The Alien Pirates' Treasure (Star Pirates #1)

303 Pages·2020·0.32 MB·english

by  Charity Wells

The Alien Pirates’ Treasure
By

Charity Wells & Harpie Alexa
About
They never expected to rescue a human from a terrible fate. And she never expected her
life to be shanghaied by alien pirates and pregnancy…They most certainly weren’t supposed to
fall in love!
Polly always dreamed of a simple life. A job she enjoyed, and a loving family to call her own.
But when she wakes in a lab, pregnant and surrounded by terrifying Viktoids, her dreams turn into
nightmares. It’s obvious her captors want something from her. Time is running out and she needs to
escape...but how?
Cal’ek and Va’naar, love fighting greed and corruption one raid at a time, but soon it will all be
over. Their lives are promised to another. An arranged mating contract leaves them legally bound to a
greedy, self-centered female. Unhappy with their future mate, they delay their trip home for one final
attack on a galactic enemy: the Viktoids. Retrieving the life saving serum for a dying colony was
part of the plan, finding a pregnant female aboard was not.
Ca’lek and Va’naar can’t admit the sweet female entices their mating heats, not when giving in to
their desires would spell disaster for their entire family. But the powerful tension between the trio is
rising. If only they had met sooner.
Living with pirates is more frustrating than Polly expected. The handsome males claim they are
promised to another, yet the heat in their eyes say otherwise. Why did it take an abduction to find
the males her heart desires?
The Alien Pirates’ Treasure is book one in a sweet & steamy m/f/m menage, paranormal, sci-fi
romance series. Each book is standalone with guaranteed HEA’s.
Copyright
Text copyright © 2020 Charity M. Wells and Harpie Alexa
Cover Artist Jesh Nimz
Edited by Jessey Mills
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by electronic or
mechanical means-except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews-
without written permission.
The characters and events in this book are purely fictitious. Any similarities to real persons,
living or dead, is purely coincidental and unintended by the author.
This book is intended for mature, adult audiences only. It contains sexually explicit scenes,
violence, and language which may be offensive to some readers. This book is strictly for those over
the age of 18. All characters depicted as participating in sexual acts are 18 years of age or older.
This E-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this
book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for
respecting the hard work of the authors.
Chapter 1
Polly
“Don’t you touch me with that thing!” I yell at the ugly Viktoid across the room as I pull my wrist
free from the last restraint. It had taken forever to wiggle out of the first one and just when I thought I
could make my escape, this alien comes bolting into the room with a medical injector in one of his
claws.
I’ve never seen one of these aliens in person, only on warning notices describing how dangerous
they can be. The notices never prepared me for staring at one from across an exam table.
The insectoid is tall and wiry, his arms and legs jut stick-like from its body. Spines protrude
from his back and the upper halves of all four arms. He’s covered in hard plates of dark chitin, but his
head is downright monstrous. Sharp edged mandibles surround his mouth and cover a set of soft palps
that drip clear ooze, which makes a wet noise as he talks. Large and wedge-shaped, he has massive,
multifaceted eyes that stare out at me.
I shiver in dread.
Nervous sweat drips down my forehead, but it isn’t just the alien that scares me. No, it’s the six-
inch needle in his right hand dripping with fluid. I can’t tear my eyes away from it. What the hell does
he need that for anyways?
Unfortunately, the only thing separating me from the alien is the lab table I woke on, and the only
door to the room is right behind him. Grabbing some kind of baton from a nearby table, I swing it
wildly. My enormous belly weighs me down, throwing my balance off and lends a bite of terror to the
situation.
What had they done to me? How long had I been in stasis before I woke up?
Thoughts swirl round and round in my mind, feeding my adrenaline while I try to make sense of
this nightmare. Viktoids were rare across the galaxy, mostly because they had been driven far away
from populated areas due to their aggressive and violent nature.
So how did I end up here?
“You will put the behavior modifier down and sit on the table for further examination.” Its cold,
monotone voice and calculating tone sends shivers down my spine.
“The hell I will!” I spare a quick glance at the supposed behavior modifier, desperately looking
for a way to turn it on.
