Loc (Untamed Warriors Book 2) Read online

  Loc

  Untamed Warriors, Volume 2

  Bethany Shaw

  Published by Bethany Shaw, 2021.

  This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

  LOC

  First edition. September 23, 2021.

  Copyright © 2021 Bethany Shaw.

  Written by Bethany Shaw.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Loc (Untamed Warriors, #2)

  Chapter One | Max

  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

  Also By Bethany Shaw

  About the Author

  Max

  I moved back home for a fresh start. Instead, I crash my car, save an alien’s life, and then got abducted by more aliens. I’m on a freaking spaceship with these crazy blue men and the things they insinuate terrify me. My only hope is my cellmate, also an alien. He looks mostly human, except for his fins and eyes. I don’t have much choice but to trust him. I can’t fly this ship by myself, and we have a common enemy. My gut tells me I can trust Loc. He’s kind, strong, and maybe a little bit sexy. I just hope I’m not making a mistake.

  Loc

  I barely survived the crash landing on a strange planet when the orion descend on me and the beautiful female who rescues me. Taken prisoner, I have no time to see if my sisters survived the crash. My priority is escape. The feisty human, Max, seems to agree. Together we take over the ship. But can we get back to her home world? I must protect Max from the evils of my galaxy. I’m drawn to her. My world is dangerous, and I make it my mission to get her home. But if we get to Earth, how can we possibly have a future together? Aliens don’t exist in her world.

  Chapter One

  Max

  Driving in the rain is the worst, especially at night. This stretch of the 70 through Colorado was awful. The bends, twists and steep inclines were enough to make any driver weary. I’d lived here long enough that I knew it well and it still gave me the creeps. I made a note to see about pushing up my Zumba class, so it ended before it got dark. I hoped my clients wouldn’t mind. It was getting to be fall soon and snow was horrible in the mountains. I couldn’t be the only one who hated driving in this weather.

  As if to spite me, the torrential down pour picked up. I flicked my wipers on as fast as they’d go. Not that it helped much. I might need to pull over. I’d do it a little after this next bend. The last thing I needed was to get rear ended. Or hit something.

  It was like I had a sixth sense tonight. I gasped as I rounded the corner. There was something burning in the middle of the road. I couldn’t tell what it was, but it was ginormous and there was no way for me to go around. I slammed on my brakes. My car skidded, hydroplaning across the ground. I pumped the brakes.

  “Please stop,” I whispered repeatedly. It wasn’t going to happen. I clutched the steering wheel and screamed. The front of my car smacked into whatever was in the road with a sickening crunch. I was thrown forward, my seat belt caught me slapping me back into my seat. The air bag deployed and hit me like a punch to the face, and a puff of white blinded my view.

  “Ugh,” I said as I caught my breath. For something meant to help you, airbags sure did pack a mean punch. I pushed on the airbag making it deflate as fast as I could. It was a good thing too.

  Flames billowed over my car. The smell of burning rubber filtered into the cabin. Oh shit. My car was on fire too. I had to get out of here.

  I shoved on my door. It wouldn’t budge. I yanked and tugged on the door handle, but it refused to open. My eyes went to the hood of the car. Flames were crawling up the metal closer to me. My pulse thundered in my ears. Gas and fire were a bad combo. I undid my seat belt and crawled out of my seat to the passenger side. When I pulled on the handle the door thankfully fell open. I climbed out and darted away from my car, not stopping until I’d reached the other side of the street.

  I turned back and covered my mouth at the sight. Fire had engulfed my car. I patted my pants in search of my cell. Thank God for pockets in workout pants. I pulled it out and unlocked it ready to call 911 when I saw movement by where my car and whatever the hell that was in the middle of the road.

  A man stood up, or he tried to. He made it halfway up and then collapsed.

  He needed to get away from there. That fire was raging. I shoved my phone back in my pocket and ran back to the inferno.

  “Hey, Mister,” I screamed as I flailed my arms trying to get his attention. “You have to get away from there.” I didn’t know how long it would take for my car to blow but it was covered completely in flames already. The fire was burning so hot it was almost white. The heat took the chill from the air. I was starting to sweat. Me and this guy needed to get out of here.

  I hurried around the flames and found him laying on the ground. He had long blonde hair that might very well be longer than mine and he was shirtless and shoeless. Weird but I’d worry about that later.

  “Hey, we have to get you out of here.” I came around him and put one arm under his shoulder. Somehow, we managed to get him to his feet. He was massive. Probably at least a foot taller than me and he was all muscle. We stumbled forward. He tripped and almost fell. It was through sheer strength of will that I kept him upright. We had to get away from the vehicles. I had no plans to die today.

  We kept moving and made it to the tree line. Not a second too soon. The ground shook and we were thrown forward as my car erupted. We tumbled down a small hill and landed in a deep puddle, sending a splash of water up when we landed. I coughed and spat the sludge from my mouth. Great! My cell was probably ruined now too. I turned so I was leaning on my elbows and watched as what was left of my car turned into an inferno. Flames shot at least twenty feet into the sky. My car was a total goner.

