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

by Penelope Woods

  The pact between families was shattered. It was what I wanted, but it was supposed to be different. Now, my father had full control.

  She was too damn curious for her own good. Didn't she heed the warnings of the childhood proverb about the cat with too much gumption? She seemed hell-bent on getting herself raped, or worse—killed.

  None of that mattered now that she had gotten herself caught by my father, the trapper of these woods. She wasn't the first, but she would be the last because she was special.

  Her family was the reason we were all here. She was given the same rules that I had been so long ago. The Great Divide was not to be crossed. Ever. We stayed on one side. They stayed on the other.

  Lucky for her, my father wouldn’t kill her. That was not how the man worked. He was slow and methodical, and thrived on the terror he gave to others.

  He fucked with my plans. I had planned to grab her, rape her body, and leave this place. I was going to take her far away from the forest, to a place with no forest divide, a place with no masters. I could have found us a sanctuary, but she acted too soon.

  I sat in the basement of our cabin, locked in the cage that my father forced me in every single day. My blood ran down my chest, wound stinging from the hammered bullet that sat lodged inside me. Above my head, a solitary light swung, creaking loudly. The entire time, I could hear her panicked cries coming from the cellar above.

  I lived in a nightmare. If I wanted to get out with her, I was going to have to play my cards right. That meant persuading my brother to back the fuck down.

  "What was that pathetic display out there?" Kahn asked me. He was locked inside his own cage. Together, we were treated like the animals we had become.

  I stayed silent, and he grew irritable. "There's no need to discuss. I will murder you and Father when I get out of here," I replied.

  "You're too injured to hurt me," he said.

  I laughed and sucked in a deep breath. I pointed my nail directly at my wound and dug it deep inside until I felt the bullet, still searing hot against the muscle. Although the pain was excruciating, I breathed diligently and pried the thick piece of metal from my muscle. As I tossed it aside, the blood came pouring out. I applied pressure to the wound with a piece of torn cloth.

  "I could have killed you out there, but I let you live," I said.

  My brother looked away and huffed. "Father will beat me for your sins," he said. "It always falls back onto me."

  I had grown used to living in these conditions, but with the addition of the woman upstairs, I was feeling unruly and ready to kill. She was pure innocence, and I wanted her now.

  Her flowery scent presented images in my mind of things I had once forgotten about. For once, I could rest on the beauty of the world. When I held her in my arms, I could feel like a human again. Of course, all of that went out the window when I got shot.

  Ultimately, my sight took me back to that basement, back to the harsh stare of my younger brother, and I remembered where I was again. Hell on earth.

  "You can't touch her, you selfish fuck," Khan growled, lunging toward the bars with dumb force. He knocked his head and winced, but it didn't stop him from trying again.

  A smile broke apart my lips. "You know who she is," I said.

  "An itty-bitty princess. Ripe for rutting."

  "She will fit perfectly around my cock," I said, smug as I tightened my makeshift bandage.

  For years, I had waited for her. I talked endlessly about how I would take her and what we would do when we left the dark clutches of the forest. She would end this misery, and together, we'd find the cure. It was just as I was told by her mother, right before she died.

  My brother didn't believe it was possible to leave, nor did he think a cure had even been made. To him, they were just stories told by a dying woman.

  Father was the one who denied the reality of a cure. He filled our heads with lies, warning us constantly of a threat that didn't exist.

  "Government agents," Kahn said. "Now that you broke the pact, they will come after us. We're all doomed."

  "The title our father made for her is meaningless. She is no princess. There are no government agents watching over her. I have been over that line. I have seen where she lives. She is poor and destitute like us. She has no one but her aging father. She is the mirror of our image."

  "You lie. She is beautiful. We are monsters."

  "Only for a fortnight, brother," I muttered. "For when I find the cure, my luck will change."

  Again, her persistent sobbing from upstairs bled through the cracks. I knew that I needed to save her, but now was not the time.