My finger fumbles over the device with no luck, so I hold my weapon defensively. He takes
several large steps around the table to approach me. With my eyes focused on him, I slowly edge
towards the door.
Just a little further...
“We must determine the viability of the product,” he states in a flat, bored tone, his eyes
narrowing on my stomach.
Is that hunger I see?
“Product?” I gasp. Shock rolls through my entire body, causing me to shiver as I clutch my
stomach with a shaky hand. “What are you talking about? A baby isn’t a product, you damn monster!”
“You are a troublesome incubator,” the Viktoid complains, suddenly lunging for me. I dart away
and throw my weapon at his head, but my belly makes me slower and more cumbersome than I would
like.
“Sorry to be such a bother,” I spat, reaching for the exit. “I’ll show myself out then.”
Slapping my hand against the palm reader, the door hisses. It slides open and I dash out into a
long, empty corridor.
The lighting is poor, much poorer than the examination room. I stumble about while my eyes
struggle to adjust. The Viktoid’s claws clack loudly against the floor behind me. His steps grow
louder and more menacing with each passing moment. It feels like he’ll reach out and grab me at any
second, and I’ll be helpless to fight him off in my condition.
Voices echoing in the hall tells me I won’t be alone for long. Nearly crippled by the fear
pounding in my heart, I slap door controls as I pass them, looking for a place to hide. Then, without
thinking, I dart into the first unlocked room I find.
As soon as the door slides shut behind me, I immediately regret my decision. The space is dark
and foreboding. A weird, wet scent assaults my nose. It smells like metal and old garbage that’s not
quite rotting yet. My belly churns, but it isn’t from the baby I unexpectedly find myself carrying.
Nerves jangling in alarm, I step deeper into the darkness and the light flickers on. There are tubs
of slimy, red meat splayed all over the room. I heave, spewing what little I had in my stomach all
over the floor. A hard, clawed hand grabs my arm, yanking me away from the tubs.
“Stupid breeder. Now I must clean up after you,” the Viktoid growls in anger, dragging me out of
the strange room and back towards the lab.
A strange alarm blares overhead. My Viktoid captor curses beneath his breath, rattling his ugly
mandibles. Other Viktoids appear out of nowhere, running past us and deeper into the ship. Some of
them are armed with heavy artillery while others carry smaller pistols and knives. It strikes me as
odd since these vicious four armed aliens need so many damn weapons, but then again, they are the
galactic alliance’s worst enemy for a reason.
His pace quickens, making it more difficult to keep up with him. We pass the examination room I
woke up in, and I realize he’s taking me somewhere else entirely. Fear twists into knots and just like
that, the sensation to heave is back again.
“Where are you taking me?” I ask, still struggling to find a way out of his iron-grip.
He ignores my question and continues onward until we reach a door embedded in a thick glass
panel that I can’t see through. Pressing his palm to a keypad, the door slides open with a quiet whoosh
and he shoves me inside. I stumble into a small cot that takes up half of my tiny new cell.
“You can’t keep me here,” I yell, turning as the Viktoid guard shuts the door.
The panel flashes red, indicating that I’m locked in. Now I’m trapped like a rat. No, a guinea
pig. If I don’t get out of here soon, who knows what will happen to me?
No, us, I tell myself firmly, cradling my belly. Whatever the hell is going on here, I am not alone
in this. When I make it out of here, I’m definitely reporting this to the authorities.
A shiver ripples down my spine now that I’m not in immediate danger. This has to be some
nightmare…there’s no other explanation for my predicament. People disappear all the time.
Everybody knows that...but waking up heavily pregnant, trapped in some illegal medical facility?
That’s undeniably surreal.
How did the Viktoids even get anywhere near my station? They aren’t allowed in that sector, or
in most of the central sectors for that matter. It was only a week ago my ex-boyfriend dumped me, or
at least what feels like a week. I sure as hell wasn’t pregnant then. How long have I been here?
A mixture of emotions fill my chest. I’ve always wanted kids, but the timing was never right, and
all the men I ended up dating expressed a clear disinterest in starting a family. Now I’m pregnant,
lost, and somehow, a prisoner of the Viktoids. The worst part is I don’t even know who the father is.
