Orc’s Bait

  A Monster Romance

  Crucis Orc Trilogy

  Eden Ember

  Copyright © 2023 by Eden Ember

  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

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  About Eden Ember

  One

  Sage

  One second I’m at the top of the highest peak in New Mexico camping with my friends, the next I’m waking up in a stasis pod. Oh, shit! I’m on a starship with an android telling me they are taking good care of me.

  My hands push on the clear top of the pod. The android, which looks more like a robot,, pushes a few buttons on the side and the panel lifts. I sit up dizzily. The room spins. All around me lights flash from panels. The enclosed space has a window where the scene is nothing but white streaks against a black backdrop.

  “You are on the Celestial Capture, an AI-run ship. We picked you up from Earth and we have just entered the Tarka star system.”

  “Wait, what?” Fuzzy thoughts cloud my memory. Robot gives me a drink and I take it automatically and drink. Water. Huh. Then it comes into focus. I was camping with my friends. It’s spring break, and we took off from campus to camp in the high mountains of New Mexico. The sky was amazingly clear, stars abound and streaks. Yes, streaks. We shrieked, wondering if it were shooting stars or a downed satellite careening to earth. I look at the robot and shake my head.

  “You grabbed me from earth? Seriously? Am I on Hidden Camera or something?”

  “No. You are on Celestial Capture.”

  “Why did you grab me? I don’t understand.”

  “We are a courier service for Tarka. It’s our job. We come to Earth and take a being of certain characteristics. You met the description, so we took you.”

  I rub my head. It’s still not sinking in. I’m actually on a starship. Surely this is a big joke my friends are playing. What about my parents, my sister and my friends? “Did you take anyone else?”

  “No. They paid for the capture of one female.”

  “Who did?”

  “Someone on Crucis. We have coordinates to drop you there. Don’t worry, it’s a safe landing.”

  My head shakes. I don’t understand. “Where is Crucis? Who wanted me there?”

  “Crucis is a moon of Tetri. And whoever paid for the transport service is there. I have the exact coordinates to drop you.”

  I hop out of the pod, my feet touching the cold floor. The place is submerged in ambient lighting and the slight hum coming from the engines. Every so often, a small beep sounds, a panel on the wall showing something with yellow, green and red. The indicator points to the green. It smells of heated metal, baked bread, and an odd fragrance I can’t quite put my finger on. Space ship cleaner, perhaps?

  “Touch nothing on the controls. We will have you there soon. Walk around so the blood flow will return. And walk over here, you have food to eat.”

  “Am I really not on Earth?” I still can’t believe this. It has to be some sort of joke. When they drop me off, I’ll land and my friends will jump out and they’ll have a good laugh. I smile at the robot.

  “You are not. We are now in Tarka airspace. Soon, we’ll come out of hyper-speed and you’ll see. But now, eat.”

  The food on the small counter is in a packet. It’s mushy and says Human Savory. “Human savory? Um, I’m not a cannibal.”

  The robot turns the packet to show me the ingredients. “MRE made of beef and gravy and root vegetables.”

  I slurp down the packet, which ironically tasted decent, and drink more water. I’ll play along with this robot.

  “Please dress in this. You may need it on the surface of Crucis. They want you to survive.” It hands me a bag with an outfit and boots.

  I laugh. “This is really taking things far.”

  “Dress and then sit. We’re about to pull out of hyper-speed.”

  I go into what is a makeshift restroom with a squatty metal toilet and a tiny sink. The outfit is fit for a dive into outback country. I play along. The belt holds me on the seat as the Celestial Capture lurches out of FTL. The stars come into view and the robot turns to me.

  “You may unbelt. We’ll be in Crucis space momentarily.”

  I unbelt and walk to the window spanning the front of the ship. The scene before me catches my breath. A giggle escapes. “This is Tarka, huh? All these planets and moons are breathtaking?”

  “Yes. There is Tetri and we’ll fly around and see her moon, Crucis.”

  Sure enough, we fly around and there’s the moon, a deep green filled with jungles. Someone really made a convincing backdrop. Almost believable.

  “Here, we harness you.”

  I laugh holding out my hands. “It’s okay. Ya got me. I’m done!” I sit back on the seat, laughing.

  “You need this or you could die when we deliver you.” The robot insists on putting the parachute.

  “Okay. We want a good show.” I put it on and laugh.

  The ship flies over Crucis. It’s very convincing, I’m sure everyone is out there waiting for me. Should I act shocked? Should I laugh? I’ll laugh, because I’m already laughing.

  “Come. When you step out, count to five and release the parachute. You should land safely.”

  I nod and wink at the robot. It probably has a camera on it. The door slowly opens and the hot air and wind take me by surprise. In New Mexico, it was cool. But this air is humid. Below me, odd-looking trees sway in the wind. Off in the distance, the planet forms a quarter of the sky along with two other moons. Maybe this is some sort of arena to make it appear like a jungle complete with the hot humid air.

