Quiver
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Author’s Note
About the Author
Haunted by her DNA, Anna chooses an arranged marriage with an alien who understands exactly what she is going through.
Anna’s family has a secret, and she had been left out of the loop until an ancient curse is revealed to be alien DNA. Anna is part Nyal, and her heat is pulling the men around her into rut. If she stays on Earth, it can get very bad very quickly. Running to the stars is her only hope to spare herself the fate of her ancestors.
Quake isn’t eager to take a bride, but when he is presented with a portrait of himself and the Terran woman whose file he was just given, wrapped in a lover’s embrace, he knows fate when it shows up in full colour.
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Quiver
Copyright © 2016 Viola Grace
ISBN: 978-1-4874-0735-3
Cover art by Martine Jardin
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
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Quiver
Terran Times Second Wave
By
Viola Grace
Chapter One
Anna Baxter jerked as her name was called. She got to her feet and followed the handsome man who held open the small gate for her.
A small grey alien was seated at a desk, and it smiled with shark-like teeth when she entered the room. “Ms. Baxter.”
“Hello.” She stepped forward and extended her hand. The creature reached up and took her digits in a surprisingly strong grip.
“I am Recruiter Norz. Please, have a seat.”
The man who had escorted her in closed the door as he left.
Anna took the chair in front of the desk and had a seat. She smiled slightly. “I am guessing that I am meeting with you because I am a candidate to be a Volunteer?”
“You have guessed correctly. If I may ask, are you aware of your familial history?”
She wove her fingers together. “Only back three generations. My family were brought to this continent under duress.”
The Ontex nodded. “I understand. We have found alien traces in your DNA. You have some Nyal blood in you, and to be honest, no one was expecting it. They are not a race that often blends with others.”
Anna fought the urge to look down at her hands and look for signs of alien blood. “How can you tell?”
“We ran your blood markers against our database. It is very extensive.” He smiled again.
Anna smiled. “So, what does that mean?”
“Well, the Nyal have the right to retrieve any and all citizens at will. By the nature of your birth, you are a low-caste citizen.”
Anna scowled. “Low caste? Is it because of my skin?”
Norz shook his head. “No. It is because you are human. While many species consider it an attractive addition, the Nyal try to keep their bloodline clean, without taint of other species.”
“Do they succeed?”
Norz shrugged. “Not usually. The females go into a broadcast heat, and that triggers males of any species. The males predominantly react to Nyal females in heat, but they can and do breed with others.”
She felt her cheeks heat. “That is very frank.”
“You deserve honesty. While your blood makes you low caste, your genetics place you in the noble houses. The Nyal Imperium has requested your presence in their space.”
“I don’t understand.”
Norz steepled his fingers together. “They have ordered you to arrive, like a pizza. They are not the only species to do this, but it is part of the new exchange of humanity for technology.”
Anna shook her head. “I don’t want to go.”
“You will go. Our scans also indicated that you are about to enter your first heat. When you are either in the throes of it or have concluded it and assessed your chances in the human world with your pheromones pulling in all men within scenting radius, you may return to the recruitment facility and we will take you to your people to allow the impulses to reach their natural conclusion.”
“I am going to be sold?”
Norz shrugged. “It is the Nyal way. All breeding females are sold to their mates. It proves their worth. On the plus side, it is a binding process. He must keep you healthy and in a reasonable fashion. With your status as linked to a noble family, you should fetch a high price.”
“I am not going to be a slave. My family is done with that shit.” She got to her feet and stalked out of the recruitment centre.
For the next three weeks, she seethed every time she thought about the interview. She wanted to punch that snide alien right into his pointed teeth. It wasn’t until she felt uncomfortably warm that she remembered what he had said. Going into heat was something animals did. Humans were above that sort of thing.
She walked home from work and noted that men were turning their heads as she passed. It wasn’t really unusual, she took pride in her appearance, but they focused on her for longer than usual and en masse.
Anna was a little nervous that day, but the next was worse. Her boss was lingering in her office doorway with an obvious erection. There wasn’t a lot she could say to that. It might have been involuntary on his part. She ignored it and kept working, but the room felt so hot that she wanted to open her shirt.
Sweat beaded on her lips, and she definitely didn’t feel like herself. She was actually fantasizing about finding a faceless guy and riding him until they both came.
Anna shook her head, focused on work and kept working until it was time to head home.
That day, the men weren’t just staring; a few followed her toward home until she put a set of train tracks between her and her pursuers.
