Ravaged: A Dark Sci-Fi Reverse Harem Romance (Vakarran Captives Book 4) Read online

  The men hurt me sometimes, but I didn’t care anymore. I learned they used to do this sort of thing to a group of women, creating their own little harem for their every little need. Now, they only had me, which meant the entirety of their cruelty was focused on me.

  Everything I’d ever cared for was torn away from me. My sisters. Kaze. My old life. Nothing was left. I just hoped Kaela could remain safe from it all. I hoped she never left the caves. She was safe there.

  We hadn’t wandered too far from the river. Every time I looked at the water, I pictured Kaze’s face and I hoped for death. I hoped that one day, the men would take it too far and my world would turn black forever.

  The river was an ever-present reminder of my mistake. The men liked to be near a constant source of fresh water and had camped out under an overhang not far from it. One of them had dragged Kaze’s body away some time ago and disposed of it. They’d never told me where. I missed him. I wished we’d had more time.

  It was late one night, and the men were roasting a dead rabbit over the fire. Even though it smelled delicious, it didn’t really matter to me. It wasn’t like they fed me often anyway. It was enough to where my clothes were starting to fall off of me. I could see my ribs protruding far more than I ever had. My hipbones stuck out more than I had ever seen before. Kaze would have told me I was far too skinny. I would have agreed.

  I focused on the reds, yellows, and oranges of the fire and listened to its loud crackle, occasionally watching as an ember popped and floated through the air. It landed close to my foot, which was cuffed with a steel anklet chain to a tree, a way to keep me from running away, I suppose, not that I wanted to. I had nothing to go back to. The cuff was tight, marking my ankle with a red, raw ring that hurt and was just starting to scab, so I tended not to move.

  A twig broke off deeper in the woods and I lifted my head lazily, wondering if I hadn’t noticed if one of the men had ambled off, but they hadn’t. All three men were sitting around the fire, talking about what sort of disgusting thing they would force me to do next, after they ate all the good rabbit and fed me whatever scraps were left over, if any at all. There usually wasn’t much, but I’d gotten used to the gnawing pain of hunger in my belly.

  The human men didn’t stir. I wondered if they had heard the snapping sound, but none of them moved or indicated that they had. I shrugged. Maybe my head was playing tricks on me. It wouldn’t be the first time.

  I was tired. I wasn’t sleeping much. Every time I tried, I’d wake up screaming from the nightmares and then one of the guys would kick me for making noise and waking them up. My ribcage was bruised from it, making it hard to breathe.

  I heard another twig break, this time in a different direction, and I began to grow nervous and hopeful at the same time. Maybe Kaela and the others had pinpointed my location? Maybe they’d come to save me after all? Or maybe some other less cruel group of humans had come to find me? Did I even deserve to be saved at all?

  Somewhere deep inside, I hoped it was a bear, come to kill us all.

  My eyes struggled to look out into the darkness, but still I saw nothing. After enough time had passed, I thought that maybe it was just my mind playing a trick on me and that I hadn’t heard anything after all. Maybe I had finally gone completely insane.

  I went back to watching the fire, hearing the crackle of the flames and the trickle of the river next to us, and then I zoned out for a little while, until I heard another twig snap in the distance, closer this time. To my right.

  I stilled, looking slowly in the direction of the sound, noticing the men didn’t move this time either. They were too loud, eating their rabbit and drinking some sort of homemade hooch. I didn’t listen to what they were saying. I didn’t care.

  Soundlessly, I curled up, watching a figure move somewhere not that far off, right along the tree line. The outline of the individual was barely discernable, nearly invisible at times, but I could tell, whoever it was, he was looking straight at me too.