  Lucky for her, the sound of my father's footsteps was not present… yet. He was most likely taking his usual day trip into the city to scavenge for whatever spare parts he could find for the great war that he said waited at the end of his life. Well, the time might have been upon us already. If the girl's father tried to rescue her, we'd all be forced into a conflict we couldn't get out of. I was sure there would be deaths, which was why I needed to make a realistic plan.

  "I’ve done many terrible things. I know this, brother. But, please… I need you on my side," I said. "Father has made us both do unspeakable things. The one thing I have yet to do is lie to you."

  "She is nothing like us, and there is no cure," he said. "She is here to make sure we stay in line."

  I shook my head and sighed. "We were all affected by what happened. Our tragedy connects us all together," I argued.

  The accident. The break in Onyx Laboratories. Contamination. Government agents tore us away from our families. I couldn't blame him for being paranoid. The entire thing fucked up my family, and my dad made it even worse.

  So many appalling memories rushed through my brain. As I remembered the horror of my creation, my blood pumped with adrenaline, my muscles grew tight against the seams of my shirt, and I turned tireless and irate.

  I looked up at the ceiling, punished by her cries and my brother's poor logic. Suddenly, I wanted nothing more than to give that punishment back, to take the howling bitch upstairs and pump her full of my cock until everyone in the entire world stopped throwing the hurt back to me. Until I could give her a child and break the curse put on the two families.

  I had my ways of getting out, but it didn't matter. When a person looked the way I did, huge and monstrous, they chased with more than pitchforks. It was as my father had told me so long ago. "They get one look at your hideous face, and they'll make a lesson out of you."

  "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me," I whispered.

  I wasn't a religious man. I was someone who was searching for the truth. She had the answers that I needed.

  I stayed in these woods. I waited for her. But now was my chance to turn darkness into true beauty.

  Kahn sank from the bars and collapsed onto the blood-stained concrete. The anger dissipated from his face, and I saw someone human again, my brother. "I’m tired, Lucian. I don't want to fight. When will this all end?"

  I looked into the asshole's eyes and sighed. "Brother, I'm sorry," I muttered, feeling the sting in my chest grow. "We’re the forgotten ones."

  My brother went fucking crazy. His eyes shook and rolled back inside his head. Veins visibly pumping, he smashed his body against the bars, howling with all his might. Taking hold of them, he screamed and smashed his head against the rusted metal. "Father! He is escaping! Father!"

  I backed against the wall, looking frantically at the staircase to the upstairs. "What are you doing? You'll get me killed," I hissed.

  But it was far too late. I heard his footsteps come running onto the deck outside. Father was back, and he would be ready to fuck us both up. His heavy boots reverberated down the stairs as he jumped into the basement.

  He suited up and grabbed the scourge from a hook on the wall as well as the tranquilizer gun to put us down for the night. “What did I tel
l you?” he screamed.

  "You fucking fool," I said to my brother.

  I tried not to blame Khan for his actions against me because I knew he experienced the same level of trauma, if not more. But every time he fucked me over, he pushed me one step closer to receiving my father's torture. It was getting harder and harder not to leave him for dead.

  My father's mangled face stared back at us with absolute disgust. We were so much more than just his children. We were a reminder of what had happened to him, as well as what he lost so long ago. "Who was it? Which one of you tried to leave?"

  Eagerly, my brother pointed. "It was Lucian. He was the one who disobeyed your orders, sir," Khan said.

  "You are a worse liar than him," I shouted and backed into the corner of my cage. "Father, we have done all you asked of us. I scrubbed my cage clean with the toothbrush as you asked."

  Violently, he whipped the scourge against my cage. I jumped back to protect myself, but the harsh sting of leather went through the bars and stung the front of my hand. I fell to the floor and grunted in pain as blood started to form around my palm.

  Slowly kneeling down, my father took the bars and shook them, screaming like a madman to scare me into submission. Though the pain hurt, he did not scare me. He would never frighten me.

