Warrior's Devotion (Warriors of Vor Book 2) (2 page)

CHAPTER
ONE

Abby Denton felt like she was
trapped in a very strange dream.

She sat at one of the long
tables in the great hall of a damn castle on another freaking planet where
flying demon-like creatures ruled.

Talk about weird.

For four days, she’d been stuck
in a bedchamber upstairs, isolated and alone. No matter the lavish furnishings,
it had still been a cage of sorts. Of course, it was a vast improvement from
the cell she’d woken up in five days ago.

The prison made up of sapphire-blue
wooden boards and a gray dirt floor had been a hard introduction to the alien
planet. Her wounds had been completely healed, but her hands had been bound by
flexible, black steel bands. Fear had gripped her, and before she’d understood
what the hell was going on, she’d been taken out of her cell by a huge alien
warrior and put on display with other humans in the center of a coliseum.

The coliseum had been full of
male aliens that looked like golden-skinned barbarian warriors from a time long
past. All of them had long, straight black hair and strange eyes, with amber
sclera and large, oval-shaped black irises. Their noses had three ridges on the
bridge, and there were dark stripes on their foreheads and the sides of their
faces that trailed down their necks to their muscular torsos.

Abby had been nervous as she’d
stood on the platform. She wasn’t sure why they were on that stage, but since she’d
been dressed in a cream colored dress that had barely covered her, she was sure
she wouldn’t like the reason for it. Then another alien had entered the
coliseum and shifted into a black demon.

After that, she’d been freaking
terrified.

The demon had chased after one
of the human women. Abby had watched as she’d tried to run, but the demon had
caught her and carried her off to the castle in the distance. Abby had thought
they were all dead at that point, but then they had been led to a carriage
pulled by animals that looked like large, black lions with huge manes.

All of the humans had been
taken to the castle and put into separate rooms where they were kept for the
next few days. A warrior had brought Abby food and drinks several times a day,
but she had gotten tired of pacing the room and wanted to be out in the fresh
air, even if the sky on this planet was a freaky lavender and the sun was blue.

At night, Abby stared up at the
two dark amethyst-colored moons and thought back to what had happened back on
Earth. She hoped like hell Charlie would pay for what he’d done to her, even if
they couldn’t find her body. She just wanted to make sure that he would never
hurt anyone ever again.

She wondered what the future
had in store for her here on the new planet, but she wouldn’t get any answers about
her current situation locked away in the bedchamber. So, when a warrior arrived
that morning to tell her she was being allowed downstairs, she had jumped at
the chance. But now that she was sitting at the table with four other humans,
she wasn’t sure if she would have been better off hiding in her room upstairs.

The women had all been given
long gowns to wear, and Abby felt like a goddess in the silky ivory material.
They looked like angels, in stark contrast to the Vor demons, and the
comparison made Abby extremely uncomfortable, though it seemed fitting somehow.
 

She sniffed at the large goblet
she held. “What is this again?”

“They call it firebrew,” a
woman named Janelle Joyce said as she picked up the jug from the center of the
table and refilled her goblet. “It’s got a nice kick to it.”

Janelle was a beautiful blonde
with bright blue eyes who Abby instantly recognized. She was a rising star on
the pop charts. Janelle might have been as tall as Abby, but she definitely
wasn’t as curvy as she was. In fact, Abby felt a wave of awkwardness sweep
through her as she glanced at the other women at the table and noticed that she
was the biggest one of the group.

Roxanne “Rox” Arroyo was a
striking woman with sharp, amber eyes that missed little. Her short brown hair
should have made her look less feminine, but instead it only seemed to
highlight her almost flawless features. Unlike the other humans, Grace Larkin
had hair as black as the Vor, but her eyes were a light-gray that almost made
them look silver in the light. She was so petite she reminded Abby of a little
fairy. Sitting next to her, Abby felt like an absolute giant.

Well, it was good to know that
her own personal neurosis made the trip with her to the new planet. Abby took a
moment to scold herself. She was on an alien world with giants for Christ’s
sake. Compared to the Vor warriors, she was tiny. She’d just have to remind
herself of that…a lot. And maybe remember not to sit next to Grace again.

Stop it and focus!

To distract herself, Abby took
a sip of her drink and coughed. “It’s strong.”

“Yeah, this stuff is lethal, but
I kind of like it.” Rox drained her goblet.

“It’s their only version of
alcohol, so be careful,” Tex said before sipping from his own drink. Rick “Tex”
Calhoun was the lone man that had been taken from Earth. He seemed more
resigned than anything, but there was something about him that told Abby he was
on guard no matter how relaxed he looked. He was good looking, with shorn brown
hair and dark-blue eyes, but he seemed almost small in stature when compared to
the giant alien males.

Abby took a quick glance around
the room and saw there was a Vor warrior standing at each exit even though they
allowed the humans to meet together. Something had been done to them during the
flight to the new planet that allowed Abby and the other humans to understand
and speak the Vor language, but she switched to English as she asked, “Do any
of you know why we’re here?”

“We’re here to become mates to
the Vor,” Tex replied.

Janelle let out a delicate snort.
“If one of those demon bastards thinks he’s going to mate me, he better think
again.”

“So, the other women who were
taken aren’t dead?” The casual way Rox asked the question had Abby studying her
closely. It was as if the woman was used to death, enough for her to be so
unconcerned about it.

“No, they were claimed as mates.
According to one of the guards, the Vor’s race is dying out, and those Wraiths
brought us here because we’re destined to become a mate to one of them,” Tex
explained.

 “Are we even compatible with
these creatures?” Janelle asked. “You saw what happened in the coliseum. That
man turned into a freaking demon and bit that woman before he flew off with her!”

