New World Alpha
Book Three
Nick Storming
Fractured Press
Copyright © 2021 Fractured Press
All right reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without prior written permission of the publisher.
Any reference to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Names, characters, and locations are products of the author's imagination.
First printing edition 2021.
Fractured Press
www.nickstorming.org
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Epilogue
Authors Note
ALSO BY NICK STORMING
Chapter 1
For three hours, I sat in that seat, staring at a world gone mad as it passed by outside the plane’s window. My mind worked furiously every second, burning so much energy my stomach growled and ached with hunger, but I ignored it.
I didn’t plan what we would do next, nor did I waste time trying to strategize an entire campaign to free Donatella’s family members who had been sold or given to Alpha leaders around the world. Instead, I sought to put myself in the shoes of my enemy.
I’d met the man, fought him. Stared into his eyes and drawn in his scent. I wouldn’t fool myself into thinking I knew him completely, but I had the edges and shape of who and what he was in my mind and that was enough to begin working through what I would do in his shoes.
The man’s eyes had passed over the most beautiful woman in the world and given nary a hitch. His scent hadn’t shifted when he’d taken in Dee’s beauty. Instead, it had soured with distaste, not for sexual reasons, but because his real love was under threat.
The man craved power.
Control.
He wished it over all things and in all ways. I knew that desire, for it lay deep within me as well. Ever since my father’s death, when our lives had become so chaotic and unsettled, the desire for control had been born in me, like a self-defense mechanism. If it hadn’t been for Ava’s wisdom and friendship through those early years, I might have fallen into a similar trap as Matthew. Feeling so out of control that I sought to control everything.
There was a chance my assumptions were wrong, and I couldn’t afford to make a mistake with the lives of Ava, Madelyn, Donatella, and now Brianna tied to the decision I made. Accessing the data pad I’d taken from the nurse didn’t give much information other than internal communications between Matthew and his upper command.
It was obvious the man didn’t share everything with them, but a few of the tidbits I gleaned from their conversations reinforced what I had strategized the man would do. Achieving Armageddon had only been half of his plan, though the fractured groups of Alphas around the world assumed it stopped there.
He needed to bind them all to a common cause, and to do that, he needed a good lie. As with every gathering of mankind, from the dawn of time to the formation of nations, commonly held beliefs and lies were the backbone of society. When the first men gathered in a tribe, it was because they all agreed the sun rose because it was the eye of a terrible god, and their belief was so strong they were willing to kill any that didn’t fall in line.
I saw seeds of such a lie in Matthew's messages to those beneath him, as well as the few messages Donatella had found to other Alpha groups around the world. Dee’s mother and sisters had been offered as gifts, ones that would confer miracles to those who bonded them.
There were videos, and GIFs of Matthew and another man doing incredible feats, miracles. One showed Matthew lifting a school bus over his head and throwing it a hundred meters. Another showed him leaping clear over a small building and cracking the pavement on the other side.
These “miracles” I saw as the seed of a new faith, one tied ever back to Matthew and his twisted vision of what the world should be, a rigid hierarchy with him at the peak.
A murmur drew my attention to the two women reflected in the window as Madelyn reached over and drew my stepmom closer to her, pressing her face into Ava’s thick, dark locks as she settled back into restful slumber. Turning my head, I felt my heart leap and a small cloud of butterflies swirled in my stomach when I took in their lovely forms and the naked flesh poking through the small blanket covering them.
My feelings for Donatella were powerful but complicated, and I wasn’t ready to sort through them, but for these two… I felt such a powerful well of love and need to protect them that it was painful. An ache radiated through my guts that made me sharpen my focus and thoughts, reminding me there could be no room for error now.
The plane angled downward, beginning a descent, and the microphone keyed on, Dee’s voice speaking over the comm.
“I’m taking us down in Anchorage. We need fuel, and I need to know our first destination.”
The comm clicked off, and I saw Ava and Madge stirring, waking from their slumber. Their heads turned as one, eyes fluttering open as they searched for me beside them. Both sat up and smiled when they saw me sitting in the corner of the cabin near the window.
“Are you coming back to bed?” Ava asked, yawning.
“I need to check on Dr. Gupta,” I said. “I’ve been distracted until now.”
“Get to it,” Madge said, pulling Ava down with her under the blanket and snuggling up, her words muffled. “Shout if you need us, but we’re gonna sleep while you guys refuel.”
My stepmom caught my eye as I rose from the chair and I saw her concern, but she offered me a reassuring smile before letting her friend drag her down. Seeing that concern reminded me of the danger I was leading them into.
Why not run away?