Some luck I have, right?
Perhaps if I close my eyes and fall asleep, I’d wake up in my own bed and life could go back to
the way things were. Not that my life was so fantastic before all this, but I had a good job and earned
a decent living. Being a massage therapist fulfilled me in ways I could never walk away from. It
wasn’t the most glamorous job, but easing pain and suffering through therapeutic touch was something
I took pride in. By helping others to feel better, I was helping make the universe a better place. At
least that’s how I looked at it.
What am I going to do now? As big as I am, I had to have been gone for months. By now, my
quarters were probably long gone, my belongings no doubt sold to pay my final bills, and my job
filled by another therapist. My entire life was gone. I was going to have to start over. With a newborn
no less.
Did my friends even think I was still alive? Had anyone reported me missing? Surely my closest
friend Carissa would? My situation is dire, and I’m really scared, but I’m not losing hope yet. There
has to be a way out of this. I just need to figure out how.
Footsteps thunder outside the room, but thankfully, no one comes to my door.
Running my hands over the door seals, I search for an access panel. There has to be a way to
open the door from the inside. My nails catch on the edges of something and I attempt to pry it open.
An alarm blares, startling me. The ship lurches violently and throws me off my feet. I can
already feel a bruise forming where I hit the wall. Worried about hurting myself or the baby, I crawl
up onto the cot and wedge myself into the corner. The ship continues to jerk and shudder several more
times before everything goes silent.
Something big is happening and there isn’t a damn thing I can do about it.
∞∞∞

Ca’lek
“What the hell is keeping them?” I snarl, pounding my fist against the top of a nearby crate.
While some of us handle the cargo in the main bay, two of my crew are searching another level
and should be back by now.
This was supposed to be a simple raid, but it had been anything but. A lucky shot damaged our
engines, and Messa was frantically working to fix it before reinforcements arrived. This mission was
turning into one big mess.
At the time, I had thought spotting the Viktoid research vessel outside the shipping lanes was a
blessing in disguise, but so far it hasn’t been. Sure, it gave Va’naar and I an excuse not to return home
right away and earn some extra credits, but these bastards had been more troublesome than I had
expected.
Viktoid warships were best avoided because of their firepower, but their smaller scientific
spacecraft were—in general—easier targets and more likely to carry what we needed. This crew,
however, had been much more aggressive than what everyone expected. But despite their efforts, the
corridors were littered with bodies. Those who survived the skirmish have been rounded up and
locked into an empty cabin.
Viktoids were generally unwelcome in just about every corner of the known universe, especially
after their dietary proclivities became known to the Galactic Alliance. Now, if they’re spotted
anywhere near civilized territories, alliance forces retaliate by chasing them into deep space once
more. Unfortunately, they were the only species able to produce Vindi serum, and until it could be
replicated, the Galactic Alliance couldn’t officially go after their home planet, not when so many
desperate people relied on the medication.
Still, not many people wanted to go through the trouble of imprisoning them so they could
harvest the serum themselves. With an indefinite bounty on all the Viktoids and the serum they
produced, taking their ship was a highly profitable risk. Once we have disabled their ship, secured
the serum, and reported the ship’s location, we’d get twice the payout. We just have to retrieve the
serum first.
It would be nice if something could go right today.
“Ca’lek!” Va’naar’s voice rang loud and urgent through my comm unit, grating on my already
frayed nerves. “You need to get up here.”
“What is it?” I answer my secondary with irritation laced in my voice.
“We have a problem,” he replies, sounding strained. My secondary never sounds strained. It can
be downright disgusting just how laid back the male usually is, even in battle.
“Where are you?”
“Medical Bay 3, Level 2.”
“Ha’dir, you and Kuma finish this, then get back to the ship and be ready to jump,” I order as I
head for the lift.
“Aye Cap’n,” Ha’dir answers, grabbing the control pad for the grav-pallet.