  "Tell me the truth, you monster," he said.

  I should have bit my tongue, but I was filled with too much pride. "The truth?" I asked. "We are living in a goddamn nightmare."

  My father wanted to beat me to a bloody pulp. I could see the hatred in his horrific stare. However, he knew if he did, it wouldn't change a damn thing. It would only end up biting him in the ass.

  I was set in my ways. I wasn't going to let him own me, and I sure as fuck wasn't going to let him own her.

  Breathing heavily, he turned and unlocked my brother's cage, waving him out like a lion tamer. Kahn cowered, but father revealed a treat, a small crumb from a chocolate chip cookie. Under these conditions, that was practically a delicacy. "Come. Be a good boy."

  "You won't hurt me, Father?" he asked.

  He lowered his eyelids and nodded pleasantly. "You have my word."

  "Don't be stupid, Kahn. He will hurt you."

  But Kahn was far too trusting. As soon as he exited the front of that cage, my father whipped his back, effortlessly fraying the skin.

  My father gnashed his teeth together and screamed. "Down!"

  Kahn fell onto the floor, wheezing and twisting to get away from the whip. "No. Stop. Father, please."

  He lunged on Kahn's back, forcing his hands around his neck, driving the tranq gun into the top of his spine. He was ready to fire at any moment's notice. "Boy, I'm trying to keep you safe," he grunted.

  Then, he turned his attention to me. "If you do anything to stop his discipline, I will call them over to take you back in."

  My mind raced back to the terrible accident. From my memory, I saw government thugs in hazmat suits walking toward me, extending their arms to take me in.

  "No!" I screamed and covered my eyes.

  My brother looked at me with frightened eyes. Maybe I should have let him suffer. He sure as fuck would have left me to Father's abuse if the tables were turned. I couldn't be like him. I was the older brother, and I had an obligation to protect him. I wasn't the worst man in the world.

  Quicker than Father could react, I kicked my cage open and dove over Kahn's body, shielding him from the excessive punishment.

  "Go ahead," I said. "Give me your worst punishment."

  He tranq'd me faster than I could react. He scourged my back until I was bloody, cold, and stinging to an unnatural degree. I roared with pain, but I took it all in stride. This was the last straw. My father would get what was coming to him. Eventually, I would have my sweet revenge.

  He ridiculed me and placed his heel against the butt of my spine. "You will learn not to disobey my orders."

  I tried my best to fight, but I was no match against the heavy weight of sedatives flowing through my spinal column. I crawled away and slumped, dragging my dead weight of a body toward the foot of the stairs. With each movement, I felt the blunt smack of leather rip through flesh.

  "Brother," I whispered in torment and agony. "Remember this day."

  I fell over and felt another dart lodge into my side. Closing my eyes, I gave a twisted smile and fell into a deep sleep. The only thing that comforted me was the smell of that woman's perfume and the sound of her tears hitting the wood.

  Ah, sweet relief…

  Lilly

  Repeat after me: "We are survivors. We are survivors. We are—"

  I stared into the darkness of the upper storeroom of the cabin. I was forced inside and kept as a prisoner. The noises from below were terrifyingly loud, and the entire foundation of the cabin shook as the beast that saved me took the beating of my life.

  I held back my crying as soon as I heard his dad enter the home, but the emotion shook my body. He was just trying to protect me. He was doing something good for me and his brother.

  At the very least, it confirmed my thoughts. I still didn't know what they were, but they weren't evil. At least, not in the traditional devil versus God sense. If they were at one point human, there was still some of that morality left inside their hearts.

  I knew it wasn't something I could rely on. There was no way of knowing how these men operated. If one thing set them off, I could be turned into a bartering chip. Instead, I held out hope for my father's return.

  In the past, our way of life was a source of pride for me. We were the only ones built to last. We were the only ones who could continue the thread of life. The apocalypse was coming. That was what Dad told me.

