Warrior's Devotion (Warriors of Vor Book 2)

Warrior’s
Devotion

Warriors
of Vor

Tehya
Titan

Warrior’s Devotion

Abigail Denton left home to start
a new life, only to have it ripped away in a brutal attack. But second chances
sometimes come in the most unexpected ways. Taken from Earth, Abby is brought
to a new world to become the mate to an alien warrior, however, her past has
left her hesitant to trust any male…

Larger and stronger than most other
warriors on Vor, Prince Dracor Krell is the perfect Captain of the Guard, but
his size makes him less desirable as any female’s companion. He has given up hope
at finding happiness, but all of that changes the moment he meets his mate, Abby.
Now, all he has to do is prove to her that a warrior’s devotion can lead to a
love that will last them a lifetime.

WARRIOR’S
DEVOTION

Copyright
© 2015 by Tehya Titan

First
E-book Publication: October 2015

Kindle
Edition

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This
literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without
express written permission.

All characters and events in
this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is
strictly coincidental. It is fiction so facts and events may not be accurate
except to the current world the book takes place in.

DEDICATION

To all the readers who love the
Warriors of Vor as much as I do…

PROLOGUE

I’m going to die tonight…

Abigail Denton had known it would end this way. Maybe she
always had. The heavy fall of rain masked the sound of her footsteps as she blindly
ran down the dirty alleyways of New York City. No, running wasn’t accurate. She
was moving more at a frantic shuffle at this point.

She’d lost too much blood to go any faster now.

Making her way through the dark maze, she tried to find an
opening onto the street but couldn’t see more than a few inches in front of her
face. Giving up, she hid behind a large dumpster and braced a hand on the dirty
brick wall to catch her breath for a moment as she struggled to stay upright. If
she couldn’t see through the deluge of water falling from the sky, she hoped
like hell the man chasing her couldn’t either. At least for long enough to give
her a few seconds to rest before she went for help.

The pain in her abdomen had faded slightly, but she knew
that wasn’t a good thing. Pulling the hand away from where she had been holding
it against her stomach, she looked down to see dark-red blood coating her skin.
The rain washed away most of it, but Abby knew by the amount she’d lost she
wouldn’t make it if she didn’t get to a hospital soon.

She tried to move from her position behind the dumpster,
but her legs just wouldn’t cooperate. A few seconds later, she found herself
sitting on the ground, unsure how she’d gotten there. Abby’s dark hair fell
over her face like a waterfall, and she pushed the chestnut curls back absently
to clear her line of sight, but her vision remained blurry. Her head felt
heavy, almost like it was going to fall off her shoulders if she tried to move
again.

No, she couldn’t get up, even though she wanted to.

Abby was done.

Fuck it, she thought. If she was going to die, then at
least the bastard she’d married would finally pay for what he’d done to her.

The last two years of Abby’s life had been one long
nightmare, starting with the night her parents had been killed by a drunk
driver in a horrible car accident. Their loss had been absolutely devastating
for her. Because they had no other family, it had always been the three of them
her entire life, and in one night, she was completely alone in the world.

Abby had grown up in Atlanta, and when she decided to
become a pastry chef, her parents had been completely supportive of her
following her dream. She’d gone to culinary school, then she’d been lucky to
train under a talented executive pastry chef at a well-known restaurant in the
heart of the city.

She’d just gotten a new job as the head pastry chef in
another restaurant when two cops had showed up on her doorstep one night. Both
men had stayed with her when she’d fallen apart after they’d given her the news
of her parents’ death, but Officer Charlie Kessler had taken special interest
in her in the weeks that followed. He’d called, showed up at the restaurant she
worked at to check up on her, and even came to her apartment to help her deal
with the details of her parents’ funeral.

Perhaps it was due to her grief, or the simple fact that he’d
been there for her when she’d needed someone, but Abby had found herself
engaged to Charlie before she really realized what had happened. She’d dated in
the past, but things had never gotten serious with any of the men she’d spent
time with. She’d always been more focused on her career than having a
relationship. So, when she’d married Charlie in a small ceremony several months
after she’d buried her parents, her friends had all worried about her.

And they had been right to worry.

Charlie had been wonderful while he’d been courting Abby.
He’d been sweet, caring and totally attentive to her every need. However, all
of that changed the moment they had gotten married. He became extremely
critical about everything she did, making subtle comments about her weight and
how tall she was until it started to fray her self confidence. He also wanted
to know exactly where she was every second of the day, so much so, that she
felt like she was living with a warden. At first, she had put up with it, but
as time went by, it annoyed her to the point she had to say something.

That was the first time he’d hit her.

Abby remembered that night so clearly. She had gotten home
late from work after a big party at the restaurant. Charlie had been drunk by
the time she’d arrived, and he was furious that she hadn’t been answering his
text messages. He had raged at her, saying she was his wife and that she needed
to respect him. When she told him he needed to stop bothering her at work, she
hadn’t been prepared when his hand had lashed out.

The backhand hadn’t hurt as much as it had shocked her. He’d
been immediately contrite, but she hadn’t been willing to forgive him so
easily. She’d never been struck before, and it unnerved her. He kept
apologizing, but Abby had warned him that if he ever did it again, she would
leave.

Two months went by, and their relationship had been like it
had before they’d gotten married. Charlie was on his best behavior until they
attended a New Year’s Eve party together. He’d gotten drunk and claimed that
she was flirting with the other men at the party. When she denied it, he had
completely lost control, hitting and kicking her until she was covered with
bruises and could barely move.

