Rescued by the Alien Warrior

by Hope Hart

  Rescued by the Alien Warrior

  Hope Hart

  Copyright © 2020 by Bingeable Books LLC

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  The Arcav Alien Invasion Series

  The Arcav King's Mate

  The Arcav Commander's Human

  The Arcav General's Woman

  The Arcav Prince's Captive

  A Very Arcav Christmas

  The Arcav Captain's Queen

  The Arcav Guard's Female

  The Warriors of Agron Series

  Taken by the Alien Warrior

  Claimed by the Alien Warrior

  Saved by the Alien Warrior

  Seduced by the Alien Warrior

  Protected by the Alien Warrior

  Captured by the Alien Warrior

  Rescued by the Alien Warrior

  Enticed by the Alien Warrior

  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

  Epilogue

  Also by Hope Hart

  Chapter One

  Zoey

  I’m stumbling, walking as if in a fog. I feel as if I’m floating above my body and no longer in control of it.

  My arms and legs are working, but it’s like I’m a puppet, the movements jerky and uncoordinated.

  How did this happen to me?

  I’m a good person. I swear. I’m not a saint, but I donate to charity. I check on my neighbors. I never cheat or steal.

  How did I end up here?

  My face feels wet, and I reach up, finding tears streaming from my eyes. I’m sobbing, and I can no longer see where I’m going.

  I trip, and one of the other women reaches out to steady me, but it’s too late. I fall to my knees.

  I attempt to get to my feet, but something hits me in the ribs so hard I can hear the crack.

  Pain swims through me, and bile creeps up my throat. One of the other aliens drags me to my feet, almost impaling me with his horns as he snaps at his friend.

  Then I’m hunched over, barely able to breathe through the pain as we walk toward the ship that will take us to our fate.

  Time jumps.

  I choke, gasping. My chest is aching, my body shaking with chills.

  My fractured ribs no longer allow me to breathe deeply, and my lungs are filling with fluid.

  I’m drowning, suffocating here in this godforsaken cage on this godforsaken planet.

  Alone.

  I jolt awake, my lungs burning as I choke. I’m damp with sweat, and I sit up, gasping for air.

  My kradi is silent as I tremble and pant.

  This is one of the main reasons I insisted on moving out of the healers’ kradi. Not only was I sick of being treated like a patient, but there’s nothing worse than coming awake screaming or choking for air only to find sympathetic eyes appraising you like you’re a wounded dog in the pound.

  I shudder.

  It takes me another long moment before I can get to my feet and peek outside. The sun is rising, and there’s no way I’ll be able to get back to sleep. I pull off the gauzy shift I sleep in and wipe myself down with a damp cloth. Once I’m no longer sweating, I pull on a simple gray dress and grab my basket.

  Within a few minutes, I’m in the forest.

  My hands don’t shake here. My body isn’t tense. Technically, I’m supposed to take a guard with me for these little trips, but I need this. I need the solitude, the sounds of the wind rustling through leaves, the feel of the dead branches crunching beneath my feet.

  Distantly, I can hear an animal rooting around in the underbrush, and the earthy scent of decomposing leaves helps me shake off the nightmares.

  The memories.

  I don’t dare wander too far. I may need this time to myself, but I’m not an idiot. Sure, we managed to fight off the Dokhalls when they came back for us. But none of us truly believes it’s over. We saw them scatter when they realized they’d lost the battle, but I bet they’re busy figuring out their next plan.

  My shoulders slump. When will it be over?

  It’s not enough that they stole us from our planet. That one of them kicked me hard enough to crack my ribs, leading to pneumonia that nearly killed me. No, they had to come back, tracing the ship we crash-landed in so they could load us onto their new ship, along with the group of human women they were transporting to whatever fresh hell awaited them.

  A branch cracks, and I whirl, my eyes meeting cool blue-green.

  “Sarissa.” My hand flies to my chest.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you. I thought I’d sneak out for a walk. Obviously we’re on the same page.”

  I smile. Sarissa is Vivian’s cousin, and the two women spent hours both laughing and crying when they reunited. They’re attempting to figure out how they were both taken. I mean, what are the chances?

  I think all of us are trying to understand it. Why us? Why do bad things happen to good people?

  I examine her. She looks just like Vivian—gorgeous. But while Vivian never has a hair out of place, Sarissa has an earthy, natural beauty. Her hair is in a simple ponytail, and she gives the impression she’d laugh at you if you asked her to put on makeup.

  She examines me through ocean eyes. “What are you collecting?”

  I point at the small bush. “Ortar. The leaves are a natural antiseptic when they’re crushed and turned into a paste.”

  “Wow.”

  Sarissa reaches out and helps me pick a few of the leaves. “How’d you learn about this?”

  “I was sick. I’ve spent most of my time on Agron in the healers’ kradi, and I’m a nurse on Earth. So I was naturally curious, I guess.”

