by M. A. Church
Bound by Love
The Harvest Young
M.A. Church
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Bound by Love, The Harvest Young, 2020 © M.A. Church
All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser or reviewer only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the author, except where permitted by law.
Edited by: Turtlehat Creatives.
Edited by: Marked and Read Proofreading Services.
Proofed by: Deborah Coulter
Cover artist: Alicia Nordwell
Will history repeat itself?
Years of peace are shattered with a devastating strike against the very heart of Tah’Nar, and war threatens once more.
Prince Hamza Shou: Young to King Duran and King Consort Jolak. Grief stricken. Angry. Vengeful. Screams of the dying stalk his waking moments. Death surrounds him even as he plots. He’s losing himself to the darkness and growing colder to those around him, including Neo. Brought together by some universal force and bound by love even before they were born, heartache tests the ties that bind them.
Dr. Neo Kere: Young to Doc and John. Sorrowful. Worried. Overwhelmed. He’s seen males draw their final breath. What doctor hasn’t? However, his experiences didn’t prepare him for wholesale murder. The last gasps of the dying stalk him too. But he took an oath to preserve life, and he doesn’t want the death of innocents on his conscience. And now his oath is being tested by the very male he loves—his mate, Hamza.
Or will the same mistake be made again?
Extinction once hunted the Tah’Narians. Now they threaten the Ne Reyn with the same fate. Can Neo change the destructive path Hamza treads before the darkness swallows him? Or is it too late?
The Harvest: Taken
“If you're looking for an entertaining space adventure with a healthy dose of romance and some very hot interspecies bedroom activities, then you will probably like this novel.” ~ Rainbow Book Reviews
“I was happily surprised that I adored this story. It isn’t my usual, but maybe I am finding a new usual.” ~ The Novel Approach
The Harvest: Journey’s End
“This has been the sequel that I have been waiting for because I just loved The Harvest: Taken. I’m not a fan of sci-fi books in the slightest – and the fact that I love this series should say something!” ~ Crystal's Many Reviewers
“Oh man. This book is so good. All of the characters show so many emotions throughout. Ms. Church does a wonderful job bringing me into the world and the characters.” ~ Molly Lolly
Bound by Fate-The Harvest Young
“M.A. Church created a fantastic world and created a fabulous story that blends action with romance and an amazing set of characters. Definitely a book that I'd read again.” ~ Bayou Book Junkie
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
Epilogue
Backlist
Author Bio
Chapter One – Hamza
“TRANSPORTER READY?” Hamza asked, stepping onto the pad. Footsteps sounded as his royal guard spread out around him.
“Yes, Prince. Coordinates confirmed for Darkkit Palace transporter room.”
“Transport now.”
Moments later, Hamza strode toward the Royal Physician’s suite, several of his guards keeping pace. The clicks of their boots on the polished floors echoed in his ears, ratcheting his anger higher. Tension radiated from him, sending males scurrying out of his path. Damnation. Those around him had nothing to do with the violent urges seething inside him, so he shoved his burgeoning rage deep.
Still, he fingered the phaser on his hip.
Stopping by the door to the birthing suite, Hamza collected his thoughts. Dayo and Szin were in labor, and the families were gathered. What should be a wondrous occasion was soon going to be spoiled. As much as he hated that, he didn’t have time to spare. Motioning for the guards to stay outside, he opened the door and marched into the outer room of the birthing suite.
His dabba, King Duran, turned to him, a smile gracing his face. “Hamza! We were wondering—what’s wrong?”
Was the worry plastered all over his face? Or could his dabba read him that well? As the happiness drained from Duran’s face, Hamza hurried forward. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed movement. Malk, Kia, and Laken stood off to the side.
“Hamza? Where’s Neo?” Doc asked. “We thought both of you would be here.”
Hamza bowed his head toward his mate’s dabba. “He wanted to be, but something came up, and unfortunately his presence was required elsewhere.” Hamza faced his dabba. “Sire?”
King Duran frowned. “Speak freely. What has happened?”
There went doing this privately. He took a deep breath. “There have been multiple attacks—Castron, Lowbrett, and Kiton were bombed by photon torpedoes ten unit minutes ago. The war room is code red.”
“Shit,” Dale whispered.
“Oh God.” Chad grabbed Gibor’s arm.
“Who, Hamza?” King Duran snarled. “Who dares attack Tah’Narian cities?”
“Five unit minutes ago, three Ne Reynian battleships appeared via wormhole in orbit around the planet. Hails were sent and ignored, which prompted red alerts on all spaceships. The Ne Reynian battleships immediately entered our atmosphere. They were moving at a rate of speed I’ve never seen. It was like warp drive, but that’s physically impossible since warp is used to jump from star system to star system. It’s not utilized for this type of short distance travel.”
“Wait,” Keyno gasped. “Are you saying they invaded our atmosphere and then in five unit minutes managed to get from where they appeared to where they attacked?”
