Celestial Rebel

By Scarlett J Rose

Taking the pilot’s position on a prisoner transport ship was supposed to help take Celeste’s mind off the anniversary of losing her twin sister, Sasha, to the Black Zone. The prisoners escaping and taking over the ship wasn’t part of that plan.

Celeste now finds herself at the mercy of the prisoners, namely two prisoners, Grem, a Trenin Male, and Nate, a human male. Her attraction to them wasn’t supposed to be on the cards, either, but when the dust settles, she can’t help but feel the pull of something towards the two males. They have a secret mission of their own, and now, only Celeste can help them.

But can she help herself as well?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Evernight Publishing
• Release date: Mar 12, 2021
• ISBN: 9780369503206

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Published by EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING ® at Smashwords

www.evernightpublishing.com

Copyright© 2021 Scarlett J Rose

ISBN: 978-0-3695-0320-6

Cover Artist: Jay Aheer

Editor: Audrey Bobak

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

DEDICATION

To April Seibert, Fly high, fly free, and rest in peace.

CELESTIAL REBEL

The Trenin Alliance, 3

Scarlett J Rose

Copyright © 2021

Chapter One

No, Celeste said as she pored over the astral navigation charts on the tablet.

Lorg, her brother-in-law, opened his mouth.

I’m not interested, Lorg. She silenced him with an upraised hand. Of all her eldest sister’s mates, Lorg was the easiest to deal with, even if he was the most persistent.

I’m not going to be mated to three males I don’t know, haven’t met, or even spoken to. And I don’t care if you invited them to the family dinner for when Mama and Daddy get back next week. I’m not interested. Celeste fixed the large Trenin male with a pointed glare before she pushed up from the table, taking the tablet with her.

Impossible female! Lorg said with a growl from the table.

Stubborn male! she snapped back as she stalked out of the dining room.

Lorg, Reln, and Kren had all been badgering her about meeting and possibly bonding with three high-ranking friends of theirs. She’d been pushing against it for weeks now, uninterested. Their continued efforts were making her irritable, and it would soon be the four-year anniversary of losing her twin sister, Sasha, to the Black Zone, an area that hosted a solar system with an extremely high-EM field. If any ship came near, it was instantly disabled and caught up in one of the system’s planets’ gravity. All were presumed lost.

Celeste knew her twin was alive and well. She had that twin instinct. Sasha was alive and happy with two mates and two children, and possibly another on the way. Her sister was complete, but Celeste felt like she’d lost some part of herself when her twin had gone beyond the Black.

She left the family home, walking in the darkness along the lit path into the night on their colony world, one of many gifted to the human survivors by the Trenin Alliance. Above her, the stars glittered with the changes in the atmosphere. One star, in particular, caught her attention, Sol, the star under which the human race had been born. Earth was now deemed almost uninhabitable due to the war with the Trenin. Celeste cast her gaze back to the distant house where her family now lived. They were more fortunate than others, for though Earth and the Trenin people were now at peace, there were still many humans who were held as slaves under the Trenin rebel’s iron grip.

Celeste walked to the hill behind the family home, toward a fallen tree that served as a bench on nights like this. She knew exactly when the area of space that hosted the Black Zone would be visible, and though it had a bleak name, the skies that held this dangerous place were indeed quite beautiful, vivid with bright aurorae just visible to the naked eye against the cloudy backdrop of the Milky Way.

She settled in on the log and gazed up at the stars. While she wished her sister would one day be able to come home, she knew that even with the most advanced EM shielding, there was no hope for Sasha to return home.

I figured you’d be hiding up here, Sam said as she lowered herself down to the makeshift seat.

Not hiding, Celeste said hastily.

Sam smiled with sisterly understanding. You miss her terribly. I can’t imagine what you’re going through right now, but I’m here if you need to talk. She put her arm around her, hugging her tight.

I do miss her. It’s like a piece of me is missing, an important part is gone, and I know I’ll never get it back again.

You’re still mourning, I get that. I miss Sasha, too, but I know it runs deeper with you, being twins. Sam sighed, rubbing her belly. Bub is kicking again. She winced a little.

Wrestler?

Soccer player. Sam smirked. You know, there is something that might help…

Celeste sighed. I’m not looking to go on some alien matchmaker date. You can tell Lorg to drop it.

No, that’s not what I was going to suggest, though finding your mates might help. You’ve been taking a lot of risks lately, and we’re all worried about you. Sam placed a hand over Celeste’s.

There are still human guys around, you do know this, right? Perpetuation of the species and all that.

I never said you had to find a Trenin mate.

Then why didn’t you just say go find a guy, human or whatever, and get laid?

"Because I know that’s not going to fix the problem. Sure, you’ll feel better for a couple of days after getting your itch scratched, but you need to do something else, something productive, not something that’s going to get you potentially killed or kidnapped. There’s a piloting job coming up. The Alliance has hired us to do prisoner transport. The Lenaar is being fitted with holding cells right now, and since Norl has returned to the Trenin homeworld for some religious thing to do with his clan, we’re a pilot down."

Uh, okay. Prisoner transport. Sounds like it’s full of joy. Zero chance of getting killed or kidnapped. Celeste rolled her eyes, emphasizing her sarcasm.

Hey, if anything, it’ll get Lorg off your case for a few weeks,

True. Celeste was quiet for a moment while she thought the proposal over. Okay, when do I leave?

In two days. I’ll let the commander know we’ll be ready.

Awesome. Celeste stood up and helped Sam to her feet, noticing that just down the hill, her three mates awaited her, trying to look inconspicuous on the slight path that had been created by Celeste’s ventures to the hill.

Did they put you up to this? Celeste asked.

No, I overheard your conversation with Lorg and took it upon myself to look out for my little sister. Sam smirked in the dim light, then hugged Celeste tight. Just be safe, okay? Don’t do anything stupid.

You know me. I’ll be fine! Celeste grinned.

Sam gave her the side-eye.

I won’t do anything stupid, I promise. She watched her elder sister