  “Is this an invite-only party, or can anyone join?”

  We both turn as Vivian strolls through the trees. She’s wearing a deep-purple dress that makes her look like a queen.

  I sigh. “Well, there goes my peaceful, quiet morning.”

  She smirks at me. “You want peace and quiet? Don’t expect to find it in a barbaric camp on Agron.”

  I nod at the sheathed dagger she has tied to the pretty blue belt around her waist. “Where’d you get that?”

  “Lifted it from the weapons kradi.”

  My eyes widen, and Sarissa laughs, throwing her arm around Vivian.

  “A few months on this planet and my cousin is turning into a savage. Who would’ve thought?”

  Vivian rolls her eyes but grins at me, and I can’t help but grin back. When we first met, I was intimidated by the woman with the sharp tongue who seemed so put together. But since we’ve been here, Vivian has mellowed in a lot of ways.

  And obviously, she has hardened in others.

  I pick a few more leaves and add them to my basket. We wander through the forest until we get to a tall tree with bright white flowers hanging above our heads.

  Sarissa glances at me. “Poisonous?”

  I smile at that. On this planet, we tend to assume everything is poisonous.

  “I have no idea. I�
��ve never seen them before.”

  The flowers are dangling from a thin branch, but they’re too high for us to reach, and I pout. Maybe I can come back and climb the tree another time.

  Vivian glances at my face and sighs. “Stand back,” she says, pulling her knife from her belt. She narrows her eyes at the tree, then throws the knife, the movement almost casual. My mouth drops open as the knife hits the thin branch with pinpoint accuracy, and a few of the flowers fall to the ground.

  I stare at her. “What was that?”

  She shrugs, and Sarissa laughs while I use a rag to pick up the flowers, careful not to touch them with my bare skin.

  “I’ll take them back to the healers’ kradi and ask Moni about them.” I tilt my head. “That knife is stuck in the tree. You’ll need a new one.” It’s too high for us to reach, the blade buried in the bark.

  Sarissa smiles. “Don’t worry. She’ll get a new one.”

  There’s more to Vivian than I’d ever thought, but she hunches her shoulders as I stare at her, so I change the subject. “How are you feeling?”

  Vivian rolls her eyes, and I can’t help but laugh at her mock sigh of annoyance. “I swear, if anyone else asks me that…”

  “No pain, then?”

  “No. I owe those bastards payback for my new scar though.”

  Vivian saved Nevada’s life during the battle and nearly died herself. I shudder as I remember the bone-chilling fear that hit me when I saw just who was being carried into the healers’ kradi that day.

  “Zoey.”

  We all turn at the deep rumble. Sarissa raises one eyebrow at me. “Caught,” she mutters.

  Tagiz stands next to a large white tree, disapproval written all over his face. Even with his brow furrowed in a deep scowl, he’s still the most attractive man I’ve ever seen.

  His eyes are gray and piercing, and the ridge of his brow bone would make him look almost brutish if not for his high cheekbones and lush lips. He’s huge and built, and when I look at him, all I can remember is how those muscled arms felt wrapped around me.

  “You’re not supposed to leave the camp alone,” he tells us, although his gaze seems to be glued to my face.

  Irritation sweeps through me. Not for the first time, I long for my life on Earth. There, I’m a trauma nurse, charged with saving people’s lives. Here, I’m not trusted to take a walk alone.

  I sigh. There’s a reason for that. The Dokhalls are still out there somewhere, likely regrouping. Staying within the camp is the smart choice until they’re caught.

  But I’m sick of them taking things from us. They took my health, my hope, and my freedom. And now they’re doing it again.

  I clear my throat. “You’re right,” I acknowledge. He looks at me silently for a long moment, and the air seems to crackle between us.

  “I’ll walk you back,” he finally says.

  Vivian slides me a glance, raising one eyebrow. I shake my head at her. No, I don’t know what the hell is happening between me and Tagiz.

  All I know is he saved my life. It was his voice in my ear that gave me the strength to keep breathing when I was ready to give up.

  And then I kissed him. And he told me he didn’t want to hurt me.

  Talk about a blow to my ego.

  He reaches out to take my basket from me, and my hands tighten on it. He tilts his head, studying my face, and I release my hands, letting him take it.

  I don’t know what I have to do to make him see I’m not fragile.

  “Hold on, little female. Just hold on. I won’t let you die.”

  I glance at him and find his gaze still on my face as we all walk silently back toward camp.

  Tagiz

  I clench my teeth as I walk Zoey and her friends to the healers’ kradi. She still has to take a healing tonic each day to fix the damage to her body. The reminder of how close she came to death makes me want to roar.

  She studies me out of huge blue eyes. Her nose is covered in tiny brown freckles, highlighting its small shape. I spent hours counting those freckles while she was unconscious as I willed her to live.

