The Alien Pirates' Treasure (Star Pirates Book 1) Read online

  The Alien Pirates’ Treasure

  By

  Charity Wells & Harpie Alexa

  About

  They never expected to rescue a human from a terrible fate. And she never expected her life to be shanghaied by alien pirates and pregnancy…They most certainly weren’t supposed to fall in love!

  Polly always dreamed of a simple life. A job she enjoyed, and a loving family to call her own. But when she wakes in a lab, pregnant and surrounded by terrifying Viktoids, her dreams turn into nightmares. It’s obvious her captors want something from her. Time is running out and she needs to escape...but how?

  Cal’ek and Va’naar, love fighting greed and corruption one raid at a time, but soon it will all be over. Their lives are promised to another. An arranged mating contract leaves them legally bound to a greedy, self-centered female. Unhappy with their future mate, they delay their trip home for one final attack on a galactic enemy: the Viktoids. Retrieving the life saving serum for a dying colony was part of the plan, finding a pregnant female aboard was not.

  Ca’lek and Va’naar can’t admit the sweet female entices their mating heats, not when giving in to their desires would spell disaster for their entire family. But the powerful tension between the trio is rising. If only they had met sooner.

  Living with pirates is more frustrating than Polly expected. The handsome males claim they are promised to another, yet the heat in their eyes say otherwise. Why did it take an abduction to find the males her heart desires?

  The Alien Pirates’ Treasure is book one in a sweet & steamy m/f/m menage, paranormal, sci-fi romance series. Each book is standalone with guaranteed HEA’s.

  Copyright

  Text copyright © 2020 Charity M. Wells and Harpie Alexa

  Cover Artist Jesh Nimz

  Edited by Jessey Mills

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by electronic or mechanical means-except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews-without written permission.

  The characters and events in this book are purely fictitious. Any similarities to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and unintended by the author.

  This book is intended for mature, adult audiences only. It contains sexually explicit scenes, violence, and language which may be offensive to some readers. This book is strictly for those over the age of 18. All characters depicted as participating in sexual acts are 18 years of age or older.

  This E-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the authors.

  Chapter 1

  Polly

  “Don’t you touch me with that thing!” I yell at the ugly Viktoid across the room as I pull my wrist free from the last restraint. It had taken forever to wiggle out of the first one and just when I thought I could make my escape, this alien comes bolting into the room with a medical injector in one of his claws.

  I’ve never seen one of these aliens in person, only on warning notices describing how dangerous they can be. The notices never prepared me for staring at one from across an exam table.

  The insectoid is tall and wiry, his arms and legs jut stick-like from its body. Spines protrude from his back and the upper halves of all four arms. He’s covered in hard plates of dark chitin, but his head is downright monstrous. Sharp edged mandibles surround his mouth and cover a set of soft palps that drip clear ooze, which makes a wet noise as he talks. Large and wedge-shaped, he has massive, multifaceted eyes that stare out at me.

  I shiver in dread.

  Nervous sweat drips down my forehead, but it isn’t just the alien that scares me. No, it’s the six-inch needle in his right hand dripping with fluid. I can’t tear my eyes away from it. What the hell does he need that for anyways?

  Unfortunately, the only thing separating me from the alien is the lab table I woke on, and the only door to the room is right behind him. Grabbing some kind of baton from a nearby table, I swing it wildly. My enormous belly weighs me down, throwing my balance off and lends a bite of terror to the situation.

  What had they done to me? How long had I been in stasis before I woke up?

  Thoughts swirl round and round in my mind, feeding my adrenaline while I try to make sense of this nightmare. Viktoids were rare across the galaxy, mostly because they had been driven far away from populated areas due to their aggressive and violent nature.

  So how did I end up here?

  “You will put the behavior modifier down and sit on the table for further examination.” Its cold, monotone voice and calculating tone sends shivers down my spine.

  “The hell I will!” I spare a quick glance at the supposed behavior modifier, desperately looking for a way to turn it on.

  My finger fumbles over the device with no luck, so I hold my weapon defensively. He takes several large steps around the table to approach me. With my eyes focused on him, I slowly edge towards the door.

  Just a little further...

  “We must determine the viability of the product,” he states in a flat, bored tone, his eyes narrowing on my stomach.

  Is that hunger I see?

  “Product?” I gasp. Shock rolls through my entire body, causing me to shiver as I clutch my stomach with a shaky hand. “What are you talking about? A baby isn’t a product, you damn monster!”

  “You are a troublesome incubator,” the Viktoid complains, suddenly lunging for me. I dart away and throw my weapon at his head, but my belly makes me slower and more cumbersome than I would like.

  “Sorry to be such a bother,” I spat, reaching for the exit. “I’ll show myself out then.”

  Slapping my hand against the palm reader, the door hisses. It slides open and I dash out into a long, empty corridor.

  The lighting is poor, much poorer than the examination room. I stumble about while my eyes struggle to adjust. The Viktoid’s claws clack loudly against the floor behind me. His steps grow louder and more menacing with each passing moment. It feels like he’ll reach out and grab me at any second, and I’ll be helpless to fight him off in my condition.

