Aron: A SciFi Alien Romance (Alien Shifter Force) Read online

  But he had already changed into Drayon form. Athena almost heaved a sigh of relief. It was hard to think straight when there was a huge naked Dreon standing right in front of her. Kate always teased her for being bookish, but the truth was she was just as red-blooded as everybody else.

  Too bad she’d only discovered that in the middle of the biggest disaster to strike earth. It wasn’t like she could just leisurely explore her feelings for him.

  That was if he even felt the same way. Did he?

  She knew the ridges on his temples throbbed when he was aroused, but it could have been a reaction to the danger they found themselves in. Whatever the cause, this was no time to speculate.

  She told herself to focus on the mission and only on the mission. Before she could be distracted once again, she reached for the harness, planting her palm against the ground.

  After a minute or two, she pulled her hand away. The throbbing was so unnatural that she couldn’t bear to experience it for a moment longer. But she had seen enough. It was rhythmic. A steady three seconds between beats. Always. She had counted for long enough. This wasn’t some unpredictable seismic event waiting to happen—that wouldn’t have been so steady.

  No, it was the alien invaders.

  She fastened the harness to Aron’s back and climbed on. She took a deep breath before she tapped his shoulder to signal her readiness. Deep down, she knew they were about to uncover something that would change both their lives forever. But what other choice did they have now that so many US cities stood deserted? They had to find this thing. And destroy it.

  Athena heard it before she saw them. The buzzing was so unnatural in the gentle breeze. It sounded like one of the huge fly traps they had used to keep away the constant swarm of strange bugs on Kanaven. The hum was identical.

  They were flying over a small city she didn’t recognize when she heard it first. She looked around, but all she could see was the abandoned city below, ordinary in every way except for the complete lack of people. They’d flown on—she hadn’t wanted to disturb Aron until they had gone further and she’d been able to see if the noise died down.

  It had only grown louder and louder as they passed over the increasingly urban landscape. And then she’d seen it. And so had he, judging from the way he banked sharply and flew straight toward them.

  It wasn’t like the strange pulsating ground further west. No, this time they had made no attempt to hide. Fear rose up in Athena’s throat, almost suffocating her. She wanted to scream at Aron; to tell him to turn around and flee. But she was frozen.

  This was the first she’d seen of them. And it confirmed her worst fears. These were the most technologically-advanced beings she had ever encountered. She knew that just from looking at their ships.

  They were huge and round with their centers missing. They reminded her of Life Savers. She counted ten in all. Scattered between the Life Savers were smaller ships. As they got closer, Athena realized they were moving on the ground.

  She craned her neck, almost falling off Aron’s back in her attempt to see more. If they kept going at their current course, they’d fly right over the alien base. Athena’s eyes widened in fear as the buzzing grew louder than ever.

  They had weapons of course, but not enough to attack an enemy base. Salen and Heran had peeled away to go north and explore Canada before they found the pulse. They’d all been so convinced that they weren’t going to find anything that they’d ignored the danger and separated.

  And she knew why. In a sudden flash of damning insight, she realized that desire had blinded her to the danger. She had craved the time alone with Aron. Oh sure, she’d been on missions before where the units had separated to cover more ground—but that had never happened when there was just a handful of soldiers.

  Damn it, she thought. I’ve screwed this up. Big time.

  The first huge alien ship loomed up ahead. Athena couldn’t even think of them as giant candies anymore—they were too terrifying for that. The structures dwarfed the nearby bridge, making it look like something out of a toy set. She squeezed her eyes closed and clung onto Aron. Just as she was about to give in and signal for him to leave, he veered off and sped up, taking them away from the terrifying scene.

  But not before she’d seen what lay ahead. It wasn’t just one base—there was another one further away. They hadn’t gotten close enough to see it, but Athena had counted five of the huge round ships with their strange empty centers. They might have looked like candies, but they were the size of entire city blocks.

  She was growing more and more despondent by the second. How could they ever hope to defeat an army of mystery enemies?

  5

  Aron flew west and landed in the cover of the first forest they could find. As he shifted back to Dreon form, he felt the driven calm of his dragon give way to fear and apprehension. The only good thing was that the chemical surge hadn’t taken hold of him yet. He wondered if it was because of the deal he’d made with his body or if it had more to do with the army he and Athena had just found.

  He turned to her and groaned. “We should never have agreed to separate. If Redon knew—”

  Athena shook her head and held up her hands. It seemed as if she was going to place them on his chest before she changed her mind and turned away. “No, you can’t blame yourself. What use would it have been to have four of us against all those aliens? We should have all stayed together. Instead, we let our des… I mean our complacency get in the way.”

  “We didn’t know,” he said, frowning.

  Athena nodded, still standing with her back to him. “We should have,” she said, sounding weak and miserable.

  His first instinct was to go to her; to comfort her. He stepped forward and wrapped his huge arms around her. The moment he did so, he felt the pull of desire. He swallowed, breath caught in his throat. This human was trouble—so much trouble.

  She sighed and leaned into him, and for a moment he was at peace. It was funny how being around her seemed to insulate him from the crisis they had landed themselves in.