  Her lips are pink and plump, her top lip slightly larger than the bottom, and the feel of them against mine…

  No, Tagiz. She is not for you.

  The other females chat amongst themselves while Zoey walks silently through the forest, glancing at me occasionally. I know I hurt her that day, when she grinned up at me, full of innocence and good humor. She wrapped her hand around my neck, pulled my mouth to hers, and for a moment, the rest of the universe disappeared.

  But sanity prevailed and I pulled away, attempting to ignore the dismay that entered those wide blue eyes.

  Tiny, fragile human females are not for me. Especially this tiny, fragile human female.

  I offer my hand to help Zoey over a large tree trunk, and she tilts her head. After a moment, she reaches for my hand, and it takes all my willpower to release her when she is safely over the fallen tree.

  The camp is waking when we arrive. The sun has risen, and warriors are heading to the training arena. Sentries are coming off shift, while others replace them, and the smell of baking bread makes my stomach rumble as we walk past the main food kradi.

  “Tagiz?”

  I turn as Malis approaches. She looks tired, her face drawn, and she gazes at Zoey curiously.

  I almost curse. I have such little time with Zoey these days. “What do you need?”

  She blinks at my abrupt question, and her gaze flicks back to me. “Our parents would like us to meet them for breakfast,” she murmurs.

  Zoey is silent next to me, and a tug on my hand makes me glance down. She’s pulling at her basket, and I release it abruptly. The sudden movement pushes her off-balance, but she recovers, her face flushing.

  She nods at Malis and gives me one last glance before turning and walking into the healers’ kradi.

  “She is the human you rescued,” Malis murmurs as we turn.

  “I am only one of the people who were there for that mission,” I say. Behind me, I hear a sharp indrawn breath from inside the kradi, followed by a choked cough. I tamp down my instinct to stalk into the kradi and demand why the little human is taking so long to recover.

  I know why. Humans are much weaker than Braxians. Their bodies are not strong like ours.

  Flashing blue eyes appear in my mind, burning with determination as the tiny human fought to live.

  I push the memory away as Malis links her arm through mine.

  “What are we going to do, Tagiz?”

  I scowl at the thought of the meeting we will be having with our parents. “We must make them see that a mating between us is not the right choice.”

  Malis blinks back tears. “I love Heric. He makes me feel…”

  “Alive,” I finish for her with a sigh. “I know.”

  Heric is a quiet warrior. He’s a good, capable fighter who can be trusted at any warrior’s back. And yet he prefers learning to fighting. He can often be found discussing various herbs with the healers or mulling over the stars with the wisewomen. Rakiz also often asks his advice for battle strategy, as the warrior has an uncanny knack for predicting the movements of our enemies.

  Malis has loved him since they were children. Soon after she learned to walk, one of the other children took her toy, taunting her with it. Heric took it back and stayed by her side for the rest of the day.

  They’ve been inseparable ever since.

  Unfortunately, our parents have other plans.

  My father’s kradi is bustling when we arrive. His years of loyalty to Rakiz’s father served him well, and his home is large and comfortable. My mother is sitting in the small garden outside with Ornia—Malis’s mother.

  “My son,” my mother says, getting to her feet. “It has been too long.”

  I smile at that. I saw her just a few nights ago for the evening meal. If my mother had her way, I would move back in with her and my father.

  Along with the mate they picked for me
before I could even hold a sword, of course.

  Malis greets her mother, and Ornia nods at me. We take our seats, waiting for both our fathers. There is no question what this meeting is about. Both our families are tired of waiting.

  They are here to urge us to mate.

  Zoey

  I choke down the tonic Moni insists I still need. Since the healer managed to use whatever passes as antibiotics on this planet to save my life, I trust her enough to come back each day and gag on her disgusting brown brew.

  “How many more days of this?”

  “Until I no longer hear you coughing at night, child.”

  I scowl at that. It took me weeks before the healers could be convinced I was able to move into my own kradi. And don’t even get me started on Tagiz’s objections. Finally, I went directly to Rakiz, who met with Moni. The result? My kradi is just a few kradis down from this one so Moni can keep an eye on me.

  “I’m not saying dying is worse than drinking this tonic, but I’m not not saying that either,” I mutter.

  I hand the cup back to Moni, who turns to murmur to Sarissa. Vivian has already taken off, and I reach for the ingredients I need for the pain tonic I’ll be making today.

  Sarissa sits on one of the beds, her face intent as she chats to Moni. I get to work on a pain tonic, the task easy now, the repetition soothing. When I told Moni I was also a healer on my planet, she agreed to begin teaching me about healing on Agron. Sometimes, she makes me tell her about the technology we use in hospitals on Earth, her dark eyes wide. The healers here do incredibly well with what they have, but it’s still a barbaric alien planet.

  At the same time, I’ve seen miracles happen on Agron. Things I could never explain. The cava berries Arix’s healers used when Dragix almost died are the stuff of legend.