Total pages in book: 34
Estimated words: 32156 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 161(@200wpm)___ 129(@250wpm)___ 107(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32156 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 161(@200wpm)___ 129(@250wpm)___ 107(@300wpm)
Gathred’s life as a killing machine suited him. Waking up after an explosion with no memory, no past and no future, he does as his clan orders. But when the clan leader raises his sword at the wild, blonde daughter of their human rival, his loyalty changes hands. The tiny human’s touch makes him remember things better left behind.
Aleena longs for the simple times before the orcs returned. Now, she’s her father’s right hand as he lords over the largest illegal orc street drug ring in the occupied territory. When they are attacked, she’s trapped with the enemy and she’s down for the fight. Only, this orc is different with white eyes and a strange power that makes her want to kneel at his feet. He is her captor, her enemy but her heart is soon caught in the crossfire.
She becomes his salvation, but is he her doom? This mighty, orc knows what he wants, and nothing will stop him from claiming his mate. And binding her to him in a way that cannot be undone.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
Chapter
One
Aleena
Five years ago, the idea of living in a compound with ten-foot cinder-block walls topped with supermax prison style razor wire never crossed my mind.
Yet, here I am. Funny what one little orc invasion will do to your life.
“It’s your move.” My younger sister smirks from across the game table in her bedroom where we play chess every morning after breakfast. As most days, today’s morning meal was bacon and eggs Benedict. In that order; six slices of bacon, one egg Benedict style. Katya’s favorite.
My father always makes sure what brings her joy, he provides. As best he can in this new world, anyway.
I couldn’t eat. Breakfast is never my favorite meal but this morning, swallowing anything felt impossible. It’s far from ideal. The last few months, my blood sugar has been wonky and I’ve even passed out a couple times when I didn’t eat.
I haven’t told my father. He doesn’t need more worry and he counts on me to be strong. And, strong I will be.
The chess board is nearly full as this particular chess game of ours is only two days old, Katya and I are equally matched, and we’re both painfully competitive. And slow. Over analyzing every move ad nauseam.
“I’m getting to it!” I snap with that tone only sisters can understand. “I’m thinking.”
Katya rolls her eerie golden-green eyes, the way Mom used to do when Dad would tell his horrible jokes. Truth is, I see my mother in Katya more and more lately and it always makes my heart ache. My chest clenches, wondering how our lives would be different if Mom had lived through those first crazy months of battles and territory grabs when the orcs returned.
My parents were hard working. They emigrated from Bulgaria with their families, who were sworn enemies, when my father was five and my mother was an infant.
Over the years, the families battled it out for power in the streets of New York over territory for food carts and Taxi service routes.
Eventually, Mom and Dad fell in love. It was forbidden, but love conquers and all that. When I came along, the families dropped all their petty nonsense, everyone relocated to Mt. Baker, Oregon, of all places. It was a map, a blindfold and a finger that placed the families in the top northwest corner of the US, but from there, life was good. Better than good. We lost all our grandparents over the years to nothing but a life lived with too much nicotine, vodka and other unhealthy lifestyle habits but my memories of them are fond.
“Do you ever think about getting married?” Katya asks, turning toward the window where the treetops are budding into the spring leaves.
It reminds me of one of the many things my father has taught me. He always said that trees actually bud before winter settles in. The buds must survive the long cold months, then at spring’s warmth, they are ready to burst forth to live again.
I look from the board to Katya, who is fussing with the gold charm bracelet on her wrist that belonged to Mom. I wait for a beat in silence, just looking at her, then she turns back and finishes her thought.
“I just finished reading Pride and Prejudice. I bet people still get married if they aren’t in occupied land. Here in the badlands, I can’t imagine anyone gets married anymore.”
Her eyes drift to mine, seeking the answer I can’t give. I shift my pawn to E6 as her gaze flicks to the board, then toward the swaying branches of the tree. Eight sets of leaded glass windows adorn the walls in her room, all framed with heavy velvet and tapestry drapes. Her massive four-poster king sized bed centers the room. There’s a sitting area, a small gaming nook and a full wall of bookcases. And there’s still enough space for a volleyball court at the other end. This room alone is bigger than our entire house in the before time.
Our father always preaches that opportunity sometimes comes wrapped in an ugly package, but it’s opportunity, nonetheless.
The orcs return was his opportunity, in a way. He went from a low-level chemist at a USDA facility working on fertilizers and GMO research, to being the Walter White of the post-orc invasion. I remember those first months in vivid color and surround sound. Mammoth orcs invading our neighborhood, wielding swords and axes like we were caught in some nightmare video game. They burned houses, destroying whatever and whoever stepped into their path.
And that included our mother. After we abandoned our home, we lived in our van. One morning, my mother tried to help a young man who was being pummeled by a gang of orcs. Maybe the right thing to do, but what happened to her was very wrong.
My father grieved the loss just as I did, just as Katya did. But in a matter of months, he’d recreated himself. He provided a new life for us in the only way he knew how.