  Chapter Two

  Roan

  The moment I saw her, I knew I had to have her. My superior vision took her in, even though I knew she couldn’t quite make me out. She was filthy, marked with bruises ranging from deep purple to black, and her cheeks were stained with dirt from her tears. She was clothed in what looked like a dirty beige dress; I could see her gaunt arms and the outlines of her ribs, her skin pale in the moonlight. I knew some Vakarrans treated human women very roughly, but I didn’t approve, and I would never tolerate my men to engage in such behavior either. It made me so incredibly angry, to see a treasured human female suffering like that. I wanted to kill them. Earth was lucky we’d come for them. Mistreatment like this was frowned upon. Damaged merchandise. No good for carrying our children.

  We were Vakarran. Some ten years ago, our military had captured Earth and taken the humans as our own, the men to serve us and the women to breed. Our genetics didn’t allow us to sire females, only males, so we were a race of conquerors, constantly on the search for new sources of compatible females. Earth was our most recent conquest and it had supplied a good many women for our species for some time now. I’d even heard news of a breeding colony established in the Andromeda galaxy lightyears away, where a small select group of women were being implanted with human female embryos, so that we’d always have a constant source of mates.

  I hadn’t been given the good fortune to be assigned a female by the upper divisions yet, but I knew I’d be given the opportunity sometime soon. I knew my woman would never bear my mark like that. I’d never strike a woman across the face, give her a black eye, or chain her to a tree. She’d submit to me because she respected me, not because she was treated as viciously as this. She would be mine, both in body and soul, utterly and completely.

  “What are your orders, Roan?” Taraik asked beside me, using our telepathic link to communicate. I knew my brethren were just was horrified as I was, and that they were just waiting on me to give the orders now. We were going to rescue that woman and take her for ourselves.

  “Flank all sides. I’ll take the north. Taraik, the west. Xandaar, the east. Zac, you go straight to her and get her to the tree line as fast as possible while we take care of these good for nothing human bastards,” I ordered.

  “What if she resists?” Zac asked.

  “Use whatever means necessary, including the tranquilizer cartridge,” I replied, and Zac nodded. Using the tranquilizer gun wasn’t usual with human females, but we had to make sure to get her out of here without damaging her. She looked so fragile that I was afraid we’d hurt her more if we weren’t careful.

  The four of us spread out, using our camouflaged skin to blend into the forest around us. I knew where each of them was, the four of us had been together for so long as a team. The seconds ticked by and we all moved closer, careful not to make a sound. My comrades and I closed in, walking from shadow to shadow until we were mere feet away from the dirty human men, who were ravenously chewing on rabbit bones. Fuck, they smelled like sewage. It was revolting. One was even sucking the marrow out of a long bone and I sneered in disgust. Utterly fucking barbarian.

  I saw Taraik shake his head. He was a bit of a clean freak, so I knew he was probably itching to take care of these men as quickly as possible.

  Xandaar’s eyes searched around us, analyzing our surroundings for other threats that may affect our current mission. He found none as I’d already assessed the area myself.

  “We’re clear,” he replied, and the three of us moved in.

  I knew Zac was moving in behind us, gathering the female for our own, but now, the only thing I could focus on was the men. I trusted Zac would be successful.

  The dirty human men had rudimentary bullet guns in their belts and the three of us moved to take those first. We moved fast, much quicker than the humans, and divested them of their weapons without them even noticing. I pushed the one I’d taken into my belt. The fool hadn’t even loaded it.

  We took out our own guns,
Optima Laser X1867 models. The humans wouldn’t even see it coming, but they were already dead. It was already far too late for them. They were dead the moment I’d laid eyes on the woman and decided she was mine.

  I leveled the sight to the back of the fat one’s head and pulled the trigger. In a flash, the laser burned through the paltry barrier of his scalp and passed right through his head, turning his brain into liquid mush within seconds. All three of them dropped dead right by the fire, Taraik and Xandaar taking care of their men with just as much ease as I did.

  We turned around and left them there, bodies collapsing to the side and some right into the fire.

  Mission accomplished. Part one, that is. The three of us then turned in the direction that Zac was supposed to end up. I almost laughed at what I saw.

