Primal: A Dark Sci-Fi Reverse Harem Romance (Alpha Unknown Book 1)

by Penelope Woods

  That came from the old me.

  I was a hardened man from a dead-end town. A military man, turned private. I used to value being a hermit. It was I against the world. But, fuck, what was the point? I wasn’t the man I used to be. Neither was Cadmar. Donovan either.

  I didn’t need to put up any fronts anymore. My pain, caused by the betrayal of our leaders whom we trusted, and the phenomenon this place offered had humbled me.

  “You guys,” I said. “I... um... I think I’m going to hang back.”

  “Don’t joke, Mag,” Donovan said. “Not now. Not with her body in front of us.”

  But as my skin pulsated and emanated strange colors, the others took a step back. I held my hand against Adeline’s and let my health flow through her. We switched places, she and I. My energy drifted into her, and I grew weak.

  “Mag, what is happening?” Cadmar asked.

  The feeling was intense. “I... don’t... know.”

  I drifted into her, into her world. Again, I fell inside her experiences, witnessing the purity of her soul. I felt the last moments of her death as if I had become her. She had been lied to. Zane, her father, and the whole goddamn CIA built a world of lies. Nobody was safe, and everyone was dealt a bad hand.

  The light took hold of Adeline, lifting her above us. Only, I wasn’t there anymore. I was staring from another vantage point, outside my body. I was still controlling it, but everything felt so different. It felt like... destiny.

  I suddenly knew how to save her. She wasn’t going to die, but it wouldn’t turn out how I had planned. It did not matter. Life was like that, chaotic and offhand.

  From the outside, I controlled my body, lowering my hand to remove the blade from my pocket. She gave her life for our freedom. Now, I would do the same for her.

  I turned the blade as she had, but I did not hesitate or give my actions an ounce of thought. Slowly, I sank the cold knife into my left breast, piercing just past my heart. I felt no pain, only sadness.

  “Mag!”

  I could hear their screams, but the light surrounding Adeline and I grew in intensity and strength, blocking their path. They couldn’t stop me. Not even I could, at this point. What was done was done.

  I pulled out the blade, blood dripping onto the ashy soil. I tossed it aside and took both hands, pulling the wound apart, screaming furiously. My body was frightened. I was so close to death it was confused and reacting erratically.

  I reached inside my own chest until I touched life itself, the heart. I couldn’t believe it, but I felt the rhythm of my own heartbeat against my palm. And with the skill of a surgeon, I removed it, holding it high into the air.

  “Adeline, I live for you,” I said. Darkness would not prevail. “End this place. Take it away, forever.”

  I put my heart in place of hers and felt myself grow even weaker than before. My vision was waning. I staggered back, falling over like a helpless animal. Soon, I’d be gone.

  I blinked my eyes and felt my consciousness realign with myself. Suddenly, I could feel everything. “Donovan,” I managed to croak. “She needs you now. Keep her happy.”

  Donovan’s face was streaked with tears. His chest palpitated as he cried for my passing. Strangely, I could not feel the same level of sadness. All of this felt right.

  “You dumb bastard,” he wept. “You can’t leave us. We’re a team.”

  I gave a final and exhausted laugh. “You don’t need me to protect you anymore,” I said. “Go. Explore the world. Live your life with her.”

  Cadmar knelt over me, silently stoic. “I’m sorry we brought you into this. It was never my intent—”

  I coughed and sank deeper into the soil. “There’s no time,” I whispered, staring past him at Adeline’s floating body. “Get her the hell out of here.”

  No time for any tears. No time for regrets or looking back at the past. As they turned toward Adeline, the glow seemed to slowly disappear. She lowered to the ground, sucked in a breath like a new vacuum, and lived again. A new life. One without the bad memories.

  She coughed and held her knees to her chest, rocking until it was settled. “What happened, w-w-what—”

  Her eyes fell on me. The realization sank in.

  “Don’t cry,” I said. “Live.”

  Those were the last words I said before I died.

