Stevr (The Mating Games Book 5) Read online

  Stevr

  The Mating Games

  Book 5

  By Catty Diva

  2016 Copyright by Catty Diva

  Cover by Jesh Art

  Editing by Eagle Editing

  All rights Reserved. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is strictly a coincidence. This story is completely based on the imagination of the author.

  This is a series and it is encouraged that you read all books in order.

  Razar

  Book 1

  Razar needs a mate but on his planet there are nine males to one female. Humans look like they are compatible but if they find out the secrets of his kind they will refuse to send them mates.

  Lista needs money for her mother's operation or she will die. Her sister has volunteered her to be a bride for an alien. If she wins the mating game she will be free to keep the money and return home.

  Can she outwit him or will he claim her heart before it's game over?

  Travlr

  Book 2

  Travlr is ready and he wants nothing more than to catch his mate and make her his. His mate seems to be a cunning capable female but he will claim her, what choice does he have?

  Tammie has nothing left on Earth. She was basically sold to the hunt but what kind of male can she expect to try to claim her? Since she doesn’t know, she will use every trick in the book to elude him.

  His time is running out, but what about hers?

  Glendar

  Book 3

  It's finally Glendar's turn to find his mate and he can't wait. He'll have to hunt her but it's a small thing to do in order to get your fated mate and find happiness, right?

  Bernie has escaped from home so no matter what happens she's better off. But what will happen if her father tries to come for her? Will Glendar stand up for her or will they send her back so her father will keep letting them have more mates from the world he controls?

  Maxar

  Book 4

  Maxar has felt drawn to Ernie since the day he met her but there are rules about the mating games that can’t just be ignored. The plan is in place for his to hunt his mate at the upcoming hunt but he knows no one else can make him happy.

  When trouble comes. Ernie is falsely accused and may be sent away. Is there anything that can save her and allow them to be together? If there is, no one is telling.

  Prologue

  It was hard to believe that Maxar had mated two months before the hunt and now, as Stevr prepared to go to Earth to bring back potential mates, his own would be among them. Razar’s mother in law, Lista’s mom, would also be onboard with her twin sons. They weren’t yet school age so Lista said they were a handful and they had hired a nanny to care for them.

  Excitement rolled through him as he tried to calm himself so he could sleep. They would leave at first light and bring back a record number of candidates for their males to hunt. The largest ship they had would be put at his disposal because they would also be taking a large load of Oison weed there and bringing back machinery for the factory and luxury items for their citizens. Tomorrow he would be literally going to get the one who would change his life.

  Stevr

  Chapter 1

  Bon Voyage

  He watched unmoving as Oison grew smaller and smaller in the view screen until even his exceptional vision couldn’t distinguish it from the space all around it. All his journeys started like this but other than the very first one he’d never felt this level of excitement. This trip held that same hope for something important and new in his life as that first trip had. The first one had been fully realized with all the excitement of unknown space and planets as different from his as he could ever have imagined. This trip he hoped would bring him the female that he hoped would make his life complete.

  After a dozen or more trips it still amazed him that his crew eyed him nervously as if he’d tear them to shreds at the slightest provocation. Stevr was the biggest of his brothers and when he’d been young he had been easily angered. It wasn’t a trait he cherished and he’d fought hard for the control he exercised daily. Everyone had assumed he’d go into a military position or law enforcement, but he had shown an aptitude for deal making. His large size and bulging muscles intimidated many negotiators into settling before they would get their normal asking price.

  Right now they had two weeks in space to deal with, but this part of space wasn’t known to be dangerous. If needed the fighting skills that he was well known for would also come in handy if anyone were so foolish as to attack them. Time on the planet could be treacherous but they wouldn’t stay long as the Earthers didn’t want them there and Stevr was anxious to return home. They would unload and reload as quickly as possible before setting out on their return trip.

  The time between Oison and Earth varied depending on the route and the ship. Faster routes had more potential dangers to navigate and older ships were slower. They were lucky that they had no need to hurry in their new Trailblazer Space Cruiser. It was top of the line and one of the largest ships from Carryon an old earth company that had changed names and owners many times. Carryon was started as one of the first companies that built cars in the United States.

  What he loved the most about his ship was its ability to defend itself. It had come with a wide array of lasers and other tech but being paranoid, especially when many Earthers resented if not downright hated them, Mazlans had upgraded the weaponry to include a state of the art defensive shield. One of the main added weaponry systems worked with sounds and was a new and exciting line of weaponry not available to the general public. His people knew that there was no amount of force too great to exhibit to others if you wanted to avoid a fight. Enemies would always look for weaknesses and try to exploit them. Stevr had heard that it was human nature to do so and it was humans they were dealing with the most.

