Freeing the Beasts
A Hybrid Trilogy
Aleera Anaya Ceres
Freeing the Beasts
A Hybrid Trilogy
Copyright 2018 Aleera Anaya Ceres
All Rights Reserved
Cover by Imagine Ink Designs
No portion of this book may be reproduced without written permission from the author. Any unauthorized use of any portion of the book is prohibited.
This book is a work of fiction. Any names, places, characters, events, and/or incidents are the products of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.
Disclaimer: This book is a reverse harem romance and as such contains scenes that may not be suitable for those younger than the age of 18.
Acknowledgments
This book is for you.
For the fans who have followed this story and who have shown it so much love.
Thank you. You mean so much to me.
Chapter One
The air was tainted with smoke and the tips of flickering flames of angry fire. Gunshots rang out, each piercing bullet that resonated around the clearing was no match to the pounding of my own heart. Bodies became a blur around me, both of the living and dead. My whole body throbbed in the aftermath of the battle between us and the hybrids, but that pain became nothing, dissipating entirely as I gazed upon one hybrid in particular.
This hybrid was different than the rest. Smaller, with fur that looked newly groomed and shining and brown eyes that looked at me with gentleness.
Eyes that I recognized.
The eyes of my mother.
“Mom?”
Her ears perked up and she let out a grunt, as if she’d tried to form a word. My mother. My mother, who had been kidnapped when she’d gone beyond the walls of our kingdom to follow me. My mother, who I thought to be captive of the Ruined City. My mother, who was taken to the Hybrid Laboratory. My mother, who was now a hybrid.
I let my bow and arrow fall to the ground. I nearly fell as well but somehow, I managed to keep myself upright. Ever since she’d been taken, my mind had conjured up image after image of all the terrible things that could have happened to her. But I never could have imagined this.
I never could have imagined that my mother would become one of the creatures that had broken our world so long ago.
I placed my hand out in front of me, palm open. My mother looked at it, almost with uncertainty before she walked forward and pressed her forehead against my skin. I ran my fingers through the roots of her fur. It was coarse and thick beneath my calloused fingertips. She nudged me with her muzzle. A muzzle. My mom had a muzzle now. It was long and her whole body was bear-like in appearance. Nose elongated and leathery, teeth wide, sharp and dangerous.
But she wasn’t dangerous. Not to me. She’d just taken down the leader of the hybrid creatures to save me from getting killed.
“Mom, who did this to you?”
She let out a low growling noise almost as if she’d meant to answer me. “Keanna!” There was the shout of my name and before I could blink, strong hands were shoving me away. I nearly tripped over my own feet but righted myself easily enough, turning just in time to see Akir pointing a large gun straight at my mom’s face.
“Akir, don’t!” I shouted. He ignored me and in my adrenaline rush, I did the only thing I could think of doing. I charged.
In my mind I heard River’s instructive voice, telling me about feet placement and the angles of my upper body. I crouched low as I ran, and the surprise of the impact from my body colliding with his, knocked Akir to the ground. Our feet tangled as we both went to the dirt. I fell on top of him with a grunt and he let out a curse as his gun was knocked sideways.
His glare at me was mutinous. In a quick, swift motion, Akir flipped me over so I was beneath him. The press of his body was hard and warm against mine for a fraction of a second before he was standing up, whirling his gun again.
Cursing, I jumped up and stepped in front of my mom. He would not shoot me to get to her.
Akir was covered in black ash and dirt. Bright blood was prominent on his face, dripping down the length of his beard. His eyes looked red, the fire reflecting in his blue depths. There was anger etched deep into the lines of his scowl. But there was something else there as well. Worry.
“What are you doing, lass?” He ground out tightly.
“You can’t kill her,” I shouted firmly.
He cocked his gun. “Like hell I can’t.” His finger tightened slightly on the trigger as he aimed. “Move aside before that thing kills you!”
“Akir, please just listen to me!”
I wasn’t sure what exactly I’d be telling him, what words I could say that would make all of this seem less crazy. Less like a fantasy and more like the reality of the Broken World we lived in. But my fiancée gave pause at my words. Almost as if he’d listen to me. As if he’d believe anything and everything I had to say.
I sighed my relief and opened my mouth to speak…
When all at once, every remaining hybrid roared.
Their cries were a violent screeching that shook the sky. The sound was a dangerous symphony, their voices rising in painful song that sent a chill down the entirety of my back. I whipped around and Akir pulled me towards him, strong arm wrapping around my stomach to hold me in place against his chest. I didn’t feel his usual heat in that touch. I felt nothing but worry as I watched my mother join in, letting loose animalistic sounds, one after the other.
She began whimpering first and looked to me, her brown eyes wide and frightened. I knew then that something was terribly wrong.
Suddenly, in quick violent movements, she began pawing away at her face, growling as she began running her face against the dirt. She looked like a demon possessed as she thrashed around uncontrollably, painfully. She screeched and cried, enormous paws flattening out her ears.