  The little female, freshly freed from her metal cuff, was standing straight up, her chin up in defiance as she sparred with Zac. She was strong despite the fact that she was far too thin, that much was obvious. Fragile, apparently she was not. Once she was in our possession though, I would make sure she gained the few pounds that she desperately needed.

  The three of us chuckled, watching as the woman kicked and punched, while Zac blocked, looking exceedingly flustered at the woman’s will to fight his attempts at rescuing her. After a long moment, and a few glares from Zac in our direction, we moved in and surrounded her too, only dropping our camouflage at the last possible second so that she wouldn’t see us coming.

  Her surprise was obvious, and it quickly morphed from shock to anger and then, she began to look nervous.

  “Don’t come any closer,” she warned, but her voice trembled, giving away her fear. Plump pink lips parted as her dark hair swayed back and forth in the breeze and then I saw her eyes. Icy blue and defiant, just like sparkling water.

  I held up my hands, letting her know I wasn’t a threat. She didn’t know it yet, but she was already ours. I loved a challenge and Vakarran law allowed those who captured a free human female to keep her. And boy, did I intend to.

  “My name is Roan,” I began, and she glared back at me.

  “You’re Vakarrans,” she growled, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

  “Indeed,” I replied. “You are correct.”

  She looked a little flustered at my response and I had to stop myself from chuckling again. Her body remained tense though, so I didn’t force myself any closer just yet.

  “Flank her. All sides,” I commanded, using our link. She wouldn’t be able to hear it, making it optimal to strategize between the four of us. We could take her in the blink of an eye, but I didn’t want my new human conquest to be terrified of us. Now that the men were out of the picture, she was ours, so we would take our time with her. And, we had to fix whatever damage they’d done. She’d need medical attention right away.

  “And you are?” I asked gently. I was used to being obeyed, so I was careful to keep it out of my voice. I’d been the leader of the Third Battalion for many years. The four of us were battle hardened, having been at the forefront of many invasions of planets that were compatible with our species, but none of them intrigued me as much as Earth. The rest of them were rather forgettable. Not Earth, though I couldn’t quite pinpoint why.

  Something about the humans here was special. And this one was no different. She was more than special. She was radiant, even as filthy and injured as she was. I could see it in her eyes.

  “Danika Stryke,” she said softly after a long moment. I could tell she had been thinking about running and about not responding at all, and what the consequences would be if she was defiant. She was probably wondering if we would kill her. I watched her carefully, taking account of her body language and the emotions flittering across her features.

  Her eyes held an overwhelming sadness beneath her instinct to fight us. There was something inside that gaze that was broken and wanted to give up, but even so, she held herself with a strength I had never witnessed in a human before. Her eyes told me many things that her body did not. She stood up straight, her arms pulled into her chest in a defensive position, her legs bent just enough so that she could spring away at any moment. I knew deep in my heart, though, that something haunted her. Something had taken her spirit and crushed it. The realization saddened me. I wanted to rescue her from that.

  “Stryke,” Xandaar repeated, his tone thoughtful.

  “You recognize the name?” I asked.

  “I do. Her sister Kira Stryke has a reputation, despite the First Battalion’s efforts to quiet it,” he responded.

  The name rang a bell. I furrowed my brow, running my hand over the horn at the side of my head. Kira Stryke. Hmmm.

  “She’s the human rebel who was rumored to have killed Commander Strohass, but nothing could be proven. All the evidence had suspiciously been wiped from the database,” Xandaar added.

  “That’s right,” I said thoughtfully.

  “You know about my sister?” Danika asked, her demeanor turning a bit hopeful, despite the sadness that still cloaked it.

  “She’s safe, if that’s what you mean,” Xandaar replied, his reply short and clipped. His guard remained up, but that was him. He was a scientist. He liked data and solitude. It would take him some time to open up to her.

  I moved toward her a little and she didn’t flinch, even as I reached for her, brushing the hair from her face. She stared at me with a certain hatred, sadness, and fear. Like a frightened and abused animal that was afraid to strike out. I wanted to change that. I wanted her to look at me with love and desire. I wanted to take away whatever pain was holding her hostage and replace it with happiness.