  At least my night couldn’t possibly get any worse. This was just what I needed. Not! At least I’d saved the guy. I turned to look at him. Whatever was in the road didn’t resemble a car. So, what was it? I tried to get a good look at the guy, but I only had the light of the fire, and we were a distance from it.

  He hadn’t moved since we’d collapsed over here. He was lying face up. At least I didn’t have to worry about him drowning in all this water. What if he was injured or worse? I crawled toward him and looked down at his chest. I still had no idea why he was half naked, but he was ripped. And breathing. Thank goodness. Wait a second.

  I squinted and stared down at him, leaning closer to inspect his chest. Were those scales? They were flesh colored, so it was hard to tell but his skin looked off. I reached into my pants and plucked out my phone, praying that it worked so I could turn on the flashlight. It did. That was a small miracle.

  I shone it down on him. They were scales. Flesh colored scales. How in the world was that possible? People didn’t have scales. It had to be a tattoo. A really well designed one. I put a finger on it. It felt weird, scaly. Not possible. It had to be some sort of weird body art. People did all sorts of crazy things nowadays.

  His skin was soft but the mosaic like pattern reminded me of a lizard sort of. It kind of felt like one too.

  The guy groaned. His left arm shot up and went to his forehead. There was something sticking out of his arms right by the elbows. Glass maybe? I moved my light, then fought back the urge to scream. It wasn’t glass. The guy had fins. Small bluish-purple fins by his elbows.

  I fell backward on my butt as the guy began to move. He opened his eyes and they landed on me. They were almost the same color of his fins. Beautiful, but not human. Oh shit. Well, Max, you’ve really gotten yourself in a pickle now.

  I scooted away from him.

  “Aurora?” he asked. He slowly sat up. He scrutinized me for a moment. “You’re not Aurora.” He turned to look at the wreckage. The fire was still burning hot.

  My eyes followed his line of sight. The flames had died down a little. I could see some of what was in the fire. There was my car and the object. It was rectangular. Definitely not a car. It was small and a sleek black color. Oh God. Was it a spaceship?

  That was crazy, right? I shot to my feet. Maybe it wasn’t. It would explain the guy’s weird scales and fins. I took a few steps backward, my feet sliding on the muddy terrain. Was this dude an alien? He didn’t fit any alien profile I’d ever seen in a movie. For starters, he was hot. Aliens weren’t supposed to be hot.

  It wasn’t that far from Halloween. It had to be a costume. A good, expensive costume. That explained it.

  “Where am I?” the guy asked. He turned to look at me.

  He spoke English too. Aliens wouldn’t speak English. They’d speak some weird gobity goop language that I wouldn’t be able to understand.

  “We are on the side of the road. You had an accident,” I said.

  “The ship. Nightfall, have you seen it?” he asked. He stood up on shaky legs and turned back to the wrec
kage.

  Did he just say ship? Maybe I had a concussion. That airbag had felt like a fricking punch. Or maybe I was unconscious, and this was my imagination going crazy. I pinched myself, hard. Ouch. That hurt. So, being unconscious was out the window.

  “The Nightfall. It would have been in distress when it broke atmosphere. Have you seen it or another escape pod?” he asked.

  I swallowed hard. Okay so maybe my initial alien impression hadn’t been too far off the mark. I took a few more steps back. My heart raced and pulse pounded in my ears. Aliens. Was this for real? Maybe I was unconscious, and this was a dream.

  I squeezed my eyes shut and counted to five, then opened them. Nope. My car was still in shambles and the hot alien dude was still staring at me.

  “Can you understand me?” the guy asked. He moved toward me with his hands out.

  I screamed and turned on my heel taking off at a run. I made for the road, but my feet slid on the mud, grasping for purchase. If I could make it to the black top, I’d be in good shape. I pushed up the hill.

  I’d no sooner made it to the road when a blinding light shone down on the pavement. I covered my eyes and looked up. Above me was a disc shaped ship. I stopped breathing. All the tabloids about alien abductions were real. It was about to happen to me.

  Something warm curled around my arm. I shrieked and pulled away so fast that I lost my balance and fell to the ground. I landed with a crack. The sidewalk dug into my arm. The white-haired alien stared down at me.

  “We have to run.” He offered me his hand.

  I batted it away. Run. Yes. That sounded like a great idea. I got to my feet. Before I could take off though men appeared in front of us. They literally poofed into existence.

  There were aliens that could teleport. Of course. I back pedaled and ran into something or someone. The white-haired guy I rescued put his hands on my shoulders.

  I turned to look at him.

  “You need to run. Now!”

  Yep. Great idea, buddy.

  I gulped and took off for the trees. I was most of the way there when more men popped up in front of me. No. Today was not the day I was getting abducted. I had to keep moving.

  I darted to the right, but the men were faster than me. They quickly blocked my escape. If I couldn’t run, then I’d fight. They weren’t going to take me without one.

  I circled back toward the white-haired guy. He hadn’t hurt me. He’d even tried to warn me. I didn’t know if I could actually trust him, but I thought I might be able to. Either way, we were on the same side for the moment.