  14

  Adeline

  “Mag,” I whispered, regaining my sense of self. “Mag? Mag!”

  It hit me like a bucket of ice-cold water. My skin buzzed like it had been pricked by a set of needles. I looked down at my chest and saw the wound close into a thin scar. My wrist was healed. Everything ached and hurt, but the sight of Mag’s lifeless body affected me the most.

  He’d saved me. Why the fuck did he save me?

  I crawled to him and pressed him hands around his jaw, cradling his heavy skull. “Mag, please!” I cried. “Don’t do this. Please, come back.”

  The others stood by in silence, waiting for my grief to pass. The humming of the marble slab was starting to lose volume, and the neon haze of the door to the other side was slowly drifting away from us. What had happened was so hard to understand, but I had to let go.

  “Addie. It’s time,” Cadmar whispered, hand against my shoulder.

  When I stepped through the portal, I had a feeling this journey was going to be difficult. I’d had no idea.

  I listened to Cadmar’s words. I nodded, knowing I couldn’t fight this. It was what needed to be done. But, first, I wanted to say goodbye.

  I took Mag’s blade and wiped the dirt and blood off with my shirt. I held it close to me and lowered my head, kissing him one last time. “Blood brothers, forever,” I whispered, the agony tearing through me. “Goodbye, Magnus. I will always love you with all my heart.”

  He literally gave me his heart. I knew what I meant to him. And I would honor him until the day I died.

  I pocketed the blade, wiped my tears, and carefully stood again. I faced the portal. It wasn’t too far, but it felt like the longest walk of my life. Though I knew my men were near me, I walked ahead. Right now, I needed to be alone. I wasn’t sure how I would get through this, but the silence of the atmosphere assured me I’d have to find a way.

  I walked until my senses shook, and I came face to face with that bright portal door, the exit I was once so anxious to find. I didn’t have any samples to take back, no pictures, or any documentation. I just had the memory of this place, of Mag and the two men who would stand by my side on Earth.

  Finally, I stopped and turned to them, speechless. Why did love have to be so fucking hard?

  “I’m sorry. It’s hard to know what to say right now,” I said. “I can’t stop blaming myself for what I did.”

  I fell into their arms. “You cannot blame yourself,” Cadmar said.

  “I know,” I murmured and gazed up at both of them. I could tell they were holding back their own pain for me, but it didn’t make me feel any better. I wanted to be strong like them, to appear not emotionless but capable. I decided to tell the truth instead. “I’m still terrified of the future. I don’t want to lose you, and I’m worried you won’t want to stay.”

  Donovan tenderly kissed the top of my head while threading his fingers through my unkempt hair. “Adeline, we have spent many moons dreaming of a life on the other side,” he said. “We knew you’d set us free, but we did not know you would be the woman to steal our hearts.”

  And then Cadmar, “The next home we make will be ours.”

  “But Mag,” I whispered.

  “Magnus will always be a part of us,” Cadmar said.

  We were shaped by goodness. The trauma, the darkness that pushes us against the light, and the unbearable urge to lie down and give up didn’t have to shape us. We could find ourselves through the good of our actions, over and over again. The people who could push past those painful moments could be angels for the ones that couldn’t do it for themselves. Like me.

  Mag would live forever becaus
e I was certain time was held up by an infinite set of gateways. I wouldn’t accept anything else.

  As the two flanked me, I held their hands and squeezed, accepting the future was going to be unknown. It scared me, but we could get through it. ”You ready?” I asked.

  I looked back at Mag one last time, and his body exploded into blinding light. Before I could even open my mouth to count to three, we were all sucked into the portal. Caught in the absolute turbulence and power of a vortex, my head twisted and whipped around my body like silly-putty. My eyes tried to adjust to the shifting dials of time. And then, it got easier. Reflections of my memories came back to me, but I could float through them so effortlessly. Everything felt so different.

  We arrived in an empty room, but we weren’t alone. They shielded me, violently jerking their hands around my mouth and making sure I was silent.

  The dull thud of heavy footsteps came from outside the room. The three of us faced the door.