Hamza nodded. “I’m afraid so. The speed was faster than impulse but not warp. It must be a new technology. I scrambled fighters from bases near each city as a first wave of defense. The Sunder and the Obsidian Cross starships were not space docked and are on an interception course, but, right now, only the fighters are engaging the battleships. There has been massive damage to those three cities.”
“Major cities of ours,” Keyno growled. His tail smacked the floor behind him. “Three major cities on three different continents on Tah’Nar.”
“Yes. More starships are being dispatched from various orbiting space stations as we speak, but that takes time. Other ships are recalling crew members. In the meantime, I’ve increased fighters around the palace and the Tah’Narian Planetary
Defense building.”
Ti straightened. “King Duran? The Onfre stand ready to assist you. Shall I call for reinforcements?”
“Please,” King Duran said. “Thank you, Ti. Your people’s help will be much appreciated.”
Ti pulled his comm from his pants pocket and moved to a corner of the room.
The easygoing look on Cielo’s face dissolved into ruthlessness. Hamza caught himself, barely, from taking a step back. No, that wasn’t Cielo. That was Cielo’s other personality: Colt, the gangbanger. The killer. The sociopath who would do anything to protect his loved ones. All of them had grown up hearing about Colt.
“They did it. They attacked us. Oh my God, they actually went through with it. I can’t believe this.” Dale pressed his hands over his mouth.
A shrill cry of a newborn young came from inside the birthing suite.
King Duran clenched his fists. “My friends, I’m going to have Szin, Dayo, and their young moved into the underground bunkers. Hamza? Return to the war room, please. I’ll be there as soon as I take care of this.”
“Yes, Sire.” The war room was the nickname for the Tah’Narian Planetary Defense building. It was actually a misnomer since it wasn’t a ‘room’ but more of a sprawling complex.
Standing in the outer chamber, Hamza watched his dabba lead everyone into the birthing suite. His ear swiveled, catching Dayo’s demand to know what had happened, along with other questions from those in the birthing suite. Unease rolled out of the room toward him.
King Duran cleared his throat. “I’m sorry to have to tell you this, especially at what should be a joyful occasion, but the Ne Reyn have not only attacked the Unity, but now they have launched a strike directly at our planet. Captain Ti was here to witness the birth of Szin and Takeo’s young, but he has offered his people’s support. The Onfre stand with us. Gentlemen, we are at war.”
A swirling mist rose from the ground, and the arkhim bonded to Dayo appeared. There were several exclamations of surprise and worry. Dayo and Raiden hurriedly assured everyone there was no danger, but still, tension rose at the sudden appearance of Dayo’s new guardian. The animal tossed a look over its shoulder at Hamza.
Even though Hamza had been briefed about the magical animal, hearing about it wasn’t the same as seeing it… or being caught in its fierce gaze. It was a large animal with an arrow-shaped head, a long muzzle, and an elongated, lean neck. White, iridescent scales covered its powerful body. A row of small, clear horns that shone like sparkling ice ran down its spine, and a lengthy tail rested behind it. Damn thing was rather intimidating in appearance and beyond magnificent.
Hamza turned from the outer room of the birthing suite and stepped into the hallway where his guards were. Face blank, he nodded at them. They fell in behind, and together, they returned to the transporter pad.
War. They were at war once more.
All hybrids were well aware of what happened the last time. Many years ago, Tah’Nar attacked the Onfre out of pure greed. In retaliation, the Onfre seeded Tah’Nar’s atmosphere with a chemical called FIVEBASE LR8E, which destroyed the female part of the Tah’Narian reproduction system that produced eggs.
But anyone pregnant suffered a much worse fate. The virus flooded the surculas, attacked and killed the young, and then kept going, eating its way through the surculas and attacking the rest of the body. The person was literally dissolved from the inside out.
An uneasy truce had been declared, and the two species had avoided each other as much as possible, but for the Tah’Narians, the damage was catastrophic. Inability to reproduce caused something close to a civil war on Tah’Nar. It resulted in King Vesh being overthrown, and thus the desperate hunt for ways to save their race had begun. Earthlings called it ‘the harvest,’ which resulted in Dale, Chad, John, and to some degree, Cielo, being taken. At the time, none of them had been willing.
Then Keyno did the unimaginable—he offered assistance to a damaged Onfrevian spaceship, the Beylord, and its captain, Ti. Thanks to Dale offering something as simple as sharing a meal with him and Keyno, the first tentative steps in a true truce took place. And a life-long friendship was born between Keyno and Ti.
And now the Onfre would back the Tah’Narians in this new war. The Ne Reyn were a female-dominated government. Only they held power in roles of political leadership—and in everything else, for that matter. Their males were nothing more than slaves to be used sexually, and as such, had no voice, no rights, no nothing. They were mere objects.
