by Aline Ash
Unleashing the Beast
Dark Moon Prisoners
Aline Ash
© 2020 Aline Ash
Dark Moon Prisoners – Book 2
All Rights Reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locations is purely coincidental. The characters are all productions of the author’s imagination.
Please note that this work is intended only for adults over the age of 18 and all characters represented as 18 or over.
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Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Epilogue
Also by Aline Ash
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ABOUT THIS BOOK
Kidnapped by alien outlaws and locked in a private zoo exhibition, Eva’s only hope of freedom lies with the broken hunk of a warrior who shares her enclosure…
Eva
When I was rescued from the horrors of Gargolian slavery, I thought that was the end of my ‘breeder’ days. I joined the Tabiean rebellion and swore revenge. But when a fight goes horribly wrong, I find myself caught in the same hateful loop once more.
Collared and chained with my bare body on display, I’m poked, prodded and beaten at the amusement of my Gargolian masters and their guests at this freakish petting zoo…and I can’t take it any more. I’m getting out of here. And I think I know how.
The only problem is that my plan rests on the help of my brutish cell-mate. Once the most feared Tabian war chieftain, Tulo has a savage reputation for violence – or at least he did. Now, he doesn’t seem to care about escaping what passes for life here at this zoo anymore.
But I can see, just underneath his rough surface lies a deadly predator that’s ready to rip the world to shreds, and I’m surprised by the responding fire it lights within me.
I just need to get past his barriers to unleash the sleeping beast within. Because once he awakens… he will make them pay… in blood.
Tulo
They destroyed my village, slaughtered my people…and when they abducted my sister, they took my heart with them. She is the only thing left that matters, and I’ll do everything they say to keep her safe.
I will kill on demand, breed on demand – I don’t care. All that matters is that she’s safe.
But the human breeder they’ve matched me with is threatening to change this. She’s stirred something in me, something shifts that I don’t think will ever be the same again, and as much as Eva enrages me…I crave her. I want her to be mine.
I should put an end to this, settle back into my existence here and check my most savage desires.
But it’s the one thing in this world that I have no strength to do.
If you like irresistible alpha aliens and fierce heroines who fight back even in the darkest place, read this paranormal alien romance. Each book in the series is a standalone with a guaranteed happily ever after for the couple, though it is recommended to read them in order for maximum enjoyment.
“Dark Moon Prisoners” series:
Book 1: Caged with the Beast (Marissa and Kon)
Book 2: Unleashing the Beast (Eva and Tulo)
Chapter One
Eva
Well this has all gone to shit quickly. I pause beside a tree with a trunk that’s twice as wide as I am tall, and a strange pastel green color. I draw in deep lungfuls of air, trying to get my wind back. I lean against the tree, marveling at its immensity. I look up and see there are unfortunately no low hanging branches. Nothing that would allow me to scramble up to safety and hope the hunters pass me by.
“Figures,” I mutter.
It was a routine raid on a breeding facility; the places where they keep the female prisoners and subject them to horrifying and degrading experiments. As I’ve learned, the Gargolians have suffered some sort of a plague of their own. Many are infertile and they cannot reproduce. So they abduct females from other worlds with the intent of forcefully breeding them. Of producing more Gargolians. It’s disgusting.
We’ve hit their breeding facilities hard. It’s something we’ve done a dozen times. It should have been a piece of cake. Looking back though, I suppose the fact that it was so lightly guarded outwardly should have been our first hint that something was wrong. I’m kicking my own ass for that right about now. I should have known. But it hadn’t occurred to me until the Gargolians were coming down on us from all sides, making my entire team scramble just to survive.
Now, I’m separated from my team and am lost in this vast, dense, immense jungle alone. Even after being on Tabia for above the year, I sometimes still can’t get over how strange a place it is. The massive trees are all adorned with foliage in a rainbow of pastel colors and filled with creatures that look like something out of a nightmare. Many of them are harmless, but running into them at night, in the dark, is scary as hell.
A branch snaps somewhere in the distance behind me. It’s hard to say exactly how far since sound travels strangely here. All I know for sure is that they’re coming, and I need to get out of here.
“Shit,” I groan and push off the tree trunk.
I run as fast and hard as I can, doing my best to avoid snagging my foot on the undergrowth, which isn’t easy. My legs are burning as bad as my lungs right now and all I want is to find somewhere to stop and rest. Give myself a chance to catch my goddamn breath.
But I know I can’t. I have to keep moving or the Gargolian hunters will find me. They’ll scent me out and find me. The only way I’m going to get out of this is to keep putting distance between us. My legs are beginning to cramp, and my lungs feel like they’re on fire. But still I press on.
