by Stella Cassy
Conquered By The Alien Dragon
Galactic Alpha’s Conquest: Book 6
Stella Cassy
Contents
Hey There!
1. Illion
2. Leti
3. Illion
4. Leti
5. Illion
6. Leti
7. Illion
8. Leti
9. Illion
10. Leti
11. Illion
12. Leti
13. Illion
14. Leti
15. Illion
16. Leti
17. Illion
18. Leti
19. Illion
20. Leti
21. Illion
22. Leti
23. Illion
24. Leti
25. Illion
26. Leti
27. Illion
28. Leti
Chapter 1 Preview – Snatched By The Alien Dragon
Free Prequel!
Conquered By The Alien Dragon
Hey There!
Cosmic Collector delves into the past, offering a glimpse of Tarion as a hatchling after the death of his birth mother. Through the alternating perspectives of Tarion's sire, Silea, and Alana, a human woman that captured his heart, readers will gain a deeper understanding of the Hielsrane dragons, from their possessive tendencies to their battle-hardened exteriors.
Click here to download your FREE Prequel, Cosmic Collector, by signing up for Stella Cassy’s Insider Club!
1
Illion
"Illion, what are you doing?" My mother’s voice interrupted my pout.
I looked up at her as she climbed the stairs to our roof, smiling sadly at me. "Nothing," I said sullenly. Rudeness wasn’t tolerated, but I was far too mad to be any more polite.
"Why are you on the roof this time?" The sunset was beautiful, but neither of us was there to look at it. We’d been here before, talking about how unfair certain parts of life could be and how we could overcome challenges.
"No reason." I didn’t want to tell her the real reason. It hurt her to know I was sad. I’d learned to hide the hurt from her.
"Were they calling you Smearling again?" She sat beside me on the edge of the roof and looked down at the children playing below.
"Yeah," I whispered. Tears prickled behind my eyes, but I knew better than to let them fall. Drakon men didn't cry. I would be a proud Drakon man, and those jerks would show me respect.
"Did you do something to them?" Her hand made slow circles on my back, comforting me. “Something to provoke them?”
"No. I just wanted to play with them." I only ever wanted to be accepted.
Jerking out of my memory, I focused on the woman speaking to me. "Our planet is in danger. If we don’t act quickly, we will be forced to abandon it." The human female stared into my eyes as if I was the only person in the room. For a member of a weak species, Carissa, human mate to my Drakon commander, Tarion, made me feel like she knew my every secret as I shook off the memory of the first time I’d met most of the other Drakon men sitting on the long bench beside me.
She moved her gaze to the man next to me. "You will each be assigned one element. Your job is to secure enough of your element to help save your home. Thirren is ours again, but it is so damaged we will not be able to stay here without help." She paused to let that fact sink in as she stared holes through the five of us.
I couldn't say I was happy to be in such company, but I was thrilled to be in the room. Finally, a chance to prove myself, to prove I was more than they could ever imagine.
"You will not know who is retrieving what element besides your own." The Drakon beside her finally spoke. Moddoc. Why was he even in the room? After his spectacular failure allowing Thirren to be occupied by the Pax, he should've been in the mines, lower than a slave. How many were dead because of his incompetence?
"You will not know who won until everyone has returned," Moddoc continued. "However, the reward for the winner will be beyond any of your wildest dreams. Your own command in the fleet and more treasure than you could raid in half a lifetime."
My imagination went wild imagining myself at the helm of a brand-new ship, stylized to mimic me in my dragon form, surrounded by loyal crew members.
As Moddoc continued describing the jewels, ships, and rare implements we would be rewarded with, my eyes drifted to the Drakon on the other side of Carissa. Ranel. The current head of security and land forces on Thirren. Clearly, he wasn't happy about it either. His body language was completely disengaged, leaned back with his arms crossed. He didn't want to be here.
Carissa noticed my eyes on Ranel and shot him a disgruntled look. "You're dismissed to wait for us in the hallway. We will discuss each of your missions one on one. Yauralin, stay here. You're first."
We stood and walked single file out of the meeting room to wait in the hallway outside the battered hall. It had once been a great building for meetings and government business, but the war had nearly ruined it. The five of us had been soldiers since our first change, eager to defend our planet and join the fleet, rising in the ranks like our commander, Tarion.
The hallway was lined with modified benches to accommodate our caudals and wings. I walked to the end, as far away from the other Drakon warriors as I could get. They'd never given me any reason to want to sit with them to await our turn in the room.
"I wonder what the five elements are?" Naddo asked. "Water, obviously. Food?"
Their voices drifted down the hall to me as I rolled my eyes. Of course we needed to find food. Entire cities had been razed. The volcanoes were more active than they'd ever been. Our planet needed time and care, and our people would need supplies to keep them alive until we could support ourselves again.
