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  Var

  Mina Carter

  Susan Hayes

  Contents

  About the book

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Bonus Content - Rath

  About the Authors

  MINA CARTER & SUSAN HAYES

  Alienalphas.com

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental. It is fiction so facts and events may not be accurate except to the current world the book takes place in.

  Copyright © 2021 Mina Carter & Susan Hayes

  Var (Book 1 of the Omega Collective series)

  First Print & E-book Publication: April 2021

  Cover Design: Mina Carter

  Editor: Amanda Brown

  Published by: Three Owls Publishing

  About the book

  She’d do anything to find her daughter - even make a bargain with a beast.

  Leia wants nothing to do with the aliens who invaded Earth. They’re powerful, dangerous creatures who are a threat to every surviving human, especially women like her.

  When alien raiders take her daughter, she’s left with only one chance to see her again. Find one of the aliens and offer him a deal.

  She never expected the beast she found would be the new Overseer’s personal bodyguard. And she never imagined what would happen when she agreed to be claimed by an alien warrior named Var...

  He came to this planet as a conqueror - only to find a female who brought him to his knees.

  Var’s orders were simple. Deal with a rogue warrior and protect the inhabitants of a human village. Then she ran into view...

  Leia isn’t like any female he’s ever seen. She defies and confounds him, but there’s no mistaking what she is… his.

  This series contains hot, growly aliens on a mission to find their mates - and a group of women determined to free their planet... and themselves.

  1

  Omegas stayed hidden. Always.

  At least, that had been the creed Leia had lived by for the last twenty years. Ever since the Tolath had arrived and laid waste to Earth, she’d been on the run. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Only after the aliens had exploded their DNA bombs in the upper atmosphere and changed the human genome forever did people like her have to hide.

  For twenty years she and other omegas had hidden themselves away, pretending to be betas any way they could. Between sticking to human-held villages and using herbs and other chemicals to disguise their omega scent, they’d managed to hide from the alien patrols and searches. With the help of the betas, many of whom put their own lives in danger to shield them, they scurried out of sight as soon as they heard engines on the horizon or saw the disturbance in the air that indicated Tolath air-bikes on the move. Even a strange male voice was enough to scatter women with the genetic curse and those girls who were showing signs of it and send them into hiding.

  Leia shivered as she hid in the darkness of a doorway and waited for the village square to empty of people. The sound of a familiar male voice on the other side of the square, near the village hall, had stopped her in her tracks. B’rex. He was the alpha that had “claimed” this area, including the village, as his personal kingdom. He didn’t usually come here, but since his omega had died a week ago everyone had been on high alert as he stormed around, spouting the usual Tolath line about the betas “hiding what was owed.”

  Shit. She bit her lip as she pulled further back into the shadows.

  If B’rex was here, she was in danger. She’d stopped taking her scent blockers a week ago, and if he caught a whiff of her scent she was done for. She’d never reach her goal—the exchange post outside of town.

  Leia skirted carefully around the edges of the village, making sure to stay downwind of B’rex. As she flitted between the buildings, she was forced to hide behind the flotsam and jetsam the villagers had scavenged from the old city just a few hours away.

  She could barely remember the time “before” when she’d been free. When she’d been able to walk down the street at any time of day and take her daughter to the playground.

  All that was gone. The cities of men were ruins destroyed by alien bombardment and age, the playground long gone. She rubbed her hand over the center of her chest. Even her daughter had been taken from her, rounded up in a surprise search.

  She reached her goal at last, spying her target just outside the village—the trade post. It was why she was here. An omega in the open. Waiting for them to come and find her. She narrowed her eyes and studied the dirt flats around her, stretching as far as the eye could see in either direction. It didn’t matter what she could see. They had cloaking technology. She wouldn’t see them until they were right on top of her.

  And then it would be over and the trap sprung. Gathering her courage, she broke from cover and ran. All she had to do was reach the exchange post…

  He was alone, racing across the pockmarked wasteland beyond the walls of the citadel. For a few hours, he was free. Solitude was not something A’varen got to experience often. His duty didn’t allow it. It was his honor to guard the Lord Overseer himself, a task that demanded all his skill, focus, and time.

  Today, though, he was free from duty. His lord was spending the day in meetings with his most trusted advisors—men who would lay down their lives for him without hesitation should a threat arise. Not that they expected any. Zabor T’ah had not been breached since Lord Overseer Tane and his tribe had taken control of this planet recently. The xarthing human rebels had never dared to attack Zabor T’ah again. It would be suicide to try, and as insane as the rebels were, they did not die easily or without good cause. They were stubborn, ungrateful, and utterly confounding, but they were clever, too. He allowed himself a momentary weakness, an admission he would never make aloud. The humans leading the rebellion were too smart. That’s why the lord was meeting with his men today. The L’crav should have tamed this world years ago, but the Tolath who had conquered Earth had missed the differences in this race. They’d made mistakes and then compounded them with violence and cruelty.

