Tribe Outsider, page 1
part #2 of Chosen Series
Tribe
Chosen Series Book Two
Stacy Jones
Tribe: Part One (Chosen Series Book Two) by Stacy Jones
Edited by H.R. Hooks
Cover by Christian Bentulan
Artwork by Christof Grobelski
Formatted by Keyminor Publishing
Copyright 2018 © Stacy Jones
All rights reserved.
This book is protected under Copyright Laws. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, please contact the author.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this story are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual events, business establishments, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
This book is dedicated to my grandmother and grandfather.
Granny Gums and Papa Larry, that box of old ‘bodice-ripper’ romance books you sent me when I was suffering from postpartum rekindled my childhood love of reading and helped pull me out of the drowning depths of depression. My picking up that first book, blushing bright enough I’m sure it was visible from space, and falling in love with the characters within, set me on this path and directly led me to where and who I am today.
If I thank you everyday for the rest of my life, it won’t be enough. You showed me a world where anything was possible, where love conquers all, and where even the sky can never limit me. I can visit fantastical worlds, fall in love over and over again, and make discoveries unrestricted by what is thought possible.
I love you and, from the absolute bottom of my heart, I thank you.
– Always, your Stacy Teeth
Contents
Acknowledgments
Frrar
Tor
Arruk
Drrak
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
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
To Be Continued…
Glossary
Language Glossary
About the Author
Acknowledgments
To readers: your messages of encouragement and support mean more to me than I have the words to express. Thank you for loving my characters, for visiting the world I thought would only ever exist in my mind, and for clamoring for more. I hope you’ll continue to love the worlds I create because I’m addicted, now, and there’s no getting rid of me.
To my betas: your help made this novel better than I could have made it on my own. Thank you for laughing with me. Thank you for helping me to be a better writer. Thank you for the time, effort, and love you gave me and my books. I’d hug the shit out of every one of your necks if I could reach you.
To HH, Knower Of Rules: Thank you for your knowledge, your enthusiasm, and your unwavering belief. You see deeper than most, feel more than most, and I love you.
P.S. Don’t think I can’t hear your indulgent smirk when you gently remind me of the rules only for me to break them.
Chapter 1
L ily squealed as she dodged the hands trying to grab her, running as fast as her legs would carry her through the cavern. She was trying to reach the one safe spot in the cave, the rock formation she called an island, where she slept.
Unfortunately, to get there she had to first make it past her pursuers.
Don’t look back, don’t look back…
Arms pumping, breath sawing in and out of her chest, long hair flying behind her, she was ten feet, then nine, then eight from safety and was gathering herself to make the leap… when arms grabbed her out of the air and brought her against a broad muscled chest.
But she was not willing to concede defeat. She knew her attacker’s weakness .
Reaching her arms behind her, she dug her fingers into his ribs, smiling in triumph when he shouted in surprise, and his arms released her to fend off her tickling fingers.
Ha! Take that!
Lily hit the ground running and was almost to the island when a second pursuer cut her off from safety, and a third came at her from the side.
Shiiitt!
Emitting another high-pitched squeal, she quickly changed direction, nearly losing her footing in the process, and dodged to the right, hoping to circle around them.
She almost succeeded, but the first assailant had recovered from her vicious tickle attack and stepped into her path.
She was running too fast to stop herself in time and crashed into his chest. It was like running into an immovable wall. She grunted upon impact and would have bounced right back off him to fall to the hard stone floor if he hadn’t wrapped his arms around her.
She tilted her head back to look up at her attacker… only to burst into a fit of giggles when she found Arruk smiling down at her wide enough to show even white teeth and two sets of oversized upper canines.
It had taken them a while to lose their fear of showing her their teeth, but she was glad they had. They had beautiful smiles, inhuman though they may be, and it made her happy every time she saw them.
“I concede defeat to you, good sir, but only if you’ll protect me from the other two!” she panted dramatically, looking over her shoulder in pretend fear at Frrar and Tor advancing on her.
Turning back to Arruk, Lily gave him her best damsel in distress impersonation.
“Protect my Lily?” he asked in mock confusion, as if he needed clarification on what she wanted.
“Yes, yes, protect your Lily,” she urged, nodding her head quickly.
She could almost feel Tor and Frrar getting closer and closer as they crept up behind her and had to stifle the urge to squeal like prey and run away as the anticipation of them pouncing on her grew.
“No,” he refused, smiling wickedly while shaking his head slowly.
“Traitor!” she gasped.
