Temptation: A Dark Sci-Fi Romance (Alpha Unknown Book 3)

by Penelope Woods

  "Oh my God…"

  I felt my heart shake my body, cold and paralyzing. The warm liquid ran against my feet.

  I froze and held the rifle against my chest like a child. Trembling, I rose the weapon in front of my body and aimed, but I couldn't see a thing.

  The gun felt so heavy. My vision sheeted over with tears.

  "Just. Breathe," I muttered and bit the inside of my cheek to clear my thoughts. When I did, I saw him cross through the trees.

  He huddled against the leaves, forcing a full deer carcass over his shoulder. I should have been repulsed, but I was intrigued.

  Instantly, I knew how dangerous this predator was, but what it was could be up for debate. He was more than the hunters my father had warned me of. He was something I had never seen before.

  Was he a monster? Bigfoot? I couldn't be sure. But as I held my weapon against the right side of my chest, he turned and dropped the dead animal, staring directly at me.

  With blood dripping from his teeth, he smiled.

  No, no, no…

  His presence defied all logic. A flash went off in my head, and he nodded as if he could read my mind. He knew exactly who I was. I had no doubt he had been stalking me for a long while, waiting for me to become dumb enough to cross the Great Divide. And now that I had, the obscene and muscular giant that stood before me was going to skin me alive.

  My life flashed in front of my eyes. Within one moment, I understood that everything was connected, that he was aware of my loss, my sadness, and my hurt. I didn't know how. I couldn't say why. I just knew it to be true. It was as if he could sense it.

  His muscles curled against his ripped wife-beater t-shirt. His body was immensely powerful. I dropped my gaze and saw the enormous bulge in the center of his pants. As we stood, facing one another, I felt a flurry of excitement wet between my thighs.

  It was wrong. No, it didn't make any sense. But it was true. And no amount of sanity could take away this new feeling.

  Before I could act, everything slowed down. I felt my father pick me up from the ground, throwing me over his shoulder like the beast did with that carcass. My dad's hurried wheezing startled me. I had never heard him breathe so hard. The only thing I could see was the leaves and soil crushed beneath his feet.

  "Dad!" I cried. My heart was pounding so fast that it hurt. I gasped and inhaled so much air that I started to choke. "W-W-What was that?"

  "It's okay," he repeated. "Everything is going to be okay."

  But my eyes had been opened to something dark, sinister, and deeply evil. It couldn't have been an animal. It had to be some kind of devil.

  Everything was not going to be okay. And as my father carried me back over the Great Divide, I heard a second scream, as well as a gunshot.

  There were two of them.

  Lilly

  "You know the rules."

  I could barely look my dad in the eyes. Pacing the room with his hunting rifle held tightly in his grip, he looked at me with both anger and confusion.

  Outside, the sun was setting, and a cold breeze was coming in through the windows. But with my nerves so shaken, I couldn't feel a damn thing. "Do you hear me, Lilly? You were instructed to never cross that threshold."

  I couldn't believe my stupidity, but I wasn't going to apologize for my actions. Something inside of me pushed me toward leaving.

  Lost in a state of shock, I tried to make sense of what I had witnessed. "My entire life is a lie,” I muttered. "You lied to me, Dad."

  Pausing, my father lowered the rifle and leaned back against his left heel. I took a deep breath and stared at him. The anger slowly drained from his face, and I saw someone who looked caught. "Critter, I—"

  "Don't," I said as tears welled in my eyes. Swallowing, I managed to hold it all back. "You knew about that beast. Didn't you? You knew the entire time."

  "I was trying to keep you safe," he said.

  "And by doing so, you put me in danger,” I argued.

  He swallowed, Adam's apple catching his collar. But instead of trying to make it better, he merely stood there, unable to tell me the whole truth.

  Since we’d packed up our things in the suburbs and moved to the middle of nowhere, I had lived in fear.