  “Aron,” she said in a small voice. “We made a mistake. We should have all stayed together. Right now, we could have had Kate and Redon and the others here instead of making their way back to base having found nothing. And we can’t even contact them for help. Even if I’d managed to take some radio equipment from the base, using it would alert those bastards to our presence.”

  He squeezed her tighter. It was true. They probably should have stayed together. No—there was no doubt. But he’d allowed himself to be swept up in his feelings for her. The worst part? He couldn’t even tell her—she was a logical creature; she might insist on mating as a means to cure him of his chemical surge.

  Aron was too proud to allow that. He wanted her—but of her own free will, not out of some sense of survival or obligation. He felt sure he’d be able to stave off the ill effects by promising himself that he’d pursue her properly if they survived this.

  “Yes, I agree. But, Athena.” He stopped, debating whether he should even share this with her.

  “Yes?” she gasped, and he had a feeling she was willing him to tell her something that had nothing to do with their alien foe. He swallowed and shook his head, glad she had her back to him so she couldn’t see his face and the conflict that it no doubt showed.

  “Even if we had stayed together, it wouldn’t make much difference. We don’t know these enemies. And you saw their ships. Even if we succeeded in destroying one, we’d never have been able to get to the others before they surrounded us. With all of us combined, it would still be a huge challenge.”

  There. He’d said it. The devastating truth that he hadn’t wanted to face.

  Athena turned in his arms. Her delicate hands reached for him, settling on his chest. The ridges on his temples and cock immediately went into overdrive. He groaned. Did she know what they meant? It was hard enough trying to hide his feelings for her.

  “We’re screwed, aren’t we?” she s
aid softly, her eyes searching his for answers.

  Aron bit his lip.

  Athena nodded, seeming to take his response as agreement. She smiled sadly.

  Something feral reared up in Aron; something he was familiar with in his Drayon form but not as a Dreon. It took him a couple of moments to identify the feeling, but when he did it shocked him to his core. It was a fierce sense of protectiveness, the likes of which he’d never before experienced—at least not for another being. Not even Orosa. His ridges throbbed harder than ever before.

  Athena’s arms moved lower; her delicate fingers tickled the rough skin on his neck. He leaned his head back, trying and failing to stop himself from reveling in her glorious touch.

  This is the key.

  He groaned. The thought struck him out of nowhere, almost as if somebody else had spoken it in his mind.

  “Aron?” Athena whispered.

  He looked at her; saw the way the blacks of her eyes had dilated. Knew, without knowing anything about human physiology.

  The key.

  He shook his head, frantic with lust and fear. Why should he pay attention to some notion that had just popped into his head? Especially since he had seen how Redon had reacted to the chemical surge.

  But he was certain. He didn’t know how.

  What if the mating call was making him stronger instead of weaker?

  6

  Athena frowned. It seemed like a change had come over Aron. She told herself not to read too much into it, but she couldn’t help but feel disappointed. It had taken a lot for her to show her desire to him like that. Oh, at first he had responded. She would have had to be blind to miss it. But then a shadow had passed over his face. And then it all changed, leaving her to wonder if she’d imagined his initial reaction.

  Doesn’t matter, she told herself half-heartedly. We’ve got more important things to do than make love while the world falls to pieces around us.

  It shocked her that that was the only thing she wanted to do. For two years on Kanaven, she had entertained herself with books while the others acted like it was a party cruise and not a United Earth Forces patrol. Why now? She wondered if it was something to do with their impending doom. Of course, it helped that Aron was smart, strong and devastatingly attractive.

  She shook her head. “Okay. So. Like we were saying. We’re screwed.”

  “Not necessarily,” he said in a low growl.

  Athena felt her eyebrows rise almost to her hairline. “Really? Did you see a different scene than I did?”

  He shook his head. She found it funny how these Dreon seemed incapable of detecting sarcasm. Not that it put her off him. If anything, she liked his direct manner and…

  Athena! Get a grip. Focus. If you survive this, you can put his picture on your wall.

  She snorted at the thought. Because if they survived this, the irony was that she’d probably find herself imprisoned for insubordination.

  She, Kate and Danni had been the only three survivors when their unit returned from Kanaven to earth. It had been a strange flight, but nobody had panicked until they neared earth’s atmosphere and ground control still hadn’t responded to their communications.

  Their captain had ordered them to maintain positions. It had been Kate who decided to abandon ship. One look at her friend had made Athena do the same. All her life, she’d slavishly followed orders, but there had been something about Kate—hopelessness, maybe—that had made her rail. Maybe it was a survival instinct. Because no sooner had her escape pod burst away from the ship than the entire thing crashed to earth and exploded.

  “You are quiet,” Aron said, watching her intently.

  She nodded. “I was just remembering,” she said, gesturing to the sky. “Sometimes I think this must all be a dream. It’s not long ago that I was strapping myself in for takeoff and daydreaming about what I was going to eat on my first day back on earth.”

  He smiled sympathetically.