“That was my friend, Jordan. She’s
now the mate of the King of this planet. They’ve been locked away in their bedchamber
for the last few days…but I don’t really want to think about that.”

“Well, isn’t that special,”
Janelle said bitterly. “Are you telling us we’re waiting here to become a sex
slave to one of those things?”

Tex shook his head. “The Vor
look for their mate their entire life. According to one of the guards, once a
Vor takes a mate, he or she becomes the most important person in their lives.
They become completely devoted to them, doing everything they can to make them
happy. It’s why I stopped trying to break out of my room to find my loot.”

“Can we really trust their word
that the others are really okay?” Grace asked.

“What reason would they have to
lie? Let’s be honest. They could have killed us all if that’s what they wanted.
Why bring us here just to get rid of us?”

Grace nodded. “You do have a
point.”

“Total devotion doesn’t sound
too bad,” Abby murmured.

Rox sighed. “Still, I’m not too
keen about being a fucking brood mare for an alien race I just found out about,
no matter how hot they are.”

“Stop that,” Tex grumbled. “I
don’t wanna hear this shit.”

“Hello, humans!”

The group looked up as one of
the Vor warriors entered the great hall. The guard standing in front of the
entrance moved aside to let him pass. Abby noticed that the guard gave the
newcomer a small bow before he once again moved back into position. The warrior
strode over to the table and sat down in the chair next to Tex. He slapped the
human man on the shoulder in greeting, almost toppling Tex out of his seat.

“Christ, Braec. Ease off,” Tex
grumbled, switching back to the Vor language.

“Ah, forgive me. I forget how
fragile you human males are.”

Abby wanted to
laugh at the offended expression on Tex’s face, but she bit her lip to hold it
back. Looking at the warrior up close, she had to agree with Rox. The Vor males
were handsome—in a primitive way—but she still wasn’t sure about the whole
mating thing regardless of how attractive they were.

“Greetings, my name is Braec. I
am the king’s second-in-command, and as such, I would like to welcome you to
our planet.”

Dressed in black leather pants
and a thick, leather band containing three sheaved knives strapped crosswise
over his broad chest, he was an intimidating sight—like all the Vor were—but his
warm smile and cheerful disposition helped put Abby at ease. Up close, the
stripes on his face, neck and torso reminded her of those of a tiger. They were
strange, but not unpleasant to look at.

“This is a much better welcome
than waking up in a cell,” Janelle commented.

Braec winced. “Ah, yes. That
was an error on our part. We thought…never mind that. Know that we will not be
doing that to the other humans that are brought to our world from now on.” He
turned to Tex. “Have you put the other humans at ease and told them that they
are safe here?”

Tex shrugged and shifted
uncomfortably in his seat. “I told you, you can’t just tell women to trust you.
You have to earn it.”

“Damn straight,” Rox said.

Braec nodded his head curtly.
“Then we shall.”

“It’s a decent start letting us
out of our rooms,” Rox conceded. “I was considering climbing out through the
balcony if you kept us locked up much longer.”

The Vor warrior’s expression
changed to one of concern. “That wouldn’t have been wise. The rooms are high up
and you cannot fly as we do.”

“Hence the reason I stayed
put.”

Tex cleared his throat.
“Actually, that’s how I met Braec. I climbed out through the balcony and sort
of fell.”

“Not ‘sort of,’ you did,” Braec
corrected with a glare. “You humans are impulsive. You will refrain from doing
anything to harm yourselves.”

“I’m not suicidal, Braec. I
just don’t like being a prisoner. I told you that.”

“Which is why I had all of you
released.”  

Tex laughed. “No, you released
us since I told you that all of the women would be pissed if you didn’t.”

Janelle looked between the two
males suspiciously. “You two seems quite chummy.”

Braec’s brows furrowed. “What
does that mean?”

“It means we know each
other…more than they expected. After Braec saved me from falling, he’s been
letting me train with some of the other warriors,” Tex explained. “They weren’t
too happy to have a man brought here, but they’ve been more comfortable asking
me their questions than speaking to any of you. They’ve been curious to find
out more about us, so I’ve been hanging out with them.”

Braec nodded. “This is true, but
only because other Vor males would not want to dishonor your future mates by
speaking to you without their permission.”

“What the hell? Women aren’t
allowed to speak to any males beside their mates here? That’s so not okay,” Rox
growled.

Braec frowned. “They are, but
your mates will not like it once they claim you. Although, Tex has explained to
us that you require communication to feel at ease here, so we will do our best
to accommodate. You’ll see. You will enjoy living on Vor. Even you,” he said to
Tex. “Although our females don’t like males that are too small or too big,
perhaps one of our females will appreciate having a mate that is not so
intimidating in size and strength.”

“Gee, thanks,” Tex said dryly.
“I can’t wait to meet them now.”

Braec grinned at him. “I’m well
aware of your sarcasm, human. You will be able to meet some of our females
after the king returns to duty. Since it is the third day of his mate’s heat,
they should join us soon.”

Abby blinked. “Wait…what?
Heat?”

Braec looked at Tex for help,
but the man just shrugged. “I forgot your kind doesn’t have heat cycles,” he
said carefully.

“Uh oh,” Grace said with a
wince. “That doesn’t sound good.”

“It is a joy between mates.”
Braec smiled winningly at them, but all of the women still looked slightly
horrified. “There have been four humans claimed by their Vor mates so far. All
the females are very happy with their males.”

“But that only accounts for
nine, counting those of us at this table,” Abby interjected. “What happened to
the other woman?”

For a moment, Braec’s
expression darkened. “I was told she was unwell. After the king claimed his
mate, the other female was taken by the Wraiths to their holding in the
mountains after she collapsed on the stage. They have sent word that she was
far gone when the Wraiths found her on your home planet. Her healing wasn’t
completed during the journey here like yours were.”