  Just before I step off, something runs through the jungle, a beast-looking thing. And something else, a green-skinned something, looks up at me. I’m not sure what I’m looking at and suddenly, I don’t want to do this.

  I back away and shake my head. “No, I’ve changed my mind. Enough, guys! This is a hoot, I’m ready to get back to life.”

  “Go.” The robot shoves, and I careen from the small ship.

  “Oh, shoot! Wait!” Count. What number should I be at by now? Three. Four. Five. I pull the cord and the parachute balloons, pulling me upward before I slowly descend to the jungle below.

  Two

  Xutag

  “Mother was right.” The small transporter hovers above me in the jungle, a package ejects from its door, careening down from the sky. The parachute blooms and slows the crash, the package falls silently to the ground.

  “Where am I?” the creature screams. Oh! An intelligent creature. My implant picked up on their voice. “Guys, it’s not funny anymore.”

  To the west, the jungle stirs. Oscith rumble, seeing their package delivered. I take off in the direction to beat them to it. Poor creature. If the oscith beat me, it will be over for them.

  A tangled mess of vines secures the creature. It thrashes around, screaming, yelling things I know nothing about. Words that make little sense. I step to her.

  “Hey, calm down, you’ll make it worse.”

  It stops thrashing and big copper eyes stare at me. A female, her pheromones slam into my body, my nose picking up on her raw feminine notes. Ripe, edgy, she’s terrified. Fear mingles with the angst to untangle the vines. Oscith close in toward my back. I need to loosen her and get her out of here before they fully surround us.

  “Calm.” I order, but she cowers back, her head shaking.

  “No. Get back. Monster, get back.” Her eyes fill with tears. “Where the fuck am I? Where are my friends? This is no longer funny.”

  “I am an orc. Some may refer to me as a monster, I look scary, but I’m not here to hurt you. I’m here to help you, so please calm down.”

  “You speak intelligently.”

  I chuckle. “As do you, an alien from another world, but I’ve seen your kind on Crucis before.”

  My long machete tears through the vines, carefully missing her delicate skin. When she realizes I’m trying to free her, she stops struggling. Behind me, the ground resounds with footfalls, oscith coming to us.

  The vines fall to the ground and she’s free. Instead of remaining calm, she bolts in the direction of the oscith. I stomp after her and grab her by her frail waist and run, clearing out of the oscith path.

  “Stop! Put me down, you beast. You can’t have me. Please. I just want to go back home. Where are my friends?” She pounds at my back as I have her tucked under my arm, her legs and feet flailing in the front of me and her hands beating the back of me. It doesn’t hinder my movement, she’s so slight.

  “Please, calm. I’m saving you from the actual monsters.” I keep running, the oscith are in purs uit.

  “No! Stop! Let me down, you brute.”

  I pause and turn in time to give her a glimpse of the oscith chasing us. They bare their teeth, growling with slobber spraying. Her eyes grow wide and she screams in utter terror.

  “Thought so.” I run, easily outrunning our foes.

  My home comes into view, carved from the mountainside, a place the oscith don’t dare to tread. When I reach my ground, I slow and put her down.

  “Run and they’ll have you for dinner. Stick with me, I won’t hurt you.” Turning back, I head to the edge of my ledge and growl at the oscith.

  They stop and still snarl at me. They back away. I’ve claimed this area as my home, completely making it an orc’s domain.

  “What is this?” She edges over to the wall of the bluff and slides down, her knees coming up. She hugs herself, clearly frightened.

  “First, introduction. I’m Xutag. Formerly Lord of Crucis. Exiled from the royal quarters because I refused to bind to Queen Sharn’s choice of a mate for me.” I say the words and look the creature in the eyes. She’s soft and slight, and she’s mine. I know it. The Creator handed her to me. The oscith may have sent for her, but she’s mine, falling into my hands. Now I understand Cagan and Arik. Humans. This creature is a human.

  “I’m Sage. I’m so confused. Is this not a big joke? Because if it is, it’s gone too far. I’ll sue you. I don’t like this. Please, stop.” She cries and my heart wrenches. The urge to wrap my arms around her and protect her grows strong.

  She shrinks back. “Please, I won’t hurt you. I saved you from the oscith. I want to explain where you are.”

  She relaxes and nods. “Okay. Explain.” Her legs come down and her teary eyes lock with mine as I sit close, but not too close.

  “You are on Crucis. A moon of Tetri.” I point to the sky at the mother planet high and in full glory. “This is the Tarka system. I’m sure the oscith had you captured from wherever. You are human?”

  Her eyes widened. “Yes. Surprise. You knew that. Where’s the camera crew? I’m tired of this joke. I will sue you.”

  My brow furrows. My eyes peer around looking for the obvious, but I find nothing. My heart hammers in my chest as if I expect my friends to jump out and yell surprise! “There’s no camera crew. This isn’t a joke. I’m not sure what sue means. Tell me what happened to you.”