"Something to say, Illswing?" I stiffened at the slur Rethryn used. He was a lowborn prince of the royal family. Unless the entire royal family's hideout was discovered and they were each and every one murdered, he'd never take the throne. His only leg up on me was his money. As a royal, he shared in their fortune.
He chuckled when I didn't respond. There was no need to engage the spoiled brat. If I took his bait, we might all end up kicked off the mission. No way I was wasting the opportunity laid out before me.
Yauralin stayed in the room for several microns, which ticked by with the others joking about with one another. When he exited, he saluted us with a smirk and walked toward the exit.
"No fair. He's getting a head start," Rethryn whined.
What a brat. The sound of him as a child, chanting, ‘Smearling, smearling, doesn’t have a dad,’ echoed through my mind.
I curled my lip at him. "I doubt the solar lead he has on us will make that much difference in the types of missions we're being sent on. And if it gets that close, are you scared of losing over a single solar?" I couldn't keep the challenge out of my voice and didn't much want to.
"What difference does it make to you, smearling?" Rethryn asked. My blood boiled at hearing the slur that meant I had no father. My dragon pressed against my skin, eager to rip the arrogant bastard’s head off. We’d wanted to get our revenge for at least a decade.
He settled with a growl as the door opened. "Illion Nevrin?" Carissa called out the open doorway. I stood and stalked down the hall, passing in front of Rethryn. He wisely kept his mouth shut in front of the mate of our commander, who was a commander in her own right.
She closed the door softly behind me. "Please have a seat, Illion."
"We will be your point of contact for this mission. Should you encounter any trouble, contact one of us immediately." Carissa slid a dossier across the table toward me. "The terms of your mission. You will not open that folder unti
l you and your crew have lifted off. Your first destination has been preselected for you and preprogrammed into your ship’s autopilot system. You will attempt any and every trade possibility with the planet in question to obtain the element we need."
Moddoc cleared his throat. "You're being given a significant amount of autonomy when promising our resources, however, five of you will be seeking out elements at the same time. You may discuss trades, but do not finalize anything until you check with us to ensure the five of you don't offer the same valuables at the same time to different planets."
I nodded. "And if I have the opportunity to take what we need?"
"We have considered that possibility. However, we need these elements in such large quantities and will continue to need to be supplied with them for several rotations coming as we rebuild our society. It would be virtually impossible to steal all we need." Moddoc sat back after saying his piece.
Ranel finally broke his silence. "However, if you have the opportunity to simply take control of the planet..." He shrugged. "Why not?"
I grinned at him. Why not, indeed?
"Is there anything else I need to know?"
"It's all in the dossier." Carissa stood. "We wish you the best of luck and know that you will do us proud. We cannot survive on this planet without the item you seek. Our lives are literally in your hands."
No pressure.
I bowed my head to the severity of the situation. "I will make you proud."
As I walked to the door, I fought the urge to look down at the dossier to see if it would give me any clue to what I was getting myself into. I resisted.
Rethryn stood as I closed the door behind me. "Don't screw it up, smearling. If any of us will, it'll be you. Your kind isn't capable of greatness or honor." His smug face was itching for my fist to smash into it.
Instead, I clenched it around the documents and stalked down the hall. Rethryn had it out for me and had always been particularly harsh to me. Most other Drakon males of his ranking felt smearlings were beneath them and didn't bother being cruel. Rethryn seemed to delight in it.
I'd show them all by winning. They'd have to take note of my greatness and honor if I commanded my own fleet. And if they didn't, I'd be too far away to care.
My comms unit buzzed at my side as I walked out the front door of the hall and into the bright sunshine. The air was full of soot and ash thanks to the active volcano rumbling under our feet. We'd long ago adapted to the volcanic eruptions, building our cities at the dormant volcanoes, learning the warning signs, and keeping most of our buildings mobile. However, the mass destruction on the planet had disrupted the ecosystem and caused most of the dormant volcanoes to activate at the same time.
I looked at the screen to see my mother's identification number. "Hello, mother," I said as I clicked the comms on. "Are you well?"
"I'm fine," her voice crackled out of the receiver. "Worried about my son. I hear you're to go on an adventure."
"It's just a mission. I'll be home before you know it." I nodded at a passing member of the ground forces headed into the hall. "I'm leaving immediately."
"I know. Lehar told me."
"Uncle Lehar is a busybody."
She barked a laugh over the comms unit. "That he is, son. Be safe, my boy. And call your mother once in a while when you can?"
I laughed back at her. "I will, mom. I love you."
"I love you more, my spitfire."
She disconnected the comms, so I shut it off. As soon as we were out of Thirren's orbit it would do no good anyway, we'd have to switch to the ones on board my ship.
2
Leti
"I can't believe that bouncer," I exclaimed as we stumbled out of the club. Our group was large, nine of us having studied together for the last year. We'd toiled and worked and nearly killed ourselves, but we'd done it. Graduated medical school, each of us with full honors. We would begin our first hospital rotations in one week.