  Voices echoing in the hall tells me I won’t be alone for long. Nearly crippled by the fear pounding in my heart, I slap door controls as I pass them, looking for a place to hide. Then, without thinking, I dart into the first unlocked room I find.

  As soon as the door slides shut behind me, I immediately regret my decision. The space is dark and foreboding. A weird, wet scent assaults my nose. It smells like metal and old garbage that’s not quite rotting yet. My belly churns, but it isn’t from the baby I unexpectedly find myself carrying.

  Nerves jangling in alarm, I step deeper into the darkness and the light flickers on. There are tubs of slimy, red meat splayed all over the room. I heave, spewing what little I had in my stomach all over the floor. A hard, clawed hand grabs my arm, yanking me away from the tubs.

  “Stupid breeder. Now I must clean up after you,” the Viktoid growls in anger, dragging me out of the strange room and back towards the lab.

  A strange alarm blares overhead. My Viktoid captor curses beneath his breath, rattling his ugly mandibles. Other Viktoids appear out of nowhere, running past us and deeper into the ship. Some of them are armed with heavy artillery while others carry smaller pistols and knives. It strikes me as odd since these vicious four armed aliens need so many damn weapons, but then again, they are the galactic alliance’s worst enemy for a reason.

  His pace quickens, making it more difficult to keep up with him. W
e pass the examination room I woke up in, and I realize he’s taking me somewhere else entirely. Fear twists into knots and just like that, the sensation to heave is back again.

  “Where are you taking me?” I ask, still struggling to find a way out of his iron-grip.

  He ignores my question and continues onward until we reach a door embedded in a thick glass panel that I can’t see through. Pressing his palm to a keypad, the door slides open with a quiet whoosh and he shoves me inside. I stumble into a small cot that takes up half of my tiny new cell.

  “You can’t keep me here,” I yell, turning as the Viktoid guard shuts the door.

  The panel flashes red, indicating that I’m locked in. Now I’m trapped like a rat. No, a guinea pig. If I don’t get out of here soon, who knows what will happen to me?

  No, us, I tell myself firmly, cradling my belly. Whatever the hell is going on here, I am not alone in this. When I make it out of here, I’m definitely reporting this to the authorities.

  A shiver ripples down my spine now that I’m not in immediate danger. This has to be some nightmare…there’s no other explanation for my predicament. People disappear all the time. Everybody knows that...but waking up heavily pregnant, trapped in some illegal medical facility? That’s undeniably surreal.

  How did the Viktoids even get anywhere near my station? They aren’t allowed in that sector, or in most of the central sectors for that matter. It was only a week ago my ex-boyfriend dumped me, or at least what feels like a week. I sure as hell wasn’t pregnant then. How long have I been here?

  A mixture of emotions fill my chest. I’ve always wanted kids, but the timing was never right, and all the men I ended up dating expressed a clear disinterest in starting a family. Now I’m pregnant, lost, and somehow, a prisoner of the Viktoids. The worst part is I don’t even know who the father is. Some luck I have, right?

  Perhaps if I close my eyes and fall asleep, I’d wake up in my own bed and life could go back to the way things were. Not that my life was so fantastic before all this, but I had a good job and earned a decent living. Being a massage therapist fulfilled me in ways I could never walk away from. It wasn’t the most glamorous job, but easing pain and suffering through therapeutic touch was something I took pride in. By helping others to feel better, I was helping make the universe a better place. At least that’s how I looked at it.

  What am I going to do now? As big as I am, I had to have been gone for months. By now, my quarters were probably long gone, my belongings no doubt sold to pay my final bills, and my job filled by another therapist. My entire life was gone. I was going to have to start over. With a newborn no less.

  Did my friends even think I was still alive? Had anyone reported me missing? Surely my closest friend Carissa would? My situation is dire, and I’m really scared, but I’m not losing hope yet. There has to be a way out of this. I just need to figure out how.

  Footsteps thunder outside the room, but thankfully, no one comes to my door.

  Running my hands over the door seals, I search for an access panel. There has to be a way to open the door from the inside. My nails catch on the edges of something and I attempt to pry it open.

  An alarm blares, startling me. The ship lurches violently and throws me off my feet. I can already feel a bruise forming where I hit the wall. Worried about hurting myself or the baby, I crawl up onto the cot and wedge myself into the corner. The ship continues to jerk and shudder several more times before everything goes silent.

  Something big is happening and there isn’t a damn thing I can do about it.

  ∞∞∞

  Ca’lek

  “What the hell is keeping them?” I snarl, pounding my fist against the top of a nearby crate.

  While some of us handle the cargo in the main bay, two of my crew are searching another level and should be back by now.

  This was supposed to be a simple raid, but it had been anything but. A lucky shot damaged our engines, and Messa was frantically working to fix it before reinforcements arrived. This mission was turning into one big mess.

  At the time, I had thought spotting the Viktoid research vessel outside the shipping lanes was a blessing in disguise, but so far it hasn’t been. Sure, it gave Va’naar and I an excuse not to return home right away and earn some extra credits, but these bastards had been more troublesome than I had expected.

