Claimed by the Alien Bounty Hunter: Mtoain Bounty Hunters, #1

By Elin Wyn

I'm on the hunt for my bounty, not my mate.

When I left my homeworld, I gave up my chance to find my one true mate, the one my amre will light for.

When the delectable human female is thrown into my path, I can't help but want to protect her.

Touch her.

Taste her.

Nothing will happen. Nothing can happen.

But when she's put into danger by my target, I know I have to make her mine.  Will she accept me in time for me to keep her safe?

Part of the In the Stars line of science fiction romance! 

• Language: English
• Publisher: ClockWalk
• Release date: Nov 29, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201907310

Book preview

Claimed by the Alien Bounty Hunter

Claimed by the Alien Bounty Hunter

An In the Stars Romance

Elin Wyn

Contents

Deanna

Khenja

Deanna

Khenja

Deanna

Khenja

Deanna

Khenja

Deanna

Khenja

Deanna

Deanna

Khenja

Deanna

Khenja

Deanna

Epilogue: Khenja

Given: Sneak Peek

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About the Author

Deanna

The human mind does strange things when deprived of stimulus - or so my textbooks tell me.

Not having much psychiatric clinical experience, I could only go by what was happening to me now.

A patient comes to the emergency room complaining of muscle pain that woke them from a sound sleep, a chipper robotic voice said. What is the most appropriate NANDA?

High risk of activity intolerance. Sleep pattern disturbance.

The voice wasn’t really there, so there was no need to answer it out loud. It belonged to the tutorial assistant embedded in my licensing study course.

The course was on my computer back on Earth along with everything else, except the pajamas I was wearing.

I could only hear it because for days--and I didn’t know how many--I hadn’t heard any other language I could understand.

Over the last four years, nursing diagnoses--NANDAs--had become my life. Every surface in my small rundown apartment was covered in printouts and notecards.

I’d written detailed symptom breakdowns on some. On others, I made up fake patients and used them to test my diagnostic skills.

Sometimes, probably too many judging by the grease stains, I would review my notes over a meal. I wasn’t above cramming a study session into a commercial break, although I didn’t watch television to make it a habit.

Once or twice, I’d even woken up to realize I’d been testing myself in my sleep.

A patient on the unit asks for water chips. What do you do first? The voice chimed in my ear.

Except, it wasn’t really there.

It was just in my head.

Becoming a nurse was my dream, and I was going to make a damned good one.

At least...I thought I would be. Now my notes were only giving my fragile mind stable ground against the threat of losing my shit.

If they’re not my patient, check the chart for restrictions.

I rolled onto my side, shifting my view from the drab gray ceiling of my cage to the crackling strip of blue light that made the sides. There was just enough room for me to lie in a fetal position or sit with my legs folded under me.

The monster who’d brought me here was on the other side of the barrier, hunched over a console. My eyes settled on him for a second, taking in the spikes on his shoulders and twitching of his antennae.

There was a view screen in front of him, but from my angle I could only see a sliver of it. The view was always the same, an endless clip of black punctuated by the occasional dot, limitless space.

I looked away, imagining a cartoon stethoscope was on the floor outside of my cage.

A lifetime ago, I’d been walking through the woods near my apartment to clear my head. A brain can only spend so much time focusing on NANDAs and care plans without going berserk. When I saw the hovering gray ship with red lights embedded in the hull, I assumed I had overestimated my brain capacity and needed a long break.

A tour of space while imprisoned in a cage of light wasn’t what I’d had in mind. At least he let me keep my pajamas.

That wasn’t a given in the alien abduction myths I’d read.

Ineffective protection. Ineffective coping.

The alien was nearly twice as tall as me, with spindly arms that were faster and stronger than they looked.

It shoved a dry square that looked like pressed black beans at me at regular intervals. I thought it might be twice a day, but without a watch or my cell phone, I didn’t know for sure. A pit in the side of the cage served as my restroom. I would have killed for a shower or a bath or even a sink. Anything to get the smell of filth and fear off my skin.

It’s not as if anyone would notice I was missing. My study group had drifted apart, and I didn’t have any family. The few friendships I had managed to carry past my twenty-first birthday hadn’t survived the brutal schedules of nursing school. I had stellar grades and a smoking crater for a social calendar.