  The alien men closed in on us. My friend lunged out first. He was quick on his feet and making quick work of one of the other guys. I balled my fists and took up a fighting stance.

  The man closest to me had the audacity to laugh at me. Well, I’d show him. I screamed as loud as I could while charging him. I had no idea what I was going to do when I reached him. I was a dancer, not a fighter. Maybe I could use that to my advantage. Dancing was a big part of my life. The kick step could work. I stepped and then kicked higher than normal, connecting with the alien’s groin.

  The smile slipped from his face. Ha. That’s what you get. I fisted my hand and swung. My knuckles hit his jaw and his head snapped to the side. His attention quickly turned back to me. His eyes were wide, and a snarl curled up on his lip.

  Oh shit. I’d pissed him off more than I hurt him. I stumbled backwards but wasn’t fast enough. He grasped my arm and yanked me toward him. I collided with his chest. I struggled, wriggling desperately trying to free myself.

  A wave of dizzying nausea passed over me. The world spun and bright lights blinded me. I fell backwards hitting the ground hard. Except it wasn’t the ground. The rain was no longer falling. Artificial white light filled the room. A hard metallic floor was beneath me.

  My captor took a few steps back and then a blue beam separated us. He leered at me for a moment before leaving through a door. I was alone in what looked to be some sort of cell. I scooted back. Oh God. What did I do now?

  Chapter Two

  Max

  I stared at the blue beam, slowly reaching my hand out as I pushed myself into a sitting position. I’d seen enough movies to know touching it wasn’t good. But what if I could get out? I had to find out. My fingers trembled as I inched my hand closer to it.

  I might lose my hand, get shocked, or maybe I’d get free. Yeah. Let’s hope for the best, Max.

  I’d almost touched the blue beam when footsteps thudded toward me. Two men entered the room dragging my white-haired friend along with them. The beam disappeared and he was thrown on the floor.

  The men looked at me and said something before laughing. I gritted my teeth and curled into a ball hugging myself. I didn’t want their attention on me. But it was too late. They strode toward me. One grasped me by the elbow and yanked me upright.

  I shoved at him. The other man came up behind me with some sort of gun in his hand. Where had that come from? What was he going to do with it? He grasped me by the shoulder, squeezing so hard I was afraid my bones might shatter.

  Something cool and metallic was pressed against the back of my neck. There was a sharp prick and then iciness seeped down my neck. I gasped. The men let go of me and I collapsed to the floor. My vision blurred. My ears rung. My head seared like I’d just inhaled a whole gallon of ice cream in two seconds.

  I lay on my belly, breathing in deep breaths, willing the pain away. Praying I stayed conscious. After a long moment the pain subsided.

  This time when they started talking, I could understand them. I kind of liked not knowing better.

  “She’ll do good in the courtesan court,” one of the men said. He had thick red hair and green eyes. He looked human. They both did.

  “She’s pretty and feisty.” The other guy stared at me as he licked his lips. His eyes were almost as black as his hair.

  I gulped and curled in on myself, hoping they would just leave me alone.

  “What’s your name, girl?” the red head asked. He cocked his head to the side and stooped down.

  I looked away from him, staring at the floor. Maybe if I ignored them, they’d leave me alone. I wasn’t that lucky. The man’s fingers curled in my hair, wrenching my head so I had to look at him.

  “I asked you a question, girl!”

  “Max. Where...where are you taking me?” I managed to get out. I hated how weak I sounded.

  The red head looked at me with what could almost be considered pity. “The Orion palace. You’ll be assessed and either put on the slave trade or made a courtesan.”

  “I kind of hope it’s the slave trade. I’ve been saving up to afford a pretty lady. She’ll do might fine,” the dark-haired man said.

  I gagged and pushed myself away from them. There had to be a way to get out of here. Where could I go? I was on a freaking spaceship. Even if I somehow managed to get free, what could I do? I sure as hell couldn’t fly this thing.

  Or could I? I might die trying to get away but that sounded better than what they had planned for me. The white-haired man stirred, moving slightly as he tried to sit up. The two men focused their attention on him instead.

  Maybe that guy was my ticket out of here. He wasn’t with the men keeping me captive. He might be an alien but we both wanted our freedom. It was worth a shot. I just couldn’t let them beat him up again. Which was what they seemed intent on doing.

  The dark-haired guy grabbed him by his locks and yanked him to his knees. “Where’s the Nightfall?”

  The guy chuckled. “You’ll never find her.”

  The answer got him a punch to the jaw. His head snapped back, and a bluish black substance leaked from his mouth. It took me a moment to realize it was blood.

  “And Aurora? Where is she?” the man asked as he pulled his fist back to punch again.

  Blood coated his teeth as he answered, “You’ll never find her either.”

  The dark-haired guy balled his fist and readied to swing.

  “Stop!” I cried out. All eyes turned to me. I opened my mouth. Great! Now what was I supposed to do. “I saw a woman in the road. She was running away into the trees.” It was a lie. There had been no one else. They didn’t need to know that. I just needed them to believe me long enough for my friend to get the upper hand.