  The humans had fought back. Instead of a simple takeover where they claimed the omegas and established a breeding population, Earth had become a problem. The changes to the human’s DNA had made them omegas, but there were too few of them, and they stayed hidden. Some whispered it had actually made the women more independent, but no one dared to say such a thing in the hearing of the Lord Overseer or any of the highblood.

  He wasn’t one of them, though. No royal blood ran in his veins. He’d fought his way through the ranks with his fists and his heart, proving himself worthy to be elevated—not to a position of power but to stand guard over those who wielded it.

  His comms crackled, so he opened the line and spoke. “Var here.”

  “Where are you?” It was his kinsmen, A’rath.

  “Out.” He didn’t get much time off, and he didn’t want to be bothered today.

  “I checked the locator on your air-bike. I know you’re near Clearwater village. There’s a problem.”

  He grimaced. This whole planet was a problem. “What is it?”

  “One of the L’crav killed his omega last week, and he’s causing trouble. Name’s B’rex. The Lo
rd Overseer asked me to handle it, but I’ve got another problem to deal with and can’t leave right now.”

  A ball of fury burned in Var’s gut. Omegas were to be protected. Only barbarians like the L’crav believed otherwise. It was why they had lost this planet. “Where is he?” he asked, his voice dropping to a growl that matched the engine of his air-bike.

  “In the village. The village’s leader claims this alpha believes they are hiding omegas and he’s demanding they provide him with a new one. If that’s true, he’s in violation of Lord Tane’s edict.”

  Xarth. “I’m on my way.”

  “Thought you’d say that. I’ll be in touch once I’ve dealt with things here. Good hunting.”

  The village wasn’t far. He’d deliberately avoided it because he wanted to be alone. Apparently the gods had other plans for him.

  He barely slowed as he reached the outskirts of the village. It wasn’t much more than a collection of huts huddled together in the middle of the wastelands. B’rex had to be wrong. Var couldn’t imagine a delicate omega surviving in a place as harsh as this.

  It was mid-afternoon. The center square should be full of people, but only a handful of humans were in sight. They all wore drab grey clothes and kept their heads down as they scuttled away from the only source of noise in the village... the roar of an alpha.

  As he stopped, a vision in red streaked out from between two buildings, her hair streaming behind her as she ran. Not ten paces behind her was B’rex, his face already contorted with the change. Eyes black, fangs dropped, his taloned hands reaching for the female in red.

  The wind shifted then, and her scent hit him like a hammer blow to the chest. Omega. The roar burst from him before he could stop it, a bellow of challenge as he threw himself off the bike and gave chase. The change hit him between one step and the next, the sudden bulk of his bigger body tearing the seams of his jacket. But he didn’t care. His black eyes fixed on the omega and the other alpha chasing her.

  The barren landscape was nothing more than a blur as he ran. All he could see was his opponent as the other alpha reached out to grab the little omega. She screamed and threw herself sideways, the alpha’s claws tearing her scarlet skirts before he overshot.

  Var didn’t give him the chance for another run at the female.

  “Mine!” he snarled as he caught up, slamming broadside into the other alpha and taking him down to the dirt.

  They tore at each other with fangs and claws, uttering howls of fury and challenge as they fought. B’rex raked his claws down Var’s side. The pain was a distant thing that only spurred Var deeper into the change. Primal rage flowed through him and he drove his claws deep into the other male’s body, the need to utterly destroy his rival fueling every blow.

  The coppery tang of blood filled the air, and slowly the other male’s challenges changed to cries of pain, and then to fear. With a twist and a vicious slash of his claws across Var’s chest, he managed to wriggle free. Var slammed a hand down on his back, his claws raking vicious furrows as the male crawled on his belly to get away. Sensing his end at Var’s hands, he was fast, getting away before Var could snatch him back. Rather than run, the wounds on his back evidence of his cowardice for all to see, he headed for the omega. Grabbing her, he shoved her between them—between two enraged males where she could be hurt, even killed.

  Fury exploded through him. Var didn’t stop. Didn’t even slow down as he tore the omega away and went after the male in a flurry of claws and heavy blows. He didn’t stop until the male beneath him was gone. He sat up, threw back his head, and roared his triumph to the empty sky.

  Then, he caught her scent again, and he forgot about the male lying destroyed beneath him. He rose to his feet and turned to look at the human female. The omega. His omega.

  2

  Leia had screamed so much that no sound emerged now as the bloodied beast of an alpha turned toward her. Swallowing in fear, she backed away, trying to keep the ruined skirts of her dress covering her. Running was pointless. Alphas were mean and fast, as these two had just proven. She couldn’t outrun them. Hell, she probably couldn’t outrun them even on one of their air-bikes.