  There were things out there. Beasts without names. Monsters that somehow knew every last detail about me. Fucking demons.

  I had no proof he had been stalking me, but the look in his eyes spoke volumes. I could have sworn he was waiting for me to find him. Well, I’d found him, and I had no idea what to do. I just knew we weren't safe anymore. My whole world was coming down around me.

  Maybe they had names. I grew up with few books, but my father told me about shape-shifters. Men born with the ability to turn into animals. But, Jesus Christ, that was no animal, and there was definitely no shifting going on there. It had to be some kind of… God?

  "Lilly, I—"

  My father knew every last thing about them. He had to know. As I stood, waiting for the answers that I needed, he didn't say a damn thing.

  As the words caught in his throat, he closed his mouth and sighed. So instead of arguing, I left.

  I walked into my room and swung the curtain closed behind me. I ignored all of his pleas for me to come out and talk to him. I waited for him to tell me what I had seen, to explain how this came to be and why he chose this terrible place for a homestead. Of course, that explanation never came. With tears in my eyes, I watched as the soles of his boots disappeared out of view.

  Who was my mother? How did we lose her? Those were the questions that penetrated my heart at night. And whatever answers lay buried underneath the forest soil, I prayed they would be unearthed.

  I turned and eyed my bedside dresser. Neatly stacked on top were books about science. They were all from my mother's collection.

  The one on top of the pile was about Tesla coils and structures of infinite power. The book claimed they were inefficient models of energy creation, but my mom had left all sorts of confusing footnotes inside. Clearly, she disagreed, but none of it made any sense to me.

  I wasn't a scientist, and most of the literature went over my head. That didn't matter. Whenever I opened those books, I felt closer to her.

  Next to the book was an old, framed picture. It was taken a year before she passed. I was just a tiny baby, wrapped up and crying on my mother's lap. With eyes that glowed a bright heather green and hair that reflected fire, she was easily the most beautiful woman in the world.

  Directly behind her was my mustached father. He was happy. We were happy.

  Someday, we'd find that source of happiness again.

  I took the photograph in my hand and turned it over, examining the thin pen markings left by my mother. It was a short note that I looked at often, a note to me, which read,

  "Find me in the center."

  I never understood what she meant, but as I sat staring at the RV's ceiling, I felt her in my heart.

  I sat up, set the picture down, and reached into my drawer, finding my old Walkman. Quietly, I rolled out of bed, listening for my father's delicate snoring. He was already asleep, which meant I could do what I'd never done before: walk back over the line.

  This place used to be our Eden. But it had been corrupted.

  I couldn't stop listening to the howl of the wind whipping through the trees. I couldn't get the image of that beast’s pulverizing body out of my head. I imagined him silently sneaking through my window, forcing his hand around my mouth so I wouldn't be able to scream. I lay in bed, paralyzed with fear, knowing exactly what he wanted from me.

  Now that he had seen me, I was a target to be taken, rutted, and discarded. I was the only female dumb enough to walk that deep into the forest.

  I knew my dad couldn't protect me from his force. If I stayed put, he’d surely cross that divide to find us.

  I took a deep breath. I was going to have to hunt him before he hunted me.

  Every movement I made creaked the RV, but I managed to slide my win
dow open without disturbing my dad's deep snores.

  I hoisted myself up and rolled through the narrow enclosure, falling hard on my back. I picked myself up, shot one glance at my home, and bit my lip. "Well, Mom. I'm doing this for you," I whispered as I wiped the dirt from my pants.

  As I left my once safe and narrow world, I breathed in the cold air and felt my body fill with dread. But there was life inside of me. I was filled with purpose and direction. For the first time in so long, I felt light on my feet.

  I hit the "play" button on my Walkman and felt the tape inside start to spin. I listened to the message my mother had left for me. "Happy birthday, my little critter. It's your mother Juliana speaking. Listen, I don't have much time, so keep your ears open. Dream big. There's a sanctuary for all of us. Eyes on the prize. You're almost there." And without warning, the sound cut to something different. "Major Tom" by David Bowie started to play.