The heat and humidity of the jungle is oppressive, and the sweat is rolling off of me in sheets. I look up at the thick canopy of broad, multicolored leaves overhead as shafts of sunlight slip through and dapple the ground around me. My breath is ragged, and I feel like I’m going to pass out, but I know they’re back there. I know they’re coming. My heart thundering in my chest, I cut a glance behind me, but don’t see them. A small spark blooms inside me, a kindling of hope that I’ve lost them.
My foot snags on a root hidden beneath a screen of leaves and it sends me lurching forward. I try to keep my footing but snag another root with the toe of my boot, which ensures that won’t happen. I go sprawling and my momentum carries me down a steep slope. Falling to my knees, I tumble ass over teakettle down
the slope and end up splashing into a pond, where I promptly sink like a stone.
The water on Tabia is thicker than normal water. Although it’s potable and actually tastes pretty good, it’s different. Almost viscous. Swimming in it is a lot harder than swimming in water back on Earth. It’s almost like being suspended in a pool of syrup. It’s strange and something I still haven’t gotten used to.
I fight my way back to the surface, suck in a deep breath, then yelp in fear and surprise when I see the hunters standing at the top of the hill, staring down at me. Even though they’re nothing new to me, the sight of these aliens glaring at me still sends chills coursing through my body. With bodies covered in scales, long necks, tails, and heads that end in muzzles filled with pointed, razor sharp teeth, they’re lizards on legs.
Their eyes are cold and vacant, with the strange, diamond-shaped irises you’d see in a rattlesnake. And they’re massive. Easily almost seven feet tall and with the muscles of professional bodybuilders. They’re terrifying to look at, and if I’m being honest with myself, they’re intimidating as hell. It kills me to admit—I’ve always considered myself a strong person—but truthfully, I was scared the entire time I was held captive. Terrified. Brutalized.
It wasn’t just because of what Bruc was doing to me—that was horrible enough in its own right, and as my friend Marissa keeps reminding me, I’m eventually going to have to deal with that baggage. But just being in the same room with these monsters was frightening.
Being freed from Bruc’s ship and all of the torment inflicted upon me there is still the greatest feeling I’ve ever experienced. That Kon allowed me to exact my pound of flesh from that son of a bitch is what I’m most grateful for though.
The five Gargolians at the top of the hill say something to one another in their harsh, guttural language. I watch as three sprint off into the thick foliage of the jungle while the other two start trying to negotiate their way down the slope. They look unsteady and like they might topple over at any moment. Apparently, uneven surfaces are kryptonite for these things.
Knowing I don’t have long to act, I swim my way through the thick water of the pond and climb out. The water clings to me and feels like it’s weighing me down as I start to run. I glance over my shoulder and see the two hunters are almost to the bottom of the slope, but I still see no sign of the other three as I plunge headlong into the dense foliage of the jungle.
It feels like I’m being whipped by a thousand different lashes as I push my way through the branches and leaves. Movement in the corner of my eye draws my attention to my right, and my heart lurches in my chest when I see the three Gargolians who hadn’t come down the slope closing in on me.
A small cry bursts from my throat, but I lower my head and press on. The Gargolians are bigger, faster, and stronger than I am, and I know that if I don’t get really lucky, they’re going to run me down. Every muscle in my body is screaming and I feel lightheaded. I hear them crashing through the undergrowth and can tell they’re getting closer.
My heart hammering inside me and fear coursing through every vein in my body, I know I can’t keep running. Making the decision that if I’m going to go down, I’m going down fighting, I leap over a fallen tree trunk and quickly spin around. A brief flash of worry shoots through me about my weapon working after being in the pond, but I have no choice other than to try. I must do this, or I will definitely die.
I draw the weapon from the holster on my hip and fire in one fluid motion. A smile crosses my face as the blast takes the first Gargolian square in the chest. A feeling of satisfaction filling me, I watch its green blood spray the bushes around it, then take aim on the second one and squeeze off another shot.
Half the Gargolian’s head disappears in an explosion of green and gray matter. The third one reacted faster than its two mates and ducks behind a tree, leaning out to return fire, the shots going high and wide.
We’re locked into a firefight for several long minutes. But he’s never close. His shots are always wide of where I’m sheltering behind the log. It’s almost like he’s missing on purpose. Like he’s trying to avoid hitting and killing me. It’s almost like he’s trying to keep me busy or…
My eyes grow wide as I realize that I’ve been played. The snap of a twig and the rustle of a leafy branch is my only warning. I spin around, but it’s too late. The two Gargolians from the pond fill my vision, their eyes are cold and malevolent. I hear a soft pop, then feel a sharp pain in my side.
