Zuran: A Paranormal Sci-Fi Alien Romance: Albaterra Mates Book 6 Read online

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Chapter Fifty

  Chapter Fifty-One

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  Chapter Fifty-Four

  Chapter Fifty-Five

  Chapter Fifty-Six

  Chapter Fifty-Seven

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  Chapter Fifty-Nine

  Chapter Sixty

  Chapter Sixty-One

  Chapter Sixty-Two

  Albaterra Extended Epilogue

  Zuran

  A Paranormal Sci-Fi Alien Romance

  Ashley L. Hunt

  Albaterra Series Book 6

  Copyright © 2017 by Ashley L. Hunt

  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

  For My Loyal And New Fans!

  Your Free Story!

  Prologue

  1. Zuran

  2. Phoebe

  3. Zuran

  4. Phoebe

  5. Zuran

  6. Phoebe

  7. Zuran

  8. Phoebe

  9. Zuran

  10. Phoebe

  11. Zuran

  12. Phoebe

  13. Zuran

  14. Phoebe

  15. Zuran

  16. Phoebe

  17. Zuran

  18. Phoebe

  19. Zuran

  20. Phoebe

  21. Zuran

  22. Phoebe

  23. Zuran

  24. Phoebe

  25. Zuran

  26. Phoebe

  27. Zuran

  28. Phoebe

  29. Zuran

  30. Phoebe

  31. Zuran

  32. Phoebe

  33. Zuran

  34. Phoebe

  35. Zuran

  36. Phoebe

  37. Zuran

  38. Phoebe

  39. Zuran

  40. Phoebe

  41. Zuran

  42. Phoebe

  43. Zuran

  44. Phoebe

  45. Zuran

  46. Phoebe

  47. Zuran

  48. Phoebe

  49. Zuran

  50. Phoebe

  51. Zuran

  52. Phoebe

  53. Zuran

  54. Phoebe

  55. Zuran

  56. Phoebe

  57. Zuran

  58. Phoebe

  59. Zuran

  60. Phoebe

  61. Zuran

  62. Phoebe

  Albaterra Extended Epilogue

  Badass Luke

  Make Your Own Story

  Preview Of Venan

  Venan

  Octavia

  Preview Of Jasih

  Lenora

  Jasih

  Lenora

  Jasih

  Lenora

  Jasih

  Lenora

  Jasih

  The Story Continues Here

  Preview Of Kerr

  Kataline

  Kerr

  Kataline

  Kerr

  Kataline

  Kerr

  Kataline

  Kerr

  The Story Continues Here

  Also By Ashley L. Hunt

  About the Author

  For My Loyal And New Fans!

  First I would like to thank you so much for downloading this book. I am truly honoured by this!

  This is the 5th Complete story in the “Albaterra Mates” series. This can be read as a standalone but you will enjoy the full experience when you will read the other as well!

  1. Rex - SciFi Alien Romance

  2. Duke - SciFi Alien Romance

  3. Dane - SciFi Alien Romance

  4. Lokos - SciFi Alien Romance

  5. Khrel - SciFi Alien Romance

  6. Zuran - SciFi Alien Romance

  7. Venan - SciFi Alien Romance

  I have also Included a special sneak peak from Albaterra Mates 6, Zuran, that you will not find anywhere else!

  Fasten your seatbelt and let’s travel to a new world!

  Your Free Story!

  Do you want one more free story?

  Click the link which you will find in a later chapter in the book and download an amazing secret story!

  More than 60.000 words novel which I am sure you will enjoy!

  Prologue

  Phoebe

  “What kind of information?” she asked eagerly.

  Shaking my head, I chuckled, “You know I can’t tell you that, Edie.”

  “Oh, come on! You’re going into space; it’s not like anyone’s gonna know,” she begged.

  “Nope.” I shook my head again and then smiled brightly at her. “But, the good news is I’m free to hang out with you until they need me. Unless you’ve got to get back to the infirmary, of course. I don’t mind entertaining myself, if you have to—”

  “Girl, knock it off,” she chided. “You know I’m not going anywhere near that infirmary as long as you’re here. I feel like we’re those friends who were tight all through high school and promised to stay in touch during college but now we only see each other once every few years because we made new friends and life went on.”