  My mother, the scientist. She was working on a vaccine, something that would cure millions of people around the world. But something terrible had happened to her, and all I had were these cryptic clues she’d left me. She was telling me a story, but what did it all mean?

  As I walked toward that great forest divide, the music rang out. “…I’m floating in a tin can, far above the world. Planet Earth is blue, and there's nothing I can do…"

  Was he listening? Most likely, he was. And if I was correct in my assessment, he knew everything about these woods. Maybe he knew about my mother.

  I kept walking until I reached the point of first contact. I expected to see him, but when I saw only darkness and heard only the wind, I felt the sinister chill of warning rush through my heart. I shouldn't have left without protection. Without my father, I was completely out of my element.

  I heard the beast speak. “Where's your hunting rifle, critter…"

  My heart nearly leapt out of my chest when I heard the voice penetrate my ears. I stumbled forward and dropped my Walkman, too frozen to run. The song faded into another, but I could hardly breathe, let alone listen.

  Critter. He knew my name, which meant… he knew more. I had guessed right.

  "Please. Don't hurt me. I came for answers," I whispered, voice scratchy and weak.

  His hot breath wafted across my shoulder and neck, and deep laughter bubbled from his throat. "You should have killed him while you had the chance," he growled.

  "…him?" I managed to ask. The urge to run was stronger than ever.

  His eyes turned to red slits. His chest puffed with bravado, and his hands started to shake. "You’re looking for my brother," he said. "You’ve found someone much worse."

  "Oh, no…" This beast wasn't the one that I saw earlier, the one that looked at me with knowing eyes. It was someone or something with violent intentions.

  I felt his long and meaty fingers brush through my hair. Nails as sharp as razorblades cut into the back my neck. I cried out, but he grabbed me, slamming my back onto the ground. The wind flew from my lungs, and I started to choke.

  I clawed at the soil, pushing away from him, but it was no use. He was too quick.

  More demonic laughter escaped his lips, and that was when I knew how wrong I was about everything. There was no reason to cross the line.

  Whatever my father knew about these monsters was too big for me to understand. He was only trying to protect me, but my curiosity knew no bounds.

  Why force us to live here? Why choose this place of darkness?

  I screamed, but the beast clasped one hand over my mouth, while his other gripped my hair and twisted. "I will ruin you so that he can't have you."

  This was it. He was going to kill me, and I'd never get to know anything about my mother. I'd never get a shot at finding true love.

  The beast let out an incredible roar. Pained, he looked into my eyes and extended his carnivorous teeth. His hand moved over my throat, slowly tightening. "Goodbye, little bitch."

  I closed my eyes and cried, subdued by his unimaginable strength. I couldn't speak, I couldn't move, and I couldn't think. The last thing that I'd see would be his fangs sinking into my flesh, mangling me to pieces. My father would have to be the one to find my bloodied carcass, and then, they'd wipe him out too.

  What had I done?

  But, as I watched him lower his head, I heard another sound. It was the frantic panting of another beast dead set on finding our location. I could hear and feel his feet hitting the ground, reverberating through the trees and soil.

  The sound of his wild breath soon followed, like a wolf scenting for his prey. Through the foliage, I witnessed his body rush through like wind until he found us and howled.

  "Mine!"

  A flash of muscle and hate tackled my attacker to the ground. His nails sliced my attacker's flesh, splashing blood onto my shirt and cheeks. With haste, I urged my body back, rolling away from their fight, though no amount of running would make me feel safe. They were both too fast and too cunning, and they seemed to have senses I could only dream of having.

  The one who attacked me kicked his heels forward, launching him into a set of trees, entirely demolishing one section of the forest in front of us.

  "Kahn!" my defender screamed. "Get back, or I will end your life."

  There was human in him. At least, it seemed like it. His eyes bore the signs of empathy, despite being able to kill the most brutal of predators.