She jumped in Arruk’s hold when more arms slid around her from behind, and a big, warm body pressed against her back. Tilting her head back, she looked up at Frrar.
“Did you hear that? He said he wouldn’t save me from you!” she exclaimed in mock outrage.
“Mmm,” Frrar murmured, looking down at her with an moue of feigned sympathy before a smile broke out on his face as well.
Huffing indignantly, she turned to Tor creeping up on them from the side and gave him her best pout. He gazed at her impassively until Frrar and Arruk looked away from him, then he slowly blinked first one eye, then the other. Lily had to bite her lip to hold in a laugh at his attempt at winking but understood his silent message.
Tor, quick as lightning, snatched her from between Frrar and Arruk, secured her to his chest with all four of his arms, and took off running for their sleeping platform. The guys gave shouts of surprise before quickly giving chase, but Tor was too fast and leapt onto the island with her clinging to him like a monkey, then spun around and roared in triumph, raising his upper arms into the air in victory.
Lily was laughing in delight as she uncoiled her legs from around his waist and dropped to stand on their bed in front of him. Turning to the two standing at the foot of the island, she gave them a smug look before very maturely sticking her tongue out at them.
Frrar and Arruk looked up at her, then at each other, exchanging some silent communication before facing her again with nearly identical wicked smiles tipping their lips.
Uh oh …
As one, they launched themselves onto the island before pouncing on her, taking her and, because he was standing right behind her, Tor down to the thick cushion of leaves below them.
They wrestled around, her laughing, them rumbling, until she somehow came out on top of the pile and found herself sprawled across all three of them. She was sure they had let her win since they were all significantly bigger and stronger than she was, but she didn’t care. She gazed down at them, long brown hair a tangled mess from their play, cheeks flushed, and a huge, beaming smile on her face.
“That was the best game of chase yet,” she said happily as she leaned down to kiss first Frrar, since he was closest, then Arruk, and finally, Tor.
They had been at the caves for a little over a month, as best as she could tell—enough time for her to become accustomed to life on an alien planet and begin to feel settled in her relationship with her guys.
They had spent that time learning more about each other and becoming more comfortable together. For her, that meant getting the guys to loosen up a bit and not be so submissive all the time, encouraging them to relax enough to play with her and be themselves .
Arruk was still quiet and gentle but no longer seemed self-conscious about his size or tiptoed around her as if she were made of glass. He knew she wa
Frrar was still intense and prone to worrying and over-protectiveness, but she had shown him that she knew how to take care of herself and didn’t intentionally put herself in dangerous situations. She had also shown him that it was okay to relax, laugh, and have fun with her—that he didn’t have to be so tense and serious all the time.
Tor was still mischievous and impulsive, but instead of looking worried after he startled or surprised her, he learned her care for him was real and that he didn’t need to fear she would get angry or reject him.
They also spent time trying to learn each other’s languages. Thankfully, after Lily repeatedly lost her voice trying to pronounce their words, the guys put more effort into learning her language as opposed to teaching her theirs, despite her arguing that she could get it right eventually. Their words required a lot of barks, grunts, and growls in order to enunciate them correctly, and unfortunately, her puny human vocal cords were suited to none of those. The end result of her efforts bore closer resemblance to a yipping Chihuahua than the sexy rumbling growls the guys were capable of.
The real problem they had encountered, once they focused on learning English, was that her language was much more complex than theirs. After a few weeks, the guys could make simple sentences to convey direct thoughts and feelings, but for anything more complicated than that, they resorted to their made-up sign language and a lot of guessing or a mix of both their tongues. It wasn’t perfect, but it worked for them.
All in all, Lily was happy and settling in nicely. The only counterpoint to her contentment—other than the near constant fear in the back of her mind that the aliens that had abducted her would come back—was the storms. By storms, she meant terrifying, loud, earth-shaking tempests that sounded like they were tearing the planet apart.
She had braved going outside their cave one week and still had nightmares about what she’d experienced.
Through the heavy downpour of rain, she had just barely seen that the once beautiful, vibrant, blue-green sky was now ominously dark and streaked with lightning. The boom of thunder was deafening and strong enough to shake the very mountain on which she was standing˛.
When she had gathered her courage and moved to the edge of the outcropping, she saw that the previously soggy field had completely disappeared under water. It looked like the ocean, going as far into the distance as she could see with only the tops of the tallest trees rising above water level. The water had gotten so high that, where before there had been at least two hundred feet between them and the ground, now, the water was only twenty feet below the entrance to the cave.