  Soon, I’d make her mine completely, no matter what she said. I’d make her beg for me to take her. She’d be mine. Ours.

  But I was patient.

  My men were too.

  Chapter Three

  Danika

  The moment I’d seen the Vakarrans come for me, I’d been afraid. They were the race that held Earth in their claws, had conquered and invaded our planet years ago. I hated what they stood for and what they’d done to the human race, but as I stood in front of them now, I faltered.

  I’d seen them kill the human men who held me captive. They’d been ruthless, had killed them without a second thought, but here they were with me and they hadn’t lifted a finger toward me in aggression. Not a single fucking one.

  I had wanted to run when Roan reached for me, but something in his gaze had made me falter, had made me stand there as his dark purple skin brushed against mine. He was warm, and my forehead tingled where he had touched me.

  I stared at him, his skin like the color of a full-bodied merlot, decadent and elegant at the same time. Each of them had dark gray ram-like horns jutting out the sides of their heads, but it was their eyes that held me captive. Copper colored and rimmed with black, they reminded me of the colors of the fire. Reds, oranges, and yellows all dancing within and what surprised me most of all was none of them looked at me with cruel intentions. In fact, I could have sworn some of them were gazing back at me with pity. I didn’t know how to feel about that.

  I had gotten fairly good at reading what Neil and his two men had on their minds, if they were going to hurt me, because their eyes always told a story, always gave them up before they acted. These Vakarrans had eyes that were just as expressive, but all I saw there was concern. For me. I didn’t know how to react to that.

  They were supposed to be the enemy, right?

  For an overwhelmingly large portion of my life, I’d been taught to run, to hide, and to avoid exposure to the Vakarrans at all costs. I’d heard shocking tales of their cruelty. Rumors passed from one human to the next. Beatings. Murder. Rape. I furrowed my brow with confusion. For a moment, I questioned what I thought I knew, but then I told myself I couldn’t draw any conclusions yet. Just because they hadn’t beaten or killed me yet didn’t mean they weren’t going to, eventually. I took a deep breath and tried to stay calm.

  I studied Roan first. He wa
s the tallest of the four and although it was hard to tell in the dark, he looked to be the largest. I could see just how enormous his biceps were and the hint of the muscles of his chest under his protective combat gear made my heart flutter just a bit.

  My eyes slid over to the remnants of the fire that seemed to be burning brighter than ever. Three bodies were slumped to the ground, illuminated by the flames in a way that made my heart jump into my throat. I had to remember, they were killers after all.

  “Are you going to take me now? Sell me off and breed me like a human cow carrying your young? If that’s your intention, just kill me now. I’d rather be dead,” I said, unable to quell the rising panic within me. I felt like a piece of glass, capable of shattering at any given moment. I didn’t know if I could handle something like that.

  “We’re not going to do that,” Roan answered, his eyes crinkling with his rising concern. No one moved toward me, as if they were afraid I would bolt. I wanted to. Instinct told me to run, but I didn’t. Something about them made me curious to learn more.

  “Then what are you going to do to me?” I asked, my gaze never leaving his.

  “We’re going to get you cleaned up. Then we’re going to feed you a nice, big, hot meal,” he replied, looking me up and down with sadness. “You’re far too thin. Did those men ever feed you?” He scoffed in disgust. “I should have made them suffer first. Punished them for what they did to you.”

  The Vakarran beside him, the lankiest of the four, roared in anger and I shrank back.

  “Easy, Zac. You’ll scare her,” Roan murmured and the Vakarran looked away.

  “Sorry,” he mused softly.

  One of them came forward and offered his hand.

  “I’m Taraik. Nice to meet you,” he said with an easy smile. “Don’t mind Zac. He makes weird noises sometimes.” He winked in my direction and despite my misgivings, made me feel slightly more comfortable.