The thought slipped in as if whispered by a devil sitting on my shoulder, but it gave me pause. I stood there with my hand on the door handle for long seconds. The roar of the plane’s engines drowned out everything but my own thoughts.
Why not take my pride and go? I didn’t doubt that we could find a quiet piece of the world and live without molestation. I had three women who were bound to me by bonds too tight to break, and soon I might have four. What more could a man ask for? In truth, it was more than I could have ever hoped for.
I could live like a king.
Throwing away my honor and pride was all it would take, but what use were they? I sought the answer to that question but found no clue from the beast within. Such weighty matters were beyond my inner, primal mind, but even it shied away from a life lived in selfish pleasure.
I’d seen a woman who let herself fall into that, seen what it had done to those bound to her. Darrel and Susan had been dragged along in Jenny’s wake like flotsam, unable to leave her side for fear of what the world would unleash upon them without her protectio
n.
I couldn’t give such a fate to Ava. Nor to Madelyn. Nor to the good doctor.
It’s time to set aside childish things, I thought to myself as I turned the cabin door handle. I must become the man they see me as. For if I remain a boy, careening from event to event, dragged along like a toddler on a leash, I will fail. And I will lose the only things in this fucked-up world that are worth giving a damn about.
Opening the door, I wiped the expression from my face, knowing Dr. Gupta needed to see me strong and in control.
The room was larger and more opulent than I’d first guessed. Furnished like an office, there was a large oak desk bolted near the back with a large chair behind it. Brianna was tied to the chair with bungee cords, the elastic bands cutting into the flesh of her arms and legs. Dr. Gupta lay on a long leather couch, her coat over her as a blanket, and sat up when I stepped in, blinking away her exhaustion.
“Sir? Is there something wrong?”
The doctor glanced out the windows, noticing we were angled downward, and sat up to check on Brianna, who was rousing herself awake and flexing blue fingers.
“Dee is taking us down in Anchorage to refuel and plan our next moves,” I said, heading over to the strapped-down woman and unfastening the bungee cords tying her arms and legs in place.
“Sir, I wouldn’t do that,” Shandra warned, raising a hand.
The second Brianna’s hand was free, it shot out for my neck, as fast as the woman’s body could move, seeking my jugular. Had I not been ready and waiting for the attack, she might have done serious damage with those long pink nails.
I’d scented the woman’s emotions as she roused and knew the shame, guilt, and uncontrollable hunger to return to her pack that burned within her. I’d never smelled the odor, unique by its vinegary bite to the back of the sinuses and the sadness it created in me. It was impossible for anything that knew the value and closeness of a pack not to recognize the rage of this trapped animal.
How they’d created her I didn’t know, but she couldn’t stay like this, or else death would be her only end if we didn’t let her go free to try to find her way back to Olympus. In that case, death would most likely be the result, leaving me with no option but to break this conditioning. The prospect troubled me but enervated the beast within, and I found it easy to sink deep within myself.
When her hand snapped out, the beast and I were already one, and I watched her move as though she were underwater, hand reaching up for me with disorienting slowness. Shifting to the side, I didn’t reach up to catch her hand. Instead, I snapped free the last of her restraints and sprang backward, just evading a kick and a second slash as she launched herself after me.
In a dance that must have looked comical to anyone watching, I evaded the girl’s attacks, moving ever sideways around the room. At first, she attacked from perverted instinct, then as the blows passed through empty air, from frustration and growing anger. Finally, she let loose a howl of rage that must have woken Ava and Madge as it cut over the roaring engine.
Brianna’s scream of rage and frustration fell into curses and threats as I avoided her ever-slowing attacks.
“Asshole! Thief! Rapist!... Huh huh… Just die already, you fucker!... Ha ha ha… Piece of shit!”
It took longer than I’d guessed, but eventually the woman wore herself out and collapsed against the cabin’s wall, staring out at the world passing by and sobbing out an aching moan. I’d been prepared to defend Dr. Gupta if the woman turned on her, but her singular focus on me never wavered until she no longer had the strength to lift her arms or hold herself upright.
Chapter 2
I could have spoken, words weren’t beyond me, but they were difficult.
Instinct guided me. Blood coursed through my veins so fast and fresh I could feel it flowing through my heart and out. The unnatural smells of the airplane's cabin were so alive in my nostrils, I could smell the machinery that had forged the parts and the dregs of countless cleaning supplies that had nearly stripped the residue away over the years.
It felt like limitless potential filled me, but all of it remained still, frozen and locked in place, as Brianna’s scent filled my head. The chaotic swirl of her emotions had become more and more ordered and clear as exhaustion ate away at her. Now she was a raw bundle, an open wound of feelings laid bare, and she missed someone.