  She laughs and throws up her hands. Her eyes focus on some memory. “I was camping with my friends in New Mexico. We were on the highest mountain there, in a clearing stargazing. We kept seeing streaks and flashes, you know, thinking they were just shooting stars. Then we thought maybe a satellite was crashing to the ground. We were lying there staring up when a light blinded me. Next I wake up in a stasis pod with a robot tending me.” Her hand goes to her ear and she jumps. “What’s this?” Her fingers move over the implant just behind her ear.

  I show her mine. “It’s an implant that helps you understand aliens. I have one too. Since humans are here, we added your language to it.”

  “Other humans are here? Seriously? Please, take me to them!”

  Three

  Sage

  He laughs. “Maybe someday. They are clear on the other side of the moon. I’m exiled, and they sent me out here.” He waves his hand to the surroundings.

  My head shakes. “Anyway, the robot tells me I’m in Tarka and they’ll drop me on Crucis. It seems someone from here ordered my capture on Earth and has dropped me here. Who would want to do such a thing?”

  “I have a few guesses. The oscith sent for aliens. They love the sport of prey. It’s a game to them. They have creatures dropped who run from them, giving them chase. Most of the time it’s an animal from one of the other Tarka planets. Maybe they found a way to Earth to capture you. They captured Wren on Daerr.”

  “What’s Daerr?” I’m pretty damn near panicking. This whole thing is too surreal.

  “Daerr is a moon of Pazu. They have vampires. Crucis has orcs.”

  “Come again?” My mind can’t keep up. First, this orc seems real. He’s taller than humans, green, and muscled. My goodness, the muscles, and he’s packing a load there. Yeah, I looked there. Curious. And he’s intent upon helping me. A kindness exudes from him. I’m still not convinced I’m like Truman in some sort of bubble pretending I’m living on some alien landscape. It seems real, but it’s surreal. This can’t be, can it?

  “Tarka has many inhabitable moons and planets. Eighteen, in fact. When I was a child, we traveled to different places. All the aliens have their own names and habitats.”

  “Vampires?” I nod remembering Twilight. “Do they really suck blood?” A shiver runs through my body.

  “They do. But they have a human colony to produce the blood they need. They overpopulated years ago and ran out of the animals that provided them with nourishment. One of the wealthy families there, the Ardeleans, traveled the system looking for a suitable replacement. They found it on Earth. They live in a colony and give blood every other month.” He shrugs. “It seems to work. Wren was there.”

  “Okay, Wren is a human here?”

  “Yes, she’s bound to my brother, Cagan. They have a child, Ragan.”

  “Wait, a minute. What? You’re telling me your brother, an orc, is bound to her. How?”

  He thinks for a moment. “I think they called it marriage. Yeah, that’s it. We call it binding here.”

  “Damn.” I whistle. Imagine that! A human and an orc produced a baby.

  “And my brother Arik also has a human mate. They have a daughter.”

  “I definitely want to meet them.” Now I’m looking at Xutag in a much different light.

  “Someday. We are far from them. And the oscith, I suspect, sent for you. They will want you. It sounds like they paid a transporter to travel through the wormholes to the Sol Terra system.”

  “Sol Terra? That’s what you call my system?”

  He laughs. “What do you call it?”

  I shrug. “Solar system. I don’t know. They sometimes refer to Earth as Terra. Weird. I suppose we need an official name. Sol Terra. Wow.”

  “Are you hungry?” He stands and heads into the cave.

  “Hungry? Actually, I ate just before the robot shoved me from the ship. Damn. I can’t believe I parachuted from a starship. And I’m deathly afraid of heights.” I crawl to the edge of the ledge and shutter. Below, the oscith are circling. They look up at me and snarl, showing their sharp teeth. I jump back quickly.

  “And those things want to eat me?”

  “Torture you first, then eat you. I only hope they don’t get so desperate they climb up here. Like you, they aren’t fond of heights.”

  “Ugh. That’s not comforting.” My arms fold around my chest.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.” He speaks as if it’s a foregone conclusion.

  “Why? I mean, I appreciate it. But why are you so keen on helping me?”

  He turns to me and blinks. “Because fate dropped you on my path. It’s my job to protect you now.”

  “Fate? Weird. I’m not sure I believe in fate.” I rub my arms. It’s hot, but I’m chilled at the same time.

  He smiles and steps to me. “I do. Fate is everything. It’s why I’m exiled. It’s why you are here now.”

  Interesting thought. “For you. What exactly do you plan to do with me?” I mean, the thought of seeing what’s behind his well-packed leather pants certainly intrigues me. But will he try something against my will?

  “If you were an orc female, I would claim you.”

  My eyes grow wide. I tremble from the thought, both with curiosity and fear. “You want to claim me?”

  He laughs, a deep rumble coming from his belly. His face lights up making him so appealing. “I won’t do that unless you want me to.” A brow cocks.

  Oh, wow. My belly warms at the thought of it. He’s not bad at all. And two humans have mated with orcs. Orcs!

 

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