by S. E. Smith
Hunter's Claim: The Alliance Book 1
Title Page
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hunter’s Claim:
The Alliance Book 1
By S.E. Smith
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank my husband Steve for believing in me and being proud enough of me to give me the courage to follow my dream. I would also like to give a special thank you to my sister and best friend Linda who not only encouraged me to write but who also read the manuscript. Also to my other friends who believe in me: Julie, Jackie, Lisa, Sally, Elizabeth (Beth) and Narelle. The girls that keep me going!
—S. E. Smith
IMPRINT: Erotic Romance
Science Fiction Romance
HUNTER’S CLAIM: THE ALLIANCE BOOK 1
Smashwords Edition
Copyright © 2013 by S. E. Smith
First E-Book Published January 2014
Cover Design by Melody Simmons
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission from the author.
All characters, places, and events in this book are fictitious or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, actual events, locales, or organizations are strictly coincidental.
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Synopsis
Jesse Sampson and her two younger sisters have lived a hard life on the streets of Seattle, Washington for the past several years. Four years before the Earth received its first visitors from space causing mass fear. Alone in a world gone mad with just her sisters, Jesse has learned to use the darkness and the remains of the city to survive and keep what was left of her family alive. She has seen the savage side of human nature and finds they are not much different from the aliens who conquered the Earth.
The Trivators have taken control of the Earth to prevent the humans from destroying it in their fear. A world of warriors, they are sent out by the Alliance of Star Systems to seek out new worlds. Their mission is first contact. They are to establish communication with the leaders of the new worlds they find and bring them into the Alliance. Any resistance is to be quickly subdued to prevent unnecessary death of the inhabitants of the new worlds they find. Their payment comes from the success of their mission.
Hunter is what he is called. A hunter, one of the elite clans of the Trivators who seek out those who resist. His abilities to track, capture and eliminate those who try to harm any warrior is renowned. He finds the tables turned when he becomes the one captured by a group of ruthless humans.
Hunter is shocked when a strange human female risks her life to help him escape only to disappear into the ruins of the city. He now has a new mission, finding the female who saved his life. He is determined to find her before she is damaged by others of her kind.
What he finds is a reward beyond comprehension to a Trivator warrior, a family. Can he convince Jesse that he can give her and her younger sisters a better life on his world? Or will fear keep her from accepting what he has to offer?
Chapter 1
Jesse moved quietly through the deserted streets. The black backpack on her back contained the prize from her outing this night. She had been able to steal enough to keep her and two younger sisters fed for several days as long as they kept the portions small. She needed to get back to the collapsed rubble that hid the underground parking garage which was their temporary home.
She had found that shelter almost two months ago by accident when she had needed a place to hide from the group of men roaming the street. She had crawled under a fallen slab of concrete for protection only to find it was slanted at an angle. Unable to stop her descent, she had slid to the bottom where she discovered herself in the remains of a parking garage. After exploring the area, she thought it would be the perfect place for her and her two younger sisters to hide from the roaming gangs who looked for unsuspecting victims to rob or rape.
She and her sisters’ lives had changed a lot over the last four years since the death of their father. Hell, Earth had changed a lot over the past four years. Gone was living in a nice house in the suburbs. Gone was making sure her sisters did their homework and got to school on time. She had taken over the job of being ‘mom’ to her two younger sisters when their mother died shortly after Taylor’s third birthday. Everything she knew was gone since that November day four years ago when the skies had filled with spaceships from another world.
The President had issued a state of emergency but it hadn’t done any good. People had poured out of their homes in fear. The war, if you could call it that, lasted only a few days. The aliens had weapons that neutralized the nuclear weapons some countries tried to use. Communications systems around the world had been taken over as well. Messages for calm had been transmitted over and over but it was useless. Even messages from world leaders that the aliens were not there to harm the population did nothing to calm the riots. Zealots and anti-government groups rose up and overpowered the local law enforcement. Jesse, Jordan and Taylor’s dad had been one of the Seattle police officers killed on the first day of rioting. Soon, bombs exploded and neighborhoods were overrun.
Jesse was just arriving home from picking her sisters up at school when the news broke of the alien ‘invasion’ as it was being called. They had watched the news in terror. Their father had called to tell them to barricade the house and to gather as many supplies as they could in case they had to leave in a hurry. They were supposed to go to the cabin up near Wenatchee if it got too bad. That was the last time any of them heard from him. By that night, roaming groups had overturned cars and set fire to homes and businesses throughout the area. Jesse, Jordan and Taylor had gathered as much as they could and hidden in the old cellar behind the woodpile when rocks and bricks had been thrown through the windows of their home. They had barely made it to safety, climbing from the second story balcony into the tree that was next to it, as their house was overrun. They had been running and hiding ever since.