“Who is it that you miss?” Dr. Gupta asked, insightful as ever.
“Oh, God…” Brianna sobbed so hard she slid halfway down the cabin wall, but still I didn’t move. “They have her and if I’m not there… You don’t understand…” She pushed herself up on shaky arms, eyes red with emotion, her lips snarled in anger, and I saw the fire in this woman. A strength that few possessed, pushing her to move even though her body could not.
“I don’t understand?”
The voice was mine, but the deeper tones were something I’d never heard. The effect on the women was as palpable as it was different. Shandra swooned, biting her bottom lip and wrapping one arm around her abdomen as the fingers of her other hand clutched her thigh.
Brianna hissed, her lips writhing in a feral snarl, and I saw the muscles of her torso convulse, cramping as she tried to move her tired body. The young woman’s dark blue eyes were still red and raw with emotion, but her face was tense with anger as I stalked close. Reaching down, I grabbed one of the bungee cords and wrapped it around her weak wrists, earning another hiss of anger before stepping back and glaring down at her with all the pity I’d reserve for a cornered rat.
“Your sister is a slave.”
Each word hit the woman like a blow, her eyes widening as the anger drained from her. Reaching behind my back, I drew forth a short knife, turning to the heavy oak desk a couple feet away but keeping my eyes locked on hers.
“We land. You choose. Go to your masters. Or stay. Fight their control.”
The wood gave a sharp snap as the blade plunged deep, and like a finger on a plucked chord, the sound stilled Brianna’s scent.
“You must choose… It can’t be done for you.”
Turning, I motioned Dr. Gupta out of the office, and she backed away, looking unsure. As I drew the door shut behind me, I caught Brianna’s dreadful gaze as she stared at the gleaming edge of the blade. Enough to cut her bonds, enough to cut her wrists. Or a weapon to cut her way back to her masters.
“Is this wise?” Dr. Gupta asked.
My stomach was a cavernous well of hunger, but it was the lassitude in my limbs and the dragging exhaustion that caused me to turn to a short couch. Shandra slipped under my arm, and we staggered over before plopping down with a heavy thud.
“It isn’t wisdom,” I said with a sigh, hooking an arm around her shoulder when she burrowed under my arm. “It’s reality. The strength to do the right thing is in her. They didn’t destroy that. I saw it when she fought me. She’s exhausted enough now that she’ll have a good long while to contemplate what she’s going to do.”
“And that exhaustion stripped away some of the conditioning,” the doctor said, her fingers twisting at the button of my shirt as she looked off thoughtfully. “This won’t be an application that will work at scale. Have you given any thought to what you’ll do once we free all those poor women?”
“I was hoping you could help me with that,” I said, yawning and glancing out as the plane entered thick clouds. The horizon disappeared as we descended. “Exhaustion will be the key. I think… it… yawn… it breaks down the whatever… like you say…”
“This tiredness of yours scares me, CT,” Shandra said, her voice growing distant as darkness claimed me. “I wish I had my lab. There are too many questions unanswered…”
Her words slipped from my grasp as darkness dragged me under to the waiting madness of dreams.
Heavy rainfall greeted me as I woke, the last images of my dreams clinging to my mind like tattered fabric. All green and dark, either hunting or being hunted, but always moving, never stopping.
Sitting up, I
drew in a deep breath and glanced around me, taking in my surroundings.
Dee sat on a stump beside me, thick forest surrounding us, green and lush, dripping with the heavy rainfall. Above us, a tin roof protected us from the weather somewhat while causing a racket as fat drops fell from the trees above.
I lay on a narrow military cot. Beside me were a footlocker and another folded cot. Dee whittled at a long stick with her knife, her long blade resting against the tree beside her.
“Ascending will be easier now, more natural. That’s when it’s the most dangerous. Do you realize what would have happened if Dr. Gupta hadn’t been there to see your blue lips and fingertips?”
I blinked and looked down at the IV sticking out of one arm and reaching up to a bag tied to the roof’s beam. Not only was the tube sticking out of me, but my head also swooned as soon as I looked up, the world spinning around me, and I had to lay back.
Dee was up in an instant, and my nostrils filled with the smell of eggs and dried meat. Stomach almost convulsing with hunger, I sat up as she approached with a bag of food.
“Eat slowly. Your body’s malunited.”
“How long has it been?” I asked, feeling like I’d been lying there for weeks but assuming it had only been days. The bag was filled with hard-boiled eggs and beef jerky, and I had two whole eggs in my mouth before she passed me a bottle of water to wash it down.
New World Alpha: Book Three (A Harem Fantasy) Page 1