I had a new roommate, but with my hectic schedule, she probably wouldn’t notice I was gone until the rent was due. Then she would probably assume I had skipped out on her.

Nobody was coming for me.

A harsh, rhythmic sound came from the ship’s speakers. Seconds later, the hull dipped forward and rumbled. I craned my neck to look at the sliver of the view screen.

It was gray instead of the usual black. As I was watching, the gray dissolved into bumpy terrain.

We were landing. Whatever the alien had in store for me was about to become my permanent fate.

My stomach clenched. The cartoon stethoscope vanished in a puff of smoke. I pushed myself to my hands and squeezed as far back into the corner of the cage as I could.

What’s happening?

No answer.

There never was.

The surface crackled as my back pressed against it, sending a stinging pain across my skin. I yelped and jerked forward.

This wasn’t right. I wasn’t supposed to be here! I had plans. I... I had a future!

The tilt of the ship steepened. Then the whole thing shook. Not a gentle rumble like before. A deep, jarring quake that clacked my teeth together. The force of it threw my body against the other wall of the cage, then to the floor.

The alien roared. Lights on the panels around it blinked frantically. My kidnapper wrenched itself from its chair and stomped toward my cage. It waved a three-clawed hand over the top and the blue walls slid away.

It reached for me. I rolled to my knees, scrambling away, but the monster was too fast. It grabbed me by the arm and hauled me up.

No!

I twisted my body, determined not to go along with whatever the alien had planned. If it was going to probe me or--gulp--implant me, I wasn’t going without a fight.

The ship lurched again, and I stumbled. The alien tightened its grip, pulling me tighter against its wiry body. It pushed a button with a claw, and a panel opened next to it, revealing a padded cell just tall and wide enough for my body.

Let me go!

I screamed and thrashed. Every instinct I had told me to avoid going into that box at all costs. Pain shot through my neck as I wrenched my head from side to side and bit at the air.

Could my teeth penetrate the alien’s shiny red skin? I had no idea, but I was damn sure going to find out if I had the chance.

The monster didn’t seem fazed by my wild movements. It lifted me higher in the air until my toes lost contact with the floor. Then it shoved me face-first into the box. By the time I’d turned around, the panel was closed again and the top half had turned transparent. I could see out, but there was nothing I could do.

I beat against the door. Let me out of here! Then a painful jolt of energy zapped up my arm.

Apparently my captor wanted to monitor me, but wasn’t going to put up with anything, not right now.

Swallowing, I let my head fall back again. Even if I could have gotten away, what good would it have done? I didn’t know what planet I was on. For all I knew, I wouldn’t be any more able to communicate with whoever or whatever I found than I could with my kidnapper.

There was no hope of a rescue mission in my future, either. Sane and rational people back on Earth didn’t believe in alien life. And if they did, they probably wouldn’t bargain with one on behalf of a broke nursing graduate.

Diagnosis: Early mourning.

The ship rattled violently. It tipped forward at an angle no aircraft--or spacecraft--should. I closed my eyes and tried to find the bright side.

Whatever the alien had had planned for me wasn’t going to happen now. Not with all the blinking red lights on its ship and the smoke coming from the console. This ship was going down and it was taking us with it. I realized that the box must be some kind of escape pod.

I tuned out the thin blare of the alarm through my sealed box. The universe owed me a favor and, boy, did I need to cash it in now. My life couldn’t end in a crash on a planet I didn’t even know existed two hours ago. There were too many things I still wanted to do.

I wanted to climb to the top of the Eiffel Tower, or maybe ride a dirt bike through Death Valley. And drink hot espresso in an Italian cafe, or maybe syrupy sweet tea on a deep porch somewhere in the South, and go whitewater rafting in Colorado.

I wanted to pass my licensing boards!

There were too many things in my life left undone. Too many adventures I still wanted to have.

It couldn’t end here for me.

I was saving this for something else, I said to the universe, but I’m gonna have to cash it in now. I need a miracle. Whatever happens next...I want to live.

The ship lurched and shuddered, coming to an abrupt stop with a dull splash. The