  The monster's brother did not run away or cower. He was ravenous and full of anger. Frothy saliva covered his ragged mouth as his eyes flashed, red and menacing. "This stops tonight, Lucian."

  "You can't have her," the other muttered and patted the ground with his tremendous hands. Rugged ink covered his body. He was more menacing than I first thought.

  My defender stood as his brother circled around me. They were both waiting for one to slip up, and the worst part was that there was no longer a path of escape.

  In the distance, I heard a pop and crack. I saw the red flash of a flare break apart above our heads, illuminating the forest as well as their faces.

  My protector was… handsome. That was something I wasn't prepared for, but his noble qualities were clear to me now.

  For a brief moment of time, I could see the outline of a two-story cabin. It was dilapidated and decrepit, like something from my nightmares. The porch was long and narrow, and the front door was open enough for me to see a looming shadow inside. Somehow, I just knew that was where I was going to end up.

  "Dad!" I screamed.

  Mother. I closed my eyes and prayed for her guidance, but nothing changed. My calls for help only worked against my needs.

  Both of the beasts were looking at me, possibly deciding whether or not they should both team up or continue their battle for familial power. I shut my eyes and trembled.

  "Lilly!" My father's voice rang across the forest, but it was muffled and distant. I twisted toward the sound, but the light from the flare burned out.

  "I just want to go home," I muttered. "Please, let me just go back. I won't come here again. I won't—"

  The cabin door was kicked open, and I saw the dark figure come into clearer view. He was an older man, around the same age as my father, and he was wearing a protective yellow suit. It covered his head and body, and it gleamed against the light of another flare.

  My attacker rose and got his attention. "Father, I found her! She finally crossed the line. It is as you predicted.”

  As the man walked forward, his face became easier to see. He had been horribly scarred. It looked as if chemicals had seared the skin into the bone. It was the most horrible thing I had ever seen.

  "Good work, Kahn. Now, bring the cunt to me," he said, voice shaking and terrifying.

  As the man saw me, my defender lunged forward. He swept me off my feet and took me into his arms.

  Again, I pushed away, but his muscles choked me like an anaconda's coil. He ran behind a set of trees.

  "Get her!" the old man yelled.

  "You fool," he whispered, low
and gruff into my ears. His voice carried a frantic vibration to it, and his breathing grew rapid. "You were never supposed to cross that divide."

  "I-I-I needed to know," I stammered.

  "Your curiosity will be the death of both of us," he said through clenched teeth.

  The man was getting closer, but my protector wasn't moving.

  Why?

  Why the fuck wasn't he moving?

  "Run, dammit! Get us out of here," I yelled.

  "You should have killed me and my family when you had the chance," he said.

  "Who… are… you… people?"

  "I am Lucian. I will save your life,” he said.

  He held me down and stood, ducking out from the protection of the trees. Two violently trained German shepherds ran and caught his skin.

  He let himself get taken by the dogs. It was a strange act of heroism. "Go! Now is your chance," he said.

  I tried to run but I heard a powerful gunshot ring out. The force of the bullet rushed right past my leg, hitting my defender directly in the shoulder blade. The dogs ran off into the forest.

  A painful cry escaped my protector’s lips, akin to an animal hit by a car.

  "No." I collapsed near him and felt near his wound. Blood. “I won't leave you."

  "Why?" he asked.

  "Because you saved me."

  As I saw tears well in his eyes, he shook his head. "You have no idea what you've just done. You've let him win."

  I held onto him, despite it being against my best interests. I heard the cock of a pistol, felt the heat from the barrel warm against the side of my head, and heard the man's callous laughter.

  "Got ya."

  Lucian

  She was everything a man wanted. Petite and curvy. Practically raised to be bred. Virgin whore.

  I spent years dreaming of meeting the one woman that was off-limits, and now she was here. She had no idea what she was getting herself into.