Table of Contents
Prologue
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
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-One
Chapter Fifty-Two
Chapter Fifty-Three
Chapter Fifty-Four
Chapter Fifty-Five
Chapter Fifty-Six
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Chapter Fifty-Nine
Chapter Sixty
Chapter Sixty-One
Chapter Sixty-Two
Albaterra Extended Epilogue
Zuran
A Paranormal Sci-Fi Alien Romance
Ashley L. Hunt
Albaterra Series Book 6
Copyright © 2017 by Ashley L. Hunt
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.
Contents
For My Loyal And New Fans!
Your Free Story!
Prologue
1. Zuran
2. Phoebe
3. Zuran
4. Phoebe
5. Zuran
6. Phoebe
7. Zuran
8. Phoebe
9. Zuran
10. Phoebe
11. Zuran
12. Phoebe
13. Zuran
14. Phoebe
15. Zuran
16. Phoebe
17. Zuran
18. Phoebe
19. Zuran
20. Phoebe
21. Zuran
22. Phoebe
23. Zuran
24. Phoebe
25. Zuran
26. Phoebe
27. Zuran
28. Phoebe
29. Zuran
30. Phoebe
31. Zuran
32. Phoebe
33. Zuran
34. Phoebe
35. Zuran
36. Phoebe
37. Zuran
38. Phoebe
39. Zuran
40. Phoebe
41. Zuran
42. Phoebe
43. Zuran
44. Phoebe
45. Zuran
46. Phoebe
47. Zuran
48. Phoebe
49. Zuran
50. Phoebe
51. Zuran
52. Phoebe
53. Zuran
54. Phoebe
55. Zuran
56. Phoebe
57. Zuran
58. Phoebe
59. Zuran
60. Phoebe
61. Zuran
62. Phoebe
Albaterra Extended Epilogue
Badass Luke
Make Your Own Story
Preview Of Venan
Venan
Octavia
Preview Of Jasih
Lenora
Jasih
Lenora
Jasih
Lenora
Jasih
Lenora
Jasih
The Story Continues Here
Preview Of Kerr
Kataline
Kerr
Kataline
Kerr
Kataline
Kerr
Kataline
Kerr
The Story Continues Here
Also By Ashley L. Hunt
About the Author
For My Loyal And New Fans!
First I would like to thank you so much for downloading this book. I am truly honoured by this!
This is the 5th Complete story in the “Albaterra Mates” series. This can be read as a standalone but you will enjoy the full experience when you will read the other as well!
1. Rex - SciFi Alien Romance
2. Duke - SciFi Alien Romance
3. Dane - SciFi Alien Romance
4. Lokos - SciFi Alien Romance
5. Khrel - SciFi Alien Romance
6. Zuran - SciFi Alien Romance
I have also Included a special sneak peak from Albaterra Mates 6, Zuran, that you will not find anywhere else!
Fasten your seatbelt and let’s travel to a new world!
Your Free Story!
Do you want one more free story?
Click the link which you will find in a later chapter in the book and download an amazing secret story!
More than 60.000 words novel which I am sure you will enjoy!
Prologue
Phoebe
“What kind of information?” she asked eagerly.
Shaking my head, I chuckled, “You know I can’t tell you that, Edie.”
“Oh, come on! You’re going into space; it’s not like anyone’s gonna know,” she begged.
“Nope.” I shook my head again and then smiled brightly at her. “But, the good news is I’m free to hang out with you until they need me. Unless you’ve got to get back to the infirmary, of course. I don’t mind entertaining myself, if you have to—”
“Girl, knock it off,” she chided. “You know I’m not going anywhere near that infirmary as long as you’re here. I feel like we’re those friends who were tight all through high school and promised to stay in touch during college but now we only see each other once every few years because we made new friends and life went on.”
I narrowed my eyes with faux offense. “You’ve made new friends? I’m that replaceable to you?”