Lily desperately hoped the level didn’t rise anymore or they would be in big trouble.
By far, the worst discovery she’d made on her little excursion was the… things in the water.
There were big creatures that looked like giant water dragons with long serpentine bodies and iridescent fins that reminded her of wings. At first they had looked pretty, dangerous, but beautiful. She had been entranced, watching them dance through the water. That is, until one of the creatures caught sight of her up on the cliff, and she saw its face.
It had huge cloudy eyes and a massive mouth full of foot-long needle sharp teeth. It reminded her of pictures she’d seen of anglerfish.
When the monster stretched the skin up and back on either side of its mouth in a terrifying, horribly-unnerving, and entirely too-purposeful imitation of a smile she had screamed and turned to flee back into the safety of the cave and her men. Instead, she ran face first into a muscled chest, hard enough to knock the breath from her, and looked up in a panic, only to find all three of her men had come running at her scream.
Frrar, who she had run into and who was out there with her to gather food, opened his mouth, she was sure to ask her what was wrong. Lily hadn’t given him time to speak. She grabbed the one arm not holding food and dragged him behind her while frantically pushing the other two back into the cave.
She’d had no idea if the monsters could jump high enough to reach her, but she was not taking any chances. She wanted to get herself and her men away from the ledge and out of the monster’s sight.
After that, she lost all desire to go outside again and insisted the guys go out in twos, so they had someone to watch their backs. Thankfully, they didn’t need to go out often. There were fruit bearing trees and vines near the mouth of their cave, so their food stores never got too low, and they’d made bowls of woven fronds and hollowed out coconuts things, placing them under what had been skylights and were now rain holes to not only catch and hold drinking water, but to keep their cave from flooding.
With her thoughts no longer occupied solely with survival, she found herself thinking more and more about why her guys had been separated from their tribe. She had questioned Frrar about it but when he told her, through a mixture of broken English and charades, that they had been looking for her, she had been left with more questions than answers.
It didn’t make any sense to her that they would be looking for her, specifically, since they had no way of knowing that she would be abducted by some asshole fish people and released back into the wild on an alien planet, but they kept using the word Pasha which she had thought referred to her. That was one of the problems with trying to learn their language—a word she thought had one meaning ended up having multiple meanings.
Not like English! Other than the occasional homonym, we have a word for everything and sometimes ten or more for the exact same thing. No wonder they’re having trouble understanding. And that’s not even considering the ones they have no reference for on this planet.
She also knew from their conversations that their time at the caves was ending soon.
Lily understood they would have to, again, cross the field with the huge predators that hunted there, and she was dreading that. She was also extremely nervous because they were going to live with the guys’ tribe. Her men had reacted surprisingly well to seeing an alien, but she had no way of knowing how the rest of their people would respond to her.
Completely aside from the threat it represented to her survival, she cared deeply for her men, was falling in love with them, and didn’t want them to have to choose between her and their people if they reacted badly to her presence.
Lily was pulled from her troubling thoughts when she felt something tickle the back of her bare thigh. Yelping, she spun from where she was standing by the fire, only to find Tor quickly retracting his tail and smiling at her mischievously. Narrowing her eyes, she leaned to the side to look around him and found Arruk and Frrar exactly where she thought they would be, standing at a safe distance and watching her closely.
Tor had a knack for making her smile, so much so, that Frrar and Arruk had learned to send him to her first when PMS hit her or when being cooped up for so long made her snappy. He could almost always pull her out of a bad mood. When he couldn’t, Arruk would take his place and spirit her away to a quiet alcove to hold her or just sit with her until she felt better.
She didn’t feel ‘handled’ when they did this, because she knew they did it out of love, or what she hoped was love, and a desire to see her happy. She didn’t know how they dealt with being enclosed in the same space for such a long period; perhaps they were just used to it, but she wasn’t. She had run her Gram’s farm by herself for over two years and was used to never having enough hours in the day to get everything that needed to be done, finished. Between her part-time job, feeding the animals, the constant fixes she had to do to the house and barn to keep them livable, and Hoss thinking the fence posts were personal enemies and, therefore, needed to be kicked or charged until they fell down in awe of his awesomeness, she was used to being swamped from the time she woke up until the time she collapsed into bed.
It wasn’t that they just sat around all day doing nothing. They were kept relatively busy fixing the mats on the floor, repairing their few belongings, sharpening stone knives or spears, drying out fuel for the fire to keep it going, replacing their bedding, and so on and so forth.