Abby hadn’t been fucking around when she had warned him she
would leave him. She waited until he’d passed out, then she went to the
hospital to get her injuries treated. The nurse had called the police when Abby
had asked, but the cops that had showed up weren’t exactly sympathetic since
they were friends with Charlie.

Not willing to put up with their bullshit, Abby had driven
to another precinct in the city to report what had happened. The new cops had
taken one look at her and made it clear they had no problem going after another
police officer after what he’d done to her. She’d waited at the police station
while they went to arrest her husband, then they had escorted her home to collect
her things.

Abby knew better than to expect Charlie to be held for
long, so she took what she wanted and left their home behind. The following
morning, she met with a divorce attorney. Her co-workers had been horrified by
her bruised and battered appearance, and her boss helped her move into a small
apartment he owned near the restaurant where she worked.

Despite being charged with assault and battery, Charlie had
enough connections to get off without jail time. Infuriated by the injustice,
Abby’s attorney wanted to go after him during the divorce, but she just wanted
it done quickly and quietly. Abby hadn’t been shocked when Charlie had tried to
fight it, but the evidence of her injuries were enough to get her divorce
granted quickly.

She had thought she’d be free of Charlie after the divorce
was final, but she’d been very wrong. Charlie’s friends seemed to give her
problems whenever she ran into any of them, and worse, Charlie had begun
stalking her. A part of her didn’t understand why. She was pretty enough with
her bright hazel eyes, long, dark, curly hair, and delicate features, but she
was nothing to incite such obsession from anyone.

Then again, Charlie’s behavior actually had very little to
do with her. It was all about power and his need to control her. Charlie’s ego
had taken a huge blow when she’d left him, and she realized that his need to
get her back had more to do with saving face than any real desire for her.

She could never prove anything Charlie did since he always
seemed to have an alibi, but he made it clear he wasn’t done with her yet, and
that she would pay for leaving him. The restraining order she’d gotten didn’t
help one bit. He called her all the time, and showed up when she was coming
home from work. When she refused to speak to him, her car tires had been
slashed and when her boss was beaten up after work one night, Abby was sure it
was Charlie who had done it.

Wanting to leave everything behind, Abby made the decision
to leave Atlanta. She packed her bags and moved to New York City, ready to begin
a new life away from Charlie…but he had followed her.

Abby had just gotten settled in the city with a new job and
a tiny studio apartment she was proud to call her own. When she’d left work
tonight, she’d been happy, feeling hopeful for the future regardless of the
rain that blanketed the city. Her lighthearted mood changed instantly when
Charlie slid out of the shadows, jerking her into a darkened alley.

She’d tried to scream, but the people hurrying down the
street couldn’t hear her over the sound of traffic, and their umbrellas blocked
their view of her struggling against Charlie’s hold on her as he pulled her
deeper into the dark, away from safety.

It was easy to see that Charlie was drunk and high on his
power over her as he’d shoved her against the alley wall. He’d demanded she go
home with him, and when she’d told him no, he’d gone crazy. He’d said if he
couldn’t have her, no one could. She hadn’t understood what he’d meant until
she’d felt the shock of pain as the knife he held slid into her…once, twice,
three times.

The loud honking of a taxi distracted Charlie for a few
seconds, long enough for her to break away from him. Abby had run, but she’d
been disoriented, going deeper into the maze of alleyways instead of out toward
the street.

Now, she was stuck in this alley, slowly bleeding to death.
At least she’d get the last laugh. Abby had told her new boss about Charlie,
but that wasn’t all. On the day she’d arrived in New York, she had gone to the
police department and spoke to a female detective about what had happened back
in Atlanta. Abby had given the detective a copy of the file she had, containing
the police report, restraining order, divorce decree and the photographs taken
after Charlie had beaten her.

The detective had been disgusted by what Charlie had done,
but she wasn’t sure what Abby wanted her to do with the file. Some might have
thought it was fatalistic of her, but Abby wanted the detective to know exactly
who was to blame in case anything happened to her.

She let out a snort of laughter. Yeah, the detective would
make Charlie pay for what he’d done, all right. Too bad she had to die in order
to make it happen. The weight of her wet hair made it impossible for Abby to
lift her head, so when someone came to a halt in front of her, she didn’t even
bother to look up. Closing her eyes, she sighed.

“You may have killed me, you bastard, but I’ll make sure
you pay for it.”

Silence met her statement. Lifting her lashes, she glanced
in front of her and blinked. Abby had been prepared to see Charlie’s triumphant
grin as he squatted down in front of her, but the man in front of her wasn’t
her ex-husband.

Actually, the man wasn’t a man at all.

Bending down in front of her was a being shaped like a man,
only it seemed to be made of water or some other type of liquid that shimmered
within the confines of its form. The being seemed to be absorbing the rain that
touched its skin, its body rippling as it drew the water into itself.

Okay, so she was losing her mind.

Or maybe she was already dead and this was just her sucky
introduction into the afterlife. If that was the case, then she was screwed. Abby
tried to sit up, but the sharp, stabbing pain in her abdomen made her freeze.
Nope, not dead yet, although she would be soon.

Take my hand and come with me if you want to live…

The voice echoed in her mind, and she watched as the being
held out its hand to her. She blinked the water out of her eyes and mentally
shrugged. If this was a hallucination, then she really was more creative than
she’d always given herself credit for. And if this was real, she had nothing to
lose.

Reaching out, she placed her hand in his, then the world
went black.