Level 2 was only a few floors up from the cargo bay, which made the ride short lived. Va’naar
greets me as soon as the lift opens. Whatever the problem was, it was bad. Every hair on Va’naar’s
head and ruff stood on end, while his tail fluffs up in agitation.
“What’s wrong?” I demand, observing Va’naar’s mood. He practically jitters with tension.
Duresh bumps into me and hurries by with a crate in his arms.
“Brace yourself, it’s…it’s not good.”
Leading the way, Va’naar strides over to an opaque observation window. With a deep breath, he
presses the button to clear it, revealing the room on the other side. When the glass clears, every hair
on my body bristles at the scene inside.
“Vren’s unholy balls!” I exclaim, the curse flying out of my mouth.
The small room contains a single occupant. Sitting on a tiny bed, crammed in the corner furthest
from the door, is a gravid female. A human, if I remember the species correctly. The female cradles
the front of her protruding belly with one hand, while the other fidgets with her formless medical
gown. Her eyes warily watch the door waiting for something to happen.
“I thought you said we cleared the ship after the fight?”
“I thought it was clear! I heard some noise and started checking around. When I hit the control
panel by accident, the window appeared. This room must be shielded because she doesn’t register on
the scanners, even from here,” Va’naar says, holding up a handheld to show me the readings. “This is
clearly a breeder ship. They were hiding her.”
“Of course they’re going to hide her!” I growl, my fists are balled so tight that my claws dig into
my palms. “Sentient experimentation is illegal in Alliance Space. Are there anymore?” I place a hand
on the window and stare at the tiny, vulnerable looking human. My heart aches for the delicate female
and what she must have gone through already.
“No. I modified my scanner and checked the other cells after I found her,” he replies, cringing.
“The stockroom on this floor is full. It appears they've already harvested the rest.”
“Vile, skrut licking insects! Get this damn door open. We’re not leaving her in this shithole.”
Attaching his handheld to the door controls, he sets it to hack the lock. A few tense minutes pass
while the ship’s systems fight the invasive tech. Finally, the handheld beeps, turns green, and the locks
disengage. Silently, the door slides open and the small female’s wide green eyes focus on us. She
tenses, bringing both hands over her belly and hisses through her teeth.
I didn’t even know humans hissed. Intriguing...
“Easy little one, we just want to help,” Va’naar coos, holding his hands palms up in a non-
threatening gesture.
“You stay back,” she snaps. “I’m not letting anyone else touch me.”
Shock and disgust tear at my heart. What had they done to this helpless, frightened female? Rage
and a strange, overwhelming need to protect her sweeps over me. Va’naar glances at me from the
side, looking just as shocked and angry as I feel.
“It’s not us little one. This is a Viktoid ship, do we look Viktoid?” he asks gently.
Her tense posture relaxes a tiny fraction while she studies us. “No. I...I guess not, but that
doesn’t explain why you’re here.”
“This ship strayed a little too far from the normal travel lanes. We happen to be opportunists,”
Va’naar says, grinning.
As my secondary, Va’naar is softer and more nurturing than I, which is why I haven’t stepped in,
but I find myself resisting the urge to smack him for his flippancy.
“You mean pirates,” she says with a snort, her lips curl upward into a soft smile.
“You could say that, but we prefer privateers,” I interrupt, shrugging my shoulders with
nonchalance. This conversation is taking too long. “We only go after ships that belong to trash like the
Viktoids. Now, we do need to move along.”
“Why should I go with you?” she asks, her voice laced with suspicion.
“Because reinforcements are on their way, and unless you wish to stay here—”
“Ca’lek,” Va’naar protests, his claws digging into my shoulder. “I must insist we take her with
us!”
Turning my head, I glare at him for thinking I’d even consider letting the female stay. Of course
we’re taking her with us, but it would be best if she is willing and doesn’t fight us every step of the
way. Sometimes I wonder if he's really the nurturing one in our bond.
Out of the corner of my eye, I can see the female open her mouth to question me further, but my
comm chimes an urgent tone.
“Cap! We’ve got incoming! Three Viktoid fighters heading this way,” Messa yells through the
speaker.
“Now female!” Running out of patience, I extend a hand to help her up.