The guys in our group split off, diving into a cab, while we girls walked the two blocks home. The neighborhood was relatively safe, and we each carried pepper spray in our purses. I also had a stun gun in mine, and I was pretty sure at least one of the other girls did as well. We felt as safe as five women could be in Nashville at three in the morning. We'd managed to get an apartment in the city by doubling up in rooms and all five of us lived in a two-bedroom apartment. It hadn't been easy, but we'd done it. Now the real work was beginning. Interns were the lowest of the low in any hospital.
I couldn't wait to get started.
"He fell over backward when you started stalking toward him, Leti." My bubbly redheaded friend Callie wobbled on her heels as she tried to walk but was doubled over laughing. "How did he get the job of a bouncer if he can't even handle one aggressive woman?"
I shrugged. "I have no idea. He was hot. I just wanted to see if he wanted to dance." I shrugged and laughed, amazed at my brazenness with the attractive bouncer. I wasn't shy by any means, but normally I didn't stalk toward an attractive man like a tiger on the prowl. I hadn't had anything to drink, but the atmosphere in the club and dancing until my legs were rubbery had given me a natural high that had helped me with confidence.
We turned the corner onto our street, less than a block from home when I stopped short. I'd nearly tripped over what I was pretty sure was a small white dog.
"What are you doing, Leti?"
"Sorry, I thought I saw a dog," I mumbled as I walked forward again.
A squeal behind me caused me to whirl. Three more of the small white creatures stood behind our group. I looked around in amazement, but nobody else was in the street to see the impossible animals. "Are they trained dogs?" I asked. "They walk on their hind legs." Even as I said the words, I knew that wasn't right.
A line glowed around us in a perfect circle. From the line, a bubble of unknown substance formed, meeting at the top and encasing us in the membrane. "What the hell is going on?" I roared at the top of my voice. "This is some messed up stunt."
We yelled as loudly as we could, but in one moment we were standing on a sidewalk, nearly home, and the next moment we stood in a stark room that looked to be made of metal. I stomped my foot. "How? What is going on?"
My friends said similar things, outraged and confused at the magic trick. "Are we on one of those prank shows?" Anita asked. Her black hair had come loose from its careful bun and her eyeliner was smudged. "This isn't funny. I've lost my buzz totally."
I agreed with her. I hadn't drunk a drop, but my happy high was totally gone. The metal room had a door like on a cruise ship, with a little porthole in it. I ran over and looked through, but only saw the metal walls of a hallway. "We're on a ship, I think."
"It doesn't feel like water," Callie whispered. "Only the really big ones don't feel like they're in the water."
Beating on the door did no good. Yelling did no good. We settled down when nobody came to answer our screams.
Time passed without reason. Every few hours a bucket was shoved through a small opening in the bottom of the door, then hours turned to days, and once a day five bars that tasted like stale bread came through along with little packs of liquid that left us feeling far more refreshed than the amount of liquid inside called for. We marked the passing of the days with how many bars we'd received. By our calculations, it had been six days before the door opened.
We all scurried backward as the door banged against the back wall and one of the little white creatures came in, waving a big metal stick in front of him. He grabbed Callie by the wrist and tugged her out the door. She fought like a wildcat, and the four of us surged forward to defend her, but more of the creatures ran into the room, shocking us with the ends of those sticks. They singled us out, one by one until finally, I was the only one left in the room. My friends had fought, but their absence only made me feel more desperate to exert some control over the situation.
No way I was being led out to some unknown by creatures that shouldn't even exist. If this was
a joke, I was suing the production company straight out of business. I widened my stance, prepared to fight the remaining white fuzzball.
Hell, no! "You're not taking me without a fight, asshole," I said through clenched teeth. He cocked his head at me, truly reminiscent of a dog. I soon realized that he was laughing. The next time he poked that damn stick at me, I was ready. They hadn't taken our purses from us, though in all the commotion and shock I'd nearly forgotten it was still slung across my chest. As he neared, I ducked around the stick, pulling it and him forward, then pointed my stun gun at him.
The barbs hit him squarely in his small chest, and I held the trigger for a full thirty seconds before yanking the barbs from his fur and stowing it in my purse as I pressed myself against the wall, trying to see out the open door. The other fuzzballs could come back at any moment. I got my pepper spray ready, but I really didn't want to spray it in such close quarters. I was bound to get some blowback in my own eyes, and the last thing I needed was my vision compromised.
Before I could stick my head out the door to see if I had any hope of escape, the room flooded with the furries again, and I was completely surrounded. They zapped me with their damn sticks, similar to stun guns on the end, but with a lower voltage. They were not designed to maim, but to elicit control.
They were experts at using them. I began to realize as we walked down the hall that they'd been speaking to one another all along. They spoke, had a language.