Hamza and his guards transported to the war room. Controlled chaos met them. All branches connected to planetary security—space and ground, plus their subunits—were housed here, along with the Space Academy.
Harried males read reports from Castron, Lowbrett, and Kiton. Others dealt with status updates on the deployed fighters or news on starships en route. Each relayed the information to their commanding officers.
Hamza prowled into the middle of the bedlam. “The Onfre are sending help, so be ready to assist when their warbirds arrive. Give me a report on the situation with—”
“Prince Hamza! Readings show a new wormhole opening! It’s not the Onfre. Three more Ne Reynian battleships are coming through. I repeat, three more Ne Reynian battleships have come through and are entering the atmosphere.”
The buzzing and eerie glow from the red alert annoyed Hamza’s already frayed nerves. “Get a read on them. I need to know their targets.”
“Battleships descending unbelievably fast,” a male shouted from a computer. “According to long-range scans, one is aiming for us, and the other is targeting the palace. The last ship seems to be acting as a guard for the other two. ETA is five unit minutes for them reaching their targets.”
“Activate the red alert for Darkkit Palace!” Hamza bellowed. “Send a message through King Duran’s comm that they’re about to be under attack!”
“Yes, Prince!”
“On viewing screen. I want to see what we’re dealing with.” The third battleship, acting as a guard, appeared. It was huge, ugly, and loaded with weaponry. Gods. Hurry, Dabba. “We need starships engaging the enemy now,” Hamza rumbled at one of the commanders. “Update?”
“The starship Archon’s ETA for the palace defense is fifteen unit minutes. Two more starships are due to disengage from space dock within five unit minutes. Add another twenty unit minutes to that before they can engage.”
“Too long,” Hamza said softly. “Palace on screen, please.”
There simply wasn’t enough coverage. The palace was located in the heart of Darkkit, so the palatial city was in jeopardy too. All those people, helpless. Running for their lives. And Neo’s at the Darkkit Hospital. His heart pounded. No. Can’t think of that. If something happened to Neo, to any of his loved ones….
“Fighters are engaging enemy ships.”
Powerless, he watched as a battleship targeted Darkkit Palace. There was nothing he could do but pray. Please, please let them be okay. Please.
“Photon torpedoes incoming. Target is Darkkit Palace,” someone yelled.
The flash of light lit up the viewing screen as the palace sustained a direct hit. Hamza clenched his fists. Rage built as long unit minutes passed as the battleship relentlessly fired.
“Palace shields are holding, but they can’t take many more hits like that, my prince.”
“Understood,” Hamza said. Please let them be okay.
“Sensors show the Ne Reynian battleship targeting us is powering weapons.”
“Shields are up!”
Hamza swore. One of the very first things he was going to do once this was over was have actual weapons—instead of just shields—installed at the palace and the Tah’Narian Planetary Defense building. They were helpless.
“Prince Hamza, a spread pattern of photon torpedoes has been fired at the palace. Detonation in three, two….
More flashes of light. Hamza wanted to scream in frustration. He checked his comm. There was no transmission from his dabba. Had
they gotten Dayo and Szin moved in time? What about the patients in Medical? More unit minutes passed as the assault continued. Now they seemed to be targeting certain areas. How much longer could the shields withstand such an attack? He squinted at the viewing screen. Was that smoke?
“We have confirmation of a breach in the shield! They’re hit, my prince, and shields are down.”
Hamza swore. “Where?”
“The sector that houses Medical.
Where the Royal Physician offices are located. “Damage report?”
“I can’t tell if that area took a direct hit but—” The console blared a warning. “Readings show unknown life signs in the vicinity of Medical.” The male typed furiously. “Ah, they’re Ne Reynian.”
“What?” No. That couldn’t be right. Why would those females beam down to that specific location? Why go there? “Report!”
“Scans are disrupted due to the attack. I can’t get a fix on where the life signs are in that sector, but they are definitely Ne Reynian, and there are several of them.”
“My prince, reports say our fighters are taking heavy losses too. They’re inflicting damage to the battleships, but—”
“Incoming! We have incoming photon torpedoes at our position!”
Hamza braced himself. The building shuddered as the torpedoes were deflected by their shields, and the lights blinked. Males rushed around Hamza, calling out status updates.
“The starship Archon has arrived and is engaging the Ne Reynian battleship targeting the palace.”
“Thank all the gods,” Hamza muttered as the battleship broke off its attack to defend itself. “Get me information on the palace. Now.”
“My prince, the Unity has its crew and is leaving space dock. ETA twenty unit minutes.”
“We have a worm hole opening!”
Sweat beaded at Hamza’s temple. Gods help them if it was another Ne Reynian battleship.
“It’s the Onfre! Five warbirds have dropped out of warp and are inbound!”
A cheer went up. Weak in the knees, Hamza gripped the console next to him.