The scent of diesel did the trick.
Thank god, the weekend had come on time.
She spent Saturday and Sunday on her own, overheated, her pussy throbbing and her blood on fire. After four days of escalation, she was relieved to find that the effects had faded.
It was time to ask her parents about what was going on.
Her mom made her a cup of coffee, and her dad stared at her, scowling with his nose twitching.
“Anna, what is wrong?” His comforting voice rolled over her.
Her mom looked at her and smiled. “He worries.”
Anna tried to think about what she wanted to ask and finally said, “Are there any issues with ladies in either of your families being followed by men at certain times?”
Her dad nodded. “My mother had that problem.”
Her mother suddenly got serious. “You think i
t is that?”
Her dad wrinkled his nose again. “It seems like it.”
Anna was a little surprised when they brought her into the sitting room and her father left for a moment.
“Mom, what’s going on?”
Her mother smiled softly and patted her knee. “Don’t worry. Your father’s family has a long history of this kind of thing. He was just hoping that it wouldn’t show up in you. It is a little tricky to deal with.”
Her dad came back in, hauling a box that Anna didn’t recognise.
“Is that Grandpa’s?”
Her dad smiled softly. “No, it is your grandmother’s. She left it in case there were any other ladies in the family.”
He opened the box and carefully removed a small, leather-bound journal, handing it to her. “My mother struggled with literacy so read slowly.”
“What about Grandpa?”
Her dad smiled. “He wasn’t my father. The journal explains it. Just read and keep reading.”
Confused and curious, Anna opened the journal, looked at the spidery script and started reading.
An hour later, her head was pounding and she was shaking with illness when she realized that every woman in her family line had gone through the same thing. As if being a woman didn’t already put her at a disadvantage, she had to be out in a world where her body was in danger.
“So Grandpa wasn’t...”
Her dad smiled. “He was my dad, but he didn’t father me. Your gran was chased by a mob, and I was the result.”
Anna sucked in a breath and told her parents about her meeting with the Volunteer Recruiter.
The more she spoke, the more her parents looked at each other with a weird decision in their eyes.
Her mother nodded. “I think you should go, baby. This is a chance to break the cycle. If you don’t, you will be in danger every time this comes around.”
Her dad looked at her and smiled. “Your mom isn’t wrong.”
“I am never wrong, darling,” her mom piped in.
“Right. This isn’t a good life for you. Sometimes, the hardest decision is the right one.”
Anna looked at them. “I don’t know if I want to leave Earth.”
Her parents smiled, and her dad took her hand. “Yes, you do. You made the decision months ago. We talked about it, we agreed that we would be proud to have you out there, and now that your options have limited you, you want to rethink it. Rethink it all you want, but do it. If this is a genetic reaction that trails back through generations, the folk you are going to might have a better idea of how to handle it.”
Anna wrinkled her nose. “They will auction me off to the highest bidder.”
“As a slave?” Her mother was shocked.
“As a wife. Apparently, it is Nyal tradition.”
Her father paused. “I don’t think it is the worst idea.”
Anna and her mother stared at him. Anna whispered, “What?”
“My mother, my grandmother, and all the women in my family going back through time have been horribly used when the time came upon them. You read the journal. Several were put to the torch after they were raped. I don’t want that for you. I want you to be with someone who will understand what is going on with you. Someone who will be with you until it is over.”
Anna looked at her father’s concerned expression. “How many other men were there in the family?”
“Not enough to protect them.” He tensed his hands.
She suddenly saw the fear that she had never noticed in his expression, but now that she saw it, it was more than the caution that a man had for his daughter. He was genuinely afraid for her.
“Do you want me to go, Dad?”
Tears started to stream down his face. “No, but you have to. My mother... it took her years to recover from what happened to her. She was in and out of hospital until she went through menopause. It didn’t stop the assaults; it just set up an endless round of attacks on her by guards, patients and doctors.”
Anna was shocked. Her grandma had always been so pleasant, so calm. Gran had stroked her hair and told her to be strong before anything else. Anything else could be changed, but inner strength was what was important.
She had never imagined that her calm and graceful gran had been through such horrors and come out the other side sane. Gran had always told her that pride could be taken, humiliation given, but strength could wipe that away as if it had never been. Surviving would make her stronger.
She couldn’t imagine how many generations had gotten that same instruction. Her grandma had learned to hold herself together after everything that Anna had read in the journal had to have been taught to her by her own mother. The relief in her writing when she had a son had been genuine. She thought the family curse had been broken until Anna came along.