Jesse stopped to adjust the black scarf she had tied around her nose and mouth. She didn’t want there to be any sign of her, including the slight fog of her breath in the freezing air. There was too much riding on her not getting caught, namely Jordan and Taylor, her seventeen and fifteen year old sisters. At twenty-two, she was their mom, dad and protector.
Tonight, she had been fortunate to come across a small convoy of Trivators. They had set up a ration station almost ten blocks away. She had grabbed a box that had been dropped as they unloaded supplies into one of the distributio
n centers they had set up for the humans like her who refused to trust them. She had found other packages before and while the food was bland, it was edible. She had disappeared into the dark alley before anyone saw her.
Hiding behind an overturned trash bin, she had emptied the small box into her backpack and disappeared. She had been terrified at first she was about to be caught. She had never been so happy about the stench of decaying garbage as she had a short while ago.
She knew the Trivators had an excellent sense of smell. Well, some of them did. She had watched from a distance as a small group of the massive males discovered several human men hiding in ambush a little over a year ago. One of the Trivators had held up his hand and sniffed the air like the dog they used to own. Shortly after, the men were taken out with a clean shot to the chest. She hadn’t stayed after that. She just knew she needed to avoid all contact with both species of male, Trivator and human, if she and her sisters were to remain safe.
Jesse froze when she heard the sound of trucks moving slowly down the street with no headlights on. A worried frown pulled at her brow as she glanced frantically around for a place to hide. The only ones out this late at night were those who were like her, searching the shadows for food or those who she didn’t want to find her.
Other humans and the Trivators, the alien species that had come to Earth four years before supposedly in the name of peace, were to be avoided at all cost, she thought bitterly as she thought about her younger sister, Jordan.
The Trivators may have wanted peace with the humans of Earth but what they had found was war and hatred. They would have their work cut out for them if they thought the humans would welcome them with open arms, she thought as she squeezed between two pieces of ripped corrugated steel panels. She hissed when a jagged piece cut her forearm, leaving a long but shallow line. She scooted between several large sections where the ceiling had collapsed and slid the backpack off her shoulder.
The sound of the trucks engines echoed loudly as they drew to a stop outside the building. Jesse leaned her head back and groaned when the large loading door was unlocked and pushed open. She slid further into the shadows, drawing her knees up to her chest to make herself as small as possible. A moment later, a moving van backed through the doors followed by a pickup truck. The area grew dark again when they pulled the door closed and she heard the sound of the chains being run through the bars again. This time from the inside of the doors.
“Make sure those damn doors are secured well,” a raspy voice muttered. “Those fucking aliens are all over the place. I hate this shit. We should have been out of here yesterday.”
“It took longer than we expected to capture one of the bastards alive,” a woman’s voice said coldly.
“Why do you need one alive? Aren’t you just going to kill him anyway?” Another voice asked, puzzled.
“I told you, I need to study one of them closely to see just how powerful they are,” the woman bit out. “If we are going to take control of this area and eventually the western half of the United States, we need to know how to kill the bastards. If we can kill them, we can rule the world ourselves,” she laughed.
“They are mean bastards. Did you see how protective he was of you?” The first man chuckled. “If you hadn’t acted all girly on his ass we never would have caught him.”
“Yeah,” another man said as he walked over. “But that isn’t going to save his ass. Mitch is dead. That son-of-a-bitch ripped his stomach wide open when he thought he was trying to rape you. I want his balls hanging from the back of my truck.”
“Shit! That is the fourth man we’ve lost in the past month,” the first man said. “It’s getting harder to find anyone any more. Since those bastards started providing food, shelter and medication to the people in this area, more and more people are turning to them.”
“It won’t matter if I can find a way to kill them all,” the woman said. “Keep him inside the van for now. We can’t take a chance of any of his friends hearing or smelling him. We can move out tomorrow morning after curfew is lifted. I want to begin dissecting that bastard by tomorrow night at the lab we’ve set up.”
Jesse wrapped her arms around her knees and buried her face in them. Dread washed through her as she waited for the small group to walk away. Their laughter was filled with cold hatred. These were the types of people who gave humans a bad name. If she was an alien, she would have washed her hands of humanity within hours after meeting them.