  As I sat thinking about those incredible beasts caged in the basement, I couldn't help but wonder what else my father was doing here in the same woods. There had to be a reason, and I thought it had to do with my mother.

  In a major way, I felt betrayed. Why would he lie to me? Was I so fragile that I couldn't handle the truth? No. I was a survivor. I had always been a fighter. And that was why I wasn't going to keep crying.

  Holding onto faith, I held still and waited for the sounds to stop below. I heard the man's boots thump against the rickety stairs. There was an aura of derangement here, the hint of terrible things. I was sure many before me had been taken in by these people. The unbearable need to run shook me, but I remained vigilant and strong.

  Through the slit underneath the door, I watched as the man paused and turned. I clenched my stomach and held my breath as panic swept over me. A deep cough, full of phlegm from what sounded to be a terrible medical condition, came from his throat. A shallow wheeze followed, and my eyes widened.

  The man spat on the floor and walked away, leaving me to my panicked thoughts and deliberate silence.

  Time passed, but I didn't dare sleep. I felt the heat from the sun bake my body. There was no water offered, nor was there any food. Not that I expected any. I was a prisoner of the worst kind, but that soon changed.

  When night came to grace us again, I heard the man leave. Within seconds, I heard the sounds of whispering coming from below. I lay on the cold wood floor and placed my ear to listen carefully.

  "…he will rape her… kill… she does not know the truth…"

  The words came out in fragments. I tried to focus more, but the room was too small to lay flat all of the way. As soon as I tried, my leg hit against the door, and the sound ricocheted throughout the cabin.

  "She's awake," the other one cried and huffed. The light taps of fingers against the ceiling caused me to jump on my feet, only to hit my head against an old and unused light socket.

  "Fuck," I groaned and rubbed the already growing welt.

  "Critter…"

  My heart pounded, and I felt the familiar tears betray my false sense of courage. I wanted to be strong. I wanted to make my father proud, but the weakness immediately took over. I was a caught little critter, and I was being kept for the stew.

 
; "Let me go," I stammered. "Let me out of this place, or my father will set fire to your home and kill you all."

  Harsh laughter livened the house. I could hear them both stirring in their cages. "I yearn for death as if it were a lover," my defender said.

  I forced my weight against the door and drove my shoulder forward to free myself. It was like hitting a cinderblock. I cupped my shoulder in pain and sighed.

  "You have been bolted in," the younger brother said.

  I hardly listened to what he told me. I spun my body and kicked at the door, but it wouldn't move an inch. He was right. I was stuck here.

  "You… you are both ungodly and impure," I said.

  "Our breath is no more than a puff of smoke," the more noble of the beasts said. "In time, no one will remember our names. That goes for all of us, critter."

  "Stop calling me by that name," I cried.

  "Lucian has been waiting to catch you for a long time," the younger one said. "But Father has beaten him for his attempts at escaping. He calms his temperament with cruelty."

  Lucian. So that was my protector's name. I swallowed my pride and wiped away my tears, placing my back against the cement wall. "I just want to go home. I miss my dad," I said.

  From below, I heard one of the cages open slowly. "Kahn, stay put. I will be back for you."

  "What are you doing? He will kill you next time," Kahn hissed.

  Lucian ignored his brother's pleas and walked slowly up the stairs. When he got to the foot of my door, I saw the shadows of his feet. I heard his hands against the door, and then he told me something I never wanted to hear. "You will never return to the land which you love," he said. "We must leave. Together."

  "No…" The tears stung my eyes, and I felt frantic and lost, hopeless and destitute.

  "I will take care of you,” he said.

  "Oh, God, no," I cried.

  He punched through the thick wood of the door, ripping the frame back and onto the ground. Walking inside the small and cramped storeroom, he stood above me like a giant version of some sort of twisted spirit. I ran forward, but he quickly caught me in his arms, coiling around me to calm my movements. I screamed, but his hand shut me up.