Kavvan (The Azziarin Series Book 7)

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  The Beginning

  Alone

  Our New Home

  Found

  The Meeting

  Mating Fever

  Reunited

  Jealousy

  Decision Time

  Reassurance

  The Attack

  Azziar

  Broken-Hearted

  Healing

  Kavvan

  by

  Hannah Davenport

  Copyright © July 2017 Hannah Davenport

  Title: Kavvan

  Author: Hannah Davenport

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal, except for the case of brief quotations in reviews and articles.

  Criminal copyright infringement is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to five years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  All characters and events in this book are not real and are figments of my imagination.

  Kavvan is Book 7 in the Azziarin Series but can be read as a standalone.

  Amanda

  My life was less than perfect. I had a father who abandoned me, a mother who never wanted me, and a best friend who saved my life. I would do anything for her. And I did. When aliens captured her, I tried to rescue her. It didn’t work—I was abandoned again, this time on an alien planet. I couldn’t talk to anyone, couldn’t show my face. With nowhere to go, I gave up. At least until I came face to face with another human.

  Kavvan

  King Mallik ordered me, as commander of the Victory, to investigate rumors of a black market. More specifically, human females sold on the black market.

  We rescued a violent, foul-mouthed female from auction.

  She keeps yelling something, “Mandy!”

  Nikkul, my second in command, is missing.

  Someone has triggered my mating fever, and I’m losing my mind.

  I need to claim my mate. But she is damaged.

  Content warning: For readers 18+. Contains sexual situations, violence, and sensitive subjects such as suicide. It also contains action, adventure, love, and humor.

  To all my fans out there. Thank you for your reviews, comments, and emails. You are the best! If you haven’t already, go to my website, www.hannahdavenport.com, and sign up for new releases and other promotions.

  To my wonderful family, who never complained while I sat with my computer just typing away. Thank you for being so supportive.

  Contents

  Prologue

  The Beginning

  Alone

  Our New Home

  Found

  The Meeting

  Mating Fever

  Reunited

  Jealousy

  Decision Time

  Reassurance

  The Attack

  Azziar

  Broken-Hearted

  Healing

  Prologue

  Amanda

  Staring out my dingy window with my elbow resting on the sill, my cheek cupped in the palm of my hand, I watched a mom and dad hold their little girl’s hand as they headed toward Giavono’s. What I wouldn’t give to eat a slice of their famous pizza! Mmm… I closed my eyes and imagined the taste. When I opened them again and focused on the family, I knew I wanted that more than I wanted pizza. A loving family. I couldn’t even imagine. Someone to tuck you in a night, tell you everything would be okay. I sighed. Instead of a loving family, I was stuck with her. She preferred that I call her Delores instead of Mom.

  My stomach rumbled loudly, but I ignored it. I’d learned my lesson. Never leave my bedroom when Mom had company over. Her loud moans drifted through the thin walls. His grunts. I tried to ignore it, to concentrate on another family that passed by my window.

  Mom—I mean Delores—didn’t want me. She’d made that clear on more than one occasion. “Nobody wants someone with a brat,” she said. “You were never supposed to happen.” And then the one that hurt the most. “You’re the reason your dad left. You think he wanted to take care of some crying, snot-nosed baby? No!”

  I was lost in a daydream of a perfect family when a loud bang on my window startled me. I jumped, then spoke through the thin glass. “Susan, what are you doing here?” After I quickly undid the latch, I raised the window. I looked down at the fire escape and asked, “How did you get up here?”

  She giggled. “I grew two inches. I also found a crate to stand on.” I moved out of the way so she could climb inside. “Sounds like the bitch is busy.”

  “Yeah.”

  “I hate that woman. You know that?” She reached around and grabbed the backpack she wore on her shoulders. “I brought you something,” she said as she unzipped it, then reached inside and grabbed a sandwich, handing it to me.

  “Thanks, I’m starving!” I bit into the peanut butter sandwich. There was no jelly, but who cared? I had food to eat.

  “I figured. It’s Friday night.” I could see the end of a bat sticking out as Susan grabbed a hold of it.

  “What’s that?” I said with a mouthful of sandwich, the peanut butter sticking to the roof of my mouth.

  “Protection.”

  With my free hand, I grabbed the handle to get a better look. “You stole this for me?”

  “How’d you know?”

  “You left the price tag on it.” I chewed my sandwich and looked the bat over. Having it in my hand did make me feel better.

  “Don’t worry, they won’t miss one. They had plenty more.”

  “Thanks, Susan!”

  “You’re welcome. I’ve got to get home.” With one leg over the windowsill, she turned toward me and said, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “K.”

  When she headed down the fire escape, I shut and locked the window. My happy stomach was glad to have food, but my mouth now longed for some milk. Oh, well, I can’t have everything. I stretch out on my small, dingy mattress and tried to ignore the sounds seeping through my bedroom door.

  1

  _____________________

  The Beginning

  Amanda

  Hiding in a rickety, abandoned building, I hadn’t spotted any of the ugly, red-haired creatures as often, but there were plenty of white-haired ones crawling around the area. Why couldn’t they just leave? Get off our fucking planet?