“Something’s wrong,” I cried out. I tried taking a step forward but Akir held me firmly.
“Look, lass,” he said in my ear.
I looked up and gasped. All of the screeching hybrids were suddenly dashing away from the melee of the battle, running towards the tree lines and disappearing completely. As if they were answering some call they couldn’t ignore. And my mother appeared to be fighting that call with every fiber.
Her movements were jerky as she struggled around on the ground, almost as if she were trying to physically push aside some hybrid instinct that threatened to override who she was. And she could fight it. I knew she could. She was a Ferguson and we Ferguson’s did not break beneath the conquering pressure of these creatures.
She could do it.
I knew she could.
But when my mother stood on her back paws and cried out, I knew that I was wrong.
She couldn’t.
In an instant, her entire being seemed to change and the eyes that had looked on me with such tenderness just a moment ago, vanished entirely into something else and she truly became a hybrid.
She began swinging her paws around at anyone that dared get too near. Men suddenly came at her from every angle, pointing guns, metal spears with electric ends and bombs. She cried out her rage at their proximity and made a move to deliver death blows…
And then the net went over her.
She fell to the ground, more from surprise than anything else, and growled as a smoke bomb was thrown in front of her face, exploding into a dense cloud of gray. The men got to work around her, rushing to hammer the net down and keep her in place.
The smoke cleared quickly, revealing her form beneath. She had gone more still and her brown eyes darted to me. She was herself again.
And the
n Akir was letting me go, rushing towards her to help his men. The end of his gun pointed straight at her face and I had no other choice. I threw myself over her body, between them.
Akir appeared startled by the sudden move and lowered his gun a fraction before tightening his grip on it. I wondered briefly how angry he’d be with me later, since I’d undermined him in front of his people. But that didn’t matter. Nothing mattered now except saving my mother from death.
“Move.” Akir demanded tightly.
I looked him in the eyes and didn’t blink. “No.”
“Do I need to shoot you to get to that beast, lass?” His voice didn’t make me doubt that he would. But his eyes were what gave him away. He didn’t have it in him to shoot me. Not even to save his men from what he thought was a monster. And that was when I realized, with a sudden jolt, that he hadn’t been lying earlier when he’d told me he loved me.
“You can’t shoot her, Akir.” I said firmly.
He lowered his weapon. There was resignation on his face. And anger. We could get into that later, though.
Around him, his men seemed to snicker in disapproval at me. I ignored them and looked only at Akir. At my fiancée and hoped that he would ignore the men around him. Ignore his people. For me.
“Akir,” I whispered. He looked at me with uncertainty. I knew what truth would give him pause. Give them all pause. I only hoped they would believe me. “I know what they’ve done to the royals.”
Chapter Two
Akir blinked. It was the only surprise he’d show before he finally lowered his weapon to his side, letting it dangle almost helplessly. His men quieted down, the snickers and judgment they had been aiming at me the entire time vanished.
My fiancée’s gaze darted between me and my mother. Of course, in his eyes she was just a beast he’d meant to kill. It was almost as if he were reading the truth there. As if he could see what it was I was about to tell him.
Believe me, I sent up a silent prayer to the gods that he would as I slowly stood and spread my arms out at my sides. My heart beat in terrible rhythms but my voice was firm and my expression strong as I looked him and all of his men in the eyes. Even if he didn’t believe me, I would protect her at all costs. Even if I had to kill Akir to do it.
“She’s my mother,” I confessed.
A heartbeat passed. Then two. Then three.
Akir stared at me. His men stared at me. And no one said anything. I counted the beats that passed, held my breath as I waited. They all seemed to be awaiting their leader’s reaction. I was waiting for his reaction.
Then, he took a step forward...and another...and another until he was in front of me. I loosed the breath that was caught at the back of my throat. His eyes were soft as they looked at me. He believed me. A smile touched the corners of my lips. He believed me.
But my illusion shattered when his eyes suddenly flared angrily. His hand went to the back of my head to tug at the roots of my hair. I cried out from surprise as he began pulling me away from his men and away from my mother. Just like that, the violence emanated from him once more. Before me wasn’t the Akir I’d come to care about but the Ruined City prick I hated.
“Let go of me, you bastard!” I screamed as he pulled me away from the group and to an empty spot further away from them. If privacy was what he wanted, he was in for disappointment because I had no intention of biting back my anger in soft whispered arguments.
“Is this some kind of a joke to you, lass?” He pulled hard enough that it hurt.
I struggled against him and clawed at his hand. “Let me go, you bastard!”
So he did, nearly pushing me away as if I disgusted him. I stumbled back, my hand rubbing the back of my head a brief moment before I marched forward again. My hands tightened into fists and I knew he was eyeing the movement, anticipating what I would do. He could easily deflect my blows.
I didn’t care.
I let my hand fly to his face. He caught my wrist inches from his cheek and snarled, as if he had won. But grabbing my wrist was far from winning. In a swift move, I brought my knee high up between his legs. The grunt he gave was satisfaction enough for me.
