Page 1 of Saving Lauren

CHAPTER 1

Lauren

Just another day, the same as yesterday and it will be the same as tomorrow.

Fucking aliens. They abduct you from your home and then you end up being trafficked to some desolate space station around the edges of the galaxy. Not the Milky Way mind you, nooooooo, where these fuckers took me, there is no Milky Way in sight.

So here I am, sitting in a tiny window stall. Naked. For the entire depraved alien world to see, and also for the most perverted ones; to rent me by the hour.

It could be worse; I keep telling myself that. I mean, I could be bought. And while I absolutely did not see myself as a space whore at 28, there are worse fates than being a space whore.

I think about my previous master and shiver. Nope, not going there. There are definitely worse fates than being a space whore.

Today is like all the others. Me and the other girls have been at it for a while. We usually start somewhere in the afternoon until the early hours of morning.

I have been sitting in my window stall for the last hours. They keep us naked for all the galaxy to see, but I am truly past caring. I am just glad this morning has been slow, up until now.

I consider myself quite the observer, I mean it can be boring just sitting around all day. I know a lot of the alien races that frequent this space station so I know how the crowd of people usually works. But today, they seem off. On edge, or something.

I let my gaze move around the crowd. It’s not something that I do very often, because I may act like I’m tough, but deep inside I am still scared shitless all day every day.

I immediately spot the reason the crowd acts differently.

An enormous male, who stands out even in a crowd of aliens. He looks like one of the fiercest, meanest, most brutal warriors in the universe. He is enormous, both in height and in build; I have never seen anybody as muscular as him.

His chest is naked, apart from a complicated pattern of leather straps covering his torso, displaying a lot of dark gray skin. There are tattoos all over his chest and arms. Tribal swirls and intricate patterns. He wears dark brown trousers and dark brown combat boots. His ears are pointy, with curled black horns like dried lava. Shiny black hair hangs across one of his shoulders in a thick braid. His tail is pointed like an arrow on the end, and he radiates menace.

I swallow as I look at him. From a distance his eyes look black, but I can see something swirling around the edges. When I squint my eyes to get a better look, I notice his gaze is firmly on me.

No, no, no, no, no. This big scary alien warrior is fixated on me, like a predator catching sight of its prey. Although I feel like I am about to pee myself, I cannot help myself and stare back in defiance. I may have just signed my death certificate because this male has to be one of the Warriors of Arracate.

I blink and two more of these terrifying aliens are there, flanking the one that I made eye contact with. One is even bigger than the first one, while the other is a couple of inches shorter. The male who spotted me first looks furious. His gaze is so intense it feels like my skin is on fire and I want to look away, but I can’t seem to break the contact.

They don’t talk to each other, but something seems to pass between them and the smaller one disappears into the space station while the biggest male walks up to my owner. The one with the intense look and the furious appearance doesn’t move. Just stands there, looking at me. I notice he has balled his hands into fists and looks like he’s barely keeping control of himself.

Underneath my fear I feel some sort of stubbornness rooting deep inside me and I raise my chin, though wobbly, and I look right back at him.

D’Var

I am rooted to the ground. I do my best to look calm and collected on the outside, but inside I am seething, burning away with anger.

Caged like an animal, naked in a window, for all the galaxy to see, is my mate, my Zarra. I felt the pull toward her as soon as we entered this Gods-forsaken Space Station on the edge of nowhere. Nothing could have prepared me to find her like this. Being used and abused like she is not the most precious female in all the Galaxies, because for me that is exactly who she is.

My crew, O’Rec and T’Rak, agreed that we have to get her out of there as soon as possible. Coming back in the early hours of morning, breaking the place down and taking her is more our style, but I cannot leave her up there any moment longer than necessary. Who knows what could happen to her in the meantime.

She is looking at me, right in my eyes and I know she sees me, that she knows that my attention is on her and her alone. She does not appear to be seriously wounded, but I can also tell she is not as healthy as she should be. Her stare is unyielding, and I am impressed by the fire in her eyes.

T’Rak is dealing with the vendor, because I am spending all my credits on her freedom. I see by the way the vendor reacts that our reputation as Warriors of Arracate proceeds us. He is all slimy manners and bowing down to show respect. I cannot hear their conversation, but T’Rak’s outraged thoughts come back to me through our psychic link.

Anger builds in me and I feel like I am about to lose control.The fucking slimy Bghor does not sell?

“What do you mean he does not want to sell her?” I send T’Rak through our link.

“He says she can only be rented,” he responds.

“Offer him 10 million Jos and see what he does.”

I wait anxiously while T’Rak is haggling. I can sense T’Rak is getting annoyed which is not a good sign. We all need to keep our tempers in check, so I look to my mate to calm myself. She looks so small up there, and she also looks frightened. Her gaze moves from me to T’Rak talking to the vendor. She is biting her plump little lip with her blunt teeth, and I am fascinated by the movement.

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