She rolled her eyes and said, “Shut up. I can’t just hang out by myself all the time, you know. The hairdresser on the other side of the colony, Octavia, is pretty cool and I’ve spent some time with her, but otherwise, I’m alone.”
“What about the Corporal?”
Her face lit up. “Oh, yeah, him too. But that’s a given.”
I asked her then what she wanted to do until I was called away, and she insisted we leave the colony so she couldn’t be called b
ack to the infirmary. Now, I found myself on the market walk where the last time I’d come back to Ka-lik’et, I’d been dressed like an A’li-uud hooker and terrified I’d never see Zuran again. The mystery and whimsy of the booths was lost to me; the only thing I saw anymore as I looked down the line of tables and silk canopies and merchants was the seedy underbelly lurking beneath the outwardly pleasant sight. And I was acutely aware that, somewhere below my feet, was the den of criminals and outlaws.
“…I guess, but I still think a real date would be nice for once, you know?”
Edie had been rambling about her relationship with the Corporal for almost twenty minutes straight. I’d thought I was paying good attention, but I realized I’d let my mind wander and had no idea what she was saying. I tried to play it off.
“Yeah, dates are good,” I said absently.
“Yeah,” she agreed stoutly. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m expecting too much. I mean, we are basically building a whole new civilization here. We’re like the pilgrims on Plymouth Rock. I’m pretty sure they had more important things to worry about than dates, right? But sometimes a girl just wants to go out. Have you had a real date with Zuran yet?”
I smirked with so much wry amusement that Zuran would’ve been proud. Our relationship thus far had been packed with more action than most people would ever experience in a lifetime. We’d watched an Elder die at his brother’s hand, been relocated to the middle of nowhere to battle a mysterious disease, snuck out of the middle of nowhere and into Ka-lik’et only to barely escape Albaterra’s worst criminals, testified in a trial before the entire Council. And now we were being shot into space to meet with a notoriously temperamental race and tell them their people were dying in our care. I almost felt like a “real date” would be too boring for us.
“No, we haven’t had the chance to do that,” I admitted. I wasn’t nearly as bothered by it as she was.
“Don’t you think—”
Edie’s words were cut off at the knees by a terrible, gut-wrenching scream. I didn’t even realize the scream was mine until a hand closed around my mouth and muffled the sound, and my whole body was wrenched backward against something very large and very rigid.
“Hello, laaka,” a very slimy, very familiar voice said in my ear. I felt something cold and sharp slide flush against my throat. “I hope Zuran has found another female to entertain because you are mine tonight.”
Chapter One
Zuran
A hazy blur materialized on the horizon just over the arcs of the swooping dunes. I was almost there. If not for the blazing white rays of sunlight in my eyes and the thick veil of heat blanketing the desert landscape, I would have been able to clearly see the clay walls marking the boundaries of Ka-lik’et, their peachy hue distinguishable against the backdrop of the vividly turquoise Albaterran sky. Another thousand footfalls would yield the low, ceaseless rumblings native to the Dhal’atian city as merchants bargained with interested buyers, friends and couples strolled the streets, and parents called out to energetic children determined to steal a moment of independence. Finally, the great golden dome marking the highest point of the Elder palace was birthed before me, glinting its encouragement for my return.
I slowed to a jog as I passed through the pair of gates. They were made of impenetrable bronze-brushed metal and towered well over two A’li-uud tall, their peaks meeting flush against the intricately-carved arch overhang. Had the afternoon given way to the dusty indigo dusk, I would have been required to request entrance from the stationed warrior guards, but the sun was still high in the sky, and the gates were left open for civilians to come and go as they pleased. At this hour, Ka-lik’et was still buzzing, and my energetic re-entry went unnoticed by all but one.
“Where have you been?” Through eyes that were little more than exhausted slits, I watched the lean, feral-faced A’li-uud charging toward me. Ribbons of pearly hair cascaded out behind him, the ends snapping like whips in the sweltering desert breeze, and the flared fabric of his breathable jodhpurs rippled with each stride. His skin had darkened from its usual royal blue richness to lush cobalt after spending most of the day out-of-doors. Slanted lids gave way to spectral irises, which plunged into me with visceral irritation and bolstered the jut of his angular jaw. He was fierce, striking, and identical to me in every way.