She sat back and rested her head against the metal that made up the wall of the old warehouse. She would need to make sure they were gone before she could safely move. She closed her eyes and felt fatigue pull at her, encouraging her to give into the darkness. She brushed the cut on her arm, letting the salt from her fingers get into the wound so it would throb. She needed the pain to help keep her awake.
Her thoughts drifted to her two sisters. She was worried about Jordan. Three nights before she and Jordan had gone out together. Jordan had startled two men in one of the back alleys they were cutting through on their way back to the parking garage. She had gone ahead of Jesse in her excitement to share what they had found with Jordan. Jesse had stopped briefly to rearrange their stash for the night when she felt it shift. Seconds later, Jordan’s screams had chilled Jesse to the bone. She had to force herself not rush to her sister’s aid which had been her first instinct. She would not do either of them or Taylor any good if she was captured. Instead, she had pulled the large hunting knife that had belonged to her father out of her boot and quietly snuck up behind the men who were attacking Jordan.
Jesse fought back the nausea as she thought of what she’d had to do to save her sister from being raped and murdered. She had killed the man who was on top of Jordan. Her father had always told them that a wounded man was like a wounded bear or mountain lion, extremely dangerous and unpredictable.
The other man had run as soon as he saw his bigger friend was dead. Jesse had pushed the man off her younger sister and gathered her in her arms. She wish she could have spent more time comforting her but it was too dangerous. They had left without the food they had stolen. It had been three days since any of them had eaten and now Jordan was sick. She had to make it back with the food she had taken tonight or none of them would make it much longer.
She pulled the scarf up over her nose and mouth to help keep in the warmth as she waited. The coldness of the floor and the metal were sending shivers through her body. In some ways it was a blessing as she knew she wouldn’t fall asleep if she was cold and uncomfortable.
No, now it is just a waiting game until I can escape from the mad humans, she thought as she listened to the woman and three men talk about how they were going to slice up the alien they had captured.
Chapter 2
Hunter strained against the chains holding him to the metal bed. His head fell back against the hard surface in frustration. They had bound him with multiple chains from his shoulders down to his feet. He jerked his head sideways trying to dislodge the rag they had put in his mouth but it was useless with the tape covering it.
He clenched his fists in rage as he thought of the deceit of the humans. Even their females were not to be trusted. He had heard talk among the other warriors of how primitive and hostile this world was. He cursed at his own instincts to protect the female of any species.
He had been returning from bringing in several humans who had set off bombs close to where they were establishing a support center for the humans living in this area. This was to be his last tour before being deployed back home. Now, he would never see the beautiful valleys, mountains and oceans of his world again.
The only regret he had was that he had not killed the traitorous woman who had tricked him. It burned against his pride that he had been tricked even if it turned out to be a good thing. These were the humans they had been searching for before he had encountered the ones setting bombs. They had heard of a group of humans who were trying to capture a Trivator warrior and take him to a lab.
He had just not expected a female to be involved.
He knew how devious human women could be. He had seen some of the things they were capable of many times over the past three years he had been on this planet. He had reacted on instinct when he saw the males attacking her. Her terrified cries had pulled at the protectiveness of his species.
He lay still as the door to the transport he was in opened and the large human male who had hit him in the back of the head walked forward with a grin. A low rumble of warning exploded from his chest as he stared back into the cold blue eyes of the human. His own dark yellow eyes burned with hatred and a promise of death the first opportunity he got.
“You can growl all you like,” the man said with a nasty grin as he leaned over Hunter. “I’m going to be using your balls if you have any as a decoration on the back of my truck by tomorrow night. Let’s see how much growling you do when Betty cuts off your little jewels for me.”
The man jerked back a step when Hunter strained again. He gave another laugh when he saw there was no way Hunter was going to be able to break the chains. With a salute, he turned and jumped out of the back of the van leaving Hunter alone in the dark again.
Hunter lay back, trying to think of a way, any way, he could possibly escape. The first thing he would do once he was free was hunt down the man who was in here; the second would be the woman. He would show them what happens to anyone who attacks and threatens a Trivator warrior.
*.*.*
Jesse rolled stiffly to her knees before using the side wall to help her stand. She had been frozen in one spot for almost three hours before the lights in the other room had finally gone out. She bit back a groan as her stiff muscles protested. She wasn’t sure if the three men and one woman were ever going to settle down. The one huge guy had come out every thirty minutes to climb into the back of the van before leaving again.