  It seemed everyone resented a world that was successful and rich. Right now as they headed out into space was the most exciting time he expected to have until they fell into orbit around Earth. This massive ship would never touch planet side as Earth had a space station in orbit and cargo haulers that ran back and forth between the planet and the station nonstop. Stevr only wished he himself could remain on the station but the Earth politicians didn’t want to risk their delicate asses by going into space or stepping foot on the space station which was the territory of the working females of their race. He had no respect for human males. It was females with situations similar to his brother Maxar’s mate, Ernie that filled the station doing all the jobs needed.

  The trip there would go slowly but the facilities aboard ship were unmatchable. He and the crew would work out in the gym, indulge in some of the games in the rec room like pool and air hockey, watch movies in the theater, and of course everyone would have their shifts to work. His duties included processing large amounts of paper work and video conferences. In fact, just now, only a few days into the journey he had just completed his fifth video conference. A sound vibrated throughout the ship. Stevr headed to the bridge.

  “What’s going on Harn?” The male was his first navigator.

  “It’s not a navigation problem.”

  “Krivec?”

  “I’m trying to run it down but we may have an incendiary device in the cargo hold.”

  “What do you need?” he asked. Of course his first question was how the hell had that happened but this was not the time for that.

  “I need someone to go to the cargo bay to check things out or take my place so I can.”

  “You stay here. I’ll go.” It was Stevr’s place to be in charge but he wasn’t a hands off kind of guy. He smiled as the unbidden thought came to mind that his mate would soon discover that. The next t
hought was only if he survived this.

  Hurrying down the hallway the crew he met moved out of his way recognizing his urgency. The lift doors opened as if by magic and he knew he had one of his crew to thank. Hopping in he didn’t have to do a thing as the doors closed and the lift dropped so fast he left his stomach behind or at least it felt that way. Once he hit the lowest level the lift jerked to a stop, the doors opened, and he got out. Now he was in the hold of the ship which was a huge space.

  He hit his com button. “Krivec, I’m down here. Now which way do I go?” A map of the hold with x marking the spot in it appeared. He moved to the right at supernatural speed.

  It wasn’t hard to find the device. It sat on a shelf in a maintenance closet and he imagined it had looked pretty harmless before it had been activated. Now with a digital timer that told him he had less than five minutes and lights flashing in an alarming manner on it; it looked anything but harmless. Stevr wasn’t an explosives expert and he had no time to learn. Picking up the device, he was a blur as he moved to the trash disposal room.

  Once he was in there. He slid the item to the jettison chute and pushed the button. “Get us the hell out of here!” He felt the ship accelerate but they got the tail end of the blast. Stevr picked himself up off the floor. It took a lot to knock him off his feet. Thank the gods the females weren’t on the ship yet. They might have gotten banged up but it would have also scared them. Some might even have questioned their choice in getting on the ship or their ability to protect them.

  The bomb had been placed by an insider. One of the crew they had hired had betrayed them. It wasn’t hard to discover who. As soon as he made it back to the command deck, Krivec, his second in command notified him a life pod had been launched just before the bomb was sent down the chute. Whoever was missing among the crew would be the traitor. Stevr wanted to rip him to shreds but he couldn’t. It seems the bomb had landed next to the life pod and completely destroyed it and its occupant.

  Justice had found its own way to be delivered even including Stevr’s hand. The gods had surely looked out for them today ensuring their safety while dealing swiftly and in a deadly fashion with their enemies. Stevr’s gums itched as his long fangs threatened to break free but he fought them back. While it was true his command crew were all loyal Mazlans that hid his secret since it was theirs too, he needed to let his inner demon know who was in control. It was his greatest hope that nothing more would go amiss, but if there was more foul play in the future, he could only hope it would happen before they reached Earth rather than on the way back where females and children could be placed in harm’s way.

  Mazlans valued children, not just theirs but any child. They also worshipped their mates doing almost anything to please them. It was sometimes hard for Earth females to believe that they were for real, as Lista often commented. Stevr had watched four of his brothers fall in love and claim their mates. Sometimes it had been humorous to watch the tiny females put his big brothers in their place but he had been careful to not to laugh openly. The reason had been because he knew his time was coming.

  His brothers weren’t vicious, they were more mischievous. It was a game to torment one another and the one that did it the most and the best could expect to get it back from all of them whenever possible. Yet let anyone try to hurt one of them and they would have the whole group to deal with. That was what these traitors didn’t understand. Right now they weren’t just attacking Stevr and his family, they were attacking the livelihood of all Mazlans. On Oison when one prospered, they all did. Every person on Oison got a share of the profits and every single one was wealthy by Earth standards. They called it socialism, but why should one or a handful hoard wealth when everyone could have more than they needed? Once a citizen, you received a share of the common portion. Half the profit went to the government and half was divided among the citizens. The government’s portion paid for medical, roads, temples, education, and many other things. It was a fair and equitable system.

  Stevr stopped trying to figure out why traitors did what they did and just finished out his shift so he could rest. The problem was once he got to his room his mind wouldn’t let him rest for hours. At some point sleep refused to be denied. Tomorrow he needed to be at his best for whatever the enemy sent his way. He had no doubt that the setback he had just dealt them was just that, a setback. They would be back with a bigger, better plan once they regrouped.

