Page 1 of Alpha Hunger

Chapter 1

Anna

Hunger is late. The anticipation of meeting, not to mention working as a personal assistant to the Prince of Regha, an Alpha male alien who rules the Earth, makes my palms sweaty. In an office with tinted windows, I sit before his gigantic desk overlooking the calm Pacific and adjust my knee-high suit dress, the suit buttons, the trendy scarf I borrowed from my mom. I check my stockings for holes.

My pointy four-inch heels are two inches too high for comfort, and my feet need out of these things. I remove one black leather shoe and sigh with relief.

“The prince has entered the building,” comes from the speakers.

Okaaaay.No one instructed me on how to deal with my new boss, but his destination is likely his office, so I’m good. Even though I’m qualified for the position, it surprised me Human Resources hired me on the spot yesterday and sent me home with a nice starting bonus. If it’s too good to be true, it probably is. I’m thinking working for the Hordesmen prince people have named Hunger is a good enough excuse to warrant the fat bonus I received. I took the bonus and the yearly salary with a big smile on my face.

The tinted office doors slide open, and I jerk out of my chair, only then remembering my shoe. Quickly, I bend to pick it up but can’t find it. It was just there. Damn it. I look under his desk. Nothing.

Commotion outside draws my attention. Hunger’s office takes up the far end of this floor with a huge empty space of no particular use I can discern. Elevators are straight ahead. Right outside his door, his secretary gets up from her workstation and stands next to her desk. She fixes her hair, smacks her glossy lips.

The secretary looks at me as if I’ve grown horns. Or lost a shoe so now I stand all crooked. “Girl, kneel and greet the prince,” she says.

Oh, okay. I kneel, thinking I’ve seen people do this on TV, presuming that was media showing off bullshit. Nope. This is real. Which is fine. I’m better off on my knees than I am on one heel. The window tint retreats, effectively opening the office to daylight.

I’ve never been this high up, not even in a skycab. The prince prohibits transport, both ground and air, in the Stronghold part of San Diego. Working here will be both frightening and beautiful. I’m excited.

The elevators open wide, revealing a gunmetal-gray alien male dressed in a tight black suit. This is a Telean male, an alien race that improved our technology. My boss is a Regha Alpha and much bigger than this male, though that sounds like the Telean is small when he is actually about six foot two. The Telean disappears from view.

Right of the elevators, at the emergency exit, a massive male appears. He wears black metal armor with gray trim and leather gloves over clawed hands. He strides forward, and the secretary kneels as he passes her. Awestruck, I can’t move. Hunger is bigger than he looks on TV. He’s massive, maybe seven feet tall, and with all the armor he’s piled onto his frame, he looks like…doom, really.

They should double the bonus.

The salary.

The accommodations.

This male scares the crap out of me.

It helps that he pays me no mind as he enters his office, then takes a sharp right and disappears into a wall.Huh.Must be a hologram of some sort. Telean tech is amazing, and we, the humans, love our tech.

“Ms. Bennett?” his secretary calls from somewhere. “Your com unit is on the desk.”

Ah-ha.Very cool. I wobble-hop to the desk, looking under it first. No shoe.Damn it.I grab the white com unit and fit the smooth plastic inside my ear. “Hello?” I say.

“You may rise if you haven’t done so already,” the secretary says into my com unit.

“Thank you.”

“The daily list is on his desk.”

“Okay.” I grab the list and read the printout.

Armoris at the top of the list. Well, that’s as clear as mud. “Armor?”

Click.The com goes dead.Shit.I skip thearmorpart and scan the rest of the list, feeling much more in my element. Interviews, statements, laundry. Ha! I wonder who launders armor. This is like discovering another planet for me.

I sit on his plush chair. Nice. Shoving a pen in my mouth, I chew the top a bit, twirling in the chair, waiting for Hunger to come out, brief me on tonight’s appearance, or, you know, acknowledge me, maybe grace me with his royal presence.

The prince does most of the publicity for the Hordesmen. Unfortunately for us humans, there are more than four of them, though only four have distinctly human noses and ears, and we made up names based on their personalities, loosely tied to the Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

With aid from the Telean Alliance led by General Dreikx, the Regha king, who is Hunger’s father, and his army invaded Earth. The Teleans neutralized our “primitive” technology the moment they entered Earth via a space gate located in the middle of the Stronghold, a place that used to house a fraternity. The entire former San Diego Northern University campus and several blocks around it are now the Horde Stronghold.

Once we lost our technical capabilities, our defenses were rendered useless. The Horde, led by the retired Horde Alpha Loven, rode through the gates on their hounds from hell. Bullets couldn’t pierce their armor, missiles couldn’t find coordinates, and if they did, they were deflected by the general’s ship. Years after we were invaded, we surrendered. They promised prosperity and safety for any human who bent the knee.

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