  Athena hadn’t seen his ship crash to earth—she’d been confined to the other side of the quarantine unit. But Kate had seen and told her everything. She shook her head.

  “I’m sorry. I’m not the only one who’s been through a lot these past few days.”

  He shrugged. “Most of us were unhurt.”

  “But—” she stopped. She’d been about to mention how he and the other Dreon were now effectively trapped on earth unless they could somehow fix their stricken ship. She stayed silent. What was the point in mentioning it now?

  “Those bastards,” she growled. The alien invaders who were responsible for vaporizing the populations of entire cities had shot Aron’s ship out of the sky. “I’m going to destroy them if it’s the last thing I do on this earth.”

  A strange look crossed his face but she dismissed it. If he wanted her, it would be a matter of life and death. He wouldn’t be able to fly. So it was clear that he didn’t—she just needed to get that through her thick head, she knew.

  “I will help you,” he growled.

  She wanted to go to him; to squeeze him tight. “Maybe the commander and the others will help us now. If the enemy’s no longer an unknown—”

  He shook his head briskly. “No. Too dangerous. They won’t.”

  “It can’t hurt to try,” she said with a shrug.

  But she knew he was right. When she and the others opened their escape pods, they’d found the ground staff alive and well. The commander had banned anyone from using the radios after they determined that that was how the aliens tracked air and space traffic. That was why the Pelagon had been allowed to fall to earth like a piece of space debris instead of a UEF ship carrying elite soldiers.

  And it got worse from there. Kate being Kate had been unable to tolerate the inactivity of sitting around the base and waiting for the enemies to show themselves. She had sneaked out of the base and made contact with the Dreon. Luckily, Danni had seen them go. She’d come running to Athena and Athena hadn’t thought twice about going after her friend.

  Long story short, Commander Jessop had ordered Kate arrested when she came back to suggest that the remaining United Earth Forces team up with the stranded aliens to try and defeat the alien invaders.

  Still, Athena couldn’t believe her unit wouldn’t rally if they knew exactly where the enemy was located. The commander’s inaction had been based on them knowing nothing about the enemy. Now…

  “Athena,” he said again. “You told me about your commander. You said he was fearful; used to running a remote supply outpost and not a fighting unit.”

  Athena shook her head, desperately trying to cling onto something. The base might be a small one, but they still had several highly-trained soldiers. If they came onboard, their ranks would more than quadruple. It had to be better than a handful of humans and a stricken Dreon unit with a limited supply of weapons that couldn’t be deployed in their dragon form.

  “But…”

  She shook her head. The truth was she knew exactly how the commander would react. It didn’t mean she wasn’t going to try.

  “We can do it, Athena,” Aron said, with that distant look in his eyes again. It was almost as if he was trying to keep her off his mind, Athena thought, before dismissing that as wishful thinking.

  7

  Aron was immediately struck by the bleakness of the scene. The huge hole in the Uhalor III remained. It seemed larger than it had before.

  Just a couple of hours earlier, he would have been happy to make it safely back to the ship. Now he saw that for the folly it was.

  The challenge wasn’t to keep his mind off her so she could go to him of her own free will. No, it was much bigger than all of them. He sighed and tried to think of the positives. When they got through this, it would be all the sweeter.

  He sighed. If they got through this.

  His ears picked up a noise coming from somewhere within the depths of the ship.

  Realizing that it meant the others had returned, he rushed forward in a panic. Surely they must have r
ealized that the aliens were stationed on the east coast. So why had they not raced out to meet him?

  He turned the corner and entered the recreation area, immediately confronted by Melen and Eren, sitting side-by-side.

  “When did you return?” he asked, shaking his head.

  Eren looked up at him with barely concealed resentment. “Hours ago. What about you? What took you so long?” the younger Dreon glanced at Aron’s temples and then looked behind him at Athena. “Really? That was more important than war?”

  Aron was thankful in that moment that Athena had no grasp of his native tongue. Still, he felt aggrieved on her behalf that Eren should speak like that in front of her.

  “What do you mean, war?” he asked irritably. “What do you know of war?”

  “We defeated the enemy,” Eren said simply.

  Aron’s ridges throbbed almost painfully and, for the first time, it wasn’t because of Athena’s proximity. He rubbed them, trying to focus his thoughts.

  “What do you mean you defeated them?” he asked. “Where? You went southwest. With Redon.”

  Eren nodded as if Aron had lost his mind. “Yes. Of course.”

  “But that’s impossible,” Aron said with a frown.

  “No, it’s not. It seemed that way at first, but then Redon was able to destroy their ship. With the human’s help. I hate to admit it, but she was useful out there.”

  Aron froze. The younger Dreon’s words reverberated around his skull and he tried to make sense of them. He hunkered down in front of Eren, glaring into his eyes. “Where was this? How many?”

  “I don’t know,” Eren said sullenly. “I’d never even heard of earth before we crash-landed here.”

  Aron thought of the prophecy. It made sense that Eren had never heard of this planet before. It was different for him and Redon. They hadn’t just known of its existence, they had actively avoided it, knowing that it was the place that held the key to their planet’s survival—but only when the time was right.