  For the last three weeks, Susan and I had called this used bookstore home. We slept in the tiny office in the back. It wasn’t much, with its peeling wallpaper and the smell of moldy paper. At one time, it was a safe haven, a place for me to escape. I’d spent a lot of time here thumbing through the used books. Now it felt like a prison with no bars.

  Susan cracked the door and scanned the empty street. The sun could be seen, still peaking over the top of a tall building. Darkness would surround us soon enough.

  “I’m going,” Susan said as she glanced at me over her shoulder with determined eyes. I knew she had cabin fever. I felt just as antsy.

  When she stood from her squatting position, I grabbed her elbow. “You can’t! Not yet.”

  Her eyes zeroed in on my hand. “Let go!” She shot me her own warning.

  “Susan, please. It’s not safe yet.” I not only pleaded with my words, I implored her to listen with my eyes. There weren’t as many aliens, but there were still enough to stay in hiding.

  “Let go of my damn arm, Amanda!” I jerked my hand away from her in anger. “I’m tired of being cooped up in here. I’m losing my mind!”

  I clenched my jaw and glanced at the place we’d called home. Books with half-torn covers lay scattered all over the floor. “Susan, I am, too. But at least we’re safe in here. Just w
ait until dark… please.” I wasn’t beyond begging. “Besides, you’ve heard the rumors. What if you get caught?”

  She turned her gaze back to me. “That’s the magic word… rumors.” She spoke slowly as if I didn’t understand. “I’m going.”

  “Don’t…” Before I could finish, Susan took off in a sprint. “Shit!” I hissed under my breath.

  I tore out after Susan, leaving the safety of the abandoned bookstore in the middle of downtown. As I headed down the street, the scene still shocked me, even though I’d seen it a hundred times. Broken windows, charred bricks, some buildings with caved-in roofs. There were limitless places for people and aliens to hide.

  My heart pounded with fear that we would get caught. I caught sight of her back just as she turned the corner onto another street. I wanted to call out to her, tell her to slow down, but I didn’t dare risk someone hearing. Of the two, I was the more cautious one.

  I was just about to turn down the same street when Susan screamed, “Let go of me!”

  I froze mid-step, then plastered my back against the brick wall. “Oh shit,” I whispered under my breath and tried to swallow past the lump in my very dry throat. I slid down the wall until I was sitting, then peered around the corner. I could see the edge of the park from there.

  Two red-haired monsters had Susan by each arm, dragging her toward Tompkins Park. She thrashed around, trying to get lose as she screamed, “MANDY!” My breath came out in pants as my hands trembled in fear. I wanted to rush over, make them let her go, but I held back. What I wanted to do battled with what I should do.

  I followed at a distance, watching as Susan fought them every step of the way until they reached the long, slender, dark gray shuttle. It sat there, ominous, and the door dematerialized when the alien stepped in front of it.

  Hiding behind a tree, one of the few left in the park, I watched two of them drag her inside, and after a few minutes, they came back out. I squinted, waiting for the door to rematerialize. It didn’t. I waited for a few minutes, and when nothing happened, I decided this was it. Now or never. My heart beat rapidly in my chest as I headed to the shuttle. I tried to be as quiet as possible.

  The smell of smoke from burning buildings tickled my nose. Hastily, I scratched it and tried not to sneeze. A lone gunshot fired in the distance. When I reached the entrance of the shuttlecraft, I climbed the few steps and cautiously glanced inside. It looked empty, and I thought it was until I heard talking in what I thought was the front. My legs trembled, and I almost turned back. Almost. Instead, I slowly headed toward the rear.

  The shuttle was made of hard gray metal and sparsely furnished. They obviously didn’t care about comfort. Even their chairs were made of gray metal.

  As I neared the back of the shuttle, my eyes widened in horror, and my mouth formed an O. I covered it with my hand to keep any noise from escaping. Cages, a little wider than a high-school locker and as tall as a person, lined the back wall. Susan wasn’t the only one there. There was another girl, but she looked like death.

  “Get me out of here!” Susan hissed, her knuckles turning white as she gripped the bars.

  I threw my arms up in the air and angry whispered, “How?” With so many emotions flooding my senses, I had to fight back the angry tears.

  “I don’t know how. Just do it!” she growled. Neither one of us was stupid enough to yell.

  I shot Susan a shut-the-hell-up look while I tried to figure out how to unlock the cage. “Maybe you should’ve just stayed put like I asked you to.”

  “Too late now.”

  I shot her an annoyed glance before concentrating on the lock. “I can’t find a way to open it.”

  “Shit! Now what do we do?”

  “I don’t know.” I looked around, trying to find something to pry the bars open. “What’s wrong with her?” I nodded to the brunette that was slumped over in the other cage.

  “I don’t know, but I think she’s unconscious.”

  I glanced back to the brunette. “She looks like she hasn’t eaten in a while. She’s skin and bones.”

  An outside noise startled us. Heavy boots hit the steps. They were coming back. “Shit!” Susan screeched. “Hide!”