A moment later, the world around me fades to black.
Chapter Two
Eva
When I open my eyes, I see the second of Tabia’s twin suns slowly starting to make the descent toward the horizon. Which tells me I’ve been out for several hours. The sight of the sun and the sky above me shimmers and wavers like I’m watching ripples floating across a pool of water, and I realize I’m in more trouble than I thought.
“Shit,” I mutter.
Every muscle in my body is screaming in agony as I sit up and take in my surroundings, and confirm the fact that I’m in a goddamn cage. I’m sitting in a see-through cube, but the walls around me all shimmer and ripple, which is an effect of the sonic shielding that will prevent me from getting out.
A low, agonized moan passes my lips as I get to my feet. I feel like I’ve been beaten with metal sticks and all I want to do is lay down and go back to sleep. But I know I can’t. I need to figure out where I am and how to get the hell out of here.
Stepping to the wall, I stare out at my surroundings and feel confusion wash over me. It looks like I’m on some grand estate. In the distance, I see a massive house – a mansion really. Having only lived in the jungles of Tabia after we broke out of the prison on Gerr’a, I had no idea there were palatial estates on the planet.
With the sunlight sparkling off all the glass and steel, I’d have to say it’s gorgeous. High stone walls that have something like ivy growing upward on them, crenellated battlements, and high peaks. In some ways, it reminds me of a medieval fortress back on Earth.
Slowly, I turn around and take a closer look around me. I’m on some sort of a compound surrounded by walls which are easily twenty feet high. From where I stand I can see what looks like stone guard towers at regular intervals, and Gargolians in full armor and carrying large weapons appearing in even greater regularity.
It’s intimidating as hell and looks about as easy to break out of as Alcatraz. At least when you try to escape from the Rock you only have to deal with freezing water and Great White Sharks in the bay. Somehow, even though shark teeth might be deadly, they don’t seem nearly as frightening to me.
Scattered around this place, inside the wall, are what looks like marble statues, large bushes of blues, reds, and yellows. They are bursting with flowers that are a foot across, some of them larger, some of them purple with yellow veins, blue with white veins, and red with black veins. It’s a riot of color all around me.
But what I see next sends a shiver down my spine. Mixed in with the bushes are other cages like mine, and inside of them, I see the slumped forms of beings from other worlds.
A creature in the cage closest to me is small, no more than four feet tall. It’s covered in a brown fur and has large, black eyes that have no pupil or iris; just unrelenting black. His hands end in long, curved claws, and he hisses and spits viciously at the Gargolians who are walking by his cage.
In another cage I see a creature with gray skin that’s streaked with red. He’s got a snout on his face, his mouth revealing what look like rows of needlelike teeth. He’s got a worn, beaten expression on his face though, and he lacks the fire of the furry alien.
Further on, I see two Gargolians holding a pale-skinned creature that doesn’t look natural. It has too many arms for its body. The spares flop around uselessly, and to me it almost looks like he’s had appendages sewn on or something. They hold him with a restraining collar, and I see a Gargolian male, along with a smaller one - which is likely his child - beating t
he creature with sticks like it’s a fucking pinata.
After a couple minutes, the guards pull the creature back. It falls to its knees and hangs its head, a thick black ichor spilling from a number of wounds and onto the ground. The man - the father, I assume - steps forward and offers something to the guards. It appears to be payment - as if they’re paying for the right to beat the captive, like it’s a fucking carnival game to be played or something.
From my position I can count dozens of cages like mine, Gargolians wandering among them, looking like they’re simply out for an afternoon stroll. Others look to be paying to beat another of the unfortunate inhabitants.
There’s a pathway that runs along the front of my cage, and as I stand here watching a pair of Gargolians, a male and female, walk along that path. They’re dressed in what I can only describe as finery, and are walking hand in hand, looking for all the world like a couple out on a romantic stroll.
They stop before my cage and look at me, speaking to each other in their gruff dialect, but it’s too low for me to make out. They linger there for a few moments, staring at me like I’m a fucking zoo exhibit or something.
And that’s when it hits me. That’s exactly what this is. A zoo. A collection of beings from far off worlds, thrown into cages, and put out for the amusement of these fucking Gargolians.
I fall to my knees, my impotent rage filling me as I watch these Gargolians who just scream high society staring at me in wonder., I’m struck by how surreal this whole scene is and that I’m even here. It seems so bizarre to me that these vicious, brutal monsters who seem to revel in violence and bloodshed can look so…genteel. The two competing ideas of Gargolians in my head don’t match, and it’s throwing me for a loop. It’s like I’m watching a bunch of monkeys driving a car.