  Huge. Terrible. Deadly. Bestial… Those were the words that filled her head as she got her first real look at the male in front of her. His all-black eyes gleamed with hunger and a terrifying intelligence she hadn’t seen before. The other alphas had been animals. Cruel. Violent. Base. This male was… more. And that terrified her. He was big, even for an alpha, standing nearly seven feet tall in his current form—what the humans called beast mode. None of them understood the transformation, but they’d learned to fear it.

  Dark hair, a jaw shadowed with stubble, and shoulders as broad as a building, he towered over her, blotting out the sun and sky.

  Her hands clenched tightly in the skirts of her sundress, the only dress she owned and the prettiest thing she’d worn for years. Omegas didn’t do pretty. They did stay out of sight and don’t call attention to themselves. They wore mud streaked on their skin and hoods over their heads to hide. So being out in the open, in the red lace sundress, her dark hair brushed to a silken cape over her shoulders, the strands of grey hidden as best she could… it felt wrong. Sickeningly wrong.

  He tracked her movements with those black-on-black eyes. But she couldn’t run. It was too late. If she ran now, he would hunt her down like a wild animal. Taking a step to the side, she put her hand on the post embedded in the dirt at the side of the road. An exchange post, it was where bargains could be made and goods bartered. Where the Tolath sometimes traded goods or medicine for human items they couldn’t get anywhere else.

  Like an omega.

  She just had to hope the beast-like alpha was in the mood to trade his help.

  A growl rose from his chest. It was low and just on the edge of her hearing, but she heard it. Her knees weakened and the urge to run filled her again as her survival instincts kicked in. She locked her legs into place, knuckles white in the midst of her skirts. The other hand she kept flat on the warm metal of the post as she watched the alpha stalk toward her. A small whimper tried to work its way free of her throat, but she swallowed it back as he stopped in front of her.

  He didn’t move, just stood there, chest heaving as he looked down at her, dark eyes locked onto her. She didn’t get much of a look at his face, just enough to register all the torn leather, piercing black eyes with no whites, and the darker lines that marked his chest like a tattoo… though she’d heard whispers they were born with those markings.

  She didn’t dare look for long. Humans did not look at the Tolath directly. It wasn’t permitted. She bit back a small whimper of fear.

  He held out his hand to her. “You are mine now. Tell me your name.”

  The deep rumble of his voice made her shiver, the edge of that dangerous growl still in it. Some of the words were mangled by his growl but she could still understand him when he spoke in her language.

  “My lord,” she murmured, refusing to take his hand and shaking her head at the fact she was disagreeing with one of them. “I seek exchange by your laws.”

  He dropped his hand and inhaled again, leaning in to sniff along the side of her neck. “There will be no exchange. You are mine,” he growled roughly. “You are an omega. My omega.”

  He made her jump when he moved. She tried to skitter sideways to get the post between them, but he had her hand, the strength in his terrifying. She risked a small glance up, finding him watching her with black eyes.

  “I touched the post,” she argued, her heart doing its best to break through her ribcage from pounding so hard. “By your species’ law, I can request exchange.”

  At least, that was what she’d always been taught. Right now, though, she wasn’t sure with her thoughts muddied by fear and the bloodied alpha looming over her. Her knees weakened, heat rolling through her as the need to agree to whatever he said filled her. Biting her lip, she ignored it, shaking her head and focusing on what she needed
to do.

  Looking up, she met his gaze directly. “Exchange. Please?”

  “Tell me your name,” he ordered, but his full lips twisted into the faintest hint of a satisfied smile. “Then you can tell me what you came here to exchange.”

  “Leia.” Her voice was soft but she knew he’d heard. “My name is Leia. I need to find my daughter. She was…” She paused to collect herself. She knew better than to show fear to a predator. “She’s an omega as well. She was caught in a raid a few weeks ago.”

  “You have an omega daughter? You have bred true already?” He studied her for long moments, and then his chest expanded.

  “I am A’varen. Var to those I trust.” He stood at full height and claimed his position with pride. “I am the shield of the Lord Overseer himself.”

  “Nonono...” She managed to snatch her hand from his, her eyes widening with panic.

  She knew the name of the Overseer’s Shield. A’varen was the stuff of legend and nightmare, said to have killed thousands with his bare hands when he’d arrived here. Women were rumored to have thrown themselves from the walls of the citadel rather than end up in his bed. She couldn’t be claimed by the shield.

  She’d expected to be found by a border guard or something, someone she could slip away from one night and make her escape once she’d found Savannah. But if he took her to the citadel, she would never escape. She would always be a slave and in the worst possible way—a slave to an alpha, forced to serve in his bed.

  She backed away, shaking her head as she looked at him, her gaze flitting over his bloodied and torn leathers. Then her nerve finally broke… with a small cry, she grabbed her skirts and ran.