  Viktoid warships were best avoided because of their firepower, but their smaller scientific spacecraft were—in general—easier targets and more likely to carry what we needed. This crew, however, had been much more aggressive than what everyone expected. But despite their efforts, the corridors were littered with bodies. Those who survived the skirmish have been rounded up and locked into an empty cabin.

  Viktoids were generally unwelcome in just about every corner of the known universe, especially after their dietary proclivities became known to the Galactic Alliance. Now, if they’re spotted anywhere near civilized territories, alliance forces retaliate by chasing them into deep space once more. Unfortunately, they were the only species able to produce Vindi serum, and until it could be replicated, the Galactic Alliance couldn’t officially go after their home planet, not when so many desperate people relied on the medication.

  Still, not many people wanted to go through the trouble of imprisoning them so they could harvest the serum themselves. With an indefinite bounty on all the Viktoids and the serum they produced, taking their ship was a highly profitable risk. Once we have disabled their ship, secured the serum, and reported the ship’s location, we’d get twice the payout. We just have to retrieve the serum first.

  It would be nice if something could go right today.

  “Ca’lek!” Va’naar’s voice rang loud and urgent through my comm unit, grating on my already frayed nerves. “You need to get up here.”

  “What is it?” I answer my secondary with irritation laced in my voice.

  “We have a problem,” he replies, sounding strained. My secondary never sounds strained. It can be downright disgusting just how laid back the male usually is, even in battle.

  “Where are you?”

  “Medical Bay 3, Level 2.”

  “Ha’dir, you and Kuma finish this, then get back to the ship and be ready to jump,” I order as I head for the lift.

  “Aye Cap’n,” Ha’dir answers, grabbing the control pad for the grav-pallet.

  Level 2 was only a few floors up from the cargo bay, which made the ride short lived. Va’naar greets me as soon as the lift opens. Whatever the problem was, it was bad. Every hair on Va’naar’s head and ruff stood on end, while his tail fluffs up in agitation.

  “What’s wrong?” I demand, observing Va’naar’s mood. He practically jitters with tension. Duresh bumps into me and hurries by with a crate in his arms.

  “Brace yourself, it’s…it’s not good.”

  Leading the way, Va’naar strides over to an opaque observation window. With a deep breath, he presses the button to clear it, revealing the room on the other side. When the glass clears, every hair on my body bristles at the scene inside.

  “Vren’s unholy balls!” I exclaim, the curse flying out of my mouth.

  The small room contains a single occupant. Sitting on a tiny bed, crammed in the corner furthest from the door, is a gravid female. A human, if I remember the species correctly. The female cradles the front of her protruding belly with one hand, while the other fidgets with her formless medical gown. Her eyes warily watch the door waiting for something to happen.

  “I thought you said we cleared the ship after the fight?”

  “I thought it was clear! I heard some noise and started checking around. When I hit the control panel by accident, the window appeared. This room must be shielded because she doesn’t register on the scanners, even from here,” Va’naar says, holding up a handheld to show me the readings. “This is clearly a breeder ship. They were hiding her.”

  “Of course they’re going to hide her!” I growl, my fists are balled so tight that my
claws dig into my palms. “Sentient experimentation is illegal in Alliance Space. Are there anymore?” I place a hand on the window and stare at the tiny, vulnerable looking human. My heart aches for the delicate female and what she must have gone through already.

  “No. I modified my scanner and checked the other cells after I found her,” he replies, cringing. “The stockroom on this floor is full. It appears they've already harvested the rest.”

  “Vile, skrut licking insects! Get this damn door open. We’re not leaving her in this shithole.”

  Attaching his handheld to the door controls, he sets it to hack the lock. A few tense minutes pass while the ship’s systems fight the invasive tech. Finally, the handheld beeps, turns green, and the locks disengage. Silently, the door slides open and the small female’s wide green eyes focus on us. She tenses, bringing both hands over her belly and hisses through her teeth.

  I didn’t even know humans hissed. Intriguing...

  “Easy little one, we just want to help,” Va’naar coos, holding his hands palms up in a non-threatening gesture.

  “You stay back,” she snaps. “I’m not letting anyone else touch me.”

  Shock and disgust tear at my heart. What had they done to this helpless, frightened female? Rage and a strange, overwhelming need to protect her sweeps over me. Va’naar glances at me from the side, looking just as shocked and angry as I feel.

  “It’s not us little one. This is a Viktoid ship, do we look Viktoid?” he asks gently.

  Her tense posture relaxes a tiny fraction while she studies us. “No. I...I guess not, but that doesn’t explain why you’re here.”

  “This ship strayed a little too far from the normal travel lanes. We happen to be opportunists,” Va’naar says, grinning.

  As my secondary, Va’naar is softer and more nurturing than I, which is why I haven’t stepped in, but I find myself resisting the urge to smack him for his flippancy.

  “You mean pirates,” she says with a snort, her lips curl upward into a soft smile.