Pulling away from him, I didn’t bother giving him a moment to compose himself. He doubled over, nearly dropping the gun to the ground, and placed his hand over his groin and wheezed.
“Don’t you ever pull me around like that again,” I threatened. “Or you’ll wake up one morning with an important piece missing.”
Akir coughed and stood to his full height to glare at me. His nostrils were flaring as he took me in. I’d only succeeded in making him angrier. “Stop playing fucking games with me, lass.” He demanded gruffly.
“This isn’t a game!” I shouted.
“Then why the hell are you treating it like one? Claiming that thing is your mother. Are you insane? Has the smoke gotten into your pretty little head?”
I let out a shout and shoved him in the chest. “Don’t talk down at me!”
“Then stop lying.”
“I’m not!” I screamed. The camp went silent a moment. Even the sounds of my hybrid mother’s grunting ceased. They’d listen into our conversation now but I didn’t care. All I wanted was for Akir, for my fiancée to believe me. I was desperate for it. For him to believe in me.
“You’re trying to tell me that the thing that killed my people—the thing that killed Helga—is your mother?” His voice was low and menacing and sent a tremble of fear through me.
“My mother didn’t kill Helga, Akir.” I said softly. Was that why he was so reluctant to believe? I’d overheard Cole say that Helga and Akir had been together before me. She’d been his guard as well and the reality of her death was settling in his heart.
I understood those raw wounds too well. For River had been killed in the battle against those things. River, the one who had been by my side since we were children. We played together, ran together and trained together. As we got older, I had more duties as princess and he’d trained to be my guard but we never grew apart. The relationship between us never wavered, never faltered.
I’d been his first kiss. The moment played so vividly in my mind now. And all I would have left of my guard were memories.
River was dead.
I swallowed the rising lump in my throat and reached for Akir. Not to harm him, but to hold his trembling arm in my hand. “It’s hard to explain,” I whispered. “But you have to believe me. I know she’s my mother. I don’t know how to prove it but it’s true, Akir. It’s true.”
He looked down at me and I watched the anger slowly fade from his face. That, however, didn’t stop him from hardening his gaze. “I can’t make sense of any of this.”
“Neither can I,” I confessed.
“Helga is dead.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I know you loved her—”
“You don’t know anything, lass. I didn’t love her. Not like I love you. But I did care about her. And now she’s dead.”
I felt the tears prickling the backs of my eyelids. “River is dead, too.” It hurt to say those words aloud. It meant they were real and more than anything, I wished that this was a dream.
Akir reached a hand out to cup my cheek and run the rough pad of his thumb against the curve of it as if he’d meant to catch my tears. “Strength, my queen. Show them the strength of victory even in utter defeat. Later, there will be time for tears.”
His words struck a chord in me. I bit back my emotions and nodded firmly. He was right. It was a lesson I was sure they drilled into every Royal at birth. Show no emotion, show no weakness. If you did, it just made it easier for the masses to hurt you.
So I did what was expected of me and held my head high and turned back to Akir’s men—to my men, for they would be my people as well—and walked back over to them. I looked at each and every one of them silently. Some stared at me straight on, others averted their gazes.
“You will not harm her,” I said finally. “Because she is my mother.”
Cries of outrage rang out around us. They didn’t believe it. They wanted proof. They wanted revenge.
Beside me, Akir said nothing. I didn’t expect him to. It was another test, a test to prove that I could handle these people. A test to prove that I was worthy as his future queen.
“I can’t explain it. I’m not a scientist but I know what they’re doing with the missing royals and this,” I pointed at my mother. Heat shamed my cheeks at using her, at displaying her like this but I needed them to believe me. “This is what they are doing to our royalty. They are taking them from their homes and degrading their bodies and turning them into monsters.” The men had gone quiet as they listened to me. To my speech. “And those monsters came here today and they killed our friends, they killed the ones we loved.” My voice cracked with emotion but this time, I didn’t bother swallowing it back. They would hear me roar. “And I swear to you that I will do all that’s in my power to find out who is doing this to our people and when I find him…” I smiled in a way I’d never done before and I knew from the way they flinched back, that I’d won. “We will tear them apart.”
Their shouts erupted into a chorus all around me. Their cheers filled me with confidence, chasing away the doubts and worry that threatened to suffocated my insides. Sighing, I bent down so I was looking into my mother’s eyes. They were widened slightly in surprise. I wanted to chuckle, to tell her that I was just as surprised as she was by these turn off events.
“Keanna! Princess Keanna!”
I stood abruptly at the shouting of my name and turned in time to see Kael rushing towards me. He pushed through the crowd and my chest nearly dropped with relief. Like everyone else, he was covered in ash and dirt. Blood dripped down his temple and to his chin and his clothes were stained and tattered as if he’d barely missed the swipe of a beast.
I ran to him and threw myself into his arms, holding him tightly. His hands were gentle on my back and I felt a sob begin to rise in my chest. He was alive. Kael was alive. I pulled away to look up into his dark eyes. Something was wrong.
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