  I scrambled, looking for a place to hide. A small storage closet was all I could find. It was so small the door wouldn’t fasten with me in it. I held it closed with my hand while my nose touched the inside of the door.

  With my eyes closed, I prayed they didn’t find me. I didn’t want to be locked up in one of those cages. Another mess Susan and I had gotten into. It was Susan’s fault, but it didn’t matter. We talked to each other like crap, but it was just our way. We would die for each other, and there was no way I would let her go through this alone.

  The aliens didn’t load another girl onto the shuttlecraft; instead, it hummed to life and took off with a start. Without a seatbelt, I was tossed one way and then the other as I tried to balance myself in the tiny closet.

  Tears filled my eyes. For all my talk, I wasn’t as tough as Susan, and right now I was scared shitless. My heart pounded in my chest. Stop it, Amanda, I chided myself. Susan needed me, and I had to be strong. The aliens hadn’t caught me, so we still had a chance. Think like Susan—what would she do? I forced the tears away, took a deep breath to calm my racing heart and thought, she’d tell them all to go to hell! I smiled. We’d get through this. We always did. I had to believe that.

  It didn’t take long until it landed hard. Damn, they need to go back to driving school. I heard the footsteps grow closer, the screech of the cage door opening, Susan calling them every name in the book. I didn’t have to look to know that she fought them every step of the way. And then there was nothing, only my heavy breathing.

  I cracked open the closet door and peeked out, just to make sure the craft was empty. My hands trembled slightly, but I had been in tight situations before. Treading carefully through the empty shuttle, I made it back to the open door. Five steps down. Instead of descending them, I lay on my stomach, crawled over, and peeked outside.

  The two that took Susan were dragging her out a door near the far wall, followed by another one carrying the unconscious girl. The rest of the room was empty.

  After the door slammed shut behind them, I cautiously tiptoed down the metal steps. It was a large room with various crates and other shuttlecrafts.

  Now what? With my hands on my hips, I nervously bit my lip and surveyed the cargo bay lined with shuttlecraft.

  I’d seen enough sci-fi movies, but didn’t know if they were remotely accurate. Still… I glanced up at the air vents. That’s how they do it in the movies.

  I glanced around, looking for a ladder or something tall enough to reach the vent. Nothing, but there were some crates and barrels sitting in a corner. That’ll work.

  After carefully stacking them, I climbed up and shoved at the cover. “I don’t have the muscles for this.” I wasn’t in the best physical shape, but if determination were a strength, I’d be Superman.

  I grunted with exertion as I tried to hoist my way up through the small opening. It took a little time and a few scrapes on my hands and knees, but I finally made it. Lying on my back, I heaved, trying to catch my breath before turning over and crawling on my hands and knees. I needed to find Susan.

  Crawling through the vent was not as easy or clean as it was in the movies, not that I was clean to begin with. It was hard to stay clean with no running water.

  I took my time, hoping to spot an empty room, somewhere Susan and I could hide if I rescued her. Not if, but when, I chastised myself. No need to think negative. But every room I crossed held aliens. I guess they didn’t believe in wasted space.

  After about an hour, I spotted Susan pacing a dark room. One lone ray of light illuminated her cell, just enough to see.

  “Susan,” I whispered through the grate as I peered down at her.

  “Amanda?” She looked up and squinted in my direction. “What are you doing up there?”

  “Duh
… looking for you!”

  I tested the grate and knew it would it open. “Step back. I don’t want it to hit you in the head.”

  Susan stepped back, and I shoved the grate until it fell to the ground with a loud clang. I froze. Susan and I both stared at the door, expecting a guard to rush in. When nothing happened, I said, “I’m coming down.”

  Without much grace, I dropped to my feet and then fell on my butt. “Dang it! That hurt!” I said as I rubbed my ass. Susan crossed her arms and grimaced. “Sorry I got you into this mess.”

  We both eased down against the back wall. “We’ve been in worse situations.”

  Susan looked at me with fear in her eyes and for the second time, I worried. “I don’t think we have.”

  I swallowed hard. Nothing bothered Susan, and if she was scared, then we were in deep shit.

  ~~~~~

  We hid the vent cover in the corner, and when the door to the cell opened, I stayed motionless, pressed against the wall. They never came inside, just shoved some food in and left.

  “What is that?” I asked as Susan and I stared at some sort of white, mushy stuff.

  “I don’t know. Taste it.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t think so. What if it’s poisonous?”

  “Even if it is, it can’t be much worse than being stuck in here.” Susan scooped up some of the mush and stuck it in her mouth. I smiled when she grimaced.

  “Is it that bad?”

  “Not really. I guess it could be a lot worse. Here, have some.”

  I tried the white mush. It didn’t taste great, but if it would keep us alive, then I’d eat it.

  They came in once a day. I think. It was hard to tell time in here. Either they didn’t see me or didn’t know that there should only be one prisoner. It was baffling, but I still tried to hide every time the door opened.

  We were filthy. It had been at least a week, and we were both starving. Susan shared her food, the white mush, which wasn’t much. We had to pee in the corner like trained animals. “I’m so sorry I got you into this,” Susan said again with tears in her eyes.