  I narrowed my eyes with faux offense. “You’ve made new friends? I’m that replaceable to you?”

  She rolled her eyes and said, “Shut up. I can’t just hang out by myself all the time, you know. The hairdresser on the other side of the colony, Octavia, is pretty cool and I’ve spent some time with her, but otherwise, I’m alone.”

  “What about the Corporal?”

  Her face lit up. “Oh, yeah, him too. But that’s a given.”

  I asked her then what she wanted to do until I was called away, and she insisted we leave the colony so she couldn’t be called b
ack to the infirmary. Now, I found myself on the market walk where the last time I’d come back to Ka-lik’et, I’d been dressed like an A’li-uud hooker and terrified I’d never see Zuran again. The mystery and whimsy of the booths was lost to me; the only thing I saw anymore as I looked down the line of tables and silk canopies and merchants was the seedy underbelly lurking beneath the outwardly pleasant sight. And I was acutely aware that, somewhere below my feet, was the den of criminals and outlaws.

  “…I guess, but I still think a real date would be nice for once, you know?”

  Edie had been rambling about her relationship with the Corporal for almost twenty minutes straight. I’d thought I was paying good attention, but I realized I’d let my mind wander and had no idea what she was saying. I tried to play it off.

  “Yeah, dates are good,” I said absently.

  “Yeah,” she agreed stoutly. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m expecting too much. I mean, we are basically building a whole new civilization here. We’re like the pilgrims on Plymouth Rock. I’m pretty sure they had more important things to worry about than dates, right? But sometimes a girl just wants to go out. Have you had a real date with Zuran yet?”

  I smirked with so much wry amusement that Zuran would’ve been proud. Our relationship thus far had been packed with more action than most people would ever experience in a lifetime. We’d watched an Elder die at his brother’s hand, been relocated to the middle of nowhere to battle a mysterious disease, snuck out of the middle of nowhere and into Ka-lik’et only to barely escape Albaterra’s worst criminals, testified in a trial before the entire Council. And now we were being shot into space to meet with a notoriously temperamental race and tell them their people were dying in our care. I almost felt like a “real date” would be too boring for us.

  “No, we haven’t had the chance to do that,” I admitted. I wasn’t nearly as bothered by it as she was.

  “Don’t you think—”

  Edie’s words were cut off at the knees by a terrible, gut-wrenching scream. I didn’t even realize the scream was mine until a hand closed around my mouth and muffled the sound, and my whole body was wrenched backward against something very large and very rigid.

  “Hello, laaka,” a very slimy, very familiar voice said in my ear. I felt something cold and sharp slide flush against my throat. “I hope Zuran has found another female to entertain because you are mine tonight.”

  Chapter One

  Zuran

  A hazy blur materialized on the horizon just over the arcs of the swooping dunes. I was almost there. If not for the blazing white rays of sunlight in my eyes and the thick veil of heat blanketing the desert landscape, I would have been able to clearly see the clay walls marking the boundaries of Ka-lik’et, their peachy hue distinguishable against the backdrop of the vividly turquoise Albaterran sky. Another thousand footfalls would yield the low, ceaseless rumblings native to the Dhal’atian city as merchants bargained with interested buyers, friends and couples strolled the streets, and parents called out to energetic children determined to steal a moment of independence. Finally, the great golden dome marking the highest point of the Elder palace was birthed before me, glinting its encouragement for my return.

  I slowed to a jog as I passed through the pair of gates. They were made of impenetrable bronze-brushed metal and towered well over two A’li-uud tall, their peaks meeting flush against the intricately-carved arch overhang. Had the afternoon given way to the dusty indigo dusk, I would have been required to request entrance from the stationed warrior guards, but the sun was still high in the sky, and the gates were left open for civilians to come and go as they pleased. At this hour, Ka-lik’et was still buzzing, and my energetic re-entry went unnoticed by all but one.