Anna looked at her mom and dad, sucking in a deep breath. “I will go.”
Relief and sobbing broke out, and they huddled together in a hug before Anna picked up the phone. A moment later, she hung up. Recruiter Norz was sending a car with a female driver.
Anna was leaving home.
Chapter Two
The staff at Lunar Base rushed her to a medical facility before escorting her to an outbound shuttle.
Anna didn’t know what to expect, but the nine-foot lavender aliens who seemed to have no interest in her whatsoever were a bit of a shock.
One of them bowed low, which was an impressive feat. “Lady, I will take you to your chamber.”
She smiled. “Thank you. I wasn’t expecting you to speak my language.”
It bobbed its head again. “One of us had to learn. I was chosen. Please, come this way.”
Anna followed it down a long hallway, and when they stopped in what looked like a cargo bay, she looked around. “Where are we?”
“This is your sleep chamber. You will be in stasis while we travel. It would be beneficial for you if you were still in heat when you arrive. As you have four days left, we wish to preserve that time. Please, step in.”
The creature touched a wall panel, and it slid open. Inside was a harness that would support her and hold her. She swallowed and stepped inside. Norz had told her that it would be best to follow all directions until she couldn’t be fired into space.
Anna settled, and the door was closed. She saw her mocha skin and whimsically purple hair for a moment before her mind went blank.
* * * *
His Imperial Highness, Caalos Renix, looked at the document on his desk and smiled. “Hydra, come and read this!”
His wife came around the corner, waddling in that cute way that had begun only a few days earlier. She was nearing her time.
“What is it, Caalos?”
He grinned when she refused to call him by a formal name, no matter what they did.
“One of your species is on her way here for a mate. She is a Nyal descendant and in heat. They want me to organize a bride auction for her.”
Hydrangea Renix dropped into his lap with a huff. “She is going to be sold like a cow?”
“Not if you don’t want her to be. I am giving you the authorization to speak on behalf of the Terrans, beginning now.” He ran his hand over her swollen belly, and the kick knocked his hand back.
“Fine.” His wife frowned and read the document and the med file. “Well, she needs a mate immediately, so an auction is definitely in order if that is the only way to get a guy for her, but I think you should contact all the Guardians. Terran women seem particularly able to deal with the stresses of being the mate to a Guardian.”
“You have managed very well, Hydra.”
She smiled and stroked his cheek. “I had reason to want it. Perhaps you should ask Rhoda if she has created anything with Anna’s form on it lately.”
He grinned. “It is like you read my mind.”
* * * *
Quake looked at the message on his screen. The point of origin was Prince Drehl of Sawko and the information contained within was fascinating.
He opened a com line between the two Guardian bases and smiled at his old friend. “You are setting me up?”
Drehl grinned. “Not me. Rhoda. She has been painting Terrans in our space, and we have found one who seems to be located near Hemcorl. Or, she will be. She is a Terran of Nyal descent, is currently in heat and matches your biological requirements very well.”
“Right now? If she isn’t here, why will she still be in heat when she arrives?”
“They froze her so that she can be put into a bride auction as soon as she arrives. I am fairly confident that if you want her, we can have her ship redirected to Hemcorl.”
“Give me a few minutes to look at her stats.” Quake nodded and backgrounded the call.
He looked at the image of the woman and assessed her. Her brown skin was within normal tolerances for the Nyal, but her lavender shock of hair was a bit of a surprise. He pulled up pictures of her family and understanding dawned.
The history of her family was primarily verbal. A journal had explained her sudden rush to leave her world for places with an understanding of her biology.
Without his instigation, an image popped up, sent by Drehl. Quake leaned back and stared at the picture. The woman in the file was wrapped in the arms of a Guardian, and the Guardian in question was Quake. His arms covered her breasts and wrapped her hips; his helmet was pressed to her head, his lips near her ear.
Quake noted the swell of the woman’s belly, and he smiled slightly. It was a very heavy-handed hint, and Drehl was not going to let him miss it.
With his mother pestering him to give the family an heir, this was an opportunity delivered by fortune. He would get his mate, have a child and let her live out her life with whatever pursuits she chose.
He could offer Anna Baxter of Terra a comfortable life and the danger of her home would not be visited on her here. Hemcorl was a wonderful place to raise a family; he only needed to ask his mother about that.