, and they were invariably deployed in the war, which was odd because I hadn’t seen any alphas, military or otherwise, while stuck on this godforsaken space station.

Maybe a military vessel had docked? I felt my spirits lift.

The alpha on the left was dark blond, while the right-hand alpha’s hair was dark brown. Both were sinfully handsome… Death at the hands of a raider might’ve been imminent, but I still found the time to notice they were hot.

My legs started backpedaling, and my hands shot out. The dark-haired alpha’s eyes widened before my body crumpled into his.

I thought for a split second that he’d been a figment of my imagination and that I'd run straight into another wall.

“Whoa,” he murmured.

“Fuck!” the other said. “We need to back the fuck up.”

Fingers bit into my arm as dark and handsome shoved me behind his back just as gunfire opened up.

A terrifying battle cry came from the food court’s direction, a cross between a scream and a whoop. Ice flooded my veins, and my already frantic heart rate took another spike.

I couldn’t see what was happening around the towering alpha’s body. The world became a chaotic kaleidoscope that moved fast, then slow. More people surged into the corridor, their screams and shouts ripping into me as surely as a bullet.

“Shit!” the one holding my arm said. That was all the warning I got before he spun around and shoved me through the double doors he’d just entered by.

“This is your fucking fault, Kade!” the blond man rumbled at the darker one still fisting my arm.

The closing door shut out some, but not all, of the cacophony.

“My fault?! Like I’m responsible for raiders turning up. Don’t be a dick!” Kade, as I now knew him, snarled back.

Bullets reverberated off the closed doors beside us. My eyes shifted from Kade to his blond sidekick to the flimsy barrier between us and certain death.

“If you hadn’t insisted we spend our night drinking and playing cards, we might’ve had something more effective than this popgun.” Blondie waved the small handheld about while regarding it with open disgust. “I’m too old for this staying up all night bullshit. We should’ve been in the dock already.”

I’d spent most of my adult life studying human psychology, so I recognized crazy when I saw it. Only I could have the misfortune to be intercepted by two insane alphas. “This is not the time—”

“Too old! For fuck’s sake, Jordan,” Kade continued, talking right over me like there wasn’t an attack happening and our lives weren’t on the line. “You’re like five years older than me. That’s a long way off fucking old!” He turned and shot out the lock to the double doors beside us, and a safety deadbolt dropped with a mighty thud.

A sharp, terror steeped squeal escaped my lips. I tried to pry his fingers from my arm, since they were cutting off the circulation and the owner was clearly a pickle short of a picnic, as my grandma used to say.

“Not happening, sweetheart,” he said while glaring at the other man.

“Well, you act like you’re prepubescent most of the fucking time!” Jordan, aka blondie, snapped back.

I was inclined to side with Jordan at this stage…and I really wanted my arm back.

“We need to leave,” I said. I considered myself a true pacifist, but I was ready to stab something vital if he didn’t let me go.

Both heads swung my way, and just like that, the tension took on a whole new dimension.


Coming to Amazon on 17th November!




 
 
 

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