  “Where have you been?” Through eyes that were little more than exhausted slits, I watched the lean, feral-faced A’li-uud charging toward me. Ribbons of pearly hair cascaded out behind him, the ends snapping like whips in the sweltering desert breeze, and the flared fabric of his breathable jodhpurs rippled with each stride. His skin had darkened from its usual royal blue richness to lush cobalt after spending most of the day out-of-doors. Slanted lids gave way to spectral irises, which plunged into me with visceral irritation and bolstered the jut of his angular jaw. He was fierce, striking, and identical to me in every way.

  “Pleasure to see you too, Venan,” I remarked as casually as my heaving respirations would allow.

  He refused to be deterred. “Where have you been?” he repeated, injecting insistence into his already rigid tone.

  Venan was my twin brother, fellow warrior, and mirror image, but the similarities ended there. While he had thrown himself into his role with the Dhal’atian militia the first day he began training, I spent my initial years amassing a repertoire of warnings and disciplinary actions for reckless behavior. He was the epitome of humorless stringency; I preferred the livelier side of life. Our respective personalities led us down two very different and begrudgingly felicitous paths within the ranks, but time had blessed us with startling closeness.

  “I needed to run,” I told him airily. “Catering to the humans all day does not make a warrior fit.”

  “Our honorable Elder Kharid named you Interplanetary Affairs Officer for a reason, Zuran, and far be it from me to question him,” Venan sternly replied, the skepticism in his tone betraying his unspoken doubts of my appointment. “It is not your privilege to leave the colony at your whim.”

  “And it is not your privilege to reprimand an officer of equal rank, brother,” I retorted.

  He swelled, his unclothed torso expanding until the veins in his pectorals bulged. The harsh edges of his cheekbones hardened, and his shoulders squared with indignance. “Need I remind you your promotion was only upon my suggestion?” he challenged.

  I pinned him with a patronizing gaze and asked, “What do you want, Venan?” I was still too tired to instigate further annoyance from him as I ordinarily would have.

  “Elder Kharid has issued an order for your presence at the palace to address an urgent matter,” he said at once, managing to swell another breath larger.

  “What is the urgent matter?”

  Venan did not answer, opting instead to fix me with an exasperated glare for my lack of instant compliance. I shook out my wind-ruffled hair, which was just as long and pale as his, and started toward the palace. He caught me by the arm before I could take more than two steps.

  “You must return to the colony first,” he asserted.

  I held back a groan of frustration and decided I was owed a bit of antagonism for my efforts. “Is the matter not urgent after all? Was that a detail you invented to ensure I report to the palace and propel you deeper into Kharid’s good graces, perhaps?”

  “Elder Kharid,” he corrected me snappishly. “And, no, I am not so childish as that. The Council has requested the inclusion of the human healers in the debriefing. It is your duty to collect them from their infirmary and accompany them to the palace.”

  Several pieces of his explanation prickled my attention, and I became serious as I asked, “With what urgent matter could the human healers possibly assist, and why has the Council become involved?”

  “You must report to Elder—”

  “No, Venan,” I interrupted sharply. “I am not asking you as a warrior or an officer or even a Dhal’atian. I am asking you as a brother. What is happening? Why do I need to gather the humans?”

  He eyed me uncertainly for a beat, his achromatic orbs flicking between mine. I knew he was struggling between his obligation to remain tight-lipped at Kharid’s command and his loyalty to our familial bond, but I was unwilling to retract my demand for information. Finally, his voice lowered to prevent overhearing by loitering eavesdroppers, he said, “An unidentified disease has broken out amongst the Novai. The Elders want every healer across Albaterra assigned to diagnosing and curing the illness before it spreads to both humans and A’li-uud. They fear the disease has the potential to grow to pandemic pr
oportions and kill us all.”

  Chapter Two

  Phoebe

  “How did this happen, Mr. Killian?”

  The infirmary was slow today. Only one overnight patient needed tending thanks to dehydration—an ailment we saw quite commonly, as people tended to push themselves too hard in the relentless desert heat of Dhal’at—and a single other had come in complaining of mysterious allergies. Most of the other nurses were gathered around a host of empty beds, chattering about nothing of substance and counting down the minutes until they were free to leave for the day and ogle the hundreds of soldiers who populated our colony. I wasn’t so lucky. On my exam table sat a well-tanned man, and in my lap rested his upturned hand with a nail straight through his palm.