“Pleasure to see you too, Venan,” I remarked as casually as my heaving respirations would allow.
He refused to be deterred. “Where have you been?” he repeated, injecting insistence into his already rigid tone.
Venan was my twin brother, fellow warrior, and mirror image, but the similarities ended there. While he had thrown himself into his role with the Dhal’atian militia the first day he began training, I spent my initial years amassing a repertoire of warnings and disciplinary actions for reckless behavior. He was the epitome of humorless stringency; I preferred the livelier side of life. Our respective personalities led us down two very different and begrudgingly felicitous paths within the ranks, but time had blessed us with startling closeness.
“I needed to run,” I told him airily. “Catering to the humans all day does not make a warrior fit.”
“Our honorable Elder Kharid named you Interplanetary Affairs Officer for a reason, Zuran, and far be it from me to question him,” Venan sternly replied, the skepticism in his tone betraying his unspoken doubts of my appointment. “It is not your privilege to leave the colony at your whim.”
“And it is not your privilege to reprimand an officer of equal rank, brother,” I retorted.
He swelled, his unclothed torso expanding until the veins in his pectorals bulged. The harsh edges of his cheekbones hardened, and his shoulders squared with indignance. “Need I remind you your promotion was only upon my suggestion?” he challenged.
I pinned him with a patronizing gaze and asked, “What do you want, Venan?” I was still too tired to instigate further annoyance from him as I ordinarily would have.
“Elder Kharid has issued an order for your presence at the palace to address an urgent matter,” he said at once, managing to swell another breath larger.
“What is the urgent matter?”
Venan did not answer, opting instead to fix me with an exasperated glare for my lack of instant compliance. I shook out my wind-ruffled hair, which was just as long and pale as his, and started toward the palace. He caught me by the arm before I could take more than two steps.
“You must return to the colony first,” he asserted.
I held back a groan of frustration and decided I was owed a bit of antagonism for my efforts. “Is the matter not urgent after all? Was that a detail you invented to ensure I report to the palace and propel you deeper into Kharid’s good graces, perhaps?”
“Elder Kharid,” he corrected me snappishly. “And, no, I am not so childish as that. The Council has requested the inclusion of the human healers in the debriefing. It is your duty to collect them from their infirmary and accompany them to the palace.”
Several pieces of his explanation prickled my attention, and I became serious as I asked, “With what urgent matter could the human healers possibly assist, and why has the Council become involved?”
“You must report to Elder—”
“No, Venan,” I interrupted sharply. “I am not asking you as a warrior or an officer or even a Dhal’atian. I am asking you as a brother. What is happening? Why do I need to gather the humans?”
He eyed me uncertainly for a beat, his achromatic orbs flicking between mine. I knew he was struggling between his obligation to remain tight-lipped at Kharid’s command and his loyalty to our familial bond, but I was unwilling to retract my demand for information. Finally, his voice lowered to prevent overhearing by loitering eavesdroppers, he said, “An unidentified disease has broken out amongst the Novai. The Elders want every healer across Albaterra assigned to diagnosing and curing the illness before it spreads to both humans and A’li-uud. They fear the disease has the potential to grow to pandemic pr
oportions and kill us all.”
Chapter Two
Phoebe
“How did this happen, Mr. Killian?”
The infirmary was slow today. Only one overnight patient needed tending thanks to dehydration—an ailment we saw quite commonly, as people tended to push themselves too hard in the relentless desert heat of Dhal’at—and a single other had come in complaining of mysterious allergies. Most of the other nurses were gathered around a host of empty beds, chattering about nothing of substance and counting down the minutes until they were free to leave for the day and ogle the hundreds of soldiers who populated our colony. I wasn’t so lucky. On my exam table sat a well-tanned man, and in my lap rested his upturned hand with a nail straight through his palm.