  Thud.

  I pulled on their arms tighter, struck by the sudden fear.

  Thud.

  No time to think. No time to run. No time to do a fucking thing.

  The sound stopped right in front of the door. Together, we watched the knob turn. The door inched open.

  My heart sprang. I tried to break away from them. I saw him.

  “Addie...”

  I choked. “Mag?”

  15

  Adeline

  Mag took my hand, gently bending to his knees like a man who had just found an oasis in a desert. Like a man who was willing to give everything to his mate. It was so fucking sexy. “Addie, I—”

  “Stay back,” I warned, completely delirious. Who was I really looking at? It couldn’t be... “Mag?”

  That warm smile graced his face. The peculiarities of his body were gone. He was the soldier I had come to know, not a beast. But none of this was adding up. I saw his body. I kissed him when he was cold and lifeless.

  He stood up and brought my hands together, kissing my knuckles with excitement. “I have been waiting here for so long,” he said.

  “But, but...” I stopped and swallowed, throat so unbearably dry. My heart ached. His heart.

  I briefly caught a glimpse of some blood, a few minor drops on the carpet. I knew where we were now. I was inside the facility my father took me to when I was a little girl. “Something—something happened,” he said, shaking his head with confusion. “Something with the outside mechanisms here. I-I-I can’t explain it. It’s like things never got turned off.”

  “That’s impossible,” Cadmar said. “I designed the realm to simulate from the inside. The outside world has nothing to do with it.”

  Mag’s breathing turned intense. His eyes were wide and knowing. “I’m telling you now, something happened when they opened fire on us.” He turned to look at Donovan. “You were right. It altered things.”

  Donovan stepped forward. “How long have you been here?”

  “Three years,” he said. “Not even close to the time spent in that realm. And look—I am the same age as when I entered. You are as well.”

  Indeed, they all looked the same, except for the beast-like qualities, which had now diminished considerably. No, they were not monsters anymore. They were incredibly handsome men. We could go anywhere. We were free.

  Mag proceeded with more urgency than before. “Look, I think something must have happened when my team opened fire on yours. It must have created double versions of us or something,” he said.

  Cadmar looked at his palms, squeezing and observing every movement. “But... you’re dead,” he said.

  Mag relaxed and grinned. “Jeeze, don’t act so happy to see me,” he said.

  “Oh, Mag!” I didn’t give a damn how he made it back. I was just happy we could all be together. The three of us. The way it had to be.

  I jumped and threw my legs around him. I hugged him so hard he let out a stiff sound. “Hey, buttercup. Miss me?”

  Our love burned inside me forever, like the sun above this earth and the next. I looked into his eyes and started to laugh with utter joy and surprise. “It’s really you,” I said.

  “In the flesh,” he said, before pausing. “I think?”

  “Let’s not go there right now,” I said.

  He dug his hand between my thighs, curling his fingers around the denim of my jeans. I immediately grew wet at the thought of them splitting me open. “How about I go here?”

  With the pinch of his fingers, he popped open my jeans and pushed me back, hard enough to feel the solidity of the wall against my shoulders. He knocked the breath right out of me and brought his lips close to mine. Breathing in deep, he groaned and closed his eyes. “I’m going to punish this ass for leaving me behind, buttercup.”

  I swallowed, so fucking ready for his kiss. Every inch of my body burned with desire. If he was alive, he’d better prove it to me. “Can you spare me?” I asked, beaming with disobedience.

  He forced his hand around my neck. “No can do, sweetheart.”

  He tore my shirt down, exposing each breast. He stared at my tight nipples in wonder before diving into them. I could feel his cock growing from the center of his jeans, turning so solid I thought he might blow right away.

  In the heat of the moment, Mag hurriedly kicked off his jeans. This wasn’t the place to do this, but I didn’t give two fucks where it happened—it needed to. Following his lead, I did the same, but I couldn’t stop staring at the massive pipe rising against the wet skin of my quivering lips. Now that we were back on earth, I thought it might have shrunk back to a normal size. Nope. “I have been waiting three fucking years for this,” he growled.