Finally, it dawns on her that her best chance of survival is with us. Ignoring my hand, she pushes
herself off the sleeping platform. Va’naar brushes past me to assist the struggling female to her feet.
Oddly enough, it takes everything I have to hold back a sudden urge to bite him as he passes. She
hesitates a brief moment before accepting his help and I find myself irritated that she would take his
assistance over mine.
How was my help any different from Va’naar’s? Wasn’t I good enough for her?
Where did that thought come from? I shake my head and turn to leave.
As we head through the door, a proximity alert sounds overhead, signaling the arrival of the
Viktoid fighters and ending whatever time we thought we had left. Growling, I turn back and scoop
her into my arms. She squawks at the sudden movement, but wisely throws her arms around my neck
and holds on while we run back to the lift. Her warm, sweet scent curls into my nose and
unconsciously, I breathe her deeper into my lungs.
She smells good, like home. Huffing softly, I shake my head. What was that ridiculous thought?
The ship slightly rocks as the Viktoid reinforcements clamp onto the hull and begin pulling
themselves in for boarding. Our ship is hidden beneath the aft engines. Luckily it hasn’t been spotted
yet. As far as the newcomers know, we were already gone. As long as we board our ship in time, we
could fly away without further incident. Though considering the conditions we found the female in, I’d
love it if we took a few more of these assholes with us.
With any luck, Ha’dir and Kuma were able to transfer all the cargo in time. The box Duresh
carried would have been the Vindi serum. The colonists on Rissa V are in desperate need of the
precious medicine. Without it, the outbreak of Corshu virus would spread and too many would die.
Only the Viktoids produce the lifesaving serum and they hoard it, selling only to those who could pay
the most credits for it. My crew and I are more than happy to relieve them of their overstock. And this
female had the gall to call us pirates. We do what we do because it is right. The rich exploit the
helpless everyday. I see nothing wrong with leveling the odds.
Va’naar stops abruptly, sniffing at the air.
“What is it?” I hiss beneath my breath, my tail bristling with impatience. I want to get the female
to safety. Nearly shaking with my need to protect her and get her off this Vren damned ship, I can’t
suppress the low growl in my chest.
“Something smells off,” he mutters, taking a second, careful whiff.
I sniff cautiously, sneezing at the faint odor of reelu gas. His nose is better than mine, but how
does he not recognize the off-putting odor? “Fuck, they’re gassing the ship, run!”
Snarling, I shove the female into Va’naar’s arms and dig a breather out of his pocket and pull it
over Va’naar’s face. I grab my own as we move and fit it to the female’s face, sealing the edges.
Risking the gas hurting her pups was out of the question.
“What about you?” she asks as worry lines mar her delicate face.
Her question catches me off guard. Shaking my head firmly, I give her a look that dares her to
defy my orders, then I push Va'naar to keep moving. Should anyone catch up to us, I will deal with
them swiftly, knowing that both my secondary and the female were safe and secure. As the primary in
our bond, it is my job to protect Va’naar and the female he carries.
“Get in.” Following them into the lift, I tap my comm. “Duresh, we’re on our way. Be ready to
jump as soon as we’re on board.”
“We can’t jump in close proximity to the ship, we’ll rip it apart,” he protests.
“Fuck ‘em! They’ve been experimenting with people here. This ship and its crew can go to
Vren’s deepest hells for all I care!” I snarl into my comm, slamming my palm across the lift’s
controls.
“Yes sir!”
The lift shudders when it reaches the bottom of the shaft, then opens into the corridor between
the cargo bays. Shouts of anger can be heard behind us as we emerge. There’s the whine of laser
pistols powering up. Drawing my weapon, I shove Va’naar towards the bay, placing myself between
him and the attackers. If I don’t make it, at least my secondary will. And there is no one in this
universe who will stop his revenge.
“Get to the ship!” I bark, charging my plas-rifle and preparing myself to fight anyone who dares
to get in our way.
“Wait. No!” The female squirms in his arms, protesting as he runs. Her head peers over his
shoulder directly at me, her big eyes wide with concern.