  Opening his eyes one at a time he recognized the sound that had woke him. It was an alert for a possible impact. Someone or something had gotten too close either accidently or by design. After what had happened earlier he doubted it was a coincidence. He had faith in his crew but his alarm would be going off soon and he made it a habit to check in early so he was updated on his time not that of whatever male was in charge.

  Rising out of bed, he took a quick shower and got ready to face his day. Whatever the problem was he knew it had been dealt with because the alarm had quieted and there had been no impact. Once he was dressed he made his way to the command deck. It was calm so that was a good sign.

  Malix looked at him with no surprise. “I’m guessing you were woke by the alarm? It was just a small piece of space junk. Tellar removed it and we will send it out with the next load of trash.” They generally dumped the trash when they came within a certain distance from a star. The chute shot the contents out at a high speed so it would continue on until it hit burning itself up completely. Many things were recycled and the Mazlans didn’t like to waste anything but they also liked to keep things clean and orderly.

  “Did you scan it first? You remember the Earthers have that story about the Trojan horse. They would know we would remove an obstacle that could be dangerous if hit from a space pathway.”

  “I’ll do a deeper scan.” A beep sounded. “Tellar, jettison it and change.” Malix yelled into the com.

  A second later there was a loud noise and more lights and alarms flashed. Stevr ran from the room and to the lift. He was down to the chute in two and a half minutes. Tellar had gotten it out the chute but the object had exploded before it was clear of the ship. Luckily he had shifted to his demon or he would be dead. “Get medical down here.” Stevr yelled into his com.

  Danad and his mate Gilian rushed in with a bag to begin assessing and assisting him immediately. Gilian scanned him and instructed her mate on what to do. “We are lucky. In human form he would have been charred. Even in demon form he will require a week or more to heal in a submersion tank.”

  Tellar moaned. No one wanted to be in a submersion tank. It wasn’t new technology so they were all familiar with it. When they lifted him on the gurney so they could take him to medical he stifled the scream of pain when they touched his burns. Stevr felt his pain as did the other Mazlans near him. Fury rolled over him but he tried not to let the others, especially Tellar feel it since it could upset him. This had gone on long enough and these people needed to be tracked down and exterminated if need be. The problem was they had no idea who they were.

  There were many drug companies they competed with. That seemed the most obvious place to start. Drugs R Us was the largest Earth based company. Of course even while they competed on some levels they were also the Mazlans number one customer. They bought the raw product, processed it, and made a fortune. It made little sense that they would kill their golden goose unless they knew that they were considering processing and selling some of their own product for themselves. The fact that this was supposed to be a secret but maybe someone had let the cat out of the bag.

  Stevr loved the colorful sayings his sister in laws used and he had picked up many of them. When he used them other Mazlans gave him blank stares. They might as well learn before they mated so they would understand their females. He loved his new sisters, the mates of his brothers, but he would be the first to admit they were very different from Mazlans. Some Mazlan males might have to adjust to them but he had no doubt once they did they would love them.

  Two attacks in
less than a day wasn’t acceptable. It was time to figure out a way to track down these merciless saboteurs. Maybe even infiltrate the company to find out exactly who was ordering these attacks if indeed it was Drugs R Us. Once he finished helping deliver Tellar to medical, the medics had him hooked up to a breathing tube, and in the submersion tank, he left. Heading to the command deck to check in and then having been assured everything had turned out to be fine, he went to his office.

  His office was fully secure and anything coming from there would reach its recipient safely. He sent Razar a video message containing all the information about what had happened plus what he suggested doing about it. Having a crewmember injured especially when he could have been killed was unacceptable. Normally he wasn’t violent but right now his inner demon wanted to tear someone limb from limb. The satisfaction of rending their enemy to shreds would please him to no end.

  Stevr barely held him in check telling him that their enemy was probably far away right now plotting the next attack. If one fell into his hands, he couldn’t say if he would be able to prevent their demise. Soon there would be females, some with children, to protect. Somehow he had a feeling that wouldn’t slow these people down one bit. If their enemy came from Earth, they wouldn’t mind killing females, grown ones or children. Except for Lista’s brothers, no male children had ever been allowed to leave Earth. They had made an exception for them because they were unclaimed. To Stevr, that said everything about the males of Earth.

  He found the attitude sickening even if he and his fellow Mazlan males were benefitting from it. Lista’s mother had been in a relationship with a male that wanted a son. When he had died before knowing she was pregnant, the boys were considered unclaimed when the male’s brother had claimed his wealth but denied the boys. The man who had fathered the boys refused to claim her until he was sure she could give him sons. Even though the doctor’s report said she wasn’t effected with the mutation that prevented male offspring she had only had girls before. He was hedging his bets but died without ever knowing he had not one but two sons.