  Our lips crushed together with infatuation and extreme desire. His cock glided past my smooth opening, forcing deep into my hole. A slow and penetrating fuck that lasted as long as our sensual kiss.

  I pulled back, a slight nibble against his lips to spur his energy. He thrust and drove me open, whispering against my ear, “Buttercup, we’re going to love you forever.”

  Donovan smirked and whispered to Cadmar, loud enough for me to hear, “It’s a little unfair, right? The guy gave her his actual heart.”

  I grabbed Donovan by the hair and pushed him to his knees. “You want to give me something? Start with your mouth.”

  It was the first time I could do any of the commanding. I loved to submit, but sometimes I wanted a little control. The adrenaline from our trip turned me wild and primal, like them, and it was like the first time all over again.

  My urges weren’t just reserved for Mag, but he was the first to calm my nerves, and convinced me to see the other guys. After I watched his body disappear, I knew we had to make it through without him. However, the excitement of seeing him in the flesh was just too much to handle.

  As Mag pulled out, Donovan sucked on my clit, placing his entire mouth over my wet pussy. He worked me over, devouring me until I yielded my body to all of them, falling across the desk.

  I quivered and drove my hips forward and back, pumping his face with my clit. I felt my body heat rise, and the slow build of my orgasm left me begging for more. “Keep... going,” I moaned.

  Donovan curved his fingers inside me, the soppy wetness of my desire spreading across the back of my thighs. My mound was a throbbing mess. The two men stood and stroked their cocks, wearing covetous expressions. So strong. So beyond powerful, even back in their earthly bodies. I looked into each of their eyes, grinding forward, a hot mess.

  I let myself go, trusting them fully. I felt their obsessive presence sucking me in, drowning me in lust. I reached the height of my sexual prowess. Dancing around that orgasmic no-return zone; I let out a shrill cry of desperation and longing. All at once, everything hit me. Love. So much fucking love. But beyond that, there was urgency between us all. We knew the stakes could be high, and it turned us into fucking animals.

  “Coming... Co-co-coming. Eat me,” I screamed, grabbing the nearest piece of flesh for stability. “I’m—uhh
hh.”

  Body quaking with feverish gratification, I arched back and sucked in Cadmar’s fingers. I felt dirty and loved all at the same time. “Take her,” Mag grunted. “Use up every hole this cunt has to offer.”

  “Yes,” I groaned, teeth chattering. He knew what I wanted to hear. The pleasure resonated within my belly. Right now, I would do whatever it took to be their submissive whore.

  I held my eyes open as they consumed me. I didn’t want to miss a thing. Three bulbous cocks tightly held together by my hand was possibly the hottest thing I had experienced.

  While I was still deep in the throes of orgasm, they held me down and mounted me from behind. They plunged into my aching pussy, into my ass, using as much spit as humanely possible. These unbelievably sexy beasts fucked me as hard as they could, leaving no space unused.

  More tender kisses with an undeniable and loving feeling. Three tongues opening my mouth, leaving me gasping for air. I was flipped onto my side and spread. I was ready for them. Absolutely ready.

  They were humans, but their ferocity never ceased. That, apparently, had always been a part of their DNA. They were real, masculine, and confident men—the kind of men who didn’t exist too much in the modern world. They took what they pleased because they were positive they were capable of being there for me, even through the hardest times.

  They filled me to my absolute breaking point, never ceasing to drive in deeper. Digging my hips forward, I watched as the three sexiest men on the planet served me. I ran my fingers across the rock-hard abs, slowly feeling each biceps. Deep and hedonistic moans filled the room, and I felt it again. I was going to come.

  But so were they. I could see the aching pain of pleasure form in each of their eyes, almost at the exact same time. Their balls started to compact, and I felt them hold me with even more urgency than before.

  They fucked me faster, deeper, and harder. Relentless and forceful, they took my pussy, ass, even my tired throat. They claimed my parts as their own until all of us connected again.